Calling All Spring ''09 Brides ..

[areagirlsbestfriend]

How far along are you with plans? A year sometimes seems like ages, other times I think it will be here before I know it ..

So far, I have the reception booked, and I have solid ideas of who I want for photograhy and DJ, it''s just a matter of giving deposits, etc. Ceremony will be at our church, just have to make official request/set up marriage classes, etc.

Going dress shopping early next month. Have a couple ideas for color schemes, but that will be dependant on what dress my bridesmaids and I ultimately choose.

How goes it for everyone else getting married next March, April or May? What are your themes, etc.?

Thanks!

 

[Shannon72781]

Hi there! I''m getting married April 25, 2009 and have done the followign so far:

*Booked reception/ceremony venue
*Purchased dress: http://www.jimhjelmvisions.com/jim_br/display_dress.php?imageno=8763&multimatch=x
*Booked Photographer (I love his work and he books quickly, so I put a deposit down ASAP!)
*Booked ceremony musicians

In April-May I''ll start looking at officiants, DJs, and florists. Then I''m pretty set for awhile. Planning has been pretty stress free so far (knock on wood) but we''re also having a 16 month engagement.

Any other Spring 09 brides out there?

 

[areagirlsbestfriend]

Shannon I LOVE that dress I think we''re talked before .. I would really like to try it on.

What are you doing for BM dress color/style?? Any thoughts on that?

 

[Aloros]

Well I''m getting married in April ''09 as well, aiming for the 25th. I bought my dress (ebay, yay! I love it!) and we''ve been trying to pin down a reception/ceremony site. We''re looking at another this weekend, but FI wants to look at at least two more before we make a decision. Whhhy?

I think I''ve got the color scheme nailed down. We''ll probably ask our friend to photograph, and another friend to officiate. I''m leaving all the music up to FI. He''s always had much more clear ideas for wedding music than I ever had.

 

[Shannon72781]

Oh you''re right, I think we have!

Thanks for the compliments, it really is a loverly dress and I am so excited to wear it!!

I have picked out sage and ivory with apricot accents as our colors. I think they''ll be classic and work well for a mid-Spring wedding. I have not decided on BM dresses yet- I''ll probably wait until I can get them all together for a weekend day and go shopping together. I did see this on the Ann Taylor website and I was immediately drawn to it:

http://www.anntaylor.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=5117&N=1200160&pCategoryId=193&categoryId=1159&Ns=CATEGORY_SEQ_1159&showAll=Y&defaultColorNameFromCategory=Berry&defaultSizeTypeFromCategory=Misses

The green is the perfect color and I love the dupioni silk. However, I would wait to have the girls buy it when it goes on sale, as close to 200$ is a pretty steep price.

Here''s one from Jim Hjelm I love that has lace accent that would match my dress. I don''t know the cost though and would probably buy online from Pearl Place or something since JH can be $$

http://www.jimhjelmoccasions.com/dress_db_occ/display_dress.php?imageno=5810&multimatch=x

Ivory lace over the sage would be quite pretty.

have you come up with anything yet?

Aloros - hey, we could possible be date twins! We chose that date since prices in my area go up once May hits- so being that it''s the last Sat. in April it seemed pretty perfect for us. What colors are you doing?

 

[areagirlsbestfriend]

Aloros, that''s great! And it''s good to look at a couple, too. We looked at four total, and then I did a lot of research online to find out prices before ruling certain places out. We finally settled on our venue and officially booked it with a deposit a few weeks ago - it was a tedious process though, def.

Would you mind sharing your color theme idea? I''m torn between a few .. I really like the idea of celadon green, champagne and rose. But then I keep thinking I''ll substitute the green with a different color .. it varies by day, lol.

 

[areagirlsbestfriend]

Shannon, I love those colors! That''s very similar to what I envision, except rose instead of apricot. Apricot sounds lovely.

And those Jim Hjelm bmaid dresses would be perfect with your dress!!

SO WEIRD, I looked at those exact Ann Taylor dresses in the meadow green. That''s where my tentative color scheme originated from.

 

[Aloros]

We''ve looked at four places so far, one of which I would count as a distinct possibility.

Shannon - possible date twins, yay! Yeah, I picked it out for the same reasons, and it will be less likely to be raining here in late April! FI and I really want to have our wedding outdoors.

Our colors aren''t really typical for a spring wedding. FI wanted dark red and black, since he likes the way they look together and think they are very elegant. I thought that would be a bit dark, so we''ve agreed to add tangerine to the mix to brighten things up.

 

[areagirlsbestfriend]

dark red and black are SO elegant. I was in a bridal shop the other day and saw THE most gorgeous black bridesmaid dress with dark red sash. I think those colors, with tangerine, will look completely unique at your spring wedding.

 

[Shannon72781]

Great minds think alike, Areagirlsbestfriend

The color of those dresses are just so pretty. ROSE would look beautiful! It''s a stronger color than a light pink but would definintly compliment the celadon green. Do you have any inspiration pics? I''m still collecting mine!

Aloros- We HOPE to have our ceremony outside (it''s actually in a tented paviliion, pic attached) and also our cocktail hour outside. Then for the reception, we would move inside the mansion. I''m in NY, so I hope the weather cooperates!

 

[sarahmills]

hi guys...i''m new to these boards, but i am a spring ''09 bride. our big day is april 25, 2009 (date twins with you shannon...actually it looks like we have a lot in common and very similar taste! we have booked our ceremony/reception location (www.highgrove-nc.com), i think i have found my dress (http://tinyurl.com/2963jg), and i have a florist in the family so i''m good with flowers. a photographer is next on our list of things to tackle.

i have enjoyed the planning process so far, although it can get overwhelming at times as there are so many things to consider!

 

[zoebartlett]

I''m not a 2009 bride but I wanted to say that I LOVE your dresses Shannon. I think I literally sighed out loud when I saw it (it looked familiar -- you''ve posted about it before, right?). And the colors you''ve chosen -- LOVE them!

Sarah, welcome to PS! Your venue and dress are really pretty!

Zoe

 

[areagirlsbestfriend]

sarah - your venue looks AMAZING. welcome

 

[mjso]

I''m a spring ''09 bride as well (May 1, 2009). And I agree, sometimes it feels like it is forever away! But then I think it will be here sooner than I am expecting. Originally we were shooting for April 25, 2009 (apparently a very popular date!) but our venue doesn''t do the ceremonies on the beach until May, which actually worked out well, since my parents anniversary is April 30th, so ours will be the day after theirs.

Our basic theme is Beach/Ocean side wedding. The ceremony is outside, then the guests go inside for a cocktail hour and then come upstairs to the formal dining room which has these HUGE windows overlooking the beach/ocean which they will light up for the evening so we can still see/hear the ocean in the background. Also, there are lots of outdoor decks that guests can go out to during the cocktail hour/reception which was important to FI to have as much outside time as possible, while I also wanted outside, but I did want a formal dinner/dining room for dinner.

So far we have
- booked a venue for the reception and the ceremony (same place).
- discussed the bridal party, but haven''t made final decisions or notifications yet. (the best man and MOH know who they are).
- chosen colors sort of - we are doing some form of purple and aquamarine. Because our ceremony is on the beach, I wanted to pull in the water color, and FI was insistent on purple.
- I''ve looked at bridesmaid dresses with my MOH, but no decisions.
- we have had a preliminary meeting with our Invitations creator (who is a relative of mine) and we have sort of nailed down an idea for the save the dates. We need to do a photo shoot with our dog this weekend to send her the shots, then she is going to draw up our custom designs and send us prints in the next month or so. We''re sending out the STDs around the end of May/June since 99% of our guests are out of town, so we want to give them a chance to think about yearly vacations, etc.

That sounds like a lot more than I thought I had done!

Things still left to do:
- Find an officiant
- DJ
- Videographer ? - not sure if we are going to have one
- My dress/bridal party dresses
- Our wedding rings
- Finalize Menu/Cake choices with the venue
- Finalize guest list
- Finalize Bridal Party
- Design Formal Invitations
- Favors
- Flowers/Centerpieces - I want orchids and I want non-floral centerpieces - well maybe just a floating orchid or two in with the floating candles if that''s possible
- Hair and Makeup people - I am completely clueless in this area, so I know I need people to help me. I don''t remember the last time I wore make up at all and my hair is pretty much always just straight down or in a ponytail/braid.
- Lots of other things I''m sure I''m forgetting, but I can''t think of right now!