I Said YES to the Dress!

Last night, the final piece of the wedding puzzle was completed. I invited my mom, Jason's mom, my dad's wife Tammy and my sister-out-law Nanci to join me at the store to see the wedding dress I have selected. We met at the Bridal Shoppe in Berkley - a beautiful bridal boutique that offers a really nice selection of dresses, custom jewelery, veils and pretty much any other accessory you can think of for your wedding day. I really like the Bridal Shoppe - it has an elegant feel when you walk through the door, it isn't crazy like your typical David's Bridal, and the sales ladies aren't pushy like other bridal shops.

I feel as if I have been the most indecisive bride there ever was when it came to picking a dress, I liked so many dresses, but as they say, there is only ONE love. The staff at the Bridal Shoppe were very flexible, they let me come back four times to try on dresses, and I never felt like I was an inconvenience to them. They let me come in with various people as many times as I needed to, which helped me to whittle down my decision to two dresses.

When I found "the one" I was with my three friends; MOH Cecilia & BM's Kelly and Stacey. I really needed their input as I often make bad fashion decisions for myself (i.e. the madonna boots circa 1981) and I knew they would be the one's to give me an honest opinion. My decision had come down to two dresses. Dress "A" was an ivory taffeta a-line dress that is sleek and elegant; Dress "B" is a taffeta & tulle princess type dress with lots of beading and frill's. As soon as I put on dress A - everyone agreed that it was certainly for me! I feel like a movie star in that dress - elegant, sexy & classic.

While the ladies at the Bridal Shoppe were doing my measurements, the seamstress mentioned the style was called "Vivien" - I knew the style name, but it never occurred to me why they named that particular dress "Vivien". The seamstress explained that the dress that I have chosen, was a design inspired by Vivien Leigh - Star of Gone With the Wind; my all time favorite movie. This made my heart flutter! How perfect! Jason was planning on wearing a white jacket tux for the wedding to match Indian Jones in the Temple of Doom, and now I have chosen the dress that was inspired by Vivien Leigh....and we were getting married in a theatre built in 1927. This could not be more perfect!

I am really looking forward to the coming year. Not only is it the year that I will be getting married, it will also be a year that will contain many twists and turns that will shape the rest of our lives together. I will look forward to every moment of it.

Phase I of Wedding Plans are complete!

The first phase of wedding planning is now complete. We have all of the big picture details worked out; the venue, the vendors, the dress and the guest list. I believe an official announcement can now be made...

A wedding will be held during the afternoon of October 16, 2010 at the Gem Theatre in downtown Detroit; joining Tina Caldwell and Jason Catron in matrimony. The bride and groom will be accompanied by their parents, 12 attendants, their dog Daisey, three ring bearers and 150 of their closest family and friends.

The ceremony will take place at the Gem's little theatre followed immediately by a formal cocktail hour on the outdoor veranda (weather permitting) alternately, the cocktail hour will be held in the century grille lounge if the weather is unruly.

Dinner and dancing will commence directly following the cocktail hour. The ceremony will be officiated by Dan Nichols and photographed by E.C. Campbell; reception entertainment will be be provided by DJ Dan and various surprise guests.

The wedding theme will be "Fall Harvest Romance at Sunset", The bride will be dressed in 1940's Hollywood style; the groom will be dressed in a creme colored tuxedo jacket and black slacks, the bridesmaids will be dressed in blush colored knee length silk dresses.

Fun will be had by all.

Wedding Plans continue...

Wedding planning has been relatively easy so far - things have been falling into place with little or no effort - much like me and Jason's relationship. I realize that this is the easy part of the wedding planning, the details that will come much later will be much more challenging; but, so far I have been enjoying this process and am looking to forward to the year to come.

We started the wedding planning with selecting our venue; I did my diligent research, narrowed the choices down to four and visited our favorite choices on a cloudy day in October. By the afternoon, we had been up and down Woodward Ave. between Bloomfield Hills and Downtown Detroit and ended our day long search at the Gem Theatre.

As soon as we walked in, we knew the Gem was special - we showed ourselves around the historic building and found our way down to the lower level where we discovered a huge wood- carved bar, soft romantic lighting, and a long rectangular room leading up to the largest indoor fire place I have ever seen! The staff was setting up for a wedding that afternoon, so we were able to get a great visual of what our wedding reception would look like - and we were thrilled!

The room is cozy and romantic with plenty of room to mingle at the bar and dance in front of a roaring fire place. This room felt right. The following week we requested a proposal and put a deposit down to save our wedding date - October 16, 2010. It was now in writing, and it was official - that would be our wedding date.

Our next step was finding a photographer - this step was very important to us - we had to find a perfect photographer. We interviewed two photographers and knew by the end of the second interview that we had found "the one". We met with E'lisa - one half of a husband and wife team who we knew would be perfect for our wedding. We feel so lucky to have found E.C. Campbell Photography - they do amazing work and E'Lisa is one of those rare people that can make anyone feel special because her inner light is so bright. Thanks to facebook and my old sixth grade friend Karen (Kubiak) Moore for the referral - we found exactly what we were looking for. We couldn't be happier.

The next step was choosing a Dj and an officiant to marry us at the Gem's little theatre. This was a tough one - we met with a few DJ's and one Officiant and the problem was that we didn't know what we were looking for - so it was hard to decide on our candidates. We met with a DJ that we think could be our solution for both the DJ AND the officiant - He really gets what we are trying to do in making our wedding truly unique. We aren't interested in a run of the mill traditional wedding - and his ideas and concepts for our ceremony are exactly what we had in mind. We are slightly concerned with the price that he has presented, but I think we have found a way to fit it into our budget.

The only thing left on the list is my dress. That has been the biggest challenge of all. I have gone every weekend since Thanksgiving to look at and try on dresses - I've been to five bridal stores, and have tried on, what feels like, hundreds of dresses. The problem is not that I don't like any of them, but that I like ALL of them! I have made some progress in figuring out what looks best on me, and am now in search of an Ivory, A-line, sweetheart neckline dress made out of taffeta. I tried on a few dresses that fit this description and I think I am close to making a final decision. We will see how next week goes.

Once we sign the DJ/officiant and I purchase my dress; both of which I hope to have accomplished by the end of next week - then we will be good until after the holidays. The next step will be to figure out things like where we will spend our honeymoon and start seriously piecing together the details and itinerary for our wedding day.

Let the fun begin! thanks for reading!

My First Wedding Blog - our story

This is the first blog i have ever done - the purpose of which is two fold; I hope that this will be a great way to record this special time in my life, as well as provide some helpful information to future brides...I may even reach out for some advice from time to time. I also think this will be a great way to keep my family and friends updated on the wedding plans!

Here is our story...

Jason and I grew up in the same neighborhood in Sterling Heights, MI just one street away from each other. He was a year ahead of me in school, and we knew each other only as acquaintances from Kindergarden on through college and beyond. It wasn't until the infamous DAVO Halloween party in 2007 that we looked at each other in a way other than friends.

I was dressed as Wonder Woman, he was dressed as Magnum P.I. and I of course did not recognize him in his fake mustache and chest hair! His roommate at the time (Stephanie) approached me early on in the party and told me that her friend HAD to meet Wonder Woman and brought me over to him. After a few minutes of talking and flirting, he came to the realization that I had no idea who he was! It wasn't until a few more of his friends walked up, (I knew all of them) and finally my friend Cecilia shouted out "Oh, It's CATRON!" It was a little embarrassing, but I got over it quickly and we didn't leave each other's side the rest of the night.

That was October 2007, and things progressed nicely from that night on. In April 2007 we adopted Daisey, a dog that I was fostering from the local animal rescue; Labor Day weekend 2008 I moved in with Jason, and the following Labor Day weekend in 2009 we went away to a B&B in Saugatuck, MI (west of Kalamazoo, MI) called Castle in the Country and got engaged while we were on a picnic. It has been a little bit of a whirlwind since that wonderfully romantic weekend, but I have been enjoying every minute of it!