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The Snapdragon wedding planning journey has been rather hilarious. We have been flying by the seat of our pants, taking quite a few gambles, and hoping for the best. I call it “The Tides of Adventure” - it makes life more exciting.
Seeing as Bossyboots and I have engagement photos this weekend, I decided I should probably go shopping. Here in Chicago, you aren’t allowed to walk around nekkid. Nearly nekkid—yes. Totally nekkid—no. Too bad.
We’re taking shots around downtown Chicago, and we’re so excited! I really wanted to wear a flouncy skirt and crazy pumps, so…. that’s what I’m doing. Funny how that happens! I already own unwalkably sky-high platform pumps, so I just needed the rest of the ensemble—yes, I realize that’s mostly everything. Pumps and an engagement ring, that’s what I had to work with here.
I turned to a girl’s best flouncy friend: Anthropologie! And wouldn’t you know it, they had exactly what I wanted: the Noon and Night dress. What should have been a ten-hour strenuous shopping day lasted 60 minutes. Done and done. BAM.
After a couple weeks of cooling down from these rather nightmarish dress-hunting experiences, I came to a decision. Mama Ticket should buy the bright red dress. She loved it, she would be comfortable in it, everyone knows she’s my mom, and most importantly I really didn’t want to argue with her anymore. I had expected dress shopping with her to be fun and exciting, and it turned into constant bickering and exhaustion.
From my perspective, Mama Ticket was in no way willing to budge. She was basically saying that her desires were more important than mine and that I was a terrible daughter for suggesting that I was unhappy with her choices (funny how we hear things differently than how people really say them). Her criteria for a dress were as follows:
1. Under $250. (That’s totally fair.)
2. Not low-cut. (Obviously not a problem, though Mama Ticket’s version of low-cut is a tad different than most people’s.)
I thought something between J Lo’s belly button and a turtleneck would be ideal.
Image via Lily Boutique
While I LOVE my wedding dress and wouldn’t change a thing, part of me can’t help but gravitate towards showy numbers. Case and point: While waiting for the seamstress to bring out my dress for my second fitting, a little something caught my eye. It was an after party dress by Jenny Packham dubbed the “make your momma faint dress”. 
If the hemline wasn’t faint worthy the price certainly was. At $1300 (after a hefty discount) it was about 10 times what I’d consider spending on a party dress I’d probably never wear again.
Finding the right sassy little number has been infinitely harder than finding my shoes.
I reserved this disco ball of a dress from Rent the Runway but after seeing it on a few women of average height I’m afraid it’ll be too long.
Read more…
So we decided to search the internet—surely burgundy dresses existed! Maybe we just needed to expand our horizons, so we checked out Macy’s, Nordstrom, and J.C. Penney. Without much luck online, we decided to go into the stores the following weekend. Mama Ticket had decided earlier to stop by a different David’s Bridal without me in hopes they would have a different selection. (They did not.) But she insisted I see her in a dress she SWORE was maroon and looked great. So I rushed over to the David’s Bridal shop and saw her holding a bright red dress. I’m sure the look I gave her somewhere between confusion and disgust was more than enough to let her know what I thought, but my inner bridezilla was beginning to come out and I haughtily informed her that bright red (”apple,” as they call it there) was in no way burgundy and an unacceptable choice.
This was my face upon seeing the bright red dress:
Image via Flickr / Screen shot from Saturday Night Live
Featured on Weddingbee
Unique Wedding Favors
“Add a memorable touch to your wedding with unique favors that match your theme.”
Well really, it’s 13 months later, since I checked in last month with our one year anniversary update!
But, now that our first wedding anniversary has come and gone, I’ve started thinking again about what to do with some of our leftover wedding items.
I still haven’t gotten around to selling or giving away a few extra decor items and still haven’t cleaned any of my wedding event dresses yet. Partly because of laziness, partly because I hate getting rid of stuff, and partly because I ran out of time to take care of these things before our big move to the East Coast, and they’re still packed away.
But recently I did dig out my rehearsal dinner dress from BCBG, because I wanted to try to dye it so I can re-wear it, instead of selling it to someone. I knew that if it was a color other than white, I would have a lot more use for it, and since I really liked the silk floral applique detailing, I figured it was worth a shot.
Here’s a look at my rehearsal dress, so you get an idea of what I’m talking about (the purple sash is not attached):
{From our wedding ceremony rehearsal}
And a close up view of the fabric:
I thought flower girls’ dresses were going to be much, much easier than bridesmaids’ dresses. After all, it’s just two little girls, right? Wrong.
The first little girl is my stepsister J. I was 21 and J was four when my parents got married. My stepdad and his first wife got divorced when J was one, so her first memories are really of my mom and her dad together and of us being her older siblings. She told me the first time Mr. D and I got engaged that she was going to be a flower girl and that she wanted a poufy dress and a tiara. And if I didn’t provide these things, she wasn’t going to do it. She is very, very precocious. Now that she is almost nine, she said she will still be a flower girl, even if she doesn’t get all of the other stuff.
Little Miss J: My littlest sibling, and by far one of the biggest handfuls (Personal photo)
Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
The two months we had before our Zivilstand in 2010 slipped by quickly. I flew to Ohio for the weekend for my brother’s wedding in July, showed off my beloved ring, and then it was back to Switzerland to prepare for our own upcoming “thing” (as I liked to call it).
Around the time of the one month countdown, I casually asked Mr. Funnel Cake what he was going to wear. “A suit, of course.” Oh. A suit… That sounds fancy. Did that mean I should wear a dress?
*quickly searches through closet for suitable Zivilstand clothing*
With my hectic schedule at work and my three-hour commute, I didn’t have much time to go shopping during the week.
I admit it, there was a lot of drama surrounding the whole process of choosing my wedding dress. A Lot. We pre-shopped, we ran, we shopped shopped, we purchased, we post-shopped, we re-purchased. There was so much going on! What I haven’t mentioned is that like many bees before me (most recently Mrs French Toast and Mrs Crepe) I will be wearing both a red dress and a white dress on my big day.
Since I was in high school, I’ve loved the idea of wearing Mama Bacon’s cheongsam (aka qipao) that she wore for her wedding to Papa Bacon in the ’70s for at least one part of my wedding. But sadly, I am graced with my father’s American build and not my mom’s much more delicate Chinese build which means that when the time came last fall to try it on, I couldn’t even get the darn thing over my SHOULDERS, let alone my American thighs. I mean, I could have worn it for our wedding 11 months later… if I dropped 40 lbs, but hello, not healthy for a girl my size. Either way, this dress needs a moment in the spotlight (along with that fantastic white tux my dad’s got on and all that hair between them both).
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| I just LOVE this photo. Who can guess the year? |
I’ve been known to don some Chinese traditional garb in my time, and the circumstances vary widely like at an 8th grade dance or on a make shift stage at an outdoor festival.
Read more…
A few weeks ago, Cherry Bomb and I packed into the car and headed down to Columbus to visit my grandma so we could pick out a dress pattern. (I mean THE dress pattern. I’m still getting used to my wedding lingo.) Grandma wanted to go to Jo Ann Fabrics to hunt for dress patterns, so we headed to the one closest to her house. I had a general idea of what I wanted the dress to look like, so it was a matter of leafing through the pattern books until I found what I was looking for. Grandma chased Cherry Bomb through the store as I looked at dress after dress after dress. There were actually quite a few patterns that I liked, but I finally focused on one that had a scalloped bottom because I felt it added a bit of visual interest. I consulted Grandma about it, and we decided to get it. (We ended up with McCall’s M6331, for anyone who is interested.) My favorite part of the pattern was that it could also be made as a romper. I find rompers to be hilarious on grown women, and Mr. Cannon often threatens to buy matching rompers for Cherry Bomb and me, so I felt it was a sign that I was destined for this pattern.
Pattern image via McCall’s
I know that being a tween can be an awkward age for anyone. There can certainly also be a slim and awkward selection of dresses to chose from to be in someone’s wedding.
My littlest lady, FSIL Sweet Cream, is laid-back and go-with-the-flow, so I knew that she wouldn’t care too much about what I put her in for the big day. She trusts my fashion expertise! I know this because she always hopes that I pick out her birthday and Christmas presents and that they are some kind of stylish wardrobe piece. (Hey! I would too if I were the first girl with jeggings in my class, JUST as they were starting to hit the runways of middle school.)
Since older FSIL Sweet Cream sometimes steals things from her 12-year-old sister, I was originally thinking that the littlest lady could totally fit into a size 0 of the BM dresses…and then with a few stitches here and there and a pretty shell top that would go underneath, we would be in business.
This is exactly what I pictured doing to my littlest lady’s dress. A few stitches would make this age appropriate and adorable! / Image via Stylehive
While I know I’m supposed to look and feel the prettiest I’ve ever been on our wedding day, it doesn’t mean our moms can’t feel special, too. When it came time for them to start their search, I said it needed to be purple and floor length and that everything else was up to them. Sleeves or strapless, sparkly or simple, it didn’t really matter to me as long as they were happy and comfortable.
Mr. Macs’s mom is quite tall, so finding a long enough dress proved a difficult task. No matter! She has a tailor that’s made dresses for her in the past, so she plans on having one made for the occasion.
Mine picked out her dress awhile ago but wanted to keep it a surprise—not cool, Mom! Apparently I take after her, as she broke down and sent me a picture as soon as it came in. It’s a little too big on top but nothing a little tailoring can’t fix. My mom normally isn’t this camera shy; she just had eye surgery and isn’t allowed to wear makeup yet. I still think she looks great!
Rather than working on the unfinished wedding craft projects that have currently rendered my dining room table useless (seriously, it’s a disaster), I am daydreaming about my bridal shower and rehearsal dinner outfits. Care to contribute to my procrastination and look at pretty things?
Of course you do!
My French-inspired bridal shower look:
Clockwise from top: “Oui” Necklace via Etsy seller ArtWark; Miss Dior Eau de Parfume via Sephora; “I Lacquer A Lot” Dress via ModCloth; Enzoani Sandals via Zappos
I have been eyeing that “oui” necklace for months and I think I might finally bite the bullet this week and scoop it up. Mmm and the Miss Dior perfume is one of my scent staples!
Lately I’ve been on the prowl for a post-reception dress. That is, a dress to wear when the party continues into the night… and it will. Most definitely. I never thought I would be a “two-dress bride.” Mostly because I just love, love, love my dress so much. But I have to admit, I’m probably not going to want to wear a long white dress out on the town. I would be too afraid of spilling something on it, tearing it, etc. Plus, I want to be comfortable when I’m slamming a late-night Guinness with my grandparents! (Seriously… they will definitely be out for the after party!)
So I’m looking for something short, something white, and something that’s a bit fashion forward. I want to stand out a little since, hey, it’s still my wedding day. 
In dream world, I would wear this Stella McCartney shift with the shiny Brian Atwoods I showed you a while back:
Split zippers are by far the worst of the zipper malfunctions one can have. Yuck! In my previous post, I wrote about zippers that won’t go up and one’s that get fabric stuck in them. Today, we tackle the splitters.
There are three ways to handle your split zippers…basic, intermediate and advanced. I highly suggest you take a look at all three methods. Just because advanced says “advanced” doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give it a shot. It’s actually easier than you would think.
The basic method involves using the tagger or safety pins and is pretty self explanatory.
This might be the wrong place to say this but.. isn’t it incredibly stupid that I would let something like a dress make me completely insane? You guys know what I mean, right?
What am I saying. Of course you do. And that’s why I heart the hive.
Going back to looking for a dress I could wear to the banquet…
I shopped. Everywhere. All the formal dresses that were within my price range was made out of chiffon and that felt totally wrong for an evening affair. And anything that was made of a heavier material wasn’t formal enough (is it just me or are stores saturated with short prom dresses? Is that a thing these days? I’m so out of touch.). The more I looked, the more worried I became that I wasn’t going to find anything. I started having anxiety nightmares where I showed up in jeans, clutching a pile of hideous dresses. In my waking hours, I had 20 tabs open on my web browser, all on different clothing stores.
Finally, I decided that I was DONE.
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