Dressing the Bride...

These are just a few of the dresses I tried on before I bought the perfect one. I went in with an open mind about the different styles and colors of the dress. I hadn't blogged about the dress because I was so paranoid that my hubby would see my dress or say something like why didn't you pick that one instead. Now that the wedding is over I'm finally comfortable putting up the pictures.


Dress #1: I thought this dress was pretty but I just couldn't see myself with an orange and white dress. Just picture a half and half bar.



Dress #2: This dress was all wrong. I didn't want sleeves, the "girls" are getting too much attention, and the material itself looked cheap.



Dress #3: This one was very lacy and romantic but it just didn't feel like me.


Dress #4: This dress was the attempt the salesperson made at dressing me up. It was okay but still not me. You can see how my smiling is coming around. I felt like a cupcake in it.


Dress #5: Another attempt at a different type of dress. This is still not me since I really don't like the bodice. The buttons in the back where actually a zipper which was cool but seriously not my style.




Dress #6: I was really close to getting this dress because I loved the fabric and it made me feel pretty. Can you tell with the cheesy smile I have that I love it? It made the top two choice but I knew which dress I was getting before I even stepped foot in the store.




Stay tune to see the dress that took my breath away. How many dresses did you try on before you found the "one"? Where you set on a specific style or were you open minded like I was?

Recap: The Dress Review...

Review #3: Alfred Angelo Bridal

I love my dress but the company's customer service department needs a makeover. Their so called "sales" are on going and if you wait a day from when you receive a "coupon" you will probably get a better deal. I would give them a better review if I would have been treated better but I wasn't. When I attempted to contact their customer service department they gave me the run around even after e-mailing them twice. I regret buying my bridesmaids dresses there since they didn't take my girls measurements right and their dresses didn't fit them. How was it possible that all 5 of them needed to get their dresses altered. Thank goodness my dress didn't need any alterations but 5 bustles which I also regret getting them done there since they over charge. If you do get your dress there you should take it somewhere else to get altered and steamed. They charged me an arm and a leg to get it steamed and pressed. If I could have done things over I would have gotten my dress somewhere else. I don't mind paying for quality service but there prices are ridiculous when you take into account their attitude and what you have to pay for alterations and other things.

I truly believe (from my experience) that Alfred Angelo is a company that threats you right up to the point were they have your money and after that you're on your own.

The only thing good that came out of my whole experience there was my dress. My hubby loved it and so did everyone else. I can't look at it without thinking about how I was treated by their customer service department.


*My thoughts and opinions do not represent those of my sponsors.

Recap: Let's Continue the Reviews...

Review #2: Mariachi Espuelas de Mexico

As I previously stated here having a great mariachi was important to us and we succeeded by choosing Mariachi Espuelas de Mexico. Although we did not have a chance to truly enjoy their performance because we were whisked away by our photographers to take photos we have heard very positive feedback from all our guests. My parents are still raving about how great the mariachi sounded. My mother even said that one of her friends stated, "Now this is a mariachi!" Her friend is from Guadalajara, Mexico where she has seen and heard countless of mariachis. All the mariachi members were very polite and professional. I wish I would have taken their photo to show you how amazing they looked. Anyone in a search for a mariachi who lives in the L.A./O.C. area should definitely hire this mariachi.

Once again to refresh everyone's memory we opted for 6 musicians and paid for 2 hours. The best part was before they left for the evening they asked if I had any request and they played my favorite one, El Mariachi Loco.

This mariachi is worth the money we paid for it and we will definitely hire them again for family event. If you don't believe me or simply want to check them out you should go see them at Super Antojitos 1702 N. Bristol Avenue Santa Ana, CA where they perform there every Friday.

Mariachi Espuelas de Mexico

Leader Jose Luis Yanez
(714) 404-8962
y-yanez@sbcglobal.net

Recap: Let the Reviewing Begin...

Let me begin by saying that we had the most amazing vendors. Seriously this is not joke they all worked together and it all made for an unforgettable wedding.

Review #1: Shawn Vasquez

Finding the right DJ for our wedding was crucial since we needed someone that was bilingual and upbeat like we are. Our prayers were answered by Daisy13 (Erika) from the the Wedding Bee who sent me a message and recommended Shawn to me. When we first met Shawn we knew that he was unlike other DJ's my hubby and I had spoken to. Other DJ's lacked something that Shawn had which was a genuine concern on how we wanted our day to unfold. We not only spoke to him over the phone but he met with us on a couple of different occasions and indulged us by letting us go see him perform before we actually hired him. (Yes, I know we are totally the kind of people that have to do research before we purchase anything.) We were hooked on Shawn because of his attention to detail and his bilingual abilities. Shawn had a wide range of music from rancheras to cumbias and nortenas. He also has your usual hip hop to country range. Before our wedding we were able to give him a list of songs that we liked and he worked from those and made a playlist of the songs for our wedding.

The day of our wedding he showed up on time and dressed professionally. His tie even matched our wedding colors. Since we had previously set a timeline of how our wedding day was going to be we put it in his hand and everything worked wonderfully. He knew exactly when to get us for things like the grand entrance and the bouquet toss.

Everyone at our wedding had a blast and my parents even commented on how great the DJ was. The music was so great and the atmosphere was so fun that only a couple of people left our wedding and the rest stayed and danced the night away. Needless to say Shawn played everything on our playlist and even made room for request our guests had. For the centerpiece raffle the guest played a game to see who would take it home. He made guest interact with each other and made our wedding a blast. Before the garter toss I couldn't find mine and Shawn said he brought a back up one in case I needed it. I'm telling you this DJ is super organized and had an incredible personality.

Now that I've told you all about his skills lets move on to the fun part: pricing. Shawn is affordable and he is willing to work within your budget. I really believe that his services are worth every penny.

Lets move unto the highlights of the evening and why I say he is worth hiring. My hubby and I had decided that we did not want to do a first dance song and we opted to do the Hockey Pockey instead. We never told the bridal party but we did tell Shawn. Once we did our grand entrance Shawn asked the bridal party to form a circle around us and then he started playing our song. Everyone burst into laughter and as the bridal party looked confused everyone began to dance. The thing that I LOVED and ENJOYED the most was that the music was so amazing that my hubby actually danced. This is a huge deal because I LOVE to DANCE and he hates it. I'm telling you I have never danced so much with my hubby. If he can get someone to dance who absolutely hates it then you know he is worth it.

Shawn Vasquez
(323) 868-3772
djshawnv@yahoo.com

What has been your experience with your DJ or the process of hiring one? Was your DJ worth hiring?

Thinking things over...

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Now that the wedding is over and I have time to process the event through my head I came to realize that the only thing I regret is not taking any pictures myself so I could share them with you. This week I plan on recapping more of what went on "backstage" before the wedding and I also plan on reviewing my vendors who where completely AMAZING.

We're married!!!

I just wanted to share a couple of photos of us with you that our friends took.

Our wedding was amazing and I can't wait to recap everything with you guys. See you in a few days. Yay!!

Guess what?

I'm getting married tomorrow!! I can't wait!!

....and Now Table Numbers! Pt 2

Okay like I've previously mentioned we decided to go with the photo and number combo for our table numbers. I just couldn't help myself but the tricky part was trying to figure out how to add the numbers on there. If you've been following my journey you must know that I'm a trial and error kind of girl. I first attempted to add the numbers using acrylic paint, then I moved on to playing with the paint program on my pc, followed by going to the store and looking for vinyl numbers, and after much frustration I went back and realized that the individuals before me that had done such a task used Adobe Photoshop. The problem was that I didn't and still don't own the program so to get around my little problem I downloaded the FREE 30 days trial.

So, here is what I did for those of you that don't have time to experiment with it but remember that I'm not a professional and I've only had the program for 3 days.

First go to file and open the file where your photo is kept in. Once you click on it the photo should be right in front of you.

Then go to "layer" and add a new layer. Click okay. Then go to the text icon (that's the one with the capital T on the left hand side). Click where you want to add the number at and play around with the font and size until you get what you want.



To add dimension to our numbers I clicked on the different "styles" on the right hand side. I used the one that made the numbers 3 dimensional.



Once I did that I went into "layer" section and in the "layer style" I added "drop shadow", "bevel and emboss", I changed the "color overlay", and I also changed the "gradient overlay". After all that is done this is my final product.


In my first attempt I made the numbers orange but thanks to my HBoO help I changed it.

Before:

After:
Here are our table numbers:



I added orange card stock that I had on hand and glued them to a white canvas I had cut down to fit the easels. The photos are 5x7 and I love how they look on the easels. I'm glad we went with the blue ink since it pops out and catches your attention.




Once I finished all the numbers I uploaded them to Costco Photo Center and for $5.99 I had all my table numbers. Oh and for those of you who are wondering I bought the easels at the Art Supply Warehouse for $1. 89 each.

So what do you think of my table numbers?