Curiouser and Curiouser

My amazing bridesmaids are throwing me a Mad Hatter Tea Party bridal shower next weekend. Yay! So today I made my mad hat to wear to the party. Here's the dress I'm going to wear.

I'd just picked up a cute little wicker fedora at Target for the honeymoon so I wanted to deck that out. It already had a pink band and pink under the brim. With all the pink I decided Cheshire Cat was the way to go. I wanted to make some felt cat ears. I also found a tiny pink fur boa and some spring-y decorations.

I thought I'd be able to just poke tooth picks through holes in the wicker. I really didn't want to ruin my hat. Then Mike suggested pins, like the pile of shirt pins we had left over from his for the wedding. Genius!

Pretty good, huh? I think it'll be really nice with my dress. I'm really excited about my shower. More than the wedding at the moment because I'm not in charge of this party.

We Have A Plan, Man.

I'm defiantly fond of no jackets and we'd like to avoid renting if possible. I'm thinking we'll tie the boys together with their tie, ha! I should have said coordinate. At any rate we're thinking brown dress pants and off white to cream shirts. They'll all wear some kind of patterned neckties. I'm considering a bow tie for Isaac though. Mike with also have a vest so you know who the groom is. I think Mike may wear his brown fedora too. We'll see.

Inspiration

Dress Fitting Jr.

This:

Plus:

On this cutie pie

Equals

Both the dress and shoes are a size too big at the moment so they will fit exactly right (fingers crossed) in 3ish months. I think both girls are a fans of their attire. I think the flowers wreaths will be a beautiful finishing touch. I also think seeing it all together that skipping wings is the right call.

Wing-ing It

Today I ordered the flower girl shoes because the website was having a black Friday sale plus free shipping. Fingers crossed their feet don't grow too much before March. So that leaves wings, because they're my little fairies. I started looking around again and came up with a few options.

I started with Etsy and was immediately drawn to these:

They're sewn from cotton fabric. They made me wish I could sew. Great idea, durable washable wings. I love how different they are. That being said they're not quite as whimsical as the rest of the ensemble. Apart from that they weren't offered in an appropriate fabric. They attach around the front with big bows. Which is adorable for dress up and more comfy than elastic, but I want something more discreet for the wedding.

The next pair of wings to catch my fancy were:

These are on sale right now. I like that they're small and the copious color options. I just hate the big flower in the middle. At this point I decided to look else where.

I found these on Amazon:

No big flowers and they're reasonably priced. I like the triple wing design. They're budget friendly, but they're a little boring. The other option is to DIY some and I found a tutorial, but I'm on the fence about at least until I enlist help.

It occurred to me during my research today that 2yr old girls may not want to wear wings. I had thought a couple pictures and the ceremony weren't too much to ask. Now I'm worried that the girls won't keep them on long enough for pictures, which would be so sad. I mean am I just kidding myself with this idea? They'll have the flower wreathes, dresses, tights and shoes without considering wings. If they're attached with elastic Riley won't last more than 10min. Hmmm...

Glass Slipper?

Knowing now I'll have my dress in a few weeks, I revisited my shoe options. These were my favorite a few months ago:

I still like them, but besides being more than I want to spend I discovered that they are not avaialble in my tiny size. I decided to check girl's shoes instead of women's. I found these:

These are half the cost and just as pretty. They can be ordered in my size and come in:Off White, Lilac, White, Silver, Navy, Pink and Beige. I'd get them without the flower on the toe of course, but upon further reading these have cloth souls are not meant as street shoes. I know it'll mainly be grass and the dance floor, but that worries me.

I should probably investigate a more supportive opinion, but I adore ballet slippers. I also found this:

Something blue? I know I've got a whole thing going on with green, but these sure are pretty. Upon reflection of my original intenion to do ivory or champagne I couldn't think of a reason not to go with color. I'm far more likely to wear a colored ballet flat again then an ivory lace up ballet slipper. A regular ballet flat would give me some stability. Then I found these.

Honestly, are they too much? I don't think they'll be seen too much under the dress. I'll wear them after the wedding all the time. Feedback is welcome.

Women and Children First

Apparently, some time last week my bridesmaids dresses came in. I found the letter in a pile of junk mail. I was told to expect them in January so this a nice surprise. I sent a text out for the girls to go pick them up and let me know when they have them. I haven't seen them in the right color (emerald dupioni silk) yet so I'm so excited.

With the kids attire all done (minus fairy wings) and bridesmaids dresses in it's starting to feel a lot more real. Any minute now I'll be getting married, which is hard to imagine this week with my broken hip. So, that's the women and children. Now we just have to nail down the men and we're all dressed. Woah.

Speaking of dresses I'm going to be making the final payment on my dress and hopefully receiving it right around Christmas. Can you imagine?!? The year is almost over which means the year I'm getting married in will be starting any minute.

I can't wait for all the girls and kiddos (including me) to try on their clothes. I'll probably share some pictures of the kids and the bridesmaids dresses in the right color, but I don't think I want to post any of me wearing my actual dress. Yay!

Puttin' On the Ritz: Kiddo Edition

Fairy Flower Girls

Ring Bearer

Head To Toe: Maids

So, my girlies are pretty much set as well. For my attendants I went less whimsical and more classic 1950's. I fell head over heels for their dress and It's another part of my style as it were, so there you go.

Hair
It's called a chignon, apparently. I thought since I was doing half up with flowing curls it would be a nice contrast for them to wear their hair up. I want it low like this picture, but perhaps a bit messier. Maybe making a crisscross of hair above the beginning of the fold. Maybe some tendrils? It's going to look so nice with their dress.

They'll all have one of these in their hair on the side. It'll unify all the girls' dos since 3 will have their hair up and MOH's hair is too short for the chignon. They'll also have anemone wrist corsages and be carrying antiqued lanterns with anemones and dark green fern leaves instead of bouquets. My original wedding colors were black, white and emerald and it lives on in the maids.

Make-up

My beauties all opted to do their own and I trust them to be radiant.

Jewels
This is the necklace the girls agreed on. It's got a touch of classic style with the pearl and a some whimsy with the leaf. I really like it and I hope they all wear it again after the wedding. I gave them free reign for any other accessories they want.

Dress

It's Jim Hjelm Occasions style 5007. It's dupioni silk and tea length. We ordered it in emerald. So pretty. Much more fun than the plain strapless black dresses I was initially looking for. They should be in by January. I can not wait to see them in the right color.

Shoes

I found these at Payless. Don't you love a little sparkle on a shoe? I'm very tiny so I insisted on flats and when I found these I let the girl choose the color they wanted. They all got black. So, all the girls will be head to toe black, white and dark green. I'm certain their shoes will get worn again. There's nothing like a simple black flat.

Ta-da, again!

Head to Toe: Bride

So, I've almost got the whole wedding day look together. My exact dress isn't done yet and I'm going to get all my undergarments when I have my dress. So let's start at the top and work our way down:

Head Piece
In lieu of a veil I'll be rocking this headband and probably for part of the honeymoon. It's so pretty. Yay!

My Hair
I want a more upscale version of this. I had my hair down in loose curls here. I'd want my hair half up, possibly a Juliet style halo braid with my headband threaded through it. Lots and lots of loose curls falling down my back. Yay, Rapunzel hair.

Here's the right braid placement. Here's the right style curl-wise. It's Cinderella's stepsister from Ever After with my face (thanks Mike). It works well on me, right. On an emotional note I completely intended to have this hair style for High School Graduation, but right before Prom I cut all my hair off like a dope. Hence refusing to loose any length in the locks since the official engagement. Yay princess hair!

Make-up
I found a nifty make-up tool on Brides.com this look is very close. I couldn't get the lip color right, bah. Anyway, light fresh powdery foundation, peach toned blush and maybe a light pinkish glossy lip. I am really unsure about lip color, though. I could also go Hollywood glam red lips if I found the right shade. Dramatic eye for sure. Dark eyeliner and fun eyeshadow. Long dark lashes. Any suggestion is more than welcome. Now I see the need for hair and make-up trials.

Jewels
Necklace:
So, pretty! Matches my engagement ring and I'll wear it tons after the wedding. I originally had my heart set on pearls, but this one called to me while I was ring shopping.

Earrings
TBD. I was originally going to borrow my mom's sapphire earrings for my something blue. That was when I thought I'd be wearing pearls, but if I wear an emerald necklace and have green on my dress I don't think they'll work. On top of which I learned your something borrowed is supposed to be an item from a friend or family member, whose good fortune in marriage is supposed to carry over to the new bride. Unfortunately, that also means I'm back to square one for my something blue. I'm open for suggestions on all that too.

Dress

Here's the design my dress is based on. It will be ivory and champagne in the same material. My skirt will be a little messier. I will not have the rose, ick. Instead I'll have some emerald blingy thing not sure exactly what. Light and flowy (for style, theme and practical reasons). I love the lace at the hem and that it doesn't have a train. So pretty! I can't wait to put it on.

Shoes

Ballet slippers that tie on the leg. I haven't decided whether they should be ivory or champagne. I love the lace on these.

Ta-da!