I Guess I Do

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Wednesday, January 30, 2013

From the Groom

3 Simple Wedding Planning Tips for the Fellas

PICK YOUR BATTLES
1. If you really want something to be included in your wedding, let her know early on in the planning process. If you wait until colors, flowers, and place settings are already decided, your sweet fog machine and laser lights probably aren't going to make the cut. For me, my only true request was that I wanted to wear black. I refused to be the guy wearing the horrible purple and pink vest and tie. I made sure to be very clear about this from the beginning. I didn't ask for much, but because I didn't - I got what I wanted.

AS HOOTIE SAYS 'LET HER CRY'
2. There are going to be breakdowns. Trust me. I had just complimented Kel on what a great bride she was only to come home to her having a complete wedding breakdown because she just received an expensive dental bill in the mail. Yea, it didn't make sense to me either, but I didn't tell her that. Never tell them how crazy you really think they are. Just nod your head and smile while they proceed to get snot all over your shirt.

 IT'S YOUR DAY TOO (WELL KIND OF)
3. In the end, remember you're a dude. When you find yourself in a debate on whether you should have the peach or red napkins, step back and say to yourself 'Wait, I'm a dude.' Sometimes you need to remind yourself of that. You would have never cared about this before, so why should you now. We all know how much this day means to her. Even if she is the type to downplay the importance of it all and say ‘Oh, it’s just one day’ or try to make your ridiculous ideas acceptable like 'No, it’s OK, I think your NFL themed reception idea is fine', you know damn good and well she doesn’t mean that. While it is important for us to speak our minds and get a little piece of us in the wedding, ultimately, as long as your future bride is happy, you should be happy too.

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Kristen & Andrew : Rouxby Photography


I had the pleasure of attending Kristen & Andrew's wedding (on a side note: I had my own I Guess I Do moment as a guest, when I walked into the reception and realized the seam of my dress had split up the ass. Luckily I was wearing my usual Spanx and one of the bridesmaids had double stick tape. Let's be honest I really can't 'get low' because I think I have early osteoporosis in my knees, but I feared getting anywhere near the verge of 'low' might create a scene and scare the other guests.) Anyways, Kristen and Andrew's I Guess I Do moment was a non-existent reception setup . Enjoy Kristen's story in her own words.
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It’s the moment you’ve dreamed about since you were a little girl. Perfect groom - Check. Perfect day - Check. Perfect dress - Check. Incredible venue - Check. Family & friends - Check.

Everything has fallen into place, and you can’t believe that your day is finally here! You always hear about the unexpected happening and so far your day has been right on plan, but we all know that in life, you can’t always control everything. Imagine opening the door to your reception and realizing that the guests are going to show up in less than a half hour and the tables are not set, the place cards are not out, and if it weren’t for the flowers, thank God for the flowers you’d probably have a panic attack. That was my I Guess I Do moment that I will never forget! 




I woke up with good butterflies in my stomach, the kind of feeling that you’ve been waiting and planning this day forever and you just could not believe it was happening. I was going to marry the love of my life with all my family and friends in town to celebrate and share in this special day. I kept my composure and even though I was a ball of nerves on that walk down the aisle. It was the wedding reception part that unexpectedly threw me for a loop.



Walking into the reception was the part that I was most excited for. I could not wait to see my vision come together. I have to admit that I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs when I opened those doors and noticed that nothing was ready, but I took a deep breath and freaked out on the inside. Thankfully we had a large wedding party (9 bridesmaids and groomsmen total) and everyone chipped in. It literally felt like the episode of Saved by Bell where they threw Screech a surprise birthday party in Mr. Belding’s office. It was crazy and chaotic and I don’t know what I would have done without my wedding party & parents.

Andrew and I were engaged for almost 2 years so I had a lot of time to plan, find the perfect dress, and the prefect vendors to go with the perfect date. Everything came together and I felt beyond organized with my binder and vendor contact list. In all honesty, I would not change any vendor or even anything about that day. I loved who we selected and would not want it any other way. At the end of the day, everything worked out and the most important thing happened, I married my true love.


It was a moment I will never forget! 
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Thursday, January 24, 2013

Getting Started

DISCLAIMER: I am not here to bash weddings. In fact my wedding was one of the best weekends I've ever had. I just think it's important that people know what they're getting themselves into. Weddings can turn any mildly normal person into Gary Busey. For some reason they have that affect on people.

I gave birth to my I Guess I Do baby during a phone conversation with my best friend from college. I had just gotten engaged and everyone was spewing their congrats and how great it was going to be. But the problem was I was feeling anything but great. I had always been taught never to talk about money, but I was finding myself awkwardly talking and asking for money every freaking day.

In talking with my friend I realized she had the same issues I did. It was then that I decided I was going to document my planning in the hopes that other un-brides could relate to it.

So here it is. I hope all 30 of you reading this thing enjoy.








Monday, January 21, 2013

Natalie & Ian : MiBelle Photography

I had to lead off with this wedding because it's one of my favorites. My Fashion Police co-worker Natalie and I planned our weddings at the same time. Her I Guess I Do moments include: bubble guts, no-show shuttles, and a cake catastrophe. Enjoy Nat's story in her own words below.

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“Can you do me the biggest favor?” I embarrassingly ask my brother’s girlfriend. “ANYTHING!” she replies. “I need Immodium,” I say in in both shame and urgency. The location is my wedding venue bridal suite. The time is 4:35pm, 25 minutes before I am scheduled to elegantly walk down the aisle to marry Ian in front of 197 of our friends and family. Hooray for my wedding day!





When my boyfriend of 5 years proposed in November of 2010, I immediately said yes and two things became the focus for the 11 months to follow. One, I am going to plan an awesome wedding and two, I am going to get skinny for it. The very night I became a fiancĂ©, I sat at my keyboard and googled “wedding planning” because I had no idea where to begin. I knew I wanted to marry Ian but the design of my dress or the flower species I were to hold walking down the aisle were never thought about until the engagement ring was on my finger.

After a lengthy googlefest that went late into the evening, it became clear that planning this beautiful day was going to be hard. Hard and expensive. The most annoying expenses happen towards the end by the way. Five days out- “Oh you actually want us to POUR the wine for your guests? That’s an additional 3 dollars per person.” Three days out- “What’s that? You want forks AND knives? Yeah, there’s gonna be an additional fee.” The day of- “Oh you want to use the air on our grounds to breathe while you’re here? Yeah, that’s gonna cost ya.”





Okay, back to where I started. So it’s 25 minutes until show time and I have bubble guts. My brother’s girlfriend (soon to be sister-in-law!) ran off to do something we haven’t spoken of to this day. The angel got me anti-diarrhea medication.

It’s 4:55pm when she returns, and that’s when I got the call. My friend Jenn was at the hotel where many of our guests were staying, and by many of our guests I mean Ian’s entire family who flew out from Chicago. “Hello,” I answer my cell. “Don’t freak out,” were the first words out of her mouth. I immediately freak out. “What?!” I blurt out. “The shuttles aren’t here yet but don’t worry…” I hang up on her and immediately start dialing the shuttle company. “Hi. It’s my wedding day. I’m supposed to be getting married in five minutes but my guests are still at the hotel and I need to know the status of the shuttle NOW.” I give him the confirmation number only to be told that they have no record of any such reservation. Mind you, I called them the day prior to make sure everything was confirmed and got the A-ok. Assholes. After a few choice words with one gentleman and a few more with others at the company, four shuttle vans were dispatched from God-knows-where and sent to retrieve my wedding guests.

You are waking up at 9am to get ready for something that is starting at 5pm! All science, physics and logic say, you will be ready to walk at 5pm.” I started walking at 5:45pm. It was a beautiful ceremony. There was a lot of Jesus talk. Ian and I were both raised Catholic so a priest officiated and like I said, lots of Jesus talk.



I told myself I would not drink too much at my wedding. I will have a glass of wine, MAYBE two but that’s it. I want to be able to remember every moment and how tacky is a drunk bride?! Well, 3… or 5 glasses into the reception and I’m drunk. My amazing day-of-coordinator pushed me around a la “Weekend at Bernie’s” to where I needed to be so it was fine. (That’s why you hire them by the way- to push you around when you get drunk.) Ian and I are being escorted toward the cake table so I knew it was CAKE CUTTING TIME!

I was over the moon excited to enjoy the Cuban white cake with assorted fillings that Ian and I picked out months before. We proceed to do the hand-in-hand cake cut while the cameras are snapping away. Um, am I drunk or is this cake brown inside? Before I can process the odd color, there is a fork with cake on it flying at my face and I open wide to receive it. AH!!! IT’S CARROT CAKE!! Sober Natalie would have just gone with it. Drunk Natalie made a scene. I begin yelling, “It’s the wrong cake! It’s wrong. It’s carrot cake! This isn’t our cake!” The half-moon of a million people are taking pictures of us while I am announcing that this cake is indeed wrong. Cake scene ends. I walk away from the cake and immediately jet to the door leading outdoors to have a complete meltdown. I’m crying...over cake. $85 dollars in wedding makeup down the drain. Ian and a few of my closest friends are explaining to me in their most gentle way that I am being ridiculous. Eventually, I calm down. My face gets blown on and patted down with tissue by loyal friends, and with yet another wine glass in tow, I’m ready to party.

Twenty minutes of dancing, photoboothing and other wedding activity staples, I am asked by one of the servers if I was ready for “the El Guapo cake to come out.” “Huh?” “Uh, your groom’s cake, the El Guapo cake?” he asked, more puzzled than me. I yell, “THAT IS NOT MY CAKE! WE DID NOT ORDER AN EL GUAPO CAKE!” It became apparent that I was starring in my very own Switched At Birth Lifetime made for TV movie but instead of babies, it was cake. Don’t worry, I didn’t cry because of El Guapo. By that point I was beyond “drunk and emotional” and was happy as a clam in “drunk and over it” land.





For those wondering what happens when a vendor gives you the wrong wedding cake, they give you a certificate for your exact wedding cake redeemable whenever you want. Ian and I cashed it in for my best friend/maid of honor’s birthday party this past October. My parents made me promise to save them a piece. I did them one better and brought them entire top tier. Well, I tried to at least. This happened minutes before I could fulfill the promise.



Was the day a success? I don’t know. Was it worth the money? Probably not. Would I change any of it? Not in a million years. 

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Photographer: MiBelle Photography Venue: Calamigos Equestrian Dress: Claire Pettibone Shoes: Valentino Calligraphy: Kathryn Murray

Sunday, January 20, 2013

First Dance

You can learn a lot about a couple by watching their First Dance.

In that case, you will deeply judge our taste in music, think we are cheesy as hell, and most likely question Kyle's sexuality. (I've always said that if Kyle turns out gay, I have no one to blame but myself. You can only force feed someone The Bachelor and Real Housewives for so long until they sway the other way.)

But as they say on the Jersey Shore (my moral compass) - "Do you."'