A Perfect Ten

My wedding gown fits like a glove. There is no other way to describe this. It hugs me in all of the right places and feels like it was made just for me... Pretty amazing considering how much money some brides have to spend on dress alterations. I have to admit that I am thrilled to not have to pay a dime for alterations. Not a dime!

I have to say that I would wait eight long months for the custom cutting again. What a lifeline! Those extra three inches cut off the bottom of the dress were perfect and my adorable kitten heel shoes are the exact height they need to be. A HUGE thanks to Diane and Ruth's Bridal! And Maggie Sottero! (I am a fan for life.)

With the dress in and ready to go, my wedding day look is complete. Although, I do not have anything old or borrowed...guess I should start thinking about that. Any ideas??

Wish I could post a picture or two from yesterday, but cannot risk Jacob seeing it. :) All in due time!

Wedding Shoes...take two!

Before the New Year, I thought I had found my dream wedding shoes. The rhinestone buckled silver shoes were absolutely gorgeous! The only negative was their height. At (at least) three inches, the heels on these shoes proved to be several inches too tall.

See, my dress is being hemmed before I even see it the first time (to save on alteration costs later), so to my dismay, Diane (at Ruth's) told me the three-inch heels were a no-go. Which I guess worked out because Jacob was not particularly fond of the shoes' height either. Diane suggested I find shoes that stood at an inch or just over to ensure the dress length will fit properly. At the time I figured that would be a breeze.

Since that fateful day in January, I have been searching high and low for wedding shoes. As you might suspect (or already know), low-heeled shoes that are DRESSY and CUTE are extremely hard to come by. Don't get me wrong, I adore ballet flats and kitten heels (I wear them at least four days a week), but when it comes to wedding day shoes...there is not much out there. Especially when you consider that I was hoping to wear shoes in a fun shade...maybe in green or orange. And they also needed to be something I would wear again.

My searching paid off when I went to DSW with Jacob's mom (Debbie) last week over her Spring Break. I found a pair of low-heel, casual sandals that would definitely be worn again. They are gold (completely random and not at all what I was originally thinking) and could seriously be worn at the beach or to a wedding. Versatile. And the low heel, though not super glamorous, will really prove to be the better choice for September 18...considering I will be on my feet for a very long time. I fell in love with them right away!

Take a look:

What do you think?? I love them! A big thanks to Debbie for getting them for me!!! (Thank you!)

Here is another photo...please excuse my feet!! They have not been pampered in a while (haha) and the polish really needs to come off. And I do not know I was holding my toes up...strange. But the shoes look good!!

DIY Fun!
One of my wedding projects included writing on the bottoms of my wedding shoes. I came across this idea on a wedding blog I follow...what a super cute idea! I picked out glittery blue stickers in a fun font and set to work this weekend after the shoes were official!

Check them out:

I think they turned out really cute! A super simple DIY project to add a little flair to the wedding shoes. And...they can be my something blue!!

Happy Monday.

Happy Bridesmaids = Happy Bride

A wise man once said, “A happy bridesmaid makes a happy bride.” I think he knew what he was talking about. After being in numerous weddings myself, I decided early on that I wanted to make my wedding as easy as possible for those I wanted to share it with me...namely my bridesmaids.

Meaning: letting each girl choose her own dress, have the option to do her own hair/makeup/nails, choose her own jewlery/shoes, etc. I figure that these things would add up to a happy bridesmaid.

When I made the decision to have each of the girls wearing different dresses, I did not realize the extra job I was taking on. Add to that the fact that no bridal shop in Lexington carries the complete line I chose (Forever Yours) and you have a sticky situation.

Luckily, Ruth's Bridal in Lexington (where my gown was ordered) has been very easy to work with on this (as they are ordering the dresses). Since mid-August, I have been shuttling groups of my girls back and forth to Cincinnati to the mecca that is Bridal and Formal. And one by one, each girl chose the dress she wanted to wear.

My last such trip took place over the weekend with my Maid of Honor, Trish. (Anna joined us and we had a fabulous time BTW!)

The dress Trish chose is called a "crumb catcher" and I think it looks absolutely gorgeous on her! To be completely honest, I fell in love with this dress the first time I saw it. And practically every one of the girls has tried it on. But for one reason or another, other dresses were chosen. And on Saturday, Trisha tried it on...and loved it too!

To make her stand out a bit, we are thinking about the possibility of incorporating a brooch to her dress in some way...if we can find a suitable option. Keep your eyes peeled for something vintage that screams old Hollywood!


Here is the final dress line up:

What do you think? Keep in mind that all dresses will be in emerald green (even sashes) and the longer two dresses in this image will be hemmed to a shorter length to match the other dresses.

All in all, I think these dresses will make for beautiful bridesmaids.

Now to schedule fittings and get the final cost of these dresses...

Say YES to the Dress!

I ordered my wedding gown yesterday! The wedding, though nine months out, is starting to feel so official.

Sadly, I will not be able to put a picture of the dress on here because I do not want Jacob to see it prior to our wedding day. However, I can tell you to be prepared to be amazed!

With my mum's fabulous connections with Ruth's Bridal here in Lexington, I ended up scoring the dress of my dreams for $100 less than the same dress at the shop in Cincy AND I was given an extra discount on top of that!! In all, I easily saved $175. That rocks! Oh and the best thing of all, the dress may not need any alterations once it makes it in (mid-May). Seriously good news!

When placing my order, I went ahead and added the charge to have the dress preserved after the wedding. This is a very interesting concept to me...you pay $160 or so to have your dress cleaned, pressed and put into a box that you will ultimately store in your attic. Not knowing what else I would do with the dress, this seemed like a good plan to me.

I think my next stop with the wedding attire will include shoes, the undergarments, the veil and headpiece. I have ideas swirling in my head for each of these. Most importantly, if anyone sees cute kitten heel shoes, preferably in green, please let me know!