Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Market
Well, our first Market where we could actually buy inventory....what a rush!
Chicago was amazing, absolutely a blast! When you're picking out fabulous wedding and evening gowns, attending runway shows and meeting tons of new people; how can you not have fun??
~We were so happy to meet the ladies at Bari Jay!! What a wonderful help you were, thanks Erica! Also, thank-you to Denny and George at Angelique :)
We will be posting pictures soon of the runways shows and more.
Here's what you've been waiting for!!!
Our lines at XOXO:
Bridal:
Angelique
Joli
Avant Mariee
Winnie Couture
Symphony
Rhapsody
Prom, Homecoming, Evening:
Bari Jay
Terani Couture
Bridesmaid:
Bari Jay
~We are holding off on carrying devoted lines to both Mother of the Bride (MOB) and flower girls to see what our clients are looking for, HOWEVER, we have some amazing dresses from all of our evening lines that cross over into the MOB demographic.
We will be receiving our dresses beginning this month! We will feature them at the bridal shows that we attend as well as have them at our temporary store location that is TBD.
Our first bridal show is in Tama at the Meskwaki Casino; October 25th...take a look at http://www.weddingsiniowa.com/ for more information on the show!
Chicago was amazing, absolutely a blast! When you're picking out fabulous wedding and evening gowns, attending runway shows and meeting tons of new people; how can you not have fun??
~We were so happy to meet the ladies at Bari Jay!! What a wonderful help you were, thanks Erica! Also, thank-you to Denny and George at Angelique :)
We will be posting pictures soon of the runways shows and more.
Here's what you've been waiting for!!!
Our lines at XOXO:
Bridal:
Angelique
Joli
Avant Mariee
Winnie Couture
Symphony
Rhapsody
Prom, Homecoming, Evening:
Bari Jay
Terani Couture
Bridesmaid:
Bari Jay
~We are holding off on carrying devoted lines to both Mother of the Bride (MOB) and flower girls to see what our clients are looking for, HOWEVER, we have some amazing dresses from all of our evening lines that cross over into the MOB demographic.
We will be receiving our dresses beginning this month! We will feature them at the bridal shows that we attend as well as have them at our temporary store location that is TBD.
Our first bridal show is in Tama at the Meskwaki Casino; October 25th...take a look at http://www.weddingsiniowa.com/ for more information on the show!
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Engagement Giveaway
Thank-you all for submitting your stories, they have been so much fun to post and read!
We will let you know next week who our winner is!!!!!!
We will let you know next week who our winner is!!!!!!
Sarah & Phil's Story
My name is Sarah Haman and I am so excited to be having my wedding reception at Bella Sala next June 19th. Melissa and Lyndsie have been amazing to work with.
My fiancee Phil Cooling and I have known each other since high school. We never dated then, but were friends. He was a senior when I was a freshman, so there are a few years between us. Actually there are three years exactly between our birthdays. We share October 10th for our birthdays. He was born in 1983 and myself in 1986. We never really kept in touch after he graduated since he was in college and I was still in high school. We always dated other people and never really thought about dating each other.
After my Sophomore year of college I was moving in with a friend and got a text message from a number I didn't recognize. It said something about going out boating that weekend with them. Well I just ignored it because I didn't know the number at the time. They then sent another message saying something about well if you don't want to just tell me. So I texted the number back saying that I didn't know who it was. Well he then told me that it was him (Phil). I couldn't go boating that weekend, but he said that he would be going next weekend and that I could go if I wanted it. Well the next weekend my friend and I went home that next weekend and went boating with Phil and some of our other friends. I guess at this point I could just say that the rest is history, but not quite yet.
January of 2008 brought a point in our relationship that caused us to split for a few months. I think we were both pretty heart broken about it, but with the situation we needed to know that we were suppose to be together. We still talked every now and then while we weren't together and as time went by we started talking more and more. We ended up going to a few wedding together in March and April together and just ended up back together.
We have been together ever since and we have now been engaged for four months. Back in May I graduated from UNI and for my graduation present we planned a weekend at the end of May to go to Chicago for two Chicago Cubs games. We went to May 29th and 30th games against the LA Dodgers.
We got up at 4:00 a.m. that Friday morning to leave for Chicago. Our tickets were in the stand behind the Cubs dugout (which were awesome). The Dodgers scored a run in the top of the 7th inning and then came the 7th inning stretch. We sang "Take me out to the ballgame" and then Phil asked a lady in the row in front of us to take our picture. She took the picture and then he asked her to take one more. I didn't think much about it, but then when I looked at him he was getting down on one knee. I was like "what are doing?" and then he asked me to marry him. I just stood there with my hand out and he was like "well..." and then I finally answered "YES!!!". Everyone around us that saw what was going on started cheering. I was so surprised!! The Cubs come up in the bottom of the 7th and the first batter up, Koyie Hill, hit a homerun to tie it up. The Cubs ended up winning on both Friday and Saturday!! The funny part was that the ring box was too big to fit in Phil pocket and he was!
!
carrying around an engagement ring loose in his pocket. He told me he was so nervous that we was going to throw into some bums cups with his loose change.
Since then we have been trying to get all the big items planned and booked for our big date June 19, 2010.
Thanks,
Sarah Haman & Phil Cooling
My fiancee Phil Cooling and I have known each other since high school. We never dated then, but were friends. He was a senior when I was a freshman, so there are a few years between us. Actually there are three years exactly between our birthdays. We share October 10th for our birthdays. He was born in 1983 and myself in 1986. We never really kept in touch after he graduated since he was in college and I was still in high school. We always dated other people and never really thought about dating each other.
After my Sophomore year of college I was moving in with a friend and got a text message from a number I didn't recognize. It said something about going out boating that weekend with them. Well I just ignored it because I didn't know the number at the time. They then sent another message saying something about well if you don't want to just tell me. So I texted the number back saying that I didn't know who it was. Well he then told me that it was him (Phil). I couldn't go boating that weekend, but he said that he would be going next weekend and that I could go if I wanted it. Well the next weekend my friend and I went home that next weekend and went boating with Phil and some of our other friends. I guess at this point I could just say that the rest is history, but not quite yet.
January of 2008 brought a point in our relationship that caused us to split for a few months. I think we were both pretty heart broken about it, but with the situation we needed to know that we were suppose to be together. We still talked every now and then while we weren't together and as time went by we started talking more and more. We ended up going to a few wedding together in March and April together and just ended up back together.
We have been together ever since and we have now been engaged for four months. Back in May I graduated from UNI and for my graduation present we planned a weekend at the end of May to go to Chicago for two Chicago Cubs games. We went to May 29th and 30th games against the LA Dodgers.
We got up at 4:00 a.m. that Friday morning to leave for Chicago. Our tickets were in the stand behind the Cubs dugout (which were awesome). The Dodgers scored a run in the top of the 7th inning and then came the 7th inning stretch. We sang "Take me out to the ballgame" and then Phil asked a lady in the row in front of us to take our picture. She took the picture and then he asked her to take one more. I didn't think much about it, but then when I looked at him he was getting down on one knee. I was like "what are doing?" and then he asked me to marry him. I just stood there with my hand out and he was like "well..." and then I finally answered "YES!!!". Everyone around us that saw what was going on started cheering. I was so surprised!! The Cubs come up in the bottom of the 7th and the first batter up, Koyie Hill, hit a homerun to tie it up. The Cubs ended up winning on both Friday and Saturday!! The funny part was that the ring box was too big to fit in Phil pocket and he was!
!
carrying around an engagement ring loose in his pocket. He told me he was so nervous that we was going to throw into some bums cups with his loose change.
Since then we have been trying to get all the big items planned and booked for our big date June 19, 2010.
Thanks,
Sarah Haman & Phil Cooling
Rachel & Bryan's Engagement
We have a few more engagement stories to close out our competition!!!
Our engagement story:
Bryan and I are high school sweethearts. We started dating when I was a sophomore in high school and he was a senior. For the past 10 years, we have been with each other through everything. We’ve lived in Chicago together for the past three years, but are from Iowa City originally.
We had planned a trip to California during the last weekend in September to celebrate my 26th birthday. Bryan basically put a disclaimer on the trip and said that he knew I was probably expecting a proposal, but that he didn't want there to be pressure on the trip and he didn't want me to get my hopes up. He said he just wanted us to enjoy our trip and each other and not come home feeling disappointed. Of course, Bryan knows me too well, and knew I was hoping for him to pop the question, so I was happy he was "honest" with me about what to expect from our vacation. (Secretly, I was holding out hope that he was just trying to throw me off...I also know him too well!)
We met in San Francisco on Friday afternoon. Right away, he presented me with my birthday gift: A beautiful pair of diamond earrings! After receiving such a generous gift, all hopes of a proposal were pretty much gone, but I felt a little relieved that I wouldn't be waiting for him to "surprise me" with a proposal. We spent the day sightseeing in San Fran, and we went to the Cubs vs Giants game that night.
Saturday morning, we got up early to drive up the coast. We stopped at the Golden Gate bridge and continued North. Along the way, we hiked Mt.Tamalpais, visited the Muir Woods and made stops at Stinson Beach and Pt. Reyes. It was an amazing day. We stopped in Jenner, a small beach town, where Bryan had made reservations at a cute little inn right where the Russian River meets the Pacific ocean. It had amazing views and is known for it's sunset views and charms -- the URL is www.ilovesunsets.com for goodness sakes!
We had a dinner reservation at 7pm. After we got ready, Bryan set up the camera to take a couple of pictures of us during the sunset. We were sitting, talking, enjoying a glass of wine before dinner while the sun was setting. I asked Bryan if he could please take a picture of me and my new diamonds. He seemed confused and unnerved by my request...he went into the room and poked his head back out, asking me if I wanted to take a picture right now, or what. I didn't understand what was complicated about my request, so I believe my exact words were, "Just take an effing picture of me!" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a box, saying, "Well, I guess I should give you another diamond first."
It all gets a little blurry after that as I was totally shocked and couldn't believe what was happening! I remember him saying some very sweet things, getting one knee and asking me to marry him. I also remember staring at the hand he offered me, rather than taking it, and not saying anything but a string of swear words before I said yes (So he says!). When I finally found my words, it was nothing but smiles, tears and more swear words and startled phrases. We were both VERY happy!
We didn't have any cell phone service up there, so we spent the evening celebrating just us two, which was perfect. We had an amazing dinner, where I found out all of the fun details about Bryan's scheming and wondered how he possibly could have tricked me. We both decided the diamond earrings were a great decoy :) We had wine, champagne, a walk on the beach and lots of conversations about our future ahead. I can't remember a more romantic or perfect night!
The best part was that our celebration wasn't over, as we had a full day of wine tasting in Napa on Sunday! We spent the day drinking wine and champagne (again!) and had another great meal to end our trip.
Bryan told me that he had planned to propose that night after dinner while walking on the beach, but the minute I asked him to take a picture of me and my diamond, while the sun was setting, he knew the moment was perfect.
I hope you enjoyed our story
Our engagement story:
Bryan and I are high school sweethearts. We started dating when I was a sophomore in high school and he was a senior. For the past 10 years, we have been with each other through everything. We’ve lived in Chicago together for the past three years, but are from Iowa City originally.
We had planned a trip to California during the last weekend in September to celebrate my 26th birthday. Bryan basically put a disclaimer on the trip and said that he knew I was probably expecting a proposal, but that he didn't want there to be pressure on the trip and he didn't want me to get my hopes up. He said he just wanted us to enjoy our trip and each other and not come home feeling disappointed. Of course, Bryan knows me too well, and knew I was hoping for him to pop the question, so I was happy he was "honest" with me about what to expect from our vacation. (Secretly, I was holding out hope that he was just trying to throw me off...I also know him too well!)
We met in San Francisco on Friday afternoon. Right away, he presented me with my birthday gift: A beautiful pair of diamond earrings! After receiving such a generous gift, all hopes of a proposal were pretty much gone, but I felt a little relieved that I wouldn't be waiting for him to "surprise me" with a proposal. We spent the day sightseeing in San Fran, and we went to the Cubs vs Giants game that night.
Saturday morning, we got up early to drive up the coast. We stopped at the Golden Gate bridge and continued North. Along the way, we hiked Mt.Tamalpais, visited the Muir Woods and made stops at Stinson Beach and Pt. Reyes. It was an amazing day. We stopped in Jenner, a small beach town, where Bryan had made reservations at a cute little inn right where the Russian River meets the Pacific ocean. It had amazing views and is known for it's sunset views and charms -- the URL is www.ilovesunsets.com for goodness sakes!
We had a dinner reservation at 7pm. After we got ready, Bryan set up the camera to take a couple of pictures of us during the sunset. We were sitting, talking, enjoying a glass of wine before dinner while the sun was setting. I asked Bryan if he could please take a picture of me and my new diamonds. He seemed confused and unnerved by my request...he went into the room and poked his head back out, asking me if I wanted to take a picture right now, or what. I didn't understand what was complicated about my request, so I believe my exact words were, "Just take an effing picture of me!" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a box, saying, "Well, I guess I should give you another diamond first."
It all gets a little blurry after that as I was totally shocked and couldn't believe what was happening! I remember him saying some very sweet things, getting one knee and asking me to marry him. I also remember staring at the hand he offered me, rather than taking it, and not saying anything but a string of swear words before I said yes (So he says!). When I finally found my words, it was nothing but smiles, tears and more swear words and startled phrases. We were both VERY happy!
We didn't have any cell phone service up there, so we spent the evening celebrating just us two, which was perfect. We had an amazing dinner, where I found out all of the fun details about Bryan's scheming and wondered how he possibly could have tricked me. We both decided the diamond earrings were a great decoy :) We had wine, champagne, a walk on the beach and lots of conversations about our future ahead. I can't remember a more romantic or perfect night!
The best part was that our celebration wasn't over, as we had a full day of wine tasting in Napa on Sunday! We spent the day drinking wine and champagne (again!) and had another great meal to end our trip.
Bryan told me that he had planned to propose that night after dinner while walking on the beach, but the minute I asked him to take a picture of me and my diamond, while the sun was setting, he knew the moment was perfect.
I hope you enjoyed our story
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