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Sister Sparkler (my maid of honor) was in Chicago recently, and we were MEGA productive in all things wedding related. OK, there was one major fail, but we’ll talk about that later. Let’s talk about the things we did accomplish first:
1. Cheese please
On Friday night, we met up with our photographers at their (insanely adorable) studio in Evanston, where we had a chance to check out…the Smilebooth! If you haven’t heard of Smilebooth, you have to, have to, HAVE TO check out their website. It’s a pretty simple idea: Step in front of the camera, grab the clicker, and—“Cheese!”—capture your own photo booth images in front of adorable backdrops. Here’s a taste of what you can end up with:
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We (OK, I) definitely want one at our wedding. The price is a little steep, but I’m willing to work extra hard to save up for this. I had so much fun on Friday, and I know our guests will really get a kick out of it. I also like that you have to go online to download the pics (for free!), and we can save some trees by not printing a million photos on site.
2. Da venue
My sis gave our venue the official seal of approval on Saturday morning. I know I don’t really need anyone’s approval, but it felt so good to have a family member see our location and get excited about it. (Confession: my brother actually got to see the venue months ago, but how excited can a 22-year-old guy get about a wedding venue? Love ya, bro.)
“I soooo totally appprroooove.” (Personal photo of Sister Sparkler)
3. Party in the USA…errr Virginia
Our biggest accomplishment was organizing my upcoming engagement party. The shindig will be at my mom’s house in Virginia, and helping to plan it from Chicago has been kind of stressful. My sister finally forced me to sit down and help her sketch out a plan for the party weekend. She and my mom are hosting, but they needed some input on what Sparks and I would like. Together, my sis and I were able to come up with a great theme, and lots of cute ideas to bring it to life. Here’s a little preview:
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I know what you’re thinking.
“What in the world could have possibly gone wrong during this ridiculously awesome weekend of planning? What is this ‘major fail’ you speak of?”
Well, one of our main goals for the weekend was to find bridesmaids’ dresses. Sister Sparkler and I had decided that THIS would be the weekend when I would check that off my big, bad to-do list. However, a crazy indulgent dinner and late-night karaoke on Saturday made for a pretty lazy Sunday. So we went to the spa instead and watched My Fair Wedding all night. Whoops. At least it was sort of wedding related. Right?
Anyway, I feel like I’ve taken a step backward in finding dresses for my girls. Sorry, ladies. I promise to have something for you to look at soon!
Anyone else struggling to dress their bridal party? Has your family been on you to start tackling your to-do list?
I wouldn’t choose guns as a prop at a Smilebooth, but maybe that’s just me.
@julies1949: It was a James Bond theme party actually 
Guess I should have mentioned that!
i could spend hours on the smilebooth site - i love it. especially those confetti pics! so much fun.
Yay! For checking things off your to-do list! love the smile booth pics btw guns and all!
Me, me! I’m having the hardest time with bm dresses, I can’t decide on any.thing, meh…short, long, colors, price, pick your own, i’ll decide. It’s all very overhwelming!
Don’t be too hard on yourself. I find that forcing decisions means decisions you might second-guess later. My mom keeps asking what she can do to help… from 8 hours away. It’s all on us, pretty much.
yay for smilebooth! i played in a smilebooth at a party a few months ago and was OBSESSED.
Check out Bella Bridesmaid in Chicago (downtown). We got some super cute Lula Kate Dresses there.
I always have a pretty ambitious to-do list for each weekend that I invariably never get to the end of! The bridal party is pretty important so it’s worth some extra thought!
We couldn’t squeeze a smilebooth out of our budget, so we are going the DIY route, but oh how i love me some smilebooth!
Oh, oh, s’mores! That picture has me so excited to see more of your engagement party!
LOL Kicking back is sometimes the best thing you can do with your sister. 
next weekend is my “must get (almost) everything checked off the list” wedding event. it’s the start of March Madness so FI will be glued to the TV all weekend and not tempting me to go out and do something else other than wedding projects.
That Smilebooth looks so fun! I’ll have to recommend it to my friend who’s getting married after us!
Oddly enough I was forced into going dress shopping because I was afraid I wouldn’t look like the model.
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Mrs. Sparkler, Chicago Age and Occupation: 27, Communications Aficionado Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Publisher Engagement Date: July 21, 2010 Wedding Date: September 2011 Venue: Chicago Illuminating Company About Me: I’m a Southern lady living in the big city of Chicago. Well, lady may be a stretch, but I’m working hard to keep some Virginia charm in our sleek, urban, wedding-palooza! I’m addicted to marathons, not-so-famous bands, Chicago restaurants, and Mark Twain. I cry during SPCA commercials, and I think LOST was the best show to ever hit television. Mr. S and I met at a classy college mixer and, 7 years later, he’s still by my side. He’s the only child, laid back, free spirit... I’m the oldest of five kids, type-A, organizer. It doesn’t work on paper, but we’ve never paid attention to that stuff anyway. Somehow it works. And like they say, sometimes when you know…you just know.
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