So I suppose I should somehow re-cap this past week FULL of wedding tasks. Seriously -- wedding is on my mind 24/7 but I love it :D
-Weekend of May 2: The fiance and I made it to Dallas! Surprised my mom :) :) I basically spent the whole weekend relaxing and preparing.
-Monday: WEDDING DRESS! Went with the maids of honor (Maggie & Kristen), my mom, and my god mother (hair stylist for wedding) to try on dresses. BOY! Talk about opinions! The moment right before trying on "the" dress (that I wanted to show them), I had found another gorgeous dress by the designer San Patrick (from Spain!). All of the women LOVED that dress, as did I! However it had more of a "fun" flair to it, as opposed to the Justin Alexander dress which is more elegant.
I realize this is the hardest part about wedding planning. I have a problem with caring too much about what people think. I LOVED the San Patrick dress, and the way that Maggie & Kristen loved it, it started to make me question the Justin Alexander dress. I thought this was THE ONE?!? When I tried the Justin Alexander (which I had saved for last), they also loved it. I could see the mixed emotions in them too. Finally, it boiled down to -- what do YOU want? Both are gorgeous (which I suppose is a better problem to have?), but what STYLE do I want this dress to encompass? Both are dramatic -- but one is more "playful" while the other is "elegant." If you know me, I would probably prefer "playful" but there was something beautiful about the elegance of J.A's dress and how it fit me that is reassuring me "the one" has been "the one" all along.
Decisions, decisions!
-Tuesday: Lots of phone calls to photographers before leaving to Houston
-Wednesday: EARLY morning at 4 a.m. to head out to Houston by 5:30 a.m.! Stopped by my cousin's house to drop our stuff off, and rode with him to our CATERER!! Truly, by far one of the best experiences. We met with David Cordua of Cordua Catering and he treated us with such humble hospitality and served us a-ma-zing food! I mean, it was so good that my cousin and my mom were calling people to talk about it. My cousin kept saying "Man Ale, I can't wait for your wedding!" haha. Just to give you a taste... one of the dishes is called "Toast Torrejas." It reads as following:
Toast Torrejas - custard cream filled south american style french toast, smoked bacon, maple rum butter syrup.
Get this- He SOAKS challah bread in FRENCH VANILLA ICE CREAM overnight, then lightly fries them the next morning to look like french toast!!!! Genius! Here it is in true image form...
These are the other entrees which you can drool over! I have to admit, I'm pretty impressed at how crisp and fresh my photos came out...
-Weekend of May 2: The fiance and I made it to Dallas! Surprised my mom :) :) I basically spent the whole weekend relaxing and preparing.
-Monday: WEDDING DRESS! Went with the maids of honor (Maggie & Kristen), my mom, and my god mother (hair stylist for wedding) to try on dresses. BOY! Talk about opinions! The moment right before trying on "the" dress (that I wanted to show them), I had found another gorgeous dress by the designer San Patrick (from Spain!). All of the women LOVED that dress, as did I! However it had more of a "fun" flair to it, as opposed to the Justin Alexander dress which is more elegant.
I realize this is the hardest part about wedding planning. I have a problem with caring too much about what people think. I LOVED the San Patrick dress, and the way that Maggie & Kristen loved it, it started to make me question the Justin Alexander dress. I thought this was THE ONE?!? When I tried the Justin Alexander (which I had saved for last), they also loved it. I could see the mixed emotions in them too. Finally, it boiled down to -- what do YOU want? Both are gorgeous (which I suppose is a better problem to have?), but what STYLE do I want this dress to encompass? Both are dramatic -- but one is more "playful" while the other is "elegant." If you know me, I would probably prefer "playful" but there was something beautiful about the elegance of J.A's dress and how it fit me that is reassuring me "the one" has been "the one" all along.
Decisions, decisions!
-Tuesday: Lots of phone calls to photographers before leaving to Houston
-Wednesday: EARLY morning at 4 a.m. to head out to Houston by 5:30 a.m.! Stopped by my cousin's house to drop our stuff off, and rode with him to our CATERER!! Truly, by far one of the best experiences. We met with David Cordua of Cordua Catering and he treated us with such humble hospitality and served us a-ma-zing food! I mean, it was so good that my cousin and my mom were calling people to talk about it. My cousin kept saying "Man Ale, I can't wait for your wedding!" haha. Just to give you a taste... one of the dishes is called "Toast Torrejas." It reads as following:
Toast Torrejas - custard cream filled south american style french toast, smoked bacon, maple rum butter syrup.
Get this- He SOAKS challah bread in FRENCH VANILLA ICE CREAM overnight, then lightly fries them the next morning to look like french toast!!!! Genius! Here it is in true image form...
These are the other entrees which you can drool over! I have to admit, I'm pretty impressed at how crisp and fresh my photos came out...
And for those of you who think "That looks too fancy to taste good." WRONG! I swear, even picker eaters will enjoy this!! For example, that first image is plantain-crusted chicken -- tastes like an equisite, tender & lightly fried chicken without the grease! Mop up the black beans and manchego cheese to give it that true Latin flavor. YUM!!
Moving on...
Photographers! Oh Lord. I can't even tell you how much time I spent obsessing over who I would meet with. Just IMAGINE -- wait, I'm sure you can-- me trying to pick a photographer. Jose had to remind me we have a budget we are sticking to. If I could have a dream come true, I would fly Jose Villa (funny how similar the names are, huh?) or Punam Bean to photograph my wedding. Jose Villa is.... just mind blowing. Check out his blog if you ever get the chance. I only hope to be able to achieve that style of photography one day!
The point is that I found someone I really liked with a price Jose and I can both agree on! I'm actually really excited of the potential, especially because Jose said she reminds him of me! That's good to hear :) I told her my ideas about giving some photos a processed look, but also letting her roam free with her style. Her name is Julie Wilhite and you can check out her blog
here! What do you think?!?!(still on Wednesday!) CAKE -- We actually met with a local Hispanic bakery shop called La Unica that a sister from my sorority Lambda Theta Alpha referred me to. Remember the cake I talked about from Edible Designs by Jessie? Ok... well, the average price was about $4 PER SLICE: 120 x $4 = $480. And that's "average" ... it could very well turn out to be $5! Granted, this is a wedding cake and they are beautiful, but I really just want something elegant and simple. BUT I also want my cake to taste good! The woman at La Unica had me taste the buttercream frosting she would use - YUM! Approved! And also the bread of the cake. I was very happy with their tres leches cake! Pretty impressed actually. I think I'm going to have a 3 layer cake with the top section being tres leches and the bottom two being some kind of vanilla with strawberry spread. POINT: They said the cake would be like $1-$1.25 p/slice!!!!!! Pretty much about $150 !!!! Loving that price :)
Not this cake topper, but just an idea of how a cake can be pretty and simple....
via With this Ring
Phew! There you go. I've hopefully redeemed my absence from last week :) Please share your thoughts and/or ideas!!!!
Moving on...
Photographers! Oh Lord. I can't even tell you how much time I spent obsessing over who I would meet with. Just IMAGINE -- wait, I'm sure you can-- me trying to pick a photographer. Jose had to remind me we have a budget we are sticking to. If I could have a dream come true, I would fly Jose Villa (funny how similar the names are, huh?) or Punam Bean to photograph my wedding. Jose Villa is.... just mind blowing. Check out his blog if you ever get the chance. I only hope to be able to achieve that style of photography one day!
The point is that I found someone I really liked with a price Jose and I can both agree on! I'm actually really excited of the potential, especially because Jose said she reminds him of me! That's good to hear :) I told her my ideas about giving some photos a processed look, but also letting her roam free with her style. Her name is Julie Wilhite and you can check out her blog
here! What do you think?!?!(still on Wednesday!) CAKE -- We actually met with a local Hispanic bakery shop called La Unica that a sister from my sorority Lambda Theta Alpha referred me to. Remember the cake I talked about from Edible Designs by Jessie? Ok... well, the average price was about $4 PER SLICE: 120 x $4 = $480. And that's "average" ... it could very well turn out to be $5! Granted, this is a wedding cake and they are beautiful, but I really just want something elegant and simple. BUT I also want my cake to taste good! The woman at La Unica had me taste the buttercream frosting she would use - YUM! Approved! And also the bread of the cake. I was very happy with their tres leches cake! Pretty impressed actually. I think I'm going to have a 3 layer cake with the top section being tres leches and the bottom two being some kind of vanilla with strawberry spread. POINT: They said the cake would be like $1-$1.25 p/slice!!!!!! Pretty much about $150 !!!! Loving that price :)
Not this cake topper, but just an idea of how a cake can be pretty and simple....
via With this Ring
-Thursday: We visited the venue!
Pros: The pictures didn't lie... every spot in this place was exactly as portrayed in the website. There was SO MUCH detail!! Beautiful.
Cons: It is located in such a RANDOM spot! It's not a bad area by any means, it's just a little isolated and... random! I can't think of a different word. Basically, you exit the highway and make a right on a street. Then you take a left on another street where there's a bakery in one corner and an empty lot in the other. You keep driving down, you even pass some HOUSES (nice ones), and viola! Suddenly the venue just appears on your right!! It's HUGE so you can't miss it. Here are some photos for your viewing pleasure :)
They have a fire place!! And it actually works -- it's turned on for winter weddings :)
Haha, okay.. I included this of the bathroom b/c my favorite thing about this venue is the Spanish feel to it!
So ultimately, I was just slightly turned off by the random spot it's located in -- but once you're inside, you forget what you've left behind and it's so easy to enjoy the beauty of the place :) I think this is it so no more pictures for you :)
Back in the car we went and stopped by to visit my little brother in A&M College Station. Here is a funny pic I took of my mom while we drove :) :)
What a cutie!
Pros: The pictures didn't lie... every spot in this place was exactly as portrayed in the website. There was SO MUCH detail!! Beautiful.
Cons: It is located in such a RANDOM spot! It's not a bad area by any means, it's just a little isolated and... random! I can't think of a different word. Basically, you exit the highway and make a right on a street. Then you take a left on another street where there's a bakery in one corner and an empty lot in the other. You keep driving down, you even pass some HOUSES (nice ones), and viola! Suddenly the venue just appears on your right!! It's HUGE so you can't miss it. Here are some photos for your viewing pleasure :)
Spot my purse in the pic? ;)
They have a fire place!! And it actually works -- it's turned on for winter weddings :)
Haha, okay.. I included this of the bathroom b/c my favorite thing about this venue is the Spanish feel to it!
So ultimately, I was just slightly turned off by the random spot it's located in -- but once you're inside, you forget what you've left behind and it's so easy to enjoy the beauty of the place :) I think this is it so no more pictures for you :)
Back in the car we went and stopped by to visit my little brother in A&M College Station. Here is a funny pic I took of my mom while we drove :) :)
What a cutie!
So now I am at a point where all I can think about is CENTER PIECES!!!!!!!!!!!!! I plan on doing some major creative collaboration. I actually already started and created a model center piece while still in Dallas. To give you guys an idea, I was inspired and THRILLED when I came across this Frida Kahlo theme centerpiece found via Once Wed. The artist is Courtney from Flush Designs -- beautiful!!
It's bold, colorful, rustic, Latin, and beautiful! Love love love it! :) :) I'm basing my center piece off this same idea and even sharing some of these elements (such as the melted candles). I'm digging around ebay for some Mexican folk-art pieces/containers to add to the mix. The "model" center piece I created came out VERY pretty but I am not 100% sold on it. I feel like there's just one piece that's missing.
I came across this and gasped ... my missing link!!
I know this isn't for everybody and this is almost a completely different approach than what I talked about in my other posts. However, I realized that this will be in the DAY and I can't approach it like an evening wedding the way I was before. A centerpiece focused on tea lights won't have the same effect during the day as it would at night. Not to say it wouldn't look good, but ever since I came across this playful, bold, and fun theme -- I LOVE it! I think it reflects my personality and plays to what I want my wedding to be -- a unique celebration of love :)
So anyway, I hope I find something like these candle holders or something very similar to complete my missing piece!! Here are 2 other beauties which I can't remember where I found them ... I THINK it was With this Ring but please correct me if I'm wrong!
I came across this and gasped ... my missing link!!
I know this isn't for everybody and this is almost a completely different approach than what I talked about in my other posts. However, I realized that this will be in the DAY and I can't approach it like an evening wedding the way I was before. A centerpiece focused on tea lights won't have the same effect during the day as it would at night. Not to say it wouldn't look good, but ever since I came across this playful, bold, and fun theme -- I LOVE it! I think it reflects my personality and plays to what I want my wedding to be -- a unique celebration of love :)
So anyway, I hope I find something like these candle holders or something very similar to complete my missing piece!! Here are 2 other beauties which I can't remember where I found them ... I THINK it was With this Ring but please correct me if I'm wrong!
Phew! There you go. I've hopefully redeemed my absence from last week :) Please share your thoughts and/or ideas!!!!
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Wow . . . sounds like you were really busy last week!! My thoughts:
1. I'm glad "the one" is still "the one." While I can see the playful dress fitting your personality, I feel like elegance is what should really shine through on your wedding day!
2. That food looks amazing! Just remember though that you will still have some really picky eaters there (aka, myself)!
3. I'm sorry the venue is in such a random place, but I don't think that should keep you from using it. It's so perfect and the pictures I've seen of it practically scream your name
4. Buttercream frosting is my favorite! And I definitely don't see anything wrong with having a simple, elegant cake.
5. LOVE the centerpieces - they are so spanish and rustic and beautiful! I think they fit in with your theme perfectly.
I'm so exicted that everything is coming along so well!!!!
ok first let me say i like the cake idea u dont need too much...plus just by adding something with your wedding colors it would live it up...i can just picture it...beautiful
second i love the center piece ideas even like those candle holder pictures u posted which reminds me have u tried melting the candle?
and last but not least...the food...it all looks so good...i cant wait...n to think i have to wait a year before i can eat that..lol...