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Weddingbee Blog
As you know from my past posts I am having my dress custom made by the amazing Michele Nassaney. I am so excited that we have been going through the dress development steps. I thought I would share with you where we are up to!!!
The fact that I am recovering from surgery in NC for a few weeks really has made it easy to talk with Michele, but even at a distance I have felt so taken care of by her. For those of you who are afraid to have a custom dress made… don’t be scared. The process (at least for me, with Michele) has been easy, comfortable and GREAT!
IF YOUR NAME IS MR. APPLE CIDER YOU HAVE TO STOP READING NOW!!!
Remember when I said that I wasn’t going to spend one. more. minute thinking about invites? I lied. What can I say?
The most frustrating part of my whole invitation experience was that, had I planned a little better, I would have been much, much happier — all while spending about the same amount of money.
Learn from my mistakes, ye who follow.
I spent $52 for 60 invitations. Not bad, right? But I wasn’t happy at all with the quality of the paper. I even debated buying new stationery, or at the very least envelopes, because I was so unhappy with them.
Total: $52.92. With the same cost for stamps - $12 - the total would have been about $64… just $12 more than what I went with. The trick with Paper Source, by the way, is to go straight to the Sale link and pick your options.
This wedding-planning thing sure makes you face who you are and what matters to you.
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I got frustrated. Yes. Occasionally, I felt like I wanted to say, “screw it”, and choose a bridesmaid dress that I was just okay with, but didn’t love. I sifted through tons of “real weddings” on theknot.com, I looked all over Nordstrom, and anywhere else I thought might have a suitable dress. That’s right. At this point, I really just wanted something suitable.
Etsyweddings.blogspot.com threw me a bone. And her name was Sarah Seven.
When I first started lusting after The Perfect Dress for our (non)wedding, I was dead-set on three things:
(Gee, that should be easy, right? Hah.)
I’m a healthy weight, but I’m taller than average, and let’s just say… this baby’s got back. I can look overweight if I wear the wrong styles, and like many women, I suffer from unfounded self-esteem issues. I first tested the wedding-dress waters with a friend (and fellow bride-to-be). I was glad to have my friend with me. I’m so self-deprecating all the time that it was important to have a good girlfriend there to give me an honest opinion about whether I looked h-o-t (or n-o-t). I tried to do the same for her.
We’d both heard terrible things about one local store, and she had a bad experience at the other one. So, we decided to go 75 miles south to Fargo/Moorhead. She made appointments for us at two well-known stores. One was a local/regional boutique, and the other was David’s Bridal. The boutique wouldn’t permit photo taking. There were big prohibitive signs everywhere. This was a real issue for me because I wanted to involve my mom in the dress-shopping process and she lives across the country from me. I had anticipated possible photo-hate, however, and had brought a very small and inconspicuous camera with me for this reason. We sent our attendant (who was very nice) off on a few wild goose chases to keep her occupied so we could snap pics of the gowns.
I only have a (blurry) photo of me in one dress from the boutique, and it was much too fancy/heavy for me for what we’re planning. I was, however, drawn to the layers. (I don’t know the designer of this dress. I think it was exclusive to this store though; PM me if you want to know the name of the boutique.)
Featured on Weddingbee
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
“Make an elegant invitation statement without the fuss. Stylish invitation sets with matching envelopes, reception and response cards included.”
You know when you go to the dentist, and you’re just sitting there waiting for the hygienist (who already knows the answer — and it ain’t good!) to ask if you’ve been flossing?
That’s sorta how I felt before my makeup trial.
I’m sure alone in my bad skincare habits. For example, I have the tendency to combine makeup removal and face washing in one none-too-gentle step — oops!
Well, there was no fooling Emily.
Simply by looking at my makeup-free face, she identified my skin issues and habitual shortcuts. And she wrote out a pore-focused plan of action to get my face in shape for the wedding:
For my lip balm habit — nay, addiction — Emily recommended Blistex Lip Medex tubs. She cautioned that ChapStick-like “moisturizers” actually dry your lips out! Since I started with Lip Medex, I’ve definitely noticed a difference — my lips are ridiculously smooth, and they retain moisture better than before, so I’m actually reaching for the little tub much less frequently than I was slathering on the stuff from a tube.
Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
Let’s talk about what everyone really wants to know when it comes to wedding planning anyway… the honeymoon.
I wasn’t that girl dreaming of big puffy dresses. I was that girl dreaming of her one big chance to get to see a piece of the world. Traveling and vacation was something my parents chose to sacrifice so my mom could stay at home and raise her children. That’s something I will always cherish (especially as a mom who has to work). Knowing that it was unlikely I would see the world sometime before I got married, I dreamed of the fantastic vacation that would follow the wedding.
I mean, really, we spend months working our arses off, trying to pull the biggest event of our lives together. We deserve that vacation. A couple of weeks of peace and relaxation shared with our one true love.
As a teenager, I dreamed of Tahiti and Aruba, Hawaii and Mexico. I grew up on the beach, and I couldn’t imagine spending my honeymoon anywhere but on an exotic beach surrounded by palms.
When Mr. CC and I discussed honeymoon destinations, it was quickly apparent that my idea of relaxation had changed. Mr. CC and I were throwing around places like Italy, Ireland, and Greece. Mr. CC and I wanted to go somewhere that we could see history, experience culture, and perhaps explore our heritage a bit. I’m sure I’ve mentioned it before, but Mr. CC is a huge military history buff (um, hello, National Infantry Museum!). I knew if we traveled to Europe, we would spend most of our honeymoon touring WWII battlefields and concentration camp skeletons. Have you ever toured a battlefield? If you aren’t familiar with the actual battle maneuvers, it’s really just a field full of ghosts. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the history and significance and sacrifice that those fields and beaches stand for. I even want to experience it someday. But, it wasn’t exactly what I had in mind when it came to our honeymoon. (Gosh, that sounds harsh and inconsiderate. I promise I appreciate what those battlefields represent and the sacrifice our soldiers made on those fields.)
Ireland was a definite possibility.
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I’m extremely thrilled to announce that my hometown pastor will marry us! I’ve attended Messiah Lutheran Church in Valdosta, GA since 1999. My pastor, Rev. Richard Pieplow and his wife will travel to Savannah to officiate our wedding ceremony.
I was fortunate enough to get to choose my religious denomination when I was younger. My family never really attended church when I was a child, so I would tag along with friends here and there to different church services (everything from Southern Baptist to Pentecostal). I never quite felt like I “fit in” even though I enjoyed the messages of the services. It was the style in which those messages were delivered that made me know they just weren’t right for me.
After my father died in 1998, my mom decided it was time to turn to God to help answer some of our questions and problems. Her best friend was already attending a church, so it was only natural that she picked the same one. That church, Messiah Lutheran, ended up being my pick as well. It was also the church that handled my dad’s funeral and I remember how much Pastor Pieplow’s words helped my mom during that time.
My mom wanted us to go with her the first few times when we began attending. But she made it clear that it was our decision whether we wanted to continue to go after that.
Now that spring has arrived, I’m inspired by all the color that is peeking out from between the clothing racks. I’m looking for excuses to stash these in my closet (wouldn’t they make adorable shower, rehearsal dinner, or even bridesmaid dresses?).
So, this is it. Here we are, sixteen months later, and it’s finally go-time. Yesterday was pure insanity as the torrential rains rolled through town and the power went out at our little bridal lunch. Let me tell you, that was fun. No worries, a bit of pinot and some renegade sunshine arrived in the late afternoon and we were able to rehearse outside! Here’s hoping today follows suit!
There are so many things from yesterday that I want to share with y’all, from my groom-to-be eating a cheeseburger at the “altar” while we practiced our vows, to the monsoon that hit SA, to the lovely (and incredibly overwhelming) rehearsal dinner including a very special guest, but for now I have to get ready to get married, so I’ll leave you with this…
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This poll is closed. Please check out the final round of inspiration boards and vote for your favorite!
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This is our last round of inspiration board entries for the Kathlin Argiro Bridesmaid/Rehearsal dress giveaway. Voting on the final round begins tomorrow! Check out these awesome inspiration boards and vote for your favorite of this set below!
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Board 1, “Papaya Inspired Tropical Wedding” by Liz G.:
While watching TV last night, I saw a preview for a new chick flick: Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. I’m a sucker for love stories, and when weddings are involved, it’s like having chocolate sprinkles on my ice cream sundae (sorry, I’m not a cherry fan) 
. The story is a little over-the-top, but it’s bound to be funny, and there’s a great roundup of actors.
Poster image source
What’s the movie about? A bachelor is haunted by the ghosts of his past girlfriends at his younger brother’s wedding. Matthew McConaughey is the bad boy we love to see, Jennifer Garner plays the good girl, and Michael Douglas plays the dead uncle.
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Our friend Paul just got married a few weekends ago. To celebrate his upcoming nuptials, his fellow teachers threw him a Man Shower. Yup. A shower for guys. There weren’t any gifts off the registry or cute little favors, but there were adults in overalls. Paul an avid gardener and lovingly refers to his 3’x8’ garden as his “farm”, so his co-workers threw him a farm party. They dressed up in overalls and straw hats, and bought him “farm” stuff like seeds, rakes, and shovels.
When Mr. Joey hears the words bridal shower, he cringes. Something about it makes him want to run for the hills. I’m 99.99% certain we won’t be having a co-ed shower. I think that’s fine. But the question is, will Mr. Joey get a Man Shower? He’d say he doesn’t want one (too embarrassing) but I think it would be funny. He works with this awesome teacher Jen who loves to make Mr. Joey feel uncomfortable in a comfortable way. Whenever he looks a little frustrated, she always asks Mr. Joey to hug it out. He hates hugging people (besides me and relatives). She always asks the sweatiest teenager in school to stand next to him during school masses so they will inevitably have to hold hands (he hates holding hands - germs).
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