Funny!

I was looking on Google for a jeweler near work, so I typed in, “Where to find…”

 

Look at the first result on the auto finder. Who looks for that?!?

Wedding Veil I

I made the buckram headband for the veil, covering with leftover satin from the petticoat. I then cut a piece of tulle 1 yard long, gathered it, and sewed it onto the back of the headband. This I the blusher, which will be flipped back during the reception.

I still need to get an appliqué to cover the headband, create the back of the veil's tulle, and sew a flower on top of the headband. It will attach with two combs to my head. The back tulle, floor length, will be detatchable.

The Dratted Dress Dilemma

After much back and forth over the dratted wedding dress (chose a DB, put a deposit down, decided to copy it myself, decided to have a seamstress make a completely different dress, decided to sew a completely different dress), I just discovered something monumental:

 

I can get a gorgeous designer replica from China for the cost of my fabric, alone.  Yes, a dress from www.dressilyme.com would probably cost less than $200, including shipping, and I would be saved from weeks of agony of sewing the dratted dress.  I love sewing, don’t get me wrong, but the search for fabric alone is ridiculous.  Not to mention Dressily has some rockin’ reviews (http://www.projectwedding.com/groups/boards/dressilyme-dress-es), so I’m not really worried about whether it would look good.

 

And so now to pick a dress….

 

 

How to Sew a Wedding Dress: Part One

I wanted to sew my own wedding dress for a variety of reasons.  First, it was cheap.  All I have to pay for is fabric.  Second, because I couldn't find one I liked!

Once I decided to sew my own dress, I had to pick a pattern.  Most wedding dress patterns are quite boring and plain.  As a rather spiffy dresser most days anyway, I needed something fancy.  Something over the top.  But something easy.

After several months of hemming and hawing, I decided to use a pattern that I've already used, with a few adjustments.  This is the pattern, and here is the drawing.

This is my drawing of what my dress will look like. 

The major changes are:

- The sleeves are puffy, not tight.

- The petticoat is layers of lace

- There are two pickups in the back, and a train.

- The back neck is a V.

My inspiration for the puffy sleeves was this dress:

Gorgeous!  If I can find brocade similar to the trim on that dress, I am tempted to have it. 

Actually, if I can find a similar brocade for the stomacher and trim, I will have the sleeves and petticoat both sheer, and nix the lace layers on the petticoat.  It's the lace or the brocade - not both.

That is part one.  As I cut out the lining and mold the dress to my figure, I will continue to post instructions in this series.

Four Months to Go

We are four months out, and projects are starting to come along quite nicely.

 

The painted wooden boxes for the bridesmaids are complete.  I painted the solid colors, and Matt did the detail.

 

The cake topper has been painted, just needs to be glued.

 

I finally decided on a dress.  I’m using a Georgian era costume dress, but modifying the sleeves and details, as well as adding a train and poofs in the back.  The drawings are a bit unclear, but you should get the idea. 

 

I have a lot of almost completed projects:

 

-          Guest Book

-          Petticoat

-          Love Banner

-          Bunting

 

As well as projects that need to get started…

 

-          Fringed Streamers

-          Veil

-          Wedding Dress

-          Card Box

 

I will be quite busy!

 

I know people have said they want to help with the wedding, but I don’t want to impose.  So if any wedding elf wannabes read this, they should know that I would LOVE help with the following:

 

-          Photography

-          Videography

-          Bringing Appetizers

The Weekend

OK.  This weekend was not that great.

 

On Saturday, I went to Planned Parenthood and got Murina. It is a hormonal IUD that prevents pregnancy for 5 years.  Dude – that thing hurt!!!  I’ve been wolfing down 800 mg of ibuprofen at least twice a day.  But… 5 years of worry-free birth control?  Worth it.  

 

I made sausage and bow tie pasta for Saturday dinner, then Matt and I went to Shanna’s, where she drew out my wedding dress.  We stood on her roof and saw the Disney fireworks, and we played Scrabble.  I was falling asleep by the end of the game.

 

On Sunday I slept in to about 10:15, and woke up to pretty intensive pain.  So Matt and I stayed home from church/premarital counseling/Homebuilders and watched movies.  I took a very long nap in the afternoon, too.  

 

Today the pain is tolerable, but I am getting the sniffles, so I’m taking Advil Congestion.  

 

Please pray that Matt finds a job very very soon, or I will have to start working nights to pay for this stupid wonderful wedding.  

Twenty Weeks

I am 20 weeks away from my first vacation from my job.  I will be taking 4 days off – 2 to prepare for the wedding, and 2 to recover from it.

 

20 weeks from now, I will have sewn my wedding dress.  I will have made the veil, bought the perfect shoes (and probably blinged them up), found the perfect lipstick, and tried tons of eye shadows as I looked for the right one.  I will have gone to the Flower District for a dry run, practiced doing that vintage hairstyle 37 times, practiced the first dance 164 times, made 60 crepe paper streamers, strung together 10 love banners, manipulated 1 “Happily Ever After” banner into a cut off tree branch, painted 1 aisle runner with quotes about love, sewn two ribbon corsages and six ribbon boutonnières, printed 200 invitations and 250 programs, spend 17 hours in Power Point making the wedding slide show, rubber stamped 500 paper bags, filled 250 of said bags with rice, and prepped the rest of the bags for the candy buffet.  I will have cross stitched two parent gifts, sewn four bridesmaids headbands and purses, and crafted three groomsmen cufflinks.  

 

In 20 weeks, I will have found people to bring hor d’oeuvres to the wedding, three more ushers, a sound person, a projector person, an officiate, a photographer or two, and a wedding stage manager, and all of these I can pay only in love and snickerdoodles.

 

During those 20 weeks, I will have had bridal showers and an awesome bachelorette party.  I will have cried a thousand tears because thisisjustsohardandwhycan’tweelope???  I will have spent untold hours prepping all the instructions and crafts and decorations.  I will have given solemn instructions to all the wedding elves, and few will have really listened to me.  I will have told all my family members that the wedding really starts at 2:25, not 2:00 like the invitation says.  (Apparently LOTS of Matt’s side do not believe in punctuality.)  I will have borrowed hundred of CD’s from the library to craft the reception playlist.  I will have bought 100 lbs of candy, and PRAY that people only take half a pound in the candy buffet (I can’t find smaller bags L ).  I will have attended 4 premarital counseling sessions, done lots of homework, and gone to 5 Homebuilders classes, all in preparation for a good marriage.  I will have spend at least 6 weekends apartment hunting, furniture shopping on Craigslist, and moving into our new home.

 

As these 20 weeks quickly fly, I will have walked the longest walk hundreds of times in my imagination, thinking about how I will grip my Dad’s elbow, hold the bouquet of flowers I carefully arranged, look at the people smiling around me, look at my best friend Gina up on stage, and then look at the man who will, in just a few minutes, become my husband for the rest of my life.  I will imagine how my Dad will give me away to Matt, and how I’ll watch Shanna sing her song, hear Gina and Andrew read their poem (have I asked Andrew yet?  Shoot…), give my bouquet to Gina, and then say my carefully written vows to Matt.  I will think hard and carefully about it what it will mean to be a Christian, feminist wife in the 21^st century.  Matt and I will have dozens of discussions about roles, what-if’s, and expectations.  We will be as prepared as one possibly can be.

 

These next 20 weeks are going to be the most terrifying, exhilarating weeks of my life.  I want to savor each moment.  I want to be present in every aspect of planning the wedding and our future together.  This is what I’ve waited my whole life for – and I can’t believe I’m almost there.

The weekend

On Saturday, Gina, Matt, and I went to Davids and Alfred Angelo to look for bridesmaid dresses.  While at David's, I fell in love with this dress, but I need to try it on now.

This is Gina trying on a dress.  We did not like this one.

Later that day, we went to Misha and Sol's wedding.  It was very nice.  Her color was aqua, and she had daisies for the flowers.  It was a very simple wedding, and you could tell that everyone at the church really wished them well in their marriage. 

On Sunday, we had church, and then I finally got to relax before heading to the Homebuilder's Bible study.

I have been practicing my calligraphy for addressing the wedding invitations.  It is very hard.  I'm considering using clear labels, instead, but I love calligraphy so much.

Today has been a rough day.  My coworker is on vacation (I had no idea she was leaving).  I've had too much chocolate cake and too much Starbucks, but I am trying to plough through the day.  So much to do when I get home.  I need to finish the petticoat.  I also need to work on a diet, but it's so hard when work is so stressful.  Must not gain weight, at least.