I wanted some cool, artistic pictures taken of my ring, so while I was out in Illinois visiting my family, my sister took a few. I really enjoyed the way she placed them, so I thought I'd share them. The flowers were given to me by the florist at http://www.westmontfloralshop.com They were sample flowers that she showed to me while going over ideas on how to design my bouquet & those of my bridesmaids. I really enjoyed meeting my consultant. She is the owner of the shop, she knows her stuff, she didn't make any assumptions about whether we'd be giving her the business or not...and she wasn't pushy.
This week we drove back to visit our families. We stayed at his brother, Gary's home. Gary and Sandi, his wife, recently purchased a new home in Tinley Park, a few minutes down the way from their parents & sister. Their house is absolutely gorgeous. Even better, we got to hang out with their little 1 year old son, Kirk's godson, Derek. He's at that stage where he's starting to take his first steps. He's just too cute...and with such a sweet disposition. I think he's really going to make a wonderful ring bearer! He and Natalie's daughter are going to make great contrasts to each other. He's blond with blue eyes, she's dark haired with blue eyes.
While I was there I spent a couple of days with my mom & my sister. We did some galavanting for the wedding. As stated above, we were able to find a florist I liked. Even better, Mom decided she wanted to pay for the florist. So we were able to book the florist immediately and I didn't have to shop around. Of course she was also recommended by a friend of my sister's who had a wedding party of 70 people (Filipino wedding) when she got married.
After the florist we had an appointment with a photography group. Because we were late leaving the florist, we left her sitting for almost an hour. We DID talk to her so that she knew we were running late, but she was beyond patient. And the work she had to show me was fabulous. The packages were great, too...and quite frankly, anyone who's willing to wait around that long at a Panera Bread deserved our business as long as the work was acceptable. And the work was great! So immediately following the florist, we were able to book the photographer. We went with http://www.bellapictures.com/. While we were in the consultation a lady walked up and said that they did her wedding and that she was so pleased with their work. The hilarious part was that my consultant, Lisa, was afraid we'd think she paid this lady to put in the good word. Along with my package I'm getting free parent albums, free mini-albums & a free engagement photo shoot!
Lastly, we went to go look for my sister's maid-of-honor dress. The initial dress I chose for her got discontinued a week after I'd selected it. So we went to http://www.thehouseofbrides.com in Schaumburg. She tried on several dresses, but we finally found one that we liked for her...and it fit her like a glove. So we ordered it. We noticed that http://www.davidsbridal.com was across the street, so we figured we'd stop there and I could show my mom the dress that I wanted. While there, we wound up buying the dress, the shoes, the undergarments, the tiara, the veils (both elbow length & cathedral length) and the jewelry. The best part is, this guarantees that Kirk won't see my gown before the wedding. It'll be at my sister's place.
Yup, in 1 day we got SO MUCH done! The best part was that my mom and sister got to be a part of it! I'd forgotten how much fun we can have when we all get together. We did a lot of laughing that day. We ended the evening by meeting Rich, Chris's sweetheart, at Maggiano's in Oakbrook.
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