I wanted a veil, so we made appointments to go to some of the bridal stores in the area. We went to three, before we realized that everyone had the same items in stock, so that it didn’t really matter where we bought my veil in stock. My one observation is that the bigger stores, like David’s Bridal, which we drove out of the way to get to, have okay stuff, while the smaller stores have more beautiful veils. The veil I got from Alter Bound was beautiful and delicate, more expensive, but it looked bridal and not something imitation. I saw lots of ‘imitation bridal’ items.

We actually ended up getting a room at the Doubletree with some of our guests, because my grandmother and other people needed help getting home, and this was where we brought all our gifts and dropped off party supplies. I think my husband and I had our first fight on our wedding night because so many of our guests couldn’t understand why we weren’t staying at the same hotel as them, it was too dark outside to be driving around, and yadda yadda yadda. My husband wanted to be in our room at the Inn Port Guesthouse, which I didn’t blame him, but we ended up calling and asking if we could extend our stay. We stayed at the In Port Guesthouse on the Sunday night and Monday night, and I was so happy we did. The room was beautiful, we felt so at peace and secluded. The staff understands that the guests want to be alone and they gave us our space. And we didn’t answer our cell phones, which was big.

This was a perfect location for our wedding party. We had a narrowed our party size to about 40 close friends and family members, no kids, and decided that we wanted to serve them a beautiful meal. It is possible to rent or reserve for a big group at café Boulevard, and I was so happy we were able to do so. The food was fantastic! We didn’t have a wedding cake, but they gave us the most amazing assortment of desserts to chose from. Also, we got to meet the chef and everyone gave him a standing ovation. The manager and the staff was excellent. I couldn’t have asked for a better venue for my wedding reception.

My husband and his mother went and chose suits at the Men’s Wearhouse at the Fairfield Mall in Dayton. We thought he would have to set up a date where everyone in his groom’s party would have to go together and get fitted for suits. It was a pleasant surprise for everyone to find out that the staff at Men’s wearhouse can just make a file and then any staff member at any Men’s Wearhouse can check it out when another one of his best men go in. I think it’s a great system. I went with my brother-in-law to Men’s Wearhouse in Beavercreek. I’m giving Men’s Wearhouse 5 stars not because of the quality of their suits, or because of their good record keeping system, but because my brother-in-law is a head injury person and they treated him so wonderfully. They joked with him, and took time helping him in his jacket. It brought tears to my eyes, because it was such a fun experience for him, which was important to us all.

My husband was the person who turned me on to tanning, and we usually go tanning once every two months in the winter, an then a few times before the summer. It just makes us look healthier. I went three times before the wedding. This is where I usually go. The beds are clean, I know the staff and they are nice, and I have a membership card so I can add up my visits and eventually get a tan for free. I didn’t get a free tan for my wedding, but they did congratulate me. I also like their hours, because they are open everyday and early as well as late.

I went to this place because so many of my friends and people suggested it, and said that it was the place to go for wedding hair and make-up. I want to say that it was overrated. I have a hair salon that I go to for hair cuts and dyes, and I think I would have rather gone to them. These people tried to be cheerful, but it was obvious they were super busy with brides that Saturday morning. Also, we were made to wait, even for only 10 minutes, and I was getting nervous that we might get off schedule. My hair looked fine, but I was sure I could have had the same thing done elsewhere for cheaper.

This is in the downtown area of Dayton, a really nice area, so our guests who were from out of town were central and were walking distance from nice shops and cute restaurants. Also, it’s really easy to get to from the highway. Because my grandmother was coming from out of town, and also a few other elderly guests, we wanted them to be at a nice hotel, but if the hotel was too fancy they would complain about the price. This hotel is the perfect balance of a beautiful and safe atmosphere and also clean rooms that are affordable.

I had several ideas of what I wanted my bouquet to look like, and in the end I got something completely different to go with my completely different wedding. My sister-in-law was the one who brought me to Hills & Dales, which is a great shop, and showed me how pretty a simple bouquet could be. The florist also agreed, which was surprizing, because you think they’d want to sell the bigger bouquet. They made a small flower pin for my husband, and the bouquet was small and perfect. And because it was so small and the flowers so nice, I was able to dry it.

I liked the idea of giving out the sugar covered almonds, but I was shocked to see how expensive they were online and at candy stores. I found the same sort of candy I wanted and cute little lace bags at Wal-mart for super cheap. It looked just like what was being sold on the internet, but instead of spending $2 for one, we spent $1, less than a $1, for a packet. We weren’t sure if people would eat them, and we wanted to put our money into things that our guests would really enjoy.

We bought songs online through itunes and made a really great cd compilation for dinner and then for the dancing part. We paid 99 cents per song, and we figured we only needed about 4 hours worth of music. We also had cds that we were able to upload songs from onto our ipod, which we used to hook into the restaurant’s sound system. Once we realized how easy and cheap it was to use itunes, we figure we would save money somewhere else and spend money on music.