Posts by Drew Smith44

I feel like whenever a team stacks up with all these superstars, the chemistry just falls apart because nobody wants to defer. It's hard to watch a group of high-usage players try to share one ball without it becoming a mess. Does anyone else think "superteams" actually struggle more with structure than balanced rosters?

I’m looking for some solid hair salon recommendations in San Francisco for a color job before my wedding. Right now, I’ve got these brown highlights that the sun has totally fried, so the ends are looking pretty yellowish. I really want to go for a rich chocolate brown, but the main thing is I can't have them wrecking my hair—it's on the thinner side and doesn't have much volume. I think I heard through the grapevine that Matthew at Joker or Michelle over in City are both great, if I remember right. If anyone's had a good experience with them, please let me know!

Regarding the wedding dress—yeah, it actually was the exact same gown. It just looked totally different during the second fitting because the bodice width was off; the first time around, it felt way more substantial, but this version felt skimpy. Honestly, I think the main issue was that the girl working at the boutique the second time didn't even bother to fasten the dress properly or spread the skirt out to show me what I was actually getting. I had no clue why it looked so weird :/ Plus, they used a crappy phone to take the photos that day, which made the whole thing look nothing like the original. Everything is fine now, but my advice? If you vibe with a specific stylist at a shop, make sure you book them specifically for your follow-ups. Everyone clearly has their own way of doing things. I was genuinely spiraling because I’d read stories here about shops renting out copies of the same dress, but luckily that wasn't the case here—though I guess you can't be too careful with boutiques in Miami or San Diego. Just in case, I checked in with Consumer Reports about getting my deposit back, and they told me we’re entitled to a refund if the shop’s mistake means we don't have a dress for the big day (apparently some people have had the same dress double-booked for the same date). So, don't let them bully you if they tell you the deposit is non-refundable.

So, I’ve got a question about wedding dress rentals. Has anyone else dealt with this where the dress looks totally different on the big day than it did during the fitting? At my first appointment, the boutique staff kept insisting it would be the exact same one, just tailored to fit me better. I get that if someone else rents it in the meantime, they might tweak it, but it should still be the same actual dress I paid for. During the second fitting, I started getting seriously suspicious that I wasn't even looking at the original anymore, but some cheap knockoff. I actually have photos to prove it—the difference is night and day. According to them, the dress hasn't even been rented out since my first session, so I’m not about to let them play me for a fool and claim it's the same gown when my pictures clearly show otherwise. Has this happened to any of you? And honestly, which boutiques can you actually trust to deliver what they promised for the price you're paying? If I wanted a replica, I would've just ordered one myself. :/ To top it all off, the girl at the shop actually told me it's best not to look at it again until the wedding and to just "delete the photos" because I'll get bored and won't feel that "spark" on the wedding day. Like, hello? If I loved it at the fitting and it shows up as promised on the wedding day, how could I be disappointed? That advice to just wipe the memory feels like a total red flag.

A few girls already asked for recommendations and didn't get an answer, so I’m hoping one of you can point me toward a good cake spot (obviously needs to taste amazing, but I don't want to go broke doing it). Also, does anyone have thoughts on a hairstylist? I ran into some ladies from Disney at the fair—has anyone actually used them before? My wedding is this summer, so I really need a style that holds up, especially since my hair tends to be on the thinner side 😢

Michael Mendoza14 said:So, Mrs. Mom from The Flower Shop just called me out of the blue—literally a month after the trade show. She said I could swing by sometime during the third month to check out their work and everything. If we actually settle on something, they want a deposit upfront before we even dive into the heavy details. (Does anyone have any clue what a typical deposit looks like these days?)
I’ve been scrolling through Ivan's work on Facebook, and honestly, he’s talented. Some of the details feel a little... tacky, if I'm being blunt, but hey, that's the bride's call, right? I'm not the one paying. Also, does everyone just use those standard, tall, skinny glass vases, or is there anyone doing something different? Like, maybe a medium-sized cube or something? Personally, I think a big centerpiece in the middle would look killer paired with a few smaller, sparkly accents underneath.

I did the exact same thing and followed up in December. Jane showed me way more stuff than what's on her Facebook, and I actually liked it. It seems like she really tailors everything to what the bride wants since she does both classic styles and some pretty wild arrangements. I told her I was planning to $1000 set aside a certain amount for flowers. My plan is to get the main bouquet plus a toss bouquet, car decor, boutonnieres for the groom and best man, the sweetheart table setup, and instead of bouquets on the guest tables, I'm thinking vases filled with petals and candles. We'll hash out the fine print two months before the big day. The deposit ended up being $67. As for the prices they quoted me—bouquet was $217, the toss bouquet is free, the sweetheart table is $500, and the table decor is $17 (that's the cheaper option without the actual bouquet).