Faith, Trust & Pixie Dust! Jenn & Kevin 10/12/14 Italy/ADH/France - The End (7/2016 New TR Link!)

[elphie101]

Hello everyone! This update is coming to you from MY laptop! I got the display back but I'm living on borrowed time with this thing (good thing Cyber Monday/Black Friday deals are right around the corner!) so while I'm backing up my files here's a report of yesterday's dress shopping experience! Annnnnd............









..............no dress yet!

We went to an Alfred Angelo store, obviously to try on the Disney Wedding Dresses (but I had also heard good reports from other Disney brides near me of them) and a smaller boutique kind of place where a friend of mine (pretty much the only person I know who got married recently) got her gown. Looking back through the photos, I tried on 19 different dresses, but it was really good to get an idea of what I like and what I don't like (also to compare the two different shops, a bigger chain like AA vs. a smaller family run kind of place).



This is the 2013 Ariel gown - it was all right, but mostly we just tried it on for the contest running right now (I would LOVE for AA to pay for part of my honeymoon!)



We established that I don't like all over lace





This was close to the amount of sparkle I was looking for, but definitely a heavier fabric then I liked and I'm not in love with the A-line silhouette.



The Rapunzel 2013 - the one I always said I'd pick if I ever HAD to chose a Disney Wedding gown - it was nice, but not wowing (I was doing I'm A Little Teapot in this picture.......yeah.....)



This one is so close to being the front-runner: yes on the shape, yes on the fabric but not enough sparkly.



Amazing bottom but not loving the top - lacy flowers don't do it for me!



This one had a pretty unique back - but was never a contender



We all surprisingly liked this one - it was ivory lace over champagne fabric - but it wasn't it.

As you can tell, it was a LOOOOONG day. Overall it was informative - nothing really jumped out at me yet that I simply HAD to have, everything was just "nice" or "pretty". Nothing beautiful yet. Still it was only our first shopping trip out, and I'm leaving with a much better idea of what I like and don't like, and I still have plenty of time to keep looking! I also confirmed that I will definitely be doing a sparkly headband (like in the AA pictures) - I LOVE it!

329 days to go (not as scary when you think of it like that!)

 

[October 2014 Bride]

You look lovely in all the dresses. I do love the shape of the last one on you though.

 

[Charminique121314]

Congratulations on getting your date and venue! I'm still pulling my hair out and waiting to see if I get mine because I am in the dreaded lottery too

 

[elphie101]

You look lovely in all the dresses. I do love the shape of the last one on you though.

Thank you! You're too kind So you are also a 10/2014 bride? Do you have your locations yet?

Congratulations on getting your date and venue! I'm still pulling my hair out and waiting to see if I get mine because I am in the dreaded lottery too

Yep, that %#@*! lottery is the worst. What's your date and what are you hoping to get?

 

[October 2014 Bride]

Thank you! You're too kind So you are also a 10/2014 bride? Do you have your locations yet?


I am getting married at the Wedding Pavilion, having my reception at the Whitehall Room and having a surprise dessert party at UK Lower. So excited to hear how your wedding goes. If we had more people I would have chosen the ADH as I absolutely love that location and I really liked the idea of getting married in Epcot as well.

 

[elphie101]

Thank you! You're too kind So you are also a 10/2014 bride? Do you have your locations yet?


I am getting married at the Wedding Pavilion, having my reception at the Whitehall Room and having a surprise dessert party at UK Lower. So excited to hear how your wedding goes. If we had more people I would have chosen the ADH as I absolutely love that location and I really liked the idea of getting married in Epcot as well.

Hooray! I love the privacy of an Epcot ceremony (and the excuse to have brunch!) and IMO the dessert party is not optional (if you can't tell by my earlier ranting about the lottery!) Congrats and happy planning!

 

[Charminique121314]

I really want the 12/13/14 date. Mainly because it's a Saturday (super hard for my dad to get off work) and close, but not too close to Christmas. I always wanted to get married around Christmas time. Wedding Pavilion in the morning and Grand Floridian.

 

[LittleKittyMarie]

Congrats on your awesome honeymoon plans! Disney cruises are so amazing! You're going to love it!

I love the dress shopping trip! Too bad you didn't find one, but it's better to see more and really be sure you get "the one" :rotfl Plus we readers get to see more dress photos! Bonus for us!

 

[elphie101]

Hello all! Happy December! Only 314 days till W-Day

Not too much to report yet in terms of updates - all of our bridesmaids have officially been asked and are in the know. My MOH is going to start working on our STDs (world's worst acronym....) this month, so we can hopefully send them out at the end of January. Nothing to report on the dress front either; I'll admit I haven't been looking, it's all very overwhelming.

So, with not much new to report, here are our engagement pictures! We got them back a few weeks ago and I love love love them. Sadly we weren't able to get our pictures done with The Roots, as I wanted them for the STDs and I've always had my heart set on E-pics in Boston, so I looked up a local wedding photographer, Karina of ohKarina Photography. We LOVED her - she was fun and quirky like us and our personalities clicked very well, it makes me a little sad we won't be seeing her on our wedding day! (Not like I would have used someone else anyway - I didn't even confirm our wedding date preference with Disney until I knew the Roots availability!)

Anyway, here's a handful of our favorites - get ready for smoochies!




(Outside of the bar we met at, re-enacting said meeting - I'm playing the role of Kevin, Kevin is playing the role of a disgruntled fiance )





























Yep. Totally in love. We totally got our money's worth too - she stayed with us for at least half an hour longer than she was supposed to. I can't wait to decorate our apartment/future home with these!!

Hopefully I'll have more to report on soon (i.e. hopefully I'll find A DRESS!!). happy holidays everyone!

 

[kristenicolee]

Love the e-pics! I'm a MA disbride as well, I'm a Northeastern alum . I totally understand you picking your wedding date around a photographer's availability...we did the same thing with the Arndts haha

 

[elphie101]

I really want the 12/13/14 date. Mainly because it's a Saturday (super hard for my dad to get off work) and close, but not too close to Christmas. I always wanted to get married around Christmas time. Wedding Pavilion in the morning and Grand Floridian.

I hear you - I really wanted Columbus Day weekend to make it easier on my brother & cousins (as well as guests who work in the school system) to travel to Florida. Disney is so beautiful at Christmas time, fingers crossed you get your date!

Congrats on your awesome honeymoon plans! Disney cruises are so amazing! You're going to love it!

I love the dress shopping trip! Too bad you didn't find one, but it's better to see more and really be sure you get "the one" :rotfl Plus we readers get to see more dress photos! Bonus for us!

Hahaha yes, I had to take pictures of every dress for you ladies! The consultant at the last appointment (which I just realized I didn't mention) said that all her brides find their dresses in the first 5...........and I've tried on 30 I didn't go into this with a clear idea of what I wanted though so I'm not too worried yet.

Love the e-pics! I'm a MA disbride as well, I'm a Northeastern alum . I totally understand you picking your wedding date around a photographer's availability...we did the same thing with the Arndts haha

Yay MA brides!! Are you doing your wedding in MA or Disney?

 

[alyaki]

Just thought I'd pipe up and say...I really love your engagement pics! They are so fun and quirky, you can really see how much you two love each other in them.

 

[elphie101]

Just thought I'd pipe up and say...I really love your engagement pics! They are so fun and quirky, you can really see how much you two love each other in them.

Thank you kindly We're a very giggly/squishy/quirky couple so I'm quite pleased with how they turned out!

 

[Charminique121314]

Aww...thanks! The more pixie dust the better my chances

Love your e-pics. They are very cute and fun.

 

[er3465]

Oh my goodness how have I not posted on your PJ yet?! To start, your proposal story is so sweet, LOVE that he had your parents in the park! Love your pick for ceremony/reception/DP and your colors! We both have the Roots right! Great honeymoon plans, we love DCL! You look lovely in all the dresses, I so enjoyed trying on dresses. Your engagement photos are so cute, the one outside the bar you met had me !

 

[elphie101]

Aww...thanks! The more pixie dust the better my chances

Love your e-pics. They are very cute and fun.

That's what DisBrides are here for - the power of our pixie dust means good things for all! (Until you're competing with other DisBrides in which case.......it's awkward ) I'm sure you'll be thrilled with whatever you end up with.

Oh my goodness how have I not posted on your PJ yet?! To start, your proposal story is so sweet, LOVE that he had your parents in the park! Love your pick for ceremony/reception/DP and your colors! We both have the Roots right! Great honeymoon plans, we love DCL! You look lovely in all the dresses, I so enjoyed trying on dresses. Your engagement photos are so cute, the one outside the bar you met had me !

Hello!! Happy Roots dance! You are too sweet, and I'm loving your PJ too! Good to see you!

 

[Bewitch324]

I love your engagement pictures, they are so cute. I think my favorite is the one by the water where you guys are sitting on the cement blocks, but I love all them. Especially how your personalities shine through in every picture!!

I'm excited you got the Roots for your wedding, they do beautiful work.

I love your proposal story, very sweet.

Can't wait to read more about your plans!!

Brooke

 

[disneybarbie]

Beautiful photos.. and in my favourite city! I could recognise lots of those places


Emma x

 

[elphie101]

I love your engagement pictures, they are so cute. I think my favorite is the one by the water where you guys are sitting on the cement blocks, but I love all them. Especially how your personalities shine through in every picture!!

I'm excited you got the Roots for your wedding, they do beautiful work.

I love your proposal story, very sweet.

Can't wait to read more about your plans!!

Brooke

Thank you!! Honestly I think that's my most favorite thing about the E-pics is how very "us" they are - nothing posy and set-up, just us being our natural selves. It was actually a little strange shooting them because we aren't used to being so cuddly and kissy in public - we usually try to tone it down!

Beautiful photos.. and in my favourite city! I could recognise lots of those places


Emma x

Hooray for Boston!! I can't wait to see your trip in your TR!!

 

[elphie101]

So today was dress shopping outing #3. We went to Vows, which is the shop featured on TLC's I Found the Gown, if any of you have ever seen it. Essentially it's a shop that buys overstock gowns from bridal salons and sells them off the rack for some pretty great discounts. They also sell off their website (and will let you ship it back to them if you don't like the dress!) I felt pretty good going into things today since I had found a couple dresses on their site that they had in stock that I definitely wanted to try on.

Unfortunately Kevin's mother couldn't come with us, but my mom and Vanessa were there and we went through their entire stock checking the racks for dresses, and found almost everything on my list.

This was the first one I tried on, a Jewel by Priscilla of Boston:





I liked this one A LOT. It was something I hadn't felt before when trying on a dress, it felt great. Still, it was only the first one I had tried on, so it was time to move on.

Next up was an Allure Dress:




(Sorry my face didn't make it into a photo with this one!)

This one had some truly gorgeous beading, but a super full skirt, more than I really wanted. Our consultant tucked some of the tulle between my legs to show me how it could look if we removed it, but it was definitely too ball-gowny for my taste.

Then we had a Casablanca dress:


(Sorry it's blurry! These all came from my phone!)



I LOVED this dress. It was super soft and romantic and had a gorgeous amount of detail, it was so floaty and wonderful.

There were a few more after this (including some the consultant picked out) but none that made an impression like the Casablanca or the Priscilla. I tried them both on again, and even kept holding one up while wearing the other to get the flash perspective. But in the end.....






















...........the Priscilla won out!





It was just so exactly what I was looking for - simple enough that the dress wasn't overpowering me (nor the brooch bouquet I'll be holding!) but with enough fun detail it wasn't boring, fitted enough through my hips but lighty and flowly tulle material that will be perfect for Florida in October and still allow me to dance and move! It just feels like me

We had to wait in the dressing room after that because they were filming an episode of I Found the Gown! We don't think we made it on camera (though there may be a chance they caught us paying in the background in one shot) but I'll definitely be watching when the episode airs in the Spring, if only to see the girl they WERE filming and to remember that I was THERE at that moment choosing my dress.

The best part of the whole deal was the dress was originally priced at $2,200, but we only paid $625.50 - that's OVER 70% SAVINGS!! I'm completely ecstatic over it. Plus we got to take it home with us, instead of having to wait for it to come in from somewhere - it's currently safe and sound in my mother's closet waiting for next May/June to start alterations (though it felt like it fit almost perfectly!)

I'm just so so glad the search is over and now I know I have something to wear on my wedding day Only 302 days!