Becoming a Bride!

Time for some more photos!

It was time to put on my dress. (The dress in the background here is my mom's.)


Note: my hips are too large to put my dress on by stepping into it. Hmm. This became a serious issue when it came to the day of the wedding. Hair and makeup were already done. How to get into a giant white dress without messing everything up?



Answer? Have at least seven bridesmaids ready to help. And practice holding your breath. I seriously thought I might suffocate at one point. I love this photo of my "big" sister standing on a stool to help me get into my dress!



A group effort!

And we're in!

Adjust. Adjust. Adjust.

Finishing touches by my sister...

And voila! Ladies and gentlement, we have a BRIDE!!!

My friend/bridesmaid Katie approves...(isn't she the cutest?)

And it looks like Mom approves too! (How beautiful is she??? I love this photo!)

Shoes on...

Trying to hold back the tears so I don't mess up the make up! Not an easy task when my soon-to-be sister-in-law had started the water works! I love this girl!!

Happiness!

And then it was time to begin the bridal portraits...so why not start them off with one of my favorites? :)

Did anyone else have trouble getting the dress on? What a funny time that was...

(Oh and thanks for all the comments on the body image post - much more to come on that soon!)

Having Second Thoughts About Your Dress?

I sure did.

Because I wanted to keep my dress a secret until my wedding day, I never showed you pictures from my fittings. But I have several. More than several. I made family members take pictures of me at every fitting. And then after the fitting, I would stare at the photos and fret. Would he like it? Would I feel beautiful? Would I still like this dress in pictures 20 years from now?

I obsessed.

I know I'm not the only one.

So to all of you who are having second thoughts about your dress, it's okay. It's normal. Just remember, there is a reason you picked your dress. For me? My mom always says she knew it was the one because I danced in it. Everytime I put it on, I could help but sway a little.

And I kept referring to it as MY dress. And it was.

So here are a few of the carefully hidden (yet often obsessed over) pictures of the many fittings I had of the dress. The first one is from the very first time I tried it on. We made a few modifications to the shape of the dress (it felt too foofy to me, so we tapered it in), but all my obsessing was worthless. I felt so beautiful that day. And you will too.

Have you had any second thoughts about your dress?

One At A Time

My AMAZING photographer has sent me about twenty "teaser" photos to hold me over until all of the photos are finished. I have decided to give you all a glimpse of the wedding by taking these photos one by one and describing them to you. I know it's not a typical "recap" way of doing things, and perhaps I'll get more chronological as time goes on, but this is how it's going to be for now. I know you are aching for photos, so here we go. :)

This shot actually was my mom's idea. My mom got married in 1978 as a young bride. She kept her (tiny!) wedding dress in her closet the whole time I was growing up. I remember many days of playing dress up in her wedding dress. Those days have long since gone - my 11 year old sister now fits in the dress! But I have always, always, loved her dress.

So, here it is. My mom's dress, hanging on the right of my dress, in the room where I grew up. Love it. (Oh and there is a special story about that mirror. Stay tuned.)


Did you (or will you) incorporate your mothers dress into your wedding day?

Could This Be My Rehearsal Dinner Dress?

I spotted this dress on Macy's website a few weeks ago. I immediately loved the shape of it (the A-line tends to be good for us curvy types).

I also like the little pleats on the dress, because they remind me of my mom's wedding dress.

My mom liked it too - she sent me a link to it without me every mentioning it!

At its original price of $168 it was out of the question. But thanks to Macy's sale this weekend, it is down to a much more affordable price.

The downside? No Macy's within a 100 mile radius carry the dress.

Boo.

Should I take the chance and go ahead and order it? Or wait to see if I can find something else?

Obsessed.

I am absolutely obsessed with this dress from Nordstroms.

Wouldn't this be the perfect reception/getaway dress?

Source

Unfortunately, I am not obsessed with the price.

Boo for having expensive taste.

Grr.

My fiance and I went shopping today and I looked for a getaway dress.

I found one at Macy's that is a possiblity. It is very pretty, and very...uhh...sexy. :) It definitely shows off the curves. I'm just not sure I can wear it without some Spanx assistance. But maybe.

I wanted to show you a picture of the dress but...I can't find it on Macy's website.

Grr.

So, my friends, stay tuned. I will try to show it to you soon.

Shopping For My Shower

As a woman, I hardly need an excuse to go shopping.

But my excuse of late has been, "I need to find something to wear to my bridal shower!"

While my fiance is correct in his assertion that I have plenty of perfectly nice dresses in my closet, my shower is a perfect reason to buy a new dress! And in an effort to enjoy this "bride" thing as much as possible, it became my mission to find a beautiful white sun dress to wear to my shower.

After scouring stores such as White House Black Market, Macy's, Dillards, Ann Taylor, etc, I had all but given up on my search.

And then...enter Target.

Check out that cute little number third from the left! (By the way, I love that first black one too.)

Sorry it's not the most fabulous of pictures - but you'll have plenty to see after this weekend! That's right - this is my shower dress! I tried it on and it fit beautifully - and so did the price tag!

Now the question is...what shoes should I wear with this adorable dress?

(What's that I hear? An excuse to go shoe shopping? :))

Must Have Photo

I absolutely love the shots of the "hanging dress". It just looks so timeless, so elegant. This is definately a must-have shot for me. Here is what I mean...

And as you can see from these photos, the hanger for your dress actually can matter! Honey My Heart actually posted on the hanging dress phenomenon this morning too! And she has some great ideas for hangers too. Just something else to add to the "to do" list.

Do you have any "must have" photos?

(All photos found on the Weddingbee Gallery, except the last one which is from www.abryanphoto.com)

The Dress is FABULOUS!

Here is the update: I went to the bridal shop last night to try on my dress. It. is. FABULOUS. I love it! I put it on and got butterflies in my stomach. Mom says my whole demeanor changes when I put it on...in the best kind of way.

I still have some hesitations about the back of the gown. Wish I could show you pictures, but I'm trying to keep this a secret (and too many wedding guests read my blog - love you guys!) :) I find, however, that my concerns about the back are usually diminished as soon as I see pictures of it. I think I'm overthinking things. As always. :)

My seamstress has my dress (and another great thing - she lives in my parent's neighborhood! Super convenient!) She will be taking it in a bit (YAY!) and then I get to try it on again. I can't wait until it is hanging in my closet at my parents' house. But first...we have to figure out the bustle. Who knew this could be so complicated? Apparantly it is. There are all types of bustles, all with different numbers of "pick ups". I've been told that the more "pick ups" in the bustle, the more complicated it is. But never fear - I have Super-Crafty Sister as my Maid of Honor!

How did you decide what your bustle should look like? Do you have any bustle insight to offer?

My Birthday / Wedding Dress Day!

Twenty-six years ago today, my parents first laid eyes on their new baby. Hello world! :)

And this evening, they will see their baby girl in her wedding dress. That's right! It's my birthday AND wedding dress day! My parents and youngest sister are meeting me at the bridal shop tonight to get my wedding dress. Could there be a better birthday present???

Mom has seen me in the sample dress as she went with me to pick it out. I'm very curious, however, how Dad will react when he sees me. He doesn't tend to be too emotional...but some things get him. It will be interesting to see how it goes. And I'm sure Baby Sister will have some critique - she is 11 years old after all. :)

How did you celebrate your last birthday as a single woman? Anyone else get their dress for their birthday?

Avoiding the "Frumpy" Look

My mom has been looking for a Mother of the Bride dress since I got engaged. Probably even earlier, since she knew he was proposing before he actually did. We looked at bridal shops. We looked at department stores. Everything just seemed so...frumpy. And my mom is not frumpy. But the choices either seemed to be frumpy, or way too sexy for the Mother of the Bride. This is what I mean...

(My mom has always wanted to wear great big hats like these to one of her daughter's weddings. Not mine, Mom.)

:)

Needless to say, none of these fit my Mom's style! But she and my older sister went shopping today and SHE FOUND A DRESS!!! Yay!!! After trying on literally hundreds of dresses, she has found the one. I'm almost as excited for her finding her dress as she was for me when I found my dress. :) I'd love to show you a picture (it is stunning), but too many family members read this blog and I don't want to rain on her parade. (Same reasons you won't be seeing my dress on here - sorry to disappoint!) :) Yay Mom! Congrats!

Has your mom had difficulty finding her dress from amongst the frumpiness?

(Photos: 1. www.cassandrastone.com; 2. www.audreysmotherofthebride.com; 3. www.bride.net)

The Bridesmaid Dress Saga (Part 3)

Now...where were we? Oh yes, we left off with the girls trying on these dresses. I forgot to mention that they had a sash. Which I (of course) decided to wear like Rambo.

But those dresses were not "the ones". So the search continued. I began to look on my own (I had dragged enough people to enough stores) and went to a fabulous bridal store in St. Petersburg called CC's Bridal. They have a ton of beautiful bridesmaids dresses (and wedding dresses - but I wisely chose to not even let myself look at their collection!) I started trying on bridesmaid dresses. I had seen this one online and loved it...and loved it even more in person.

This is Watters 326, and I imagined it in the color "Gem" - more like a crimson color. But the price tag was $225 - yikes! Definately more than I wanted to ask anyone to pay. (I do think this dress could even be beautiful as a wedding dress for an outdoor/more casual wedding - it comes in offwhite and that is a great price for a wedding dress! I love the little covered buttons on the back!)

But this was clearly not the right dress for my bridesmaids. And so the search continued...