Dress of the week!

Happy Summertime.. We are introducing the dress of the week over the next couple of months. Today we are featuring a Jasmine style that can be worn by bridesmaids or mother of the brides! Available in Long as well. Many colors available and 25% off this week only. $168 original and will be $126! Don't miss this amazing deal.



Xx

Maggie


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Location:Bridge St NW,Grand Rapids,United States

Save the Dates

Save the Dates: Send them or Forget em'??

I don't know about you but I had no idea how soon these save the dates needed to be sent out. Further, there are endless amounts of styles to pick from; monogrammed, with picture, with multiple pictures, postcard, magnet, etc. Through out this entire planning process, I feel like everything has been so fun except for the small task of picking our save the dates. I guess the one good thing is it helps you gather peoples addresses early.  And the good news from that is I found this great little website, www.postable.com that I recommend to all you lovely brides! But back to the original questions.. send them or not? I've spoken to many brides about this and I've heard mixed reviews. Some brides said they are a must and who doesn't want to send out their best engagement photo to friends and family. Some brides had mixed feelings and weren't sure who to send them out to because they had an A, B and sometimes C guest lists. They didn't want any family members or friends to get their feelings hurt. And other brides just didn't want to add another expense to the wedding budget. Personally I'm undecided on what's best. We did send out Save the Dates but only because our wedding is on a Holiday weekend and it will help our out of town guests book hotel rooms and plan accordingly. If it were any other weekend we probably would have just send out invitations a little earlier. All in all, remember it's YOUR wedding and you can do whatever you want to do!

Happy Planning!

 

Renee Austin Wedding

All in the Details..

As it goes, it may seem like the 'wedding season' is ending, but according to my files, September-December is just as busy as May and June. I know I don't do as many blogs as I wish I did (which I promise I'm trying to get better at) but a very stressed out bride came into the store yesterday and I thought I'd share some of her concerns and also my thoughts on them! Her Wedding is in December and while she has all of the big stuff done, (dress, venues, photog, etc) she is stressing out about the details like her veil, jewelry and table decorations.  I almost feel bad because I think my look might have scared her for a second when I asked her if she was really that stressed about earring options. I know I know, getting married puts a lot of stress on brides and there are so many decisions to be made. But as all you married people know, what really matters at the end is that you've married the person you want your forever with. Nobody is going to remember your earrings or hair piece. Unless you do something wild, which I always suggest making a statement! :)

So with that being said, when you are looking for any type of accessory and you come across something you like/love, buy it! It's as simple as that. Buy it and be done with it and cross it off your list. Don't waste days traveling from one store to another just because you think you might find something better. Let's be honest, there is always probably going to be something better, but more than that there will be a lot of terrible things too. Don't waste your time and certainly don't get stressed out about it. If this is something you just don't have the time for- ask a friend. Give her a budget and let her pick some options for you. Doing that might be a little more fun anyway because friends usually know whats best for you better than you do. :)

As for the table decorations, I just wanted to follow up that this particular bride mentioned she was going to do Poinsettias since her wedding was in December. I love the idea and suggested she put a table runner on some of the tables just to give it an extra pop. I'd love to hear any suggestions you might have for decorating for a winter wedding so I can pass them along to my brides!

Just remember, "Our life is frittered away by detail... simplify, simplify." - Henry David Thoreau

Stressed out bride to Happy Bride! :)

Wedding Wire Rated 2012

Read all of our Wedding Gowns Reviews at

Another year rated! Thank you to all of our fabulous brides- it's been a pleasure working with each and everyone of you. :)

Just Engaged!!

Hello to all my lovely brides! I am so sooooo excited to share this planning experience with all of you. Getting engaged is one of the most exciting times in your life and I'm trying to soak up every second of it! It seems that every day is a celebration right now and we couldn't feel more blessed with all the love and congratulations that we've received. ❤ So through out this planning process I want to share with you everything that I'm going through and hear your thoughts! The goal of this blog is to help each other out so please ask questions and leave feedback. It's only been a couple weeks for me but so far I'm having a blast. I already know I will be the type of bride to get most things booked ahead of schedule. It's important to consider your job/school/time off etc. when planning and work around any busy times. My busy time starts in December and goes through May so I'm hoping to have all the big things taken care of by Holiday time!
First things first: Venue. We were really undecided on the venue and I feel like that's almost the biggest decision as the venue sets the tone for the wedding. Because we got engaged up north and I'm originally from there I really wanted a Northern Michigan wedding. However, after looking at different places and checking on dates we decided on The Amway in grand rapids; July 6th, 2013. As my mom reminded me, it will be so much easier to do things when the wedding is in the same location as I live. (Side note: I will reference my mother a lot along the way and we will call her Nat. She texts me every day with a new idea and she will also have a big input in the planning.) I couldn't be more thrilled with the date! It's a holiday weekend and we are going to embrace the extra days off! 🇺🇸
Next on the to do list: Look for and book Dj, photographer, videographer, officiant, etc. Are you overwhelmed yet? For me those meetings are on Monday and I'm looking forward to checking them off the list! And speaking of list.. The guest list!!
That's an entirely new topic and we will discuss that next time! Feel free to ask any questions before then and I'll be sure to answer them in the next of over the next couple days! :)
Thank you all for reading and this is just the first of many.. I'll leave you with a quote from Wedding Goddess Antidote:
"A Bride has to clarify the wedding she truly wants, try to stay centered and set clear boundaries that no one can penetrate with words or attitudes. If all else fails, consider this: The reality is that weddings tend to be for other people, but marriage is for you two. Focus on what your marriage will mean to you."




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I feel so fortunate to guest blog for one of my favorite designers; Anjolique Bridal! www.anjolique.com Be sure to check their website and BLOG out as well as the beautiful dresses! We have lot's of new 2012 gowns coming from them soon!

Topics to Consider while looking for your Bridal Dress:

1. Where is your wedding going to be? This is an important question because venues vary from a backyard tent to a Vegas Chapel and on to a Grand Ballroom. Even if you don't have your exact venue booked at the time of dress shopping, that's okay as long as you know the style you want the wedding to be. Some churches require shoulders and backs to be covered and if that's the case, you've already narrowed your search down to gowns with sleeves, attachment tops or something that looks great with an overcoat. Say your thinking something more casual on a beach somewhere, you might want to look for something with less of a train. By all means, please feel free to get a ball gown if you want as it's perfectly appropriate on the beach, just cut the train off. Also the time of day can be important. For example if your having an evening wedding, I suggest having some sparkle somewhere because the late night lighting picks it up beautifully! Again it comes down to your style. With thousands of dresses out there these days, you don't have to stay in a certain category, just make sure you can see your dress in your venue so there's no second guessing.

2. Who is paying for your dress? You are wondering why this is important. Well, imagine yourself in the dress of your dreams, you can't take your eyes off yourself in the mirror and you know this is exactly what you want to get married in. You are so excited and you unveil your look to the people with you; mother, grandma, sister, etc. Your grandma and/or mom is footing the bill for your dress and one of them chimes up to say that it's terrible and there is no way in the world your going to get that dress. Most of you will say that your family would never say that to you. I'm speaking from experience, it happens! In this case, you might have to compromise your wants for something more in the payers taste. There can be tears and an overall bad experience that nobody wants to go through. On the other hand of this, if you are paying for the dress, feel free to tell them how much you appreciate their feedback but that it's your day, and this is the dress you want. If none of this applies to you, relax and enjoy your headache free shopping day.

3. What does your groom like? This is a trick question. This DOES NOT matter at all. 9 times out of 10 you can show your groom the picture of your dress in a magazine, hanging in your closet and on the model on the website and even still, when your walking down the isle he is going to be just staring at you and no matter what he might have thought before, he is going to think your beautiful and not recognize that the dress your wearing is the same one he has seen 3 times before. Point is, if 'John' says he hates ruffles, he doesn't really know what ruffles on a beautiful wedding dress looks like.. he's just thinking of the 1980's prom picture he's seen of his mother. ;)

4. What silhouette looks best on me? I have sold hundreds of dresses and I can honestly say that at least once a week I'm surprised how fabulous a certain style of dress can look on a bride that I never thought would have worked. It doesn't matter if your a size 4 or a 24, it all depends on the dress! Sure, most magazines will tell you there are certain shapes that look best on certain body types and while that can be a general rule, it isn't an end all. My best advice for this is go through a couple magazines and rip out any dress you find appealing. I will bet that even if you have more than one shape of dress, they will all be the same 'look' of dress; romantic, edgy, blingy, etc. This will help your sales consultant narrow down the best options for you.

5. What should be my budget? I am not a pro on wedding budgets but I do think your dress should be a top priority. The dress is what's going to be in 90% of all pictures and the first question is always, 'What did her dress look like?' After you have found a budget you are comfortable with, I would make sure that you share that at all your appointments. If you see something across the room and it's a little out of budget but you LOVE it, I think there's always room to move a couple other wedding details around for you to have the most perfect dress you've always wanted. When your staring at your wedding pictures year after year, it will definitely be worth it. On the other end of this, maybe you just find spending any sum of money on a wedding dress silly so look for the sample sales! Bridal shops always are marking down dresses. Maybe it's marked 'damaged or past season.' If there's a small rip or missing beads, that is a low cost repair and I bet you'll get the dress for at least 1/2 Off; Total Bonus!

The truth is I could go on and on about all the questions brides ask me and to be honest I think it's all pretty simple. Always go into dress shopping with the person best to help make your decision. Go into your appointment with an open mind and know that if your looking, you are bound to find your dress. It is a myth that everyone just knows and gets this amazing feeling with 'the dress!' Yes, that does happen a lot, but what also happens a lot is a bride just feels simply stunning in her dress. That's all. And it's that what's it about? You don't need to try on every dress in your surrounding area because once you land on it, nothing else will compare. I will leave you with this.. "It's beauty that captures your attention; personality which captures your heart."- Oscar Wilde Combined in a dress, you will have everything your looking for.

Maggie Torongo

Renee Austin Wedding

First time trying on dresses?

It can surely be your last.. I think a common misconception of wedding gown hunting is needing to go to every place in your surrounding area. I have many brides who see my store first and they all say the same thing, "Well I wasn't prepared to find something so quickly and I think I need to look around a bit." And they all come back to the dress they fell in love with and spent hours comparing other dresses to 'the one.' My best advice is to look around in magazines and bring in pictures of styles you like, then when trying on you can get a feel of what style you love, and from there, you are surely to find your dress! Happy Hunting!


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