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!

Guess Whatttttt...

:D :D :D

The proposal wasn't exactly like one of my favs below (woot woot, Ctrl-Alt-Del back in the old days), but it did have its geeky charms :)

So no more stalling!

Let the wedding blogging commence!

(Thank you lovely readers for putting up with my moody breaks in blogging, I <3 you all!)

For All The Ladies-In-Waiting: A Reprise

*We interrupt this wedding planning extravaganza to bring you this heartfelt message*

As I have posted before, I have been personally struggling with my own relationship for quite some time now, feeling the frustrations many a hopeful girlfriend has felt, waiting for the love of their lives to tell them they are their one-and-only as well.

With such a prolonged troubled state, I wasn't sure if everything was going to go alright, and it looked like for a while my sanity and patience would run out before my boyfriend would be given the chance to feel comfortable proposing.

Well on the millionth night I was thinking about the matter, lying awake in bed, I was yearning for the relationship we once had a couple years ago, happy, relaxed, wandering our way through college...

I thought about the possible mistake of moving in with him, thinking that it gave me so much stress because I thought it was such a BIG DEAL. Because in a sense, yes, it was a BIG DEAL, but not as much as I made it out to be.

Suddenly I felt pressures to be a "wife", a strong and put-together woman that would be worth marrying, partly because I thought that was the logical progression of things, partly in order to try to persuade him to see that proposing "made sense" and was the proper path for us.

The problem is, I was more of a mess at that time than I have EVER been, and failure to live up to my high standards was everywhere. As time went on and no ring came, I felt more uneasy about trying to fill a wife's shoes without any promise that I would ever truly be one.

Basically I couldn't relax around him anymore, which lead to daily stress and tension between us, which I have no idea how he put with...

But suddenly a thought came to me..."Why does it have to be husband and wife living together? Why can't he just be my roommate that happens to be my boyfriend?"

*pause*

My heartrate lowered, my mind stopped racing, and a large weight was lifted from my shoulders.


I realized I missed just being his girlfriend.


It all seemed so easy now, I thought "I can do this, I was good at the girlfriend thing." XD And now, even though it will still take time to truly be comfortable and happy again, I can enjoy my boyfriend more and more instead of fearing his rejection 24/7. And things are good.

I don't know if I'll have him as a husband, but I'm 100% sure I have his heart 100% as a boyfriend.

I figure all the stress that it has caused me has made me WANT to wait for marriage, made me realize I am more scared about the responsibilities of being a wife than I thought, and made me realize I do trust my boyfriend's judgement for when a "right" time would be. (He's pretty smart, he'll figure it out. :) )

Will the fears of measuring up to "wife standards" still be with me if he proposes? Yes.

But if one day he thinks I can do it, then I can give it a try. <3

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...

---

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!