Done Dressing!

68 days

225 invited
99 attending
21 declined

Currently working on: favors (141/192 done)

RSVPs today:
-my mom's friend, Anne, her husband, Jerry, and her daughter, Avery (decline)
-my college friend, Emily, and her boyfriend Jeremy
-Matt's aunt, Lisa
-my coworker, Paula, and her husband, Frank

The skirt for my mom's dress came in today! Matt and I are going to pick it up tomorrow after work since we had other things to do tonight. That will be the official end of dresses! Now we all just have to have alterations done!

I was in the mall today to deposit a couple checks and saw that the old nail place that I used to go to had reopened under a new name! It looks nice and will be great for all our nail appointments the day before the wedding. I'll try it out this weekend and see if I can schedule our appointments.

Matt and I submitted our reservation to McFadden's for our after party after the reception. They'll be contacting him soon about it!

Ring-a-Ding-Ding

121 days

Currently working on: ceremony programs (100/200 done)

Matt got his ring in yesterday! It is SO much better than the other one and we are both really glad we exchanged them.

I finished Jess's bouquet!! I got the last brooch in today and so I finished the whole thing! I'm so excited to have another one done! Here are the pictures:

I also got my after party dress in! I have yet to try it on as Shannon is here hanging out, but hopefully it'll fit so I don't have to return it.

I also got an email from Vistaprint that our menu cards shipped so we can finally finish the invitations and send them out!!

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.)

It's All About the Accessories

135 days

Currently working on: pocketfolds (62/130 done)

I ordered a couple of things tonight! (Matt's Massachuestts tax refund came in and my federal is going in tomorrow.)

First, I ordered the dress that Jess helped me pick out for the after party! I found a coupon online for 20% off so I got it for less than it actually cost ($29.99) which was already the sale price! Here's the one I picked:

Second, I ordered my hairpiece for the wedding! I found one on Etsy from a seller (SarasBoutique) who isn't on vacation. (The shop owner of the original flower that I liked has been on vacation since before Christmas.) It was $17.50 including shipping and I love it! It's going to look amazing with my dress! Here is the sample photo from the listing:

And, lastly, I ordered my earrings for the wedding! I had bought a pair from Lia Sophia a few months back when I started selling it. I love them, but the new catalog had a pair EXACTLY like I had originally wanted. They were $20 with my discount and including shipping and they are absolutely perfect! (I had wanted a similar pair from Swarovski but they were $60. Then I found a similar pair from Claire's but they were cheap looking. Then I found the ones in Lia Sophia that are gorgeous, but they were a little more embellished than I had wanted. I have finally got the perfect pair!) Here's a picture of them:

Lia Sophia "Applause"

I also finally figured out what I am getting for our female readers and greeters. I knew I wanted to get them jewelry from Lia Sophia, but it took me forever to pick out which items. (Big surprise there.) Here are the winners:

"Sonnet" for Cait 

"Reflex" for Alice 

"Heartbeat" for Jackie 

"Double Dip" for Katie

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.

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!

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!

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

The Venue, the Brooch, and the Dress

187 days

I got an invitation in the mail today from the Biltmore for the menu sampling! It's on February 12 from 4 to 7 and we get to sample the menu possibilities and then choose our own menu for the wedding! I'm so excited and it's making the wedding seem that much more real...and closer!!

I FINALLY got the purple brooch that I ordered weeks ago. It's pretty and I only need one more to finish Hannah's bouquet!!

I also found a dress for our after party that I really like! I think I'm going to get it instead of the one from ModCloth. (That one's out of stock and this one is also cheaper.)

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!