REFRESH at FRESH!

Ladies!

Have you been searching for that Perfect Dress to wear to your Bridal Shower?

Have your Bridesmaids constantly been on the search for the Ideal Outfit to wear to ALL your Festive Bridal Soirees?

Are you afraid of looking like the average Betty Bride in your Engagement Photos?

Well, Have NO Fear DC NEARLY WEDS Are Here!

Join DC NEARLY WEDS this Sunday, July 26, 2009 from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM at the Fresh Boutique of Georgetown located at 1205 Potomac Street Washington, D.C. to:

REFRESH at FRESH!

A day of SHOPPING! Mixing and Mingling at FRESH, Georgetown’s Ultra-Chic Boutique, that has a plethora of the Latest Fashions for ALL Occasions!

FRESH is the Perfect Boutique to find the Trendiest Attire for ALL the Festivities surrounding your Nuptials.

In addition to being Trendy and Chic, Fresh ALWAYS has the Best Sales!

This Sunday:

Buy Two Dresses, Get One FREE!!!

~AND~

With ANY purchase say, “I love to REFRESH at FRESH” while Checking Out to receive a FREE GIFT. (While supplies last.)

Courtesy of Mrs. Nearly Wed, Miss Not Yet Wed and DC NEARLY WEDS.

See You Sunday!

Prioritizing

I got an email from my aunt today telling me my cousin couldn't be my junior bridesmaid. Apparently with all of her dozens of sports camps blah blah blah, they can't afford to come down for it.

I'm a little, nay, a lot hurt. This is my favorite aunt, and my favorite cousin. The only cousin on my father's side that I bothered to invite simply because I have too many cousins.

I understand, I mean the economy is tough and money is tight. I just got laid off myself (on the six months till the big day day no less!) so you don't need to preach to me about not having dough, blah blah blah. I'm about to go file for unemployment today, and thinking about how we're going to pay for the wedding after all this makes my stomach hurt. I'm sure a few of you can relate.

In lieu of all this, I've made a mental note of what can be sacrificed. Flowers are getting nixed - I'll likely be doing everything myself sans the alter flowers, and the centerpieces. I'm not a big flowers person anyhow, I want to spend that money on other things like our honeymoon to either Ireland, Spain or Italy (still being debated). The Church, reception site are all pretty much set costs, I've been dragging my feet on finalizing the vendors, we've been fighting with the hotel room block for a couple weeks now. I'll probably do the invitations myself, especially with all this free time on my hands.

My mother suggested I just "plan my wedding full time." Riiiiiiight mom. 'Cause I can afford that....I understand that there are many brides who definitely feel that it could be a full time job and maybe in three months I'll feel the same but right now? M'eh.

Recently, I read in the Wall Street Journal that the average cost of a wedding is down from $28,000 to $21,000. We're looking to keep our budget at about $16,000. Shortly after getting engaged a friend of mine told she'd be surprised if we could have the wedding for under $20k. Of course hers was $50k at a high end hotel in Boston paid for by her parents...so the comparison is a little unfair. Still $16k is a decent chunk of change, but with our guest list and "must invite" people, it was hard to get much lower than that - especially in DC. There are tons of ways to cut back costs, but which ones are really worth it? At what point do you sacrifice quality for something budget friendly??

So freaders, what are you doing to cut back costs? If you or your Fiance have been recently laid off how are you accounting for that money if you're paying for the wedding yourself?

Will You....

As Miss Jeff Memorial already stated, she recently asked me to be her Maid of Honor - well technically Matron of Honor as I'll be married by then. I'm beyond thrilled - seriously - I've been going over in my head how I'll go about planning the shower (scheming with her fabulous mother I'm sure) and her bachelorette party. Excited - yes I am.

I digress, it made me think about how I asked my own bridesmaids - I wasn't creative, though I certainly wish I had been. I asked two over the phone, Fiancé's little sister in front of his family, and the only two who were really surprised were TLB - one of my best gal pals from college and Miss Jeff Memorial herself.

If I got the chance to do it over again? I'd totally go all out with AT LEAST a cute card....some I'm a fan of?

From Designs with Style [Etsy]



ALaModeBride [etsy]



From [Weddingthings.com]

The card would be presented with one of these fabulous books -



$11 [Amazon.com] (as I gave Miss JM when I asked her. Then simultaneously bought a copy for myself because I couldn't resist)

or this one....



$7 from [Give Simple]

Now I'm not one to be uber creative, though I do give myself a B+ for effort (when I actually put in effort) so I kind of failed mostly because like I said, I'm not good with surprises and I'm not good at keeping secrets and when I get excited about something I generally share it ASAP instead of waiting - thus why I asked S over the phone. I couldn't contain myself really. Same with my sister.

How did YOU ask your bridal party?

Wedding Party and Honeymoon and...

I wish two share three things; two accomplishments and then some neat little finds I wanted to share.

1) Wedding planning has taught me one thing: you have no idea what it entails until you're actually planning your own wedding. Things that seem fun? Well, they're still fun, but a heck of a lot more complicated than previously thought.



Perfect example of this: selecting your bridal party. My poor bridal party has had a series of ups and downs. A member was lost after a pretty sad and hurtful falling out. I've never really gotten my act together on who I wanted to do what. After so much drama, I kind of threw my hands up in the air and nominated my mother as Matron of Honor. Then, a couple of months later, she brought up a valid point.

"Dear Miss JeffMemorial, I know you love me. You have to, as I'm your mother. But you don't want me as your Matron of Honor. You're lucky enough to have no sisters that you HAVE to ask, so enjoy being able to choose a non-family member."

And she was right. In fact I already knew who I wanted to ask, and had thought about it for months. I just never did. Mama JeffMemorial and I chatted a bit more. She knew who I had wanted to ask for months (of course), but had hoped I would come around and do it myself. When she realized I wasn't going to she realized she needed to "give me a shove in the right direction".

But she understood. How do you demote your own mother? Thankfully I have a kick-butt mom who just wants me to be happy. Hasn't even given an opinion on the wedding unless asked for it. I love her for that.

So last night I asked my best friend, who has seen me through everything, good and bad to be my Maid of Honor, and she said yes. She also happens to be Miss Gallery Place, heh. It was really nice. I'm so glad my mom talked to me about it.

The only thing is instead of the nice lunch I had planned, this all went down at a Dunkin Donuts at Eastern Market over chocolate milk, diet green tea, and a salad. Whoops. At least I brought flowers...?

2) After some debate, Mr. JeffMemorial and I are NOT going to Colonial Williamsburg for our honeymoon. Instead we're going to NEW YORK CITY!



I'm so excited! We loved the idea of Williamsburg. I went there so much growing up... and I think that was the problem for me. I wanted to go somewhere that we were sharing together and experiencing together. Now I have been to NYC a few times (whereas Mr. JeffM has not), but with family and only a couple of times. I've never really DONE New York. And I've never been there romantically either. I think it's going to be perfect.

We're going to do all the cheesy stuff. A Broadway show... a carriage ride through Central Park... Carnegie Deli, etc. It's going to be perfect!

We'll be booking our hotel tonight at a place in Gramercy Park called Park 79.

3) Now next are a few finds. Once again, not for my wedding... or maybe? I don't know. Randomly I started looking at flower "alternatives", even though I'm going to have fresh flowers for the bouquets. And I came across some lovely pieces.



Oh, Etsy... once again, how you taunt me.

Beautiful origami flowers. Above is one designed as a garland. Perfect to string about for those garden weddings, perhaps? http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=sr_gallery_1&listing;_id=20062764



Ring pillow. I love how even though the flower is large, it looks so delicate and beautiful. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=cat1_gallery_18&listing;_id=18893164


Hanging pom kit. Would never work with our more rustic colonial style, but they look so fresh and the colors really pop. Would look great in a bright wedding with a modern flair. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=sr_gallery_4&listing;_id=20914064



Classic Bloom Necklace. I love the pairing of the feminine pearls with the flower that has an almost industrial look to it. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=sr_gallery_17&listing;_id=20926439

And that's all I have for today...

Bella Bridesmaid

So I had finally decided on the flower girl dress, and Dessy design. The next step was to find where had it for the best price. I wanted to make it as cost effective as possible for her parents. On the Dessy website, I found about 5 boutiques in the area (MD, DC, & NoVA), and I started calling. I found the best price at Bella Bridesmaid, located in Baltimore (Federal Hill). This Sunday, I went with my flower girl and her mom to have her fit for the FG dress. The place was very cool, great atmosphere. I'm kind of picky about where I go for wedding-related services. Because, I'm only getting married once, I want a nice experience throughout this planning process, and part of that experience is the environment in which I do business. Bella Bridesmaid was great. We found parking with no problem. The store was very chic, and the owner Tammy, was absolutely wonderful. She was friendly, fully knowledgeable of the designers, the sizes, and her inventory. The store carries bridesmaids dresses by designers such as:

• Dessy (incl. After Six, Alfred Sung, & Lela Rose)
• Elon Michelle
• Eve & Ellie
• Melissa Sweet
• LulaKate Bridal
• Priscilla of Boston
• Vera Wang
• Twobirds

For brides that love tea-length, BM dresses, I noticed a wide assortment of tea-length dresses in gorgeous designs. What was really great about Tammy was that she has a little girl, too, and while fitting my FG, she really made her feel like a little princess. She was just so sweet, tied ribbons in her hair, and gave her a fresh flower to practice her FG duties. My 5 year-old FG was too thrilled! She did this all while taking care of business, and giving much needed guidance on our fabric choices, and what size to order that will best fit this growing child in 3 months.

Though I walked into the store knowing exactly which style FG dress I wanted, she showed me another dress option, with the same price, which was helpful, and let allowed me to make an even more well-informed purchase decision. Tammy and her store manager kept us informed of the designer's shipping dates to ensure that we had an accurate idea of when the dress would arrive, which allowed us to get to the store just in time to have the dress shipped in good time for the wedding.

Overall, I had a great experience at Bella Bridesmaid. My FG felt like a princess and was so excited, it made me very excited about the big day. The 3 of us (FG, me, and her mom) were so glad we went. Though we went in for just the dress, I even ordered the doll-sized miniature of the dress to give FG as a gift at the rehearsal . I was surprised to find that I could order that sort of accessory through the store. I'd been planning on ordering it directly from Dessy online, but this way, I didn't have to pay shipping, and it would be cut from the same dye lot as the dress. I can't wait for both to arrive!

Zola Wine and Kitchen Now Open

Recently Star Restaurant Group, (one of D.C.'s leading restaurant development firms who also brought you Indigo Landing) Zola Wine and Kitchen. According to this Washington Business Journals article, it will be the site of a chef's test kitchen as well as a wine shop that will sell 6,000 wines. They will also be offering cooking classes during lunch!

I think this would be a really fun place to visit with out-of-town family or a fun activity for you and your bridal party. If you get to go, let me know how your visit went!

To All the Preppy Brides...

If you're like me and planning on hitting up Vineyard Vines for ties and/or sashes, take advantage of this sale (hat tip - facebook) that ends on the 25th. Fiancé and I decided long ago we'd be having the groomsmen in navy suits with VV ties - we just haven't decided what style ties (bow ties v. neckties) and what pattern.