Happy Birthday, Fiance!

Happy 27th Birthday to my fabulous fiance!!  

I have a feeling it's going to be a good year :)  Enjoy your new weed wacker, honey!

Lesson Learned: Full Price is Just a Suggestion

(Cue corny voice)
This is the first in a (hopefully) multi-part series called Lesson Learned.  I hope these tips help future brides during the wedding planning process.

I knew this from Day One but it keeps reappearing in the planning process.  The majority of the planning has to do with securing services from vendors for which you are mostly paying for their time.  Time does not have a price tag and some think that their hourly rate is worth much more than others.  This is up to you, the hirer, to decide.  In the process of making this decision, whatever you do, DO NOT accept their first proposal.  Time, while valuable, is also incredibly negotiable!

I'm also learning that items, other than services, are also worth bargaining for.  Example #1: my wedding dress purchased online.

I don't know if you know, but...

Like, seriously, love it.  (Ever watched Extreme Couponing? OMG!)

So here's the Bridal Party Attire Story:
The Groom knew exactly what he wanted to wear and exactly how he wanted the Groomsmen to look.
The Bride had no idea what she wanted the bridesmaids to wear as long as they look pretty :)
The Groom scouted out his preference, signed up for the email list and patiently waited for the right time to buy.
The Bride scoured websites, walked through the mall and not-so-patiently worried about finding the perfect dresses.
The Groom's time came over the weekend.
The Bride's moment arrived yesterday.
The Groom entered his favorite suit shop, coupon in hand (err, signs in the store), and purchased - not rented - SIX suits at the cost of Buy ONE Get TWO Free.
The Bride created an account on the discount designer flash sale website and purchased FIVE Vera Wang dresses at 55% off.
The Groom walked away with $2,202 in savings.
The Bride logged off with $605 in savings.

Not too shabby.

(I'm pretty excited about this, can you tell?!)

Pics of the New Place!

Sometimes I feel like all of my sentences and titles end in exclamation points. I'm just happy I guess!

Some pics of the new place...

Our new, beautiful hutch full of Grandma's china.

Cherry wood dining table to match the hutch.  Sorry for the mess... tomorrow's cleaning day!

Groom enjoying Friday date night.  While I blog :)

Creepy-eyed Pugsley showing off his new bed. 

This is just a taste of the place.  Eventually we'll have pictures on the wall, boxes put away and it'll actually look nice.  Until then, I hope this holds you over!

Happy Friday!

A Daytime Affair?

During my hunt for the perfect venue, it has been a topic of discussion as to whether or not the wedding has to be in the evening.  My immediate reaction is, "Well, of course it has to be in the evening."  MOB thinks otherwise.  Several of the venues that we've considered do have discounted rates for morning or afternoon ceremony and reception.  However, the venues that only have space for one wedding per day do not offer the earlier-in-the-day discount.  When an earlier event was suggested to the Groom, he suddenly lost all of his big boy words and out strung words such as "dumb" and "doesn't make sense."  When I asked why he felt so strongly, his simple reply is that he just wouldn't show up.  Why does our generation feel so strongly about weddings being in the evening?  Is it a generational thing?  Have you been to a wedding during the daytime?  Was it fun?  Have weddings lost the feeling that they once suggested - love, two people vowing to spend the rest of their lives together - and turned into straight-up parties?  If so, it's a sad day...

No, we are not truly considering a daytime affair but if we were, would you talk about us behind our back?!

On a lighter note, I think we may have found the place.  I'll keep you guessing and post more in the coming week.  I have to go to bed now so I can be ready for THE MISS UNIVERSE PAGEANT tomorrow night!!  Whoohooo!!