I went dress shopping with my mother for her mother-of-the-bride dress! I think it's really important to make sure that the mother looks just as beautiful as the bride, and I wanted my mother to have something special to wear. She's young, barely 54 years old, and I hated the MOTB dresses that they were selling at bridal shops. We went to J Crew and we found the nicest dress for her! It was her first time at the store, and she was really impressed at the great quality of clothing, and also by the great sales they have. We chose a really beautiful cocktail dress, which was good for our vintage theme, and she also bought really beautiful jewelry there to match the dress. The sales girls there were really nice and helpful, too.

We bought our Eurail pass, because we thought that this would be the best way to get around europe. You order it online, and then it comes in the mail. You need to order it way in advance because you don't want to leave for europe without it! It would be our first time going to europe, and we decided that we would get the pass for five countries. It's expensive, but it seemed like a good idea because we could book overnight trips and save on hotels. We had the foresight to book seats before we left, which was good because the seats were usually filled. It was a bit confusing, also, because there were some local trains that didn't operate on the pass. I guess my overall thought was for the price we paid, we might have overpaid; we would have been better off taking the bus, or even spending a full week in Paris, then another full week in Berlin. I think seeing Europe by countryside was great, and now we know better for our next trip over.

During our three days in Paris we stayed at the Hotel Darcet. I loved it, even though my husband wasn't a fan of the small rooms! We were very central, and it was also one of the few hotels that we stayed at that was mostly European tourists, which I took as a good sign. I also loved the fact that we were right next to a great café, that served really good croissants and coffee. The café and the nearby streets were open early and stayed opened late, though they would be closed periodically during the day. We had a little french phrase book that helped us speak with the staff, of which most spoke good enough english for us to ask how to get to the museums and other tourist stuff.

As part of our wedding planning, we decided that we would like to serve custom wine, or at least to offer all of our guests wine from our own bottles. Carafe Wine Makers were a great choice! We went to one of their open wine tasting parties where we found out more about how many bottles we could order, and taste the different vintage flavors that they come in. I also loved that we had our own labels, which all the guests noticed right away and loved! People wanted to keep the bottles, and we even ordered extra bottles that we could give away as gifts. I think ordering wine bottles with our own label is a great idea, mainly because we need to serve wine anyway, so why not make it fun! We ordered two cases of 30, one in red and one in white, which was perfcet for 120 guests.

I am giving them a four star rating because I have stopped by recently and they are much better organized. Still, when I first stopped by it was great to be able to go over a list of vendors in the area. I think it's a great idea because I needed a ceremony site, because my first site was no longer a possibility. Since I've been there last, they obviously have more vendors and are really able to serve the brides to be in the area. I love the idea, because lots of us can't afford a wedding planner, but we also can't afford to quit our jobs and plan the wedding!

My husband and I both love craigslist, and we're really big fans of reading the missed connection sections. Anyway, one day we started looking up free items, and then found someone who wanted to sell their engagement ring because they had gotten a new ring. It was a four thousand dollar ring and she was selling it for two thousand. We brought the ring in to be appraised at Wyndrose Fine Jewelry, and sure enough it was valued at $4,300.00. We made an offer and we got the ring! We then had the ring refitted to fit my hand at Wyndrose.

Even though I was going vintage, my husband was not having an easy time finding a vintage suit. In the end he decided that he would just rent a tux, and he went to Men's Wearhouse. I liked that he rented a tux rather than just wearing a plain suit, because we both looked really dressed up in the pictures. He did get all the accessories, and I especially liked that he wore a vest. We looked very sweet in our wedding pictures! Even though I find Men's Wearhouse to be really boring, I guess it's the only place to get a suit.

My mother offered to pay for the invitations, and seeing as this can be a bit pricey, I took her up on her offer. We went to Ink Spot, which is a really nice and quiet store that sells really great stationary and invitations. We met with our consultant and she explained to me all my options. I really loved how nice she was to us! My mother and I decided on a simple inviation package that included the RSVP cards and envelopes from the Crane collection. Even though there were hundreds of styles to chose from, I opted to not have ribbons and bows on my cards. I wanted to be prettier that my invitations at my wedding!

I can only give them a four star rating because we only had simple alterations done. I had new straps put in my wedding dress, and they they also did a great job of shortening the dress so that I wouldn't trip. I liked the way that they shortened the dress, because I didn't lose much of the beading work. They also took in one of the bridesmaids dress. It didn't really need to be done, but they offered a great price and the dress looked much better once it fit better.

My bridesmaids were given the right to chose their own bridesmaids dresses, as long as they stayed within the colors I had chosen for them. They bought beautiful dresses at Urban Outfitters. I really loved the dresses! My dress was vintage, looking like something from the 20s, and the dresses they picked out looked like bridesmaids dresses from the 70s. They were really long and made of this really nice material. For a chain store the dresses were also a nice quality, but they were still expensive. Urban Outfitters is not cheap, especially since they bought the dresses not on sale.