The rehearsal dinner took place at the restaurant that both my husband and family love for special occasions. The chef there is amazing, and will make a menu for the party. They rented us the fireplace room as a private room, which was great, because there was more than enough room and there was also privacy. They recommended making a menu for our small party, which was also a good idea because then we got served our salads right away. The other thing that was good was that they asked right away what we wanted to spend per person on the meal, and then they gave us good suggestions of what we could have for our budget. It was very nice and very intimate, and because we had a private room we didn’t worry when we knew we would be late by ten minutes.

My husband rented a tuxedo, and the best men rented these tan color suits. We got the idea of tan rather than black suits for the best man and the ushers from one of the staff members, who reminded us that November can be warm and it looks nice. We took the suggestion, and overall it looked really nice seeing the best men in tan color suits. It made my husband stand out more because he was the only one in black.

The hair salon I went to for my wedding hair consultations said that they also did wedding day make-up. I usually don’t wear that much make-up, so I was happy that there was a professional there. She was great. She understood that I still wanted to look natural, so she just used some basic colors. My eyes looked amazing. All these years I was wearing brown eye shadow, and she put these really light purple on me and it made my eyes look amazing.

My husband got my engagement ring from a pawn shop/antique store. It’s not the most romantic story in the world, and it is not even that nice of a shop, but we were college students when he proposed and he wanted to get me the nicest ring he could for the money he had. I know that second hand jewelry sells for cheaper, and this ring is beautiful. They don’t always have nice jewelry there, you need to go almost every week to see what’s new. My husband also said that if you speak with the manager and request something, the manager will call you if they get something that they think you might want to buy.

We made the invitations not because we wanted to save money, but because I like to make things. I also thought it was a good exercise in teamwork for my husband and I. We got the paper supplies we needed from the art store, and then we did the printing at Office Max. We went to Office Max because the paper we chose to print the directions and date on was too thick for our own printed. We should have chosen a thinner paper, but I really like the look and style of handmade paper. I also recommend making your own envelopes, which are really easy to do. It’s just a matter of knowing how to fold the paper, and then getting good glue. Guests were impressed with what a good job we did.

Our honeymoon was a gift from my parents, and for some reason they chose for us the Safari room. It was a surprise until we opened the door. I really would have never expected in a million years to see zebra print chairs and to think that a room still looked elegant, but this was a really luxurious inn. We were walking distance to some many nice places, but the hotel itself was amazing. It was the perfect long weekend.

I had chosen the flowers arrangements that I wanted for my wedding when I decided on a November wedding. Some people think there is less choice, but The florist was very good. They had made a similar looking arrangement for another wedding, and they flowers looked amazing for the wedding day. They took care of the delivery and set-up, which was one of the reasons why we hired them.

I think it is very hard choosing a bakery, and we went with the person who did the wedding cake for my boss’s wedding. My husband wasn’t particular, so I went to the meeting to talk about taste and style with my best friend. The baker made two good suggestions, the first was that we have ivory decorations on a white icing cake. That was really pretty. The second suggestion was three tiers, which was too much cake, but then my husband and I could freeze the top tier and have it on our 1 year anniversary. The cake was otherwise very simple but elegant looking.

I liked the bridal shower better than the bachelorette party because it was more girly and more fun for me. Only one of my friends had been to this Tea Room before, so we had no expectations. I think it is a cute place, not really fancy but they try to make it fun by giving us really big hats and feather boas and shawls.. The food and the tea were okay. I am not a tea drinker, and this wasn’t the type of food I would normally want, but it was a good setting for a bridal shower. It is not expensive at all, either, which is good for everyone.

I went to the show with my husband and my maid of honor, who was also my best friend. My husband thought he was going to hate it, but there were lots of other grooms there, and it was a chance for us to talk and consider all the things that we wanted at our wedding. We were having a small but we wanted a nice wedding, and it gave us ideas of how things could look. But he hated the fashion show.