Whenever I hear brides talk about their wedding day, the word "perfect" always seems to pop up. My wedding day was not perfect. Things did not go smoothly. For starters, I woke up that morning so anxious for everything to be "perfect" that I was sick. Really sick. So sick, in fact, that for a while I did not think that I was going to be able to make it down the aisle. The feeling horrible put me ever so slightly behind and I rushed through the morning trying to catch up. The church was locked when we arrived, the flowers were late, my grandmother's corsage was missing, as were all of the mizuhiki knots I'd handmade for the ushers and readers. The bridesmaids walked down the aisle to the wrong music and some random guy in running shorts practically walked on my train as he followed me and Papa Belle into the church for our grand entrance.
When those doors opened, though, and I saw The Boy standing at the altar, everything just... got better. I wasn't nervous. I didn't feel bad. I wasn't even tired. In fact, I felt perfectly ready to be standing there making those vows. Nothing else mattered. All of those little things that I'd worked so hard on, that had occupied so much of my time - they were nice and all, but they were just details. The important thing was that I was marrying - finally and again - my best friend and, without a doubt, the love of my life. So, so what if it wasn't perfect? It was still the most amazing and beautiful day of my life. So far, that is.
29 May 2008
28 May 2008
A Series of Unfortunate Events
Sorry to have been MIA for so long, but Murphy's Law was the new rule around here in the days leading up to the wedding. It all started three weeks ago when I received a phone call from the stylist I had booked to do my hair...
“Miss Belle," she said, "I see here that you have an appointment for a hair trial this Saturday for your wedding in two weeks. Well, we got to talking about it and we just realized that we’ll all be on vacation that weekend and that the salon will be closed.”
Excuse me? What?! You JUST realized that you won’t be open that weekend, despite the fact that I booked this appointment over a month ago? After a five minute freak out, I called and booked a salon that was recommended to me by the original but now closed salon. The downside was she could only fit me in for a hair trial 2 days before the wedding.
All was quiet on the wedding front for a few days. I went down to Natchez a week and a half before the wedding to do last minute vendor checks. I stopped by the florist to make sure that things were on track and to see if she (finally) had our final estimate prepared. It was Mother’s Day, so she was super busy, but she said that she would get that estimate to me first thing on Monday. I asked her if she thought that we would be on budget and she all but assured me we would fine. Monday came and went and there was no final estimate. Tuesday. Wednesday. I was getting nervous so I started calling. A lot. She was either out on a delivery or just plain out. Eventually my parents got in on the calling and between four different phones we finally managed to speak with her. She faxed the estimate to us and Mama Belle and I nearly fell on the floor. It was over double the number we had discussed. And that was just for personal flowers - never mind the flowers and containers for the centerpieces that we were ordering through her, but I had designed and we were putting together ourselves. It took a few panicked filled days of some fast rethinking and reworking, but in the end we trimmed the budget to a far more acceptable number.
Then came the random things that were worrisome and time consuming but easily solvable. My little snuggle puppy, who thinks he is a German Shepard but is, in reality, a Miniature Schnauzer, picked a fight with an actual big dog. He lost and was wounded in the battle. The result was a serious infection and a trip to the doggie hospital. Shortly there after, Mama Belle's car decided to die. It became clear after numerous trips to the auto shop that we were going to have to rent a car for the wedding trip down to Natchez.
And that's just the days BEFORE the wedding. Just wait until I tell you about the day of...
“Miss Belle," she said, "I see here that you have an appointment for a hair trial this Saturday for your wedding in two weeks. Well, we got to talking about it and we just realized that we’ll all be on vacation that weekend and that the salon will be closed.”
Excuse me? What?! You JUST realized that you won’t be open that weekend, despite the fact that I booked this appointment over a month ago? After a five minute freak out, I called and booked a salon that was recommended to me by the original but now closed salon. The downside was she could only fit me in for a hair trial 2 days before the wedding.
All was quiet on the wedding front for a few days. I went down to Natchez a week and a half before the wedding to do last minute vendor checks. I stopped by the florist to make sure that things were on track and to see if she (finally) had our final estimate prepared. It was Mother’s Day, so she was super busy, but she said that she would get that estimate to me first thing on Monday. I asked her if she thought that we would be on budget and she all but assured me we would fine. Monday came and went and there was no final estimate. Tuesday. Wednesday. I was getting nervous so I started calling. A lot. She was either out on a delivery or just plain out. Eventually my parents got in on the calling and between four different phones we finally managed to speak with her. She faxed the estimate to us and Mama Belle and I nearly fell on the floor. It was over double the number we had discussed. And that was just for personal flowers - never mind the flowers and containers for the centerpieces that we were ordering through her, but I had designed and we were putting together ourselves. It took a few panicked filled days of some fast rethinking and reworking, but in the end we trimmed the budget to a far more acceptable number.
Then came the random things that were worrisome and time consuming but easily solvable. My little snuggle puppy, who thinks he is a German Shepard but is, in reality, a Miniature Schnauzer, picked a fight with an actual big dog. He lost and was wounded in the battle. The result was a serious infection and a trip to the doggie hospital. Shortly there after, Mama Belle's car decided to die. It became clear after numerous trips to the auto shop that we were going to have to rent a car for the wedding trip down to Natchez.
And that's just the days BEFORE the wedding. Just wait until I tell you about the day of...
16 May 2008
My Dress
A few months ago I blogged about my search for a Singaporean bridal couturier and maybe there are a few of you are wondering how that dress turned out. The answer: it didn't. When The Boy landed the new job in London, we discovered that we would be in Singapore for a grand total of 8 weeks before the big move. That meant that there would be 8 weeks to design and produce a gown and then another 10 weeks to gain or loose weight after that, which would mean having to find a seamstress and that was just too much stress. So Plan A became Plan B.
The new Plan A was to find a dress while I was home for Christmas. Quite the feat, considering I had exactly two days to devote to dress shopping. If I didn't find The Dress in those two days, then maybe at least I would find a seamstress willing to do a finale fitting and any alterations on the bespoke dress. All of these ifs hurt my brain. It was like a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside of an enigma cloaked in craziness.
The Bridal Path in Jackson was our first stop, mainly because it was conveniently located on the way to Natchez. I kind of had the feeling it was the place for me the moment I spotted it online. I like a place that's by appointment only, not because that gives it the air of exclusivity, but because I'm on a tight schedule when I come home and I know that I won't have to wait forever for someone to help me. My suspicions were confirmed the moment walk in the door. Momma Belle, Sister Belle and I were escorted to a large dressing room. After about 10 minutes of Q&A, the lady disappeared for a few minutes and returned with about 10 dress. I was very happy to see that she quickly understood my taste since many of dresses were the very ones I'd saved in my dress file. As we tried each dress on, she offered her opinion and made suggestions. Occasionally she would disappear to find another dress she thought I might like. In the end we all decided that it came down to two dresses. They were both beautiful and I knew I would be happy with either of them. Since I am not an impulse buyer, I wanted to think it over and so we made an appointment to come back the next day. I'd found my dress.
After looking at hundreds if not thousands of dress online and changing my mind about a million times, I ended up getting the exact dress I said I wanted from the very beginning. Wanna know what it looks like? Sorry. I can't tell you. The Boy checks out the blog at least once a day and on this one thing he cannot be trusted. I can tell you it came down to something that looks like one these two.
{Amy Kuschel via The Knot.}
{Monique Lulliher via Preowned Wedding Dresses.}
The new Plan A was to find a dress while I was home for Christmas. Quite the feat, considering I had exactly two days to devote to dress shopping. If I didn't find The Dress in those two days, then maybe at least I would find a seamstress willing to do a finale fitting and any alterations on the bespoke dress. All of these ifs hurt my brain. It was like a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside of an enigma cloaked in craziness.
The Bridal Path in Jackson was our first stop, mainly because it was conveniently located on the way to Natchez. I kind of had the feeling it was the place for me the moment I spotted it online. I like a place that's by appointment only, not because that gives it the air of exclusivity, but because I'm on a tight schedule when I come home and I know that I won't have to wait forever for someone to help me. My suspicions were confirmed the moment walk in the door. Momma Belle, Sister Belle and I were escorted to a large dressing room. After about 10 minutes of Q&A, the lady disappeared for a few minutes and returned with about 10 dress. I was very happy to see that she quickly understood my taste since many of dresses were the very ones I'd saved in my dress file. As we tried each dress on, she offered her opinion and made suggestions. Occasionally she would disappear to find another dress she thought I might like. In the end we all decided that it came down to two dresses. They were both beautiful and I knew I would be happy with either of them. Since I am not an impulse buyer, I wanted to think it over and so we made an appointment to come back the next day. I'd found my dress.
After looking at hundreds if not thousands of dress online and changing my mind about a million times, I ended up getting the exact dress I said I wanted from the very beginning. Wanna know what it looks like? Sorry. I can't tell you. The Boy checks out the blog at least once a day and on this one thing he cannot be trusted. I can tell you it came down to something that looks like one these two.
{Amy Kuschel via The Knot.}
{Monique Lulliher via Preowned Wedding Dresses.}And wouldn't you know it, it fits like a glove - no alterations required - and matches Mama Belle's veil perfectly.
13 May 2008
Get With The Program!
I've been having nightmares. They go something like this: The Boy and I are standing blissfully at the alter, smiling and gazing adoringly at each other surrounded by our family and friends who have traveled from far and wide to be with us on our special day. The sun is shining. The wee birdies are singing. It's perfect...until we reach a moment in the service where I've forgotten to choose a reading and/or a person to read said reading. In the dream there is a terrible moment of silence and I turn very red for forgetting a part of the most important part of the day. I've had this dream three times. The third time I figured someone was trying to tell me something. So a couple of weeks ago I set to work on our program.
We wanted our ceremony to have a cohesive theme. We chose peace and unity and our search for readings that reflect that began. Once again I went into research mode and he endured weeks of e-mailed suggestions while I endured weeks of waiting for his responses and notes. (For the record, I do not recommend making a long distance move away from your sweetie a mere weeks before your nuptials. It more than kinda sucks.) Once we'd finally settled on readings and such, we had to make sure that we had people to read them. Rather than obligating someone to make a trip they might not be able to afford, we waited until most of the RSVP's were in to ask both our attending guests if they would do us the honor of being readers or ushers. Thankfully, they all happily agreed.
The what and the who taken care of, the next project to tackle was the format. A Catholic ceremony is a pretty interactive service. Because many of our guests are not religious and many more are not Catholic, we felt that we needed to include as much as we could of the service in the program. For us that meant entire readings and prayers. Being relatively new to anything computer other than the internet, I now bow down before those of you (and I am sure that there are many) who have mastered all the little nifty little tricks of Word. I have not and so as punishment for being slow to catch up on the 21st century I spent four hours today doing numerous revisions of something that had already taken me a really long time to do. Ah, such is life. In the end I figured it out. Mostly. I think. I have to say that I am rather proud. I hope that we've managed to infuse our service with our couple-ality. We've endeavored to keep it reverent and hopeful, both a prayer for our new life together as well as a prayer for something beyond us.
We wanted our ceremony to have a cohesive theme. We chose peace and unity and our search for readings that reflect that began. Once again I went into research mode and he endured weeks of e-mailed suggestions while I endured weeks of waiting for his responses and notes. (For the record, I do not recommend making a long distance move away from your sweetie a mere weeks before your nuptials. It more than kinda sucks.) Once we'd finally settled on readings and such, we had to make sure that we had people to read them. Rather than obligating someone to make a trip they might not be able to afford, we waited until most of the RSVP's were in to ask both our attending guests if they would do us the honor of being readers or ushers. Thankfully, they all happily agreed.
The what and the who taken care of, the next project to tackle was the format. A Catholic ceremony is a pretty interactive service. Because many of our guests are not religious and many more are not Catholic, we felt that we needed to include as much as we could of the service in the program. For us that meant entire readings and prayers. Being relatively new to anything computer other than the internet, I now bow down before those of you (and I am sure that there are many) who have mastered all the little nifty little tricks of Word. I have not and so as punishment for being slow to catch up on the 21st century I spent four hours today doing numerous revisions of something that had already taken me a really long time to do. Ah, such is life. In the end I figured it out. Mostly. I think. I have to say that I am rather proud. I hope that we've managed to infuse our service with our couple-ality. We've endeavored to keep it reverent and hopeful, both a prayer for our new life together as well as a prayer for something beyond us.
08 May 2008
Help Me Choose A Shoe
It's just over two weeks to the wedding and my girls still don't have shoes! We all live in different towns, which has made a trip to the mall for some serious girl time and shoe shopping impossible. I've told them both to wear whatever they like so long as it's roughly in the same color family, but I'm starting getting the impression that they would rather I pick it out myself or, at the very least, get my OK. So, after a few hours on the internet doing some serious searching, I present you with the options.
Shoe number one is a sassy little number by Charles David. "Spice" is a champagne satin shoe with a cute little bow at the vamp.
Shoes number two and three are actually the same shoe, just in different colors. I think the gold goes better with the dress. My girls think silver is a better choice. I'll let you decide. Either way Nine West's Accolia is one seriously sexy shoe.
And finally we have Shameless from Chinese Laundry in an almost too bridal for a bridesmaid ivory.
Now, the girls' dresses are from Dessy After Six. They are light green silk with an ivory chiffon overly. The chiffon softens the green and gives the dress a kind of dreamy vintage etherealness that is exactly what I was going for. I think it's a perfect for our high noon spring wedding.
So, shoe #1, #2, #3, or #4? Which one would you choose?
Shoe number one is a sassy little number by Charles David. "Spice" is a champagne satin shoe with a cute little bow at the vamp.
Shoes number two and three are actually the same shoe, just in different colors. I think the gold goes better with the dress. My girls think silver is a better choice. I'll let you decide. Either way Nine West's Accolia is one seriously sexy shoe.
And finally we have Shameless from Chinese Laundry in an almost too bridal for a bridesmaid ivory.
Now, the girls' dresses are from Dessy After Six. They are light green silk with an ivory chiffon overly. The chiffon softens the green and gives the dress a kind of dreamy vintage etherealness that is exactly what I was going for. I think it's a perfect for our high noon spring wedding.
So, shoe #1, #2, #3, or #4? Which one would you choose?
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