Bridesmaid Dresses

One of my big tasks for recent my New York trip was to convince my brother to make my bridesmaid dresses. I picked two dresses right from his studio collection and he couldn’t say no. Now my side of the bridal party is dressed! He is such a good brother.

I have five bridesmaids and went back and forth deciding if I wanted them all in the same dress or in different dresses. I finally decided on two dress styles in the same color that should be flattering on all my girls. One of the dresses is right off the runway of his fall collection. It is a Satin-faced organza draped one shoulder dress with bubble skirt. He suggested that we change the bubble skirt to an a-line to be more flattering on a “real women”.

The other dress is a very simple strapless satin-faced organza draped dress. Again, he suggested an a-line to make all the girls look like they go together.

For the color, I am going totally away from my wedding color palette. I am in love with the teal color of the dresses in his studio. I got great advice from a recent bride when talking about colors. She told me that everything really doesn’t have to match. Why would you want your bridesmaids in the same color as the tablecloths? I have taken this to heart recently since I have been really struggling with my tablecloth choices. I am so excited that the dresses for the girls are chosen. Now I can sleep well and dream about shoes.

Color Palette

Picking wedding colors has been a really challenging task for me. I have a really hard time visualizing how the colors will come together, so I keep changing my mind. I have two pieces that are non-negotiable when it comes to colors, my glass bluebirds that will decorate my tables and a bouquet that I fell in love with in a bride magazine. I tore out the page and forgot which magazine it came from (hence the horrible scanned image).

I originally thought this orange/blush color floral would be really nice with bright green, hot pink and maybe some yellow touches thrown in. Sunset colors, was what one florist called this color palette. I was going with this until Evan made a comment that I always pick those colors. “I do?” I thought, and then he gave the example of my living room and our Christmas tree. Ahhh! I can’t have my wedding colors match my living room!

I needed to alter the plan, but that bouquet is staying no matter what. So I think I am editing them down to orange/blush, bright green, cream and possibly periwinkle. I really liked how the periwinkle table cloths at my engagement party offset the cobalt blue that is similar to the color of my birds.

I keep going back and forth to see if this blue will look nice in the space at the Max. Or maybe a more champagne color for the table cloths? I will definitely have gold chiavari chairs, because we are using those for the ceremony, so the table cloths have to go with gold chairs. Does anyone have a recommendation on what is the best way to pick wedding colors?

Bluebirds

When we first started wedding planning, Evan and I discussed using the Bluebird of Happiness for our décor/theme. We weren’t sure how we would incorporate them, but knew they would be a nice homage to our life in Arkansas and to his grandparents who were also bluebird collectors. We got our first taste of how the bluebird would play a part in our special day once we started talking invitations. Evan’s good friend and blog-spiration of mine, Ann of Still Dottie, is generously designing our invites and put together adorable save the dates with a bluebird image that she designed from our Bluebird of Happiness. I would love to share these, but we haven’t sent them out yet, but here is a quick preview of the bluebird image that will most likely become of theme for all of our printed materials.

Wedding Dress Consultation

As I mentioned on my blog, Mom and I headed to New York this weekend for a two day trip to spend some time with my brother and have a wedding dress consultation. Monday, we went to my brother’s studio to try on dresses! I had already sent him pictures of dresses that I liked and he had put together a couple sketches.

I got to try on a handful of dresses from his most recent collection to see different style bodices, dress styles and get an idea of a fit. I tried on one of my favorite dresses from the collection, the Satin organza side-ruffled cocktail dress in Oceanic print. I tried on two dresses that were recently shown on Oprah, the Black tiered chiffon dress and the Satin-faced organza draped flounce gown, which is going to be the inspiration for my dress. My dress is going to be essentially this dress (first and last dress shown), with the side panels removed so that it is straight. It is going to be white with ivory flounces. I can't wait to see it in real life!

Things To Do: River Walk

Planning our Destination Detroit Wedding has really opened my eyes to all the interesting things the city has to offer. I hope to post some details of fun Detroit sites and activities for our out of town guests over the next few months.

It is hard to imagine it now in the cold weather, but the Detroit River Walk is a jumpin’ spot in the summer months. The Riverwalk is a paved walkway that extends 3 1/2 miles along the Detroit River. It just so happens to go right past the Omni Hotel, one of the hotels where we will have a room block. You can spend the day walking the Riverwalk, stopping at the sites along the walk, such as the Chene Park, Rivard Plaza and the Butterfly Gardens.

If walking isn’t adventurous enough for you, you can head to the Wheel House Detroit, rent a bicycle and ride it in style. The Wheel House has Cruisers, Hybrid and Tandem bikes. The rates range from $15-$28 for a two hour rental, depending on what kind of bike you want. They also have guided tours through different parts of Detroit City.

Spending time on the River Walk could be a really fun way to spend the day Saturday before our wedding. Just make sure you leave enough time to get pretty for the big event starting at 7:30pm.

Bridal Nightmares

Source

I guess that it is pretty common to dream about your wedding day and even have a nightmare or two when the stress is high. I am not particularly stressed at this moment, but definitely had my first shocking bridal nightmare.

I dreamed that it was the day of the wedding. I was getting ready in my suite at the Omni Hotel in Detroit, bridal party all around chatting and getting beautiful. Then for some reason, I had “misplaced” my dress. Everyone in the room went frantic. Hotel employees and assistants were running around trying to find it, phone calls were being made to I don’t know who explaining that we might be late. Then, in walks a guy who very closely resembles Donnie Brown, one of the wedding planners on “Who’s Wedding is it Anyway”. He was holding a large garment bag up high like a trophy. A sigh of relief comes over all the other people in the room as he announces proudly, “I have it right here, everything is going to be ok.” Then he unzips the bag and reveals a gold sequin nightmare of the dress. I plead with him and try to tell him, “this is not my dress!” He looks at me calmly and says with a southern accent, “Well, honey, it is just too late and your just gonna have to wear this one.”

Ahhh! I need to get my designer on the phone, quick!

Wedding Day Transportation

As our Destination Detroit City Wedding planning moves further along, we have been trying to find a fun way to get all the out-of-towners to the wedding site and back to their hotels safe and sound on the wedding night. We would like our guests to be able to avoid rental cars and drawing straws for designated drivers. And we know the distractions on Woodward can be crash worthy.

It seems that party buses are all the rage these days. But the idea of having a limo style bus with a stripper pole as my wedding day transportation doesn’t sit well with me. We have been researching different shuttle services and I think we have found the one. A BIG RED Trolley! It holds up to 40 passengers, which will hopefully be enough room to get our whole group to the ceremony on time. The air conditioned, padded seat trolley will run loops for the remainder of the evening to make sure that all of our guests arrive safe and sound back at their hotels.

Link

Photo Sites

Considered the symbol of Detroit, the 26-foot statue sculpted by Marshall Fredericks in the 1950s depicts a seated man holding a sphere in one hand and a family group in the other. It is located by the City-County Building at the base of Woodward Avenue, across Jefferson Avenue from the GM Renaissance Center. The statue's plaque reads, "Through the spirit of man is manifested in the family, the noblest human relationship." Link

A Destination Detroit Wedding must include wedding photos at famous Detroit landmarks. We had a couple of sites in mind that were “must sees” during our recent trip. The Spirit of Detroit and The Fist being two of these. We didn’t have a lot of time to go site seeing, so we planned to do a drive by. Well we ended up staying longer than planned because we got in a fender bender right in front of The Fist! We drove right into the back of an SUV with a trailer hitch in Evan’s Mom’s car…oops. Fortunately, no one was hurt.

Dedicated on October 16, 1986, Monument to Joe Louis was commissioned by Time Inc. for the City of Detroit to honor Joe Louis. The monument is a 24-foot long arm and fist held in balanced suspension from a pyramidal support of bronze poles. Weighing approximately 8,000 lb., it rises 24 feet above a major downtown intersection. Link

Our interest in the Fist came from its appearance in the opening credits of the HBO show, Hung. The beginning of the show starts with its star walking by different Detroit landmarks including a Coney Island restaurant and under the People Mover. I just love the idea of our wedding photos including recognizable Detroit sites. Other ideas for wedding photo sites include the Riverplace Walk overlooking the Canadian Skyline and riding in the People Mover.

The Dress

(Oscar De La Renta)

For most brides, the dress is one of the most important aspects of the wedding. They spend hours trying on dress after dress. I've seen those Bridezilla shows. I know what goes on at a dress fitting. There is almost always a meltdown at the dress shop. Mothers and daughters can't agree, the bridesmaids get bored and act annoying. I am so happy that I don't have to go through all of that. Don't get me wrong, the dress is very very important to me and I always love a shopping day with my girls. I simply do not have to stress about a dress. At least that is one thing that I can mark of my list of wedding things to stress about.

I feel that I need to announce officially that my brother is making my dress. We were supposed to talk dress at the Engagement Party a few weeks ago, but things were really hectic, so last week I sent him this email:

So I know you are busy, being on Oprah and everything, but when is it going to be all about me? lol I'm kind of kidding. Actually, I wanted to talk dress, since I don't know when I will see you again. Here are the pictures of the dresses that I would like to inspire my dress....

Not many girls can email their dress designers with dress-spirations when ever they feel like it. I am a very lucky bride. The little joke in this email came from something my brother said right after he won Project Runway. He told Sweet Pee (fellow PR Contestant) "My sister better not get engaged or anything because this year is all about me." Well, he had 2008 and 2009, so I put dibs on 2010! He can have the spotlight back in 2011.

(imagine this in white, from my brother's new collection as seen on Oprah!)

(imagine this longer and in white, also from my brother's new collection)

Michigan Trip

Being an out of town bride can be a little tricky. I am finding this out as I am planning my "Destination Detroit" wedding. When picking wedding vendors, we have to go off of who has the best website or who sent me enough spam mail for me to notice. We also have to do most of our communicating through email. That can makes things a little tricky. Fortunately, our venue, the DSO, has recommended some wonderful caterers that they work with on a regular basis. But for florist, photographers, djs and everything else, we are kind of on our own. We do know some people in the area that have given recommendations, thank goodness. It is still a bit tricky trying to narrow those down from afar.

To my excitement, we are headed for Michigan this weekend and have a million meetings scheduled. We will meet with florists, caterers, photographers, look at hotels, seek out things to do in down town Detroit and scope possible wedding picture sites. We will also be testing out transportation via shuttles and airport service companies. That is a lot in 4 days. Oh yeah, and did I mention we are also visiting family in the Detroit area and in Grand Rapids? It is going to be a whirl wind trip. I can't wait!

The Venue

I have wanted to post this update for a while now. It is official, our deposit check has been cashed and we have a WEDDING VENUE!!

We are officially getting married at the Max Fisher Music Center in Detroit Michigan, home of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. I know that Detroit is not the usual spot for a destination wedding, but it is going to be wonderful. The Music Center is a theatre (as you might have guessed) so our ceremony is going to be in one of the rehearsal rooms. Our cocktail style reception is going to be in the lobby, a four story open Atrium.

This venue would definitely fall into the “other” category of wedding venues, but it is perfect for what we want. We want our entire reception to feel like the cocktail hour. We want fun music to start almost immediately and we want our guests to mingle with one another and have a really really good time! At many weddings I have been to, the cocktail hour is my favorite part. I always dread that time in the middle, when you have to sit at a table, act civilized and wait for the dinner service. I am a really good table filler because I will talk to anyone, so I usually end up sitting with people I don't know and am usually served last. That means I’m sitting for 30-45 minutes just waiting for the dinner to be over, making small talk with strangers anxiously awaiting for the party to start, so that I can dance and talk to the people who I actually know.

This type of venue allows us to be a little alternative in our wedding style, with no assigned seating, a mix of high and low tables and a get away on the second floor of the lobby for people who want to mingle without the loud music. They even have a smoking balcony. I don't smoke (anymore) but I love the idea of smokers not having to stand on Woodward late at night. I am very very excited about starting our planning for our Destination Detroit event.

We are headed up to “the D” the first weekend in November to meet with Caterers, Florists and Photographers. Now that the venue is confirmed, the madness can begin!

Max Fisher Music Center
Home of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
3711 Woodward Avenue
Detroit, MI 48210

Welcome

Thank you for visiting our wedding website! As a bride to be, I hope to keep you updated on all things wedding over the next 8 months of planning. I am even going to try and get my groom to chime in from time to time. We are getting hitched in Detroit Michigan on June 26, 2010. We hope you enjoy reading about our wedding details!