Rolling Along...

I asked for a dress update today. She said:
Yes, I have updates, in the car can't get to Etsy right now, but your lace should be in my hand by tues, the store had to order some b/c they didn't have enough of the one I liked. But I think the entire thing will be ready to ship out end of this month.
Yay! I'm so excited. I was feeling some serious dress envy for my bridesmaids. My sister got her dress shipped today, but nobody local has said anything yet about picking up dresses. I hope we all love them in the proper color. I wish I could go pick them all up and deliver them, but I'm not healed enough for driving yet. It just occurred to me typing this that they might hate them. I just thought in their actual sizes and with such great fabric we couldn't go wrong.

I also got a message that the flower girl dresses will be here Monday! Fast shipping. I can't wait for the girls to try them on. Hurray! It's always weird to me when I push, push, push and then step back and things start falling into place. I researched, planned, organized and then I let go. Now, things are moving along. I've heard people talk about being bored during parts of wedding planning, but I haven't experienced that at all. I've been busy or less busy planning never bored. More accurately I've been more distracted by life or less distracted. Right now healing from hip surgery trumps all and somehow progress is still being made on the planning. I must be blessed.

On top of that, my cake topper FINALLY came in. It's been back ordered since July! I completely lost faith I’d ever get it. Turns out all I had to do was stop obsessively checking whether it was in stock. Who knew? I ordered it tonight.

I was browsing Etsy's wedding stuff and I found this store that does amazing custom cake toppers (Anna Crafts), but they were $180-200. Which made me think about how lovely (and affordable) my pick was. So I checked and it was in. Such exciting news today.

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!

Bridal Style Meets Katie Style

I think most wedding dresses are hideous. I have seen first hand that the thrift stores are a flood with yellowing 80's wedding dresses that you wouldn't look at twice unless you needed a Halloween costume to coat in fake blood. Wedding dresses just seem to date themselves quickly. I've certainly figured out a few things about my previously non-existent style in this process.

I think there are a lot of things that look amazing on other girls that I just don't like on me. Like antique buttons:

Maybe if I wasn't so short I'd have a different opinion, but I hate them. In general I'm opposed to fussy impractical garment embellishments. The sight of that makes my fingers ache. In my book they're right up there with fake pockets. You know the ones they sew into skirts that look like a pocket, but aren't. Ridiculous.

You've caught on by now that I am not a fan of excessive beading either. My bodice is a great example:

Before there was way too much for me.

Now it's much better. Cleaner and the eye goes to the main decorative element without being overwhelmed.

I don't like form fitting silhouettes. I feel like on me it just emphasizes my short stature and makes me look boney. Which isn't very feminine. I just don't feel sexy in something like that.

Beautiful on her, not so much on me. It would probably be a whole other ball game if I could walk in heels. At least two brides I know with similar builds to me pulled this silhouette off spectacularly, but I just don't feel pretty in something like this. Maybe it's all the fairytales, but I prefer a pincessier cut.

Last on my list of dislikes was the most confusing to the bridal consultants at the dress shops. I hate trains. Dragging extra fabric behind me, pass. I thought they all looked better bustled, but a bustled train is heavy. I wanted it hacked right off.

All that fabric designed to drag on the ground sounds like stains and missteps waiting to happen. Again, it might have appealed a little more if I had better balance and was planning an indoor ceremony. I can just see someone stepping on my train and then bride down!

Now that the picture's getting clearer I'll tell you what I love. Anything, fairy or ballerina inspired like tulle and a little bit of sparkle. Like my soon to be shortened reception dress:

This a good example of tulle and a little sparkle as well as bare shoulders. What can I say? I'm a Florida girl who's always had to rely on my upper body heavily. I love to have bare shoulders!

I'm pretty girly, but also (not just for the sake of being so, but because I truly am) unconventional. I like color on a wedding dress. This is what really got my wheels turning on the subject:

Amazing dress. I always describe it to people who haven't seen it by saying it looks like she waded through a pool of Kool-Aid. It also has my other favorite touch, a little asymmetry. Beautiful.

I enjoy a sparing use of lace or appliqué. If I had had an unlimited budget for a dress I would had bought this one:

It doesn't hurt a bit that it was inspired by Disney's Sleeping Beauty. If Mike didn't get a vote I'd have pursued a Disney wedding. I've decided it's ok because we'll just renew our vows there ten or so years down the road.

Last but not least, I love a simple sophisticated 50's silhouette. It's probably because I love Audrey Hepburn and am similarly built. How can anyone not love this:

Girly and fun without being to fussy. Hopefully I'll be able to weed out all the elements I don't want and incorporate all the ones I do between the two dresses on a budget.

Deflating

I was full of potential, hope, possibility, enthusiasm and things to say. Until today, today feels a little less upbeat. I did not check any wedding to do's off of the checklist today. It's sad because there were some big one's looming. I lost my computer, in the dearly departed sense not the misplaced way. Which meant no emails, no wedding message boards, no research and no blogging until now.

How did people plan large scale events before the internet? I didn’t spend the day pouting or anything. I showed my mom the finished bodice of my ceremony dress, in person, today and I'm pretty sure she was amazed. I certainly am.

Before:

After:

I like it so much better this way. That excess stuff was overcrowding the beautiful detail work. Beyond that decision I made from day one with absolute certainty and the ruching detail I'm adding to the skirt I haven't the foggiest, how this dress will end up.

I should feel relief that my wishes were so swiftly and expertly carried out (and I do!), but I'm still feeling lost in a land of too many choices. I'm also feeling a lot of guilt for my inability to sew, for sure. There are now two wedding dresses and two flower girl dresses under my direction on other people's to do lists. So, like I said I feel deflated today. I wish I had some triumph equal to the bodice completion to announce blogside, but I just have a growing sense of impatience at all the things I can't do yet.

Maybe I'll eat a cookie give myself a little wedding planning pep talk and get back on the horse tomorrow.

Project Dress, Overwhelmed Bride

I went out in search of a second dress for the reception. Something short and pretty. Mike (who thought "everyone had two dresses.") asked I keep to a budget, but I was sure that wouldn't be a problem. So, Friday Lara and I hit a thrift store I'd never been to just to "see if they had anything I could use".

You won't believe me, but lightening struck twice. It wasn't a sample dress this time it was pre-worn, but it was beautiful! I walked right over and said that one. This time it was 75% off so it was well within budget at $30! Unlike last time it wasn't one size too big, but many, many sizes larger than my frame.

Here's the tulle spilling out of the dressing room:

Pay no attention to the dress beneath the curtain! And speaking of The Wizard of Oz don't I look like G'linda?

Ballerina Pose!

It's a whole lot of dress!

So, the plan is to separate the bodice from the skirt and then shorten the skirt. There's no way to make the bodice fit so we'll have to decide whether to use the bodice from the other dress or find a new one. In the mean time we have yards and yards of tulle for the flower girl dresses! I also, found a pattern for those so the "test dress" should be underway in the next two weeks. Hurray!

Here's something like what I'm looking for with dress number two, if only everyone could afford Vera Wang...

Simple, suggestive of a ballerina without looking like a recital costume.

Not as frilly up top as this, but this length or a touch longer so I can sit.

Overall I'm thrilled that both dresses are underway, but when you basically start from scratch the possibilities can be overwhelming. It seems like it would be liberating and for the most part I have a clear idea of what I want, but every time I decide on a detail, I worry. Now I have two wedding dresses worth of decisions to make. The main issue now is the bodice of the second dress. It seemed like a no brainer to use the bodice from the first dress. That was until I picked a very white dress for my second dress. My first dress is ivory and when you lay the fabric next to each other it looks yellow. Lara offered to darken the white fabric with tea to match, but I felt uneasy.

I was already tearing this beautiful dress to pieces. If I had that machine from Honey, I Shrunk The Kids I would shrink it down and shorten the skirt and be perfectly happy. Beggars can't be choosers and so we will use the skirt taken in and up. The rest will be used for flower girl dresses. Breath in, breath out one decision at a time. I hope it all turns out as beautiful as I imagine it. I guess I can understand why those rich girls on Say Yes to the Dress are always such a basket case when they go for their fittings.

Dress Update: Making the Dress Work for You

Remember this bodice with all the sprinkles? It was pretty over embellished in my opinion. I loved the swirly bit that reminds me of a Celtic knot, but it was over crowded. Before:

Here's the front as designed by Alfred Angelo

Here's the back as Designed by Alfred Angelo

So, for anyone who thinks you can't have a custom dress I say $75 designer dress (from Goodwill) plus gentle application of exact-o knife. Brace yourself, here's what it looks like now:

Here's the front as re-designed by the bride and de-sprinkled (1/2 way) by my future sister in law.

Here's the back as re-designed by the bride and de-sprinkled by my FSIL.

So much better, right. Told you not to worry, Mom. We have plans to add some color in some where too. It's going to be beautiful and just wait until we get through with the skirt!

What to Wear....

Let's talk about the dress, shall we? I thought it would be simple because I knew exactly what I wanted. Let me tell you, wedding dress shopping and simple don't exist in the same universe. I wanted an ivory ballgown with a fitted bodice and a floor length skirt with ruching on one side and no train. Something like this:

I decided finding a dress was priority number one because whatever I bought would need a lot of alterations. I had high expectations for dress shopping. I brought Mike (told you, I'm non-traditional) and his sister who's one of my bridesmaids. She bought her camera and got some beautiful pictures. The sales lady was skeptical about my budget, my far off date and my size. I was struck with dread as I browsed the plastic bags hanging on the racks. They all looked poofy, over complicated, and a few sizes too big.

The sales lady was rather troll-ish in stature, demeanor, and appearance. I asked her if she had any dresses without trains and she looked at me like I had three heads. After a long pause I was informed that she didn't have any samples like that, but any dress could be altered that way (with a tone that implied I was nuts). Here's the three dresses closest to what I was looking for at David's Bridal in summer 2008.

Dress One: Very plain bodice with a green sash and tons of ruching.

Dress Two: Sparkly bodice, less dramatic ruching on skirt.

Close-up on dress two. This is by far favorite picture of the day. I look like a princess who was just asked to dance.

Dress three: Boning and embroidery on bodice and full ruched skirt. This one made me cry. I also like the veil with tiny pearls in it.

Needless to say, I didn't buy one that day. I continued my search that summer at a more upscale boutique, but still came a way empty handed. The old adage about finding things when you aren't looking for them held true for me:

I was at the thrift store on half price day and among my treasures I had a wedding planning book. One of the employees of the store saw the book and informed me they had wedding dresses. Familiar with the usual yellowing 80's atrocities hanging in the dress section, I nodded dismissively. She sensed my hesitation and added "a boutique went out of business and donated all their remaining stock." I perked up, but what were the odds two wedding dress retailers with thousands of dresses didn't have anything, but Goodwill did?

I meandered over to check the rack and found this beautiful Alfred Angelo dress in the right silhouette in a small-ish size. It was marked WAY down and half price so I figured even if it wasn't perfect it was a good starting place for alterations or at least good material in the worst case scenario.

The dress.

Closeup on the bodice.

The back.

I have pictures of me in it, but I'll save those for before shot when I get into the alterations. I love the design on the bodice that looks like a Celtic knot, but there are too many sequins. Also, the train has got to go and I need a bit of green somewhere. Love the raw potential.