Bridal Recon, Part 3: Fellows Riverside Gardens Bridal Fair

Another month down, and just over 8 months to go until our big day! Since we’re still in search of a DJ, I thought it would be wise to check out the Fellows Riverside Gardens Bridal Fair on August 11. It was also really nice to do wedding things and spend a beautiful summer afternoon with my mom and sister. The Fellows Riverside Gardens and the D.D. & Velma Davis Education & Visitor Center are both absolutely beautiful venues for an outdoor wedding and an indoor reception, overlooking Lake Glacier, just outside of Youngstown. Carmen served as my official photographer for the day, staging each shot just so for the best image, as I talked with various vendors.

I ❤ my family.

Bridal Recon, Part 2: Sparkling Moments Bridal Show

One of the many dresses from Sorelle Bridal Salon

This is a little late in coming, and for some reason, I just haven’t had much motivation to write, well, anything. Maybe I’ve been inspired by the daily mini-marathons of Sex & the City on E!, but I have my next four blog posts planned out for Twyf Becomes Wife and Dames Who Dish. A few weeks ago, I attended St. Florian’s Sparkling Moments Bridal Show in Wintersville, Ohio, with my best friend, Kara, her hubby-to-be, Rocco, and their mothers. While we were mainly there in search of their wedding cake, I wanted to see what else the Ohio Valley has to offer for area brides.

Bridal Show Recon, Part 1: Eastwood Bridal Extravaganza

I’m truly beginning to understand why the industry in which I work calls the the first few months of the year “Bridal Christmas.” Apart from helping a solid handful of brides (and by that, I mean five) find the most important dress they’ll ever wear, I attended one of the first bridal fairs of the season this past weekend at the Eastwood Expo Center. With me were two of the ladies who will be standing up with me on my own big day: my little sister, Carmen, who will be one of my maids of honor, and one of my Brides-Dames, Jeannette. I’m really glad she was able to come with us since she’ll be working on her master’s/doctorate degrees and might not get to be here for other planning/deciding/making sessions. 🙂

Since we truly haven’t started doing any “serious” planning, I was open to looking at all kinds of vendors, and there were several to visit that afternoon. I was surprised to see some types of vendors there, including a church offering its various chapels and sanctuaries as ceremony venues, eyelash extensions, and a kind of random H&R Block booth. I also didn’t expect to eat so much tortellini; that was more or less the main thing that catering vendors were offering, as well as bruschetta. (I’m not complaining by any means, though. I love tortellini and bruschetta. I was just surprised so many vendors were offering samples of the exact same food.)