shape
carat
color
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Our Rock & Roll Carnival wedding is rolling along now!

jseconds77

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 30, 2014
Messages
85
Hello Pricescopers!

Remember me from [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/my-handmade-ring-is-complete-replicated-my-girls-tats.212434/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/my-handmade-ring-is-complete-replicated-my-girls-tats.212434/[/URL] thread?

I thought it would be a great idea to start a new thread as our rock & roll wedding carnival comes to life! What is an r & r carnival wedding? It's a hybrid of our lifestyle and dating history coming to fruition for all our loved ones to participate in. Mind you, this is a long and in-depth post, what did you expect? I have a flair for the written word and verbage.

We wanted a rustic barn venue because we're not a traditional kind of couple, so we spent months going on weekend road trips hunting for our perfect venue. Discouragement and frustration set in, but we leaned on each other and proved that together, we can make dreams come to fruition albeit expensive dreams.

interior-of-barn3.jpg

The owners were very friendly and we ended up staying for close to 3 hours. We get to stay the week of our wedding at their farmhouse b&b on the lake and with all their antiques in place, we felt right at home with the vision we wanted. After weighing the pros and cons and taking mental breaks with my motorcycle, guitar and yes, football we decided that it we should put down a deposit. So, thousands of dollars poorer we were still able to smile at each other and brag to our loved ones we finally secured the venue.
We know it will be a little more work because we have to DIY but with a built-in vintage soda jerk bar and our affinity for classic diners, it all came into place.

My fiancee is a brilliant designer and has such a flair for color and schemes, so merely tacking up images and cardboard rock & roll decorations was not in the cards. Relentless image sourcing for our Pinterest boards, yes, plural resulted in countless ideas but we still lacked cohesion. My father knows me all too well but still struggled to understand what a rustic barn was and what exactly we were attempting to do. My fiancee unveiled a presentation complete with mock-ups of how our venue, or how we hoped it would ultimately look. With a snap of his fingers and a bunch of 'I sees' he was on board!
 

jseconds77

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 30, 2014
Messages
85
Our dates always consisted of Ms. Pac-Man and skeeball and since my fiancee has a natural, pin-up mole like Ms. Pac-Man it was only fitting for us to build our own arcade for the wedding. Wait, what? How do those things go together for a wedding?
Lots of phone calls and e-mailing, which I found more fun than my on-site job resulted in securing 2 vintage skeeball machines, Ms. Pac-Man, and pinball. With a happy face and a few keystrokes we were rolling along.... rolling, skeeball... :lol:

skee-ball-1.jpg


Until my bride-to-be reminded me that we had to find a caterer, photographer dress, hair & makeup stylist, dessert truck, et al. And she added a lot of et. alls.... I did not want her to get too overwhelmed. Everyone wants their wedding to be perfect or as close to perfect as possible. I was so flattered when she changed her old Pinterest board(before we even met!) from 'If I get married.... to "When I get married..."
With all the inspiration we get from one another we still had to swallow our pride and admit that a wedding coordinator could be a good idea. Now we got 3 people on this! How can this not happen?! Our coordinator has 18 years of successfully making weddings happen for happy couples and as rookies, how could be we possibly top that? So months of e-mails and phone calls commenced, which are still happening to this day....Though our wedding is summer, 2017 I have a feeling we still have lots to do and time will creep up fast.

We all want to look our best on The Big Day. Still resting on my laurels from securing the arcade games, I went shoe shopping and sourced these kick ass kicks. Did she complain and gimme the 'You're not seriously considering wearing those?" routine? Nope, but she is tough on my ongoing, color matching struggles. I have multiple ties I sourced to match those kicks, or so I am hoping....
creepers.jpg

My quest for a seafoam green suit came to a grinding halt when suit makers straight faced me that it would cost comparable to a vintage motorcycle, albeit one that still needed work but still! That put things in perspective so I'm going with a modern cut black suit, seafoam/mint shirt and one of those ties that I secretly hope match.

My fiancee is looking at retro 1950-1960s style wedding dresses which she will compliment with liberty curls. I hope the check we cut to the stylist we finally found didn't bounce.....
 

jseconds77

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 30, 2014
Messages
85
Catering proved challenging because my fiancee is a big fan of TV food-based shows, and social media cooking videos. Not so much of cleaning up after cooking, though. Keeping true with our wedding theme, we sourced a lot of carnival-based dish ideas but it took me awhile to be more flexible because not everyone wants to eat what I want i.e. 'I'm a fat boy on weekends."

We learned catering costs can get absurdly high and fast, so we chose the company that usually feeds guests at our venue. I consulted with an old pal that is a pro chef and he green-lighted their quote. I still find it ironic as a non-drinker I have to purchase booze for others but common ground had me winning the Open bar is Insanely Priced discussion :) We're going with one signature drink, some craft beers and wine, I believe. I'm going with some kegs of high-end root beer and some choice bottled pop for our vintage ice cream soda fountain.

After some hunting around our coordinator scored us some vintage-styled popcorn & cotton candy machines. This is coming along nicely....

My fiancee found a very reasonably priced cupcake dessert truck, which is great because I use it to say 'Our dessert only costs this much to feed like 100 people, we should re-think (insert big ticket item here)." :naughty:
Segue to classic photo booth.
Every date we have ever gone on as well as trips together had us enjoying a photo booth. Guess how many companies have a working, classic booth and are willing to drive all the way to our wedding? Yeah, I thought so. Finally settled on this small, independent company that had just what we were looking for. Cost? $1,000. With no basis of comparison our coordinator said if it's important, go for it. I slept on it and agreed, I can always look at the bill and lament later.

Thanks so much to all of you that keep reading and leaving nice, supportive comments!
 

jseconds77

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 30, 2014
Messages
85
Hi Price Scopers,

Since I am no longer able to ride (ugh) due to motor issues my season is cut short, thus freeing up some time for me to update.
We're going to a bridal trunk show tomorrow and I'm very excited despite obviously being unable to witness my fiancee actually trying on dresses. The designer she likes is from the UK so this is a great opportunity to score THE DRESS or at least get a stronger idea of what she may want. I really liked their vintage designs and envision her going with one.
I'm left with the task of taking her family members around and showing them some form of fun for like 2 hours.

We're struggling on deciding whether to rent an actual carnival truck for fried desserts, blinking lights and all! Every quote I got months ago was absurd but for some reason this new company, thus far is reasonable. I liked the cupcake company we were originally going with because of more variety and....much cheaper price :) I know the blinking lights fit our theme perfectly but I am a reasonable man navigating the unreasonable world of weddings.

So it's been high 60's here and no rides for me. My bike sits broken (for now?) in storage and that's the sacrifice I am making. Full speed ahead with wedding plans!

Did I mention I ordered the perfect tie for me this week? Whoo Hoo. big news there :appl:

Take care everyone!
 

jseconds77

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 30, 2014
Messages
85
My fiancee scored her wedding dress! It's vintage inspired and I have no doubt she will look breathtaking.
Today is round 1 for me to go suit shopping. I have given up my quest for a seafoam colored suit as the only pics I sourced were from runway shows featuring outrageous prices. I'm going with a mint shirt to match my shoes and a modern fit black suit. I'm also hoping to change into a black shirt with mint & black striped tie tied together with a mint blazer.

Let the challenges of color matching begin! :wall: :lol:
 

jseconds77

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 30, 2014
Messages
85
Happy belated holidays to all!

I scored my wedding suit but sadly, it's not seafoam as I originally intended. I looked high and lo and it was too challenging; Ones I came close to finding cost way too much and I couldn't justify spending that much. However, I am very happy with my choice and think I will clean up nicely :wink2:

So, to anyone awesome enough to continue reading this thread I will keep updating. Let the countdown begin! It's 2017 and the date is approaching faster than I think....
 

dollyanjuli

Brilliant_Rock
Trade
Joined
Apr 25, 2013
Messages
592
i love your threads!! keep posting and updating =)
 

jseconds77

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 30, 2014
Messages
85
update....Hey all Pricescopers!

So my wrenching pal drove down state to pickup my bike and said as a wedding gift he's going to sort out my issues for free! turned out a screw was somehow ingested by my motor and caused a valve and piston damage. Piston replaced, rings replaced....should be on the road again come August :)
pending any other unforeseen issues...and there always seems to be...

oh, right...the wedding! ;p So the bridal party (2 girls) have retro, polka dot pin-up dresses and my fiancee keeps ordering shoes in the mail. We're up to 9 pairs.....And after a year's hunt I finally got a seafoam green suit jacket! I will be wearing that during the reception and while i sing & play. heh heh. looks awesome and one day I will get buried in it.

The only thing left are the final vendor and venue payments...and....the final decoration purchases and arrangements. We compiled a list so we won't forget anything. I am hopeful we'll work as a great team during setups. I wish guests were communicating better as to their accommodations but let them figure that part out. :)

Full speed ahead until July. I think we have all the big pieces in place.
 

jseconds77

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 30, 2014
Messages
85
Visited my bike and it's running well. Oh...the wedding!.....

Still awaiting the arrival of the wedding dress but it's being custom made from UK. I know these things take time but I wonder if we're cutting it close?

We're working on the life size carnival photo-op signs, well, one of us is. ;p I am not the pro designer here but I can say I am supervising? ha ha ha ha. I've been having fun with our registry because honestly, how can I merely scan something or type it in and expect a wedding present to magically appear? Boy, was I wrong! 3 hours after adding a gift idea someone made a purchase! I did not go overboard; Offered a lot of reasonable options. If people want to be nice why stop them? :)

Been working out some kinks for boarding the family pets as only one is allowed on the wedding property. Yup, an added expense. At this point the sticker shock has slowly worn off. When we come in under budget on one piece something else comes up and adds to our growing total.....

I am getting excited and want everything to work out! I am confident it will. Seeing her smile or cry out of happiness will make it worthwhile. Thanks again for the continued support! You keep reading and I'll keep posting.
 

distracts

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Oct 11, 2011
Messages
6,131
Wedding dresses always arrive really late and it's always a harrowing experience. The only people I know who had everything go right with the dress bought $10k+ dresses.

Your last post mentioned shoes and I don't know if your fiancee has checked out Hey Lady shoes but they are SUPER comfortable (and have vintage-themed styles) - I wore them at my wedding and have several other pairs I bought since then because they are super comfortable and great to wear for anything requiring heels but also lots of standing or walking. http://heylady.co/collection/
 

jseconds77

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 30, 2014
Messages
85
ok! thanks distracts. I will forward that info...I am currently looking at the pile of new shoes that keep arriving. oh jeez...
 

jseconds77

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 30, 2014
Messages
85
ugh! big issue on my part. Supposed friend reneged on bike deal; Agreed back in Feb. he would fix it as a wedding gift to me. So now my ride is good to go but he is demanding money and harassed me via phone on and off for hours! This is all petty jealousy as he knows we're saving $$ due to wedding so his timing is intentional.

Ugh. This could get legal and the last thing I need right now. I want to pay him because the work is done and keep him out of our lives but he demands cash and put in writing (online) he won't even provide a receipt.
I will be picking it up in the near future with a tow company and file an affidavit indicating his harassment and refusal to even sign a receipt. Unreal. Nice friend, eh?
 

jseconds77

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 30, 2014
Messages
85
sorry to all for bringing the above here. many more happy things to focus on.
 

jseconds77

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 30, 2014
Messages
85
It came! It came! My fiancee's dress arrived safely. Obviously I have not seen it but she was nervous and excited to receive it. I rushed home to sign for it.

I expected her feminine reactions and I was correct; Focusing on how it would flatter her figure, the weight of the material, etc. Such reactions are not uncommon so I rolled with it. I doubt it dulled the moment but all I can do is be supportive. She ultimately likes it and feels the quality was top notch but I know she wants to do some alterations to the length.
Cheers to the maid of honor and my sis for their positive support and reassurance. Honestly, I feel my fiancee makes anything glow so I am not too worried. I just want her to be more confident with her choice but I think she will be as she gets more used to how such a dress looks & fits.

thanks to all my price scopers for the positive feedback throughout! It means a lot to me.
 

Sirenagirl

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Mar 16, 2017
Messages
177
It sounds like your wedding will ROCK!
 

jseconds77

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 30, 2014
Messages
85
Thanks! I sure hope it will! I even have this new (er) addition as a backup if needed...


Can anyone chime in on what I posted regarding how they felt about their wedding dress? This will be of great help. Things are already on the up and up with it, as I thought they would be but any anecdotes price scopers wanna share?

great white 1.jpg
 

jseconds77

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 30, 2014
Messages
85
Yeah!!!! Our jack & jlll wedding shower was a success! We had it in a vintage, restored diner train car.
Perfectly suited us and everyone really looked like they were having fun. Looking thru pics it was so refreshing to see how happy I have become! My seafoam ensemble was a hit despite my dad laughing that I now have 3 suit jackets within the same color family...ha ha. I explained it took me so long to find 'em and I will be utilizing all of them throughout the shower, wedding, and goodbye breakfast celebration. Somehow this justifies spending $?

Afterward, we ran an errand at the local mall and everyone was saying how nice we looked...for the prom?! ha, it's nice to know our healthy lifestyles paid off. Feeling younger....

My fiancee's dress fitting went very well and she felt at ease after the seamstress stated the dress was quality and flattering to her gorgeous figure. Onward to the wedding....the countdown is upon us.
 

jseconds77

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 30, 2014
Messages
85
popping back in...Made the majority of the final vendor payments and we just completed our marriage license Monday! This feels even more real. I'm trying to remain level headed but with regards to money, the bills just keep coming; Ice to chairs to booze...ugh...I know it will all be worth it but I just wanna make sure all goes smoothly.

We had some bumps in the road with rsvps and people seemingly not taking that part serious enough which led to some scrambling with the shuttle service. Some family members displaying troubling behaviors but in the end...it won't rain on the proverbial parade.
We did more than our part to create an informative and updated wedding site for all guests to gather the info needed for travel arrangements.

Onward to figuring out how to load all our cars with decorations and favors etc. for the big day! It will be here before I know it so I am still working on perfecting my vows. I like that pressure but I don't wanna be regretting missing out on penning the right phrase etc. so off I go!
 

jseconds77

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 30, 2014
Messages
85
man, since I am so excited please excuse all my hurried posts. I know I write better than that!
 

Akalahab

Shiny_Rock
Joined
May 18, 2016
Messages
139
Sounds like it will be an awesome wedding - when is it? It goes by fast so enjoy every minute! To answer your question about the dress - mine was pretty hurried, we planned it all in less than 5 months and I had no idea that dresses even took a few months to order! Luckily we found one - I waffled between a few for 2 weeks and I was nervous about the mermaid one b/c I didn't want to have to go on a diet and I thought I might be too short for a mermaid gown. After a few photos from different angles, I felt better and found it in New York for a grand cheaper. I found an alterations lady in Northern Virginia with 5 star reviews in the Knot and an article about her in the Wash Post. I was really nervous about letting her cut my dress, etc even though she came highly recommended. Even after it was altered I thought maybe the bottom wasn't fit enough or the top wasn't tight enough, etc. It certainly is a lot of pressure to look one's best for one pricey day! The makeup was a struggle too since I never even used foundation and had no idea what to do with eyeshadow (still don't know) and couldn't try out a MUA for my destination wedding.
 

jseconds77

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 30, 2014
Messages
85
@Akalahab Thanks for the thoughtful reply. My fiancee finished her alterations over the weekend and to quote "I am in love with my dress" so I can breathe a sigh of relief ;-) for now...heh heh heh.
Our coordinator has been awesome so we're just setting up vendor arrival times, sound checking with our DJ, final bill from beverage distributor. I am making a list here so I don't forget anything to bring for the big day. I'd be pissed if I left something important behind.

My vows are coming along nicely but again, I don't want to look back and think "Man, I wish I wrote this one part better!"
We head out Saturday am I believe for our July 8th date. I will post awesome pics once our photographers have them edited and good to go.

home stretch!
 

jseconds77

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 30, 2014
Messages
85
long-awaited pics from the greatest day of my life! I will let the photos resonate as I let my verbage take a backseat to our happy images.

wedding moon1.jpg

wedding slow dance 1.jpg

wedding shoes1.jpg

wedding skeeball.jpg
 

jseconds77

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 30, 2014
Messages
85
more and more....the guitar was handmade and given to us as total surprise, note our reactions. the color was perfect for our theme! I did play & sing for my wife after all, yet she surprised me by joining in for a duet during the choruses!

wedding food truck.jpg

wedding rainbow.jpg

wedding guitar.jpg

wedding candy.jpg

rootbeer.jpg
 

jseconds77

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 30, 2014
Messages
85
she is my gorgeous pinup wife. Pic heavy thread but I wanna thank all my price scoper's for the year+ of support and sincere, outgoing replies and taking the time to view them all.

qife.jpg

hands.jpg

i play.jpg

duet.jpg

caca dog.jpg
 

jseconds77

Rough_Rock
Joined
Jul 30, 2014
Messages
85
cupcake wife! the single thing that went wrong but not really! Our original truck canceled giving us a week to find a replacement. Many tears and hours later....we knocked it out of the park and I learned that together, we were going to solve challenges with love, proactive ideas, and of course, teamwork!
We've both been on such a high of being newlyweds that I think this weekend is the first one where we get to sit and take it all in.

cupcake wife.jpg

booth.jpg
 

Sirenagirl

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Mar 16, 2017
Messages
177
Your wedding looks like the funnest ever!! How many guests did you have? I love the photo of you and your beautiful bride with the moon AND the rainbow!!! OMG how gorgeous are your pics? :love:
 
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