Wedding Planning: General Update

Oh my, I didn't know planning a "small" wedding was going to be this complicated!! With three weeks to go we are at a very good point, but still! The stress, the fear of forgetting something important, the time wasted on picking the color of the napkins!!!

Ok, enough venting, how about I just give you a quick update? And I apologize for not writing as often as I thought I would about this, it's just that I was trying to finish most things by July, so that I wouldn't stress too much come August.

Here it is:

Wedding Dress: Got it, it's great. It's been altered as we speak. I should be able to take it home next Saturday. The seamstress that is working on it keeps telling me: "It's so beautiful, what a beautiful dress!" It makes me feel like I made the right choice when I picked this one.  :)

Groom Suit: Same as above. He has it and it's getting tailored.

Baby Dress (Flower Girl): Got it! It took me three visits to the store and countless hours on the web to make up my mind. What do you think?

I could have gone with an "all white" look, but she looks so pretty with the pink accents! There was also another, much more expensive, dress, but I felt this was beautiful enough, and we don't always have to spend a fortune on a dress that the baby only wears once!

Ceremony: We've seen the setting at the beach and it looks beautiful (just gotta keep my fingers crossed for 21 days, hoping that it doesn't rain). We'll have fans waiting on the chairs for guests and a bagpiper playing during the procession. I've put together the whole ceremony (noooo, I'm not a control-freak, why do you ask???) from various notes given to me by the reverend that will marry us. Tonight we talk to him to finalize things.

Restaurant: The menu is set, and we'll have an open bar (oh boy!). I just have to bring some little decor accents the night before and they will arrange them for us - I got little "name tag" wedding bells!  :)

Photographer: I'm very excited about our photographer! I gotta find some time to talk to her once more before the wedding to discuss any little detail. And she's already paid in full! Yay.

Cake: It's been ordered and paid in full.  :)  It's vanilla, with fresh Sicilian ricotta filling and chocolate mousse. It's from one of the best Italian pastry shops around here and I can't wait to taste it! It's only one tier (we could have made it two tier but it was going to be too much cake for the 30 people that we are, and why? It would have also cost us double, so I made the budget oriented decision of having a beautiful, delicious cake that made sense for our wedding) and it will have some pink flowers draping from it. Something like this:

Flowers: All taken care of. Bouquets, boutonnieres, centerpieces, mothers' flowers... ridiculous how many flowers you need for a wedding. We got a good price, though... I think...

Transportation: Yep, I got a limo. Just one way. I'll come back home with my husband. ;)  I just have to figure out who rides on the limo from my house to the ceremony location (there is room for 12).

It's funny how looking back at the first wedding post I wrote back in January, I've actually managed to spend less than I had planned on most items, for example the dress was $500, while I had budgeted up to $1,000 for it. Except that once I started trying dresses on, I never thought about spending $1,000 for one anymore. The more I got involved with the planning the more my main goal became "spend less, spend smart".

Through all of this "wedding work" I've tried to come up with the best solution, with the best compromise between cost and happiness. And I think I have done well.

My dress was half my budget, that alone makes me happy, but it's also a beautiful dress that really brightens me up and makes me look like a bride (the first time I tried it on for alterations, the seamstress looked at me and said: "I don't see my job"), so the happiness factor doubles.

My baby's dress was $120 (including the crinoline), originally budgeted $200. There was a dress I almost liked more, and it was $170 (which would have gone up to $200 or more with the crinoline), and while that would have kept me under budget, I finally decided that I would buy what looked best on her, regardless of price, and the cheaper option looked better than the fancier dress. So I went with that (but I suffered through the decision making process!).

The two items that went over budget, and that in the end will cause the original $10,000 planned budget to remain unaltered, were the photographer (which cost double what I had planned) and the restaurant, which cost pretty much what I had budgeted for, but I didn't count the "extra" fee for getting married on the beach ceremony (as much as two pair of Louboutin shoes!).

So as August enters, I need to finalize some little details, but I also want to start relaxing some, in order to avoid needing stress medications the day of the wedding. I am going to do my best and try to pamper myself a few times, get at least two pedicures, two manicures (I might get fake nails for the day of) and I STILL need to figure out the hair and makeup! So stay tuned for those scary pictures! :)

Wedding Planning: The Hair Part II

I'm still clueless about what to do with my hair.

I went to the hair salon and got a blow out and it was ok. Nothing special. I'm trying to figure out if I can get away with a simple blow out or if I need more work done to it.

There is not much hair to do much with it, really. I mean if you look at the picture to the right here, on my About Me page, well, my hair is not like that right now.. :(

Should I show you what it looks like? Really? Should I post pictures of myself looking like cr@p on the internet? Oh well...

Here is me, no make up, and no hair! Fine, wispy, frail hair (I actually cut my hair since this photo, so now it's even shorter). And the hat has been my best friend for too long.  :(

And by the end of August I need a plan, so that I didn't pay a photographer more money than I paid for my dress, shoes, veil, groom's suit and cake combined, to take pictures of me looking great from my neck down!

At least this post gives me some hope and makes me feel not so alone:

Christina Hendricks Loves Hair Pieces!

I had no idea! She looks so beautiful! I can be so oblivious at times...

Wedding Planning: The Hair

Veil or no veil, that is the question.

Wedding Planning: The Dress Part VI

Yesss, I bought the dress!  :)

It's one of the three I listed on my Wedding Planning: The Dress Part V post... but which one did I buy????

Well, after much thought, and going back to David's Bridal for one last try, I decided that it wasn't going to be the dress I actually almost bought! Number two, I'm sorry, you were so not right for me...

But let me back up a little:

On my second visit to David's (I've been there three times total) I tried this dress on (oh yes, we're going to look at some pictures today!):

It's a Galina Signature dress and it's very beautiful. Lightweight enough for a Summer wedding, and in the mermaid style that seems to fit me way better than an A-line wedding gown. Problem was that I have never seen this dress listed on eBay nor on any of the other websites where I have been looking for my dress at a discount price. Note: this is not dress number 2.

This was dress number 2! An Oleg Cassini I picked because it was the closest thing to the Galina above, but I had never actually tried it on at the store. I was able to find a great auction on eBay, which is still going on as of today, for half the price and I almost bought it. But because I was worried about the size (and the fact that I had never tried it on), I didn't buy it and decided to go to David's to see if I could try it on first. And thank goodness I did! This dress fit me horribly! Oh, it looked so bad! And it was so heavy and uncomfortable! Oh thank goodness I didn't buy it! It would have been $500 down the drain! Ok, enough of the drama. Bye bye dress number two.

As I re-tried the Galina and then the Cassini, I kept thinking about my beach ceremony and the whole beach wedding, and the sand, and the ocean and the beach again. And the more I thought about it, the more these dresses didn't feel right. They were beautiful dresses but not appropriate for a beach wedding. Heavy beading and summer waves just don't go together.

So while I was tempted to re-try my number 1 favorite again, which is this one:

I also knew that time was running out, and I hadn't found any good deals on this dress yet. And since I wanted to stick to my budget of around $500 and this dress costs $950 (when on sale), I decided not to try it on again (why say goodbye?), thinking that all in all, it wasn't a beach dress anyway. Adieu mon amour.

So maybe the mermaid was not my style after all.

So I decided to move on, and get down to business. The other reason why I had gone to David's was to try dress number 3, in a size 6, since I had been able to find a decent deal on eBay for it. All the dresses above fitted me in a size 10, so I had my doubts I could squeeze in a size 6, but I had to try the dress to find out.

I need to open a small parenthesis here. When I went to the store, they immediately asked for my name and all, so they knew my wedding was in a month (because I'm registered there). I told the girl assisting me that I needed to try on dresses that I could buy and take home that day, no 12 weeks wait for me. Well, they had the Galina in a size 10 ready to go, the Cassini in a size 10 ready to go... I'm not sure if because these dresses have been around some time already, or what, but it felt like whatever I was picking it was available to buy right there and then. So don't be too worried about having to buy your dress a year in advance, you can always find something, even at the last minute. Parenthesis closed.

Back to dress number 3, I felt a bit awkward asking the girl "please I want to try this dress, but in size 6" because she would have said "honey, you've been trying size 10s, why do you suddenly think you're 4 size smaller?"

So I just asked "do you have such and such dress available?" She went to look and came back to tell me they had it in a size 8. Good enough. I told the girl that I would try the size 8, and what do you know? Size 8 was a bit big on me. :)  So I asked the girl if they maybe had the size 6 for this dress, and what do you know? THEY HAD SIZE 6! And I tried it on. AND IT FIT ME ALMOST PERFECTLY! In my mind I just wanted to drop everything, go home and get on the computer and email the people with this dress in a size 6 and tell them that I wanted to buy it from them, today! Before someone else got to it first!

But I kept my cool and stayed a little longer. We actually bought a bridesmaid's dress and some jewelry, so I don't feel like a total user of the poor people at David's.

The girl actually brought me another dress, which I made the mistake of trying on. This new dress, not on my radar at all, didn't feel special or anything, but it did look made out of the right material and a nice color for the beach. It threw me off for a few minutes, but then I used it as an excuse to tell the girl that I had to sleep on the decision, and left the store.

Got home, sent a few emails, got a deal, the dress is already on its way to me. :)

So dress number 3 is my dress. It is simple, yet not so simple. There are much simpler dresses, while this one has some embellishments. I can't go into much more details because I don't want to spoil the surprise. This is the dress that felt right for the kind of wedding I am having. I think of the beach and I think flowy dresses, not structured and beaded dresses. I think of light and simple and comfortable. And this dress is like that.

The price was also good. Not an amazing deal, but I was able to save around $150 from the current price of the dress, and I remained in my budget.

Oh, what a relief it was to finally buy my wedding dress!

EBay Gem!

I have been on eBay a little too much these past months, to decorate my house and to shop for the wedding... and I just had to share with you the "weirdest" auction I've seen so far (I was looking for a Nativity Set):

http://cgi.ebay.com/Nativity-Set-12-piece-hand-painted-Italy-circa-1950s-/270745303757?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f09ad7acd

Please read the description of the item and tell me it's not just hilarious! Oh, and the price, totally nuts! lol!

ps. Yes, I bought the dress... I'll see you tomorrow  ;)

Wedding Planning: Hair and Makeup

Ok, today should be the day, I shall buy my wedding dress. I will let you know all about it in my next post.

This post, instead, is about what needs to be taken care of after you don't have to worry about the dress anymore: HAIR and MAKEUP.

HAIR

Holy macaroni, am I in trouble! I mean I can work on the makeup, but the hair is going to be a b#%@!

My hair hasn't grown an inch in the last couple of months, and it actually looks like it has shortened a little bit, too, how is that possible, I don't know, but it has!

So my hair is very short, and I have to figure out if I want to pull it up and use a fake bun, or keep it down and find some kind of style that will make it look flowy and elegant, and not idiotically short and sickly looking (oh, the pregnancy and after-baby has done a number on the hair for sure!).

I think I will go to one or two salons, WON'T tell them it's for a wedding, otherwise they will CHARGE me $1,000 for a blow out, and see what they come up with (I'll tell them it's for a night out).

If I find someone that can do a decent job, I'll go back to them the morning of the wedding. If not, I'm screwed.

This could be something that could work. I guess the cute little pin will help as well. But my hair is longer than that, so I have to think about if I want to cut it, or if I should do something like this:

Thing is, my hair in the front is not even that long... I'm even thinking about extensions, but we'll see.

MAKEUP

I feel like I have a little bit more of control over the makeup issue because that's exactly the makeup's job, to make you look like whatever you want, to create an image that wasn't there before (I wish a brush could make hair grow right back!), to give you an illusion... you get my point.

The only problem is that I am not much of a makeup artist, and I am not going to hire a professional because of my budget. So the answer is that I have to become a professional in just 4 weeks! Yay! Which means you are all coming with me in this journey and you all are going to suffer through pictures of bad makeup application, until I finally get it right! ;)

I've already scouted the web for ideas and let me show you how I DO NOT WANT TO LOOK LIKE on my wedding day:

Yikes! And this is my fear about hiring a makeup artist, too. What if she feels this is what would look best on me?!?! Sure there are try-outs but still. I know a lady that did the try-outs and the day of the wedding she was miserable with her makeup, and what's worse, it made her look "older". I firmly believe that no makeup is better than bad makeup.

As with everything in my wedding planning, I research every new item until no more research can be done, because I practically read everything that has been written on the subject. Fortunately, when it comes to makeup, a good woman and personal "blogger friend" has put together an extensive list of wedding makeup tips and videos, that I'm hoping by the time I'm done with her post, I should be the makeup artist I long to be and have my makeup ready for my wedding. Her name is Karen and this is her "101 Wedding Makeup Looks" post:

http://www.makeupandbeautyblog.com/cosmetics/101-wedding-makeup-looks/

Now let me go read and practice, and stay tuned, because there will be a few make-up posts coming up every day or so (time is running out!!)

Wedding Planning: The Dress Part V

This dress is out of the competition

Oh how I wish you girls could help me with this decision!

But since my fiance' reads the blog I can't post pictures of the dresses!!!

I am ready to purchase the gown, but I still have a couple of questions/doubts. Let me explain and you can chime in with your opinions (which always help me see things from a different prospective).

1) My top favorite dress: I have only seen one selling around, new with tags, but at the original price they were selling it at the store. So no discounts, and the size might be too small for me: size 6. So if I buy this dress, I might have to lose a lot of weight in a month, and I should have bought it at the salon since it would cost me just the same. This dress seems appropriate for a beach wedding, since it's lightweight while it offers me some belly support (my weakness). I've tried this dress on at David's and loved it. $950

2) Dress number two is a good deal. Discounted by 50% and brand new with tags. The size is a 10, which is what I need, because it's big enough to be taken in as needed (my small butt - I used to have a big one, now it's gone), and should fit my big stomach (which I'm hoping to reduce some). This dress is heavily beaded, and maybe too heavy for the beach, but I do love it. The only con is that I never tried it on, but something similar, and it looked great on me. $500

3) Dress number three I've tried it on and it looked great. I've seen it online, size 10, but not at great discount, only like 15% off. It might be the most appropriate for the beach. But it's the simplest of the three. Yet it would end up costing more than dress number two, which is a much more elegant and valuable dress. $650

Help!!! What do I do???

Fashion Success: Neutral Elegance

I love simple elegance that looks comfortable yet chic.

Her shoes keep the outfit relaxed, and her hair give out a sense of neatness and well put togetherness that I have to admire.

I also love how she used neutrals but not the usual neutrals like beige, but various shades of grays.

Nothing in her outfit screams fancy or expensive, but the overall look is definitely classy.

And again, nice hair is fundamental for a successfully fashionable look, and hers is neat, braided and casually rested on the side, and it looks clean and shiny. Perfect.

Happy Fourth of July!!! And the winner is...

Happy Fourth!!!

Wishing you and your family a safe and fun time. :) Oh, and yes, Kevin, you won the Casio watch for your little girl! Congrats!!!