Dress Distress

Wow I am getting good at catchy blog post names!!

Anyway, I finally got my dress, a week past the date promised and only a week before our actual wedding...and what's WORSE: They wanted to keep it AGAIN and fix it AGAIN!!!!!!!

I understand I am a pretty small person, but I have been the same weight and measurement the entire 4 months I've "owned" this dress....so why is it still bigger around the waist and chest than it should be??? The seamstress, who was VERY sweet and was really just trying to help, tried to make me wear one of those full body bra type things to add some size to my frame and help keep the dress up...............I totally lost my composure and started CRYING in the middle of David's Bridal b/c I, in no way, for any reason, plan to be uncomfortable at my own wedding. And let me tell you this full body bra was the epitome of discomfort. She said "Well, the bride isn't supposed to be comfortable!" And I said "WHAT!?! That's ridiculous. I manage to look nice everyday AND be comfortable at the same time!!!"

Then she tried to sew pads in the chest....

Then she tried to attach straps.......

Then she tried to tell me she was going to take it in another inch and a half on the waist......(and it looked good like that but I wouldn't be able to eat, breathe, talk, sit, or move....not AT the wedding and not during this next week leading up to the wedding!! Not gonna happen!)


I felt really foolish and she felt really bad that I was crying but I have been really tired lately and I was concerned b/c I am leaving for Tampa early next week and I was worried about leaving my dress there AGAIN.

It's a simple dress, it's elegant....and IT'S COMFORTABLE!! Imagine that?! This just in: You don't need a heavy, uncomfortable, gigantic, cake-top dress to look like a bride. :) Get what YOU like and get what fits YOUR style and that's that.

Bride's and Groom's sides

Since my good side, and my sister's good side, is our left side, we are going to be standing on the right whereas the bride usually stands on the left. So I made these signs to make sure our guests were clear on where to sit. I am attaching silver ribbon to the back and they will be hanging on the last chairs to either side so when the guests get up to the top deck they will see the signs right away! :) Clearly I love using my stamps!! Quick and cute!

THE orange shoes! SNEAK PREVIEW!!!

These are my favorite shoes in the world!!!!! When Andrew and I got engaged (November 20, 2009) I knew I wanted to wear them at our wedding, and not even knowing the date at that time!! I packed them up in a shoe box to preserve them for the wedding. It was really hard not to wear them since they are my favorite! This is where the ORANGE stemmed from....I mean orange is my favorite color but if done wrong can look really bad!!! My mom has been trying to talk me out of wearing these shoes!!! What sense would the orange everything else make if I don't wear my color inspiration?? She likes really high "fabulous" shoes, and I cannot and will not walk in heels so.



I did try to wear heels once on our 1 year anniversary outing to St. Augustine.....and low and behold I ended up changing....into none other than my orange jeweled flats!!


Can't say I didn't try! :)

Why Did I DIY?

A lot of people associate DIY things with being cheap....and while DIY projects CAN be cheap projects, that's not exactly why I wanted to have so many DIY things at our wedding. My parents are wonderful and would have gladly gotten us whatever we wanted for our wedding...so it wasn't really about the money.

I don't really like weddings....they only last 4~ish hours and you spend all this time thinking about little details that will likely go unnoticed. I don't understand people buying a bunch of things that are mass produced to have at their wedding so people ooh and aah at them....but it's generic things and it's not really a representation of the couple, and may not even be what they wanted but instead had to settle for.

All the DIY projects we selected and executed are things that WE liked and feel would create a wedding that represents our style. People spend so much money on flowers to sit on a table that die and get thrown out after 4 hours? It just doesn't seem logical to me. I guess I am too logical and practical to have a regular wedding.

Not knocking anybody else's wedding that pays for the flowers to die, that's just not for me. I honestly hate when people compare weddings. Every person/couple has such different tastes and backgrounds and preferences and styles and budgets and families.......I don't think you can compare weddings. If you are planning a wedding, do what you want to do and take other people's input but keep in mind they won't have to look back on it wishing something was/wasn't there at their wedding.

Competing with or comparing your wedding to other people's will drive you crazy and essentially you are creating your wedding for someone else if you do that, and not yourself.

"How Long Did All This Take You???"

Well.....we decided to get married only 4 and a half months before our chosen wedding date of July 30, 2010. We selected that date based around baseball; it was the last weekend in the summer that the New York Yankees were going to be in Tampa playing The Rays, and we knew we wanted our wedding weekend to involve baseball.....but that's just us!!!

In any event, we only had 4 months to plan and execute all these wonderful DIY things, and I didn't have that many people helping me. Like I said, my wonder mother (who was essentially my wedding planner and coordinator and this day would not have been possible without her perfect organization and planning skills) and awesome sister Kristen helped, some from my dad and fiancee as well but that was pretty much it. So when you see all the stuff start to pop up that we DIYed and hand made.....just remember we only had 4 months. If we can get this done in 4 months then so can anybody! Not to mention I got a new job, moved, and am taking graduate courses amidst all this DIYing and crafting!!

My mom, my sister and I on the Yacht at the tasting

Anyone Can Comment!

I have it set so anyone can comment on my blog, even if you aren't a gmail/blogger member. Just thought I'd let you know ;)

Table and Seating

I can't, at this point in the blog, tell you WHAT these are attached to and what they say on the front, but they are my DIY seating cards. :)
I got the tags at Michael's crafts , and used stamps from Michael's $1 section in the front! I used the stamps on the invitation envelopes knowing I was going to use them for these tags to tie them in to the wedding. I used orange and silver inks (those are my colors).




The family got "special" ones :)




Here are the stamps I used :) loved it!





And if you are going to DIY print your own labels for personalized things, you are going to need this: keeps the ink in place and gives a nice matte finish so you don't have to worry about smearing! Thank you UF Interior Design classes!

Our Wedding Venue is..a Yacht!

We are having the ceremony on The Starship Yacht in Tampa Bay. It cruises down channel side :) It starts at 6:30 so we will be able to see the sunset and enjoy the City of Tampa all lit up!
Here is our yacht!
Ceremony is on the top deck. Chairs will be different, lots of DIY things for ceremony :)

Invitations

We got our invitations from Invitation Consultants. Since we are having our wedding on the Yacht Starship in Tampa Bay, we decided these "admission ticket" invitations were perfect! They came very quickly and 100% correct and perfect.

I decided to tie in orange with some rubber stamps that I got at Michael's Crafts. The stamps were a nice personal touch (and I loved doing them!), and just a little something added to the plain envelope. The stamps will show up on different elements throughout the wedding. :)

Understated Elegance

I pick up my wedding dress tomorrow, July 15! My dress is not extravagant but it is elegant and simple. I will post pictures after the wedding of course!