Detail posts are seriously one of my favorite recap posts when following the Weddingbee bloggers. After months of following a bride’s story, I love seeing everything come together at the end. Plus, when I first started wedding planning detail posts provided great inspiration for me! So get ready to start pinning, this will be my most photo heavy recap yet!
We’ll start off with attire.
I am still borderline obsessed with my Private Label by G dress and cathedral veil from Etsy seller Diamond Wedding Veil. Because of the gorgeous detailing on my dress I chose to add very few accessories to the rest of my look. Unfortunately, I don’t remember where I purchased my earrings or bracelet, but I do love that I can still wear them out to dinner occasionally and be instantly transported to our wedding day.
I could write about four million posts about shopping for wedding dresses! It was so much fun!! But even though it was awesome, I probably could have made the experience a teensy bit better if I had done a few things differently. But since I’ll never be going wedding dress shopping again, I need to share all the knowledge I gained with someone. Who better than you guys!
Who should you shop with?
One of the things that made dress shopping so fun for me was that I didn’t take any people who were stressful. If you’ve watched Say Yes to the Dress, you know that there are inevitably those people who make the bride so sad, because they don’t like the dress that she clearly loves. I always wonder, “Are these people always like this? Why did she bring them? Did she bring a bunch of people because they all wanted to be on TV?”
I am somewhat particular about my shopping partners. I’m perfectly happy to shop with another person when they want to look for something. But when I’m searching for something for me, there are only a few people I feel totally comfortable being with. My favorite shopping partner is my mom. She’s incredibly patient, and unless something looks horrible, she’s not going to force her opinion on me. Plus, she’s hilarious. We always have a blast together. Right up there with my mom is her sister, my aunt. My aunt doesn’t have kids of her own, so she loves to pretend I’m her daughter. She is also a ton of fun. Next in line are my bridesmaids. We all enjoy shopping together, so they definitely make the list of people I’m comfortable shopping with. So let’s recap. My shopping buddies: Mom, Aunt, Four Bridesmaids.
One of the biggest pieces of advice I could give any bride who is shopping for a dress is to choose your “entourage” carefully. It’s a super fun time, but there’s still a tiny bit of anxiety that comes along for the ride. You want people who are patient, easy-going, and have your interests at heart. If you’ve got a bridesmaid that you think might have a twinge of jealousy, don’t bring her. If your aunt hates your sense of style, don’t bring her. In fact, if you want to try on dresses by yourself once, do it! I did! Honestly, it wasn’t as much fun as when I had my people with me, but for some girls, going solo might be the best way to do it.
All in all, I visited eight bridal shops on five different trips spread out over four months. Two trips were only with my mom. One trip was by myself. One trip was with my maid of honor. And one trip was with my mom and aunt. I never had more than two people with me, and that was perfect.
What do you need?
The Wallaby wedding planning involved some minor drama regarding the guest list, and a little more drama over a faux paux on the invitations, but the planning process had been smooth and pretty easy. But when the time came for my hair and makeup trial, I was really unhappy with the results. I didn’t realize that my biggest fixation and source of anxiety would be over my wedding-day hairstyle.
After way too much time spent going back and forth between several different hairstyles, I finally picked a hairstyle that I wanted to imitate—Kate Middleton’s updo at the London Olympic gala concert:
Duchess Kate looking elegant as always. Photo via Daily Mail.
Here’s a few more pictures of the updo from different angles:
