I haven’t seen it yet, but I’m just so excited that I had to share.  It arrived at the store last Thursday and I have an appointment on Thursday for my first fitting.

I owe it all to very helpful friends who shared their advice on getting a dress for less when I posted about my first dress hunt.  I got my dress for a lot less than I budgeted for.  Here’s a summary of the cost-saving tips:

• Sale and sample sale events
• Discount stores
• Pre-owned (tip from Jessica)
• Student or up and coming designer/seamstress (tip from Daphne)
• Bridesmaid dress (tip from Lexi)

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Since the beginning, I’ve always wanted my bridesmaids to choose their own dresses, as long as they’re navy blue.  But I’ve seen many bridal parties now sporting different colors or different shades of a certain color.  And I’m liking it.

The problem with my bridal party is that I only have 2 bridesmaids and the impact won’t be as beautiful as those above.  So I’m still trying to decide whether I’ll have them wear same shade or not.

If you already have a dress in mind for your bridal party and you’re having a hard time finding it, check out Coco Myles.  Coco Myles allows you to customize your bridesmaid dresses.  You can choose the top, bottom, fabric, color, even beading!

Coco Myles also offers maternity and celebrity-inspirted dreses.  The best part, the dresses are affordable!

I originally wanted to just buy a white evening gown for my wedding to save money.  But some of my friends told me to try and look for a “real” wedding dress.  Fine.  So my mom and I headed to David’s Bridal last Friday for my first dress hunt.

First of all, I looked too bridal in the dresses that I tried on, which is not the look I’m really going for.  I want something more modern with clean lines and if at all possible, no train!

The first one was my mom’s favorite, but I didn’t really like beadings.  The second one seems to ride a little high.  The top of the third one looks like a bra.  The top of the fourth one is distorted because I have nothing to fill it!

That night, I was watching “Say Yes to the Dress” and really liked one of the dresses.  It’s from the Vineyard Collection from Priscilla of Boston.  I don’t know if it will look good on me, but it is so modern and I love the unique neckline.  The dress actually looked better on the bride on “Say Yes to the Dress” than the model on the photo below.

The problem?  It costs more than I wanted to spend.  I just missed the Priscilla of Boston sample sale this month. Arrgh!  Any recommendations as to how I can get this dress or a dress like this for cheaper?

John and I have been engaged for almost a year now.  Our engagement didn’t start the traditional way.  We have known for a while that we will be marrying each other.  Then last year, we took the plunge and decided together that it was time to get married.  There was no going down on one knee, no ring, no romantic proposal.  We just started planning our wedding.

Then early this year, after John paid off his loans, he took me shopping… for an engagement ring.  I’ve seen photos of rings that I like, but when I tried them on, they didn’t look great on my fingers (darn fingers!).  It took months before I found what I wanted.  And here it is…

Now it’s time to shop for wedding bands!

I know we’re still a year away, but I can’t help but think about what we will be engraving on our wedding rings.  At first, I thought I would like something funny.  But then I realized the wedding rings are personal, sentimental and timeless.  So I’m thinking just writing our names on our rings and the wedding date (he would have no excuse to forget our anniversary).

Photo from Getty Images

If you’re still looking for what to engrave on your wedding rings, here are some humorous engravings I’ve seen:

• A deal’s a deal
• You’re mine sucker!
• Resistance is futile
• No take backs
• Save and redeem for fun prizes
• Don’t even think about it…
• Put it back on!
• Happy now?  Good.
• Not for pawning
• The key to the Chastity Belt
• Finders Keepers
• I’m not done with you yet!
• If removed, alarm will sound
• Have you lost it yet?
• Please return with man if found

What are you having engraved on your weddings rings?

I’m all for practical things.  So if I am having a bridal party, I want them to wear a dress they could wear more than once.  I love the flexibility of the Two Birds Bridesmaid dresses.  You can create a few styles with the same dress.  Then I found the Dessy Twist dress that does the same, but for a cheaper price!

The short dresses are $190 and the long ones are $230.  They’re not one size fits all.  You can purchase them in different sizes which I prefer.

Click here for more information

I just learned of the new DB Bridal Color system, and I’m loving it.  It makes me want to be a bridesmaid at my own wedding!

I love both watermelon and marine colors, but I’m doing navy for my wedding, so the color marine is good.  I love the strapless dresses, so if you’re in my bridal party, these are what you’re wearing .

As soon as we started planning our wedding and I asked John what he wanted.  He immediately blurted out “I want to wear shorts.”  What??

I saw the photo below of a wedding taken by Stacey Kane.  And I thought the guys looked pretty dapper.

Then I saw this other photo of the same wedding:

Umm… I don’t think it suits the style of the wedding we’re planning.  We originally wanted a beach wedding and I was thinking of wearing a tea-length wedding dress.  I was then open to him wearing shorts.  But now that we’re not having a beach wedding and I’m wearing a gown, shorts is no longer an option.

Is there anything your fiance wants that you wouldn’t want at the wedding?