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Feb 24, 2010
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Tonight was my first bridal show as the bride! It was a little weird. I mean, I've gone to two bridal shows last year, but I was Sue's bridesmaid then. It was about her. It was about carrying around her stuff and following behind and being a "Lady in Waiting." Now, it's about me. It is the first solid thing I've done since the engagement. It makes that wedding day truly real for me. It's exciting and daunting and a little scary! I want to marry Remy so much, but since I still live with my mom, being married is the last step to truly being an adult. No more faking it. I can't deny that I'm an adult. Plus, it will be the first time that I'll actually live with a man. It's such a huge step.
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Another funny thing is that I didn't realize how I'd truly react to being "the bride." I thought I would be this cool cucumber who would be able to keep my head and be a hard negotiator. Be in charge. Be savvy. Don't get swayed by all the glitz, glam, and pampering! HA! Yeah right! I was such a meek little girly-girl tonight! Before, when Remy and I knew we would get married, and I was just waiting for the ring, Celia dragged me to a few placed to get ideas and try on dresses. Then - when it wasn't official - I would just shrug and inform anyone who asked that we didn't have a date quite yet because we're trying to build up the finances, and so I was just looking to get price-ranges to save up to. Yada-yada, no big deal. Now, however, now it was official, with an actual date. And so I melted. "When's your wedding?" the vendors would ask. And I'd respond with a shy giggle and a meek response of "October 2, 2011... OMG it's weird to say it aloud!" I'M SUCH A DOOOOORK! Every friggen time tonight! Every vendor! "Teeheehee... October 2, 2011." DOOOORK!!!! I must have been so red from blushing! GAAAA!
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Well, anyway, there I was, with my entourage of my mother and sister. We were at a hotel that was hosting the bridal show. We were some of the first brides to enter, and MAN was it a small show. I didn't expect how small. There were only about fifteen vendors there. The first vendor I went to was for a DJ. We chatted for a little bit and he seemed an alright guy. However, when he MCed the fashion show at the end of the bridal show, he seemed a bit cheesy. His jokes were a little lame, his musical choices - he gave examples of entrance music and cake cutting - were cliche, and he claimed he had a foolproof way of getting everyone on the dance floor. His method? He came over to me and Celia and pulled us up front. He then told us to get two more brides. OOOOOH, the look on the woman's face when I dragged her up! And all four of us picked one more person - of COURSE I decided Mom needed in on this! I'm so bad! And then all eight of us were instructed to turn to our right, hold on to the hips of the person in front of us, and then we congaed. We pulled more people into our line as we went, the line fell apart because people were too fast or too slow to hold on, I laughed as we went, but I thought, "No way are we having the conga line!" He finishes up by playing "New York, New York" and had those of us that remained do the kick-line. Finally, he places his disclaimer, "Everyone will be on the dance floor because I'll have you and your guests pull them up and do my dirty work," he joked. Sure, he DJs/MCs at a lot of sports events, but that is exactly what he seemed like he was Emceeing. My wedding will be a bit out there, but it's not a sports event.
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There was another DJ there that I was impressed with. They too gave a mini-demonstration during the fashion show. They seemed fun and playful and definitely not sports-events-cheesy. They did also promise to get everyone on the dance floor, but instead of embarrassing us brides, they had us laughing and WANT to join in by having the line of four DJs dancing.
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Well, to be fair, they DID start off by embarrassing one of the few grooms that actually came tonight. Right in the front row, drinking his beer - which you can tell is his ONLY way of getting through the night of dresses, make-up, and jewelry. The owner Tony came up to him and his fiance. He asked the bride if he was romantic when he proposed. She sweetly responded with "Yes." And after a short pause she added the disclaimer "in his own way." Whoops. When Tony called her on the disclaimer she realized what she did and instantly apologized for embarrassing her groom. Too late, Tony already told the groom that he had to make up for it now. With some prodding, Tony was able to get the groom to put down his beer and join the line of DJs up front. Tony then told the groom that this was his chance to make up for the proposal by showing his future wife how sexy he can really be. And that's when the fifth DJ - who was working the sound board - starting playing Apache by the Sugar Hill Gang. And all of us Fresh Prince of Bell Air fans knew EXACTLY what was going on, and we all started hooting and hollering! The groom, however, must not have been a fan, because the DJs had to teach him The Dance. At one point, one of the DJs actually went over to the poor groom and manually directed his hips because the man could not get it. It was hilarious, and you felt bad for the groom, but after all us brides had to do the conga and kick-line, it was fair play! ^_^
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Anyway, the DJs finished up by demonstrating other group dances like the Electric Slide - which they actually did to Michael Jackson's The Way You Make Me Feel - to prove you don't HAVE to play Electric Boogie to have the Electric Slide. They also demonstrated a new group dance that Sue is actually having at her wedding - the Cupid Shuffle. Watching these guys all come down and dance - not just hide behind the booth - was really nice.
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Plus, prior to their demonstration, I had talked with to the owner Tony. I like the guy. He was friendly and energetic and he really sold his company. He seemed to be able to talk for hours - which is good for a potential MC. Not that I want him to talk for hours, but the fact that he was so extroverted is good. I don't know how to explain it, but I had some sort of a connection with him. Mom seemed very excited about the company too. We ended up talking about it more and more after the show was over.
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Another cool part is that Tony's company also provides photography services, not just DJ. That's not to say that if you purchase them you automatically get both. I mean there is the option of hiring just a DJ, just a photographer, or a package deal for both. Which is cool. I like that if we find a better DJ or a better photographer we still might have the option of working with Tony for the other vendor service. You know? Well, the photography was nice, and the packages seemed reasonable enough. But the prices are still up there. I mean, the prices are about what I was expecting, but I sort of wish that they were cheaper than what I was expecting. This budget issue is going to kill me! I dunno.
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Well, there was another photography company there - this time it was just the photography. It was two women representing the company and the pictures were stunning. The thing that really impressed me about these women was their help with my plans. The two big questions tonight were "When is the wedding?" and "Where is the reception/where are you having it?" That second one killed me. Now, instead of "We're saving for the wedding so we don't know yet" the canned response has become "We have some in mind but we're waiting for nicer weather before visiting anywhere." Well, when I gave these ladies that canned response they asked where we were thinking. When I mentioned that Stroudsmoor Inn was my top pick so far they suggested a few more places that had the same elegance but be slightly more cost-effective. My mom, who was playing secretary tonight, never wrote so fast! ^_^
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Another important booth that I had gone to was a jeweler that was there. I told the gentlemen that my big concern was that Remy and I would like Celtic knotting and the Claddagh engraved into our bands. I've found about a half-dozen websites where we could purchase our rings, but none of them are quite right, and I'd prefer to NOT purchase our wedding bands off the internet. We just need the symbolism there, the rings don't NEED to come from Dublin itself! Plus, I'd prefer to pay a local vendor - help the economy at home and all. I've been thinking about getting a lot of our stuff from a local Irish shop named Donegal Square. They carry the Shanore jewelry collection, but we still run into the problem of not having the exact idea we had in mind. That is where the jeweler at the bridal show tonight can come in handy. After expressing my wedding bands concern, the gentlemen told me that they do indeed custom make jewelry if they can't find what we want. I like that idea. They even suggested Donegal Square when they heard what I wanted! Who does that!? Who suggests a possible other vendor!? They truly care about a bride getting what she wants, and that won me over.
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We sort of breezed past the travel agent set up at one of the booths. Since Remy wants full control over the honeymoon I couldn't really tell them anything - nor did I know what to ask them. The best I could do was gather up every brochure they had. I'll pass them over to Remy when I see him for Easter and he can figure everything out.
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Another booth I brushed by was the Mary Kay booth. I'm not a girly-girl and I only wear make-up for three occasions. 1) Goth make-up for when I do the Vampire: The Masquerade LARP with Remy, 2) When I go clubbing (which is very rare...), and 3) When I go to weddings. On the day-to-day basis I don't even wear mascara. Heck, half the time I don't even wear chap stick. And so I didn't really want to talk to Mary Kay. I didn't think I had anything to say. However, Mom reminded me that we can use their advice to know how to do my make-up on the wedding day. Alright, I'm not above using vendors solely for information. Well, each vendor had a give-away that night and so you just go to the booth, fill out an information slip, and viola, you're entered. Easy enough, and I could always use free stuff. And lo-and-behold. I actually won the Mary Kay prize that night. Oh, irony. I got a pretty box, a shower sponge, shower gel, body souffle, and an eau de toilette spray - which I didn't even know they actually still made, I thought it was just a Looney Tunes joke or whatever. Well, along with my new collection of free Mary Kay products - half of which I don't know what to do with - I won a free Mary Kay wedding consultation for me, my mom, and the bridesmaids.
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Well, the last major booth we went to was for a cake decorator named Piece 'A Cake. The cake samples were good. But what really got me is that the decorator - I think her name is Colleen... - sits with you and actually sketches and colors the concept art of your cake to make sure you are both on the same visual page. Great! As I just mentioned, I'm not above using vendors (sorry vendors, but I need all the help I can get!). Even if we don't use her, I could use her concept art for other vendors to make sure we're on the same page. To be honest, I have no clue what I want for the wedding cake - Remy and I have only talked about it briefly - and so having someone talk it through with me and flesh it out would be very helpful. Best part, since Remy lives four hours away perhaps I can talk her into actually giving me the concept art without a deposit under the not-necessarily-a-lie pretence of "I need to show the fiance."
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Well, that is when Mom completely sprung something on me. Setting up a consultation with the decorator! She's good, real good, and she's booking up fast, even for October 2011. No pressure, but who knows when she'll be booked up and not available for my wedding. And Mom ate it up. I'm not saying it's not true, but damn! Out whips the datebook, and I'm nudged to do the same. What's happening!? I just signed up to go to this show to talk to vendors and get ideas! I have no clue on the cake! I won't be able to sit down with Remy until the beginning of April! What am I going to talk to this woman about during our consultation! But, since I was already in my weakened state of "teeheehee, I'm getting married on October 2, 2011" I was bulled over! I just sort of nodded and went along with whatever they set up. I was a zombie from the shock of actually having a consultation with a vendor! I'm not ready for this! I'm in the early stages! I'm still trying to figure stuff out! What just happened!?
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Well, I had the DJ demonstrations and the fashion show to figure it out. When I talked to Remy tonight I still didn't really get what had happened, but at the same time I didn't want to go back to the woman forty-five minutes later and cancel the consultation. GAAAAH!
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Anyway, except for looking for coloring, I sort of ignored the C.E. Roth tuxedo fashion segment, because Remy isn't wearing a tuxedo or suit. He's wearing the "swordsman" shirt. All of the men in the bridal party are. And when it came to the wedding dresses, well sort of the same thing. Since I already have an idea of what I'd want my dress to look like, and this is the closest I've come to it, I was basically looking at bridesmaid gowns, mother of the bride gowns, and the draping and flow of some of the bridal gowns - in order to show Mom and Celia what I sort of had in my head.
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To make things easier, I ended up spending about two hours making a PowerPoint slide show of all the different dresses I've been saving pictures of over the years. The dress I have in mind is sort of a collaboration of them all, and so the slide show sort of comments as well as shows off some options. So now Mom and Celia seem to really get what I have in mind. Before Mom was afraid I'd look like a Renaissance Faire runaway, but now she's excited and wants to find a coordinating dress for herself. She even said that I better not have "modern looking" dresses for the bridesmaids otherwise it will throw the whole look off. She totally trusts my choice in attire and is so excited about it! Below is actually a video capture of the slide show. Sorry for that bit at the end where I have to turn off the capturing device, as well as the quality of the video.... Also, I'm sorry the video is so tiny. I hope you can see everything alright. I may just repost all of these pictures with their captions in the blog I'll eventually post about my wedding gown. If you can't really see the below video just hold out until then. Sorry!
*clears throat* Anyway, aside from feeling like a gitty idiot who did mostly shrugging throughout the evening, as well as feeling a bit overwhelmed and a bit pressured, I enjoyed myself and I'm all for the next month being filled with more shows. I think I've learned a lot tonight and I think I know how to process all of this better for next time. I'm just glad I had Mom as my secretary, Celia as my pack-mule, and I got to be pampered and the center of attention for once. ^_^
