The White Dress and other worries

By now the planning process is starting to gain some momentum. We've got our church (mine, in downtown Columbus), which I will pay the deposit on this week. We're crossing our fingers for the reception venue to be COSI. Jonathan works there and he is entitled to a helpful discount on room rental. As far as food and drink go - we are struggling a bit with the shock of how much this reception may actually cost!! (Let's just say it'd be a healthy down payment on a house.) We are limited with the alcohol since COSI doesn't allow outside liquor, but we may be able to play with things such as appetizers and dinner. I'd love to get everyone's opinions as far as food/drink go at weddings. What's normal for a wedding? What sorts of things are a "must-have"? What tends to offend the guests?

So money is a bit on my mind at the moment. Everything is so expensive! And of course there's nothing that comes as an add-on. I.E. No, you can't have floor length linens for your tables unless you want to pay an extra $500. Oy...

On to the wedding gown. I've hit a couple places in Columbus. I've of course brought along my most trusted opinion-givers - Jamie and Christine, along with my mom who brings her notepad and has written down the favorites thus far. The first place we tried was on a whim - Wendy's Bridal here in Dublin. I worked with a girl named Heather. She was awesome - she just had so much fun, loved what she was doing, and made me feel really good. I found two that I liked there - the Cambria (Maggie Sottero), and a Mori Lee style. The second place I tried was Elegant Bride, also in Dublin. The consultant was hilarious in the way that she was of Middle Eastern descent, and had the awesome accent to boot - and was VERY confident in what would look good on me and what wouldn't. I didn't really end up liking much there, but the consultant was fun. This past Saturday, we went to a small boutique in Worthington called La Jeune Mariee. This is where my sister found her gown. I love the owner here - Lindsay is her name and she is a cutie. I found one I liked here, but of course it was upwards of $4000... OY! Um... needless to say this is not what I'm going for. Later in the afternoon I had my appointment at Girls in White Dresses. This was a cute little boutique in downtown Columbus. Unfortunately, I started getting very frustrated about the 3rd dress in... she got the thing pulled down over my shoulders with some significant tugging... but i didn't like it and I was out of breath, and we tried to take it off. I got stuck. I hated myself for the rest of the day. Any dress after that we tried, if it didn't go easily over my shoulders, I said "Take it off" and I was just done. Nothing kills your self-esteem like not being able to put the sample dress on at a store. After we left I felt gross and ugly, and thankfully Jamie comforted me a little before we headed home. I was just not feeling great - I'd been staring at my half naked body all day long and after a while the voices from the past come to the surface and even though I'm working my body image, they still hurt.

Sunday was better - my mom and I went to Alan Ray over in Dublin, and the woman who helped me out there was just a treat!!! She made me feel fabulous, and the samples fit! We actually found two dresses that really may work, one of which actually got the waterworks going for my mom!!! Uh-oh... :) When mom cries seeing you in the dress it's usually a good sign!

We're still planning a trip to Cincinnati to hit the Benson area ("Bridal gown capitol of the midwest"), so I have some hopes for that trip too. I am sure I will find "the dress" soon enough.

Anyway - bring on the comments! wedding thoughts, reception thoughts, any ideas anyone may have for money saving... I'll take 'em! :)