Weddingbee

Part I: Primped and Prettied
Part II: The Dashing Gents
Part III: The Wedding Duds + A Switcharoo

As the morning prep progressed, all seemed well and fine. Erwin proceeded to take photographs of my wedding threads while the females and I continued to ready ourselves.

All photographs are property of the fabulous Apertura Photography. Please provide credit if you repost their photos.

One last shot of my gown before I slipped it on.


It took a hoard of hands to attach those tiny buttons down my dress. I packed a crochet hook in my luggage, but during the mad rush of dressing, I completely forgot about it.

Five minutes later, the girls were still buttoning.

This was one of my favorite pictures of the set. It captures all that I was feeling at that moment: I was incredibly excited, a little nervous, and overflowing with joy and gratitude. I also think I was in denial about getting married. I couldn’t believe that nine long months of planning were about to be realized in one glorious day.

I was sooo happy to finally put on my Choos! They fit like a glove and were surprisingly comfy.

I fell in love this picture for two reasons: the angle of the photo makes me look:
1. like I have a butt (in reality, it’s flatter than a lukewarm Pepsi).
2. taller and thinner than I really am.
Thanks, Ray + Erwin! You rock!

Finally, it was time to put on my remaining jewelry and head out the door.

But wait!… Something was going down in the bathroom…

My girlfriends thoughtfully attempted to hide “the situation” from me because they didn’t want me to worry. I knew something was wrong when I heard them whispering in hushed voices. They eventually told me that the zipper on my cousin’s dress had fallen off its track and she couldn’t get it back on. You see, the cheap bridal store that I purchased the dresses from hadn’t bothered to sew up the bottom of the zippers. Grrrrr. It still annoys me that I gave them so much business, yet they took thoughtless shortcuts on these dresses.

Kathy illustrated the fiasco to Jane, and Erwin caught the moment on camera.

While my friends attempted to resolve the situation, Erwin asked to take a few bridal portraits on the hotel balcony. I tried very hard to look calm and poised. Do you think it worked?

Nope. Erwin said, “relax,” but I was only able to muster up a constipated expression.

I tried again to relax. Mostly I just took photos that looked nervous.

Finally, I was able to let go a bit for this shot.

I was also quite nervous about walking down the aisle. 360 eyeballs would be focused entirely on me and that was a very scary thought for this introvert.

After twenty minutes, the girls had exhausted their fingers and concluded that they could not get Monica’s zipper to work. Our last resort was to sew the dress closed onto my cousin. Out of six women, I was the only one who knew how to sew, so I did the honors.

One of the ladies found some pink thread and I got to work. Yoona held the dress closed while I carefully made stitches up the bodice.

Sewing Monica’s dress really helped to calm my anxious nerves. As I weaved the metal needle in and out, I felt myself relaxing until I was laughing and smiling again. No more nervous bride! It helped that I had padded our schedule with an extra hour and a half, so I wasn’t concerned about time.

My cousin, on the other hand, was quite teary eyed and emotional. She thought she had ruined my wedding! Silly girl. I love her to death and I would never change a thing with her broken zipper, even if I had the option. One of my fondest memories was sewing her up in the bathroom.

Ray left the guys by themselves for a minute to check up on our delay. While he was updated on the happenings, he took this hilarious picture. I love it because it shows the madness that was our wedding: Monica, applying deodorant, Christine, holding Monica’s dress, and me, sewing up the dress. Classic.

Finally, I tied the last knot of thread and made a mad dash for my veil.

Jen helped secure it to my hair.

Several hands and bobby pins later, we were ready to go—for real this time!

I took one last look in the mirror before I hurried out the door to meet my future hubby…

Next up: Groom meets Bride! (And Groom stares long and hard at Bride’s butt!)

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