Weddingbee

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The only problem was that we needed fondant to make those little ears and neither of us had used it before. I knew that you could buy it by the box rather than make it yourself, but that was the end of my knowledge. We found that Wilton sold it online, but where to buy it in the store? Oh wait, the Wilton headquarters and company store just are minutes from my parents’ house! Neither of us had ever been, so this seemed like a great excuse.Behold what greeted us when we arrived:

Pans!

Icing! Sprinkles! Dye for fondant!

Cake tiers and stands!

Tschotskes!

We had such a good time. These pictures do not do the store justice. Baking supplies were EVERYWHERE. The trip almost- almost- got me thinking that I could make my own wedding cake. Then I remembered the super deal that I got on our cake and that my sanity was worth the extra money.Just in case you were wondering, here are our little cupcakes!

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The flash is broken on our camera so these pictures aren’t the best The color of the envelopes is closer to the color in the first picture than the latter. We worked so hard on the design of those silly cards, I am so darn proud of them.

The only downside is that we left our last name off of them. Initially, these were only going to some very close friends and family rather than to the entire guest list and we liked the design better without the last names. Then our parents weighed in on this decision and the list grew and grew. Most of our list won’t notice, but we are worried about a few great aunts and uncles. They may know me as one of “Dianne’s kids” rather than by my actual first name. These people are also unlikely to do further investigating on our website to find out exactly who is sending them mail. However, since they were already printed and about to be stuffed, I pretended like it didn’t bother me.

That’s me, Miss Peacock, spreading confusion through the Chicago suburbs.

Anyone else have an “oops!” moment with their printed stuff?
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At first it was fun. I had my pick of the vendors which helped since both my church and reception sites are very popular places. I had a few vendors tell me that it was too early and they weren’t interested in talking to me yet, which wasn’t as much fun, but it made it easier to weed out my growing list of options. My list of DIY plans also kept growing, since I had almost two years to get it done. We were getting toasts and congratulations left and right. I couldn’t tell our engagement story enough. Being engaged was so exciting for those first few months. Then it really started to drag.

Friends and friends of friends also started getting engaged and choosing dates well before ours. Then they started getting married before us. One friend just got engaged in March and is planning a May wedding. She didn’t need 22 months to plan, only 6 weeks. I wasn’t expecting it, but I was insanely jealous. I just wanted to be married. I have never liked the word “fiance” and around the one year engagement mark I really started to hate it. It just seemed silly to use it at that point. Every time the sun came out on a Saturday I would kick myself for not picking that day. Then I just started kicking myself EVERY Saturday. Who cares if there was a snow storm? I would be MARRIED! I didn’t, and I really still don’t, get what’s so great about being engaged. I just want to be Mrs. Peacock, darn it!

But, as I got closer to the 150 day mark, things started to look up. My mom and Mr. Peacock’s mom started asking about shower dates. I set the date for my alterations. The bridesmaids’ dresses were ordered. My shoes were purchased (yay!). The ball was rolling. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. It is finally happening! I actually woke up this morning excited. I know these next five months are going to go by so quickly and I really can’t wait.

Has anyone else felt this way? Did any married bees look back and appreciate their long engagement?

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I went out shopping with my mom for a bit and came home to my dad, smiling. He ran to his office and came back with the MS Weddings Fall 2003 issue that had originally featured my cake. The cake had taken over an entire page, so it was much easier to see the detail. Dad scanned in the image, printed it on photo paper and voila! A perfect example to show my baker. He was so sweet about the whole thing, it almost made me think that he is enjoying this wedding planning thing!

I wanted to mention that that particular issue is full of goodies. There are a few MS images that regularly appear on blogs and knot bios- I was surprised at how many came from that issue! I highly recommend visiting your local library and spending some time with the back issues. That Martha is a genius (and Darcy Miller, of course). Here are just a few of the pages that I scanned in. I would have done the entire magazine but my legs started to cramp up from standing over the scanner.

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Since the VW salon would not allow me to take pictures, I asked these very unhappy 14 year old girls to model the dresses for me. They all showed up without washing their hair or putting on make-up, but since I was on a time crunch, I let it slide. They were also so hungry that I was worried they would eat me.

 

 

This is Mrs. Strawberry’s dress. She looked WAY hotter in it.

The very friendly owner of the salon (who looked just like Charlotte York Goldenblatt, down to the pearl earrings and Chanel suit) joined us for the appointment. She was helpful and studied my face while I wore each dress. Based on my reaction, she nixed each of these dresses, one by one. She then pulled out THE DRESS. I put it on. I loved everything about it- the feel of the fabric on my skin, the way is swished when I walked and the look on everyone’s face when I came out of the dressing room. It was unlike any other dress that I had ever seen. I wanted to run out of the store and down Oak Street, jump in my car and peel off to Canada. I was not giving that dress back. I was totally sold… and then the owner started talking.

She started selling me on how wonderful the dress was and how great it looked on me. A series of unnecessary compliments followed. The color was great for my gorgeous skin. The bodice accentuated my tiny waist. My previously non-existent cleavage was rocking. She then told me that “it is perfect for a {insert my program here} PhD student.” I’m sorry, what?! What the heck does that mean? It means “I am going to say whatever I need to so that you will buy that dress.” I started to doubt myself. Everyone was still smiling at me and I still loved THE DRESS, but was I just being talked into it? Was I just a sale? I reluctantly took it off and told them that I needed to think about it.

The more I thought about THE DRESS, the more I wanted it in my hot little hands and the less I wanted to buy it from that store. I remembered that Macy’s also sold Vera Wang gowns and for fun, I gave them a call. I have some strong anti-Macy’s sentiments and until that moment I was participating in the boycott. The thought of getting a deal on my dress put me over the edge. I decided that if they could cut 15% or more, I would buy it from Macy’s. Otherwise, I felt confident that the difference in customer service would make up for the price difference. Here is how the phone call went between me and Ronia at Macy’s- aka, my angel.

Me: Do you have a Vera Wang dress with x, y and z?
Ronia: I think so. Can you email me a picture?

One hour later….

Ronia: We have it and our price is 10% less than the price at the VW salon.
Me: Hmmm… I need to think about it. I was hoping for more of a price break.
Ronia: Well, we do have a sample of that dress. It has barely been worn and it is in your size.
Me: {silence}
Ronia: We can give you 50% of our price for the sample.
Me: {silence}
Ronia: Are you there?
Me: Uhhhh…. yes. I will be there in an hour. {Tires screaching, cash register ringing, blonde girl goes happily bouncing down State Street with a huge white garment bag}

That is how my dream dress became mine- it was perfect for me, in my size and on sale.
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Oooh! I really look like a bride in this photo. I loved the fabric and the detail. It reminded me of old Hollywood- and it was only $1,000! My mom had a major crush on these little bows down the back:

I thought about her all night and into the next day, but, it wasn’t my dress. Next stop, a little sample shop in Naperville called A Joyful Occasion. It was actually less than a mile from my parents’ home, so it was easy to stop by on a Sunday morning. The shop doubles as the owner’s home. Freyda was so warm and wonderful and she had a surprisingly large collection of dresses. My mom and I had a great time nosing through her closets.

I had been under the impression that I might want a mermaid silhouette… this dress nixed that idea.

Holy hips batman! The fabric (I have a thing for soft, luxurious fabric, if you can’t tell) was absolutely dreamy and the back was quite lovely, but I did not feel pretty. I felt wide and squished… like a Peep that someone sat on.

This Rivini was gorgeous, however. And yet, too wintry. I have decided that September is summer and I hate the winter. Moving on.

Mom and I made the trip to Filene’s on State Street for the Running of the Brides craziness. Fortunately, we made the wise decision to show up at 10:00am rather than participate in the actual “running”. I am claustrophobic in a bad way and messy, crowded stores scare the crap out of me. Even at 10, it was still a bit of a madhouse. I found one dress that I liked a lot, but looking back at the photos, I’m not sure why.

zzzzzz…. oops! Sorry, back to the post.

The next dress was way too small and WAY too complicated. There was this sash. No matter how we twisted it, wrapped it, searched for loops, my mom and I could not figure out what to do with it. Obviously, it was meant to be a head wrap.

The final segment of this saga- finding my pretty dress- coming up!
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Delicious food and festive dancing followed. I was really touched by the generosity and thoughtfulness of our hosts— it was such a fun evening and a really great opportunity to meet Mr. Jasmine’s family friends.

But what surprised me about the evening was how completely nervous I was. I had a wonderful time and really enjoyed meeting everyone, but I was unprepared to be the center of attention and I found myself looking down a lot, especially with everyone aiming their cameras at me. And when I was encouraged to get on the dance floor with Mr. Jasmine while everyone watched, I nearly died! I didn’t expect to be that uncomfortable with the spotlight and all the cameras flashing. It was good practice for the wedding though!

Are any of you nervous about all the wedding day attention?

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My mom, sister and I went to Priscilla of Boston in Oak Brook to check out Melissa Sweet’s line. I loved Dora, Sydney and Valentino. Lucky for me, they let me take pictures so that I could go home and stare at them for days.

Dora front and back. So flowy…

Sidney

Valentino

Dora has these little tiny polka dots all over it. It flowed and swished around me while I walked. My mom thought it was a little too “booby,” although it was hard to tell what it would look like once altered. Those huge Home Depot clamps weren’t cutting it. Sidney looks kinda ugly in all my pictures, but it was really quite pretty. There were layers upon layers of tulle. I would have lost that sash, however, because it didn’t want to sit right and it seemed a little superfluous with all that gorgeous rouching. Valentino was very fitted with gorgeous lace everywhere. I loved the neckline, although it was also decidedly booby. This dress made me decide that I did want the big poofy bottom that I didn’t think was necessary. Hmmm… I still get a warm fuzzy thinking about Valentino.

My next trip to a “new dress” store was A L’Amour Bridal Boutique in Barrington. They carried Jenny Lee as well as a long list of other brands. I am not positive that this is the same dress, because they wouldn’t let me take pictures, but this little beauty stuck in my mind.

The fabric was amazing and I loved the way it fit around my waist. The skirt was also kind of unique because the train attached at the waistline. It was quite full, so you couldn’t tell that it was separate from the skirt, but it made it much easier to walk in. I couldn’t keep my hands off it. It was a bit out of my price range, however, so I decided to go home and sleep on it. I woke up deciding that I wanted to keep looking.

Next up, the sample shops. There are quite a few great ones in the Chicago area and my mom and I spent lots of time in them.
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