Order Submitted

You may be wondering why you haven't seen a post about ordering the MOH/BM Dresses..and that's because I was waiting for some good news.

FI and I decided early in our planning that we would be gifting the guys their suits, and the girls their dresses.  Yes, we understand that it is a very generous yet unnecessary thing to do, but it was something that we wanted to do.

Now, because my two girls live so far apart from me and each other, this made it very difficult to try dresses on.  So, I enlisted the help of the internet.

When I first got engaged, like almost everyone else in the wedding-world, changed my relationship status on Facebook to "Engaged."  As soon as that happened, all of the ads changed from social-related things to wedding-related things (and I'm sure that as soon as I change it from "Engaged" to "Married," everything will change to mom or baby-related things - pressure much?!).  One of the ads on the side was for Weddington Way, and featured a dress that I had been eyeing for a while from the Alfred Sung Collection.

So, I clicked over, signed up, looked around, and fell in love!

Now, if you aren't familiar with Weddington Way, they allow for you to search through dresses, choose your favorites, and send them off to your bridal party for them to vote.  So, I did just that.

Bridal Party Added into Weddington Way / Screenshot from Weddington Way (Edited for Privacy)

This was back in September, when I sent the dresses to my girls.  And then, Bridal Week happened in October, and there were all these new dress styles.  But, just after that, in November, I went dress shopping with my sister, MOH E, and she found one from the original list that she liked, and chose that one.

When I went dress shopping in December with BM A, she found one that wasn't on the list that she liked, but wasn't absolutely positive, so we went shopping again in April, and voila! Found one that wasn't on the list.

Now, while you may be saying to yourself, "well, she didn't really utilize Weddington Way at all," I actually did!

You see, I placed the order through them!  Since my girls are in different locations, and dresses should be ordered at the same time to come from the same dye lot, and the closest store to me is over an hour away, I decided that I would order the dresses online.

Weddington Way was so helpful in getting the dresses ordered, especially because one of the styles needed to be ordered in a different fabric and color, which made it a "special order" even though there was no upcharge.

The greatest part about ordering through them though, is that they send you an email every time the status of your order changed.  In the first few days after ordering, I got three emails - Order Received, Order Submitted, and In Production.  And that's where we stand now.

Order Status Page from Weddington Way / Screenshot from Weddington Way (Edited for Privacy)

I can't wait to see the next status change!

Have you received invites or seen ads for Weddington Way? Have you considered ordering your MOH/BM Dresses through them?


*I am not being compensated for this blog entry.  Weddington Way did not ask me to write about their services.

Bridal Accessories

I'm really struggling with what to do about accessories, guys.  Do I wear a necklace, earrings, bracelet, right-hand ring, a belt, and a flower in my hair?  Do I eliminate the necklace? Do I forgo the right-hand ring? HELP PLEASE!!!!!

Here's a little information to help you help me decide :)

For my 18th (I stand corrected - it was my 21st) birthday, my sister got me a gorgeous pair of diamond drop earrings. I only break them out for really special occasions, since they're too fancy for everyday wear. Unfortunately, I can count how many times I've worn them on one hand.

So, to get that number over the one-hand-count, I've decided to wear them for the wedding.  They are beautiful, and even though she will be standing next to me as my MOH, I cannot imagine not having some part of my sister with me that day.

Diamond Drop Earrings / Personal Picture

Diamond Drop Earrings / Personal Picture

Diamond Drop Earrings / Personal Picture

Next, I will be wearing a flower in my hair, which is being made by my mother. I will also we wearing a belt around my natural waist, so there will be some embellishment there as well.

I do not plan on wearing my engagement ring on my right hand during the ceremony, and will instead remove it for the putting-on-of-the-wedding-band part of the ceremony, and then put it right back on after.  That being said, I will be wearing a ring on my right hand.  My everyday right-hand ring is a simple sterling silver hammered metal band:

Sterling Silver Hammered Metal Band 

(No idea why it looks like yellow gold. It's definitely not. I HATE yellow gold.) / Personal Picture

I'm not sure if I should go with that, since it is really who I am, or if I should do something a little more ornate, like these, which I bought off of Amazon, and would be worn stacked:

 Sterling Silver Sapphire CZ Eternity Ring / Image from Amex Jewelry, Amazon

Sterling Silver Clear CZ Eternity Ring / Image from Amex Jewelry, Amazon

Or this, which I bought off of HauteLook:

Sterling Silver Sapphire CZ with Clear CZ Half Moons / Image via Dillards 

I also have been thinking about wearing something on my wrist, but I am unsure of what style to go with.  I was thinking something along the lines of this:

Blue Nile Bezel Set Diamond Bracelet / Screen Shot from Blue Nile

Or...

Blue Nile Diamond Tennis Bracelet / Screen Shot from Blue Nile

But! Since the beginning of planning our wedding, I have been obsessed with this bracelet:

Alexandra Hart Leaf Cuff Bracelet / Image from Alexandra Hart

This bracelet is gorgeous, and fits our theme perfectly. I mean, seriously. It could not be more perfect...unless it was half the price.  And, yes, I know that the Blue Nile pieces above are so much more expensive, however, I wouldn't be buying real diamonds. Only using those pictures for style references. I'm not made of money, unfortunately.  

Lastly, I have the dilemma of choosing to wear a necklace. While you don't know the neckline of my dress, because I haven't told you what dress I have chosen, please offer me some advice as to wearing a necklace.  

Should I go with a necklace? Should I splurge and buy that bracelet?? Which ring(s) should I wear???

Please help! I need help!!!

A Different Type of Glasses

Sorry about being missing!  We've been enjoying the beautiful weather we've been having, and are also celebrating the holiday. Happy Memorial Day, and thanks to all who have served our country!!

Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming :)

Since I am making our table centerpieces, I have been making frequent trips to the motherland, aka Michaels.  I have been buying them out of 3" square glass vases on every visit, and on this past one, I was able to score enough to complete my collection, which I actually didn't know until I just counted!!

Ashland 3" Square Vase from Michaels / Personal Picture

Ashland 3" Square Vase from Michaels / Personal Picture

Bags and Bags and Bags of vases / Personal Picture

So, now that I have the vases, I should probably start figuring out if the Jell-O idea will work...

I also probably should have figured that out prior to purchasing all these vases. Oh well.

It's In?! It's Here?!

AHHHH!!!!

I got a little blue postcard in the mail yesterday notifying me that my "special order" has arrived!! AHHHHH!!!!

MY DRESS IS IN!!!!!!!

So, even though I have been working out lately, I'm not seeing results or changes, so I'm really scared that it's not going to fit.  The shop that I bought the dress from doesn't do alterations, which means I need to find a place that does.  However, this also means that I need to get the dress from the shop in a month...which also means that I have a new best friend - the elliptical.

I really need to get my rear-end in gear and get back into shape.

But I guess that the good thing is that I still have a little bit of time before I need to start alterations.

Time to get my act together! Jillian Michaels and Tony Horton, here I come!

Spicing up the Tables

When FI and I went for our tasting back in April, we talked with our representative from the catering company about rentals.  We are renting tables and chairs from them for both the cocktail hour and the reception.

As part of our catering package, standard china and linens are complimentary. We are able to choose from a basic selection that they have, unless you want to upgrade to one of the absolutely amazing sets of china they had on display for us in the tasting room.

I know you've already seen this one, but wow! / Personal Picture

Gold and Copper textured plates / Personal Picture

Silver trimmed plate - Sorry for the bad angle / Personal Picture

Now, as gorgeous and sophisticated as these plates are, we really couldn't justify spending more money on plates, so we decided to go with the standard white china plates.

In terms of linens, we were able to choose complimentary linens from a set that were hanging on the wall (and I can't find where the picture went!) that ranged from solid colors to black and white damask to stripes and starbursts, and everything. Some of the linens matched what we were looking for color wise, but we felt that it would be too much color in our reception space, so we ultimately decided on what was on our tasting table - an Imperial stripe in White.  

When I was originally planning our wedding, and deciding what linens to use, I came across a website appropriately named Wedding Linens.   One of the coolest part of their websites is that they have an interactive linen design center, where you can select your linens to see what they would look like when matched together.  

Knowing that we were likely to go with white linens, I picked that option and put it on our table using their design center.

Screen Shot from Wedding Linens Design Center / That's supposed to be white, not sure why it looks ivory.

After selecting the tablecloth, I decided that I wanted to spruce up the table a little bit by using colored napkins instead of white ones.  I thought this may help it look a little brighter since we won't be having huge floral arrangements as centerpieces.

Since our wedding colors are yellow, green, orange, gray, and white, I figured it would be best to go with one of those. The gray color seemed too light, but also kind of darkened the overall look, so we eliminated that.

Screen Shot from Wedding Linens Design Center with Light Gray Solid Napkins

The next color that I tried was green. The green looked nice, but with all of the green around the reception space because of the plants, I figured that this may be overkill.

Screen Shot from Wedding Linens Design Center with Kelly Green Solid Napkins

The yellow napkins looked nice, and we both really liked the way that it looked.  We were concerned, though, that if we used the Lemon Jello, as we have planned for the centerpieces, that it may also be overkill with the amount of yellow at the table.

Screen Shot from Wedding Linens Design Center with Yellow Solid Napkins

The last color that I tried was orange, and FI and I both agreed that this one looked the best.  It would help to spruce up the color just a bit, and it was bright enough that it stood out nicely against the white tablecloth.

Screen Shot from Wedding Linens Design Center with Orange Solid Napkins

So when we were meeting with our representative from the catering company, I asked about colored napkins, and she brought over her swatch books of what was available to rent.  Being as frugal as I am, I asked about which fabrics were the least expensive, and she immediately responded by handing me the solid cotton swatch book. I flipped through each swatch until I got to the orange ones, and what do you know, but they had the most perfect shade of orange!!!

Solid Orange Cotton Napkin Swatch / Personal Picture

SOLD!!!!

So there you have it.  How did you decide on your table linens. Did you do anything special and make your own, or find a really neat or ornate pattern for your tables?

Finally Chosen

FI has finally chosen his wedding band. After going through two very easy returns with Blue Nile on rings we thought would work for FI, we finally started looking at the different options again.

I had done some research on the different types of metals, and personally thought that Palladium was the best option for FI.  

According to Blue Nile:

Screen Shot from Blue Nile

I ran this by FI, and what he really liked about it was that he didn't have to be "careful" with it. In other words, he didn't have to take it off to work outside, or clean the bathrooms, or swim (guaranteed the fit is right).  

So we looked at the options. Since you already know that FI really liked the simple comfort fit bands, his choice was very easy.

Image via Blue Nile / Comfort Fit 6mm Men's Wedding Band in Palladium

I put the size 9 ring in the cart, added the discount code I was emailed earlier in the week ("Not without coups, baby. Not without coups.") and hit the big Order button.

In two days, the ring was delivered. FI tried it on, and it fit perfectly, so it's a keeper!

Here are some pretty shots for you. FI won't let me take a picture of him with it on yet. He say's that's not going to happen until the wedding day. I guess I can wait that long :)

Personal Pictures

Have you or your FI ever worn or ordered a Palladium ring? Did you think it was going to be that dark? I thought it was going to be more the color of white gold or sterling silver.

Bridal Reflections

From the title of this post, you may think that this is about me reflecting on being a bride. But, it's actually not.

Bridal Reflections is the name of the bridal shop I went to this past weekend in Massapequa, NY with BM A.  This store was great!

When I first called them, I was still in "search for dresses mode."  I called every bridal store that carried the Watters line within a half hour radius of BM A's house, trying to find out which store would work best for us.  I asked the consultant about some very specific style numbers from the Watters BM Dress Collection, and not only was she great, but she looked up all (9!) of them for me in her database.  They had three on site, which was the most I had been able to find at one store so far in my search.  

I decided to call the Carle Place location as well, to see if they had some additional style numbers, but unfortunately they did not.  I eventually called back to the Massapequa store and made my appointment for 1:30 on Saturday the 12th.  

BM A was able to get the four of us (FI and her husband included) tickets to a car show that Saturday morning, so we hung out there for a while since the weather was so nice.  After being outside in the heat for too long, we decided to grab some lunch, but after seeing how busy every single place was and not wanting to run late to our appointment, we thought we would just stop by Bridal Reflections to see if we could get in early.  At this point, it was 12:45, so we thought that we may just need to wait it out until 1:30.  When we got there, the place was packed, and there were bridal parties everywhere!  We walked up to the counter and told them that we had an appointment in 45 minutes, but were wondering if we could get in a little bit earlier. They said sure! They were able to accommodate us within ten minutes of our arrival, and not only that, but they also had all the style numbers I had previously told them on hold for me behind the counter.  They let us look around a little bit while they were preparing our room, then took what we found and what they were holding for us into a dressing room.

While we were trying the dresses on, the consultant left us alone, allowed us to make our own decisions, and just checked up on us every once in a while.  

And now to the pictures! The first dress that BM A tried on was Watters BM Dress 6478, and we liked the shape of this dress a lot, and the top was very flattering in the way that it criss-crossed. We kept this one on the list.

Watters BM Dress 6478 / Personal Picture

Next, BM A tried on the dress she originally tried on at the store in Connecticut. We still really liked this one, and actually liked it better than the first one, so we crossed that off the list.

Watters BM Dress 7111 / Personal Picture

This next dress was one that I absolutely loved online, and wish that I had an event to go to that way I could buy it and wear it!  Even though my MOH/BM will be in short dresses, I thought that this one could be cut shorter if it was chosen.  BM A tried it on and really liked it, but at this point, the consultant had come back to check on us.  She took a look at BM A in the dress, and said that it looked great, but that she thought I was going for short dresses, which is when I told her the plan for cutting it if we ordered it.  She said that this dress in particular is constructed in a way that when cut short, it doesn't open correctly at the bottom because of the way the side panels are sewn into the skirt.  So, even though we really loved this dress, it was unfortunately no longer a contender.  

Watters BM Dress 9113 / Personal Picture

This next dress was one that I really liked online, but wasn't sure how it would look in person.  BM A was a little hesitant to try it on at first, but obliged since I told her I really liked it. And turns out, she really liked it too! And, she liked it so much, that she chose this one! In the pictures below, it is shown with spaghetti straps, but A will actually wear it strapless.  

Watters BM Dress 9442 / Personal Picture

So with the dress chosen, we packed up our stuff and headed off to lunch. And, the best part? We walked out the door of the shop at the time our appointment was supposed to start! Unfortunately, though, there was a worst part...

See that chair in the last picture? Yeah, that's where I left my camera. But, there's a happy ending to this story, because I called the shop on Monday when I realized that my camera was missing, and they told me that it was turned in (NO WAY! This never happens!) and that they would hold it for me. When I said that I was hoping they could ship it, since I live in Rhode Island and they are in New York, they said they would, and wouldn't accept me paying for the shipping! How awesome!

So, thanks to Bridal Reflections, BM A has chosen her dress, and I got my camera back! Woohoo!

Pretty Camera! (Never leaving my sight again!) / Personal Picture

Has anyone else worked with Bridal Reflections before? Have you ever lost your camera? How did that pan out?

Mawwaige is what Bwings us Togetha Today

Know the quote? You better. If not, Google it, then watch the movie pronto.

This post is about who will marry us.  Since FI and I do not practice any religion, we decided that we wanted to be married by someone close to us, who would be able to tell their story of our relationship and who we are as individuals and as a couple.  This is very important to me, because I want to be able to look back on our wedding day and know who our officiant was and remember why we chose them to be such an important part of our wedding day.

We came up with a few people who we wanted to consider asking, and sat on the decision for a while.  Until, one day, FI came up to me and asked me why I hadn't put my grandfather on the list.  I told him that it was because I wanted the officiant to be a special person to both of us.  And he told me that my grandfather was very special to him.  That made me so so happy!

FI lost his grandfather in 2008, and he was so close to him.  It made me feel honored that FI was comfortable with asking my grandfather to step in and be our officiant.

My grandparents are typical New England Snowbirds, and live in Florida for half the year.  They are actually flying back here to Rhody this week, so once we get the chance to see them, we are planning on asking my grandfather to be a part of our wedding.  I am really hoping that he agrees to be such a big part of our day.

If he does agree, I have some work cut out for me.  In Rhode Island, the requirements for officiants are that they must be ordained.  The Universal Life Church has a process online that can be completed to become ordained.  This process is free of charge and being ordained through this service is recognized by the state of Rhode Island.  I am hoping that the process will be simple and easy for my grandfather to complete should he decide to agree to marry us.

Have any of you used the Universal Life Church to get a family member or friend ordained to officiate your wedding? What was the process like? Was it easy? Did your state recognize it?

Um....Oops!

Well, sorry about being gone for a week! That was totally unexpected. I got so much done last week, and took tons of pictures, including two DIY's, and had every intention to post about them, and then that didn't happen.

This past weekend, we went to Long Island to see BM A and her husband, and get the final choice on her BM Dress.  We had a great weekend, although it was cut short by Mother's Day.

I still have every intention of posting about the dress and the DIY Projects I was doing last week, but I have had an oops moment...

I forgot the camera at the dress shop.  I realized this morning when I went to grab it out of my bag so I could get the pictures off of it that it was not in there. So I did what every bride and blogger who can't find their camera does: FREAK. OUT.

I searched everywhere, and then after thinking about the last place I had it, I immediately knew that I left it at the dress shop.

Luckily for me, this dress shop is open on Mondays (many in this area are closed on Sundays and Mondays) so I called two minutes after they opened, and they said that it was turned in.

WOW! Such a huge relief!

They said that they were going to mail it to me, so hopefully I get it some time this week.  Until then though, I'm going to have to come up with some non-Personal Picture posts to show you.

Any suggestions?

DIY: Rag Rug - Part 1

With my Spring semester finally over, I'm getting back into some of the DIY projects that I have for the wedding.  The one that I know will be the most time consuming, is the Rag Rug.  I know that I mentioned this project before, but just to refresh your minds, I decided that since the floor of the Botanical Center is cement, and we aren't using an aisle runner, I would try to spruce up the space a bit by creating a rag rug for FI and I to stand on when we say our vows.  And, the best part is that since the colors I've chosen are some of our favorites, the rug can be used in a space in our house after the wedding.

So, on to the first part of the tutorial.  The next parts will be quite spread out, as I'm literally doing this as I go, and the rug is not yet complete, so I apologize in advance for amount of time between these posts.

1. Determine size of rug.  A small, 3'x2' rug can be made out of about 3 King size Flat sheets.  Since I wanted a rug that was larger than that in size, I decided to double that. I will be using 6 King size Flat sheets, to make a 6'x4' rug, hopefully.


2. Find or buy your sheets.  Since I didn't have any sheets in the colors that I wanted, I went out and bought the cheapest I could find in the colors I was looking for.  I ended up with two of each of these colors:
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Images Above from Walmart / Mainstays Flat Sheets in Gray, Orange, and White
   
   
3. Wash your sheets.  Wash and dry your sheets as normal, to make them easier to work with and clean them.
    
4. Remove the thick top hem of the sheet.  Cut off the thick hem at the top of the sheet, as this part will not be used for your rag rug.  If you are looking to make a backing for your rug, keep these strips, as they can be sewn together and be used as a backing.


5. Rip or cut your sheets into strips.  You can choose to either make individual strips out of the length or width of the sheet, or make one continuous strip. I made one continuous strip out of one sheet by ripping the fabric in equal widths until I got to about 2 inches left on each side, then I would rip in the other direction.  I have added a diagram below to make this easier to understand.
   
   
   
   Cut or rip across the RED lines / Personal Diagram / Why won't this picture center?!
   
   

   

   This is what the end of my strips looked like / Personal Picture
   

   
   

   If you want to make individual strips, just cut or rip across the sheet.
   ***Making individual strips requires you to either sew each braided set to each other, or tie them to each other. I did not want to deal with extra sewing or tying, so I made one long strip.

   
   
6. Roll strips into balls for better handling.  Once you have one long strip, or even shorter individual strips, roll them up into a ball. You may want to use a tennis ball or a golf ball to start your rolling, but I learned that if you wrap around three of your fingers enough, you can use that as a base for the ball, and then just keep wrapping the layers on top.
   
   Follow the images below to see the rolling:
   
   
   
   Roll the strips tightly around the ball / Personal Picture
   
   
   
   When you get to the end, roll tighter to ensure that it stays rolled / Personal Picture
   
   
   
   Tuck the end of the strip under one of the pieces already wound around the ball / Personal Picture
   
   
7. Braid the strips together.  Since I am making a braided rag rug, I am going to be braiding one of each color strip of sheet. In other words, my braid will consist of one white strip, one gray strip, and one orange strip.  You can use any combination of colors and patterns for your braid.
   
   Follow the images below to see the braiding:
   
   
   
   If you are using the one large strip method, it is helpful to use a bobby pin to keep the strip attached to your ball of fabric, that way the strip won't unravel more and the ball will be easier to move with one hand. Make sure that the bobby pin is in securely so that when you move the ball around, it does not fall out. / Personal Picture
   
   
   
   Find a piece of one of the strips that is closer to the inside of the ball. Pull on the strip slightly to make it loose and come up out of the ball to form a handle.  This handle will make it much easier to move the balls around, as you will only need to grab the handle, which can be done with one hand, versus palming or picking up the ball, which you would likely need more than one hand for. / Personal Picture
   
   
   
   Let some of each ball out, allowing for some slack that will be braided. Once you have enough slack from each ball, secure your bobby pin, and then arrange your balls of fabric to be braided. / Since I have already done quite a bit, which can be seen on the left, my colors are in the position needed to continue the braid. If you are starting from the beginning, you can arrange the colors in any pattern. / Personal Picture
   
   
   
   Find something heavy to hold down your braid so that you can pull without risking it moving. As you see above, I used my laptop, but anything that is approximately 3+ pounds would work.  You could also tie it to something.  / Personal Picture
   
   
   Using the handle that you have made on each ball, move them in the braiding pattern to create a braid with the three different balls.  The braid will look loose and messy like you see above, but that will be fixed with the next step.  Continue the braid until you run out of slack from the balls, or you run out of space to continue the braid.  / Personal Picture
   
   
   
   
   Once you run out of space or slack, put the balls down, and go to the top of this section of the braid.  Tighten up the braid, and make it look neater by "re-braiding." Remember that you don't want the braid to be too tight, as you will still need to wrap the braid to form the rug. / Personal Picture
   
   Repeat all of step 7 when necessary.
   
   
   
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   I will continue this tutorial when I have made some significant progress in my braiding.  As you can see from how much fabric is left on the balls, I still have quite a ways to go.  Let me know if you have any questions so far though, and I will do my best to answer them.