Tinkerbell82

Here it is ladies- Part 2 with TTD pics.

Thank you ladies so much! I actually accidentally posted it on my personal account - here's the link to my Frugal Fun & Fabulous account. I'm working on a follow up video with more info & the TTD pics! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg799mzzr6XmPOC3XgPbbdw

Hi everyone! I'm back! I wanted to do a youtube video to explain how I got my dream dress for less than $250. It took WAY longer to film and edit than I thought, haha. Here's the Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrdpyuUTT5I

Actually, I decided against it. Once I tried the dress on at the alteration shop with the shoes and everything, I prefered the way it flows vs. having a poofy skirt. They did send me a cheap hoop one, but I never even bothered to put it on since I was happy with the way it was (plus it was one less decision to make).

Hi everyone! I can't believe this week will put us at one month away!! Ahhh! I have to give my final guest list to Carnival tomorrow- it was such a pain getting everyone's license numbers and dates of birth haha. Our final headcount is 92 - 36 of those are sailing. We're getting our pre-wedding mailers out this week with the welcome dinner invites. I'm also finalizing our OOT bags. Everything is purchased and just needs to be assembled. I can't believe we are so close!!

Invitations Next up on the “to-do” list were the invitations. I knew that we wanted to do something really fun and memorable to set the tone for our wedding cruise. After many weeks searching I finally found the perfect invites! The only catch was that they were DIY, but I was willing to take on the project as nothing else could compare to the ones we found. The template was purchased from Vanessa’s Destination Wedding Invitations. As soon as we bought it we downloaded a free trial of Adobe Illustrator and got to work right away. There were many sleepless nights and hours of work involved in getting them just they way we wanted, but I have to say they came out PERFECT! The total cost for 100 invites, including printing and supplies, came in right under $200. It felt so good to get them out in the mail and our guests LOVED them! All of the hard work was worth it.

Well, we’re finally about one month away from our wedding! I can’t believe it’s finally my turn to share our planning story. We’ve had so much fun DIY’ing our hearts out. These boards were SO helpful to us – hopefully I’ll be able to return the favor! The Story of Us Billy and I met about two and a half years ago. We worked in the same building and ended up chatting at a happy hour at a place close to our work that everyone frequented. Little did we know that 6 months later we would be dating, and a year and a half later we would be engaged! We both know in our hearts that we are soul mates, and were meant to be together. I am so lucky to have such an amazing guy and best friend!! Our Engagement I am a big fan of Disney World, and Billy and I agreed that for Valentine’s Day 2013 we would splurge on a weekend trip in lieu of gifts for each other. When we got to the resort Billy was acting SO strange! I thought he was just really excited about our trip. Little did I know that when we got to Magic Kingdom he was going to pop the question in front of the castle!! As you can probably tell, I had NO idea (I would have at least done my hair, haha). Very shortly after our engagement, I booked a wonderful photographer for our engagement pics from Ashfall Mixed Media. We live in St. Petersburg, Florida, and I really wanted to capture the city the way it looks now, especially since the pier has since shut down. She did a wonderful job and I highly recommend her! Our Cruise Wedding After exploring several options around our town, we realized that we wanted to do a cruise wedding. We are both fun-loving people who love to travel, so we thought “Why Not”! We had a cruise planned on the Carnival Glory last April, and booked our wedding cruise while we were onboard. As soon as we got back we called Carnival Weddings and booked our wedding aboard the Carnival Paradise sailing out of Tampa on April 5, 2014. Aside from the wedding being fun and different, it was so much more cost effective that any of the land-based weddings in our area! I couldn’t justify spending upwards of 20k on one day, so the cruise wedding it was! They offer all-inclusive packages at a very reasonable price. We knew starting out that not everyone would be able to sail with us, but the way we booked it our guests that are not sailing can board the ship in the Port of Tampa for the day and disembark before we set sail. The Atrium of the Carnival Paradise Save the Dates Once we secured our date and location, I wanted to get our Save the Dates out as soon as possible. They were designed on Vistaprint and paid for using a Groupon and discount codes. We got them for a very reasonable price! I also spent a few weeks designing our wedding website with all of the information people would need to book their cruise, etc. After several weeks of tweaking the website was up and running, and our Save the Dates were sent! You can check out our website here: www.weddingwire.com/tinaandbill

Definitely go try on styles before you order. The style I thought I wanted ended up not being what I ordered because I didn't like it on me. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi ladies! Sorry it took so long- but here they are! Pics of my dress from babyonline. I need to get a crinoline (and some spanks lol) but this is it! Sorry for the bad pic quality. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi ladies!! Just wanted to check in. We're about 40 days out and time is flying! I'm just finishing up our pre-wedding mailers to go out next week. Everything else is pretty much done!

Hi ladies! Just wanted to report back that I have my dress from Babyonline and it is beautiful!! I will post pics soon. I am on the hunt for undergarments this week so I can try it on correctly. From what I can tell, few, if any, alterations will be needed.

Alright ladies- dress #2 has been shipped. One more word of advice when ordering from DH Gate- it is very difficult to change your address! I originally planned to have the dress sent to my work but my last day is this Friday, so I tried to change it to my home address and was unable to. Luckily I have a friend at work who is going to get the package for me, but its still pretty stressful. Any way, I will be posting another review of my Babyonline dress as soon as I get it.

Quote: Originally Posted by baezsolano I am hesitant to begin doing any alterations/changes based on all the feedback on this blog. Seems that all issues reported with any vendor were size and alterations. Maybe it's just me but once I start expecting perfection I may just be disappointed. Instead if I get a cookie cutter size I know I have my alteration options at home. Also based on my measurements it is very close to their charts. Am I crazy?? Have you tried on any dresses in a store? I did, and they all had to be clipped / fitted to see what they look like on me. You have to expect that you may need alterations with any dress.

Quote: Originally Posted by flo628 @Tinkerbell82 Wow, that looks REALLY good. I noticed on some dresses that lace edging is sewn in, but sewn so well you can't tell it's a separate fabric from the chiffon. You should check with the seamstress and see if it is indeed separate, maybe she can still shorten it. Or she might be able to shorten it from the waist. I think your dress actually looks better than the inspiration pics. Thanks so much! Yes, I was really impressed with the lace on the bottom. It came out better than expected. Quote: Originally Posted by CdnBrideJoanne Tinkerbell82 - the dress is gorgeous. You can have it shortened from the waist. Thanks! I will take it to a seamstress and see how much that would be. So now (of course) I'm considering getting another, more elaborate dress made and using one for TTD. I sent Sunny another dress pic today.