Wedding shiz: The Columbus Bride Show

Morning all! I'm never really sure how to dive back into my "regular" content after a heavy post like last week's. Usually I start off a new year with photos of my NYE outfit, but this year Matt and I counted down to midnight during a quiet, chill evening at home with a couple of friends. It was actually kind of nice, and I didn't have to freeze my hiney off in a short dress and heels. The second our friends left, I turned to Matt and shouted "GUESS WHAT!" And he said "GUESS WHAT!" And then we both said, "WE'RE GETTING MARRIED THIS YEAR!!!" He's basically perfect.

Which is an excellent segue into the actual topic of today's post: The Columbus Bride Show, which took place this weekend. Basically, the magazine I used to work for and still freelance for, Columbus Bride, puts on the area's biggest bridal show each January. Something like 120 vendors, I think? Anyway, I went last year, but I wanted to go again this year because there are lots of chances to win free stuff. Also, my sister Ellen just got engaged, and even though she's getting married in northern Ohio I figured she could at least start brainstorming ideas. And some of the vendors had locations in her area, so she actually wound up getting a great deal on tuxes for her fiancé and his groomsmen. My mom and another sister, Anna, also came down to join the fun.

We started with brunch at Northstar (which I've written about before) because it's awesome. And what better way to have an awesome day of bridal things than by having an amazing brunch?


I am terrible at across-the-table selfies. Left side: My mom and Ellen, who insisted on posing like this. Right side: Anna and me.
Then we headed down to the convention center for the show. It was pouring rain and gross, but once we got inside we forgot all about the dreary Ohio weather. Because bridal stuff! I got way too excited about cakes because that's the only thing that's not 100% finalized for us. (My generous friend and bridesmaid, Hayley, is making our cupcakes and cutting cake.) Soooo that's about the only thing I managed to take pictures of. Womp womp. Everything but the last two photos are from Capital City Cakes; the last two are from Jan Kish of La Petite Fleur.


"I'm not touching it." (The top half is a dress form, but the skirt is entirely cake. And all the decorations/embellishments are fondant/icing. Incredible.)












There in the background is Jan Kish herself. I'm not exaggerating when I say her cakes are the best in the city. She literally makes art out of sugar. And they taste as incredible as they look!
I also saw some adorable cake pops, but I can't remember what booth they were at. Sorry, nameless vendor!


Last year, I took a lot of photos at the fashion show. This year, though, I was a little underwhelmed by the styles. Maybe I'm just too in love with my own dress, but I just couldn't get excited about any that were being modeled this year. Ellen did get some really nice ideas for when she goes dress shopping later this month, so that's good! She also took a selfie of us with our mimosas. At this point, she's a better blogger than me, haha!


After the show, we all went shopping, natch. I did my annual "spend all my month's budget at Forever 21" blitz, and got a bunch of nice, basic pieces...including some skinny jeans in a smaller size, woot woot!! Then my mom and sisters went home, and I spent most of Sunday catching up on photo edits from a recent shoot and trying to figure out how I'm going to finish all the remaining wedding tasks in the four months I have left. Quite the busy weekend, I'd say! How was yours?