Measured! Dress Appt. #2

This Saturday the MOH and I went to my dressmaker's so I could finally be measured for my dress! I have to say, I love my dressmaker already. She's so awesome. Funny, nice, smart...you name it. I'm so excited to get this ball rolling!

The next step is that they'll make a muslin for me, which will take about a month and a half, and then I'll come in again and they'll make adjustments. After that they cut fabric! My dressmaker says that she's not concerned about me losing more weight; I guess it's not a large enough amount (like 100 lbs or something) to make her worry about it. I told her I was going to keep losing until she tells me to stop it.

Of course while I was in there I ran into my friend M., who is the lovely lady that sold me my wedding shoes and who's getting married a month before I am. She was there to try on her muslin for her dress. Small world!

I also was very weak and bought a feather fascinator while I was there. No, not for the wedding. It's a gorgeous set of ostrich plumes in pink and mauve and burgundy. Sigh. Once I put it on, I was done for! The MOH also bought a skirt and a top. That shop is trouble.

Speaking of fascinators, I did choose one:


I realized that the black flower with the rhinestone center was $80 all by itself; the veil was separate. That's just crazy. No flower is worth $80, in my opinion. So I took a chance on this feathered beauty that was a fraction of the cost; I thought, well, if it's not the right color, I know I'll wear it for something else. But I got it yesterday, and Mr. T, the color expert, deemed it close enough (I have a swatch of my dress fabric at home, but that's all he's allowed to see)! So I think I'm set, except for a birdcage veil. One of my friends thinks she has some extra netting she can give me, and if so, and if the MOH and I can rig something pretty, we're golden! Now I just need to schedule a hair trial...

Fascinate Me!

Holy crap, the wedding is (fewer than) 4 months away and I have no idea what to wear on my head!

Well, I have some idea. After my initial love affair with tiaras I decided it was probably much more "me" to wear a fascinator (flower, feathers, or both) with or without a birdcage veil.

Some searching on Etsy turned up these beauties. How do I decide? You must help me.

I think this flower is silk? I like that it has a veil attached, although I'm not sure about wearing a flower at the top of my head and it doesn't look like you can reposition it. Also, I'm hoping you can detach the veil because I don't think I'll want to wear it all night.


This is another flower/veil combo. The Etsy listing did show this one in various positions on the model's head, so I wouldn't need to commit to having a big flower on top of my head. However, this one breaks the bank at $120!


I love this one, but it's also expensive, I think $80? Still, the rhinestone center is great, and there's something very appealing about the veil across the eyes only.


I wasn't even considering hats, but I ran across this one and I kinda love it! Still, I probably won't do a hat. But isn't it great?


These last two are my faves, I think. First, rhinestone buckle loveliness:


Second, sexy flamenco red and black hotness:


Purrrrrrr.
I would have to buy a birdcage veil separately if I went for either of the last two. Or, I could just go without the veil. I'm not sure.

Which one do you like? Help a girl out!

Do I need this?

Adorable birdcage net veil from Tigerlilly, available in red, 25% off if I order by 4/30 and enter the code Bee25.

Do I need this? It's adorable, but, is it worth the $34 I would pay after the discount? (Peacock feather clips sold separately.)

I think that I'm asking the question speaks volumes...it's cute, but no 5-inch piece of mesh is worth $34. I think. Sigh.

Forewarned

Someone asked me what I would do if someone came in costume as a bride to our wedding, in the big white dress and veil that I won't be wearing. I thought that would be hilarious, but I also thought, "wow, when the vendors start wanting checks, I can just send them to "the bride"." So, be forewarned. If you come as a bride, you're footing the bill, and dealing with drunk guests, and handling any other irksome details. I'll just be the guest in the fabulous red dress.

Speaking of dresses, I found this one courtesy of Offbeat Bride. To paraphrase the MOH, there's nothing I don't like about this dress. Or this bride!






I can't even tell you how much I covet this dress. It's gorgeous! And she wore a black veil! I also believe the rabbit pictured was their officiant. Love it.

I have been researching the 50's crinoline-enhanced skirt as a perhaps more affordable alternative to the 80-foot train. I found some cute examples on Stephanie James' site (and I love how she did a photo shoot in the Neon Sign Museum!). Picture these skirts in red with a red corset top. I like how this design makes the waist look tiny, plus you still get some leg, which (I hope) negates the wideness of the skirt...I don't want to look like a bell, or like I'm 100 feet wide; I'm hoping more for kitschy and fun, and "wow, you look tiny!":








The following dress would probably not look cute on me at all (too many segments calling attention to all the wrong areas), but I liked it anyway. Doesn't it suck how that happens?


This dress was from a different site (as you can see). Again, I liked the small-waisted effect but no way could I do a halter top (or strapless for that matter)! I also thought the skirt had volume without being too poofy...perhaps a solution for the "too wide" dilemma (although I do want an element of drama, since it's my wedding dress and all!).


And finally, also courtesy of Offbeat Bride, another girl after my own heart. She wore killer heels for the ceremony but changed for dancing. I am totally bringing my red Converse as backup shoes after seeing this adorable photo!

Bucking Tradition

It will be no surprise to you that I'm not going to go for a lot of the wedding day traditions. As I've told Mr. T, this is our day, and it should be about us. He wasn't sure if he wanted a ring or not, but felt that he needed one for the "mandatory" ring exchange on the day. I told him, "If you don't want one, don't get one. This is your wedding." Ultimately he decided he'd get a ring, but an inexpensive one, and he'd only wear it sometimes. (I teased him, "You know, women look at men's hands..." He said dryly, "Believe me, they're not beating down my door now, and I don't have a ring." I told him I didn't believe it.)

Here are the things I'm pretty sure we aren't going to do on the day:

• No white dress for me.
• Probably no veil for me (unless I find a fabulous red lace mantilla veil that I must have).
• No diamond ring for me.
  
• No tux for Mr. T.
• No flowers in the reception hall (I'll post about decor later). I will carry a bouquet though, which brings me to...
• No bouquet toss. It's my bouquet, I want it! Also, why humiliate the women at the reception with this horrible game? "Okay, all the losers...I mean single women...come up here and scrabble desperately...I mean try to catch the bouquet." No thanks. My single ladies are gorgeous and fabulous and I love them. I was thinking of having my bouquet made into a painting, actually. I like the idea of keeping it in our household, but in a nontraditional way.
• No garter toss. I actually found a few cute Halloween garters (below), but again, I think it's really in poor taste to have your groom all up in your business while your friends and family watch. WTF?

• Not getting married in a church. We're happy heathens.
  
• Non-traditional officiant. We don't know who will be our officiant, but they will likely be ordained by the Universal Life Church.
• Photos taken before the ceremony. Actually, we haven't officially decided this yet, but I think it's hard on the guests to be left cooling their heels while you're doing a photo shoot. So I'm going to push for a pre-ceremony shoot. My brother and sister-in-law did this and I thought it was brilliant.

And of course there's the most non-traditional part of all of this, which is that we're having a Halloween costume wedding.

We haven't decided what we're going to do about other traditions, such as the first dance. I suggested to Mr. T that we learn the "Thriller" choreography and do that as our first dance. He laughed and started doing the infamous zombie dance part (you know the one), which made me laugh. See? He makes me laugh.

We will definitely have guest favors, but with our own spin on it.

I do like the "something old, new, borrowed, and blue" tradition, so I think I will keep that one. Apparently the original saying ended, "And a sixpence for your shoe" (for luck), but no way am I putting a coin in my shoe. I would like to incorporate a sixpence another way, if I think of a suitable idea.

As I mentioned earlier, I don't mind doing the "cake cutting" with our cupcakes. There will be NO smashing of cake into the face, however. (Mr. T, are you reading this?)

I like the idea of bride and groom gifts--stealing a sweet moment the day of or night before the ceremony to give each other a thoughtful gift. Speaking of that, some of the brides on the blogs have mentioned stealing a little time alone together directly after the ceremony (like 10 minutes or so) to let the impact of being married sink in, and have some alone time, before joining folks at the reception. I like that too.

I'm excited to create something that reflects us! I hope our guests will enjoy it too.