Recap: Closer to "I Do"

All images courtesy of Martin Studio Photography and video by 3 Blind Mice Productions.

After my crazy wedding morning, my sister and I pulled up to the church at 2:15 pm to find... my parents. No bridesmaids, no groomsmen, no hostesses, no coordinators, no makeup artist.

Normally, this would have made me a bit nervous. However, given the morning that I'd had, I didn't even care! I was just happy that I was there myself.

When I walked into the sanctuary, my nerves calmed even more. There was a funeral at the church that morning, so I knew that we might be cutting it close with the decorations. However, everything was beautiful!


After walking around and checking everything out, my bridesmaids started to arrive, then one of my hostesses showed up, and then my make-up artist/Ann Arbor big sister arrived -- soon the church was bustling with activity.

With about an hour until the ceremony, we had to get moving. The first step for me was make-up, and then my sisters, mom, and bridesmaids helped me get dressed:






Then my bridesmaids did their make-up and touching up:





Finally Lu called, and we said a prayer together over the phone:


Confession: I actually saw Lu before the ceremony. The door to the bridal lounge kept opening and closing as parents, coordinators, aunts, bridesmaids, etc. went in and out. He says that he didn't see me, but I could've sworn that we made eye contact for a millisecond. At that point we locked the door, and strictly limited who could come in/leave out.

Before I knew it, the coordinators were calling everyone out to line up. I hurried my make-up artist out of the door, so she wouldn't miss the entrance.

Then I was alone, such a surreal moment to go from a flurry of activity to silence. It's so weird to know that your wedding -- what you've prayed for, painstakingly planned, and dreamed about is going on in the next room. I took a few deep breaths, did some reflection, got teary-eyed, stopped reflecting, got bored, started pacing, heard a knock on the door, got ready to walk out, but it still wasn't time for me to go. Then I debated on making one last trip to the restroom, decided against it, and then the real knock came....

While I was doing my dressing/praying/breathing/pacing/reflecting, this is what was going on outside the bridal lounge:



Video also found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEd2MMaWS7A.

Read More

More Etsy Love

Etsy has been so great to me during the wedding planning process!

In earlier posts (under "attire" and "flowers"), I've mentioned how BellaFiore did our boutonnieres, corsages, and made me a matching purse for the wedding.

Now I have something else that's super-cool! (Yes, I said "super-cool." I'm really excited about this!!)

As a reminder of the vow that I'm making on October 16, 2010. I will be hanging my dress on my very own hanger that says, "Mrs. Brown" -- personalized, sentimental, and functional.

LilaFrances makes these personalized hangers, and they provide great photo ops for your wedding dress.  At $25 a pop, they aren't cheap. However, since this is one of the few items that I "had" to have, then I'm totally willing to swallow the cost.

After I received the hanger, I also thought of another great use for it: lingerie.

Not just on our wedding night, but I'll hang my lingerie on my "Mrs. Brown" hanger on the morning of every anniversary. That way Lu can imagine all day what I'll look like that night... not sure how enticing that image will be in 50 years, but it'll definitely help keep the spice in our marriage!

Read More

Journey to the Dress Lesson 6: Accessories Make the Ensemble

Through this week-ish, I've written all about the ups and downs of finding, purchasing, and altering my dress. So what's left?.... The fun part: accessories!

Lu and I are having a vintage-themed wedding, and our colors are yellow, burgundy, and orange. Needless to say, I was able to get a little creative with my accessories.

However, keep in mind, there's a fine line between "creative" and "costume." The dress, or dresses in my case, are the still the key to my bridal look. Everything else that I wear has to complement the dresses. If not, it'll just look like I tried too hard... and possibly failed.

I decided to keep it simple and classic, yet fun and funky, with the following accessories:

Jewelry: Classic diamonds and pearls earrings, necklace, and bracelet -- not too big or with a whole lot of bling, just a little sparkle

Veil: I originally wasn't going to wear one, but I ended up purchasing a short blusher veil to stick on the back of my head for the ceremony. (Yes, the blusher's supposed to be worn in the front, but who can tell the difference?) Then I fell in love with a vintage birdcage style veil with a feather fascinator.

The feather doesn't cover my entire head, but you get the idea.

Shoes: I'm so in love with my shoes that they got their own post.

Purse: I'm totally changing up my look for the reception, so that Lu and I can have some fun! I'm trading the veils in for a flower in my hair, and Bella Fiore from www.etsy.com, who did the corsages and boutonnieres for the wedding, was able to make me a custom clutch that pulls everything together.

Perfect for cell phone, lipgloss, and some ID!... Even if the cell will be turned off and my ID won't reflect my "real" name after the ceremony.

Hair and Makeup: Although these technically aren't accessories, they definitely can accent or destroy the entire look of the wedding. I'm not a fan of wearing my hair up in something fancy (brings back bad memories of the 90s when bobby pins and prostyle gel ruled) or back in a bun (which I do fairly often anyway). Lu likes this look:

SCOR Formal 2009

My hair's longer now, so I think it'd work if I did the curls a little looser. I'm not sure how well red lipstick would go over at a wedding, but I think it's beautiful -- not to mention that my teeth look extra white! Decisions, decisions.

Read More

Channeling My Inner Carrie Bradshaw

I'm not stylish.

Sure, I clean up nicely and am not a total wreck on a normal basis. However, people generally wouldn't think of me when they think trendsetter -- or even trendy.

My style is simple, classic, and comfortable with some random fun thrown in the mix. A cute purse, a nice scarf, a bright trench coat.... That's pretty much what I do to make it look like I've actually changed my wardrobe in the last five years.

It turns out that my "random fun" for our wedding is ironically pretty fashionable right now. My random wedding fun is these:

My pumpkin orange wedding shoes!

Front view of the shoes with two semi-finished bridesmaids bouquets.

Bridal shoes are boring and weird. The only time you can wear white pumps with rhinestones on them are a) as a bride and b) as a female Elvis impersonator. Since I won't be donning sideburns and singing "Hound Dog" anytime soon -- or ever -- then I wanted to do something a little more creative.

My sisters, one of my aunts, and my mother were a bit hesitant when I told them that I was wearing orange shoes. More accurately, one of my sisters remarked on the generational difference between us, my aunt suggested silver for a "funky but conservative look," and my mother laughed out loud because she thought I was joking.

When I told my mother that I was serious, she paused and said, "Well, it's your day. If that's what you like, then I support you."

Gotta love my mom.

My friends, on the other hand, were totally supportive from the beginning. One even told me that she'd definitely support me "pulling a Carrie Bradshaw."

These shoes kinda look like mine. :-)

Spoiler Alert: If you're not familiar with the first Sex and the City movie -- don't waste your time on the second, the main character plans a ridiculously elaborate wedding that's even covered in Vogue, only to get dumped at the altar. After she realizes that all of the glitz and glamour meant nothing compared to love, the real union takes place at the courthouse with Carrie wearing a simple white suit and a gorgeous pair of blue satin Manolo Blahniks.

Although I'll be wearing orange Bandolinos, instead of blue Manolos, I have no doubt that I will feel absolutely gorgeous.

Besides, nobody really sees your wedding shoes anyway, unless you show them off -- which I plan to when we jump the broom, toss the garter, and in creative photo-ops like the ones below.

Fast-forward 30 years, and I'm sure that colored shoes will die the same painful death as poofy sleeves. My daughter will probably look at me and wonder, "Why the heck did you do that, Mom?!"

Or who knows, she may wear a size 6 and want to make them her Something Old.

From Table 6 Productions

Read More

Wedding Party Attire

Bridal party attire is typically boring, uncomfortable, and generally unflattering overall... for everyone.

Let's start with the bridesmaids' shoes: When else is it acceptable for a woman under 60 to wear satin pumps that have been dyed to match the exact color of her dress?!

I can't do that to my bridesmaids! Not only am I axing satin dyeables, but they can even pick out their own style. I just ask that their shoes be bronze, and at least three of my six bridesmaids and both my maid and matron of honor already have a pair in that color.

Why bronze? Well, it's vintage, kinda funky, and more unexpected than silver, gold, or a burgundy that perfectly matches their dresses.

Blech!

Speaking of the dress, like most brides nowadays, I wanted my bridesmaids in a dress that was comfortable, stylish, and that my friends can wear again.... Unlike most brides, I didn't say this and then put them in something that was floor-length, poofy, and/or a metallic color. I'm not judging anyone, but there really is not another acceptable occasion to wear a full-length, taffeta, kelly green dress. Period.

I sent my girls a link with a few different dresses that I thought would flatter everyone's figure, and then I had them decide which one they liked the best. With six women, this could have potentially backfired.

However, I was strategic going in: no strapless or halters for the busty girls, something that wasn't too tight yet emphasized the waistline to draw attention to "good" curves, a dress with a little stretch to eliminate costly alterations, something tea-length for versatility, and a dress that was available in petite for my 5'4" and under girls.

I found several dresses that fit this semi-strict criteria, but most of them were at bridal boutiques. Although bridal boutiques have great dresses and some are chains with the convenience of having stores nationwide, I've found that almost everything has to be altered and almost nothing can be returned.

With these rules, it's not uncommon for a bridesmaid to drop $150 on a dress in a size that fits the "largest part of her body" and is made for someone 5'10", wait 10 weeks to get the dress, try it on, spend another $75 in alterations, wear it once, and then stick it in the closet forever... or try to sell it on Craigslist.

Instead, I decided to go with the Sophia dress from J. Crew. It's simple, elegant, flattering, and goes by "normal" dress sizes. On top of that, the dress ships in about two days and can be returned if it doesn't fit.

J. Crew's Sophia Dress in Vintage Burgundy

This dress was the top choice for four of my bridesmaids, and all six approved of it. I have no worries that they're going to wear it again. In fact, Ms. N even wanted to wear it to an event before the wedding! She changed her mind, but I'm excited that I picked a dress that doesn't scream, "Look at me! I'm a bridesmaid dress!"

Now on to the guys.... It took me hours to look through dresses, go into bridal stores, get my girls' feedback, and finally choose. It took Lu about 30 minutes in Men's Wearhouse to pick out something he liked that matched the dress.

While the guys' tuxes are pretty straightforward (black suit, burgundy vest, and matching bow tie), there was one accessory that Lu had to have... spectator shoes. While these shoes were fine for our inspiration board, I was a little wary about having the guys go with such atypical shoes in real life. Then I thought, what the heck? They should have some fun, too!

If this doesn't say vintage, then I don't know what does!

Read More