Nothing about college (Wedding Dresses)

Parent Cafe
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<p>Happy news for the mother-of-the-bride! :slight_smile: Congrats! </p>

<p>Here’s a thought
buy her the dress she wanted in the first place. For a bride, probably THE most important element of the wedding is her dress. If you want a smooth, lovely wedding, take advantage of this opportunity (and others) to simplify the decisions. I feel so sorry for brides who know what they want, but get second-guessed at every turn. The nicest thing you can do for your D, imho, is to support her choices and not make her crazy with ten thousand other choices. She will have exams and papers weighing her down, so she’ll have a lot on her mind. If the price is doable, then buy the dress, get that decision out of the way, and budget in other areas of the wedding.</p>

<p>Have fun selecting your own wedding outfit! And, then there are the flowers, and the cake, and what the groom will wear
it will be quite wonderful.</p>

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<p>Congrats!! Isn’t it great that the CC crowd can so easily switch from college consulting to bridal consulting? </p>

<p>Near Swarthmore, she can find Suky Rosan
<a href=“http://www.sukyrosan.com%5B/url%5D”>www.sukyrosan.com</a> on the Main Line in Ardmore, PA. Suky has beautiful gowns
mostly high end
but also has amazing sales. If she knows where Rosemont College is, it’s near there
in a shopping area called Suburban Square. It’s THE hot place to buy bridgal gowns in the Philadelphia area. </p>

<p>I think $1,500 is very reasonable.</p>

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<p>SBmom, I like your style! SBmom & Sluggbugg - Wedding Planners Who Like to Cut the Crap and Delegate. Has a nice ring to it, don’t you think? :p</p>

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<p>This reminds me: Have you all seen “Father of the Bride” with Steve Martin? It’s just the funniest movie!! I love it.</p>

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<p>When I started this thread “Dear Friends” I said the right thing! Y’all are great! This has been so much fun. </p>

<p>I have now had about 20 hours to take in what my daughter would like, and have shared the websites with her. She is taking the little piece of time she has before running off to a Master’s exam study session to tell me that she REALLY likes this Beautiful Dress, and that she would gladly sacrifice other aspects of the wedding to wear it. I guess I am thinking now along the same lines as Sluggbugg, that in light of all the life issues she is facing, this is a relatively simple thing, even if not as frugal as I did it myself. (For my first wedding I bought a Gunny Sax dress for thirty bucks and with lots of creative alterations made it look REAL . . .for my second and LAST wedding :), my simple dress was also “something old”. ) I guess I shall follow the KISS rule (ha ha)and be grateful she found something she likes in one day’s time! This is really a feat for her as she is, though 5’ 3", sorta built like a Barbie Doll and has some difficulty finding things to suit. </p>

<p>So, we can move on to the realm of FOOD. Any of you Philly folks know of good and frugal caterers?? :slight_smile: Momsdream? So glad to have something to take my mind off college, if only momentarily.</p>

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<p>Momsdream,</p>

<p>Yes, I have seen that movie . . . .loved it!</p>

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<p>So let her get the beautiful dress then. A bride should be glowing from having her perfect dream wedding, and no regrets after. If she loves the dress, nothing else matters, she will be on cloud 9.</p>

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<p>Achat, yes the groom is a Swattie, too. They want to have the reception in Lang, the music building, where there is a really nice multi-level lobby area, with dark elegant hard wood. They both were music majors, so Lang is full of magic already.</p>

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<p>Sluggbugg and SBmom in business. Has a lot of great potential! Love the slogan too . . .LOL!!</p>

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<p>Wow, MomOfThree, that’s a great idea, having it in Lang
hmm
I think I’ll remember that for when my son gets married! Congratulations to your son-in-law as well. Lots of Swat memories to hold onto then! :)</p>

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<p>momofthree-</p>

<p>What fun!</p>

<p>Be careful about looking for frugal caterers when planning an “off site” reception. In the case of off site venues, the caterer has much more responsibility than he/she would at a banquet facility. </p>

<p>Unless you hire a wedding planner, your caterer will serve much of that role. A great caterer can do the job of a planner, in most cases.</p>

<p>Remember that your caterer might handle linens, seating arrangements/floor plans, table decorating, flowers, etc. </p>

<p>In the Philadelphia area, the big guy for off-premise events is <a href=“http://www.faircatering.com%5B/url%5D”>www.faircatering.com</a>. This caterer has license for the museums, horticultural centers, etc. VERY well regarded. There are others that are just as well reagarded. I use a caterer I’ve known for many years
Men at Work Catering. Most of my friends also use them. I think their prices are average
not frugal. </p>

<p>If you are having the reception at Swat, ask them if they have a list of approved caterers. You may not be able to use whomever you want. Either way, they can also recommend caterers. </p>

<p>Money saving tip: You can usually save lots of money by buying your own liquor and paying your caterer to supply bartenders to serve it. Not all of them will let you do this. Ask up front.</p>

<p>IMHO, the best florist is Robertson’s. I can spot their work/flowers in a crowd. Their flowers just seems fresher and more vibrant than anyone else’s. They’re on the more expensive side. But, WELL worth it!!! <a href=“http://robertsonsflowers.com/[/url]”>http://robertsonsflowers.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>A fun and popular idea for this area is to us ethe Philadelphia Trolley Works to transport the wedding party to and from the church in their fleet of Victorian trolleys. <a href=“http://www.phillytour.com/[/url]”>http://www.phillytour.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>For bands, I like Sid Miller. </p>

<p>How many guests do you think you’ll host?</p>

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<p>Momsdream,</p>

<p>Thanks so much for your help. I had a feeling you would be in the know. Think there will be about 125 to 130 guests, about a third of which will be family (there are a bunch of us.) I like the idea of supplying the alcohol ourselves, am thinking we will have wines and champagne rather than open bar, so we would not need a bartender. Would that we a problem for a caterer?</p>

<p>Thanks again!</p>

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<p>Better get this DVD, MO3! :D</p>

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<p>SluggBugg LOL!!!</p>

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<p>Loved this one, too. :)</p>

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<p>sluggbugg- </p>

<p>For anyone in the Comcast cable area, Father of the Bride is now on “On Demand”. I watched part of it last week. I think it’s a free movie for Cinemax subscribers.</p>

<p>Momofthree, I don’t know how a caterer would react to you having wine and champagne that isn’t served by their bartenders. Really, the bartenders shouldn’t be much
maybe $150 ea. The do well in tips. Are you having dancing? If so, you should have a bartender. If you are only having dinner, you can just let the servers fill glasses at the tables. </p>

<p>I have a nice idea that I like to pass on to people planning weddings Re: Favors. You might consider donating money to a charity in the name of all of your gusts, and leaving a scroll at each plac explaining that in lieu of favors, a donation has been made to “Whatever Charity” in the name of your guests. The the bridge and groom can explain why they chose this charity at the bottom of the scroll. My H and I did this and our reception room buzzed for some time after these scrolls were opened. People called after the wedding to comment on how nice it was. </p>

<p>If you decide to give away bottles of something - try Chadds Ford winery. They are local and their wines are very good. Swat is sure to have a connection. </p>

<p>Can’t wait to hear more about what you’ve got planned Momofthree!Keep sharing with us.</p>

<p>I’m off to look for crawfish
gumbo cravings:)</p>

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<p>Momofthree:</p>

<p>Saw this in the paper today
</p>

<p>Veka Bridal Couture</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.vekacc.com/[/url]”>http://www.vekacc.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Is having their semi-annual sample sale. Gowns Normally at $2500-4000 are 50-75% off. Sample sizes range from 6-10. ALso on sale are bridal accessories. By appointment only</p>

<p>March 17-19: Wed-Fr 12pm-6pm Sat 11 am-5 pm</p>

<p>284 MUlberry Street (between Prince and Houston)</p>

<p>(212)925-9044</p>

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<p>Sybbie,</p>

<p>Thanks so much! This looks very intriguing. I’ll copy your post and send to D tonight! We have run into a little opposition on the part of her real dad, who will be footing half the bill, so she may not be able to get the BD of her choice, unless she finds it on sale somewhere. So, your help is very timely!</p>

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<p>At my wedding, my H (of 19 years) had several friends who had no idea what to get us
so they got us wine!! It was from a local vineyard and they had our names put on the label.-.it was great!!! We worked out a really cheap corkage fee so it was worth it. People took the empty bottles home as keepsakes, the gift kept our costs down and it was fun on the tables
another friends gift was taking tons of pictures at the ceremony and the wedding and giving us the film
we developed it ourselves and they were great. As well, I wouldn’t go crazy on a big fancy cake. A small, elegant one for pictures etc, is fine, with sheet cakes in the back to serve. As welll, we did cookies (good ones) with the cake
worked great!!</p>

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<p>Here’s an idea that will let her have the best of both worlds
the BD at a Reduced price!</p>

<p>Have her get some pictures of the dress from the manufacturer and take some pics of her in the dress from all sides and angles. Then take the pics to a local seamstress who can make an exact copy that will cost you MUCH less. Most towns have a seamstress who specializes in weddings. Plus, this person could make the bridesmaids and Mom-of-bride dresses, too. This is a great option, can be significantly less expensive, and your dresses will be perfect fits. Also, if anyone gains/loses weight it is a much simpler matter to have additional alterations.</p>

<p>Loads of my friends did this and it really worked out great!</p>