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Married:

January 03, 2009

401 days since

My Planning Bio

About me

We started dating about 7 years ago and got engaged 4 years ago! After dealing with some life issues and having to postpone our wedding twice, we're finally getting married in January. It almost doesn't seem real. It's been a long time in coming.

My age

26 years old

My wedding is in

Floridas First Coast

My interests

Babies, Graphic Design, Harry Potter, Science, Traveling through Europe

My job

wannabe entrepreneur

my board posts

The dangers of beauty...
posted on(2/4/2010)
Kitty needs a home- Jax
posted on(1/17/2010)
**veronabrit**
posted on(1/3/2010)
**britt**
posted on(1/3/2010)

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Knot Bio

**Last names and personal info have been changed**
invite

Invites in progress...

invites in process

My little helper, Snowball lol
snowball helper

Detailed vendor reviews to come...

Dress- David's Bridal at the Avenues: A... I won't give them an A+ just because they are a chain store and service can be hit or miss but, overall, I had a great experience. Both of my consultants were excellent (one turned out to be a local knottie), but I don't think either of them work there anymore. They were really patient with me and let me take all the time that I needed. My Oleg Cassini dress is absolutely beautiful in person, and the quality is far better than many of the other designers I tried on. My seamstress pointed out that it's almost made too well which means it's going to be a little bit more of a challenge to alter... totally worth the extra money though :). I know a lot of people dismiss DB, but I guess I'm one of the few who would use them again.

Bridesmaid dresses- Bill Levkoff from www.netbride.com: A+++ The order form on the website was very easy to use, and their customer reps are really helpful. You can't really get a hold of them over the phone, but they usually respond pretty quickly to emails. Their price was almost $100 less than the local bridal shops! They do have an actual brick and mortar store in Minnesota called Rush's Bridal so they're an authorized dealer (just in case anyone is worried about that). I procrastinated on the bridesmaid dresses and didn't make a decision on them until September. Netbride recommended that I pay a rush charge to be on the safe side, but it would have been like an extra $40 per gown so I declined and took my chances (based on their reputation, I assumed the dresses would come in early anyway). Sure enough, they arrived more than a month before the promise date! I highly recommend them. Also, Bill Levkoff makes beautiful gowns so I recommend them as well.

Mom's dress- Forever Yours from www.pearlsplace.com: A+ IMO, their customer service reps aren't quite as friendly as Netbride's, but my mom's gown shipped an entire month early and in great condition so I can't complain. We had to pay over the phone because PP's website isn't set up to take internet orders. Once again, we saved over $100 so their prices are excellent!

Veil- Will be made by my fabulous seamstress Martha Shump (more info below), and her price is even cheaper than Occansey Designs which is who I originally planned to purchase my veil from.

Seamstress- Martha Shump: A+++ Martha is amazing! I first used her last year to alter my bridesmaid dress for a friend's wedding. She's really honest with her customers and won't rip you off so her prices are among the lowest in town. Last time she only charged me $60 for the hem, taking in the sides about 4-5 inches, a bustle (because it had a sash), cups, and added boning at the top to keep it looking straight. I just had my first appointment with her for my wedding dress, and I was a little scared because I knew there was going to be a lot of work involved (it has two layers with very intricate lace and beading on top so it's not a small job). She basically has to re-make the entire thing, but she's charging me over $200 less than what it would have cost elsewhere! What's interesting is that she's a wedding gown designer, first and foremost, which I didn't even know until recently; if you want a dress custom made, she's your woman lol. Her suite is located in the Five Points area downtown.

Ceremony & Reception Site-

Wedding Accommodations-

Trolley-

Baker-

Makeup Artist-

Hairstylist-

Florist-

Photographer-

Mobile Bartending-

Linen Rental-

Engagement Ring- Berthet Jewelers: A... Brandon got my engagement ring from Berthet because they were recommended to him by some family friends. It's a very small place, and the owner doesn't keep much in stock (side note: apparently he's also a lepidopterist because there are butterfly specifimens mounted all over the walls... it's a little freaky lol). Brandon was allowed to examine all the loose diamonds under a microscope and then choose which one he wanted for my ring. They threw in a free white gold setting with it. The diamond itself is almost flawless and has been appraised for more than what Brandon paid so we know Berthet's prices are good (he did visit a few chain stores beforehand, but he found out that he could get something of much higher quality for less money at Berthet). We also later found out that it's an antique mine cut from the 1800's (score!) which they didn't mention at the time of purchase... maybe the owner didn't notice? The reason he doesn't get an A+ is because he wasn't as welcoming when we went back to look at wedding bands. I needed something specific that would fit next to my engagement ring, and he just said "I can't help you" without much thought so we decided to go somewhere else.

My Wedding Ring- Faith Jewelers: A+... As I mentioned above, the setting of my engagement ring made it difficult to find the right kind of wedding band. We didn't want to spend a lot of money so we went to some chain stores first but most of them were charging way too much for the level of color/clarity, and they didn't have a big enough selection anyway. So Brandon decided to ask around, and his boss recommended Faith Jewelers. They had a lot more to choose from, and I ended up finding something perfect that was in our budget. The only potential problem was that the ring was way too big and had to be brought down several sizes. It was tricky because of the prong set diamonds, but they did a beautiful job!

Brandon's Wedding Ring- www.e-weddingbands.com: A+ He just wanted a simple white gold band so that's what he ordered. They have very cheap prices, no tax, free shipping, and an excellent return/exchange policy. If you want to save money, this is the place to buy from.

EUROPE/VACATION PICTURES
under construction

Back in 2005, Brandon and I had the once in a lifetime opportunity to backpack around Europe together (from August-November). Here are just a few pictures from among the thousands that I took.

Countries visited: Ireland, Wales, England, Scotland, Norway, Germany, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Czech Republic, and Slovakia.

Ireland-
the Dingle peninsula

ireland 1

this was the view from our hostel (about a 20 minute walk from the town).
hostel view

Wales-
Holyhead, Conwy, Llanberis, Snowdonia, Beaumaris, Llandudno, Harlech, and Cardiff.
I dreamed my whole life of coming to Wales because it's where my dad's family immigrated from. We loved it!

wales1

Llandudno... a resort town popular with English tourists.
wales2

Harlech... location of the famous song "Men of Harlech"
wales4

longest city name in the world but really just a publicity stunt lol.
wales5

Beaumaris castle... King Edward ran out of money so it was never finished.
wales6

The walls of Conwy Castle go around the entire city (and just in case you're wondering, Wales has the most castles per square mile of any country in the world... I was in heaven lol).
wales8

view from the Great Orme (home of one of the world's oldest copper mines)
wales9

Snowdonia... this is where most people practice for their climbs to Mount Everest, probably because of similar conditions (as you might be able to tell in the picture below- I was almost blown off the mountain lol).
wales10

In the left of this pic, you can see the famous cafe where Sir Edmund Hillary planned his expedition to Everest. I guess his climbing partner lived in Llanberis for many years.
wales12

Caernarfon Castle... Prince Charles was invested here.
wales19

A keep built sometime around the year 1100.
wales17

England-
London, Stonehenge, Avebury, Glastonbury

london eye

This picture was chosen by CNN as their travel snapshot of the week. woo hoo! lol
view from the eye

Scotland-
Edinburgh, the highlands, Loch Ness

hamish

Hamish, the highland steer... he's a local celebrity :). isn't he cute?
bagpiper

view from Edinburgh Castle
loch ness

searching for Nessie lol...
there she is lol

Norway-
Bergen, Norway in a Nutshell tour, cruise of the fjords, Oslo

fjords1

the fjords at dusk... even though it was September, it was freezing cold!
fjords 2

Bergen

our ferry from Scotland to Norway
little house

A stave church, built about the year 1100... the craftsmanship is beautiful! And the fact that it's survived all these years is awe inspiring. For all you Disney fans out there, you know the small scale replica church at the Norwegian pavilion in Epcot? This is what it was modeled after.

Since I grew up close to Disney World, my family and I used to go all the time. There was a short film that used to play at the end of the maelstrom ride at Epcot, and this museum was one of the locations featured in it. Ever since I was a little girl, I dreamed of going there and seeing all of the viking ships so I made sure to visit when we went to Oslo. I'm officially a huge dork.

Bruges, Belgium

brandon eating fries

Brandon enjoying the delicious Belgian frites which are traditionally supposed to be eaten with mayo.
canals

the canals were very romantic.
canals2

The chocolate was to die for (although I think I still prefer Swiss chocolate).
bruges square

Paris, France

the arc

the Arc

view of champs elysees

the modern arc in the background

an indoor car showroom... pretty fancy I thought.
eiffel during day

It took a lot of courage, but I finally made it to the top of the Eiffel Tower. I'm terrified of heights so going up the elevator was a scary experience for me, but I'm so glad I did it.
louvre outside

The Louvre... one of my favorite places on earth! We heard that they were filming the DaVinci Code movie while we were there, but I'm not sure if that's true.
inside lourvre

Notre Dame... I'm not Catholic, but I thought the cathedral was absolutely stunning. On certain days, they play a short film late at night detailing its history so we went back to see that. It was wonderful because it wasn't crammed with tourists like it normally is during the day, and it felt like we had the whole place to ourselves.
inside nd

Brandon had been to Paris before, and he insisted that the hill at Sacre Cours offered the best views of the city. He was right.

Switzerland-
Interlaken, the observatory at Jungfraujoch in the Alps, Lauterbrunnen, Murren, Grindlewald, etc.

top of europe

The ice here was slippery. We're Floridians so we totally underestimated how dangerous it could be lol.
outside in the snow

the longest glacier in Europe
brandon alps

This is the so called ice palace at the observatory. I missed the picture where Brandon tried to "skate" on the ice and fell on his butt... hah!
looking out

this pic was also featured on CNN's website. i got this shot as we were on a train.
interlaken

Italy-
I've actually been to Italy twice. The first time was in 2001 as part of a singing tour where I got to perform at the Vatican and San Marco in Venice among other places (one of these days I'll upload photos). During that trip I got to visit Rome, Tivoli, Cerveteri, Florence, Venice, Capri, Ravenna, Lucca, Impruneta, Stresa which is on Lake Maggiore, and some small towns throughout the Aosta Valley. Unfortunately my FI and I had to cut our stay in Italy short so I only got to show him Rome (stayed there for 8 days), and we also saw Ostia Antica which is very similar to Pompeii. I really want to go back a third time so I can show Brandon everything else he missed :).

trevi

trevi fountain
rainy spanish steps

spanish steps on a rainy night
smart car

I'm totally in love with these cars!
forum

the temple of saturn
to OA

on our way to Ostia...
ruins

2000-year-old ruins of a Roman bath

beautiful mosaic floors from a courtyard at someone's home
mosaics

more mosaics featuring poseidon/neptune

Prague, Czech Republic

prague square

Prague Castle

view from charles bridge

the bridge was so crowded with people that it was hard to get a picture.
view from prague castle

A view of Prague's famous red rooftops from the castle.
church

Austria-
Salzburg and Vienna (including the oldest zoo in Europe)

Salzburg
salzburg bridge

views from the fortress
fortress2

the gazebo from the sound of music... they wouldn't let anyone inside because of liability reasons (they've been sued in the past lol).

lake

we stopped at this lake outside of Salzburg as part of the Sound of Music day tour we took. It was a lot of fun!
lake district

the church where the real Von Trapps were married.
house

House from the sound of music (there were actually two houses used in the film... one for front of the house scenes and another for the back).
house2

It looks dreary, but Austria is beautiful in the fall.
untersberg

Untersburg Mountain... another sound of music location
nonnberg

Vienna

Schonnbrunn Palace... one of the many Hapsburg palaces.
fall leaves

Behind Schonnbrunn
inside schonn

Slovakia pics to be added. We just visited a really small town where my mom's family immigrated from so there wasn't much to see, but it was a meaningful experience nonetheless.

Greenland-
These are just a few photos that I snapped from the plane. The flight attendant said it was extremely rare to be able to see Greenland so clearly. Apparently we must have had the best seats on the plane because all the other passengers were trying to lean over us to get a picture too lol.

greeland

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