Thursday, March 31, 2011

Can I get my morning back?

So where's the last place you expect to find a skittish bride who suffers from Cootie Phobia???
FILENE'S BASEMENT on March 18, 2011

I know, what was I thinking? Clearly, I wasn't really thinking. Cause if I'd really sat down and thought about it, there should have been no way in the world that I would have even been within half-a-kuntry-mile of Buckhead much less in da midst of the madness! Particularly since in my pre-betrothal days I have scoffed and sneered at the mere notion of participating in such foolishness. I got 99 problems but risking a limb for a dress ain't one! So how in da world did I end up on Peachtree that lone Spring morn???

I'm nosey! Pure and simple. I'll not have another chance in life to witness this firsthand so I felt compelled to seize the day!


I will say that my MOH and I had already planned to take the day off for a leisurely jaunt to NashVegas to kick-off a dear friend's Surprise Baby Shower weekend extravaganza. Since we had the day before us, we agreed to just stop by Filene's just in case we found a winner on the racks. After reading a few posts online, we agreed to:



  • Not camp out. I'm only willing to do so if my beloved VOLS are at the end of that rainbow.


  • Wait until the frenzy calmed down. Again - risking a limb for a dress just ain't prudent.


  • Not stress about the venture. Nuff said.

So we sat out with an extra buddy in tow for good luck and stepped into the jungle.


WOW. ARE YOU SERIOUS? DOES THAT GIRL HAVE ON A GOLD LAME BIKINI? DID SHE JUST BEND OVA & SHOW ME ALL OF HER BEEZWAX? ARE YOU SERIOUS? ARE THESE CHICKS REALLY WALKING AROUND IN THEIR DRAWLS???


WHAT IS THAT SMELL!?!?!?!


To say this was a disappointmet is an understatement. To say this may be one of the most overhyped, sensationalized, mismanaged and dare I say sexist displays of the wedding biz taking us for granted may be a bit dramatic but I submit the following to support my case.


First - Most of the gowns were totally old styles. I saw ONE chick, count 'EM, UNO who had two cute dresses that I actually would have considered buying. I saw far more ladies walking around desperatly seeking some of the more recent styles. So the BIG mark down was somewhat suspect. Those gowns SHOULD have been on sale! And "low" was a relative term. I heard one chick exclaim "This is a $6000 dress for $400!" Really? Would that dress really retail for $6000 today? And are you happy cause you "found" a $5600 coupon or because that is the dress you've been dreaming about?


Second - It's set up to encourage chaos. The gowns are not arranged by size or style. So apparently the girls just ran in there smashing and grabbing as many gowns as they could. Once loaded down, they started bartering which quickly took an ugly turn. Gals were sitting on stockpiles of dresses that they had NO intention of buying. But the were "theirs" and you couldn't touch them for fear of a beatdown. It was sooo pre-K. And chicks were stripping down to next to nothing all out in the middle of the floor completely disregarding our Southern sensibilities. AND since many of them had camped out, the place was funky!


Third - With all of this nonsense, the gowns were getting ABUSED! As the morning wore on, folks were just piling gowns up on the floor, not bothering to hang them properly, dragging them around or worse just walking right over them! I tried on 3 dresses and all were torn in some fashion.


Fourth - As we bid our adieus, we saw two chicks "posing" with their gowns. Both had purchased some standard issue gowns that they could have easily scored from David's Bridal while wearing clean underpants! So that got our merry bunch of three pondering what we'd just witnessed. Did some Brides take the plunge simply because they got caught up in the hoopla? By chance did they feel obligated to leave with a bag having wasted their friends' time with the camp out? Did any of the Buying Brides have remorse later and end up buying a 2nd gown under saner circumstances? I know my head's always clearer after my morning shower.


Fifth - On our way to breakfast, we saw 3 or 4 groups of girls (in their FB matching T's) heading into Demetrios' Bridal on Piedmont. Clearly, they didn't get lucky either.


I rest my case. www, you be the judge!


S3...SSH

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Oh... you wanted those back???

RSVP's...
Where do we begin?  You send out your lovely invitations that are carefully coordinated to match the envelope and matching RSVP response cards that have a .28 stamp on them.  (We will not get into how WRONG the United States Postal Service is for offering ONE lone postcard stamp design)  You get texts, phone calls and Facebook wall posts telling you how lovely the invite was and how excited they are that the day has finally come.  At first, you get a nice, steady flow of RSVP's in the mail.  Oh, yeah... looking good!  Then, it slows down a little.  Then... it is almost at a complete standstill.  After a few days of not receiving anymore RSVP's in the mail, but nearly 3 weeks left to the close of the invites, I decided to start reaching out to those who were outstanding in a way in which they might be easily accessible.  WHY did nearly half of the people that we spoke with tell us that they no longer had the postcard, or had forgotten where they placed it for 'safekeeping'?  I went into this whole thing in a very practical matter.  While it can be the cutest thing going for ME... to a typical guest, they just need the basic information so that they can show up to the shindig...  I don't think that they care that there was a polar bear on the postage stamp.  Shoot... 

And then there were THREE!

As it seems that I can delay this NOT a SECOND longer....


DRUMROLL please


Hello Everyone!!!!


Yes, the rumors are true, our already larger than life crew is celebrating Three Weddings and a Baby in 2011. No, I'm not preggers but I, S3...SSH!, am planning to wed the Cutest Thing Ever! on Saturday, Dec 3rd! Why the big secret, the reluctance to post, the Liz Taylor entrance????


Well for one, I am a bit overwhelmed! Helping the Original Zillas plan their days has given me a bird's eye view at just how stressful, crazy, exciting and admittedly FUN wedding plan can be. At first, I kept my little joy a secret cause my honey & I wanted to speak with our parents and immediate families first. Then we broadened the circle to include our closest circle of friends (though I still have a few calls to make!). And now it seems that our circle is including "dat internets" (said in my kuntriest old-timers voice)!


But more importantly...I am a SLACKER! Yes, it is true. I have grand schemes and aspirations at blogging but I never seem to make good on my plots. What's more, I am known in some circles as the world's foremost staller and can double-book like it's nobody's business! I mean well but I tell ya, if left to my own devices which includes a more than healthy dose of self-diagnosed ADD, I would stay in an infinite loop of "I meant tos". So y'all may have to prod me along this cyber journey from time-to-time else I'll fall up MIA!


But enough of that! I'm sure you want some deets on the dude, the deed, and the design.


WHO am I?

I have had the pleasure of knowing Lady RoBo and E=DC2 for now on 8 years. Since meeting, our circle of friends has grown to include a childhood best friend, a roommate, fashionista here and there, and some nuts just looking for a good laugh. We have shared A LOT over the years and so why not throw anotha wedding into the mix?


WHO is CTE?

OMG(osh)!!! He is just about...where do I start....LAWD AMERCY I grow faint just trying to describe him!!! Gracious...he is Hands down the most patient, sweetest, silliest, proudest, and strongest Giant of a Babe that a girl could ever want. *SIGH*


HOW did he pop THE Question?

CTE and I have been pratically inseperable since the day we met. Truth be told...in another post for another day...we've been talking marriage for quite some time now. We've known for awhile that we wanted to wed in 2011. So a few days after V-Day, CTE and I were waxing poetically about how much we meant to each other and our hope for our future when he very sweetly asked Me to Marry Him.


And I said Yes.


And then we chose a date - 12.3.11 (which happens to be the weekend in between our bdays!).


There you have it! The veil has been lifted. Now I don't wanna give up too much on our first date and all so till next time

S3...SSH!

Friday, March 25, 2011

The Big Reveal...

WHEN will this next chick reveal herself?  Certainly, she has exceeded her deadline to get a blog post up here?  I'm calling on the authorities to look into this! 

Website Shared

OK, I can't talk a lot about this one, I gotta go hang out with my Partna in Crime for a little while.  But, before I go... I have GOT to share this website with you.  I have fallen in love & I can't get up!  LOL  I've been dreaming about all of the different products that they have to offer and can't wait to finally figure out what I want to order!

Smarty Had A Party!  WHEW HEW!!!  Check it out and PLEASE let me know what you think!  Are your wheels just CHURNING like mad???

RoBo

Running Down the Aisle Anyone?

I've been trying to figure out my aisle runner for the last few weeks.  Talked to a few folks about taking on the challenge and having a few meetings.  And, we ALL know that I am far too complicated to have a simple white piece of carpet-like substance on the floor for the folks to walk on, no... RoBo Gal gotta have it personalized, based on the theme, all of THOSE bells & whistles, right?  Good, you know me well, then!  So... in my web searches, I've come across a few things to pique my interest!

 So, the quandary now is to figure out if the design would be handpainted by an artist OR a graphic design that is placed on the fabric by some sort of screen-printing.    Initially, I loved the idea of it being hand-designed, but then I considered having it made by a graphic artist.  I could give them some things that I was thinking of and see it before it is created to have a feel for what I want.  Also, I could use the same logo for other things... Menu Cards, Signage, possibilities go on and on!

Both of the options are on the table right now, what will be my guide?  You got it... PRICE!  LOL  I'll let you know what I come up with after this week!

Awesome Vendor Booked: ...Pho-tog-ra-phy

So, I've been a busy little bee...  bzzz... 

For all of those folks who say that there is nothing good to be found on Craigslist, I say pooh on you!  (I don't know how or why that has been my phrase as of late, but I'll roll with it for now!)  I was tired of going to websites to find a photographer within my limited budget, getting a little fatigued at folks who wanted to bring me in to upsell me to getting stuff that were simply not in my target list, and felt like I had reached the end of Google.  So, I did what any reasonable woman would do, I posted a 'wanted ad' on Craigslist.  And, the photographers that cared to work with me contacted me!  Now, why didn't I think of that in the first place?  Hmmm...

Well, I'm glad that I did what I did exactly when I did it, I found Sonya Yim!  Mr. RoBo & I met with her initially at a little restaurant and just hung out with her for a little while.  She's quite an interesting person, we had a ton of OCDs in common, and she's a pretty laid back, cool person.  We looked at the work that she had for weddings thus far and we thought that she had done a great job, we went back to the lab to make sure that it was the right decision.  I was on the high of the bridesmaids dresses almost arriving and was quickly deflated (I'll tell y'all the gory details about that one once I have a final solution, I'm telling that story ONCE), so I got scared of all vendors all of a sudden.  I reached out to her to explain our concerns - she agreed to do a photoshoot with the two of us so that we could see how well we worked together.  Not only did she come, but she bought along a second shooter with her.  (its her father in law, I read that story on her blog, it was so stinking cute, it was nearly unbearable)  We had a blast, and walking away, the guy & I already knew that we were going to go ahead and book her!

She's organized, takes a great photo, is responsive, constantly developing her talent and a pretty awesome person to boot!

So...  yep, go ahead and take a chance, honey!  Sonya Yim for RoBo photographer!  Whoop, Whoop!!!

RoBo

DOLLAR TREE FIND

Thanks to Miss Tattoo I went back to the dollar tree hoping that maybe just maybe they will have something that we need! AND GUESS WHAT?!?!?! They did!!!

My Fiance had been telling me about the cylinders he saw. They were 7 inches so I wasn't too excited about getting them!

Well we stopped by a Dollar Tree as we were headed to the movies kind of far from the house and look what we found...
9 inch cylinders!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm so excited! Only thing is we only found 8 and we need 16. However, what a coincidence that we have HALF. So I'm thinking if we can't find 8 more we can try to find 8 of something else?? WHO KNOWS!! I'm just excited about these! LOL!!

Anyone else have great finds?

E=DC2

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Card Box...in progress

I just want to shout out to the best fiance EVER!!!!!!!!!!

He painted the cardbox all by himself!! :o) No seriously...he is an artist so I trusted he would know what to do. Well he painted the boxes with the first coat of paint. We have to go over them again and of course we have to add the details!

We are hoping that this


Card box with first coat of paint...and the C will not be sitting on top! I just did that for effects! :)

will soon be THIS! :)

 well not this but something like it :)
Just thought I'd update you guys on the progress!

E=DC2

Monday, March 21, 2011

TWO BRIDES...NO THREE!



I don't know if you all have noticed but there are actually TWO brides posting on this site! SHIX and E=DC2. We are planning our weddings and also in each other's weddings! WHEW...and yes we can still manage to put a sentence together! :)

We now have ANOTHER friend that is engaged and getting married in 2011!!! She will be joining us in posting about her wedding experience. We are hoping it will be sometime this month. But we are giving her a little time to take in the thought of GETTING MARRIED, PLANNING A WEDDING, AND posting about it! LOL

Just wanted to give you all a heads up so when she does come on the scene, no on is confused that there are THREE brides on this site!

We know you all will welcome her with open arms!

I LOVE MY FRIENDS!!!!!!!!

E=DC2

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Pick a Song...

So, one of my good buds came up with an awesome idea for the reception table names.  We are going to name each of the tables at the wedding by different songs.  Love songs, or ones that mean a lot to us.  When your song is played, you hop up, dance around a bit, then go to grab your food from the buffet line.  We have had a blast pulling together the list & I had even more fun linking YouTube videos to it!

The List so far...
This group had fun with that video!
Jungle Fever soundtrack!
My family is coming to GA from VA, seems applicable!
How could you NOT have NE?  Isn't his version of the song pretty hot?  But, so is this one!  And.. this one as well!  And, last one... this dude is a BEAST with editing!
A-Town Stomp!!!  Look at the babies do it...
Man!  Could we get some singing lessons in between now & May?  LOL  
Nice to see an older guy showing off his talents!  And she's feeling it!    
Classic!    
Look at the wedding party dancing!  LOL
Acapalla!        
How could the day be complete without this one?        
Go 1:20 into the video, so silly!
He planned a SURPRISE WEDDING!
Love this song!  
Kiss - Prince   
The best footage of this song ever performed is lost, so I will not post anything else!    
Too sweet!        
Way back! 
Great Rendition!        
Yes I can!   
Sing young man! 
Classic!        
Chills up the spine!        
I LOVE her voice!   
Sang boys...        
He starts about :45 seconds into it.        
Love this version!        
Candy Rain in 2011!        
I Got It Made...

And another one... Busy Busy Busy!!!

I'm having a GREAT time at this whole wedding planning thing, but between trying to be productive and fighting U-Verse to have consistent service, I've been slacking on my updates!  Don't you wish sometimes that life would pause and allow you to have time to plan this wedding which is more than difficult enough in and of itself???  Oh, well, isn't life grand!

Rumor has it that we are about to add another blogger to our ranks.  Yep, you read me correctly.  There is yet ANOTHER pal in this circle of friends who is going to tie the knot THIS YEAR!  Wow... aren't we a busy, busy, busy crew! 

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Bloggers Day of Silence

We will be joining many bloggers in a day of silence tomorrow for the relief in Japan. I ask that you all lift those up that have been affected by this disaster.



Will you join us? Thanks guys!!

E=DC2

Makeup Trial

I was able to do a makeup trial with my good friend this weekend!!! I'm so excited!

I hope the day is MINUS that pimple! UGHHH

We played around with a bunch of different things. And ultimately will be making some other tweaks. I'm not sure about the gloss either, but we've got plenty of time! :o)

I also had one of my bridesmaids come to do a sample for them! This green iridescent eyeshadow is AMAZING!!!!! I'm in love!! :o)

What do you all think!?!

E=DC2

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Matching colors

Are you trying to match your colors perfectly???


I was finally able to pick up my swatch for my bridesmaids dresses. I'm soooooooo in love with the color.

CELADON

I admit I was having second thoughts looking at the color online. But now that I have it in my hands...I know that it's the one! :o)

So now I have it and I'm like am I really going to try to match this exactly??? Or maybe the swatch is to make sure things don't clash?? I don't know...LOL

Are you all matching perfectly?

E=DC2

Thursday, March 3, 2011

For REAL first DIY project

HOW COULD I FORGET!?!??!

Our first DIY project was our Save the Dates!!!


For the record...I will NOT be abbreviating Save the Dates! I'm going to just go ahead and type it all the way out! :o) WHEW...gives me the heeby geebies! LOL!!

We sent these out already and everyone has theirs!


YAYYYYYYY!! And guess who actually did these??? THE FIANCE!!! YES...isn't he great?? HA! Okay... enough already!

E=DC2