The Honeymoon took a loooooong time. You don't beleive me?

Hm..... I am back again. From the honeymoon. Yes, it took 2 months. ..... !

Ok, I am a bad lier, and feel guilty that during this period of my life - wedding, moving into a new house, honeymoon and first holidays as a family  - I didn't blog. Clearly, it is  a crime, at least for my own sake.

To make up for this major miss I am going to be putting the pieces together in the next posts and recreating the beautiful picture of this fall's happenings.

For a sneak peak - Thailand, of course. The most beautiful beaches I've ever seen... So far... :) !

MIA, but I am back ... and off to the honeymoon in 6!! days

So, another disappearance. A serous remodeling with knocking out walls + moving into this half way finished house = 0 blog posts. The last three months surely had us occupied and, ironically, kept me and my newly minted husband (of exactly two months!!) more apart than together.

But, there is going to be light at the end of this tunnel - our honeymoon is 6 days away!! And, even I have not shared much about our wedding, this post is going to be about our trip.

First of all, our honeymoon is 2 months and 1 week apart from our wedding. Good or bad? Here is a plus: we get to go on the honeymoon after already feeling a little bit like a family. We have already taken a glimpse of our wedding photos and talked about the wedding with family and friends.  Drawback: definitely, the impressions of that special night are a bit in the past, they are not as alive.

Nevertheless, excitement and anticipation of the trip have never been greater for me. Our honeymoon destination is ... Thailand (Bangkok, and than - Krabi). History, culture, food, summer weather, beautiful beaches are just ahead. We are going to pause the winter for two weeks and finally, unwind.

I am pinching myself when I look at the pictures of the beautiful places we are going to vist. You'll understand me, here they are:

One of the fun projects we thought of for the honeymoon is to create video "letters" for our children  and "letters into the future" for ourselves to see when we are older. We'll do them here and there while we are on the trip. May be, if the project is successful I'll share the clips here, on the blog.

What were or will be yours special things to do on your honeymoon?

My first post as a WIFE!

So, it's been more than a month that I have disappeared from the blogersphere. There is a good reason for that and yet, no excuse!

Many girls out there are in their last three weeks of wedding planning and anticipation and still blog. They even blog on the day of the wedding! My respect goes out to these wonderful multitaskers, but I just couldn't do it.

Three weeks before the wedding and than some after the wedding are like going into a deep dive, having the wedding at the lowest point of this dive and than slowly coming back up. I know that this sounds gloom, but actually it is a very happy time, beyond any comprehension, and, emotionally speaking, very "drunk" time.

Finally, I am becoming "soberer" after this avalanche of events and emotions and can share them one by one. I think I will do the sharing in parts and this was just an introduction. Here is one of the pieces of magic captured at our wedding by our dearest friend and extraordinary artist - Yuka. 

1 Month before the wedding: anxiety

I have to admit that despite all the efforts not to be, I am a little behind on my wedding planning.

Luckily, only minor details are left to plan. Unluckily, these are the details that will make the day extra special, therefore these are very important. And, on top of the wedding anxiety, my job became way more hectic (that comes in the package with more interesting projects).

So, I am feeling quite stressed for about two weeks now.

So, here is what calms me down and keeps me in order (or at least prevents complete chaos):

1. Summer - just going outside and noticing how everything looks and smells makes me calmer, because I enjoy this summer, even though it rains a lot. I actually don't mind rain.
2. Toodledo.com - I think I finally found a way to track things. I wanted Google to come up with a task tool like that, so I can keep everything in the same spot, but this free tasking program so far wins over Google tasks for me. Toodledo gives you literally any criteria you can imagine to sort your tasks and keep them as together or as separate as you want.
3. My fiance is back home from a two week long trip. While I don't mind some time apart, in the last month before the wedding I need him like air. And not just because that he helps with planning (!!), but just having him around makes everything better.
4. Zoom out: when I feel completely tangled in the details of the day, I force myself to zoom out and look at myself, as if I am watching a movie. This helps to keep first things first.
5. Blogs that I follow: Blogs are a window of inspiration and emotional recharge for me, since everything there comes from talented self creators, and I am learning to be one. Jasmine Star's blog is my favorite, when I read her posts it feels that I am right there with her watching everything happen. Her posts are completely captivating and a work of word art.

According to Jasmine, every post is better with a picture. I agree. Here is one of my favorite shots I captured to date.
Wishing everybody a productive, everything-goes-as-planned week. (Wishful thinking, but we will try, right?)
How are you coping with your stressful moments?

3 things you need to remeber when dealing with wedding invitations

1) As soon as you know your wedding date, count backwards:
1 month before: this is your reply by date
2 months before: this is your send out date
3 months before - you need to decide on the way you are printing and you will need to have information on the time of your wedding, reception and on dinner choices.

2) There are several ways to print invitations:
- you can buy a kit from a crafts store - the best ones are in Michaels and in Target - and print the invitations yourself. Total cost would be about $150 for 75 invitations plus your time, ... lots of your time!
- you can buy your invitations from Wedding Paper Divas or Minted (there are many more companies out there). You still need to print your envelopes and apply postage. Cost: $300 - $2000 per 75 invitations, depending on number of items in your package and the type of printing. Letterpress is the most expensive (and beautiful!).
- you can use a local invitations specialists to print the invitations. This is a way to still receive personalized invitations, and it can be even less expensive than going through an internet company. Maggie, our day-off coordinator has offered her services, but I wasn't quick enough to take her offer (my schedule got a little out of hand). This service will cost about $350 per 75 simple, elegant invitations minus all the hustle and headaches of printing and mailing. The price is an approximation, as it heavily depends on the invitations themselves.

3) if you end up with one of the do-it-yourself (partial or entirely) options, make sure to invite a couple of friends to stuff your envelopes. Goes sooooo much faster!

Which route I took? Wedding Paper Divas + printing the envelopes at home. I didn't follow my advise #1, so this was my only option. :( ... :) The company has excellent customer service, by the way, and I am really happy with their job.

The best way to do wedding invitations in my opinion? If you have time, do them yourself from a kit. They do really have beautiful kits out there!

If there is no time, hand it off to your invitations specialists. It might cost you a little more than ordering invitations online, but it is way less hustling. Maggie Heely in my opinion is just the right person for this task and for wedding planning in Buffalo.

This is how our invitations turned out.

What do you think?

And, our cake is...

I bet you didn't even think of this one, but here is the cake we chose:

Photo via Project Wedding

This might be a little unexpected choice, but actually it fits into the wedding theme, I promise! The tie-in of this cake to the wedding is ... my dress. :) Also, sometimes Andrey reveals the most incredible little things that matter to him: it happens that he can not have a cake at his wedding that is square or blue. Just like that! (Actually I sort of understand his fears - I can not drink Blue Gatorade). So, we are all about compromising and finding a choice that makes both of us happy. This cake did the trick!

Oh, and I just have to tell you about our baker, Zilly of Zilly Cakes.

Photo via Zilly Cakes

Zilly is first an artist, than a baker. When we were going through so many options for the cake flavors, proportions, colors, icing, Zilly never said she would not be able to do something. She also seemed to be picturing the cake just as we were, not even caring that our fantacy can transform into too much work for her. She was eager just as we were to create a cake that we would enjoy.

I anticipate seeing and tasting our wedding cake from Zilly with excitement for the beauty and for delisiosness!

If you are looking for a wedding cake in Buffalo that would be created with care, talent and creativity, you should definitelly visit with Zilly!

How to Chose a Wedding Cake

There are so many very good looking options for a wedding cake. How to chose just ONE? What do I like and what will be beautiful for my wedding? - This was my dilemma. The problem of too many choices, yet again.

I am the kind of a bride that saw many weddings before we had to plan ours. I always admired people's good choice in different details of the wedding. However I was not the one to write down good ideas in "my future wedding" planner. I always knew that my wedding planning will be based on the relationship that led to the wedding. So I had no expectation for a wedding cake when I started looking, except one - it has to taste good.

I had to start my search for a wedding cake with no preferences in mind. A good helper in this task was Project Wedding. After looking through myriads of cake photos, I chose 8 different cakes I liked.
Which one d0 you think I chose? And which one was my close second?

All images via Project Wedding

I will tell everything about our choice in the next post in a couple of days. Let me know what do you think was our choice.
Update (7/1/09): there was a problem with some images today on this post, so I will leave you guessing for the cake we chose one more day.

Off to Montreal for the weekend!

Just wanted to drop a note: on the wedding side of things - we have started exploring our cake options - I will share the details very soon. But for this weekend we are taking a mini vacation from planning and going to Montreal! Have a great weekend! !!!

Bridesmaids Dresses: what I like

One of the brightest traditions of American wedding is having a "court" - wedding party. Usually all bridesmaids and groomsmen in the wedding party are wearing the same outfits. Every girl in the party is wearing the same dress, and of course, not everybody is happy. Hence, the movie "27 Dresses".

I thought having my girlfriends wearing the same dresses would be very cute. But after thinking about fitting all the girls in the same shape and form, I felt this would be a little unfair. It is my special day, but I do want all of my friends feel beautiful and special too. Besides all traditional bridesmaids dresses are kind of plain to mine and my girls tastes.

So my bridesmaids will wear similar dresses - similar color and fabric, but not the same. See, I am not brideszilla!

This wedding party is very close to what I picture so far:

Photos by magnificent Jessica Claire

Update: one more example!

This wonderful implementation is via Emily Photo

A special day for my friends

Wednesday was the wedding anniversary of one of my closest friend's.

Kostya and Ania's wedding was very sincere and fun - just like they are. It was one of those weddings when both families and friends really enjoyed meeting each other. Lots of good memories!

I just thought that next year there will be an new date to celebrate in our own soon to be family. :) The new date that will set a new tradition. I am conservative in nature - I like change, but it does not come to me easily. Traditions I enjoy very much, because they repeat. :) Since you know what to expect from a tradition, there is opportunity to savor one or the other particular moment of it every time it comes.

I hope our wedding will be the one to remember for all of our guests, not just for us.

This is a couple of weeks old snippet of my favorite tree that grows in front of my office. Love this time of the year and this tree! It is nature tradition and I anticipate it every time it comes. :)

Our Engagement Session

Since I compiled my to-do list, I have been really tackling it. Save The Date cards arrived, ready to be shipped, the guest list is getting filled in with addresses, bridesmaids dresses are being discussed. We have met with one entertainer, chose our chair covers and table cloths. So, the list is at the stage of execution, and this is good. It keeps me calm. :)

Our exciting item that also got completed within this period is Engagement Session. Let me just say that I am very excited and inspired by the result. Watching more engagement sessions and weddings posted on Yuka Photo Art blog is always a delight - so stylish, creative, sophisticated! Yuka is also my friend, so being photographed by someone with whom you share teas, coffees, margaritas, talks, bike rides is twice as special. But receiving the result of magic with you, as the main character in it, feels a little surreal. Yulia, thank you SO much for capturing our pre-wedding state of being in such a unique and intimate way! It is truely very special and magic! Here are several shots from the session:

Here is post on Yuka Photo Art blog about the session: ELENA & ANDREY :: ENGAGEMENT
Here is the Slideshow

A few words to those who are preparing for their engagement sessions:
1) Prepare
2) Think of a couple outfits - use bright colors (of course if you only like black - than you should go for it). Bright colors make elevate your photos from cute to beautiful.
3) Girls - find a pair of out of ordinary heels. Even if in reality you can not make a single step in these shoes. Even if you are toller than a teleghaph pole in them.
4) Is there any THING that simbolizes your relationship or your character? Suitecase? Books? A Skate board? - Bring them along.
5) If you have a chance, ask a profesional to do your hair and make up. Or do those yourself.
6) Prepare to raise early for best lighting. Like 5 am early.
7) Set a side at least half day for the shoot. It will take at least 4 hours.
8) Enjoy the process, make a special day out of it.

4 Months Till The Wedding: to-do list for crunch time.

It is 4 months till the wedding and I want to make this month a "crunch" time. So there is no crunch time later.
Here is our short list of things to do:

1. Bridesmaids dresses (I think I found a painless solution - I'll share a little later);
2. Send out "Save the Date" cards - this is almost done;
3. Engagement photo session with Yuka - this coming weekend (!);
   
4. Choose a videographer (this is going to be tough based on our (ok, ... mine) requirement to the quality - should at least be at the same level of craftsmanship as Michael Jackson's "Do You Remember The Time" music video - :);
5. Music, entertainment - tamada (the officiant of the ceremonies and the order at the wedding in Slavic countries);
6. Officiant of the ceremony (there will be nothing to celebrate without this person);
7. Cake - has to be as tasty as it is beautiful;
8. Book wedding night suite - this is almost done;
   
9. Honeymoon!
   

With this aggressive plan we will get the big items out of the way to concentrate on the little details next month.

Hopefully with our agenda, we will never get to the following state of planning (the source is hyperlinked to the image itself).

Happy Monday!

Wedding Websites - so many choices!

We will have many out of town guests at the wedding and to keep everybody "on the same page" it was decided at our family-to-be meeting to create a web-site for the wedding.

Wedding is about choices. In everything. Because of so many options, it took me a whole month to chose a wedding website.

I was looking for:

1. an easy and fast interface to load information;
2. a good looking template;
3. a template that would match our colors (blue and orange);
4. a back end to the website that would serve as a planning and guests list management tool;
5. an option of ordering a keepsake CD, so the website and our virtual guest book comments will be saved for us;
6. in the beginning we were going to rely on the website for RSVPs, but than decided this would not be a crucial feature , as some of our guests aren't internet savvy and we can't have online only RSVPs.

The finalist of the search was: Wedding Window. It has all the features that we needed. So here is the first try on our web-site: nothing is loaded there yet, and the colors might be tweaked.

We also considered:

• Wed Simple - really powerful back end to the site, but as far as I know you can't order a keepsake. Not as versatile design options as in Wedding Window
• My Wedding - this is a free site, and you can pick a theme that has a matching invitations! After I posted my web-site dilemma on Wedding Bee (by the way - an awesome place to learn about and ask any of wedding-related questions) and one of the responders suggested to use Joltform to make up for RSVP, that is not so good on this web-site. Great free solution!
• eWedding - this was a popular response on Wedding Bee.

If you decide to have a website for your wedding, the best way to find the right one for you is to sign up for free trials. I can assure you that after experiencing the tools, your choice will come clear! Be prepared to spend about 30-60 minutes with each of your options. Good starting points for the search are: Wedding Bee Boards, Wedding Bee Wiki on websites and also this comparison chart from Wedding Websites.

I am excited to organize our planning to the back end of our wedding website and finally start logging in our guest list!

Hope you are having a good week!

Complete Report on Wedding Dress Shopping in Buffalo, NY. Part 2.

Good Monday! I've promised to complete my report about wedding dress shopping in Buffalo. Here is part 2, where you will find a review of the bridal shops I visited.

I decided to visit smaller private bridal shops in our Buffalo-Niagara (US and Canada) region and tried on about 40 dresses before I found mine. Here is where my search took me:

a) M.A.Carr- was the first place I visited. Located in Orchard Park, the shop has a tasteful selection of dresses from designers like Casablanca, Watters Brides, Jasmine Bridal and many others. Their prices are between $700 and $2000. Attentive and suggestive service. This shop had a few dresses I ranked as candidates for THE DRESS right on my first visit. Assistants in the shop are a real help - they learn what you like and suggest within your interests.

b) Victoria's Bridal Shoppe - mostly classic, beautiful dresses, big selection of ball gowns. Many dresses under $1,000. Attentive and helpful customer service. Since ball gowns (big and puffy dresses) don't fit me as nicely as I'd require from a wedding dress, I had little selection in this store for myself.

c) The Ballett's - A St. Catherine's (Canada) salon with the most helpful web-site. Many beautiful choices with style, however not all the models you chose from the web-site will be available in the shop. Moderate prices - many options under $1,200. Helpful assistants.

d) Bridal Chateau, Inc. - I wanted to visit them, but could never get through on the phone to set an appointment. The line was either busy or on answering machine. ??? I had a chance to speak with Beth, one of the owners, at a function we attended together. She was surprised this happened and thought it was due to the construction nearby. She also mentioned they have a tasteful selection under $2,000. I was concerned with communication with the store and decided not to visit.

e) Bridals By D - Despite several negative reviews and an absence of a web-site (!!!), I was very pleasantly surprised with this shop's gowns selection. They had many dresses that fit me very well and looked like candidates for THE DRESS. They even had several Jim Hjelm dresses to offer! A pricier than the usual ($1000 - $2000), but very trendy shop in Buffalo! In this salon I "met" Mikaella. The designer seems to make dresses just for me - I like 90% of their creations. Oh, and all of them fit me beautifully!! Their sister brand, more upscale Paloma Blanca gives me the same feeling as Mikaella. Simple and sophisticated, gorgeous dresses. And yes, my dress is one of their creations! (Andrey is advised not to look through the links). Ladies that helped me in the shop were very accommodating - so far bad reviews posted about the shop proved to be wrong for me. A couple more words about the designer of my dress: both brands are from Toronto, Canada! The designer has been making wedding dresses since 1937. Both brands are astonishingly affordable considering the quality and styles they offer - Mikaella dresses start from $1,000 and Paloma Blanca - from $1,400. I will not deny - I am infatuated with my dress and with the designer. :)

f) Pearl Bridal House - oh, and I visited this shop near Toronto. There I tried on dresses literally off the New York fashion shows. I've visited on Melissa Sweet trunk show weekend. The shopping assistants detected no buying potential in me with their six's sense within minutes. They were not interested in taking care of me, but very interested in taking the dresses off me. Well, yes, they guessed right - while I am an admirer, I am not the spender of $8,000 and up on a dress.... So far. :)

g) Almost forgot about one more Buffalo bridal shop: Classic Bridal. This shop actually talked me out of visiting them!! This is how the conversation unveiled: Me: "Can I please come in to try on your dresses?" - Shop Assistant (SA):"Which brands are you planning on trying on?" - Me: "Well, I don't know, I will decide when I see the dresses" - SA: "There are more than 400 dresses in the store, we need to know what you are going to be trying on! And, besides, with your deadlines you don't have any time for alterations, ... unless you are 5' 9"!" - Me: "I am 5'9"! So, can I come in and try on the dresses?" - SA: "Well, I guess....". I booked and appointment, but after replaying this conversation in my mind, canceled it. :( ... :)

Didn't want to end this post on such note. So here is some magically sophisticated bridal creations from another designer I fancy - Monique Lhuillier. Fall 2009 Collection.

My Wedding Dress Search is Over! Complete report about searching for a wedding dress in Buffalo. Part 1.

I walked out of a bridal shop on a Saturday afternoon couple of weekends ago barely touching the ground. .... ;) I ordered my wedding dress! A huge weight lifted off my shoulders.

I instantly felt such joy from a new confidence, that our wedding will turn out wonderful, because I got the dress that makes me feel like a bride I wanted to be. Actually, I didn't know what kind of bride I wanted to be, I was just searching for that feeling of perfection, sophistication, excitement and lightness that will make me look and feel like a bride. A strict panel consisting of my father, my mom and one of my grandmas saw my final choice that morning and approved it. The expression on my family's faces told me vividly that this was my dress. (I'll share more about the dress in the next post).

Feeling like an expert in wedding dress search, I am, of course, eager to pass on my experience to those who still have this special journey ahead of them:

0) This step sometimes isn't necessary if you already have a vision of what you want. If not - head to a bookstore and flip through myriads of magazines. I know that nothing will stop you from buying some of them - so I won't try. :) There are also plenty of resources online: Brides.com, The Knott, Once Wed to name a few.

1) First of all, you need to figure out the style that suites you. This could be very different from what you envisioned yourself to wear. What if you really like big, puffy dresses, but they just don't look good on you? For this purpose David's Bridal is a great place - give yourself a couple of trips and try everything on! David's Bridal lets you save your favorite dresses into your profile on their web-site, which you can print out and bring to the store to try them on. Strapless or with straps, long or short, puffy or fitted, lacy or plain? Many choices, but within a couple of visits you'll learn the new vocabulary and you'll get an idea of what you should be looking for. My personal observation: puffy dresses look better on shorter girls, on the other hand taller girls look just so beautiful in fitted dresses. :)

2) May be the dress of your dreams will be waiting for you in David's Bridal? That will be light on the budget, as their dresses are priced between $400 and $1,000. If not, you should visit a couple of private bridal shops. In my next post I'll share the list of the shops I visited.

3) Some of the shops will allow you to take pictures, some won't, but you will remember how you felt when you tried the dresses on. How many dresses should you try? My answer - as many as it takes to find the one that makes you feel not just special, not cute, not charming, but unique, sophisticated and beautiful - nothing short of that! I think I've tried about 40 dresses before I found mine.

4) Time to eliminate: gather up your contenders for the dress and eliminate the ones that just don't look 200% great on you. It is also the time to check if you are able to sit, walk and dance in the contender dress (because sometimes we just get carried away by designs). Another cut that you might make is by budget (if budget is a part of your criteria) - as magic as this dress is for us, brides, it is still a dress for one occasion (not counting Trash The Dress sessions).

5) After the elimination rounds, make an appointment to come in and model the dresses to your most critiquing audience that you trust. Listen to what they say. After that make your decision (sometimes it can be against your panel's opinion - it is your day).

Below are my three favorite dresses (besides my dress):

Jim Hjeml Fall 2008

Melissa Sweet Fall 2009

Watters Brides

Good Luck! Enjoy the journey! And for all my friends and readers who are experienced wedding dress searchers - please share your tips!

Good Morning, Monday!

Mondays for me, as for many other people, are difficult. It is the beginning of the work week. It is hard to switch gears from freer, on my schedule day to committed and scheduled day.

BUT:
0) Andrey is not business traveling this week and will spend evenings at home :)
1) it already feels and looks like Spring!
2) there was major progress on wedding planning this past weekend (but I won't tell just yet);
3) this week I WILL write about our Spring break trip;
4) my brother and his wife are in town, and we will be able to spend some time together!
5) if the weather holds, I will be doing my third!! photo shoot this coming weekend!! (I'm yet to cover my first two here - this is coming up).

So .... life patches together in a bright, spriny blanket and I am thrilled to cover myself with it!

By shellayy0077 from Photobucket

A message from the Moon

Today is February 22. My last post is dated February 4. Surely, I must have fallen off the planet Earth, you would think.

The truth is - it seemed that I did! Last week (it felt more like a month) I found myself on the sunny, sandy beaches of Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. I kept pinching my skin very hard to make sure I really was in July weather, when the calendar said February. Many details and photos to follow! So far, I am leaving this YouTube video as a part of my "not my fault" plea. Perhaps it will make my vanishing act more understandable and, I hope, forgivable:



Also soon to come:
1) Updates on the Dress Search
2) Our choice of flowers
3) Chair covers and other extras for the reception
2) Tips for traveling to Dominican Republic (excellent honeymoon destination)

Why Include David's Bridal into THE DRESS Search?

Last Tuesday we celebrated my work friend's birthday in The Melting Pot (fondue). It is a conversation inspiring restaurant: the lights are dimmed, the food comes slow, you need to cook it, it comes out scrumptious, and the meal finisher is velvety chocolate that is not too sweet. Perfectly tasty. This atmosphere is the best to meet new people and get to know them better.

This is how I met my friend's friend Gayle. Over a conversation Gayle learned that I have a wedding to plan this year, and I learned that Gaile has actively participated in planning of nearly 10(!!!) of her friends weddings. She was kind to offer her knowledge base of Buffalo wedding planning! I feel very lucky to have met Gaile, since her first advice to me was something that I didn't even think of.

Gaile advised to start THE DRESS search from David's Bridal. It is a place where you should try on a dress in every style to see what fits best. If you like what you found in David's Bridal - even better, since their dresses are very affordable. If not, than with a determined silhouette you should move on to bridal boutiques. (This is probably my scenario).

I have already visited David's Bridal once, but need to return to finish trying all the dresses. I will follow up with a complete report. I also promise to share all Gaile's advice I get.

Collage from The Rose Dress

Wedding: the dress

I got chills when I lifted all the layers of a wedding dress and slipped it on in a bridal salon for the first time in my life!! In my emotional history this moment will be ranked evenly with my first kiss, my first date, a moment when Andrey proposed!

I told the girls in the salon that I came open minded, that I would try everything they suggest and see how it looks. However, right after the first dress my preferences revealed themselves! I guess, I like romantic, a little fluffy, delicate styles. (It is pretty vague description, but actually it eliminates some of the options already). Wedding planing makes you learn so much about yourself!

This wedding season fashion suggests ruffles, mermaid style dresses, and even feathers!! Also fashionable becomes two have two dresses - a long one for the ceremony and a short one for dancing. (Such a smart idea! To me brides dancing away to "Sexy Back" in a long dress never looked natural). I decided that my body will dictate the final choice - what fits best would be the most important criteria. The quest has begun!

The first salon I visited was M.A. Carr in Orchard Park, NY. They have a very tasteful selection of dresses in a medium price range (that is above $1,000, but under $2,000). My assistant was Karen, and I appreciated that she was not trying to sell me the most expensive dress, but offered opinion.

The next salon on the agenda is Pearl Bridal House in Toronto. They are in a much higher price range, and I would like to take a peak at the couture options. I am just looking - I promise! That should be so much fun!

The Knot has this nifty tool where a bride can design a vision of the wedding day look. Below are the two looks I designed. What would you chose?

Wedding: choosing colors

How are you?
I am overwhelmed and excited!!! !!!! !!!!

Overwhelmed, because there are so many gorgeous, stunning, downright beautiful color combinations a bride can chose for a wedding nowadays, that I am just sinking in the ocean of choices. And because colors are needed for many wedding decisions, I got stuck on them.
My mind is racing - do I talk first to the linens and chair covers vendor or to the florist? Should I be sending my "Save the date" notes already? Am I late? I guess that checking in with The Knot's checklist would help (right?). I will do that tomorrow - they do have a lot of advice.

Excited, because I know no matter the color combination we chose, it will look very beautiful, elegant, whimsical, tasteful and warm. Well, I have a strong hope it will.

Tonight I put two chairs together, placed my lap top on the dining table and set my businessman-macho fiance by my side to present the finalists of my color themes review....
....The choices were supported and approved! Yes, I know that sounds too good to be true, but he does care: "The DAY is yours and mine", he said, so he participated. And I love that, and him for that, and him. :)

So here are the theme ideas WE like:

Idea 1 from Hostess creations by Laurie Cinotto

Idea 2, collage by Tastefully Entertaining

As you can tell, we are almost set on the colors. Probably ...... orange & blue!!! (and their variations). We both love blue. It is a summer, light color. Orange is a fall color, and it is a warm one. Their combination isn't usual, but we think we like it best. We will see what alterations will come from meeting with linens and chair covers vendor and with florist. I'll keep you posted.

Some tips from experience of choosing a color theme for your wedding:

1. First look around your home, look at your furniture, at your clothes - what surrounds you every day? (You will not believe how many combinations of blue and orange are in our house - these colors were jumping right at us!).
2. Think of your wedding's time of the year - you might not enjoy pastels in October - the ripe reds, yellows and oranges will out-bright them. However, my point #4 will in some situations prove point # 2 wrong.
3. Now think of your venue: perhaps that bright pink carpet (I am exaggerating now, but, - can happen) will not work too well with light yellow. May be dark brown will make a better option.
4. No matter what other 3 points tell you, even though they ARE making a good point, - chose the colors you love and just work with them. Coming back to pink carpet situation - may be you stay with your favorite light yellow, but add brown. From what I've seen in our almighty Internet in the last couple of days leaves no doubt that ANY color can work with ANY other if you just apply imagination and web-surfing skills.

Here are some links that contain volumes and volumes of inspiration (and I predict that they will only be your starting point):

• Tastefully Entertaining
  
• Snippet and Ink (courtesy of Yuka Photo Art) any link on the blog roll of this blog looks like yet another chapter of inspiration, so be sure to browse through them too!
• The Southern Weddings Daily Blog
• and a simple and helpful color pallet

So, what do you think of our color choices so far? Please-please share!