Weddingbee

I went to the Bridal Atelier today with Mr. Bee and bought the Pamela dress! Luckily they still had the dress in the store (it’s supposed to travel with the trunk show) and I was able to try it on one last time. But you’ll have to wait until the wedding to see it - it’s a surprise!

They gave me the 10% discount since I attended the trunk show so the total came up to $3555 pre-tax, pre-shipping and handling, pre alterations. We put 50% down, and it’ll be ready by January 15, 2005. What a whirlwind of a dress shopping week!! I loved, loved, loved trying on all the dresses.

At one point, I seriously considered getting this Amsale dress because it was $850 less than the Pamela.

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A crazed bride’s search for the perfect dress… Three bridal shops in one day!

I went to THE Kleinfeld with my fiance today. It’s definitely the biggest and baddest bridal shop out there. A bride-to-be we saw in the lobby even flew in from Texas! But they’re so busy and see so many brides daily, they’re like on automatic. I didn’t feel as attended to as I did at the Bridal Atelier and at Sak’s. Still, no wedding dress search is complete without a visit to Kleinfelds.

I tried on Lazaro, Monique Lhuillier, Christos, Justina McCaffrey and many others. They were all pretty, but I didn’t love any of them and the fiancester said that none of them had that “wow” factor. I was beginning to feel a little sad because I’d liked so many dresses at Saks the day before. With the biggest selection in the United States, I thought that I’d find “the one” at Kleinfeld for sure. Since I wasn’t loving anything, my bridal consultant asked me to describe dresses that I’d liked so I told her about the Pamela dress from the Anne Barge trunk show. She said that they had it!!! But how could it be?! The dress hasn’t been released in stores yet!
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I went to Sak’s Bridal Salon today. They have the best mirrors that make you look so tall and skinny! My bridal attendant did an excellent job of selecting dresses for me - everything I tried on was so beautiful! I think I could be happy with any one of them. I tried on dresses by Vera Wang, Monique Lhuillier, Amsale, and Kenneth Pool. I ended up liking a Vera Wang and 3 Amsale dresses. All the Amsale dresses fit so well on my body type.

To tell you the truth, I think the fabric, detail, and quality of the Anne Barge dress from the trunk show was far more exquisite than any of the dresses I tried on today. It just looked like a very well-made, classic dress to me. Still there are so many other beautiful dresses to choose from, and I get 10% off if I open a Sak’s account.

I tried on mostly lacy stuff today, but I’m definitely not opposed to beading. Tomorrow I’m hitting Macy’s Bridal, a small boutique called Blue, and Kleinfeld’s! After that, I’m done with the wedding dress search. I’m going to make a decision and order my dress this week!

Today I went to the Bridal Brunch at Kate’s Paperie. Mr. Bee thought that an event like this best be left to girls. (He was right - there was only one guy there.) We learned everything you’d ever want to know about invitations galore, and I highly recommend attending this event for anyone who is getting married.

When I first walked in I was pretty clueless about invitations, but now I know exactly what I want. You pay $10 to attend, but they give you a $10 gift card and a certificate for 10% off that you can use towards their invitations. The staff is extremely knowledgable and helpful, and they don’t try to hock their wares.

Here’s what I learned. First you have to decide what to purchase:

1. Invitations
2. Outer Envelopes
3. Inner Envelopes
4. Inner Envelope Lining
5. Tissue Paper
6. RSVP Cards or RSVP Postcards
7. RSVP Envelopes
8. Reception Cards
9. Hotel / Map / Direction Cards
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I’ve been surfing the liweddings site for a couple of months now. It’s mainly a resource for people getting married in Long Island, but you can get a lot of great advice on anything and everything wedding related on the site’s message boards. The online community of brides-to-be there are very helpful and friendly. It’s proved to be one of the best resources so far in my planning process.

I posted my wedding dress dilemma on the liweddings messageboard and I got some great advice. Evidently Anne Barge is having a trunk show at the Neiman Marcus in Dallas next week. This means that I can go to my Sak’s and Kleinfeld appointments and still keep the Pamela dress as a back-up.

I just couldn’t live obsessing whether or not this dress really was the one, and I didn’t want to feel pressured into making such a quick decision. My biggest mistake was 1) going to a trunk show before going to a regular bridal salon, and 2) going dress shopping alone. I’ve learned my lesson - I’m definitely going with someone next week!

I’m having a major crisis. I went to the Anne Barge Trunk show at the Bridal Atelier today where I tried on 5 dresses and met Anne Barge herself. This was the first time I’d ever tried on wedding dresses, but I had an idea of the kind of dress I wanted - strapless, some detailing like lace or beading but nothing too fussy, A line shape.

But some of the dresses I tried on today were nothing like I’d envisioned. You really don’t know what you’ll like or what’ll look good on you until you try it on. Trying on wedding dresses is soooooo much fun!!!

Trunk shows are where designers preview their collection for the following season. By buying from this trunk show, I can also get 10% off the total price.

There was one dress that I really loved. It’s called the Pamela, made of silk mikado, colored pearl, with the most exquisite beadwork around the waist and down the train. After the 10% discount it came up to $3555 pre-tax. I didn’t want to spend that much on a dress, but after trying Anne Barge’s dresses on, the quality in the fabric, craftsmanship and detailing is so evident.
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I just made an appointment to go to Kleinfeld - the mecca of wedding dresses. This legendary boutique has one of the largest selections of gowns in the United States. I had to give my credit card number and it’ll be charged $50 if I cancel the appointment less than 48 hours prior. Hardcore.

How it works, from what I understand, is that you come in and meet with a bridal consultant one on one. You’re not allowed to see or touch the dresses. You tell the consultant what you’re looking for or bring pictures of styles you like. She then brings out dresses similar to your description/pictures and ones that she think will look good on your body type. After you decide on which dress you want (prices start at $1500), you put down a 60% deposit and they order the dress. It can take anywhere from 3 months to a year for the dress to arrive depending on how the designer produces them.

I wish I could take pictures of the dresses I try on, but it’s strictly forbidden. They say that you just know when you try on “the dress.” I just hope “the dress” doesn’t cost too much!

Today I’m ordering Save the Date magnets from Vista Print. I need to get them out asap since my half of the wedding guests are travelling from Los Angeles.

There’s a story behind the picture I’m using. Evening of November 4, 2003, Herald Square, light rain. I was standing on this corner when my then future fiance called to set up a time to meet for the first time the following night. Right after we got off the phone, I snapped these pics. The rest of course is history. And you can’t get more quintessentially New York than the Empire State Building!

Hellooooooooo!!! I’ve created this blog so that those of you that are interested can read about my wedding planning journey. You’ll see what goes through my crazy obsessive mind as I plan out the million and one details of our wedding.

So far we’ve booked the venue and decided to go to Spain for the honeymoon, but other than that we have yet to begin planning and we only have 6 months left!

I made an appointment to attend the Anne Barge trunk show at the Bridal Atelier by Mark Ingram next week. Getting a wedding dress is my number one priority right now because it can take around 4 months to arrive once I order it. Wish me luck!

We looked at a bunch of possible wedding venues all day Friday and Saturday. First we checked out Twenty-Four Fifth which was a beautiful, elegant, and sophisticated venue. It was very ballroom-esque with gold decor and mirrored walls, but it just wasn’t our style. I also couldn’t imagine anything but white flowers matching the place, and I’m not a big fan of white flowers.

The Sales Director, Amy Gruber, was absolutely fantastic. She made us really excited about getting married.

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