Wedding "WooHoos" and "Woes"

Planning a Wedding is a lot of work...

However, having a great support team helps quite a bit.  First, my grandparents gave Chris and I a trunk full of dishes and kitchen supplies.  Chris's parents gave us pots and pans, kitchen utensils, cups, tupperware, and kitchen towels for my birthday.  It was great.  Also, my grandparents on my mother's side are giving us some of their old furniture.  My grandparents on my father's side are helping us pay for the honeymoon and helped us set up a place to stay.  (It's really nice.  We are also going to Disney :)

I have been working my new job as Shift Manager (in training) at Arby's for three weeks now!  I am really enjoying it.  It helps because I am making more money which means more money to set aside for wedding stuff and nice washer and dryer for Chris and I's new place.  Also, Chris has a job interview this week for a great IT position with a local business.  We are praying the Lord will bless us with this.

Now for the Woes:
Trust me, this is not a bunch of complaining, just some rants about stuff I don't understand about wedding planning and vendors, etc...

1. Sales people are crazy some times.
I went to David's Bridal for my wedding dress. The salesperson tried to talk me out of getting the one that I wanted because it was so "plain" compared to some of the other ones I tried.  Although they were having a sale that day, some of the others I tried on were super expensive and most of them were itchy and tight and too poufy.  I finally just told her that it was my wedding and that I would get the dress I want.  When I went in to look at bridesmaid dresses with my bridal attendants, the sales person told us that the dress I had picked out would be discontinued by June 3rd and that all the girls needed to place their order as soon as possible.  A month and a few days later, I am on David's Bridal.com and they have the exact same dress in all sizes available for order online.  I feel bad about what I put some of my girls through because I believe the salesperson.  Even if the Kennesaw David's Bridal were to stop carrying the dress, Davids Bridal's website has it...

2. You Never Win Things from David's Bridal
They tell you when you sign up for David's Bridal that they will enter you in drawings for free dresses, etc. and all that really happens is that they put you on mailing lists for a ton of nationwide vendors eager to charge you an arm and a leg for photography, cakes, honeymoons, and makeovers.  That's why I did not check the box when I made an online account that says I want to receive special emails from outside vendors.  I get enough from David's as it is.  I logged on to the David's Bridal website today and changed my email preference to one that I used in ninth grade.  That should keep the emails from flooding into my current email account.


3. Mary Kay Consultants Buy Your Name From David's Bridal
A friend of mine who used to sell Mary Kay told me about this sales ploy devised by local Mary Kay directors when I went to a party for one of my friends who was told she won a Mary Kay makeover party from David's Bridal.  My former Mary Kay consultant told me how other consultants can go into David's Bridal and buy 25 names for a price and call all the girls until they get a person to agree to the free "makeover".  One thing I know, is everything we did at that party I went to, I did with my former Mary Kay consultants.  Those ladies do free facials and color make up appointments all the time.  They like to have these bridal party things because they know that new brides want to look good for the wedding and might buy a lot of make up and skincare to prep.  I bought a really expensive skin care set at that party that I probably could have gotten from Target or Ulta for much cheaper and it would have worked just as well.

4. Men's Warehouse Sends you an Ungodly Amount of Coupons
They just want to make sure that your groom doesn't forget he can get $40 dollars off every tux in his wedding party and after 5 guys pay their rental fees, his tux is free.  I have gotten several of the postcards in the mail and a handful of emails that all have this message.  Also, Chris has received a coupon in the mail and his mom receives them by email.  Okay, Men's Warehouse, we get it!!  We aren't getting married 18 times in a row....we only need one coupon.

5. Everything is More Expensive with the word "Wedding" in the Name
From my experience thus far, bakeries charge a good deal more for wedding cakes than they do regular cakes.  Photographers come up with extremely expensive packages for wedding days but they only charge $250 for a whole day of senior pictures.  Shoes and accessories are more expensive from bridal stores and bridal websites than they are from regular department stores.  It's ridiculous.  If you are trying to save money, just buy generic white tablecloths.  Don't buy "Wedding" tablecloths, cause I am sure they'll be like $20 a piece!  Don't buy your bridal and bridesmaid accessories from a bridal shop.  There is this wonderful place called Target and an amazing website called eBay that has tons of wedding stuff for much less.   The only places I have found that don't really charge an arm and a leg for wedding supplies and decor are WalMart and Dollar Tree.  And some of their stuff looks just as good as ones from the wedding store websites or Michael's or Party City! 

That's my wedding rant for the day.  Other than these minor issues I ran into, wedding planning is coming along splendidly.

TTFN,
Julia