the other day i was joking with b, wondering how many people think i am pregnant since we are getting married so fast. obviously, anyone that hangs out with me on a regular basis KNOWS i am not pregnant, or thinks that i have some serious issues. so why get married so fast?
i dunno. why wait forever? i have all ready been living with this guy for a year (technically) and i said yes and i am certainly not getting any younger, so why wait?
when christina and i went to david’s bridal the people who checked in before us were MAYBE old enough to drink AND getting married in 2013! TWENTY THIRTEEN!! that would make me insane!
as a DIY bride i may be cutting it a little close, but my lack of employment will help, as will my amazing family and friends. i think that if i had a year, let alone two, to go to the end of the interwebs and back, that my head would explode. for reals. i could (and probably would) change my mind about a thousand times. and spend waaaaaaaaay more money that i want to. i am one of those people that just doesn’t see the point of going into debt for a wedding. all though-i must admit-the dress situation is tough.
it is so hard to decide which way you want to go. pre-wedding planning i always thought i wanted to get married in a nice, non-white, totally re-wareable, cocktail dress. then i started looking and i didn’t fall in love with anything. nothing felt quite special enough. so i decided to open the search to actual wedding dresses/gowns. i tried on all kinds of dresses on sunday. we went on a whim. my hair was greasy and my roots are doing their thing. i wasn’t wearing makeup. i had two huge zits on my cheek. i hadn’t shaved my arm pits in days and i may have smelled a little. oh and i was wearing smurf blue underwear so every time i tried on a dress without a slip you could see them. awesome. and so, so very classy.
speaking of classy…
our sale’s assistant at david’s was interesting. they told me to dog-ear pages in their catalogue that i liked, so i did. but i don’t think she ever looked at them. she quickly revealed that it was her last week and later in the day even asked if i thought i would make my decision by the end of the day so that she could make her commission on it. she wasn’t a stick in the mud and didn’t talk to me like a child, so she was manageable. david’s is just not my kind of store. most of the sample dresses are in bright white…the one color i don’t do well. they had two pale pink dresses in the store. one of which was a bridal size 4….riiiight. and the other one made me look like an upside down cupcake.
but the pale pink sure is nice…
and one champagne. the champagne dress was horrible. we took pictures to send to kelly and liz to tell them i had found the one! but we never went through with it
we found a few i really liked. one even had a zip off bottom! one of the other sales lady’s informed me that she thought it would be quite the to-do to have “my hunny” (wow) and i walk into the reception and have him zip the bottom off my dress. can you imagine it? when i think about it i see younger, more awkward versions of b and i walking into a gym decorated like prom, to some amazing (by amazing i mean horrible) pop song and me spinning around while he unzips the bottom of my dress off, leaving me in a saucy, short number for the reception. i step out of the bottom of my dress and the crowd goes wild.
i am pretty sure i would take it off in private before the reception, but that could work out great for someone else!
in the end i found one that i really loved. and i still like it a lot, but i know that i need to see what else is out there and i need to ask myself some serious questions about what the dress means to me and how much i really think is worth spending on it.
it is a huge day of our lives. and you only get to do it once. and at the same time it is just one day. what a mind fu*k!
so where are we sitting in the planning as of today?
we have our venue secured, we have deposits down on the dj, tent, tables, chairs and linens. we are gathering addresses and i am in the process of ordering what i need to make the invites. we don’t have to deal with ordering the food until a few weeks before (god bless you fried chicken!). we have our crappers on hold ( i think that portapotties at weddings make for the ideal photo-op and also take the opportunity to talk about my crappers or sh*tters as often as possible). i have two dress appointments tomorrow and my mom and cousin torre are coming in to go with me. i think we are going to check out some unconventional places too.
so we are on the cusp of DIY mania. ideas are being tossed around and i am getting super excited. so lets hope i figure out the dress this week, so that we can get the feel of the event ironed out.
any wedding planning tips or words of wisdom? i am all ears people!
ahoyfriend. 
I got married in the living room of a rented house that we had just moved into the week before that. I do not recommend. But I, too, didn’t think I wanted a traditional wedding dress until I got engaged and then on a whim, my sister and I went to a second-hand store. Here’s my first bit of advice: MAKE SURE YOUR MOM DOESN’T CARE ABOUT NOT BEING PART OF THAT. Seriously. My mom was so upset she wasn’t part of teh dress shopping excursion she cried to everyone and their brother about it (which was not helped by the fact that she was already upset I was only having parents/siblings there and not my uncles, her brothers, but that would have literally necessitated another 40 people in the house, with my family). Anyways, it was a terrible experience because unlike you, I do not have a sense of humor when I’m in uncomfortable, and I had not brought a slip or a strapless bra and I can’t imagine what something MIGHT look on me when I can’t even zip it or get it over my chest.
Anyways, I ended up going to Marshall Fields (now Macy’s) down the street at lunch on a whim, looking in the prom section and found a cream dress I really liked (and I had a gift card that covered the cost), which is what I wore.
my mom is coming in tomorrow for some serious dress shopping! i am looking forward to having her with me.
we both have big families and they are all invited 🙂 it will be big in numbers and small in feeling.
Haha…I love this post. People thought I was preggo for 8 month engagement… I vote short engagement…long marriage!! 🙂 Love the dresses and your smiling face!
hahaha! 8 month engagement would be horrible timing for a preggo lady! can’t wait to see you, may have to bribe you to come help us unload!
Ps…look into brooch boquets. I am obsessed with them!
More creative ideas to come.
Just let us know. We work for beer lol…
My wedding dress is by far the most expensive garment I own, and for wedding dress standards it was cheap. The poor thing is currently shoved in a plastic bin in the very back of my closet, because I did not care to spend another $200 on having it cleaned and preserved. For what my Mom spent, I could have gone to Donna’s and bought enough fabulous dresses to change into a new one every 30 minutes. If I had it to do over again, I would go vintage and spend my cash on things I could wear again (fancy shoes!). Either way, you have great taste and I’m sure you’ll find something lovely!
thanks lady!
your advice is what one part of me really agrees with…. we will see how it all goes down.
totally agree with the above post—my dress was a custom made paula varsalona gown. i love it, and it was amazing to wear it…but it hangs uncleaned in my closet, and whenever i look at it, i have a mixed feeling of love/guilt over it….and it’s been almost 6 years!! a big part of me wishes i had gone with my first instinct, which was a kelly green, full skirted party dress. would i have worn that again either?? probably not…but it wouldn’t cause me the guilt now, as i’m guessing it would’ve been 1/4 of the cost. good luck 😀 (have you checked out dresses on j.crew?? i think they have some very simple, beautiful dresses)
i am so glad i put this out there. you ladies are confirming my fear, that 5 years from now i would wish i would have not gone nuts on the dress.
like you said reba, even if i don’t wear it again, at least i wouldn’t have spent thousands of dollars on it.
i am still going to the salon appointments tomorrow, as they also have occasion dresses, but i think i know where my budget needs to be.
thanks for your honesty! keep it comin!
and reba…if it is any consolation you were a knockout in that dress!
well thank you!! it’s very easy to get caught up…be true to yourself & you will be fabulous. in 5 years, when “real life” is going on, you’ll think “i could’ve spent that on remodeling the (fill in the blank)” 😀 at least that’s what i do on the “guilt” days…
Same here! I did not spend much on mine at all, it was on a sales rack and I tried it on, looked at the low cost and took it. I don’t recommend spending an ungodly amount on a wedding dress. These ladies said it…you spend one day in it (or two if you want someone, referring Vinson Images 🙂 if you want to take post-bridal pictures). I did that and liked my post pictures better than wedding pictures…b/c I could get my dress dirty. Dress is laying on the closet floor in a ripped bag (I cared for it alot huh?)…