So, Whatever Happened To My Miss Boa?

Okay, so I dropped off the face of the earth for a number of reasons, perhaps leaving some of you wondering...what happened to Miss Boa?  Did everything turn out alright?  How was the wedding?!  What did her dress actually look like?!

Well the Miss Boa series shall continue, with bits of posting here and there in between my own wedding planning posts! :D

(It feels so cool to talk about my actual, real-life wedding!!! *squee!*)

So...
Where did we leave off?

Oh yeah, she pretty much planned her entire wedding in two weeks time!  o.0

Miss Boa = planning wizard

So what was next on her to-do list? --the bridesmaid dresses!

It all started out harmless enough, in order to find a dress we could wear later on, she asked her fellow 'maids what kind of dresses they like, told us what color she wanted, and to help with costs, we could pick dresses from department stores, given that the dress was in everyone's size :P

Well, this turned into a "EVERYONE WANTS TO BE INCLUDED!" message fest, and poor Miss Boa soon had posts pouring in on all sides, and the trouble was, everyone had their own style and ideas!

(Of course, my ideas where the best :D Just kidding!)

Not to mention that the wedding party had three...umm...height-challenged girls, (myself included XD) and two very tall women!  So body types were pretty much across the board here!

This went on for a few days until Miss Boa realized that she would just have to pick the damn dress herself!  Off to Victoria's Bridal Shoppe she went, (since a bridal shop can cater to all dress sizes,) found a lovely black and teal number, sent us a photo, and that was that!  The bridesmaids dress was chosen!

A sneak peak at my bridesmaid attire! :D

Now...I'm going to tell you something that I didn't even tell Miss Boa...

I got the dress a size smaller than I should have.

XP

I know!  This is such a bridesmaid no-no!  If you take anything from this post, remember this:

"DON'T get the bridesmaids dress a size smaller and say you'll lose the weight!"

Did I manage to lose the weight?
        Well yes, obviously, or that thing would have never zipped up! XD
Was it a stressful time losing the weight?
        Yeah...it was...
Could this situation have cause a major problem for the wonderful Miss Boa?
        Absolutely.

Even though I knew I had the time to lose the weight, and it was a fairly reasonable amount to lose, nothing too drastic, there are just so many things that can go wrong that it's still a slippery slope to go down.

But let me tell you, nothing is more motivating than knowing that come hell or high water you're going to have to come to a wedding in that dress!

Oh! Another thing to take with you:

"Think about the style of dress you are choosing, and if possible, try it on.  See for yourself how your bridesmaids will feel wearing the dress"

As much as I and the other bridesmaids love Miss Boa, this was a hard dress to wear!

As you can see it had an empire waist and a pencil skirt, and it was that combination that prevented us from sitting down properly!  At least we looked fabulous :D and we still were able to get through dinner! lol

The thing was no one realized this would be a problem until we were at the wedding, and it looks perfectly harmless in photos!

So take note brides-to-be!  And bring more comfort to bridesmaids everywhere!

How to Plan a Wedding in Two Weeks: Other Important Necessities

Miss Boa's big three, (venue, dress, and photographer,) were decided upon in a crazy short amount of time! This is one determined bride, lol.

But a few things were still needed...

1) Someone to marry them and make it official
2) Someone to get the party started at the reception
3) Something to eat for dessert
4) Something to invite the guests

The Officiant:

Finding an officiant in short notice was becoming similar to her photographer search, many were booked already and were simply out of the running by default! D:

One of the groomsmen mentioned a family member of his officiated weddings, Miss Boa had met him before and for a while was considering him to officiate, but she still had pending potentials at the time that she found on WeddingWire.

Finally, she received a reply that one of the potential officiants was free! She ending up going with D and J Ministry. They only book one wedding per day, and the ceremony and rehearsal cost $250.

Most important part of the wedding, (the actual marriage): check!

The DJ:

Miss Boa really lucked out on this one, because she used one of the best things in the wedding industry---a friendor!

A friendor is an awesome friend who does something wedding-related and is willing to help you out on your special day! Usually at a lovely, discounted friends-and-family-only price, lol.

After discussing the details with said friend from Blackrrock Sound Solutions, an outdoor ceremony and indoor reception, he suggested that two separate systems be set up: one for the indoor party and one for the outdoors, so Miss Boa's carefully selected ceremony music could be played and so the ceremony could be heard clearly by all guests!

Always a tragedy when the most beautiful vows are spoken yet no one can hear them!

Usually this would have cost quite a pretty penny, given that Blackrrock Sound would need double the amount of equipment to make the event work, not to mention an extra employee to help with setup... But Miss Boa was given the wonderful offer of half the price of the whole package! :D

And this, my friends, is why friendors ROCK!

(Miss Boa plans to tip her pal handsomely for his generosity and hard work. :) )

The Cake:

Miss Boa know where she was getting her cake long before getting engaged!

The sweet confections of Dessert Deli has enchanted many a female in the Western NY area, including me! *sighs*

Their cakes are luscious and decadent, not to mention just plain gorgeous:

Some tasty cakes being offered this month that I have yet to sink my teeth into... *drool*
Miss Boa's favorite has always been their red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting.

So naturally she ordered a red velvet tiered cake, with alternating ivory and dark brown tiers. (fillings to be decided later) It will be decorated with climbing branches dotted with delicate teal cherry blossoms.

I haven't seen the design, but it will probably look something like this, except in the proper colors:

Ooooo, ahhhh! So pretty. :)

And there's an extra bonus too! If you get your wedding cake through them, you get 10% off all future cakes and cookies for life. o.0 So much cake...so little time! XD

The Invitations:

Getting her invitations was simple enough, due to the fact that they were the only thing she needed to purchase to obtain her fabulous wedding planner! As long as she purchased the invitations through her, Miss Boa would receive her guidance and assistance.

And surprisingly, there was a wide selection of price points, she ending up spending only $2 per invite for a invite/envelope/RSVP suite in her wedding colors!

Affordable invitations without the agony of printing, cutting, pasting, stamping, etc. over 100+ pieces of paper?! Sounds like a good deal to me!

She does plan on saving money on calligraphy by printing out the envelope addresses on her own. Very smart, I approve. :)

She mentioned that the design was hard to describe, so I guess I'll have to wait until I help her with addressing the envelopes...

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So by the time the holidays ended, Miss Boa managed to scratch off the following wedding to-do items:

-Wedding planner
-Venue
-Ceremony Site
-Food
-Rentals (included with venue package)
-Wedding dress
-Photographer
-Officiant
-DJ
-Cake
-Invitations

Whew! Makes me tired just looking at it! XD

A big round of applause please to Miss Boa!

She has done something I know I could never do, haha.

How to Plan a Wedding in Two Weeks: The Photographer

You can't have all this wonderful eye candy of a venue and a dress without someone to capture it! A photographer was desperately in order!

The Photographer:

The search for a photographer started out bleak. (i.e. Expensive!)

Her planner wanted her to hire the best of the best, Ayres Photography.

And you have to admit, their photos are amazing...

All photos copyright of Ayres Photography.
But not their $4,000 price tag... o.0

To be fair, Miss Boa realized that the package her planner was suggesting to her was much more than she needed--12 hours of coverage and a (rather pricey) wedding album was not necessary! The engagement photo shoot, however, was going to stay!

Still, $3,000 for their 8 hour package wasn't exactly affordable either...so the search continued!

The pricing of Kaz Photography appealed to her instantly, and the photos were just as eye catching!

All photos copyright of Kaz Photography.
The Premier Plus package sounded perfect, 8 hours of wedding coverage, a DVD of all images with copyright release, $100 print credit, and an engagement shoot for $2,450!

Sadly, Kaz Photography was booked for the day of her wedding :( So Miss Boa went on to the next contenders...

Since I may oogle at wedding photos that show up on my facebook feed from time to time, :P , I suggested Tess Moran Photography because those photos really stuck out in my wedding-crazed mind!

Great photographs...

All photos copyright of Tess Moran Photography.
...with packages that start at $3,000. Darn it! Nevermind then I told her, keep looking!

While finding photographs of the reception rooms in Templeton Landing, Miss Boa discovered Knight Studio Photography.

She liked their style of photography:

All photos copyright of Knight Studio Photography.
Their pricing was alright starting at $2,500, however to include the engagement photo shoot she wanted, the price would have to rise to $2,850.

Plus this company was also booked for her wedding date. XP

Needless to say she was starting to worry a bit about booking a photographer in time!

Determined to find someone who would fit their budget and schedule, Miss Boa did a very, very through search, considering eight other various photographers, all starting at $3K for what she wanted.

Till she found Robin Fox Photography!

*cue heavens parting*

All photos copyright of Robin Fox Photography.
Photographs that take your breath away, 10 hours of wedding coverage, DVD of images with copyright, 5-10 prints, an engagement session AND a wedding album for a grand total of $2,150.

o.0

I almost didn't want to tell you about this photographer so maybe Robin Fox would still be up-and-coming (and thus still affordable,) by the time I get married! XD

Being available for Miss Boa's special day, it was settled! The photographer was booked!

There still were some big elements still missing from Miss Boa's wedding, find out which next post!

Weddingbee is IMPOSSIBLE to Catch Up To

EDIT: Okay so Weddingbee hasn't updated their "Miss Bloggers" list yet. XD It appears that there has been a Miss Boa Constrictor since the start of the month! (How strange, at the same time pretty much XD) I've updated the post to reflect that!

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As a random detour, I have been reading Weddingbee posts in chronological order in my free time to catch up with all the lovely Bees that I had abandoned last summer for my sanity and wedding-less peace of mind.

(What? You gotta read them in order!)

S-L-O-W-L-Y but surely I got to the end of August, and realized they already had a boa constrictor icon:

XD

That's what I get for coming up with a new icon before I knew what existed!

Good thing it's "Miss Boa" and not "Miss Boa Constrictor"! Plus I like my icon better, tee hee.

At least no bride has claimed that moniker yet, but still I apologize in advance to anyone who gets confused. :P

So recap:

Miss Boa = my awesome engaged friend
Miss Boa Constrictor = one very lucky duck who will someday be is blogging for Weddingbee

Got it? Good :)

Now let's hope there's no "Miss Boa" the fashion accessory in existence XD

How to Plan a Wedding in Two Weeks: The Dress

While searching for the all important venue, Miss Boa went to track down a very important wedding purchase--

The Dress:

Now, to start off, I have been sworn to secrecy on the dress. Sorry guys!

(But, I'll be sure to post the stunning beauty the day after the wedding! XD)

What I can tell you, is the process Miss Boa went through to find the dress in just two appointments!

She first went to Alfred Angelo to give herself a general idea of what she was looking for.
She quickly confirmed that she didn't like over-the-top, billowy ballgowns...

Pretty, but not for Miss Boa
...but became a bit confused about what she did like, and who can blame her?! There are a LOT of gorgeous dresses out there!

The very next day, she went to Victoria's Bridal Shoppe, which was highly recommended, and by the end of our appointment, we could see why!

The women there were very friendly and warm, and after a few dresses they understood what Miss Boa was looking for. They pulled something that was just perfect for her!

The fog of confusion was lifted and the dress was purchased!

Next item on the to-do list...the photographer!

How to Plan a Wedding in Two Weeks: The Venue

Miss Boa got engaged in December, and set her sights on a summer 2012 wedding. She knew this did not leave her with much time, but with finals and projects coming due, wedding planning was simply not in the cards yet.

But, once the last page of classwork was complete, she set her sights on getting this wedding show on the road! (And onto vendors' calendars!)

The first things she went to tackle:

1) The venue
2) The dress
3) The photographer

The Venue:

Miss Boa and her finance's search for a Buffalo, NY venue evolved as they conducted their search, at first they were going for a sophisticated reception locale and an outdoor ceremony.

They visited the Delaware Mansion first.

They didn't like it.

While the building was charming, the interior was not their style. They didn't like that the dance floor was separate from the banquet room, and the couple could only have a sweetheart table, so this diminished the fun atmosphere they were looking for.

Tie in the high price tag and no tasting of the food beforehand...this venue was out!

Next was the Niagara Country Club:

Miss Boa loved the outdoor location for the ceremony, the look of the reception rooms, and the stunning view of the grounds! The price was reasonable and the food was good, BUT...

...they needed a sponsor from the Country Club in order to have their wedding there.

Apparently, not knowing too many golfers, :p their search continued...

Next stop on their venue travels--Pearl Street Grill and Brewery:

This one stood out from the other choices due to its more modern atmosphere. Plus the building had tons of character, outdoor patio space, and really tasty food!

But by this point Miss Boa snagged herself a wedding planner for a steal! (Cost of invitations through the planner plus $50/hour for day-of coordination! o.0) And with some discussion she and her finance decided that one location for their ceremony and reception was best for them and their guests.

And Pearl Street simply did not have a large enough ceremony space.

Her planner suggested Templeton Landing for their next consideration:

The venue was on the waterfront of downtown Buffalo, and had fabulous views of the water and pier!

A large dance floor was the center of the room, bringing in a cozy and mingling type of environment. The decor was tasteful with gorgeous chandeliers and stone facade on the walls.

The ceremony would be done by the water on the neighboring grounds:

Not to mention it had a really cute outdoor patio:

Then include reasonable pricing and great food, and it was clear. Miss Boa declared that this was it! She would get married at Templeton Landing!

(Can you believe she viewed all these venues in a 1 week timespan?!?)

Now she would cross her fingers, pray for good weather, and move quickly on to the next step: the dress!

Introducing... Miss Boa!

Since I am a Weddingbee fanatic, I will like to refer to my engaged friend in the proper Weddingbee style, not only because it's crazy fun, :D but also because it helps protect her identity and all that jazz.

She will now be referred to as Miss Boa! (the snake not the feather accessory XD)
(Yes, Miss Boa, I know this is probably a cobra or something, but it was the cutest snake drawing I could find! XD)

Why Miss Boa? Well, Miss Boa is an animal lover, to say the least. She has studied animals extensively during her undergrad career, tended to exotic animals during her trip to Africa, and owns about a dozen different snakes! (Plus a couple rabbits, a lizard or two, a scorpion, a dog, and probably some other pets that I'm forgetting!)

So it made perfect sense that the ring her finace proposed to her with, (which was custom made by the way), was a coil of two snakes surrounding the diamond!!! And the heads are anatomically correct boa snake heads.

That way I could choose "Miss Boa" without insulting her other snakes! XD

Well, now that I have a proper way to reference her, this is the scoop on Miss Boa's wedding plans:

Basically, due to elderly parents, Miss Boa wants to get hitched this summer, leaving about 7 months to plan the whole shindig.

Now add graduate school to the mix and you have a crazy few months of wedding planning! o.0

Good thing she has a VERY enthusiastic (i.e. wedding-crazed) bridal party to help her plan out all the details!

One bridesmaid is getting married this summer as well, another bridesmaid just finished a previous bridesmaid experience, and the man of honor (yes, man of honor), has been studying up on weddings and how to be a proper right hand man for the bride! :D

And ME, (yea for being a bridesmaid!!!) just a crazy girl who is once again focused on weddings! XD

And so, armed with gathered wedding knowledge and advice pouring in from all fronts, Miss Boa prepares for wedding bliss!

ONWARD HO!