my "other" wedding

Is it just me, or does anyone else have their actual wedding and then their "other" wedding? No? Okay, maybe it's just me.

Anyway, the future mister and I lived in Lexington, Kentucky for two years while he was getting his Master's at UK. Had we stayed there, our wedding would have most likely looked completely different than the one we are planning now.

I think our venue would have been here:

Talon Winery & Vineyards

Check out the barn! (source)

(photo by Clay Jackson Photo)

And the groom, groomsmen, and other men would definitely head on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail as a pre-wedding activity. My dad completed the entire trail and got a free t-shirt!

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Our favors would definitely be these:

Mini bottles of Maker's Mark! (source)

And maybe our cake toppers would look like this:

So cute! (source)

We might name our tables according to famous race horses - Barbaro, Secretariat and Man-O-War, to name a few.

And our save the dates may look like these:

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And maybe we'd serve Ale-8-Ones, mint juleps, and mini hot browns. What?! You've never heard of a hot brown? Basically it's a heart attack waiting to happen - a 1,000+ calories, open faced sandwich with turkey, bacon, tomato, cheese, and mornay sauce, placed under the broiler until perfectly melty and gooey. Pure gluttony.

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Our guests, oh they would most certainly wear hats. Kentucky Derby style. Yes, there would definitely be hats.

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Well, there you have it - my "other" wedding. The ideas I have for our actual wedding are just as great, if not better. And who knows, maybe I'll incorporate some of these ideas to celebrate our Kentucky past.

What would your "other" wedding be like?

finding the perfect venue (the final installment)

Which one did we choose? Well, The Hill, of course! It had pretty much everything we wanted, with the added benefit of being in town. The Hill is owned by Lee Epting, who also owns Epting Events (check out their blog for other events they've done). I think I first heard about Epting Events and The Hill through the wedding blogs when I saw this absolutely gorgeous wedding.

(photos by Our Labor of Love)

Since Epting Events rents this venue exclusively to their clients, they will be our event planner as well. One great thing about them is that they pretty much handle everything (or as much or as little as you want) - catering, florals, rentals, etc. We paid our deposit to lock in the date and have an initial proposal that includes a sample menu, but right now we're pretty much in a hold since the wedding is still so far away. But that's okay with me! I was just so happy to have such a big "to do" marked off my list.

What was the first wedding "to do" that you marked off your list?

finding the perfect venue (part 3)

hmm...now where was I? Venues, I think. With all that dress excitement, I almost forgot.

So there ended up being three venues that the future mister and I visited.

1. John Oliver Michael House

Pros: historic, LOVED the room for the bridal party to get ready
Cons: 15-20 minutes outside of town, the barn was small, fairly new and not quite as rustic as I would have liked

2. Tucker Plantation

Pros: historic, rustic, air conditioned, gorgeous
Cons: 20-30 minutes outside of town, poor lighting in ceremony area, bridal suite not as nice, more expensive

3. The Hill

Pros: historic, rustic, beautiful houses for the bridal parties to get ready in, and only 5 minutes from downtown!
Cons: the reception won't be in an actual barn

Did you make a pros and cons list while searching for a venue?

NYC day 2 - Kleinfeld's (part 2)

After my magical moment, just to be sure, we went back in the dressing room and I tried on about 15 other dresses. Unlike before when everything was just a pretty dress, now nothing could even compare. It was like night and day. So we put that dress back on, just to triple check. My heart started racing again. Yep, I was POSITIVE. This was THE ONE. So, of course, WE SAID YES TO THE DRESS! In a whirlwind of activity, my measurements were taken, I spoke to Anne again about customizing my dress to be more of a sweetheart neckline, and we filled out the paperwork. We received an extra discount, per Ronnie, plus some other extras were thrown in as well (including the dress customization, which usually costs 10% of the dress). Then we put down our deposit. Instead of doing alterations closer to where I live, I decided to have the dress sent to my parents' house so that I can get my alterations done at Kleinfeld's. This way, I get to see all of my new Kleinfeld friends, have my mom with me, and also have an excuse to go into New York a few more times.

Me with Camille. And see that below? That's a picture of a very happy bride-to-be who just found her dream dress.

Any other Kleinfeld brides out there? What was your experience like?

NYC day 2 - Kleinfeld's (part 1)

FINALLY - the long awaited Kleinfeld's post. Our appointment was at 11:30 am on a Friday. We arrived a bit early to a room full of brides-to-be and their friends, family, etc. There was a sign alerting patrons to the filming of Say Yes to the Dress and the possibility that you might be in background shots. After some waiting, some of the consultants started to come out to collect their brides. It was kind of surreal to see these people in person that I usually watch on TV every Friday night. My consultant ended up being Camille - she was incredibly nice and very knowledgeable! She led my mom and I into our dressing room to put down our things and discuss my inspiration photos (which, by the way, you are REQUIRED to bring at least 5). I also showed Camille photos of my venue. We completely lucked out with our appointment because that day was the first day of Anne Barge's trunk show. Bridal week was only the week before, so this was the first day her new dresses were being shown to the public.

Camille took us out onto the main floor to start looking at Anne Barge's collection. I wasn't a huge fan of the first dress she showed me, but said that I would try it on. We chose a few more, I was introduced to Randy (!) and Anne, and then we went back to try everything on.

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This was the first dress I tried on (not the first dress Camille picked). Sweetheart neckline, a-line skirt, lace appliques. It was very pretty, but like all of the other dresses I had already tried on - no emotional response. I liked the neckline and the ruching at the waist, but I wasn't crazy about the a-line. Anne came in and explained that the dress could be customized so that the skirt was more fit and flare and they showed me some different variations.

The next dress I tried on was the first one that Camille had picked out. She thought it would be the perfect fit for my venue. It was fit and flare and had a slight dip instead of a full sweetheart neckline, a tiny bit of sparkle, and very romantic. Of course I didn't notice any of this until I put it on - on the hanger it didn't really look like much at all. It looked very nice, very pretty - but still no emotional response. But Camille and my mom really liked it, so we went out to one of the mirrors on the main floor. Then they put the matching veil on my head. And it happened. It FINALLY happened. My heart started to race and the tears started to flow. Anne came over again and told me that I was the first bride (other than the model) to even try the dress on and that it was exactly how she envisioned her design. It was a wonderful experience!

Did you hold out for an emotional response while dress shopping?

NYC day 1

I arrived home last Tuesday, mom and I got mani/pedis and ran errands on Wednesday and by 10:30 am Thursday we were in the big apple. Here's a photo I took while en route (good thing mom was keeping her eyes on the road!).

My first appointment was at noon at a place called The Designer Loft. This place was pretty low key and they had a nice selection. Just like the first time I went dress shopping, however, everything I tried on just felt like a pretty dress. I wanted to have THE FEELING - the heart racing, tear inducing, choirs of angels singing feeling. So far, no such luck. My favorite from this store was a Pronovias design from a few years ago - Lydia. For the life of me I cannot find a picture. But even though Lydia was pretty, I knew in my heart it wasn't the one and at that point was getting discouraged that it would even happen at all.

Later that afternoon we went to my second appointment at a place called The Bridal Garden. Their website explains that they are a non-profit bridal boutique that benefits New York City school children. Dresses and veils are donated to them from top designers such as Vera Wang, Amsale, Monique Lhuillier, Melissa Sweet, Jim Hjelm and many others. We didn't have the best experience there, not to mention the fact that I didn't see any dresses by the designers above or any others I recognized. But I would still recommend The Bridal Garden to brides who are maybe a bit more flexible in what they are looking for.

Overall, it was a wonderful first day in the city, spending time with my mom, enjoying the sights and sounds. But what TRULY mattered was my appointment the next day. Up next - Kleinfeld's...

say yes to the dress

What could possibly make me and my mom's wedding dress trip to the city even more enjoyable? We snagged an appointment at Kleinfeld's! Actually, mom tried to make an appointment but they were booked solid through the weekend. So mom decided to email the co-owner/CEO Ronald Rothstein. She figured that she would just get an automated response, but Mr. Rothstein emailed her back with his home phone number so he could speak to her directly. Monday I received a phone call from Mr. Rothstein as well as his personal assistant - they were able to fit us in on Friday. I am soooo excited! I love to catch episodes of Say Yes to the Dress whenever I can - so this will be quite the experience. Mr. Rothstein's assistant told me that if I end up wanting to purchase the dress that is currently at the top of my list (it's from 2006, so they no longer have the sample in their store), all I have to do is ask my consultant to order it for me. Looks like I'll have a dress by the end of the weekend. Yippee!

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