Update on my dilemma. After a lot of thought, I decided to go on the venue tour, and I’m so glad I did. My D talked to her future in-laws beforehand and asked for their help. They were simply wonderful. They controlled the conversation and kept everything upbeat, positive and moving along. My ex didn’t attend the dinner, and he was uncharacteristically subdued at the venue. After all my angst, it ended up being fine. I’m grateful to my future in-laws!
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I’m so glad that the ex didn’t mar your wonderful event @melvin123 ! Also so glad you have wonderful in-laws—always nice to have great new people to connect with!
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I really like 1, and #2 is next favorite.
@melvin123, what a relief! Hopefully this dynamic will continue.
@ClassicMom98 In terms of the dresses, I agree with those that said your arms/shoulders/back are so beautifully toned which makes me choose #2. Since you don’t believe you want black, I’d continue to look. While it only comes in navy and black, the first link BunsenBurner linked above from Nordstrom is a similar style and would be great too.
I haven’t been around in awhile but am trying to refocus some time to include being on CC. My second daughter is getting married abroad in September. I have my dress for her Garden Formal wedding and am looking for my ‘night before’ Welcome Dinner dress currently. Oldest daughter was married May '24 in San Francisco. It’s a fun time in our family. Only relatively minor source of frustration at the moment is the number of invitations being returned to sender.
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Welcome back!
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Conference call w/ S and FDIL. She’s gonna lose her mind, lol. Wanted to know the type of cars family would be coming in, so she knew who to assign various things that have to be packed after the reception. As in, color coding the bases of the floral arrangements to the color of cars, so it would be easier for assigned people to check that they have the right things. I did not laugh out loud, give me credit 
I said only , well, you will not even be there so I expect a group of adults can manage to get everything put someplace with someone, and then I saw her face and said “Oh no, no, no, no…you are not staying to clean up your own reception, you’ll be tired and wired” S looks at her and says
“I told you it was a terrible idea, and now both moms agree with me”
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I feel sorry that there is so much pressure put on engaged couples, either through the expectation of others, or by the couple putting pressure on themselves since they think that they have to adhere to some unrealistic standard. (Definitely the latter in your case!). I wish we went back to holding pot-lucks in the local community center, so people could just kick back & relax. I’m probably projecting here, but when the costs are so high, it really raises the stakes for the couple to try to have everything perfect.
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I have sometimes had the same thought.
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It’s the social media ideas in their heads – they see an idea, or a photo, and decide it will be fun and the next thing you know they’ve got 50 cute ideas and no time to execute them.
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I know, lots of cute ideas! I think my D is going to be practical about all of this. The forerunner for her venue options is a place that is a well oiled machine. Her thought is that if she runs out of time the place is known for doing a great job, so everyone will have a great time even if there’s nothing particularly “special” about it. Oh, and added bonus if she goes to this venue, you provide your own cake! No $3,000 cake for us! What a relief! Lol. (Assuming she chooses this one).
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My wedding had the one thing I couldn’t predict or control … my dad had a horrendous kidney stone attack that began the night before & lasted throughout the wedding and reception. He tried really hard to enjoy the day, but the pictures don’t lie. The pain shows in his eyes in every single photo. But if you asked him about his D’s wedding, he always talked about what a wonderful day it was.
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My D’s wedding is one month from today! She lives in London (rest of our family is in the US) so we’ll all be traveling there.
H & I moved a month ago, so we’ve been very busy with that, along with both working full time. Need to figure out where the dogs will be while we’re away.
I’m also wondering if it would be useful to have a make-up consultation here at a place like Ulta, taking notes so I can re-create it myself. My D is having a professional do her hair and make-up.
For my S’s wedding I got a blowout and had my make-up done at Ulta, and it looked very nice. I really don’t want to spend a ton of $, we already are paying $$$ to fly there and we have had a lot of expenses with our recent move.
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Have you run this by your DD? I would think that what was fine for your son’s wedding would be fine for hers.
DD1/bridesmaids had a professional for hair/make-up, but I didn’t need to do so and was not even asked. Both of the mothers looked fine (MOB, MOG).
We sort of discussed it - the person she’s using is quite expensive, and I don’t want to spend hundreds of dollars on this.
She is not having bridesmaids.
I wear makeup every day and am not a novice, so feel like I can look nice enough. I have one of those dryer/volumizer things that can achieve similar results as a blowout, but mine won’t work in the UK because of the difference in voltage, but she said I can borrow hers. Her hair is naturally curly and she’s not straightening it for the wedding.
But I have noticed the few times I’ve had my makeup done professionally it looks better in photos, so that’s what I’m hoping to achieve but in a DIY manner. I’ve been experimenting with different products and taking selfies to see how it looks.
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I hate selfies. They are somewhat distorted, close up mirror images. Have your phone on auto and take a picture from the same distance as a photographer would.
I wear makeup once in a blue moon, so definitely not a pro! Did my own for kids weddings and was worried I’d look awful. I looked great in photos! My main issues with professional make up was logistics: makeup done in a place far from the venue, and my dress would have caused issues as it was not a step in dress to put on.
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In your case perhaps start with a consultation and see if you can recreate it in a manner you are happy with. Instead of selfies, ask someone to snap photos that aren’t such close-ups.
And maybe get an adaptor/converter and bring the hair dryer you are comfortable using.
In any event - enjoy!!
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Oh my, who put a cake next to my name? I LOVE it!
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Anniversary of joining CC - congratulations!
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Silly me! I thought it was because I kept complaining about the cost of wedding cake, so one of you gave me an emoji “nickname”. That was a fun thought.
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The last people in our family to be married “simply” would have been my kids great great grandparents. My grandparents were married in a country club. My parents and I in a hotel. We have no family history of a community center type wedding so I would never expect that from my kids.
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