Our Wedding: Getting Ready!

Finally...more recaps! Sorry this has taken so long! Now that I am officially on maternity leave (EEK!) I should post more regularly (of course, depending on when the little one decides to get here). I am sorry for really disappearing. If any one is still following me, thank you and I am humbled by your faith in me. I want to be a better blogger again, I had so much fun planning the wedding, and after already a year of marriage, I am saddened by my dropping the ball with postings. I will be trying my darnedest to keep going! Especially during my wait for baby! Anyway...RECAP!

My eyes popped open on the morning of our wedding to overcast skies...but I couldn't care less! I was up, it was early, and we were getting married! We ate breakfast, I showered and we hopped in the car to the hair salon. I was meeting my bridesladies there and everything up until I pulled into the parking lot of the salon felt completely surreal. I found myself jokingly saying "yay!" when people asked how I felt. I was truthfully, completely overwhelmed and just hoping that we kept on time, and that P wouldn't see me on my way into the Towers!

                            

Now, there are no pictures of me during the "transformation;" no before make-up pictures or before hair styles. I wanted to make the best use of my time with the photographer, and I thought prep pics could be covered at the Towers when we were adding our finishing touches (like MY DRESS!). So, that's why there aren't any before pictures! (Plus - no make up and me = yuck!).

I had my bridesmaids (including my MOH) get their hairs did first. And gave the waiting bridesmaids their gifties! I never did a post on what they were, but they were pretty sa-weet! The gift bags included:

1. Flippie-Floppies - So they could get all comfy on the dance floor!
2. Lip Gloss
3. Tissue packets - for "Happy Tears"
4. A water bottle - 'cause...y'know...
5. Heart-shaped white sunglasses
6. An individualized, personalized charm necklace with their initials and matching earrings (I was so thrilled, they all wore their jewelry that day)
7. A hair flower that matched their dresses complete with a peacock feather (another DIY project, I should have posted! GAH!)
8. A card that I wrote thanking them for being there for me 

I was pleased to see that they were thrilled with the gifts! After all, they had given so, so much to me.

Then, it was my turn to sit in the salon chair. My hairstylist decided to adjust what we came up with from my hair trial and I must say, I LOVED it! My mom did my make up, and I think she did it perfectly: enhancing my features, but I never felt like I had too much make up on or, like I didn't look like myself. We headed home to meet up with the rest of the bridesmaids and pick up my dress to get going over to the Towers!

After! (Sorry there's no before picture!)

All ready for the dress! It was waiting for me, all hung up and pretty on my closet door and I was anxious to get it on. But that would have to wait until we got to the Towers!

Here's my dress! I hadn't posted any pictures before in fear of Patrick accidentally seeing it.
Here she is in all her lacy, beautiful glory!

I gathered up my accessories and my shoes, after they were beautifully captured by the photographer, we grabbed the favors and headed to the car! It was finally beginning to feel real!

My shoes, garters, our rings, my hair flower and peacock fan! 

Giving Dad a See-You-At-The-Aisle Kiss!

So we hopped in the cars and headed over. To that place I had seen in my dreams for almost two years. To our place, Patrick's and mine. I had been texting my guy throughout the day --- just last minute questions/answers and timing things. But when we pulled up and parked about a block away from the Towers, my nerves awakened and I was petrified he'd accidentally see me! I quickly texted him "We're on our way!!!" to which he replied "We're all ready. :-)" and my heart soared. I was at the same time calmed and thrilled by that response. That's my man. And in a little over an hour, I'd be marrying him. We gathered our things, me cradling my dress, and briskly headed toward the Towers. 

We had to kind of awkwardly sneak up to the Bridal room, and once there, I felt like I could allow the giddy feelings to take me over. I pulled on my undergarments and got ready to step into my dress. What a beautiful moment; to finally slip into the most precious piece of clothing I'd ever wear. I felt beautiful in it, and I knew Patrick would love it.

It takes a village to get all those buttons perfectly aligned!

Surrounded by love!

When that was done, my little sister, MOH, helped me into my glorious blue shoes!

I slid my garters on and played with my two beautiful flower girls, who were getting excited: their big moment was coming too! After I was ready, the girls finished primping themselves and we waited.

I got a 'special telegram' visit from my soon-to-be mother-in-law! She brought my gorgeous something borrowed (a rhinestone bracelet) and my wedding gift from Patrick! I had sent my wedding present to him via bridesmaid :) and I was ready to see what was inside mine!

He wrote me such a sweet note on a vintage postcard from Capri, Italy (WHERE OUR AMAZING HONEYMOON WAS!) and gave me a beautiful white banded watch. On the face of the watch is a rotating 'hand' that eventually lines up letters to read "Love Knows Not What Time Is." Crying. Obviously. Its so beautiful! I love it so much! He also gave me a mini cupcake phone accessory and a Bane action figure, and a book called "Greene On Capri" written by someone named Greene who obviously had an amazing experience, like we were about to have, in Capri. (GOSH, does the man love me or what? Wee!)

I still had some time to wait before we'd be ushered upstairs to begin the ceremony. It was really nice to have a few moments to really collect myself and realize where I was and what was going on around me. Our day had finally arrived! After a year and a half of planning, crafting, stressing, making, arranging and debating. The day was here. We were about to be wed!

Next up, The Ceremony!

Best,

Micah

Bridal Blingies

Ugh. I am SO BAD! I haven't been a good blogger in about a month! I am terribly sorry. The excuse again is that it's TWO weeks away from the wedding and I am running around all over the place with last minute planning, projects, etc. But, I now promise to update as much as I can in the weeks (2!!!) leading up to our big day. As much as I can. :)

So, remember that time I said I was all set with accessories? I had my shoes, jewelry, everything right? Wrong. I changed shoes twice after the initial purchase. Twice! And all in the final three months before the wedding! Sheesh.

Welp. I did it again. Not with shoes! Don't worry. Too much. With earrings.

Skee-daddle, P!

I recently enjoyed the wedding of two really great friends of mine and Patrick's. It was such a beautiful, emotion-filled day! And of course, (because she always does) the bride was stunning! I was particularly obsessed with intrigued by her lovely earrings. She had square shinies that were absolutely gorgeous, and absolutely unpredictable.

Gorgeous, yes? I know! (The ladies are both beautimious bridesmaids of mine, too!)

I had gotten used to the drop, circular, crystal look on Brides ever since I subscribed to the magazine of that same name. Beautiful pieces, yes, but I was seeing them EVERYWHERE! And, well, Katie inspired me to look outside of the norm. (NOT at all saying that drop, circlular crystal bridal earrings are not good, I was just not really into mine any more). Not only that but, when I first bought them, my mom had been a little iffy about them, so back to etsy I went.



Here are my first pair...

Gorgeous, yes. But do they go with my dress?
I don't know...

So, in searching for better earrings, I knew that there were three specific aesthetic choices I'd made about what I wanted that I'd adhere to...

1. They would be post earrings. Not dangling. If I were ever to conceivably wear my wedding earrings again for a nice event, I don't think they'd actually be worn if they were giant dangly duds. So, posts or studs all the way!
2. They would be an irregular shape, or to be more general: not round. I decided that the round or oval look really didn't match my dress/overall bridal look.
3. They would have a vintage element to them.

So there I was, at work, searching desperately for more earrings and guys...it really wasn't hard. I had about six pairs in my cart on etsy before I began to narrow them down. They ranged from art-deco looking beautiful rhinestone pieces, to odd square CZ sparklies. And I got it down to three pairs, then two, and then the choice was clear...

Check out my blingies!

Those lovelies are the winners that I will be wearing on our big day. They came in the mail the other day and I am seriously in love. So much so that I can't wait for those perfect little detail shots starring these beauties. I love that they are different shaped stones and that they kind of look like they belong in the 40's or the 30's even. I think they compliment the style of my dress more and they will be something I can put on at a fancy anniversary dinner or something like that. I can't wait! There are 17 days left!

Brief side note: I was thinking the other day: Why am I changing all my accessories so close to the wedding? How picky can I be? Am I wishy-washy? But looking back, I bought the accessories (shoes, earrings) really early in the process. I was so eager to have them in my possession that I bought them without thinking. Without letting myself picture the day wearing them, letting the image really come to life in my overall plan, and because of that -- I ended up not liking them, and searching for replacements. I am happy (at last) with what I have now, but it would have been better not to have to return the items and/or sell them. My advice: get your accessories for your wedding after you have purchased your dress and after you really *know* (i.e. spent some time thinking about your bridal look) that they fit your vision.

Did anyone else out there change their minds about their bridal look a few weeks away from their big day?

-Micah

(Seriously) OMG. Shoes.



Let me apologize for my lack of frequent/constant posting lately. I have been under the weather, running around EVERY. SINGLE. WEEKEND. And since our wedding is about four {AHH!} weeks away, Patrick and I are burning the candles at both ends - so to speak.

Anyway, so --- remember when I bought shoes, then got antsy about the color and bought the same pair in a different color, while realizing it still wasn't the right color? Well. Guys, I got antsy again...

If you can recall, way back when I first started to blog about our wedding, I had two shoe posts from just browsing the webs. Well, neither of those shoes had come to pass, because I waited to have the decision of the dress before I wanted to get the pair of shoes; and to my sadness and dismay, when I went to purchase either of the two pair I liked, they were SOLD OUT. I was devastated. But quickly moved on to the Ninas of the last posts.

Like I said, I got the first pair in Navy blue, because for some reason (even though the wedding was still eleven months away) I felt I needed to have the shoes NOW! Then, in April, I realized that I was not OK with the color not being perfect, so I went back online and found the same shoe in a brighter blue. (Stupid online pictures) --- it STILL wasn't the blue I wanted, but it would do. For a month. And a half. (Don't judge!). And I thought I was set. I had returned the first pair, and everything was fine and dandy. Until the other day at work. I kept browsing beautiful pictures of brides with bright blue shoes ---ahem, I mean I was working hard! ---, and I realized that the color bothered me still, and I'd have to go back to square one.

Google search: royal blue shoes. And lo, and behold: the pair of MeToos! that I had been lusting over were once again available! And not only that but they were selling for more than 50% off the original price. I didn't even hesitate. I immediately ordered them and they came in last week and...

PERFECT!

They are the perfect, PERFECT royal blue I had been dreaming of, they fit and they are comfy!

Clearly, I am a woman obsessed with royal blue. Now, don't get me wrong, I am NOT a four shoe bride (although I am quite impressed with the ladies that are). I am returning the second pair of Ninas, and will stick with my MeToos and of course, the wedding TOMS! (What? I didn't share those? Ah! I'll talk to you later about those).

Side by side comparison. DEFINTELY more
royal blue on the right!

Fit perfectly! Ooh! And those cute little round blue thingies
in the background will be getting their own post very soon!

Whew! What a journey with shoes. I think I am finally satisfied. Haha!

How about you brides out there --- did you have an epic shoe journey? Were you as picky about the exact color as I was?

Best,

Micah

Hair Trial

Patrick, honeypie, you've got to head on outta here!

I mentioned before the types of hair styles I was looking at for the wedding. They were all updos. And I noticed, a lot were braided messy styled buns, while few were classic chignons. Trying on my dress for the first and second fittings made me realize that a more classic look would go better with my style of dress. And, after booking with the woman who did my hair before I even wore make-up! She did my hair for both proms in high school, and did a lot of the cuts and styling all through my time living in RI. It's special that she's going to be doing my hair for our big day, for that reason. She's also doing a few bridesmaid's dos and I think it will be a nice way of relaxing and preping before the Ceremony.

When I booked her, I immediately emailed her a whole bunch of the same pictures I posted before in my "Hair" post. She noticed the textures and the styling and gave me her feedback: first, she said it would be good for me to do an updo, as it will be July and most likely hot and humid. Also, my hair tends to be pin straight, and doesn't hold a curl, so keeping it up and pinned back would be wise. She told me to keep searching, and we scheduled a hair trial on the same day as my second dress fitting and I was eager to get into that styling chair!

Before the appointment, I went to print out my inspiration pictures and stumbled upon this picture...

 

I loved the way it looked; so classy and elegant. It seemed to be the style that belonged with my dress. So, I decided to try that one! I asked Marianne (my stylist) to give me a few whispies around my face to soften the look. I knew I couldn't pull off a severe style --- and even though this isn't a severe style by any means, I wanted to have a soft bridal look (Tip: make sure your hair is clean, though not squeaky clean; recently (i.e. washed the morning of) will likely not hold the style. Depending on how dirty your hair gets, my stylist suggests washing the night before).

Here's how it turned out! Pardon the blurry photos and tired look from me (I'd been up and about since 6am that Saturday).

Back view

Back view, with hair flower I made

Back view, with hair flower

Side view. Ugh, must remember to get good rest
the night before!

What do you think? We all agreed for a little more height on the top of the crown of my head. And that I will be wearing just a veil for the Ceremony and then add the hairflower and remove the veil for the Reception! I am glad I was able to schedule my fitting for that evening, so I was finally able to see the whole picture. I think I was right, it is a good pairing of this hairstyle and my dress. Since I am very familiar with my stylist, I felt no pressure to like what she did, and she was very encouraging for me to speak up if I was dissatisfied. I also had my mother and sister MOH there to give their opinions so I knew I was around people who'd tell me the truth. I was admittedly nervous, I thought because I know little about hair styling that I would just go with the flow, even if I wasn't happy. But that was not the case! I feel so lucky to have that friendly and  environment in my hair trial. I think, with a few tweaks on the day of, it will be my imagined bridal look come to being!

Did you make any changes to your imagined bridal look after seeing the dress on? How much advice do you take from your stylist (I take everything, because I know nothing about hair)? What was your hair trial like?

Best,

Micah

New shoes...Now???

About to spill about the bridal look so scram P-bub! I love you though!

OK. What am I talking about. Well, a LONG time ago, I think before I even ordered my dress, I had already ordered and received my wedding shoes. And I loved them. But there was one thing it didn't really really love about them. And that was their color wasn't perfect. Actually, it was too dark --- It was navy, rather than cobalt. But my Bride Brain was hungry to check shoes off the list, and I thought they would be fine, so I ordered them, and they have come with me to my fittings (which --- I am done BTW, I am so lucky, only needed to do a bustle, now the question is can I maintain this wait for three months...hmmm) and they have been fine. But that's it. Just fine.

Flash forward to last week. You know, browsing zappos.com, which is DANGEROUS. I'm serious! Use caution, it will make you want every shoe, ever. Anyway --- I just for fun type in blue heels and lo and behold, there are MY wedding shoes, but in a brighter color blue! I couldn't help it, I almost immediately ordered them. A week later and they are here and I am SOOOOO happy with them. (My first pair I am going to sell, so keep an eye on weddingbee if you are interested in size 6 Nina Culver shoes!). They are brighter and best of all, the same fit and comfort of my original shoes. I can't WAIT to wear them with my dress!

Comparison! 

Still not exactly the right blue, but I like the brighter
pair better!

What about you brides-to-be? What was your journey to the wedding shoes like?

Best,

Micah

The Finishing Touch!

Patrick, I love you, but this is one of those posts you

may not read. Get out! Go read FailBlog or something!

OK, so guys... I think I finished my complete Bridal look for the wedding! I know, I already talked about most of my accessories. But I failed to fill you in on something I had been making trial after trial: My hair flower is complete! How did I decide which flower to make (I used several techniques for the trial flowers including a new one I haven't posted about yet --- but hang in there, that flower is used in other ways!)? Simple. I sat down with some wine and a movie and began to seriously, nervously without any fear of error work on what would become my hair flower. 

It ended up being the second tutorial that I filled you in on -- with the silk flower and using lace from my mother's and grandmother's wedding gowns! I also ordered albino peacock feathers to add to the drama and elegance of the piece (IMHO). Without gilding the lily and with no more a do, here it is!

Before the feathers were added --- when I was still unsure
if this would end up being the flower.

With the peacock feathers! Now I'm definitely sure
this is the one!

I used the same tutorial I shared here, but also glued crystals and pearls to a jewelry center and sewed that to the center of the flower. I made sure to anchor the flower petals to the felt base I made for the alligator clip so that it would be nice and sturdy. To add the wedding lace from the pieces my family gave me, I cut small circles and layered them in with the petals as I sewed/hot glued everything together. The peacock feathers I added as I hot glued the alligator clip in place. Simple! And look at the results!

I am so excited about how it turned out. And it will be very special that I made it, and that it is made from pieces from my mother's and grandmother's wedding days. That is the most special to me. I will carry that little piece of my family with me through the whole day. It really warms my heart. I can't wait to begin going to hair trials and to see how it looks! (Bringing it to my first fitting on Saturday!)

What are you wearing in your hair for the big day? Are you going veil, or veil with flower, or just flower, or none of the above? Let me know!!!

Best,

Micah

My Somethings/Accessories for the Bridal Look

My apologies for being a bad blogger of late. I promise, I have so much to post about, and a lot has been going on in the Wide-Wedding-World of Micah and Patrick. Before I go off about anything else, I have to talk about my Somethings! I finally acquired all of them!!!

I spoke briefly before about one something, that I was really excited about. It was the first of many something blues (I can't help it! I love blue!!!). But here are the rest of my somethings, and almost all of my Bridal accessories!

Oh! Patrick, do NOT read any further!

I'm talking about my WEDDING

ACCESSORIES here!!!

OK. Here they are!!!

You probably can't see it clearly, but those lovelies are
almost all my accessories!

My shoes with peacock shoe-clips, and my garters!

My Something Blue --- Brooch, and my Something New -- Crystal Earrings

There's the Sixpence (for my shoe!)

Here is my favorite new purchase! My Something Old
---It caught my eye in an antique shop. It compliments my wedding ring
set so well, I couldn't pass up. My Something Old Right-hand ring!

You may have noticed that I neglected to a.) tell you about the white shoes next to my pretty Ninas and b.) picture my Something Borrowed. A.) I will post about the white shoes shortly! B.) My Something Borrowed is actually still living with it's owner and my FMIL! It's a GORGEOUS delicate crystal bracelet. I can't WAIT to show you --- but I must, it's being borrowed, so I can't have it now :)

I showed you all my garters and shoes (although I never posted a photo) before. The shoes I completed by making quick shoe clips with a little help from my friend, Michael's Craft Store peacock feathers. Love them! I hinted at my purchase of these earrings when I found them in a Friday Finds post. They called to me --- begging to be bought and worn with my dress! So, rather impulsively, I bought them. The other earrings I mentioned that Patrick gave me for my birthday will be worn, don't you worry! The brooch I am planning on using to attach a ribbon sash to my dress! (First fitting coming up!) My FMIL gave me the sixpence in my stocking this Christmas! I was so touched, and so excited because that's a part of the Somethings that I was concerned I wouldn't be able to get!

Finally, quick story about the Something Old. I always thought I could borrow a piece of jewelry from my parents or FILs however, there was just one thing I couldn't really reconcile (please don't judge, this is extremely Type A of me): I never wear gold and all the jewelry I wanted to borrow were gold. So, last Saturday I took a trip to an Antique shop, not really expecting to find anything but BAM! --- there it was; this stunning art-deco-esque ring. I couldn't take my eyes off of it, and I had to try it. I had two concerns; one that it would over power my wedding ring set, and two that it wouldn't fit on my freakishly tiny fingers. But both fears were put to rest! It actually compliments my rings and sits well on my middle finger! I can't wait to wear it!

There we have it. Now that I have all the Somethings, all the under-roos (sneaky, I know -- I bought them yesterday and I'm not sure about sharing them over the interwebz so those will remain a secret) it seems that my Bridal-look will be completed when I have the dress altered, and then finally on the wedding day including my hair and makeup (And hair flower --- coming soon!!!!!).

What about you? Are you going for it to complete your bridal look with all the Somethings? Did you worry or have a hard time finding one of the items? Do you ramble as much as I do when you're excited?

Best,

Micah

Hair!

Not the musical, although it's delightful!

I'm talking about bridal hairdos! This little topic has been in the background of my BrideBrain ever since October when I purchased my dress! I have been going back and forth with what kind of style I'd like; up -- beautiful chignons, graceful side-ponytails; or down --- giant curls, or half up (my usual, everyday style). Now, I am terrible at doing my own hair. I usually let it air dry and put it half up like so:

My normal go-to hairstyle.

Which serves me quite well, most days. But, I know myself and I don't want to be twiddling my hair on my wedding day, therefore I am leaning more towards an updo - or something out of the way. Also, our wedding is in July and I'm guessing it will be hot. I'd like to have something that lasts the day. So onward to the inspiration pictures! (Thanks Google!)

Patrick. Shoo!

I may end up using a style from one of

the below pictures, so scram!

I WISH I could do something like this. SO gorgeous,
but alas, my hair is not long enough.
But I can dream, can't I?

Oh! This would be lovely -- and compliment my dress.
Thanks for being so classy, Kate!

I adore the low chignon!

This one is nice too, I like how loose the bun is.



I love this sort of '20s era chignon.

Super awesome side ponytail! I wish I had the
length to pull that off!

My hair was in a similar style to this for Abbie's wedding!
And it held so well, and looked good I think.
I love the little braid detail.

Love the tousled look to this one.

Ok. Here's one I found a few months ago that I am
absolutely obsessed with! I LOVE the thickness
of the braid. It's so artful how it curls into the bun.

So there are my inspirational pictures thus far. I really seem to be leaning toward a loose chignon with curled side pieces it seems. I think it would be best so I don't fuss at it all the long July evening! Plus, it will be nice to keep cool in my big white dress!

Best,

Micah