This weekend my mom, two of my bridesmaids and I went wedding dress shopping in Chicago. We visited three stores- Priscilla of Boston, White Chicago (which you may remember from this post) and 826 Weddings. We had a great experience at all three stores. No pushy sales people and there were so many beautiful dresses to choose from.

Everyone says when you find THE dress, you’ll know. You’ll glow with happieness, your mom will start crying, your bridesmaids will cheer…well that wasn’t really my experience. I tried on 5-6 dresses at each store and honestly could have been happy buying any one of them! I had so much fun trying them all on.

Here are some photos of dresses that didn’t quite make the cut.

Although I really liked all of the above dresses, I found two that stood out among the rest and I am completely torn on which to get! One is a Carolina Herrera gown from White Chicago and is form fitting, glamourous and trendy. The other is  by a local Chicago designer from Weddings 826 and is romantic, flowy and more traditional.

I’ve been asking my bridesmaids, family and close friends for their opinions and everyone have been split 50/50. The men I’ve asked have favored the romantic, flowy dress, while my girlfriends have loved the glamourous, form-fitting option.

I’m dying to post pictures of the two choices here on my blog, but can’t because then Luke would see them. Both dresses send completely different messages, so I guess I’ll have to do some thinking about how I want my wedding day style to be remembered.

What do you guys think- glamourous, form-fitting and trendy or romantic, flowy and traditional? Thanks!

So far one of my favorite parts of wedding planning has been looking for a photographer. What I am looking for is a “photojournalist” – someone who will capture the moments of the day. We’ll still do all the posed photos, but the majority of the shots I want to get will be those emotional moments like when my dad gives me away, Luke and I’s first kiss and the toasts at the reception.

Working at a PR agency, I am surrounded by lots of people my own age. This means I’ve gotten great recommendations from co-workers who have recently gotten married or are planning their own weddings. One such recommendation came from my friend and colleague Amy to check out her wedding photographer Jeremy Lawson.

Jeremy’s style fits what I’m looking for to a T. Luke’s response to seeing some of his work sums it up perfectly, “artsy.” haha. Seriously though, I think his pictures look like museum artwork! I think you’ll agree after seeing some of Amy and her husband David’s wedding photos….

Breathtaking…right? And don’t Amy and David make an absolutely gorgeous couple??

I emailed Jeremy immediately after seeing these photos and asked about his availability for April 17. I was so ecstatic to hear he was available! His pricing is just a little out of our range, but we’ve agreed to hold back in other areas in order to have amazing photos like the ones above. It’s really the only portion of our wedding that will live on, so we think it’s worth it.

You can check out more of Amy and Davids wedding on Jeremy’s blog.

So what do you guys think? Did we make a good choice in spending more on our photographer than in another area? What style of wedding photography do you like? Leave some comments!

I’ve been to a decent amount of wedding (six this summer alone!) and at each wedding I try to think of what two adjectives I would use to describe it. For my sister’s it was “elegant and classy” for my friend Jen’s it was “intimate and romantic,” you get the picture.

I’ve been thinking a lot about what impression I want my wedding guests to leave with and the conclusion I’ve come to is “fun and unique.” Luke and I have been approaching our budget and wedding decisions with those two words in mind.

So what makes a wedding really FUN? In my mind it’s a few things- the music, booze and how affordable & easy the event is for guests. Since we’re asking people to travel to Chicago to celebrate with us, I’m really trying to focus on making sure people aren’t spending a lot of money and that when they’re driving home they are thinking, “man, that was a blast!”

This means we’ll probably pay more for an amazing DJ than on elegant table settings or we’ll find a local hotel that is affordable and serves a great free breakfast over an upscale boutique hotel.

For the other adjective “unique,” I want to incorporate some inventive twists to our big day. Things that will make our wedding stand out from the other five our guests will likely be attending that year.

I’ve been checking out what other couples are doing on blogs like Once Wed and DIY Bride and doing some brainstorming on my own. I don’t want to spoil all the surprises for my guests, but I will tell you a couple of unique twists we’re mulling over:

• Having a saxophone player vs. a trumpet as I walk down the aisle
• Incorporating lemons into the table settings (if our colors remain yellow and green)
• Giving guest the option to RSVP online and keep the stamp!

We’ll see what actually makes it into our wedding day plans, but I hope there are at least some things that will surprise my guests and prompt them to recall our wedding years down the road.

If you’re planning a wedding, are married or just looking ahead, what two words describe your big day? Leave your comments!

Since getting engaged, we’ve jumped right into wedding planning. Literally the day after we got engaged, I put a call into my church, St. Vincent DePaul in Chicago, to see what dates they have available. Being one of the most sought after wedding venues in Chicago, I was thrilled to hear that April 17 at 3:00 pm was open! 

I know I know…an April wedding is REALLY  fast. But really, the decision to spend my life with Luke has already been made, so why wait? Plus being that I am an event planner by trade, if I can plan a celebrity event in Times Square in two months, I’m sure I can plan a wedding in eight.  

I’ve heard from many people that I should immediately begin thinking about purchasing my dress. Apparently it can take up to 6-8 months to get a wedding dress in! Who knew?

Anyway, I have been checking out some bridal websites and trying to figure out what styles I like. Many brides I’ve known say the dress they ended up purchasing was NOTHING like what they thought they’d like. So far I’m really liking simple, sleek gowns with a twist…something elegant but also unique. So I’m sure I’ll walk out of the store with a beaded ball gown!

Here are some of my favorites off the website for www.whitechicago.com, where I’ll likely get my dress. White Chicago specialized in once-worn or sample designer gowns, so you get a really great deal on a beautiful dress!

Aren’t these dresses elegant? There are seriously about 20 more that I love on www.whitechicago.com. So what do you think? What is your bridal syle? Do you like beading, lace, backless? Leave your comments!