I have given this topic a lot of thought. I’ve gone back and forth a million times now with the idea of eloping. Simple, to the point, inexpensive and ultimately you end up exactly where you want to be: married to the person you want to spend the rest of your life with. Sounds pretty foolproof to me!

To make it extra special you can always make it a destination wedding and pick someplace you’ve always wanted to go or your favorite place in the world. Get married on your first or second day there and spend the rest of time time having your fabulous honeymoon. Or have a fantastic vacation and end it with a bang by getting married at your favorite spot you found during your stay. Either way it’s romantic, spontaneous, and something that only you two will share and increase your newly-made bond.

Some other positives include: no planning, no stress, no family drama. You also can save a lot of money depending on where you do it. By eloping, the money you spend is only on yourselves and not on flowers that will die in 2 days, a cake that you’ll eat 2 bites of, and an open bar that serves mainly to get you embarrassed by your wasted relatives. 

I would, however, advise against eloping if you have parents or future in-laws that would be incredibly offended or hurt by not being able to attend your wedding. You don’t want a lifetime of guilt thrown at you because you didn’t give them the option to attend. You also don’t want to look back and regret not having your friends and family there. It’s all about what you want. 

I feel like I’m talking to myself. As I continue to decide what I want, I continue to change my mind and become even more indecisive. Chris is with me every step of the way- he says he’ll be happy with whatever I decide because he doesn’t want me to look back and regret anything about our day. The only thing I know for sure is that I want to marry him. Everything else between me and the alter is just fuss. I just want someone else to plan it for me and I’ll just show up. Anyone know how to make that happen?

So I’ve spent a lot of time doing research for the wedding. Our abundance of time gives me the luxury to sit and find the things that I really want and take my time to find the best deals. Any wedding where you have to stick to a budget, you have to make sure you’re getting the best offers. So here are some great websites you might want to look into-

Etsy- I have found this website to be an amazing resource. From custom made jewelry to wedding invitations, wedding pillows, veils, garters, , people sell their services at bargain prices. I bought the most fantastic hair accessory courtesy of Brendasbridalveils that should be arriving any day now. Talk to the people whose pieces you like and ask them for custom pieces. They are happy to help and can create virtually anything you want!

TheKnot- Always a fantastic resource for information. The Knot lets you create a personal website for your wedding that lets guests come check on information and learn more about the couple. They cover every topic you could ever question. Cake design, invitations, local resources for your wedding city, photographers, bridesmaids, centerpieces, dresses, flowers, decor, colors, EVERYTHING. This site is a fantastic resource for doing your pre-shopping research. It’s one stop shopping. Print out pictures and keep a folder of all the things you like. This way you have solid photos to represent your style and taste when you go visit vendors. 

Magnetstreet- Another fantastic resource for save-the-dates, invitations, place cards, favor cards, table numbers, basically any stationary needs for your big day. You can even design your save the dates and invitations with personal photos of you and your fiance. I chose a magnet save the date that I customized with 4 photos from the different years my fiance and I dated. The more you order the less they charge per piece, so it’s still very economical for large and small orders. 

WeddingDesigner- This site is for all your random wedding needs. Cake toppers, candles, cake serving sets, toasting sets, guest books, and any other little detail you might not immediately think about. In honor of my fiance’s first love of motorcycles, I found this which shall grace our cake. I just need to get the designer to make the girl with brown hair and it will be perfect! Just a silly detail but I’m totally excited about it. 

So these are some of my little secrets that I’ve found. I hope they help! Let me know if you’ve used any of these sites and what you think about them. I’ll post more as I find them! Feel free to leave your favorites as well! 

Or should I say Izzie’s wedding dress? Well I hated it on Meredith when they showed her trying it on because she has no curve to her body but on Katherine Heigl the dress was downright gorgeous. It kinda makes me want to go buy it… if it were even remotely in my price range!! The dress is by Kenneth Pool for Amsale. The dress is called “Lana” and features an A line skirt with vintage beading and crystal on tulle. And it doesn’t come cheap… with a price tag at $7,250! Kenneth Pool makes an array of beautiful dresses but be prepared to pony up for them!

I decided on my dress because not only was it everything I wanted but it also came with a price tag that didn’t give me heart palpitations. As much as I believe the whole “it’s your one big day… you deserve the dress of your dreams…” I also believe one needs to be a little realistic and remember “you DO only wear the dress once and you have to remember your budgetary restrictions.” Something else that helped me choose my dress was during one of my rants on how I am incredibly indecisive and couldn’t choose between 2 great dress, my friend reminded me… “well Meg, all the dresses are going to be beautiful and many of them will look great on you. But it’s choosing the dress that YOU see yourself walking down the aisle in. Try not to get caught up in how pretty they are. They are made to be pretty.” (Thank you, Marissa!!!) 

I’m also highly considering participating in Trash the Dress. It’s a great cause (Brides Against Breast Cancer) where photographers take pictures of brides the day after the wedding in their dress again. Only they do things like go swimming in the dress, lay on sidewalks or in the sand, play on playgrounds, run and jump and anything else you can think of that normally is avoided like the plague on your actual wedding day. But the shots end up gorgeous and fun and something you’ll always remember. 

So I bought my wedding dress 2 weeks ago. The day I bought it I was standing in the accessory room at Cincinnati Bridal and Formal with my future mother in law and sister in law. At that exact moment Chris called me with some mundane question about Coffeemate because he was at the grocery store and I couldn’t help but smile and turn beet red and tell him- “honey I’m standing in my dress! It’s perfect. I’m so excited.”  

But for some reason, when I got home I was having second thoughts about my perfect dress. On top of my second guessing, I got a call from my stepsister 3 days later telling me that she too had purchased her dress. As she begins to describe it, my heart sinks a little- it’s kinda similar to mine. Ugh. As if I wasn’t already annoyed enough. So I started re-researching dresses. I called the owner if Cincinnati Bridal and Formal and told him my situation. He sympathized and offered to let me come in as soon as possible and he would allow me to put my deposit towards another dress. (Seriously he’s awesome and a savior.) So I made an appointment for a few days later and made the 2 hour drive back to Cinci from Columbus by myself. I needed to not have any other opinions cloud my judgement. I am easily persuaded and this is a HUGE decision that I needed to make for myself. 

I tried on tons of other dresses. I was there for 3 hours trying on everything that was different that the dress I had bought. Including this beauty from Jasmine Couture-
I almost bought her. It was gorgeous and different and made my waist look teeny, which was very exciting. So, I told my very helpful dresser lady to wrap it up. I’d take it. But something wasn’t right. I asked her to hold a minute so I could put my original dress on one more time. As I slipped it on and she pulled and pinned it into place, I got those butterflies all over again. It was deep in my gut. I sat in my dress for a half hour, alone in a room. I emailed pictures to one of my bridesmaids and my stepfather, my mom was on the store’s web cam. I couldn’t make up my mind. I was trying to convince myself that the “new” dress was what I wanted… but it was wrong. I kept thinking about how excited I was when I spoke to Chris on the phone the first time I was in the shop. I could picture myself walking down the aisle towards him in that dress… not the new one. So I thanked the wonderful salespeople for all their help and patience, but I was sticking with MY dress. 

The second dress is beautiful and even my mother and stepfather liked it better than my original dress but I knew and my closest friends knew that I was already done. Crisis solved. And I’m so proud of myself for making the decision on my own. Even with the not so wonderful circumstances… I chose what I wanted and that’s a HUGE step for me. And because of that… now there are no second thoughts. 

Sorry I can’t show a picture of my actual dress. But if you want to email me, I’m happy to send a little preview! 

So I bought my wedding dress! (The picture to the left is not it…) I made a special trip to Cincinnati this past weekend to Bridal and Formal, with my soon to be mother and sister in law. We had a blast. The customer service is unparalleled and my helper, Sarah B., was nothing but sweet, fun and complimentary. The store is huge with over 4,000 gowns in stock- they have everything from Vera Wang and Monique Loullier to Forever Yours and Davinci. You can try on anything you want, as many as you want, and it’s actually fun. I came in with a list of dresses I knew I wanted to see… research is good when taking on a place as large as that. So there was one dress by Watters and Watters that only Bridal and Formal carried because it was a slightly older style. I found it immediately in the rack and brought it out with about 6 others and got ready to try them all on. We started with the Melissa Sweet and Priscilla of Boston trunk show dresses that were entirely out of my price range but extremely gorgeous. I managed to wriggle my way into the sample sizes used for the runway show (a truly amazing feat for me) but they just weren’t right for me. So I started in on my other choices and slipped into the Watters dress. Sarah pulled and pinned it in the back to make it fit correctly and I walked out to my awaiting family. Their faces told me immediately.

It was perfect.

It’s very simple, classic and very romantic. Exactly what I was looking for. So I have the dress on and I’m jumping up and down with excitement. Then Sarah whisks me off to the Accessory Room, where a different girl did my hair in a quick up-do and let me go wild with veils and jewelry. I explained the look I was going for and they made suggestions, pulling all sorts of things for me to try. It was a total princess moment. I found a veil and some combs that were much too expensive but it was still a ton of fun. They even let me take a few pictures to send to my Mom in Buffalo. 

So I bought the dress!! I don’t like the sash that comes with it but I’m going to make my own and add a little sparkle. It’s cheaper and I can customize it to my liking. Bridal and Formal didn’t pressure me into buying anything, which was a nice change from other salons I’ve been to. It was a great day. Wonderful. I highly recommend a trip to this wonderful store if you’re confused on what you’re looking for or even have something specific in mind. They are a great help, the owner is an awesome guy from my hometown in Buffalo, who offered me his card and let me know if there’s anything else I need that I could call him personally. I expected to be overwhelmed at such a large store but they have a smooth process that gives each bride the personal attention she deserves and makes her feel very special. A big thanks to them from me- and I’m a tough critic!