The Dress!

So before I get started on my wedding recaps (aka…wait for our pro pics!)…I figure I should back up a bit and fill you in on all that stuff I didn’t have time to before the Big Day!

Like say…MY DRESS!

Here she is hanging up…minutes before I put her on!  Notice the ugly plastic hanger…yeah just one of those things I forgot to do…wish I had ordered one of these!

If you’ve been following along with me since the beginning of my planning stages…then you are well aware I was dead set on getting a lace dress.  No bling and no poof…Just lace, lace, and more lace!  While I had fallen in love with Monique’s Scarlet…

I was not so much in love with the price.  (Paying for the wedding on our own + buying a house = no Scarlet for Steph)

Nor was I as patient smart as Abbie to scour the web to find a pre-owned one.

So on the hunt I went…to find something similar but within my budget.

I tried on several.  I think I ended up going to a total of 3 different bridal shops!  But…they just didn’t measure up….sure they were pretty…and I felt pretty in them!  …but none of them had the “look” I was really going for.

Sorry…not the best pics…what is it with bridal stores and horrible lighting?!?

I actually was very close to just giving in and buying this gorgeous silk gown that was fitted down through the hips with a sweetheart neckline…we weren’t allowed to take pics in that particular store but it looked similar to this one…

I of course was not ready to commit way back in Feb of 09 when I found said dress….so I decided against it.

Fast forward to June 09…when I decided it was about time to get back out there and see what Utah had to offer.  My fabulous friend Abby came along for moral support and we hit our first (and only!) stop…Mary’s Bridal in SLC.

After trying on several dresses…much of the same as I had tried on before…I was ready to pack it up and move on to the next place.  Oh but then…THEN…one of the lovely workers suggested I try on just one more…one she had in mind and thought would look great on me.

Well you can pry tell where this is going…the dress she brought out was it!  I pretty much knew it once I unzipped that bag and saw the thinness of it, the all over lace, and of course…the gorgeous open back.  Being the money-conscience shopper that I am I quickly eyed the price tag…and my heart sank.  It was about $800 more than I could spend.  I knew everyone was waiting for me to come out…(somehow I was the only person in there on a Saturday) so I threw it on…and I sorta slumped out hoping it looked awful on me and that I would hate it.

Of course i didn’t…I loved it.

So did Abby…and the 3 ladies working.  When they asked me what I thought…I said I loved it…but it was out of my price range.  Then one of the sales girls said something amazing, “I’ll give you %40 off that dress…if you buy it off the rack”.   Uh what?!  Being a nerd…I quickly did the math in my head…and holy bananas…it was suddenly within my budget!  Abby and I did a full inspection of the dress searching for any small imperfection, rip, tear…anything that would make buying the dress a mistake.  We couldn’t find anything…so I bought it.

So who the heck makes this fabulous dress anyways?!  St Pucchi.

Yep I had no clue who that was either….it took some digging but I eventually found it online.  Under the ‘Sposa by St Pucchi’ line…page 7…style z206.  Yeah the model looks a bit…odd.

Now if you are super observant you’ll notice the sash on the original dress has bling all the way around it…and some weird jewel thing on the back.  I was not a fan of this…so we took it off…and replaced it with a brand new sash tied in a bow.

this pic was from my final fitting…all ready to go!

Much better!

Phew ok that was one long post!  Thanks to those of you that made it to the end!

Before I go I just want to give my ’2 cents’ to those that are currently out there looking for the perfect dress…ahem…Shelley

1)  Don’t settle…the right dress is out there…you just may have to dig a little to find it.

2)  If you have your sights set on a dress you know you shouldn’t buy can’t afford…channel your inner Abbie and check  sites like PreOwnedWeddingDresses.com and OnceWed.com.  Or like in my case…it never hurts to ask for a discount/buy it off the rack!

3)  If you love everything about a dress but one tiny thing..chances are that tiny thing can be removed/cut/changed…just ask.

4)  HAVE FUN!!  Buying your wedding dress is not supposed to be stressful or annyoing…if you aren’t feeling it at one store…move onto the next one!  Take a friend/cousin/sister/mom/cat…just someone you know that will smile and make you feel good in each dress you try on.

Headband-ing it

It is true…I am very indecisive…I may have mentioned this before.  It drives Lance insane…and isn’t one of the best qualities to have when trying to plan a wedding.

an example.  I thought I wanted some type of flower piece in my hair…but now I think I want to headband it…just like this bride did.

I am Loving these new lace-y vintage-y headbands from Oh My Deer.

*above photos via Oh My Deer

Ban.do has some beautiful options as well…although a bit out of my price range…dang!

*above 4 photos via ban.do

I was just recently introduced to the lovely shop Pluma…which carries some gorgeous options as well.

loving this purple one! (obv.)

*above 3 pics via Pluma

So now the question is…what type of headband do I go for?   With an all lace dress this might be tricky… A simple band, some beading, lace…oh man…so many decisions…so little time.

That Crazy Monique

I tell ya…if I was rich…this whole “what should the BMs wear?” question would be solved…I would buy them all a Monique!!

It is pry a good thing there isn’t a purple color available…otherwise my cc might be taking a hit at this very moment…

all pics from here…where you can now buy your BMs some Moniques online!

veil inspiration

So now that I’ve got the dress…time to think about accessories!  I’m not in any rush to get these yet but now that I have a direction to go in I’ve been paying more attention when I see something I like.

Take for instance this veil

(pics by Stephanie Williams via Mary You Me)

I don’t plan on posting pics of my dress so you’ll have to believe me when I say I think something like this will look good with it…mainly the lace around the edges part.  I’m undecided on the length I want…but I do like how this one looks.

So we meet again…

Miss purple dress from Nordstroms that keeps popping up as a BM dress..that I kinda sorta love…

oh and the shoes…

is it just me or did this bride read my blog and then plan her wedding??!!

*both photos from this wedding over on TBC

I have a confession…

I have a hard time making big decisions…and I tend to change my mind.  Just ask Lance…whenever we go out to eat somewhere that you have to order at the counter…I struggle…big time.  I can never pick just one thing that I want…b/c maybe in a few minutes I might want something else.  When I go shopping and find something I like in the first store…I must then go to every other store to see if there is something “better” that I might want…and then I’ll decide which item(s) I want from there.

Anyways…there was a point to this post…oh yes.  The Dress.  You see…I haven’t gone shopping since that first experience in February…and this Saturday I’m embarking on my 2nd dress shopping outting…this time here in SLC.  I looked back at my pics from the first dress shopping trip and my overall opinion…”eh.”  I don’t know…at the time I felt like i could have worn any of the dresses i tried on…but now…not so much.  Even scouring the internet ….I see lots of lovely gowns…but not sure if they are “for me”…of course I still find myself swooning over simple lace gowns…but then today I came across this dress over on The Bride’s Cafe.

maybe its because the bride has the same name as me (spelled with an f)…but there is just something about the simplicity of this dress that i love.  Turns out its a Jenny Yoo dress…and so I clicked on her link expecting her dresses to be beautiful and completely out of my price range.  Oh but wait…whats this??  ‘Wedding Alternatives‘…???  HOLY fall in love…

just pure. simple. beauty.  According to the website:

“The dresses featured in the following pages are some of our favorite bridesmaid styles transformed into wedding dress alternatives in whites and ivories.”

oh and did I mention they are ALL in my price range…I’m talking IN the range…from the ones I posted prices range between $700-$1025!  SCORE!  oh and there are super cute short dresses in the $400′s…um yes so I could get one long and one short and STILL be in my range…

So basically I have no idea what I’m going to do about a dress yet…I figure I’ll go this weekend here in town…and if I find something I love then thats that.  BUT…if I keep thinking back to these dresses…there is one place up in Park City which is about a 20min drive that seems to carry them….but I’m guessing they carry BM dresses but it might still be worth checking out.

Who knows…by next week I could totally change my mind and want big, puffy and sparkly…

Groom Tee…hehe

Seems like brides are always wearing shirts that say “Sexy Little Bride” or “Future Mrs. So and So” while getting ready on their wedding day…well what about the groom??  shouldn’t he get one too?

haha…I have a feeling someone made this as a joke…too funny!

*image from bobbi+mike

powderhounds bro

Lance and I are not skiers by any means…even though we live mins away from the “Greatest Snow on Earth” …maybe someday but for now…we haven’t really gotten the bug…

…however I do have some guy friends that would def be down with wearing this on their big day…

fun right?!?…well they did have a baseball one (MN twins in fact!)..but no football …whats up with that??

*image from here found via 100 layer cake

Red

…as in hair!  I have it!  and so does this bride…

I’m kinda loving the hair-to-the-side-low-pony-tail look…does this mean I’ll have to get bangs (gasp!)!?!

she even has a bright blue flower in her hair…love it!  (oh and obv I love the dress too!)

I’m still undecided about my hair…up or down…I am definately liking this option though…guess I’ll just keep on growing my hair out!

oh and a couple more pictures…just because I like them!

how cool is this…the guys are about to jump over the girls!

(you can see the animated version here)

and lastly…

love the pinwheels…and the light…gorgeous!

All these lovely images found via Green Wedding Shoes blog.  For more eye candy from this wedding check out Dana & Jeremy photography blog…definitely worth it!!

Go White….or Go Bright…

..that IS the question…  or at least for me it is!  I just saw this post over on Grey Likes Weddings and I’m so glad I did!  I have been wondering this same thing but haven’t really read much about it.  Do you wear white to pre-wedding  stuff

from here

…or not?  I know I’ve seen pictures of brides doing both… at the bridal shower, the bachelorette party , the rehearsal dinner…some wear white and some choose bright…  I’m torn.  I went to a wedding last summer where the bride wore a white dress to the rehearsal dinner and I remember thinking, “oh thats a cute idea” …but I also remember overhearing someone say it was “not such a good idea…too showy” ….whats that even mean?!  she WAS the bride…can’t she wear whatever?

Anyways…I’m undecided…I think I’ll just wear whatever makes me feel the best/prettiest…if it happens to be white than so be it…if its flashy and bright…

from here

…well I’m sure I can rock that too!

If you’re wondering the same thing definately go check out the post…its a good read with some cute dresses too!