Wedding Dress!

FOUND IT!

Just kidding. But to start off my wedding dress search, I tried on my mother's wedding dress from 1982. It actually fit pretty perfectly, it was just super long. Krista, my maid of honor, and Lauren, my cousin were meeting at my house to accompany my mom and I on our dress search. I answered the door in this dress. I wish I took pictures of their faces. 

So after I made a quick wardrobe change, we set off for three different bridal appointments. The first stop was at Weddings by Debbie. It's about 5 minutes away from my house on the Katy Freeway. It was a huge bridal salon. I had a helpful consultant and I tried on six different gowns. I liked two of them. 

We stopped for lunch before continuing to the second appointment at Parvani Vida. It's a smaller store off of Highway 6. Here we had more success. I found three dresses that I really loved. Two were by the designer Casablanca and one was by a designer called Symphony. 

My mom, Lauren, and I continued to our last stop, Houston Bridal Gallery. It's also on the Katy Freeway, but  closer to Memorial than Katy. It was the smallest store of the three. We found two dresses that are so so gorgeous, both by Justin Alexander. 

It was a really awesome experience. Now I have to make the tough decision of which one I want! I have 5 favorites, although I keep on thinking about three in particular. All of them are within my budget (so don't let those snooty Klienfeld's consultants from Say Yes to the Dress make you think you have to spend $5,000 on a wedding dress).

Although trying on wedding dresses is more tiring than you would think, I still really enjoyed it. Everyone was complimenting me, telling me I have a tiny waist, or that I have the perfect body for bridal (my height paying off for once!). Now I have to go back to my real life of teaching pre-school, changing diapers, and being normal. 

WE CHOSE A VENUE!

FINALLY!  We chose a venue! I am so excited. I feel like a big weight has been lifted off my shoulders. The plan is to get married at Marvin UMC. After the ceremony, we will travel a mere five minutes to Hollytree Country Club. 

When we saw it, it was sectioned off, but the room will be a lot bigger when we get married. It has these really tall ceilings with big wooden rafters. There are two large fire places and a wine cellar. I am really excited! It also includes a cocktail area with a bar and a piano.

Now that the huge decisions are made, I can move on to the details.

Tyler Venues!

My mother and I made a trip up to Tyler this weekend. With Brady's new job in Henderson, Tyler is an easy and sensible choice for location. My mom AKA wedding planner made up a detailed spreadsheet of locations around the Tyler area. I went in and rated the venues based on their photos and accommodations. We toured four locations this weekend. It was pretty fun. I got referred to as "the bride" several times which never fails to make me smile. 

Stop One: Lake Tyler Petroleum Club

Three walls of windows, right on Lake Tyler. Bar and dance floor included. Buffet style for dinner. Outdoor cocktail space. Ideal for reception only.

Stop Two: Centaur Arabian Farms

Gorgeous grounds and landscaping. Reception area will only seat about 110 in the barn comfortably.

Ceremony location for Stop Two. Gorgeous as well but no bad weather plan. They have a tent available but for all we know March 10th could be really freezing.

Stop Three: Villa de Felicitia

Gorgeous venue in the middle of the country. This is the one we are all leaning toward. It has a ceremony and reception location. There is an outside spot AND a back up spot.

The lovely reception area from Stop Three, Villa de Felicitia.

The outside location for Villa de Felicitia. GORGEOUS. The aisle is really long though.

Marvin United Methodist Church, over 100 years old!

Stop 4: Tyler Womens Building 

Also historic. It was build in the 1930s. We visited it the morning after a wedding, so it was still super messy. It would be difficult to seat all of our guests and have a dance floor. :(

The outside of the building. It had a lovely little garden in the back.

So those are our options. We still have a lot of things to consider and numbers to crunch. But plan on March 10, 2012 in Tyler, Texas!