This is lettheplanningbegin's Green Wedding!

I had my first food tasting yesterday. It was so much fun! I could line up a food tasting everyday of the week! YUM :P

Since my wedding will not be very formal we have chosen to do a Mexican buffet style dinner for the reception. A huge part of the wedding is the FOOD and I looove my Mexican food! So what better way than to have guests go back for seconds and thirds :) Many ppl think this is a tacky option but I don’t think so. I actually don’t mind it at all.

I loved the food last night. It was delish! Is anyone doing buffet style? If so, how many entrees are you serving? H'orderves? Anyone serving Mexican food?

I am sure I'm not the only one having second thoughts on the wedding dress!?!? Am I?!?!

Well, I have TWO beautiful dresses that I purchased at the Running of the Brides. I am now and (have been for a while) re thinking my dress selections! The running of the brides was so much fun but I think it put so much pressure in buying the dress then and there. Now, that I have had time to think, I purchased two beautiful dresses that are the total opposite of what I wanted! Oops . . . .
*I did not want a ball gown wedding dress although, very beautiful, I already wore 2 ball gown dresses for my quinceanera (cotillion/sweet 15)
- I bought a ball gown (1st dress). . . oops ?
*I want a white dress
- I bought an ivory dress (2nd dress) . . . . oops ?. . .

I had time to think of the kind of wedding dress I would like for my wedding.
I want something modern, not a ball gown or an A line silhouette. Although, something modern, I’m very attracted to lace! Finding a dress will be quite difficult since most of the lace dresses look more romantic, classic and traditional as oppose to modern. I like bling! So I don’t want my dress too plain, I like sparkles. I like the sweetheart neckline and I want a somewhat long train.

Time to look for my third dress!!!! And I’ve already started, I went to HOB and saw a very pretty dress almost like something I want but not the one.

Stay tuned!

I really want my bridesmaid to look fabulous but I don't want them to spend more than $100 on the dress because I know then they would need shoes, accessories, etc. Do you think I can find stylish bridesmaid dresses for less? I would like the dress to be affordable and a piece that they would wear again.

Is anyone buying their bridesmaid dresses somewhere other than from a bridal store? Where?

Here are looks that I'm going for. Thanks for your help!

Ok, so I had a couple of places in mind. I knew we weren't interested in having our reception in a common banquet hall. We wanted something unique, a non traditional reception location in Chicago. Here where my final choices: Architecture Artifacts, Galeria Marchetti, Stan Mansion.

And the winner is: Stan Mansion! I had previously attended a wedding there last year. I know I wanted a place like that for my reception. Somewhere, unique, unheard of for a reception. After doing lots of homework and figuring out the pros and cons, Stan Mansion met all our needs. It's huge, fits a 300 ppl sit down, stage dance floor, very unique . . . its a mansion, and the biggest plus of all its affordable! The cost includes tables and we can bring our own liquor (+) and we can use our own caterer. We will have to find linens, lighting, drapery, food catering, etc. I hope this was a good idea!?!?!? We already gave the deposit and its non refundable. We are locked in!

Here's the pic of one of the dresses I bought at Running of the Brides and the description from the website:

Emerald Bridal Wedding Dress - 8100
This dress and veil are an all time favorite of our designer, Lynn Rohrman! The modified sweetheart bodice is covered with Swarovski crystals, pearls, silver and glass beads. Beaded re-embroidered Alencon lace aceents the skirt and the hem of the voluminous gown with a cathedral train. This dress comes with a matching veil that is attached to a comb and falls perfectly around the face.

This is the very traditional wedding gown that I would love to wear for the wedding ceremony.

DRESS DETAILS

neckline : sweetheart, strapless
price : $$$ = $1001-$1500
embellishment : beading, lace
color : white, ivory
silhouette : ball Gown
Fabric : tulle
train : Cathedral
hemline : floor-length

I guess I should start posting the few things that I have crossed off of my list. They are pretty big and exciting things to have crossed off my list!!! I hope to have made the right decision . . . I'm very indecisive.

Every summer in Chicago, Filene's Basement holds their annual Running of the Brides in downtown on State Street. I heard about this event a couple years back and I knew that I would love to be a part of it. So this July I was able to participate! I was totally pumped! I knew this was my chance to buy the perfect dress, I had to find the perfect dress! Ivan and I are on a tight budget and I did not want to pay $5K for a wedding dress that I would only wear once (if I had the money I would ? ).

So before the big bridal sale event, I did some research online to get some feedback. And I tried remembering the Friends episode where the girls went to the running of the brides all geared up with hats and whistles . . . so funny. So I went to Party City I bought whistles, my cheapy little veil, then I went to Target to buy poster boards, markers, oh! and a floor length mirror, yes, a floor length mirror. My fabulous sister offered to make t-shirts for our team so that was taken care of . . . I was pretty skeptical that they were going to turn out as good as they did, bought they came out awesome! Thanks Mari! ? So I was going nuts the day before, I had everyone helping me with the poster boards including my 8 year old nephew.

The day of: We left my condo at 6.15am, we got there at 6.30am. Sure enough when we got there we were about 2 blocks lined up away from the door ? Some people stood there over night! Ok, so with my whole team which included my mom, sis, sister in law and 5 great gal friends we discussed the strategy in line. I believe it was called Di si al vestido which is Spanish for Say yes to the dress lol. Anyway, since I had previously scoped out the scene a day before and spoke with an Filene’s employee, I had a good idea of where the racks would be, where the mirrors are etc. We were sooo ready for the doors to open! And when they did all the racks were empty, completely empty!!! We were still running around like crazy. Ok, so this post is getting ridiculously long . . . . . . . after trying on I don’t know how many white wedding dresses. I fell in love with an ivory dress! AND AND another dress that was very popular with my crew and other brides. It seemed that other brides around me were waiting for me to leave both dresses, so under pressure, I decided to buy BOTH gowns!

All in all, awesome experience. I had so much fun and I thanked my crew by taking them to McD’s around the corner, we were STARVING. I will post my pictures tonight, I promise!

So Ivan and I decided to pick ivory and green for our reception colors. Linens, drapery = ivory and hints of green on flowers, favors, centerpieces, etc. Also, accents of gold on ribbons, sashes, etc. So, 3 colors:
Ivory
Green
Gold
I'm having a hard time picking a shade of green! Actually, they might all be the same color but have different names?! I like kelly green, lime green, grassy green. Since my wedding is in the summer time I don't want a dark green or a dull green like sage. Any ideas on what shade of green would go best with ivory and gold.

Ivan proposed on Christmas Day 2008. We were dating for a very long time but I never expected him to propose. But I'm so happy he did . . . We both are!

I have been planning off and on . . . after he proposed a few months later I was laid off for 3 months! Not a good time to start any of my wedding plans since everything involved $$. So just when I was about to start planning in Feb, I was laid off :( Then, I found a job! But now, after I having found a job, I've been working non stop and now I have no time to plan!?! :( I will try my best to kick it up a notch because I have to! Only 289 days left and counting! YIKES!