This is rmedina's Pink Wedding!

Most of you may not know that I have been engaged for quite some time. I was engaged in 2008 and we were planning a wedding for May of 2009. My Dad was diagnosed with Cancer and my wedding planning was not so important. I wanted to see him get better which his cancer is in remission. I am very happy about that. I am also battling some medical issues right now but am doing very well. So, with that being said our wedding date has been set and our plans are back on. We are very excited!

So, getting back to my story. As soon as I became engaged I saw this dress from Alfred Angelo (style 1594). I fell in love with the dress because it has like an Italian/Latin look to it and I loved it. The dress was on alfred angelo's website and it was around $1,300. When our plans stopped b/c of my dad's cancer I always had this dress on the back of my mind.

So, I recently found this dress on ebay (it's now an "older" dress and the designer has no more left). I was reluctant to purcahse this on ebay but this lady (Delia's Bridal Store) on ebay had a perfect rating so I did. I believe I paid $225!!!!!!!!! Yes, quite a steal. I got the dress and I am in love with it. I love it so much. It does worry me that I bought it so early as I am afriad that by my wedding date it will be out of style but I don't think so. It's really beautiful.

Only problem is that it didn't come with the veil and I couldn't find anyone that has the dress let alone the veil so I don't know what to do. I did find a knock off website that makes designer dresses and this is one of the dresses they make. You can buy the knock-off dress for $150 and the veil comes with it. I figured if I don't find any veils (I have a lot of time) that I would purchase this...what the heck it's only $150 and if it doesn't work out then on craigslist it goes, lol!

I think the veil is beautiful as you'll see in the picture and it puts the whole dress together. I plan to wear my hair partially up and then in long curls like my profile pic on the top righ there. I will be growing my hair out so I can have long lusious curls...lol!

Good night everyone...(if anyone reads this)...lol! Oh, and if you just happen to know of anyone that has worn this dress and may have a veil....help a girl out! (Well, you never know...maybe luck is on my side).

As you can see in my previous blog I was considering the South Shore Pavilion for our wedding reception. There is no doubt in my mind that the lakefront views are gorgeous! That is one of the major things that drew me to this site...including the low price! I searched for some pictures online and saw some gorgeous pictures that I posted with my previous post that really almost had me at 100% sure that I would book this venue.

I know I did explain that I was concerned about the bathrooms...very concerned. Also, while the room itself was nice the inside entrance was nothing special. This venue was cheap to rent since it is a Milwaukee County Park Pavilion. I think it was around $650 to rent and there were no requirements as to what cater you used. If you really wanted to you could bring in food and alcohol yourself. There were no strict guidelines.

So, I talked with a photographer that took pictures there and she did say that she was a little leary when she first visited the site before the actual wedding. The day of she did say that everything was fine and worked out well. She also mentioned that the bride did have to do A LOT of work herself to make the building look more attractive. So, while her pictures were beautiful (I think any GREAT photographer can bring out the beauty in just about anything) I was already thinking of looking into other venues.

I did speak to someone at Chef Jack's Catering who I will be going with to cater our wedding and she did say that it was a nice venue but again mentioned that the restrooms were very dirty if you don't keep up with them and that some brides have spent a lot of money to make the building look nicer and in the end they were probably better off renting a venue that was more attractive so they didn't have to do as much work.

Now, if you've had your wedding there...I am in no way cutting your wedding down. I think the pictures I posted in my previous post are GORGEOUS! I am just one that gets nervous and while I loved the room and outside area I don't want to be worrying about dirty bathrooms on my wedding day. So, this venue is not for me.

I guess what made my final decision is when I went out to show my friend the venue on a Sunday. I didn't know that a wedding would be going on and since the restrooms are open to the general public (another downfall) we went in to check it out. We sneaked a peek at the wedding...beautiful bride, great decorations.....then we went into the bathroom and I actually had to go pretty badly but NONE of the 6-8 stalls had toilet paper. There was toilet paper on the floor which was wet, the floor was wet and many of the toilets had urine that were not even flushed...then it did smell. I ended up not going to the bathroom because it was DISGUSTING and I walked away from the venue, looked back once and knew that it was not for me.

Chef Jack told us to look at the Milwaukee County War Memorial site and when we did we were sold. We still wanted the lakefront view without breaking the bank and this site is great. I have posted some pictures but if you log on to www.warmemorialcenter.org you can see more or if you'd like to consider the venue for your own wedding (if you're in the Milwaukee area of course). We will most likely have our ceremony on the Fitch Plaza (outside) looking over Lake Michigan and with a nice view of the Milwaukee Art Museum and the reception will be inside their room on the 3rd floor that also looks over Lake Michigan. Part of me would like to have a tent put up on the Fitch Plaza but I am assuming that renting a tent and making it look beautiful can be pretty costly so we shall see.

Anyway, congrats if you read this all. Sorry it was so long but I love writing and I can write for hours!

Hope everyone is doing well.

Hello everyone! Well I am engaged and looking for a wedding venue in Milwaukee. I have been to two weddings where Chef Jack's www.chefjacks.com was catering and I must tell you that I loved their food and told myself that when the time came for me to plan my wedding that I would surely hire Chef Jack's.

The problem is finding a venue site that allows you to pick your own caterer and that won't break my budget. Chef Jack's has a list of venues on his website that he has performed weddings at and either we don't like them or they are too expensive.

One that fits our budget that we absolutely loved was the South Shore Pavilion. It is located right on Shore drive along Lake Michigan and it is right next to the Marina. It is a breathtaking location but the downfall is that it's in a park and the building has "Park like" restrooms that are open to the park patrons. I have been there to look at the building and when I went into the bathrooms I was not happy to see toilet paper on the floor, stalls that had no toilet paper, etc. My fiance and I really like this location but the restroom have us bothered. We were thinking that we could pay someone to check the bathrooms and make sure they are equipped every hour with toilet paper and that they pick up a little bit. Maybe pay him/her some money. I was thinking of putting little baskets in the bathrooms with hair spray, lotion, etc. putting my own touch on it.

So, anyone have any ideas? I have attached some pictures of the south shore pavilion (some are chef jack's pictures and there are some other pictures of a website I saw).

Anyone have any comments on this location or other locations that I could look into.

Thank you!

P.S. We were also thinking of renting a piece of land by the lakefront and putting up one of those elaborate white tents that look elegant but the problem is......I don't know of land that is available to do that.