With 26 event rooms and 53,241 square feet of event space, Hotel Midtown is an ideal choice for weddings, celebrations and more. This vibrant, modern hotel venue is located just steps away from world-class shopping, dining and nightlife in one of Atlanta’s most well-known neighborhoods. Paired with stunning guest rooms and amenities, you’re sure to enjoy your experience!
As a little girl, I would spend hours lining my stuffed animals up along my bedroom floor to witness the vows between Barbie and Ken. I dressed up as a bride for multiple Halloweens and quickly fell in love with fairy tales and all things related to “Happily Ever After”. Years before I met my now-husband, I began to plan my dream wedding as I could not wait to experience my own personal fairy tale with my very own prince charming. I would cut images out from piles and piles of bridal magazines in an attempt to piece together my future perfect day.
After the initial shock of my proposal began to wear off and I blissfully floated back down to reality, I quickly began to wonder what dress I would wear. I recalled all of the bridal fashion that had been accumulating in my mind for over a decade and I rapidly became flushed with panic. This would be the dress of all dresses and one that I wanted to remember as nothing less than perfection. All brides-to-be are faced with the decision of which dress to choose, and while this may seem like a monumental task, there are several ways to lessen any anxiety that accompanies this process. Rest assured, you will be armed with the knowledge and confidence necessary to decide on the dress of your dreams without second-guessing yourself along the way.
There is no sense in falling in love with a gown that is outside of your budget. By firmly setting a budget prior to looking at dresses, you are ensuring that you will be able to fall in love with, and afford, your dream dress. It is important to keep in mind the cost of any alterations that might be necessary
in order for your dress to fit properly. I was able to find a reasonably priced gown for my wedding, but the alterations needed for it to actually fit ended up costing well over half of the initial dress price. What started as a steal quickly turned pricey. While there is absolutely no harm in shopping around for alterations, make sure that whomever you choose is reputable and guarantees his or her work. While there may be less expensive alteration options available, having your dream dress altered incorrectly could quickly turn into a nightmare.
When setting your wedding dress budget, also keep in mind what accessories or details will be necessary in order to make your dream a reality. Does your vision include shoes that will cost double the price of your dress itself? Will your gown only look complete with the inclusion of added detailing? Have you thought about how much the veil you have dreamt about since you were a little girl actually costs now that it’s time to say “I do?” By doing so, you will help define your budget, and most importantly, find a final look that fits within your allotted budget.
Have you always dreamed of walking down the aisle looking like a princess in a gown that would make Cinderella envious? Or are you seeking a simple yet elegant look? Are you opting out of a dress completely and on the hunt for a modern pantsuit? Deciding what look you would like to convey on your wedding day will help weed out a handful of cumbersome options and unnecessary shopping related stress. In your hands, you are currently holding a wealth of information when it comes to all things weddings; flip through these pages and see if any gowns stand out to you. Utilize social media as a tool in order to gain inspiration from other brides who have paved the way before you. Reference all of these resources prior to stepping inside a bridal boutique to avoid feeling overwhelmed. In the same way, decide what type of style, fabrics, and details you’d like to avoid. Maybe you love the long sleeve look but also know you will not be able to wear those long sleeves because your wedding is in July – these details are great to make note of as well. Once an overall image is decided upon, you can use your new-found inspiration to hit the ground running in the hunt for your dream dress.
If one thing can be learned from years of watching wedding shows on television, it’s that less is sometimes more. This certainly rings true when it is time for you to decide who to bring with you dress shopping. While the idea of having a large group of your closest friends and family with you may sound picturesque, a large group can often make the already challenging decision that much more difficult,
as more people often means more input. Many brides opt for bringing between two and four people with them shopping (often their mother, grandmother, sister(s), and maid of honor). Depending on how many people are able to join, extending an invitation to your future mother-in-law is often well-received and appreciated. No matter who you choose to bring with you, one thing to always keep in mind is that this is the dress you will be wearing. It is your wedding and you are the one who needs to be in love with your final decision. While it is oftentimes easier said than done, try not to let the opinion of others detour you from following your heart. Looking back on your wedding photographs with regret over not picking the gown you wanted would truly be a shame.
Falling in love with a dress while standing in a fitting room is one thing, but, you also need to make sure that you will be able to enjoy yourself for the entirety of your wedding celebration. I tried on one dress in particular that was stunning, I truly thought that I had found The One. However, upon trying to sit down I quickly realized that I could hardly breathe and enjoying our wedding cupcakes would have been nearly impossible. Think about your wedding and find a dress that fits accordingly. Are you planning on dancing until your venue turns the lights off? Perhaps a gown with yards upon yards of additional fabric weighing you down is a bad idea. Or are you saying “I do!” on the beach? Seek out a dress that is lightweight and airy. A great alternative is to choose two dresses. One for the ceremony and one for the reception. It’s your celebration, you can change gowns if you want to…or not! With thousands of options available, finding a dress (or dresses) that make you feel beautiful, while still enjoying your wedding day festivities is a must and absolutely possible.
Give yourself plenty of time to find your gown. After all, it took you until this moment to find The One to marry, why settle for a dress that isn’t perfection? We suggest giving yourself at least ten months prior to your wedding to purchase a dress. By doing so, you ensure ample time for your gown to arrive and schedule any necessary alterations in order to make your dream dress a reality. Allow yourself the opportunity to appreciate each new chapter that accompanies this special time prior to your wedding. Enjoy the celebratory showers and parties that are thrown in your honor and soak up the love that will surround you during your engagement. Try not to let the anxiety of finding a gown overshadow these joyous moments. With a minimum of ten months, you ensure that you have given yourself enough time to find the perfect dress without experiencing buyer’s remorse that often goes along with rushing a purchase.
For most of us, our wedding day will be our most photographed day. With that in mind, it’s of the utmost importance that you are in love with the way you look in your dress. Wedding gowns come in a variety of materials, cuts, colors, sizes, and designs for a reason; no two brides are exactly alike. What might appear off-putting on the hanger may fit like a dream once you try it on. Think of finding a dress like its very own chapter in your wedding book. Go into this chapter with an open mind and an open heart to ensure that you are giving yourself every opportunity to fall in love. It is also advised to purchase a dress that fits your current figure and not a goal that you have set for yourself. While many
couples like to use their wedding as motivation to revamp their eating and exercise habits, there is no reason to put extra pressure on yourself to squeeze into a dress that is two sizes too small. Planning a wedding can be stressful enough, why add the stress of weight loss into the mix? Never let your beauty be defined by a number. Tags are sewn into the inside of our garments for a reason, so no one else needs to know.
The glow that radiates from a bride on her wedding day has nothing to do with the price of the gown, the designer, the size and style, or even how long it took to decide on the dress. The reason brides are so beautiful on their wedding day stems from the confidence they carry as they walk down the aisle. Confidence in your dress decision brings you one step closer to your “Happily Ever After”.
If there’s any one wedding planning moment made iconic by pop culture, it’s saying yes to your wedding dress. And whether you have been dreaming about your perfect bridal gown since the good ol’ days of middle school, or are diving into the bridal boutique deep end totally blind, shopping for the dress you’ll wear on what’s arguably the most photographed day of your life comes with a fair amount of pressure and vulnerability. Especially if you’re not used to seamstresses seeing you in your underwear.
As it turns out, I learned a lot about myself while shopping for my wedding dress. Or, at the very least, I had some long-held suspicions about myself confirmed, once and for all. And if you can learn anything from my mistakes, successes, and general confusion, then it’s definitely worth sharing every moment of my self-revelation. Here are five things I learned about myself while shopping for my wedding dress.
In the year leading up to getting engaged and shopping for my wedding dress, I was living in a 600-square foot studio off Chicago’s Belmont Red Line stop, with a television only slightly bigger than the iPhone X and no cable. Reality television shows dedicated to bridal fashion were not a part of my regularly scheduled programming. I am also the kind of gal who tends to know my exact size in everything, in the approximately three clothing stores that supply my entire wardrobe, and therefore almost never try anything on before buying it. As such, prior to wedding dress shopping, it was entirely lost on me that I would be expected to take off the clothing I had arrived in and adorn myself in massive amounts of white lace, satin, and organza. I expected to sit, maybe sip champagne, and point at things while some fairy god-seamstress magically estimated my exact dimensions by glancing at me out of the corner of her eye. Then, in 6 to 12 weeks, I’d return and pick up my perfectly-tailored dress, which I would slip into for the first time on the morning of my wedding. For anyone with similarly misguided expectations, this is precisely not how it works.
If there were ever a day to sacrifice comfort for fashion, I imagined my wedding day would be it. Then I discovered: not so much. With minimal exception, the wedding dresses I tried on could have taken me down the aisle and then right back home to bed. As it turns out, I gravitated towards wedding dresses that shared a surprising number of qualities with my favorite comforter. Don’t underestimate the power of a super comfortable wedding dress — and, believe it or not, you do not have to sacrifice style for comfort. Seriously, I promise! Don’t forget that you’re going to be spending a really long time (think: sun up to sun down) in your dress. Dancing, eating, hugging endless numbers of people, taking hundreds of beautiful photographs. You will want to be comfortable.
As oblivious as I was to the actual logistics of wedding dress shopping, there was one cliché that was well ingrained in my mind and, I’m sure, is equally-ingrained in the mind of every wedding-planning bride. When you find THE ONE (the one dress, that is) you will cry. Whether that crying looks like some tastefully tear-filled eye ducts or full-on sobbing into your tulle, crying is to be expected. If you do not cry, you must not have found THE ONE. That was simply not true for me. This narrative lasted for the exact amount of time it took to try on a single dress. Standing in front of the full-length mirror, I thought: “Hey, I actually look good! Let’s do this again!” I scampered back to my dressing room to try on a second dress. Upon returning to the full-length mirror, I found myself thinking: “Hey, that’s kind of flattering! Maybe this isn’t so bad after all.” Upon evaluating the third dress: “Huh. I look pretty good. Again, so, fourth dress, then?” while beginning to wonder how long this was all going to go on. Without a tear in sight, I settled on the fifth dress, because that was not only the exact number of dresses I had the patience to try on, but also because five had been my grandfather’s lucky number and I liked him. The moral of this story is, whether you try on two dresses or two hundred, love them all or struggle to find one that speaks directly to your bridal spirit, if you do not cry, do not despair. Knowing you have found the dress for you is not determined by how many tears you cry, but by how rockin’ you look in it. And believe me: you’re rockin’.
Unlike my own tear-free eyeballs, the three people I invited to watch me parade around in white organza all afternoon were beside themselves. From subtle sniffles to mascara rivers, each of the dresses I tried on was met with the same level of awe, enthusiasm, and tears. Now, don’t get me wrong, having people stare at you and tell you you’re so beautiful they are inspired to cry is enormously flattering. It should probably happen more often than it does in a woman’s lifetime. But it in no way gave me any indication whether one perfectly great-looking dress was any better than the next perfectly great looking dress. If you anticipate you’ll be an indecisive bride, make sure you bring at least one level-headed gal pal along for concrete feedback.
Anyone who has never spent much time around wedding dresses before might be shocked to know how much a little lace, tulle, and bedazzlement can actually weigh. The answer is somewhere between the weight of a small dog and that of the first car you bought after getting your driver’s license. If you’ve been living off kale and lemon water for the last six months, under the mistaken assumption that there’s one perfect dress size all brides must meet before walking down the aisle, you might find yourself weakened and staggering under the weight of your dream dress instead. While we’re surrounded by all kinds of stories about wedding day dieting, my number one piece of advice to every dress seeking bride is to throw out those diet books and do whatever makes you feel your strongest, your happiest, your healthiest, and your most beautiful – inside and out. But honestly, adding a little pre-wedding strength training never hurt anyone.
Your bridal bouquet is the icing on the cake—it completes your wedding day look with an extra bit of pretty! Not sure where to start? Talk to your florist about your vision. Let them know what your wedding dress looks like, what the bridal party is wearing, where you’re getting married, etc. If you’re having an outdoor wedding in the middle of summer, some flowers will hold up better in the heat than others. If you’re sticking to a tight budget, in-season flowers are usually less expensive. Trust the pros—they’ll point you in the right direction and help bring your vision to life!
From beachy and boho, to romantic and elegant, these ten beautiful bridal bouquets created by Florida florists fit just about any style. Get ready to be inspired!
Viewing their beloved pets as members of the family, many couples choose to include their furry friends in their wedding day. We’ve seen it all – from ring bearer pups to mini brides! It’s the perfect way to personalized your wedding and include everyone that’s most important to you.
In addition to pets, some brides even snagged beautiful photos with animals on their venue’s property. Farms and zoos are the best place for these photo ops, but we also love the Hemingway House’s resident cat!
Here are a bunch of unique and adorable ways couples have included pets and other animals in their wedding days.
With sunny skies, a tropical breeze, and temperatures in the mid-80s year-round, it’s no wonder the slogan of Aruba is “One Happy Island.” It’s a perfect Caribbean destination for the most romantic weddings and honeymoons in every season: consistent weather, white sand beaches and Instagram-worthy turquoise waters.
Photo by Northern Art Photography
Just across Lake Michigan, a not-so-far-away destination offers stunning, picturesque scenery with the nation’s longest freshwater coastline, wildlife refuges and over 100 state parks. Combined with its rich automotive and arts history, Michigan is an ideal place for a romantic getaway, whether it’s a honeymoon, or everything from the bachelor party to the reception.
There are so many things to take into consideration when you’re planning a wedding. Sometimes, it’s tough to know where to start. First, it’s important to set a budget and stick to it. Keep in mind which services you want to splurge on and which you want to save on. Make a list of what’s most important to you and go from there. (more…)
