Bridal Shows

I've been wanting to go to a bridal show since I got engaged. I bought tickets to one in VA months ago by accident and no one had time to make the trip to go with me so I never went. One of my bride's magazines had a coupon code for 2 free tickets to The Great Bridal Expo in Cockysville, so I printed them out and asked my sister/one of my maids of honor to go with me. Luckily her husband didn't mind watching the kids for her the second time this week (THANKS ROB!) so we went out, just the two of us, for the first time in forever.

We were so giddy, I felt like I was 17 again, going out with my big sister. The best part of the expo was that I already have almost everything you need to pull off a successful wedding. So we got to relax, have a glass of sangria, and look around without feeling any pressure to commit to anything.

We filled out some cards at different booths to try to win free stuff. Got some free stuff, plastic necklaces, pictures from a photo booth, jelly. And then there was a fashion show. The host was HILARIOUS. I told my sister that I wanted him to follow me around all day to make me laugh. The fashion show was cool. Even though I also have my dress and the bridesmaid's dresses picked out, I fell in love with these 8ft veils some of the girls were wearing. So I'm going to look into those.

Like I've said before. I'm all about experiencing everything there is to experience in this wedding planning process. Especially the fun stuff! So I would definitely encourage you to go to one of these things. Even if your wedding is already planned.

We also took a TON of stickers on our way out the door labeled "I'm the Mom, Bride, Groom, Wedding Entourage..." Like... A ton. I'm also all about documenting everything. They'll look good in my scrapbook.

Suit Shopping

Yesterday we went suit shopping. I was excited to cross another thing off my list but I was also excited to have a personal fashion show from my man. We decided before we even got to the store that we wanted suits, not tuxedos. We also had a coupon for Mens Wearhouse for 50% off suits for the wedding party (WIN).

We walked in the store and the woman that came to help us was so awkward. I was immediately uncomfortable. She sat us down at her desk and said very unenthusiastically "First off, congratulations." I could tell she wasn't actually excited for us because she never even asked to see my ring. Everyone in the wedding business asks to see the ring. It's like an unspoken rule. And you all know how much I like to show off my ring. So anyways, then she says "Oh, I see you brought your scrapbook." I said "Oh, yeah, my wedding planner. You never know when you're going to need that information." She kind of mumbled and seemed permanently nervous. I told her we knew we wanted to buy suits. She sighed and her eyes traveled around the room searching for... help? I don't know. Fortunately she helps with rentals. So she went and found someone else to help us. I was so relieved. The man she introduced to us, Charles, was much more lively and confident and knew how to provide good customer service.

He took us over to the suits and I told him right off the bat that we had a coupon, and also that my brother who is in the wedding is 6'7". Between those two things that narrowed our options down to two suits. I didn't really LOVE either of them at first. And the one I thought I liked more Austin didn't like. The more I looked at it though I realized it was almost tan, and we didn't want that. So he tried the other one on. Thankfully, he looked awesome in it. I was still kind of sad that I didn't get to see a bunch of different options, but it really made our job easier.

We saw the colorful vests so I pulled out my handy dandy wedding planner where I had a color sheet with the exact colors of the bridesmaids dresses. The colorful vests were a renting option only, so one of the women in charge of rentals came over (thankfully not the same one that greeted us). They all let me lay out some of the vests on the jacket we had decided on and mismatched ties and what-not. I was having fun, but in the end we settled on grey vests. Which looked classiest.

When it was time to go I didn't want Austin to change back into his clothes. He looked so handsome. We were filling out paperwork and when Charles saw my last name he said "Appel... Appel... Are you related to a music teacher?" I said "Yeah! That's my Uncle!" Then we talked about him for a while and Charles said "I've been helping dress that man for 15 years." I got a good laugh out of that because literally all my uncle wears are suits.

We were probably there for an hour and a half. Not bad, I thought. Then we had a delicious lunch at Outback to end our day out.

All in all it was a fun day.

And I can't wait until the next time I see him in his suit again when I'm walking down the aisle towards him to become his permanent Best Friend Forever.