Do I Have to?

Anyone else play dress-up when they were younger? Did you ever get to try on your mom/grandmother/aunt/great-aunt/sister/cousin/etc's wedding dress?

I loved playing dress up when I was little. It was so much fun to pretend all sorts of things.

The day I went with my mom and MOH E, I wasn't really feeling it. Maybe because I have had my heart set on that dress that I tried on by myself first - Watters Sterling.  My mom hasn't seen me in it, and she doesn't really like the pictures a whole lot, and the closest place to where she lives that carries it os well over a six hour drive.  So, we are going to try to get her to see me in it, but while we were at the shop this past weekend, she and MOH E really wanted me to try on some dresses.

Since I originally made the appointment for MOH E to find her dress, I really wasn't prepared to try any on myself, and wasn't really all that excited about it.  But, I obliged, and tried some on anyway.

Since this shop was a Watters WToo carrier, we primarily focused on those dresses - I really loved the designer and felt that their style and fit was perfect for me.  The first one I tried on was a strapless dress with a sweetheart neckline, ruching, and a skirt with some detail - sound familiar? Yeah, I think this is the point where I really started to realize what I wanted in my wedding dress.

Watters WToo "Dulconee" / Personal Picture

All three of us liked this dress, so we kept it on the list, but while it looked nice, it didn't really have the WOW! factor that I was going for. So, we moved on, keeping that one in mind.

This next one wasn't part of the Watters collection, but my mom loved the flowers on the skirt, mentioning that it was similar to the dress I ordered from The Limited, which we liked the fabric of, but not the shape.

Casablanca 2048 / Personal Picture

Casablanca 2048 / Personal Picture

It was a really nice dress, and the train was amazing, even though I don't really want a train, haha.  But overall, the beading under the bust was too ornate for my liking, and the sweetheart neckline was too deep. But, it was a really nice dress, and the sample fit really well - we didn't even use clips!

The last dress was one that MOH E chose for me.  As you know from my laundry list of things I do and don't want in a dress, pickups is pretty high up there as a no.  This dress had pickups, and I wasn't very happy about it, but MOH E teamed up with the consultant and made me try it on.  Here is the designer's picture of the dress, since you can't get a feel for what it's supposed to like like in my personal pictures:

Watters WToo "Yardleigh" / Image via Watters Website

Since I did not want pickups, and did not like the way they looked, I decided to roll that layer of fabric up to where the skirt started, since the pickups could be let out when purchased. The consultant also did not put the belt on me, and said that I could go without, and do a statement necklace instead. So, here is the first picture of me in the dress:

Watters WToo "Yardleigh" with no belt / Personal Picture

I thought that this dress looked really nice with the pickups removed, but I preferred having a belt to define the waistline, so the consultant removed the necklace and added a belt, which I don't know the designer of.

Watters WToo "Yardleigh" with unknown belt / Personal Picture

I liked this look much better, and my mom and MOH E absolutely LOVED this dress on me.  I really liked it, but I still had that other dress stuck in my head, and couldn't stop thinking about it.  But, I want your opinion. Do you like this dress better than the Watters "Sterling?" Do you like this dress better with the pickups or without the pickups?

Strike a Pose

My MOH E lives in Indiana, and moved there when FI and I were moving back to RI, so we didn't get to see each other very much while we were temporarily living in the same state.  Now that we are further apart again, it is hard to do dress shopping and for her to help out with different parts of planning the wedding.

So, MOH E was going to be flying down to our parent's house in Georgia for Thanksgiving, so I called up a few shops earlier in the month to make appointments to try on dresses this weekend, since I wasn't sure if there was going to be any other time that we could do this.

There were quite a few dress shops that were going to be open this weekend, but the primary problem I ran into was that a lot of designers are releasing their 2012 collections, so the bridal shops are either returning the 2011 collections to the designers, or selling the samples off the rack in order to make room for the new dresses.  This was pretty devastating, as a lot of the stores that I had previously confirmed specific dress styles with no longer had them in the shop to try on.

But, we made do anyway, and MOH E got to try on a lot of dresses.  What you need to know about MOH E and I is that even though we are sisters, we are completely opposite from each other.  While I have no chest and huge hips, she has no hips and a huge chest.  However, she is taller than me, and weighs so little, that I knew everything was going to look good on her.  The issue was that it was very hard to see what the dresses would really look like since they were clipped so much in the back.  In addition to all that, she is goofy. And I mean really goofy. And she loves to talk, so it's going to be funny to see her mid-talking or making some goofy face in these pictures.

This first dress we thought was really cute, but agreed that the pleats at the waist only on the hip looked kind of silly. It was very comfortable though, very light, and the fabric fell nicely and the dress did come in the green that I was looking for.

Watters Wtoo BM Dress 784 / Personal Picture

This next one was similar in style to the first one that we tried on, except there were more pleats in the skirt, and it's actually a tri-color dress, so if I wanted, I could choose a different color for all three parts of the dress: bust, waistband, and skirt.  It also had straps, which MOH E preferred since her chest is so big, and she hates strapless bras.  

Watters WToo BM Dress 986 / Personal Picture

I wasn't able to get the designer of this dress, I just know that it's not a Watters dress.  This one was really cute, and had the option of being strapless or using spaghetti straps, which MOH E has on in this picture.  The dress was cute, but it didn't come in the right shade of green, and we weren't sure if the pleats being only in the center of the waist may look like she is hiding something, if you know what I mean.

Designer Unknown / Personal Picture

I have loved this dress since I first saw it on the Watters website. I think it is sophisticated enough for anyone to wear it, yet it's modern and stylish.  I really liked the way that it fit MOH E, but her concern was primarily with how she was or was not going to be able to move her arms up and down.

Watters BM Dress 4417 / Personal Picture

Watters BM Dress 4417 / Personal Picture

This next one I thought was very pretty, and really liked it in the black color, too.  It was strapless though, and while MOH E would have worn anything I asked her to, I wanted her to be comfortable in the dress, and that was my next highest concern to me liking the dress.

Watters WToo BM Dress 854 / Personal Picture *Mid-blink with a silly hand motion

I liked this dress a lot from the Watters website too.  It was very modern, yet somewhat conservative and classic.  The belt around the waist added a nice detail, the skirt was a nice shape, and the pleats at the bust-line added a nice touch.  When MOH E tried this dress on, she said, "Oh, wow! I didn't think I was going to like this. AND! It covers my knees!" MOH E really really really HATES her knees.  So, this was a definite plus. And to top it all off, it comes in the perfect shade of green.

Watters BM Dress 8154 / Personal Picture

Watters BM Dress 8154 / Personal Picture

We have a winner. MOH E decided to go with this last dress, Watters 8154. I am very happy with this choice, and I think she is going to be very comfortable in the dress, and even better? She is going to look beautiful!

After MOH E chose her dress, it was time for me to try some on.  MOH E and my mom really wanted to try to get me to look at other dresses, and more specifically, less expensive dresses, so I obliged, even though I didn't want to try any on.  But, you'll have to wait for the next post to see those. :) 

Was shopping for your MOH's dress an easy task? Were you as limited on time as we were?

I need to buy stock in FedEx and UPS

I really do, because I have gotten a delivery from at least one of the two every single day for the last month, maybe longer.  All of the wedding related purchases I have made are arriving on the doorstep day after day, and I am so excited about it. A lot of it is DIY stuff though, so that means that I need to go through and organize everything to see what projects I have, and if any of them can be done in advance, that way the last month of planning isn't too hectic.

I'll be sharing all of the projects with you, and hopefully they will inspire you to do some projects for your own wedding. In the meantime, I will leave you with this picture of all the stuff I have gotten so far. And this is everything consolidated, because as you can see, we don't have a lot of storage space where we are living right now. Wedding is taking over the closet, so please ignore the clothes.

Yikes! What have I gotten myself into?

Please ignore the clothes, and sorry for the blurry cell pic - I can't find the camera / Personal Picture

Snapshots

I literally just got an email from our photographer, Matt, and he has finished our engagement pictures. They came out so well! We are so excited for them.  As I mentioned previously, we started out the day at our Alma Mater, and then traveled down to the beach to get pictures at sunset.  I am so happy that we were able to do both, because we know that we will not be getting a chance to travel much to get pictures on the wedding day.  Both the amount of time we have and the sunset will really limit our picture taking to spots closer to the venue, so being able to do these engagement pictures in these locations was perfect for us.

Now I just have to go through them about a hundred more times to choose the rest of my favorites.  Since I know that you want to see them, and that's probably the only reason why you are reading this post, I won't keep you waiting any longer.

 All Images by Matt Ferrara Photography

So what do you think? Did you and your SO take pictures at places significant to you or your relationship? Do you find yourself changing which pictures are your favorites each time you look at your own?

Move your feet

A few weeks ago, FI and I met with a potential DJ.  This DJ had been on my list for a while, and while his services were great, he was priced much higher than we wanted to spend.  So, I looked around for some less expensive options that had great reviews and found All 4 You DJ.  FI and I liked the reviews that we read, and they had our wedding date available, so we booked an appointment with them to meet them and discuss their services in more detail.

We loved talking with them, and playing with their new puppy, but that had nothing to do with us booking with them.  Glenn and Anne were great, very personable, and work together as a team.  They showed us their sound system, and it was great. The speakers are slim line, and aren't eye-sores or take up a lot of space, but the thing is that they sound amazing. I seriously wish that I could have those speakers follow me around everywhere, because the quality is outstanding.

Glenn and Anne have a database of music that we can go through to choose what we want and don't want on our play lists, which will also really help us in customizing the reception.  They also have a smaller setup that they will be able to use in the ceremony space, which can be controlled from the main station in the reception space.

We are very excited to have someone booked to provide the entertainment for our guests, and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone moving their feet to the music!