Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem. However, there was one bridesmaid, all the groomsmen, the groom… they were missing. Like literally, no-one-knew-where-they-were-missing. That’s not what I was looking for at the time.

Fine. Take a breath. Move on. I gathered up the bridesmaids I had and headed over to my parents. Did I mention I forgot to feed them?

DON’T DO THAT!

First, it’s just rude.

But, it also lead to people getting hungry (reasonably so, I’m not daft). Which lead to eating really, really quickly at my parents place before getting ready. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but remember that two needed showers. Plus hair, make up, dresses… Yeah.

Well, we made it upstairs and into the bathroom to begin the process.

Now, this is how you know I’m not a normal bride. Well, I’m sure other brides do this, but you don’t hear of it.

I helped with hair and make up on one of my ‘maids before doing my own. And might I say… she looked hot!

“Now, shake your head like this!”

We also don’t believe in privacy.

While we were upstairs, Chet was downstairs with his groomsmen. I have no idea when they showed up, but they did, and they got ready. They were also at the venue way before we were too.
Cursed make up.

Once all the ladies looked like their glamorous selves, they went in and signed the bottom of my shoes. I loved it!

(Obviously)

Then, it was my turn. By the way, it’s about 1:45 now. Whoops.

I chose to do my own make up and hair out of frugality.
I also wanted something simple. (I looked gorgeous, by the way!)

Close ups of the dress… Our poor photographer had hell with the dress. It’s white, and all he had to work with was a white background, so there aren’t really any great shots of the full dress — until it’s on me, duh!

I’m sure she had said something snarky here.

And into the dress I go.

“Shake your head” and “shower curtain” are credited to Lindsey Speights.
All other credit goes to Thomas Boydston

Options:

1. I have this great bun thing that I do a lot. It’s comfortable, easy to do, and cute.
2. I’ve also been playing with curling my hair, since it’s so stinking long.
3. I’ve seen some really cute braid like up do’s recently too.

Perhaps I’ll do something with all three?

I’m just playing with my hair currently trying to come up with something. My guess is I won’t have a decision until you see me walking down the aisle (or the pictures hehe).

Okay, that’s a little bit intense. But now people like Vera Wang and NYT Fashion critic Cathy Horyn are criticizing strapless dress wearing brides. New York Magazine has an opinion too.

Blogs are weighing in. And the comments are screaming I WANT A DRESS WITH SLEEVES!!!

This bothers me. As if brides don’t have enough pressure to look absolutelyperfectfortheirbigday, we are now telling them that they HAVE TO HAVE sleeves. And how dare you consider wearing a sleeveless dress.

I thought Ms. Trump looked sensational in her lace dress. It was the sleeves. We’re so used to seeing brides in strapless dresses that Ms. Trump’s gown made a fresh statement. Maybe she’ll have an influence on brides.

I’m glad she looked stunning. I’m so glad that look worked for her. I don’t think it works for everyone. Just like strapless doesn’t work for everyone. I don’t think you need to be worrying about what other brides wear becuase they are comfortable. I don’t need your influence.

Ugh.

For the record, her dress was quite pretty.

See?

As a side note: it’s being passed around that the sleeves were added becuase the happy couple was married in an Jewish Orthodox tradition. In which you have to have sleeves. There is no choice.

Which, incidentally is 22 days away. [insert panic attack.... here]

Let me tell you, they picked such lovely amazing dresses. And that I feel so unbelievably confident in my decision of letting them do that. I’m not going to lie to you, dear readers, for a while there I was a bit nervous. Especially when we were a couple of months out and no one had purchased their dresses.

Each of them are probably going to quite happily kill me when they see these up, but I don’t particularly care. I’m the damn bride.

Pros to letting them buy their own dresses:

1. Without sounding too 27 Dresses-esqe it is legitimately something they can wear again because they picked out something that they felt flattered their bodies.
2. It’s a great little party black dress, and every girl needs one of those.
3. They bought within their price range.

Cons

1. My inner control freak died a bit letting them pick out their own dresses.
2. I didn’t get to help anyone pick out a dress, which was something I had really looked forward to.
3. There isn’t a lot of uniformity, outside of the black tea length (or is it cocktail?) dress.

Take what you want from that list. I am so pleased with how it has turned out. I know they will all be stunning when it comes, just as they are on a regular basis.

Now, I need to find my dress…

The ties for the wedding came in!

One of my favorite things about ordering from Etsy.com is the packaging. Everything is uniquely wrapped, and I love it.

Chet was really excited about his tie.

We think that these ties totally don’t suck.

This is what we ordered:
1 groom tie Peacock: crimson tie/butter ink
6 groomsmen microfiber neckties, Peacock: butter tie/crimson ink

Now, Chet just needs to make the cufflinks for his guys, and they will be set!

It’s lovely. It needs no alterations. It fits like a glove with no need to purchase special undergarments.

It’s $507.18.

God, I want it.

Here’s to hoping I can get the money together or find another, better dress.

Oh no. ohnoohnoohnoohnoohnoohnoohno

My aunt very kindly made it for me and shipped it out to me two weeks ago. TWO WEEKS AGO!

It’s not here, and we aren’t totally sure where it is.

This is not good.

I’m actually not freaking out that much currently. On Saturday I am going to hope over to David’s Bridal and see what I can find and figure out if I can pay for it.

And hopefully my handmade, lovely dress will show up.

*erm, Huntsville would be more fitting

Anyhow, I want red shoes. I’m not really sure why. I haven’t seen the completed dress or anything else. I’m not sure where my veil is. Or my hair piece. I don’t have any of the jewelry I want to wear. I just have the shoes I bought.

These, actually:

But, I want red shoes.

Like these

or these. I really like these.

Sadly, I cannot afford said shoes. They’re $50 and I have no coupons or anything. But, if I did… oh, if I did. I would totally buy them.

Oh…

Oh dear…

This is lovely. And that color is fabulous.

I wish I had found this before I told my bridal brigade to pick their own dresses.

Sigh.

From: JCrew

This week has been busy with purchases from Etsy making their way to my house. I often wonder what the mailman thinks of these packages. I received my bridesmaids gifts, and I am so pleased with them. Really, I am pleased with everything I’ve received, but I am really excited to gives these out. Sadly, you do not get to have photos as I am trying to keep them under wraps from now. You’ll see them in about 160 days, have no fear.

I also received the shoes that I was considering using for the wedding. While they are adorable, I just don’t think that they are what I am going for. So, I headed over to DSW and looked for a pair. This wonderful young lady helped me try on shoes, and didn’t laugh too hard when I almost busted my butt in front of her by tripping. Despite that, I found them!

Try to tell me those aren’t cute! And they are perfect for my dress, trust me, I checked.

Finally, my veil came in today! And it is just as perfect as I thought it would be. Would you like to see?

See, you can see the facisnator and the veil. That, too, looks great with my dress. I checked.

If you’re wondering, I am planning on wearing my glasses for the wedding. I feel naked with out them, and am not a fan of contacts, though I own them. So, glasses it is.

Trying it all on today felt so good, and so real. I just twirled in front of our mirror and smiled. Despite everything else, I will be marrying the man of my dreams, and I couldn’t be more excited.

I would also like to tell everyone how much I have spent on my wedding ensemble.

Fabric for dress: $117.29
Veil and fascinator: $50.00
Shoes: $43.25
Wrap: $15.80
Total: $226.34

I am so proud of that. I really am. I had set aside $300.00 for the dress, only, so to spend $230 for all of it makes me happy. Now, I will say that I am very lucky that my aunt is creating the dress for me, so I won’t be paying for labor, and that is a huge help. However, I think that I deserve every right to be proud of how little we spent on this.

Now, I am off to pack for the weekend. I am meeting Chet’s father’s family… and I’m a little nervous. Wish me luck!

I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend, and gets to celebrate the fourth however they want!!