Wedding Blog

You know how fantastic it feels to get your hair done? And you know how exciting it is to buy jewelry? How about how much fun it is to hang out with your girlfriends and gossip?

Combine those three things, and you have an accessories trunk show.

Last weekend, I grabbed 75% of bridesmaids (the last quarter being in Vegas with a bunch of guy friends, the little tart) and headed up to Scottsdale for one of these delightful events. The place: Destiny’s Bride at the Borgata, where I bought my dress.

It’s a very pretty shop, built in imitation of an atelier. Downstairs is the entrance and regular evening wear. Upstairs, racks of wedding gowns flow from one room to the next, flooded with natural light. The best part, however, is the “runway”: two raised, round platforms, perfect for twirling, turning, oohing and ahhing, each set in front of an enormous framed, gilt mirror.

A rack of eat-your-heart-out designer dresses:

Everything was arranged as if for a starlet. A vanity and upholstered chair awaited me, with a full-length mirror and a set of shelves bedecked with goodies:

There were combs, hair pins, headbands, necklaces, bracelets, and brooches. On these, there were rhinestones, pearls, and sparkling beadwork. Renee, the jeweler who designs these lovely things, also acted as my personal stylist:

We tried a couple of different things because, as usual, I felt overwhelmed by my options and retreated to my turtle shell of indecision. Luckily, my BMs were on the case, watching, judging, evaluating…

…giving eachother foot massages…

Um, guys? A moment of your time?

Nah, they were great. They even found a gown similar to mine (at least, color-wise) for me to wear while I tried on fancy head-jewels:

A very looong gown, that is. And apparently, a very hungry one, because within minutes it was devouring me:

I hit the “runway”, where the largest piece of tulle ever farmed was attached to my scalp:

At the moment, I wasn’t digging on my hair up. Maybe it was because I didn’t have makeup on, and I wasn’t ready for that much face. Though in pictures later, I saw how cool it actually looked:

Anyway, I went back to the half-up, half-up down version, and put on a shorter veil:

(classic pose of Lovebug indecision)

The indecision wasn’t between the long veil and the short; it was between veil or no veil. (I had been thinking that any veil on top of my very ornate dress would be gilding the lily.)

But after a few rounds of eeny-meeny (and I mean the full-length, “bubble gum, bubble gum, in a dish” version), I decided to go for the shorter veil. I think it’ll be really versatile, plus I like how it adds a dash of modernity to my otherwise very old fashioned dress. And for my hair, six simple pearl pins (versatility strkes again!). But just when I thought it was safe to change back into my civies, Renee slipped the most beautiful pearl necklace around my neck:

I absolutely loved it; a total must-have. I didn’t let them get a shot of the front (there have to be SOME surprises for Mr. Lovebug), but do you see how the back drops down? Well, it’s the same in the front. I think it’ll be quite spiffy and match the v-back of my dress well.

Fantastically, I was given a 10% discount for ordering day-of. Even more fantastical, when Renee wrote up my invoice, she accidentally undercharged me, but decided she didn’t feel like recalculating or rewriting the sales slip. Now that’s my kind of slacker!

So, I guess that means I’m pretty set from the shoulders up. Now it’s on to the bottom half and that pesky midsection…