As photographers go...

We met with our first photographer at a Starbucks on Tuesday night. Abi (my best friend and maid of honor) referred Tim Tabailloux to us, even though she personally doesn't know him well (it turns out). Tim Tab Studios. I've been avidly following all the wedding photos he posts up on his blog and I REALLY like his style. It's a photojournalist fashion, full of candid shots of happy couples. I doubt Eric and I will really laugh that much on our wedding day, but if a photographer can make it seem like we giggled away all day, so be it!

The only problem is that his price is more than we've budgeted for a photographer. I was about to say photographs, but this price doesn't even include any actual photographs. $1500 will only buy you a day with a photographer; no photos at all! Crazy, huh? But we get the rights to the photos, so we can go get them printed anywhere at a cheaper price than what a photographer (who actually prints the photos) would charge.

My mom also referred a photographer to us, Steve Alberts; a man she met while bartending a bridal shower in Antioch. He bragged about having a photo on the cover of Brides magazine and shooting movie stars. I don't believe a word he told her, but she did. He sounded good, but after listening to Steve talk about how great of a photographer he was for 40 minutes, we both learned he was already booked for our wedding date. When asked if he could reference any of his photographer friends, he said no one would qualify for what we're looking for. What we're looking for??? I just want some photos that aren't posed portraits! Is it that hard? I even asked him if he would be available to do an engagement shoot, which he later wrote me an email saying that he was "going to pass" on the engagement shoot because he is too busy. Good riddance. Tim Tab looked way better after this... even if we can't afford him.

A wedding planner friend, Ashley, recommended her photographer friend, Ou, who is starting his own photography company right now. He said that he'd shoot our wedding with a second photographer all day for $1,000. Sweet deal, huh? Too sweet, obviously because I just got an email from him saying that he has decided to only do in-studio photos. Tim Tab... you look like a saint just about now.

I will keep you posted as we keep meeting with photographers... but it looks like first time is a charm for us!

Easy decisions

Well, just like the reception location and my wedding dress, it only took one stop to find our caterer. We had our tasting at Maravela's in Fox Lake last night. We arrived a few minutes late, but hey! We drove an hour and half from the city in traffic. I think we deserve a little leeway.

Maravela's not only does catering, but they also have their own banquet facilities. So happens that a cheerleading awards program is going on next door. Very loud, dancing, skinny girls running all over the place. But the loud music provided much entertainment to us!

We sampled a bunch of food.

• Salads- Mixed Green Salad, Baby Red Dill Potato Salad, American Potato Salad and Pasta Salad. 
• Starch- Baby Red Dill Potatoes with Butter and Oven Roasted Potatoes
• Veggie- Green Beans and Green Beans with Carrots, a "francise" blend
• Entree- Chicken with Mushroom Sauce, Meat Lasagna, Roast Beef, Pasta with Veggies

Our parents helped us select our three entree buffet; one of the items (Marinated Grilled Chicken) was actually just an extra from the party next door and it turned out great! We left with a signed contract and a caterer! I think we prefer to make things really sweet and simple. I don't know what I'd do if I had to wander to five different caterers, trying different food every other night for a month. Same as the wedding dress decision: if you are happy with what you found, why keep searching?

So there you have it: we've got our caterer. Another big decision checked off my wedding list!

Reserve the barn: CHECK!

On Saturday, we signed the contract and placed a deposit on our reception location: the Byron Colby Barn. I was worried that I should have acted sooner, but relieved when the date was still available. I guess not too many people are thinking this far ahead. We signed over a year in advance; that's how good we are!

With a $700 deposit down, our date is saved. I can start sending out Save the Dates. I've been waiting because you never know if that date is going to change. But now $700 says it's June 18, 2011. So that's that.

I wrote down the number of pillars, banisters, lights, etc. so we can start planning how many streams of twinkle lights we'll need to buy on sale after Christmas.We joked that we'll all be peepers and show up to all the weddings to get ideas.

Let the planning begin!

Introduction: Recapping the last three months

This blog is entering my wedding planning a little late. It's only been three months since I've been engaged, but I feel like a lot of stuff has already happened. Mostly because I feel like there are several battles that I've already had to overcome.

1. We've pick a date: June 18, 2011 
2. We've picked a location: Byron Colby Barn in Grayslake, IL (with much hesitation from Eric because he didn't want to have our wedding "in a barn." But this isn't your ordinary country barn with hay and animals. No. It has been refinished and hosts events like weddings all the time)
3. We've bought our wedding rings (from Steve Quick in Lincoln Square- the same place Eric bought my engagement ring at. They gave us a bottle of champagne and a really cool bottle stopper in the shape a huge diamond- totally worth it!)
4. We've (fought over and) picked our colors: Crimson Red and White/Cream (as in "creme brulee;" I can be a real blonde sometimes) 
5. And last week I bought my wedding dress. I think this is where we'll start talking...

I went shopping with my future mother-in-law, Cherie, on a Monday. I think this was a great choice of day because who goes wedding dress shopping on a Monday? Only me. And Cherie. So we had a sketch of a plan- go wedding dress shopping. We didn't make any appointments, which is something that I realized was required by most salons that Sunday night. It was too late to make any appointments. Even though, I tried to call that Monday morning before we left and no one was even open to take my call. So going to the fancy salons was out of the picture, but I couldn't afford any of those dresses anyway. 

I had a bunch of shops I wanted to go written out on little squares of paper (which are now stapled into my wedding planner as keepsakes). House of Brides. David's Bridal. Wedding Belles, Inc. and Here Comes the Bride. Not one of these shops is near the vicinity where I live. So we headed out to Schaumburg. At 9:30 AM! I don't know why we decided early morning was the time to go dress shopping, but we did. None of these shops was open at 9:30am. So we stopped at IKEA and Cherie bought some plates for her work. Woo hoo! It was about 11am when we decided we didn't like the way IKEA was laid out (we kept getting lost and going in circles). So we headed out to the first shop. The only one that opened at 11am was David's Bridal. I had read many horror stories about buying your wedding dress from David's Bridal, but I didn't make any appointments at real salons, so David's Bridal it was! 

We walked in and by passed the front desk, going straight for the dress racks. Together, we picked out at least four dresses that we liked. Now we needed to try them on. We had to sign up for a consultant to help us in order to try them on. I told her what I was looking for, what I didn't like and my price range: under $1,000. 

Filippa, my consultant, put me in a dressing room, told me to undress and she'll be back with a slip and some dresses to try. I didn't believe she wouldn't just let me try on the dresses I'd already  hidden in a bunch among the racks! Nonetheless, I was standing in my underwear hiding behind a curtain, so I couldn't do much about it. I'd even bbm'd Eric to tell him that "She's not letting me try on the dresses we picked out. Weird." Filippa turned out to know everything about wedding dresses stocked at David's Bridal! Well duhh! I don't really know what I was thinking when I look back at the situation. I'm no wedding dress expert! My word to brides looking for a wedding dress: Just tell the consultant and let them do the work. They know what dresses the shop has; you don't. 

I tried on my first dress, one that I actually stashed away earlier. It was just beautiful. It fit perfectly. Hid all the things I wanted hidden. Had just the right beading. It was even WHITE (one detail Eric and his mom wanted; not ivory). I didn't even look pasty. The beading even highlighted my blonde hair. My only complaint was that the train was a little plain. It has no details; just white. I'm not going to describe the dress here just in case Eric wanders upon this blog. It's just about the only detail of the wedding he isn't part of and I'd like to keep it a surprise. But I did indeed purchase the first dress I tried on. 

I'm not stupid. I tried on about eight dresses before I could make my decision. It took three hours. And I didn't eat any breakfast. So Cherie and I decided we needed to eat and think the purchase over. Filippa was very understanding, especially after Cherie slipped her a $20 on our way out the door. I knew this was the dress and I really didn't want to spend another three exhausting hours of trying on dresses. I don't know how women enjoy putting their hands over their heads, pulling in and out of those huge skirts for hours at different shops. I felt comfortable with Fillipa. I didn't feel like I was being sold a dress. Just that I had the chance to try on a few different styles and find the one I liked best. I had found the one I liked best. Why not just get it over with? One less thing for me to think about. 

We picked up my mom from Antioch and rode back over to the DB in Schaumburg. I tried on two dresses that I had limited it down to but I think I already knew the dress I wanted. We found a veil that matched perfectly. It may have cost almost $200 for a piece of mesh with some beads, but it is really pretty. I packed up, purchased the dress and left with it that night. Once I find my shoes, I can bring the dress in to be hemmed and then they'll also clean and steam the dress so it looks good. It may have been off the rack, but I think it fit just right. I like knowing that they can't order the wrong sized dress or that it won't fit brand new, since they tend to be smaller. I need no alterations besides a short hem. And that 's the story of finding my wedding dress. I slept really good that night!