First of all, it was a stone's throw away from the new Cowboys stadium and there was a TON of construction going on, not to mention all the tailgaters for the game. I spotted this gem - I guess he wanted to catch the football crowd.
Such a nice sentiment on the way to the game, don't you think?
Well, we arrived at the b-n-b and it looks decent from the outside, even though it was a bit difficult to find. It was a standard issue set-up -- you walk in and everything looks quaint and sweet. We went out to the courtyard where they still had tents set up from a wedding they had the night before. The courtyard was nice but the garden that we were interested in opened to a parking lot, really disrupting the 'secret' aspect of the garden. It's not much of a secret garden if there's a parking lot right next to it, I always say. Additionally, it wasn't secluded at all and there were even benches with those fireproof containers to put your cigarette butts smack in the middle of the garden. Honestly, I didn't know you could smoke anywhere in Dallas anymore.
The cottages were not cottages at all, rather they looked like low-income housing - No offense meant to anyone who lives in low income housing. It's just that I was looking for something like this:Instead, the cottages looked something like this:
Now, these aren't the real pictures of the properties because I'm not trying to get sued or something, but needless to say I wasn't happy with how the cottages looked and for the money they wanted I expected them to look a little nicer. Granted, they were in the midst of remodeling some of the cottages but that just means that we should catch them when they're done remodeling.
So we're back to the drawing board. Drew would like to have the ceremony outside which then got me thinking of the botanical gardens. The Fort Worth gardens are actually really pretty and they have availability on the 10th so this Sunday we'll make another road trip out there to check them out. The Dallas Arboretum is another really nice place but it is ex-pen-sive! The whole idea is to do things on the cheap which is rapidly becoming quite the challenge.
First off, we need a location. The gardens are minimum $250. We need someone to marry us - since neither of us go to church we have to find someone, and the preliminary google searches I found kick back officiants with fees starting at $500! Then I'd like to have pictures. Since I used to model, I have no idea how much pictures cost since I've never had to pay anyone for pictures. Alas, all my photography contacts are in LA or KC. I don't know anyone here and I thought about getting creative and checking out the photography school at SMU and getting a student to do it. I also thought about doing time for print. That's when a photographer who is just starting out will give you the prints for their time. The only issue with both of those scenarios is that you don't know what kind of photos you'll get. I'd really prefer that they not be overexposed or blurry or using the wrong setting on the camera or something like that. Drew knows one guy that takes great shots but he would charge us $700 for the two hours that we'd need him!
And we haven't even gotten into what we would like to do after the ceremony! We were talking about going out to a nice dinner and staying at a hotel but those are going to be extra expenses. Additionally, since I pretty much don't own dress-up clothes anymore, I'd have to buy something to wear. We stopped at a thrift store yesterday and I totally had a fantasy of picking up a vintage suit like Carrie wore in Sex and the City but no luck. They did have a ton of wedding dresses in their 'Halloween costume' section but nothing remotely workable. I did find a beautiful suit on the Nordstrom website, but again that's extra $$.
And the marriage license!! We probably should get one of those too - 71 bucks cash and we both have to apply together, in person. Another nightmare because I would have to do it over my lunch hour or something like that and Drew will have to juggle his schedule because he works over half an hour away from the courthouse.
I thought having something with just the two of us would be easier. Ha.
Now, have you noticed that I'm not really freaking out over all this? No? Well, I'm not really freaking out over all this - wanna know why? Because I have SHOES!!!!!! When I tell you they are the most freakin awesome shoes on the planet, that is an understatement.
So Saturday we drove up to Allen to the outlet malls because Drew needed some undies (he will hate that I called them that) and it's a fun trip. So we went walking around and I got depressed because I couldn't buy any clothes because I have no idea how long I'll get to wear them. I consoled myself by getting some sunglasses - my head better not swell up. I also got the cutest hat to wear when we go to his parents' house for Christmas. But the shoes!!!!
We went to Nieman's Last Call to look around. Even the outlet is waaaaay too rich for my blood but it's still fun to poke around. I beelined it for the shoe department to try on all the expensive designer shoes that I'll never own in real life. I was half looking for something that I could wear when we got married but I didn't really think I'd find anything. And then I rounded the corner and it was like they had been waiting for me! All nestled in their little box with a giant 50% off sticker just calling out to me. Well, 50% was still too much but wait! That weekend they had a sale where you could take an extra $25 off things in a certain price range - my shoes were in that range! That would have dropped them down into the tolerable price range but then the saleslady got me. I was trying to avoid her because I crumble around salespeople and I think they know it. Well, she wore me down and believe me I tried to resist but she was stronger. I wilted under her forces and opened a Nieman's account and got another 10% off. I really didn't want to and I'm totally going to close that account because me and a Nieman's account is a surefire recipe for chaos and destruction!!
My shoes were worth it though. It's my very first pair of designer shoes - they're Badgley Mischkas. Is that even how you spell it? I'm so country, I don't even know (I totally just googled it to make sure I spelled it right). What I do know is that my shoes are hooooooooooot!! I couldn't take them off when we got home. I was too busy marveling over them and demanding that Drew marvel too that I didn't take a picture of me wearing them, but I'll totally put one up soon.
See, a good pair of shoes can make everything right with the world. Believe it.
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