Style 383 Flower Girl Dress in Blue and Brown

 

 

My husband and I got engaged in October 2008. Soon after, we picked September 18, 2010, as our wedding date. At first, I thought that was too long of an engagement, but looking back, I wouldn’t ask for it any other way! I had so much fun planning the wedding—all by myself. Having a nearly two-year engagement gives you the freedom to pretty much get whatever you want (within budget, of course!). I couldn’t imagine passing off this task to a wedding planner! We looked at 18 reception halls before finally choosing The Wisconsin Club in Milwaukee. The beautiful architecture of this late-1800s mansion was just perfect for us. The ballroom was so warm and inviting, and we knew the service would be fabulous. I’ve always dreamed of trying on wedding dresses, so it came as no surprise that I wound up trying on more than 120! I had my eye on one for quite some time, but I didn’t want to stop looking. Every other dress just never seemed good enough. Part of me worried because I had tried so many on—I thought, “When am I going to know it’s the one?!?” Well, after many, many bridal stores in Wisconsin and Illinois (and even a few in Florida on vacation), my sister-in-law, my mom, and I took an extended weekend trip to the Big Apple. I had an appointment at Kleinfeld’s and was super excited. Unfortunately, I had no luck there (mostly because everything was out of my price range). So, we ventured a couple blocks down to the next appointment at The Bridal Garden. What a fabulous find! The store is a not-for-profit bridal boutique that carries designer wedding gowns for a fraction of the cost. I tried on about seven or eight dresses, just knowing that I had saved the best for last. When I tried it on, the three of us looked at each other and smiled. It was the one! Even better, it was only $710! And better still? All of the store’s proceeds benefit the education of children in New York City. Our two flower girls were my nieces, Amber and Megan (who is also my Goddaughter). Their dresses were nearly just as hard to find as mine was! I knew I wanted something to match the bridesmaids’ dresses (which were from Ann Taylor and were in Pacific blue and espresso brown); however, I also wanted them to be incredibly elegant. I finally came across Pegeen.com. Not only were the dresses beautiful, but the color choices were amazing! I ordered some swatches first and was able to find pretty-close-to-exact matches! The little girls wore Pegeen Style 383 with the bodice in bisque, the sash in semi-sweet, and the skirt in arial blue. They were so gorgeous, and the girls just loved them. Our wedding day was perfect. It was raining something fierce in the morning, but it cleared up just in time for a glorious day. Our ceremony was everything we wanted, and we had so much fun with our wedding party. At the reception, everyone just loved the Club and the food, and they were all in awe of our surprise day-of montage from our videographer. So many people told us it was the best wedding they’ve been to. I’m so happy that it was not only a day for us to remember, but also one for our guests to remember, too. In my two years of wedding planning, and of all the vendors I worked with, the things I am most happy about are these Pegeen dresses, The Wisconsin Club, our flowers, my purchases on etsy.com and my trip to NYC with my mom and my maid of honor to find the perfect dress. These are memories I will cherish forever.

Thank you, Pegeen, for the great service! It’s not just the dresses you create that are great, it’s your website and contests like these that really help brides out. When I came across the site last year, I saw Kristin’s Wedding of the Year and just had to have a drawing of my bridesmaids like she did. I was able to reach out to her to get the contact information, and from there I came into contact with Joanna Alberti of sophiesphilosophies.com to make my precious notecards for the girls.

My Vendors: Photographer: Riitta Kulinsky, photobyrk.com Flowers: Barb’s Green House Florist, Hales Corners, WI barbsgreenhouseflorist.com Ceremony Location: Church of the Gesu, Milwaukee, WI, gesupearish.org Reception and Catering: The Wisconsin Club, Milwaukee, WI, wisconsinclub.com Wedding Cake: Gourmet Cheesecake Shop, West Allis, WI, gourmetcheesecakeshop.com Invitations, Programs, Menu Cards, Place Cards: Designed by bride, printed by Digital Edge, Hubertus, WI Save the Date Magnets: magnetstreet.com Wedding Dress: The Bridal Garden, New York City, bridalgarden.org Bridesmaid Dresses: Ann Taylor DJ: Sound by Design, Milwaukee, WI, soundbydesign.org Tuxedos: Savvi Formalwear, savviformalwear.com Hair: Studio 890, Brookfield, WI, studio890.com Makeup: Blush Beauty Boutique, Milwaukee, WI, blushmilwaukee.com Videographer: Visual Productions, Madison, WI Bridal Shoes: DSW, Wauwatosa, WI Rings: An Eye for Design, Germantown, WI Veil: Handmade by the maid of honor! Bridal Headpiece: Bel Aire Bridal from Stone Manor Bridal, Cedarburg, WI, stonemanorbridal.com Ceremonial Musicians: Violinist and Organist from Gesu Parish