Hairy Flower

126 days

Currently working on: pocketfolds (112/130 done)
                                   ceremony programs (50/200 done)

Sweet relief! Pre-Cana is done and over with and we never have to go back again! I'm not going to rant about how much a I hated it (a lot) but I will say that it did absolutely nothing for me. I don't want to dwell on the boring and painful, though, so let's move on to other things.

My hair piece came in! It is GORGEOUS! I am so happy that I ordered it from Etsy since the one I got from Claire's looks like crap compared to this one! Here's a picture:

We also sent back the ring we had originally ordered Matt and ordered the new one from Jared that he wanted. Here's a picture of it:

I got another brooch in! It's for Shannon's bouquet so now I only need one more for hers and I'll be able to finish it! Another picture:

Yesterday, we got a bunch of packages in as well, but I didn't have the time or energy to write about them because of Pre-Cana. My dress for my shower from ModCloth came in! I tried it on last night before leaving and it fits! I'll need to get a slip from Gap to go under, but I love it and I'm so glad to have the return nonsense done and over with! Our dads' cufflinks and ushers' tie and cufflink sets also came in! You can see them here on our wedding website!

99 Problems and My Dress is One

131 days

Currently working on: pocketfolds (62/130 done)

I went to my trial alteration appointment after work today! I needed my dress hemmed and I wanted to do it early so I can order our mothers' corsages. Ana was really great and their prices are AMAZING! I'll be paying $130 for the hemming and between $50 and $75 if I need the bust taken in. In total, that's just what I was planning on spending: $200. It was weird, though, leaving my dress there and knowing I won't see it again until the end of April. I'm going then to try it on and make sure the hem is correct as well as seeing if the bust needs taking in. And more money-saving: Ana said that when the tulle is steamed, it will be quite a bit bigger so I don't need a slip!

I got in my after party dress and it didn't fit! I'm really surprised because I ordered the same size from them before and it fit perfectly. I'm going to send it back tomorrow to exchange for the next size up.

Another problem with another dress: ModCloth ran out of the Baklava Beauty dress in the size I need AGAIN, so my exchange couldn't be completed. So I ordered the Soda Fountain dress that I've wanted forever instead! It's about half the price and I only had to pay a little additional money since I was credited $35 for the exchange. (The other $50 was paid on a card so it's going back to my account.) I'm really happy and just praying that this one fits!

And, lastly, I messaged the Etsy seller who's doing the corsages telling her that I have the scraps from my dress. I'm hoping that I can send it to her soon and get the corsages made! Here's the picture from the listing, which I'm sure I've posted before. (Oh well.)

Blue Velvet

136 days

Currently working on: pocketfolds (62/130 done)

I sent back my shower dress on Monday and when I checked yesterday, it was out of stock again. I think I'm giving up on it but I've found another. It's ModCloth's Soda Fountain dress in Vanilla and I have been eyeing this style (they have it in 5 colors) for months. It will go really well with the orange heels so I don't have to worry about new shoes. However, I'm debating wearing it for our rehearsal instead and wearing the dress I got for that for the shower. I'll have to get opinions from my mom and some bridemaids to help me make up my mind. Here is the dress:

Speaking of which, I checked on the dress I wanted for the after party and it is also out of stock. I am the opposite of heartbroken, though, since it had lost some of its appeal of late. I found two really cute dresses on AX Paris that I liked that will go with the black and rainbow shoes, so I'm going to get one of those. Here are the two options (I'm leaning towards the first one):

I also finished the fifth newsletter! It's another short one, but most of what's happening right now isn't super noteworthy. But, without further delay, here's the blue issue.

I believe that is all that I have for now. If not, I'll post more later or tomorrow.

Shower Blues

140 days

Currently working on: pocketfolds (62/130 done)

Yesterday, I received my bridal shower dress in the mail...and it didn't fit. I'm sending it back today for the next size up which they will hopefully still have in stock!

I also got the black shoes that I ordered Monday from Delia's! They fit and are really cute! I can finally get rid of my old ones that are dirty and falling apart!

On a completely non-wedding related note, we had our apartment de-bugged yesterday. Well, the first round since they have to do two more. Thankfully, the next two times are a lot easier in that you don't have to do anything with clothes which was the biggest pain in the ass this time.

Sunday, Matt and I are meeting with our officiant, which I already mentioned. However, we are also going to meet with the wedding consultant for the chapel. We're also going to stop at the school's bookstore to see what they have that we can get for the welcome bags.

Today, though, I'm going to put away some clothes and relax until my Lia Sophia party tonight!

Shower Wear

I can't believe I forgot to mention...I ordered my dress for the bridal shower today! I got the Baklava Beauty dress and used my credit from the black disc dress so it was only $54! I can't wait for it to come in so I can try it on! And, of course, one more picture of the dress!

I also found a site that has smaller sized Pasminas for kids for only $14! I'm going to order a white one for Olivia so that she matches the rest of the girls!

Brooch Blues

149 days

Currently working on: pocketfolds (62/130 done)
                                   bouquet pearls (5/8 done)

I ordered my wedding dress label tonight! The money finally transferred to my Paypal account, so I put in my order on Etsy! It's a simple white piece of grosgrain ribbon with my initials and wedding date sewn into it. Here's the sample image that was on the listing:

I also ordered three more brooches for the bouquets which I have started working on again! I finished the pearls for Jess's bouquet and I'm going to start one of the other two. I'm determined to finish the pearls this weekend! Here are the brooches I ordered: the last one for Hannah's bouquet and two more for Jess's.

Hannah

Jess

Jess

I'm planning on buying my bridal shower dress tomorrow before it goes out of stock again, especially since the other one I liked is no longer available at all. I'll update on how that goes.

Planning Potpourri II

151 days

Currently working on: pocketfolds (62/130 done)
                                   frames (10/10 done)
                                   escort card sign letters (0/28 done)

Okay, here's the pictures that I left out my post yesterday.

The tote bags for the girls:

I finished the Meet the Maids and Moms frames tonight! I had the inserts printed at Walmart and picked them up today. They look really great! I still have to take pictures of them, so I'll post them later.

Matt and I are in the process of picking out which clutches we want to get for our mothers. When I have pictures of them, I'll post those, too.

I went onto ModCloth today and they have the Baklava Beauty dress back in stock! Sadly, they don't have the Bubblegum Poppies dress at all anymore, but that makes my decision a lot easier. (Let's hope they still have the Baklava one this Friday when I'll have the money to buy it.)

I started working on the escort card sign today. I bought the scrapbook paper today at Walmart and printed the letters. I'm going to start cutting everything out and gluing it.

I think that's all I have for now. If not, I'll either add on here or write a new post!

Orange Ya Glad?

156 days

Currently working on: pocketfolds (39/130 done)

I got my wedding shower shoes in today! They are AWESOME! I'm still on the fence about what dress I want to get, though. The Baklava dress (the original one I wanted) is out of stock in my size (they only have 1 small left) and I'm not sure if they'll even get more. The Bubble Poppies dress (the flowered one I also love) is on sale and in two of my favorite colors (orange and pink!). Both dresses go with the shoes, but I'm still not sure. I guess I'll wait until I have the money and see which is in stock.

I also bought white Avery labels for the escort cards from Walmart as well as more black paper for the invitaiton pocketfolds. I'm on a roll with them and they're amazing! Sadly, I still can't bring myself to work on the bouquets. Oh well.

Crayons of the Rainbow

162 days

Currently working on: pocketfolds (26/130 done)

I got my after party shoes in today! They are even more amazing in person! Love at first sight!

I also went to the mall today to grab some stuff for the bridesmaids (and our apartment - new placemats!) and flower girl. I got the bridesmaids each a pashmina for the ceremony. One of the kiosks at the mall was having a post-Christmas sale of 3 for $20. Perfect because I needed six (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple)! I also got a mini anti-bacterial for each girl for their clutch from Bath and Body Works (they were only 50 cents) in their color!

Tomorrow I'm going with my bridal party to order their dresses! (Cristina already ordered hers and Shannon and I are going a different weekend.) I'm so excited to get that done!

Planning Potpourri

165 days

This morning Matt sent out the package with my dress from ModCloth that I was going to use for the after party. I'll be getting a store credit that I can put towards the dress that I want for my shower. However, i ordered my shoes for the after party from the same site! I love, love, LOVE them and can't wait until they get here!

Matt finally got an email back from Joseph A. Bank about scheduling an appointment to look at tuxes. We are going to do it on January 14 after our consultation with the musicians from the chapel. It should be rather quick and painless since Matt basically knows what he wants (and their company has a build a tux program on their site that we used).

Matt and I ran some errands after we went to dinner tonight. We got some supplies at Michael's; more paper for the pocketfolds, Glue Dots, and the photo corners for the table menus. Then we went to Staples and they were...CLOSED. At 5 after eight, they were already closed so I have to go after work tomorrow to pick up the hard copy of my newsletter.

I also got a call earlier today from Alfred Angelo asking if I was coming to my 1 o'clock appointment this afternoon. I told the lady that I had an appointment for this Saturday; one for my bridesmaids to get measured and order their dresses and then one right after for my alterations. She said that the woman that does alterations isn't in except on Tuesdays and Thursdays. She was getting really rude about the whole ordeal even though I did absolutely nothing wrong. Long story short, I told her I'd reschedule and mine (no problem) and to knock off the attitude.

Reverse

I have decided that I'm returning the ModCloth dress that I had bought for the after party. Although I like it, I'm not going to keep it in hopes that I'll lose enough weight for it to look better. Plus, I have a great dress from Arden B that I wore for my birthday last year that will also go with the shoes that I want to get. (I've only worn the dress that one time, so it definitely needs to be worn again.) I'm sending the package back on Monday and getting a store credit that I'll put towards the shoes! (Or the Baklava dress I want for the shower/rehearsal dinner.)

But, for now, Matt and I are going to watch the 3rd season of Sons of Anarchy on Netflix! I'll post again next year!

Special Delivery

169 days

I came home to find a package in front of my door from ModCloth! In it was my a-maz-ing dress for the after party! I tried it on and it looks cute, but I'd ideally like to slim down a little for the wedding, so hopefully it will look a little better. Now all I need to do is order the shoes before they sell out in my size!

Here's Hoping

I just checked ModCloth to see if the shoes that I want for the after party are still available. They are, but they only have 3 pairs left in my size! I'm really nervous that by the time I have the money (Tuesday) they will be sold out! ModCloth usually restocks their items, but I'm afraid that because I want these shoes so badly it will be the one time they don't. We'll just have to wait and see...

And, of course, I again forgot to go to Staples to get my newsletters. Tomorrow, I will definitely be going. (I'm writing myself a note as I type.)

The Party After the Party

I bought my after party dress! It's the black one that was in my post from last night, but here's a picture anyway.

ModCloth was having a sale and it was already on sale, plus no tax and free shipping, so I only paid $36 for it! I can't wait to try it on (free returns/exchanges if it doesn't fit) when it comes in!

ModCloth

177 days

I've been prowling ModCloth lately because I LOVE their dresses (and most everything else of theirs) and I have finally figured out what I'm wearing for the after party! (Also for the bridal shower that my mom is hosting.)

I've gone through a million different options, but I finally found the winner...and the off white Grecian style dress I loved is what I'm wearing for the shower!

Here they are:

after party

bridal shower

Please Register Here

179 days

I'm currently going through our registry trying to weed out things that I want (or need) to buy before the shower/wedding. I've asked for a couple for Christmas, like a paper shredder, and I want to buy some others (blankets for the couch and loveseat) soon. I like that I used an all-in-one registry, but ever since they updated, I've been having SO many issues keeping it in the the order I want it. That's all really. Oh, except that I found these shoes and I need to buy them and use them for something:

The Brooches and the Bride

I ordered more brooches today and I also received some of the ones that I ordered in the mail!

I got the brooches from this post in the mail, with the exception of the first one (it shipped from a different seller). However, the one that looks orange in the picture is somewhere in between orange and red and won't look right with either bouquet, so I'm not going to use it. (I like it, so maybe I'll wear it but not for the wedding.)

As for the ones that I ordered, here are the pictures:

Jess

(to replace the one that wasn't really orange)

Jess

Shannon 

Hannah

Yesterday I hosted my Lia Sophia starter party (I'm going to start selling the jewelry) and I found earrings that I really want to wear for the wedding. I like the ones that I have, but these are prettier and I love the necklace that matches them. (That means I'll wear them after the wedding.)

Another note: Matt and I were looking at the rings that we had picked out months ago online and they no longer have them. They have replaced them with the exact same thing that is way more expensive. So we went searching for similar ones closer to the price of the originals and found some at Kay! They are only about $10 more than the first ones and are the same thing we were looking at! Now we just need to order them before they disappear too!

mine

Matt's

I also have another addiction: Pinterest. It took me a while to get on the bandwagon, but now I can't stop pinning things! I have gotten some great ideas looking through others' wedding boards, though!

This brings me to my last item: while looking through ModCloth for dresses to pin to my Fashionista board, I found this beautiful off white dress. I think I may buy this as my little white dress for the after party. It's not really clubwear, but it's so simple and I could definitely wear it afterwards (even after Labor Day). I found some amazing orange pumps from Alloy, too, that I think I'll get to go with it!

I think that about wraps up my ridiculously long post for now!