A Productive Weekend

Happy Monday! I've been feeling pretty lazy lately in the wedding planning department, so this weekend had an extensive plan to get some shiz done:

• Bought the Little Noodle his wedding apparel-I couldn't believe how closely the shirt color matched to the groomsmen ties and bridesmaid dresses! $25 at good 'ol JCPenney. Can't beat that price, especially when he will probably only wear it the one time.

Boys 4 pc Suit Set (shirt, vest, pants and a cute little clip on tie) - JCPenney

• Bought the groomsmen ties and Mr. S's tie. I had a coupon for 50% off accessories at Men's Wearhouse, but they were on sale buy 1 get 1 free anyway, which ended up being the same price in the end.

The Groomsman's Tie - $10 on sale at Men's Wearhouse

A similar tie to Mr. S's (no pic available online of the actual one)-$20 on sale at Men's Wearhouse

• Finished our registry at Bed Bath & Beyond. I had already started it online (so convenient!), but I wanted us to go in to pick out certain things, like towels and sheets. I'm pretty picky on the softness and texture for stuff like that. As a prize for Mr. S being so patient and helpful as we ran through the store scanning things (I don't think many guys actually enjoy that), I bought him one of the items off the registry that he was really wanting...

Calphalon 2 Piece Egg and Omelet Utensil Set - $11.99 at Bed Bath & Beyond

You see, he likes to make scrambled eggs, but he only likes to use a fork, which is NOT acceptable on non-stick pans! I found these for him, and used a 20% off coupon. Now we're both happy :)

On the schedule for next weekend: buy a grey dress shirt and black vest for Mr. S to try on. MOH K and I are working on the guys apparel, and I really need a visual to see if it's going to work. More on that next time! Also, we are going to stop in at a couple local fresh flower markets to get some ideas and prices for bouquet flowers.

What wedding shtuff did you accomplish this weekend?

Happy planning!
Miss Spaghetti

Dress-in Up

This past Sunday afternoon was spent browsing racks for Bridesmaids dresses. I had 3 of my 4 ladies in tow, BM H being the missing gal (since she sadly moved to Texas last month). But she was with us in spirit as we perused the options at Alfred Angelo and David's Bridal. Our appointment at Alfred Angelo was at 1:00, and they told me they would be about an hour long. So we started looking and pulled a few cute dresses to try on. Some were good, and some just not good at all. Unfortunately, I didn't keep track of what style # each one was, and I can't seem to find them on their website. But here are a couple that were major contenders (until we learned their prices...)

A pretty faerie dress (as we nicknamed it) $240 (holy crap!)

Another favorite, at a much more favorable $170 (still higher than I preferred, and also we decided we would cut the weird strap off)

Being done with our appointment a half hour early, we decided to try to get into David's Bridal before our appointment time of 2:30. Success! They were busy (as always) but got us in. We started with these two:

(Both $139)  Left: Strapless Pick-Up     Right: Strapless Chiffon

Then BM M found a little cotton sateen number that she just loved. We grabbed one in everyone elses size, and wha-la!

Happy ladies!! BM S, BM M, and MOH K in Cotton Sateen Strapless

Here is the actual color - image via David's Bridal

Best part was they were on sale for $99 each. Plus, since I bought my wedding gown there, each girl got an extra $20 off! Now THAT'S what I'm talkin' about!

Next step for the gals, picking out shoes. I've given this task to MOH Fashionista K since she will be MUCH better at finding something than I would. Oh, and by the way, we were done and out of DB before our actual appointment time. Boo-ya!

How quickly did you and/or your bridesmaids find dresses? Was it an easy task, or were there disagreements?

(All photos personal unless otherwise stated)

Happy planning!
Miss Spaghetti

Bridesmaid Dresses (lacking brain power to come up with clever title)

Hola peeps, hope you all had an amazing Thanksgiving weekend, and didn't get trampled trying to score any Black Friday deals!

I must start this post with some sad news...my best friendster and bridesmaid H is moving across the country! *tear* But she's moving to be closer to her parents and her sister, so I can't help but be glad for her since I know how much she misses them. Anyhoo, she is leaving at the end of December, which is pushing my butt into gear for picking out bridesmaid dresses. Since I only have 4 girls, and all of them are local (for now), I really want to get everyone together to try them on and help me decide. Actually, for them to decide, not me. I have ideas on color and style, but ultimately I want them to be happy with the dress, and not go broke buying it.

So what am I looking for?

Preference #1: Knee-length or shorter
Preference #2: Light purple color (lavender, lilac, wisteria, whatever you call it)

Wisteria - David's Bridal

Yep, that's it, really! One thing I did not include is that I would love to find dresses in a pickup style, since my bridey gown is that style. But most of the dresses I've seen with pickups are more expensive, and honestly it isn't THAT important. Here are a few I've seen online that I'm feeling good about:

If I could pick a dress, it would be this final sale one at David's Bridal, which unfortunately
is only available in a few sizes, none of which any of my BM's could wear :(

Strapless Chiffon with layers, looks so comfy! - David's Bridal

Totally a wear-it-again style (at least I think so!) - Alfred Angelo

Cute and simple - Alfred Angelo

Did you let your bridesmaids pick out their dresses, or did you decide yourself?

Happy planning!
Miss Spaghetti

Just A Little Venting

Well...it's Monday. And it's a 3-day work week for me, which means it will feel like an eternity in which I will accomplish nothing and the piles on my desk will just sit here over the 4-day weekend and bite me in the butt when I return next Monday. Don't mind me, just feeling a little overwhelmed today! I did manage to clean my desk this morning which gave my lovely cubicle a little more positive energy. It's hard to concentrate on work when there is so much going on that is not work-related. Now that BM S's wedding is done, I'm really concentrating on helping MOH K finish her planning. She's just 3 months out now! This means invitation suites and other paper stationery need to be designed like NOW. And I've really got to get busy planning her bachelorette party, which is set for January 19th.

Meanwhile, my own wedding planning is creeping along sluggishly. I've given a few tasks to Mr. S, like finding a DJ. He knows a couple people who do it, so he's contacted them for pricing. He also has the responsibility of obtaining the remaining addresses of his side of the family in order to complete our guest list. My goal is to send out save-the-dates by December 1st. We will be just over 6 months out at that time. Holy crap!

In the meantime, the Little Noodle found a boys' suit section at Macy's the other day and just had to try on the suit coat. He's so excited about getting to wear one at our wedding!

Here he is-looking quite dapper! - Personal Photo

Anyone else beginning to feel overwhelmed with wedding or non-wedding related (NWR) things going on in their lives? Maybe it's just the anticipation of the holidays...

Happy planning!
Miss Spaghetti

Well Suited

I have to share with you all how very proud I am of my Mr. S today! If you recall from my post about dressing the men in our wedding, I wrote about how I was kinda sorta leaving it up to him. I want the guys to look good, but I also want them to be comfortable. Our wedding is in early June, and in Michigan that can mean just about any type of weather, but most likely it will be warm. So the decision partly fell on him since he, after all, would be the one wearing it!

Yesterday when I came home from work, Mr. S informed me that he had decided he and his groomsmen would be wearing black or navy suits, since most of them already own them. I am proud of him because he has been very laid back about almost all of the wedding planning we've done so far. When I told him he could wear whatever he wants, he still expected me to tell him what he wanted to wear! So the fact that he made a decision (a smart and money-saving one at that) is quite impressive, and much appreciated. The only thing we will have to pick out is what color shirts and ties to have them wear. This is exactly what the guys did this past August when Mr. S's dad got married, and the fellas looked great!

Image courtesy of Autumn Rae Studios - That's Mr. S scowling on the right (the sun was in their eyes a tad...)

Since that part is figured out, I've found a couple cute and inexpensive suit sets for the Little Noodle that just might work:

Suit Set at JCPenney - $25!

Suit Set at Sears - $36.99

Suit Set at Kohl's - $75 (this one is not on sale but most likely would be at some point)

I'll have to see them in person to check out what kind of purple it actually is, can't really tell in online images. Is there anything in your wedding that your hubby-to-be made a decision on, or that you gave him the option to do so? Were you happy with his decision?

Happy planning!
Miss Spaghetti

Dressing the Spaghetti Men

One wonderful and unique part of our wedding is going to be Mr. Spaghetti's 6 year old son. The little noodle is a very big part of our lives. He is getting really excited about his dad and I getting married, and it makes me so happy! He has been asking questions about the event and his part in it. His main concerns are "do I get to stand up there with Daddy?" and "what do I get to wear?". I LOVE that he is asking questions, and we try to answer and explain things to him so that he feels like a part of it.

As I start to think about apparel for the men, I picture Little Noodle in a miniature version of what is dad is wearing. Mr. Spaghetti and I have briefly talked about what he would like to wear, and the first option is tan linen suits. While I'm not completely sold on the tan color (my accent color is charcoal gray), I am totally open to what he wants. I found some for both Mr. and little noodle:

Men's suit: Macy's
Boy's suit: Nordstrom

I kind of like the vest-only look, and I've been seeing it in a lot of weddings lately. Do you like the vest-only look? Anyone else out there planning a wedding with kids?

Happy planning!
Miss Spaghetti

Dress Success

Good news followers-I have a dress!

What?!? You were looking for your dress? You didn't tell us! (what you might be thinking).

I know...here's what happened...

My very best Friendster and I wanted to look at dresses together. She is getting married in March of next year, 3 months before me. Her family lives in Texas, so her going out with her mom and sister just wasn't an option. Since she is like a sister to me, we felt it was only fitting for her to come with us.

Since friendster's wedding is in March, we just realized that she really needed to get going on the whole dress thing. So last week my Mom, Sister K, Friendster and I quickly planned a trip to our local David's Bridal. I really didn't expect to walk out of that store with a dress in my hands, but that is exactly what happened!

We both started trying on dresses. I already had a good idea of where I wanted to start. I love love love the look of the pickup style gowns. And I knew I wanted sweetheart neckline, with a small train. I also wanted to incorporate my purple into a sash, I love gowns with a little color! I tried on 5 or 6 dresses total, and we all kept going back to the second one I had tried on. It was perfect. Now, don't be disappointed, but I didn't have one of those moments of joy and tears and smiles when I decided on my dress. In fact, as everyone was cheering and I rang the bell, I was trying to think of sad things to come up with some sort of tears to appease everyone. It didn't work, and I just laughed instead. Sister K said I acted like I had just picked out a pair of work boots or something. Of course I was excited, but I have never been an emotional person, so I really didn't expect to cry a river like Sister K did when she found her dress months ago.

Friendster has almost decided on a gorgeous ruffled ivory dress that also happened to be the second one she tried on. But it is in competition with a frilly tulle-skirted gown that is shorter in the front. I love both, but the ruffle one just looked so perfect on her. I hope she picks it!

How quickly did you find your dress? Did you have a tears of joy moment?

Happy planning!
Miss Spaghetti