First Wedding Roadblock: Finding a Photographer

Things had been going so smoothly up to this point... 

Am I going to be able to find a nice reception site within budget? 
Yes.

Am I going to be able to find a nice officiant within budget? 
Yes. (More on that in a future blog...)

Am I going to be able to find a nice wedding dress within budget? 
Yes.

Am I going to be able to find a nice wedding cake within budget? 
Yes.

Now here's the kicker.

Am I going to be able to find a nice wedding photographer within budget?
Probably not. 

I've gone to A LOT of photography websites the past few days. Average starting price of wedding photo packages in southern California? $2,000.

Aaaaaarrrrrrggggg!!! That costs more than my reception!!!

I did manage to find one or two places that charge $100-$150 hourly for their wedding packages, which is perfect! Kinda what I was hoping to spend. But their photos look like something I could have taken. Some were not even entirely in focus. Nope. NOT gonna happen. 

I am far from giving up on my search, but I could really use some advice/recommendations right now.

Help me find the elusive inexpensive SoCal wedding photographer! They are a very rare breed!


**Louisa**

October 5, 2013

Yep. We've got ourselves a date. October 5th, 2013!

James and I had a great meeting this afternoon with Greg, the event coordinator at Tantalum Restaurant, so I feel 100% comfortable announcing it now. We couldn't be happier to be holding our reception here! This is a place we already frequent and love. 

I'll write more about some specifics of the reception in a future blog. But in the meanwhile, if you're curious about the place, check out their website!

I don't know why I liked the date October 5th so much, I just had a good feeling about it. So did James. And once that feeling took hold, I had to make sure this was our wedding date. 

I've since done some research about the date October 5, 2013 to see if anything significant happens on this date. If you're into astrology, you'll like this: the new moon enters libra on that date. A new moon is apparently one of the best times to start a marriage... I don't know why. That's just what I found on the internet. If someone wants to explain why it's good, please feel free! :)


**Louisa**

Say Yes to the Inexpensive Dress!

Shortly after I got engaged back in December, I started watching Say Yes to the Dress. I'm not a gal that ever fantasized about what my dream wedding would entail, so I needed to get a better idea of what style of dress I wanted...

Holy bankruptcy, Batman! $6,000 and up for a wedding dress?! Clearly I had nothing in common with these brides. I was going to have to do my research elsewhere.

Since then I've consulted my mom, my maid of honor, friends and acquaintances, and of course my good pal the internet. I threw a bit of creativity in the mix and bam! I was starting to see some beautiful dresses at a price I could live with. 

I don't want to get into the specifics of what style I'm looking for. I want that to be a surprise for everyone (especially for my fiance, in case he reads my blog)! But I do want to talk about some ideas we came up with for finding an amazing dress that's under $500.

#1 - David's Bridal

This was an obvious choice. About 2/3 of the gowns here are priced at $500 and under.

#2 - Shop the bridesmaid/special occasion section

I found a couple of shops during my web search that had wedding dresses I loved, but they were all out of price range. Well, if I like their wedding dresses, wouldn't they have other styles I'd like too?... Ding ding ding! I found a bunch of dresses in the bridesmaid section of these websites that were every bit as pretty, could be ordered in white, and cost about half as much as a "wedding" dress. Score!

#3 - Shop a regular clothing store

This was my maid of honor Sophie's idea. I feel stupid for not thinking of it first! It's spring, so shops are getting in a lot of white right now. It can't hurt to check these places out!

#4 - Shop the suburbs

As one might expect, dresses in LA and Orange County cost more than you'd find in other places. Even though the styles are exactly the same. My mom did me a favor and scoped out Enid Bridal Shop in my hometown of Enid, Oklahoma. And sure enough, she was finding designer gowns at about $300. So if I haven't had any luck out here in California by late June, I will take a day of my planned vacation back to Oklahoma in July and do some shopping. Plus, that means my mom would actually get to go dress shopping with me. I know that would make her happy. :)

If anyone's got more ideas for finding great wedding dresses at awesome prices, please let me know! I had a few friends recommend renting a wedding dress, something I didn't even know you could do! And though I've decided I definitely want to own my wedding dress, I'm glad my friends told me about it! It's a really good idea for someone wanting to wear a designer gown, but doesn't have the budget for it. 

A woman after my own heart, Kristen Wiig knows a good deal!

Sophie and I are planning to make our first wedding dress outing by the end of this month. I'm nervous, but it's a good nervous! I've done my homework so I have a good feeling that my dreams of finding the perfect dress are well within reach!

**Louisa**

I know where I'm getting my wedding cake!

But first, a heads up --

This past week James and I have been talking pretty seriously with one of the locations I wrote about and we've decided to move forward and use them for our reception! We also have a date picked out, but I don't want to make any announcements until the paperwork is signed and everything is official. We have arranged a meeting with the event coordinators this weekend.

So you'll just have to wait until then... ;)

In the meanwhile, I've started shopping around for other wedding necessities. Cakes being one of them. A quick google search and the visiting of a couple websites later and my jaw was on the floor. Yes, these cakes are beautiful, and I'm sure they taste delicious, but you want me to pay THOUSANDS of dollars?! For a cake?!?!

But being the stubborn, bargain loving person that I am, my panic didn't last for long. I can win this battle. Where's the place I always go when everyone else's prices seem ridiculous?

That's right, Costco to the rescue!

I went back to google and searched for "costco bakery" and found a pic of their specialty cake order form:

Yes, you're allowed to do a double take. I did the same thing. That's a giant sheet cake for 50 people and it costs $16.99. SIXTEEN DOLLARS. 

*commence happy dance*

Sure, a Costco cake won't be as pretty as other cakes. But it will be every bit as delicious. Trust me, I've done the leg work. I've had my fair share of cake samples walking down their bakery aisle.

We can always spruce it up ourselves later. Maybe find a fun cake topper or action figures we can place on top...

Then again, our wedding doesn't happen til much later this year. Maybe we'll find a happy middle ground by then -- a baker that makes cakes that are pretty AND somewhat reasonably priced.

But in the meanwhile -- Costco, I love you.


**Louisa**

April Update!

The second half of March is always a busy time for James and me. Both of our birthdays and St. Patty's Day festivities took center stage while wedding planning took a back seat. So there really isn't a whole lot to update everybody on right now. There is still no date and still no location nailed down. But I did want to take a second and tell everybody about a couple other reception venues we're looking into.

These are places I'm considering primarily because of their awesome views. We are having our ceremony on the beach, why not try to continue a beachy theme into our reception? True, views like this usually come at a price, but hey -- it doesn't hurt to check! And if these places are out of our price range, no biggie! At least we'll know!

Tantalum Restaurant

This is the place I mentioned at the end of the last blog. It's a restaurant James and I already frequent and love with a beautiful view of Alamitos Bay here in Long Beach. Plus, the interior of the restaurant is gorgeous as is. Meaning I won't have to arrange any wedding decorations!

Spark Woodfire Grill

I've never been here, but it kept popping up in search results and the reviews are great! It's located on Main Street Huntington Beach and overlooks the Pacific Ocean. Again, little decoration would be required since the restaurant is already gorgeous. I've started talking with the events manager here and it sounds like they have plenty of openings in September and October. So off to a good start!

That's all I've got for now! I'll let everyone know what I find out!

**Louisa**