Becky & Jason's Fairy Tale wedding 9/3/11 on Long Island - *complete*

[dsnygrl21]

Hey there fellow LI Dis Wedding Planner, lol.

The engagement story was so sweet(no pun intended)! I love how cute you guys look together.

For the reception hall that you booked, what is it called?? I haven't booked my hall yet and am still attending bridal showcases, lol. Went to Smithtown Landing CC and now going to Timber Point CC this Sunday.

We are also on a budget so looking for a good deal, lol.

P.S: The dress is simply gorgeous on you.

 

[librarygeek]

Hey there fellow LI Dis Wedding Planner, lol.

The engagement story was so sweet(no pun intended)! I love how cute you guys look together.

For the reception hall that you booked, what is it called?? I haven't booked my hall yet and am still attending bridal showcases, lol. Went to Smithtown Landing CC and now going to Timber Point CC this Sunday.

We are also on a budget so looking for a good deal, lol.

P.S: The dress is simply gorgeous on you.

Thank you! The reception hall is a VFW hall in Farmingdale, and it's owned by Special Affair Caterers. Here's the website:

http://www.specialaffaircaterers.com/

I don't know how often they update it (it looks like it hasn't been updated in awhile) but it does have the phone # and some basic info. They don't exclusively do weddings, which is why their prices are lower. They do a lot of Sweet 16's and stuff like that, not quite as fancy as some of the big places, but then also not as expensive!, and so they don't really come up when you search for wedding locations. Good luck with all of your searching and bridal shows, I know it's crazy!

 

[dsnygrl21]

Thank you! The reception hall is a VFW hall in Farmingdale, and it's owned by Special Affair Caterers. Here's the website:

http://www.specialaffaircaterers.com/

I don't know how often they update it (it looks like it hasn't been updated in awhile) but it does have the phone # and some basic info. They don't exclusively do weddings, which is why their prices are lower. They do a lot of Sweet 16's and stuff like that, not quite as fancy as some of the big places, but then also not as expensive!, and so they don't really come up when you search for wedding locations. Good luck with all of your searching and bridal shows, I know it's crazy!

Thanks so much Becky! I will definitely check them out.

 

[librarygeek]

The Bridal Party

Picking the bridal party was a bit tough, because I don't have a lot of close female friends and DF has a lot of male friends, and we wanted to at least try to keep the numbers even. I couldn't decide if I should ask my sister or my best friend since 7th grade to be my MOH, but I eventually decided on my friend, and asked my sister to be a bridesmaid. They both said yes - 2 down! But I needed five total to match DF. I asked my other close friend from high school, she said yes - as long as she wasn't going to be in Japan (!). Turns out that she's applying for a job teaching English over there, but she thinks that even if she gets it she may not take it because she might get offered a full time job over here.

Then it got tough. I wanted to ask my best friend from college, but she's currently living in France and will probably be there for a little while. But I talked to her about it, and she said she was definitely planning on coming home for the wedding, and she is willing to be a bridesmaid! Eventually I also asked another friend from high school. The difficult thing is that everyone is far away from each other. I'm currently in eastern PA and the wedding is going to be on Long Island. Here's where all of my bridal party is located:

MOH - Pittsburgh
bridesmaid #1 - Maryland
bridesmaid #2 - Long Island, possibly Japan
bridesmaid #3 - France
bridesmaid #4 - Long Island

So even my closest bridesmaid is currently 3 hours away. But the good thing is I'll be back home with a few of them for the summer. DF is asking his two brothers, my brother, his best friend from high school and his best friend from college... but still hasn't decided who he wants to ask to be the best man!

Anyway, the easier part was actually picking out the bridesmaid dress! I went with my MOH to David's Bridal and we tried on a bunch of dresses, but eventually fell in love with this one. This is the color that we're having, it's called Horizon:

Here's my MOH modeling the dress in the store (this is the navy blue, not the same color as we're getting):

We're happy with it, and it seems like everyone else is. Three of the other bridesmaids absolutely loved it, and my sister is worried that her hips will be too big and she won't look good in it. But hopefully I'm going to see her this weekend and we'll be able to go try it on and see how it is.

Here was our second choice dress, both of us modeled this one The really cool thing about this dress was that it had pockets!

Still trying to decide on shoes, accessories, etc. I'm going to be really flexible with all that, probably just require a specific color shoe, but still trying to figure it out.

 

[geek+nerd]

I love the bridesmaids' dress! Very cute and they can totally wear them again. Always a plus!

If you don't mind me asking, where are you in eastern PA? I live in the Wilkes Barre/Scranton area. Just wondering if we are neighbors.

 

[Bickimook2]

I love your dresses! I know what you mean about people being spread out the closet bridesmaid I live to is an hour away after that it's like 7 hours. It sucks because they can't really help out with much until a day or two before. You just have to keep everyone involved with everything as best as you can, one thing I did was make a bridesmaid newsletter for everyone, I will post on my page soon , it's a good way to keep everyone informed. Oh and don't feel like you have to have even numbers with your DF, one thing I regret was asking people just to ask to keep numbers even and I ended up being disappointed with a couple of them, besides the guys will like it if it's uneven that two girls to a guy, they'll love it

 

[librarygeek]

I love the bridesmaids' dress! Very cute and they can totally wear them again. Always a plus!

If you don't mind me asking, where are you in eastern PA? I live in the Wilkes Barre/Scranton area. Just wondering if we are neighbors.

Right now I am in Montgomery County, about a half hour north of Philly. But I went to school up in Bethlehem and that's where my DF currently is. Not too far!

I love your dresses! I know what you mean about people being spread out the closet bridesmaid I live to is an hour away after that it's like 7 hours. It sucks because they can't really help out with much until a day or two before. You just have to keep everyone involved with everything as best as you can, one thing I did was make a bridesmaid newsletter for everyone, I will post on my page soon , it's a good way to keep everyone informed. Oh and don't feel like you have to have even numbers with your DF, one thing I regret was asking people just to ask to keep numbers even and I ended up being disappointed with a couple of them, besides the guys will like it if it's uneven that two girls to a guy, they'll love it

A bridesmaid newsletter is a great idea, I will look forward to seeing what you did!

 

[redlight]

I like both dresses, but I think the first one is more figure flattering (Maybe it's the angle). I love the idea of a bridal newsletter, I'm sure your BMs will too.

 

[librarygeek]

I like both dresses, but I think the first one is more figure flattering (Maybe it's the angle). I love the idea of a bridal newsletter, I'm sure your BMs will too.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that it will be more figure flattering, because my sister is very concerned about her big hips! I'm going with her this weekend to look at it and I'm so worried she won't like it... I wouldn't have had a problem letting everyone choose their own dresses but my four other bridesmaids all love this dress so it would be weird if they all wore it but she wore a different one... what do you guys think? If she hates it what do I do?

 

[Bickimook2]

I am keeping my fingers crossed that it will be more figure flattering, because my sister is very concerned about her big hips! I'm going with her this weekend to look at it and I'm so worried she won't like it... I wouldn't have had a problem letting everyone choose their own dresses but my four other bridesmaids all love this dress so it would be weird if they all wore it but she wore a different one... what do you guys think? If she hates it what do I do?

At the end of the day this is your wedding, you can't please everyone. I believe you should only let the girls pick out their own dresses if that's what you want, don't let anyone try to convince you of something you don't want to do, you have to stand your ground and they are your friends so they should support you. If one of them has a problem with it you should ask them what specific problem they are concerned about and you can try to do something to help. Say they don't want to show their arms, have them wear shawls, if they don't want to show their legs you might be able to get them a tea length version of the same style, many designers do that now a days. Do what makes you happy it's your big day Oh and I have seen MOH's wear different dresses in the same color to stand out so there is definitely nothing wrong with that, just make sure that you like it too

 

[KristiLyn]

There are so many designers that can do different versions of the same dress to make the bridesmaids feel more comfortable. I think it's really cute when bridesmaids wear the same dress but different ways, as long as YOU pick the dress

 

[redlight]

I don't see a big problem with the MOH having a different dress than the other BMs. While it's your wedding (and ultimately your decision), you want to do what will make everyone comfortable.

 

[librarygeek]

Good news - my sister liked the dress! Just the fact that she didn't hate it is pretty huge. She's frustrated that she's gained some weight recently and doesn't like how she looks in anything currently. But she's on a really strict diet/fitness program and I know she'll lose a lot of weight before the wedding - she's very dedicated and has done diets before where she's been able to lose 30 pounds. Her original comment was, "it doesn't look like a monstrosity on me," so I'll take that as a positive. And actually she was talking later about how the dress was pretty enough that she could wear it again after the wedding, so yay! I don't have the worry. Just need to make sure she orders it far enough in advance, because she wants to hold off as long as possible since she's planning on losing weight. The recommended early June as the latest date to order it.

Now I would like some opinions about shoes for my bridesmaids. I already know that I don't care if they all have the same shoes or not. My MOH is particular is concerned about shoes because she has wide feet and doesn't like to wear heels because her boyfriend is the exact same height as her. But I'm fine with them wearing whatever shoes as long as they all have the same color. Do you think that will be okay, even if some have heels and some have flats? I am thinking either black or silver. Our colors are blue and silver do that would work in terms of color scheme, but do you think silver shoes would look okay with that dress?

I also wasn't going to determine their jewelry or anything, probably just request that they all went with silver and did whatever they want. Since they are wearing the same dress I thought it would be more fun to give them some leeway in making it their own style in terms of accessories.

 

[KristiLyn]

Good news - my sister liked the dress! Just the fact that she didn't hate it is pretty huge. She's frustrated that she's gained some weight recently and doesn't like how she looks in anything currently. But she's on a really strict diet/fitness program and I know she'll lose a lot of weight before the wedding - she's very dedicated and has done diets before where she's been able to lose 30 pounds. Her original comment was, "it doesn't look like a monstrosity on me," so I'll take that as a positive. And actually she was talking later about how the dress was pretty enough that she could wear it again after the wedding, so yay! I don't have the worry. Just need to make sure she orders it far enough in advance, because she wants to hold off as long as possible since she's planning on losing weight. The recommended early June as the latest date to order it.

Now I would like some opinions about shoes for my bridesmaids. I already know that I don't care if they all have the same shoes or not. My MOH is particular is concerned about shoes because she has wide feet and doesn't like to wear heels because her boyfriend is the exact same height as her. But I'm fine with them wearing whatever shoes as long as they all have the same color. Do you think that will be okay, even if some have heels and some have flats? I am thinking either black or silver. Our colors are blue and silver do that would work in terms of color scheme, but do you think silver shoes would look okay with that dress?

I also wasn't going to determine their jewelry or anything, probably just request that they all went with silver and did whatever they want. Since they are wearing the same dress I thought it would be more fun to give them some leeway in making it their own style in terms of accessories.

Yay for agreeing on the dresses!!
As far as shoes, I can tell you this from experience. I was in one of my best friends weddings and we all had to wear the same shoes. They were such high heels and we were all miserable all night long. I said that I would NEVER do that to my bridesmaids. So I think it's a good idea to let them pick their own style of shoes, as long as they are the same color.
And jewelry, I think it will be cute if they pick their own. Gives a little variety

 

[librarygeek]

Jewelry

So I am thinking about what jewelry I want to wear. I would definitely like a nice necklace. I had been looking around for something not too expensive, and the only thing I found that I really liked from the picture was this necklace I found on Amazon:

It looks pretty but I don't like not being able to see it in person. Then when I was with my sister in David's Bridal yesterday I was looking at the jewelry while she was trying on the dress, and they actually had some really nice stuff for really decent prices. There were two necklace/earring sets that caught my eye:

Both are simple, but my dress is kind of simple so I think that would go better. The pearl one looked a little different than this picture, I think it is not the same necklace. The earrings that came with that one were a little more fancy than the ones in this picture, I think they had a string of 3 pearls. And these sets are about half the price of the Amazon necklace.

In terms of earrings, I actually can't usually wear them. I wore them fine for about seven years, and then one day I just had a terrible reaction to earrings... my ear swells up and gets full of pus, and that's not really a wedding day look! I looked for clip ons but it's hard to find nice ones and you can usually see the clip. It looks so tacky. So my dad and I were talking and we are going to try experimenting with magnets. It might work, we shall see, but then I could convert those earrings that come with the necklace into magnetic earrings that I could actually wear.

As for other jewelry, I wasn't thinking of doing much else. I have a headband that I plan to wear with my veil:

I wasn't thinking of a bracelet but I am trying to decide if I want to wear a watch or not. I am obsessed with time and I know that I would go crazy not knowing what time it was that day... won't really have a pocket for my cell phone either, and I don't know if I want to carry around a bag all the time! I do have two very nice watches. One is just a fancy silver watch, the other is actually Disney related. Here it is:

Except the one that I have is actually all silver. But I just feel like watches look stupid with formal clothes and fancy dresses. I dunno. Maybe I won't wear it for the picture taking session but I'll wear it at the reception?

Any thoughts on jewelry? I may even go to David's Bridal tomorrow, since I think I'll have time, so thoughts now would be appreciated!

 

[KristiLyn]

I would definately recommend going in person! I was planning on buying my jewelry online, but I'm so glad I bought it at the store instead. Things just look so different in pictures.
I wasn't planning on buying a headband, but I put one on yesterday and fell in love! And bracelets I tried on just didn't fit, so I'm glad I bought one at the store.
Do you have an alfred angelo store near you? They had plenty of selections, and I didn't think the prices were too bad.
I do think your selections on the jewelry are lovely though!!
As far as the watch, if it were me I would just wear it after the pictures

 

[redlight]

Good news - my sister liked the dress! Just the fact that she didn't hate it is pretty huge. She's frustrated that she's gained some weight recently and doesn't like how she looks in anything currently. But she's on a really strict diet/fitness program and I know she'll lose a lot of weight before the wedding - she's very dedicated and has done diets before where she's been able to lose 30 pounds. Her original comment was, "it doesn't look like a monstrosity on me," so I'll take that as a positive. And actually she was talking later about how the dress was pretty enough that she could wear it again after the wedding, so yay! I don't have the worry. Just need to make sure she orders it far enough in advance, because she wants to hold off as long as possible since she's planning on losing weight. The recommended early June as the latest date to order it.

Now I would like some opinions about shoes for my bridesmaids. I already know that I don't care if they all have the same shoes or not. My MOH is particular is concerned about shoes because she has wide feet and doesn't like to wear heels because her boyfriend is the exact same height as her. But I'm fine with them wearing whatever shoes as long as they all have the same color. Do you think that will be okay, even if some have heels and some have flats? I am thinking either black or silver. Our colors are blue and silver do that would work in terms of color scheme, but do you think silver shoes would look okay with that dress?

I also wasn't going to determine their jewelry or anything, probably just request that they all went with silver and did whatever they want. Since they are wearing the same dress I thought it would be more fun to give them some leeway in making it their own style in terms of accessories.

Sending good vibes to your sister on her weight loss journey. I've recently done the same thing.

I'm not a heel person myself, and I think it would be fine if they had different size heels.

 

[Bickimook2]

Yeah for dresses! As far as the shoes I always thought it was cool that girls could pick their own as long as the style was kinda similar, it allows everyone to look similar, but they can wear what they want. I love the second set of jewelry it's really pretty, very elegant

 

[librarygeek]

I would definately recommend going in person! I was planning on buying my jewelry online, but I'm so glad I bought it at the store instead. Things just look so different in pictures.
I wasn't planning on buying a headband, but I put one on yesterday and fell in love! And bracelets I tried on just didn't fit, so I'm glad I bought one at the store.
Do you have an alfred angelo store near you? They had plenty of selections, and I didn't think the prices were too bad.
I do think your selections on the jewelry are lovely though!!
As far as the watch, if it were me I would just wear it after the pictures

Sending good vibes to your sister on her weight loss journey. I've recently done the same thing.

I'm not a heel person myself, and I think it would be fine if they had different size heels.

Yeah for dresses! As far as the shoes I always thought it was cool that girls could pick their own as long as the style was kinda similar, it allows everyone to look similar, but they can wear what they want. I love the second set of jewelry it's really pretty, very elegant

Thanks for confirming what I was thinking! I kinda felt bad making everyone wear the same dress, but it's what I always pictured. I think I'm gonna go with silver shoes, whatever style they want!

And I'll be posting a jewelry update in just a little bit...

 

[geek+nerd]

Our headbands are VERY similar!!!!! Did you get it at David's Bridal?

I know a lot of brides bash DB, but I have had such a great experience with them across the board at two different stores. I got my dress, veil, headpiece, and bracelet from them. My MOH, flower girl, and mother got their dresses from there as well. I have been more than satisfied with their customer service, as well.

Regarding your jewelry, I really like the first set from David's Bridal!