The search for my perfect wedding dress came full circle thanks to Pinterest. I mentioned in my previous post that my dress ended up being one of the first I Pinned. I always had that dress in the back of my mind, but I’m the type of person who needs to see LOTS of options before being sure I’ve found the right one. So after searching the web and probably scrolling through 1,000+ dresses (thanks mostly to Brides.com and TheKnot.com), I Pinned a few dozen of all different styles since I had no idea what would work for me.
Everyone’s favorite Princess, Kate Middleton / Image via Allure.com
When it was finally time for me to start trying on dresses, I wanted to bring everyone along with me. But after watching one too many episodes of Say Yes to the Dress, it seemed that one of the biggest mistakes was bringing too many people to your bridal appointment (for various reasons, including loss of sanity), so what I did was divide that venture into multiple trips. I would take a few of my girlfriends with me on my first major bridal-shop outing and then would narrow down which salons I would go to with my mom, sister, and FH’s mom. (Since she only has sons, I wanted to invite her to join in on this experience. She will henceforth be known as Future Mother-in-Law, or FMIL for short).
Maggie is selling a San Patrick Eresma wedding dress with petticoat. She is asking $1,050 for the size-four dress.
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Other great items for sale:
Did I say the next part of the ornament series was coming on Friday? Well, the ornament submissions keep pouring in, so here’s a bonus post for you all to enjoy. More holiday ornaments from the bee bloggers!
Catch up on the series here:
to 
— The felt buffalo came from Etsy, while I handcrafted the pink flower and bee ornament to go with it.
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To me, Pinterest is without a doubt the best thing to happen to the internet in a long time. Remember back in the day when you would tear out pages from magazines for all things cool? Whether it was an outfit, hairstyle, makeup product, famous celebrity, inspirational quote, or dream vacation spot, we’ve all done that at one point or another to keep track of things we wanted or aspired to. Well, those days of old-school page-tearing have now become obsolete since Pinterest came onto the scene.
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Image via IdeaElevator.co
A coworker introduced me to Pinterest about a week after I got engaged, and I was instantly hooked. I first used it early on to find inspiration for wedding gowns. I had no idea what style I wanted so would just scour the web (and Pinterest) looking for what would ultimately be the perfect dress. What’s really funny is the dress I ended up falling in love with (and purchasing) was one of the first things I pinned. Sometimes you know yourself better than you think!
After creating dress boards, I became a bit overwhelmed with the sheer volume of material out there to pin, so I started creating specific boards to help organize my thoughts. I created ones for wedding looks, cakes & flowers, save-the-date cards, wedding shoes, wedding photos wish list, groom style, and more. Here are examples of some of my actual boards below.
weddingbound carried a bouquet with a memory charm of her grandmother on her wedding day.
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Well bees, I never thought I would be that girl. I am certainly a capable individual and don’t have any problems making decisions. But…as we talked about here, I was feeling pretty alone as I started looking for a venue and needed someone with an inside scoop. My family and friends live all over the country, but none in Tampa.
In my head, I had separated the wedding into:
I realized that I was actually really pumped for those “mid” items. I couldn’t wait to get my craft on, but I was getting annoyed in regard to some of the big items. Location frustration. Also, since Mr. Squirrel and I don’t get to see our families very often, our goal the weekend of our wedding is to maximize the time we get to spend with everyone. Who cares about the setup and the tipping?
When I put all these issues on the table, I cringed a little on the inside. I never thought I would be that bride, but I knew what I had to do.
I hired one: a wedding coordinator.
This was definitely not a decision I made lightly. But the good news is that it was a fairly painless process to select one, and it has been smooth sailing so far.
…which, if you’re Persian, is days or weeks before the wedding. In Persian culture, weddings are a time to Party with a capital P. Close family members and friends throw feasts (or dinner parties) honoring the bride and groom. The parties are called paghosah—”clearing the path”—and they’re a time for the two families to come together.
As soon as my parents arrived a week before the wedding, the festivities kicked off. A lot of brides are busy with last-minute DIY projects the week of their weddings; I was dancing my booty off and partying with the Persians. I’m not gonna lie, I was a little stressed by everything left to do on our checklist, and I was worried I would be exhausted by the time the actual wedding day rolled around. But my parents came to the rescue and helped with an incredible number of last-minute tasks while I was at work that week, and we somehow pulled it all off. I owe Mama and Dad Wallaby a hundred times over for their help. (When I told Dad Wallaby that, he responded that all he wants as a thank you is for Mr. W and me to visit them in Seattle as often as we can. Awww.)
The paghosah parties were so.much.fun. I think they really helped me de-stress the week of the wedding and enjoy the precious time we had with both of our extended families in town. My parents had already gotten to know Mr. W’s family and they get along famously—but the week of the wedding, those relationships were really strengthened. Mr. W and I were really humbled and honored by parties that were held in our honor. And each gathering contributed to the momentum building up to the Big Day.
My favorite party was Thursday night, two days before the wedding. Thursday was my last day of work for 19 days (!!!), so I was finally able to really kick back and clear my mind, and get excited!!! My extended family had all flown in at that point, so my parents, grandma, aunt, uncles, cousins, and old friends from Seattle were all invited over to Mr. W’s parents’ house. We were joined by Mr. W’s out-of-town relatives and a lot of Persian family friends. I’m not sure how many people were there that night, but it was a gathering the size of some weddings. Like I’ve said before, Persians love to p-a-r-t-y.
Maid of Honor A, Maid of Honor N, me, and friend K / Personal photo
