Dress Fitting #1

Since both moms were in town this weekend, they were able to see the first dress fitting yesterday... and the appointment went better than I had hoped! This was the first time I've tried the dress on with all the accessories (jewelry, shoes, etc), and as we kept adding the extra touches, it got prettier and prettier.

I was really impressed with Janet, and I felt completely comfortable throughout the appointment that she will make my currently-almost-perfect dress into THE perfect wedding gown for me. I admit I can be tough on salespeople (and I'll consider Janet a salesperson), but she was fantastic.

In the last entry about the dress, I said the dress was big, but I had no idea it will need to be taken in SIX INCHES! Even though we're 118 days out from the wedding, parts of the dress are adjustable, so if needed, she said she could make additional alterations at the next appointment in April.You should have seen me with clamps (see the picture to the left) going up and down both sides of the dress! ;)

One of the main points of discussion was how to bustle the train of the dress. If you aren't familiar with types of bustles, here are some examples:

Simple "under" bustle (French)

A more intricate "under" (French) bustle

An "over" bustle (American)

I chose... (drumroll).... None of them!

After trying out the different styles, I wasn't in love with any of them. I felt like the bustles created a design that either distracted from the overall look of the dress or didn't work b/c of the way the fabric fell. I had an idea and asked Janet if it was possible. Apparently my idea created a rare type of bustle for a wedding (but it is a type of bustle), and it was exactly what I was looking for! She also mentioned the idea of creating a short/cocktail dress out of my wedding dress - to be used for an anniversary, cruise, etc. I think that's such a fun idea, and it's definitely something I'll consider down the line.

I'm so happy with the visual she created with pinning/clamping, and I can't wait to see how the dress looks when I see it next. It was a lot of fun to have my mom and Patrick's mom there to see the first REAL visual of the whole look, and I'm honored they were willing to come to Phoenix for it! Next time they're in Phoenix will be for the wedding. That's crazy to think about!

-Lisa

Hair Trial Complete

I felt really good going into tonight's hair trial b/c I knew what I wanted! I had found some pictures of a style I really liked, Mandy & my mom were on hand to help give their opinions and I was ready to go. Well... I THOUGHT I knew what I wanted.

Amy, the stylist, showed up to Patrick's house at 7, and she got to work trying to recreate the pictures. When she asked me to go into the bathroom to take a look, my heart dropped. The front looked pretty good, but the side & back were definitely not what I liked. Mandy and I tried to figure out how to suggest changes, and Amy kept trying.

When she made the changes we asked for, I went back into the bathroom and got so confused/overwhelmed that my eyes teared up. I wasn't happy at all with how the style looked but I couldn't figure out what would make it better or how I wanted it to look.

Mandy definitely deserves a "Super Bridesmaid" trophy. She helped calm me down, found some pictures online and helped explain to Amy what direction we wanted to go. FINALLY, after taking a look at the newest changes, I started to feel better. The style became what I had apparently been hoping for in the first place, and we definitely have the general idea for my wedding hair style. We tested out the flower (for my hair) I had made and the veil my mom brought from STL. The total look was great, and I think it will look amazing on May 26th.

The appointment wasn't flawless, but I guess that's what the trial is for!

-Lisa

I Have My Dress Now

(NOTE: I asked Patrick's opinion on what I should title this blog since I was having a hard time thinking of a fun phrase. I explained that this blog entry was about how I have my dress now; the title was his response lol)

Last entry, I said that my dress was IN, but it's now IN MY POSSESSION!

I have to admit that the show 'Say Yes to the Dress' had me worried b/c they've shown so many horror stories of brides getting the wrong dress... the wrong color... the wrong size... or even stories of other stores losing/ruining the dress. One local bridal shop closed their doors about 6 months ago - with no warming and multiple dresses inside and just out of the brides' reach. My mom and I went to the dress shop after she got in town on Saturday, and fortunately we didn't have to deal with any horrible issues.

Since I was measured in June for the dress and the dress was made specifically for me, I just assumed I'd fit into the dress perfectly. Not exaaaactly correct. It looks fantastic, but apparently, the weight that I lost made the dress too big. That's ok though: I would much rather have the dress start out too big - rather than having it be too small before alterations. Janet (the lady who'll be doing the alterations) can fix it from there.

Other than it being big, it's perfect. The color is gorgeous, the material is just what I remembered, and it makes me feel like sweeping around the dance floor when I put it on. Since a certain redhead gets my blog entries, I can only post one photo from our trip to pick up the dress, but the picture makes me very happy:

My mom and I went 'Mother of the Bride Dress' shopping and made some progress on what styles look best on her. We haven't found my mom THE dress, but I have a feeling we'll find it soon. We've had a great time the last few days, and the fun continues tomorrow with my hair trial. Wish me luck!

-Lisa

Getting Giddy

It feels like reality is starting to hit that this is happening...! More and more details are coming together.

We've booked our flights to Cleveland & St. Louis for wedding showers AND to Las Vegas for the Bachelor/Bachelorette weekend. My parents have booked their flights for the wedding, I bought a sassy dress for Vegas, and I ordered the cake topper last night.

Yep, this is how I feel, too!

Just a few minutes ago, I got a phone call that MY DRESS IS IN! Since they just pressed (or steamed?) it, they asked me to wait 2 hours before picking it up. Instead of getting it tonight (and going by myself to try it on), I'm going to wait until tomorrow when my mom is here. I can barely sit still!

Even though I've hit a speedbump with the half-marathon training (my foot started hurting halfway through the run on Saturday, and I've been resting it since), I've hit my lowest weight to this point! Overall, I'm feeling good about everything and am getting more and more excited.

-Lisa

My Favorite Movie - in 3D!

A couple weeks ago, we decided that we would have a set date night once a month. Last night, we had the first of those nights! I got to choose the night's activities, and it was an easy decision since I'd had this weekend marked in my calendar for months: Beauty and the Beast 3D was released in theaters!

That movie has always been one of my favorites. It's based in France, and when I was studying in the south of France, I felt like I was Belle. I'd open the shutters & windows of my bedroom every morning, and the markets would be going on below. On one of the last nights in France, one of my friends and I sat on my balcony and (with printed lyrics) sang the first song from the movie that starts, "Bonjour, bonjour, bonjour, bonjour, bonjour. There goes the baker with his tray like always..." When I decided I was ready to get a dog, I named the little chihuahua "Belle" after this movie. 

Unbeknownst to me, my fantastic fiance left the house as I was getting ready, and I was totally thrown off when he surprised me by ringing the doorbell & standing on the doorstep with a bouquet of flowers. We went to dinner at the Cornish Pasty (the same restaurant - but different location) as our first date. After dinner, we headed to the theater. I LOVED the movie. As many times as I've seen Beauty and the Beast, seeing it in 3D really brought out the details in the background, and I noticed a number of things I'd never seen before.

Our very attractive 3D glasses ;)

Beauty and the Beast is definitely still one of my favorite movies, and I'm excited to include one of the songs in the ceremony (if you don't know the details yet, you'll have to wait & see/hear). As much fun as I'm having with all the wedding planning, it was a really nice change to just have a night to go out together and have fun. Since he gets to choose next month, he's already hinted that he wants to see the Star Wars movie in 3D... It definitely wouldn't be my choice, but he was a great sport about this movie; I can be just as good of a sport!

Update from the pumpkin flavor from baker option #2:   The cake didn't have a strong pumpkin flavor but did taste good. However, it still amazes me how much she's lacking in customer service skills. I called the bakery when I was 15 minutes away to make sure the samples were ready; they said yes & to come on in. When I got there, the owner was doing a cake tasting with a bride/groom/mom in the main room (the same room that I was standing in). I timed it, and it took her THREE minutes to even acknowledge that I was there. At that point, she asked me, "So are you my next appointment, or what?" I waited around another five minutes while she put icing on the cupcakes, and I brought the cupcakes back to Patrick from there. Both the cream cheese icing and the whipped cream frosting were good combinations, but the final decision hasn't been made.

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On a great note, I'm really looking forward to the next couple weeks. My dress is supposed to be delivered to the dress shop no later than this Friday. My mom arrives in Phoenix on Saturday morning. She'll get to see my hair trial on Tuesday, and my dad arrives on Wednesday afternoon. Patrick/Mom/Dad/I will get to stop by the Open House at Aldea on Wednesday (we're trying a couple other cake flavors from the first baker), and then Patrick's parents arrive at 7:30pm that night. We'll probably watch Patrick play kickball on Friday night. Saturday is the dress fitting with the moms and a celebration for all the recent birthdays that evening. I can't wait!

-Lisa

Feeling Good About Hair & Makeup

I've made some great progress with the hair and makeup plan.

MAKEUP:
I'm lucky to have three female cousins within a couple years of me... Lindsey, Jenni and Katie. Lindsey is in our wedding party, and her sister is Katie. When Jenni got married, Katie did the makeup for Jen's mom, Jen and me (since I was in her wedding party) - and Katie did an amazing job. I just remember how many compliments I got for it, and I loved how Jen & my Aunt Kathy looked, too.

Katie said that she would be happy to do my makeup, and we're going to play around with some ideas when Patrick & I go back to St. Louis. 

HAIR:
I asked for some recommendations on Facebook, and I also looked through a bunch of reviews online. In that search, I found a highly-recommended stylist named Amy who will come to the site of the wedding, said she'd be able to do the entire wedding party's hair if they choose (I'm not sure if that means she'd be bringing additional stylist(s)?) and has reasonable rates. She'll be coming to do a trial appointment when my mom is in town (next Tuesday). She wanted a deposit to secure the date & book her, but since I wasn't comfortable doing that before seeing the trial, she said that if I liked the style, the deposit would be due at that time and the date would be set.

I feel good about both options, but I'm definitely looking forward to the trials to test out the ideas I have  - and to see if they have any better ideas. We'll see!

-Lisa

Hair and Makeup Nerves

Last night, I kind of freaked out because I realized that I haven't done anything to research -or- set up makeup or hair stylists for the wedding. Although I have been reading reviews and asking for some referrals tonight, it's still making me nervous. All kinds of questions have been flying through my head:

• Should I try to find stylists who could come to us, or should we go to a salon?
• What's a reasonable price range, and how much should it cost per person?
• Can I find someone to do a trial appointment - without costing an arm and a leg?
• How long in advance should I try to set the appointments?
• Six bridesmaids, two moms and me... that's a lot of people! Will we be able to find a place that'll accommodate us all?
• How many stylists would it take to take care of everyone?
• With the ceremony starting at 5:30, what time should we start the hair appointments?
• Should I go with a professional makeup artist, or should I ask someone I know (who has done my makeup before) to do it?
• What kind of makeup look am I going for?

Ack! Yes... logically, I realize that four and a half months is plenty of time to get this figured out, but it just kind of hit me b/c I've been working so hard to get everything done early. I need someone to just tell me it will all work out in the end... and maybe give me the perfect answers to those questions. ;)

-Lisa

Let Them Eat Cake (#2)

We had a tasting with the 2nd baker this evening. I tried to be open-minded, but I wasn't thrilled with them going into it... Twice, I had used the "contact us" section of their website to try to set a tasting - but got no response. I finally called and was told I should have noticed (and used) the email address listed on the main page of their website b/c the "contact us" page doesn't work. Really?!

Despite that, I set up a tasting because we really liked the samples we had tried at Aldea's open houses. Over the phone, I told her it was important to us to sample a pumpkin flavor b/c it's Patrick's favorite & that since we want to do cupcakes, we'd like to see the displays they have (and some examples of cupcakes they've made in the past). Those don't seem like unreasonable requests, right?

It didn't seem that there was much prep for the appointment on her end. She hadn't found any pictures of examples, and after looking through folders of pictures on her computer, said they don't really have pictures b/c they don't take their camera to most events. She also had to scurry around to try & find the stands that could be used for cupcakes. The samples were really good, but it was also a little misleading... She had two fillings in a few of the samples (ex. lemon/raspberry and vanilla/strawberry) then said she couldn't make the 2 flavors work together for cupcakes. She gave us a sample of carrot cake (not pumpkin) and repeatedly said she wasn't able to make a small batch of pumpkin so we wouldn't be able to taste it unless we wanted to buy a $40, 8-in cake. In comparison to the other baker we met, she kept throwing in additional charges (for cupcakes, for a filling, for extra decorations, etc) that I felt were unnecessary.

I tried to play it cool, but I've been known to wear my emotions on my sleeve ;). It was really frustrating that she was not receptive to my questions/requests, and Patrick gave me a look a couple times that I needed to calm down. Near the end of the appointment, I let her know my frustrations & the reasons I was feeling more comfortable with the other baker. We left on kind of an awkward note since she admitted she wasn't able to fulfill what we were looking for (to sample the pumpkin before committing to it and to have the additional costs included in the wedding package through Aldea).

Interestingly enough, she called as we were driving home. A guy (that I'm assuming was her husband) had been working in the shop, and I'm pretty sure he overheard our conversations. She told us that "she had talked to her partner, and they'd decided to make pumpkin the feature flavor next week." They also would be able to waive most of the additional charges and would love to try and earn our business. I have a feeling that he jumped in after we left and convinced her they needed to be flexible in order to continue their business. Whatever the reason, I'm looking forward to tasting the pumpkin flavor they make up on Thursday!

The taste of the cake by this bakery is really good, but I just want to make sure that all the pieces fit together and that we choose the best overall package in a baker. Our decision wasn't made tonight, but the ball is definitely rolling.

-Lisa

Wedding Dress Update

I was looking at some online wedding timeline/checklists, and we're still way ahead of schedule. That makes me VERY happy!

The alterations lady (her name is Janet) emailed me back yesterday, and we now have an appointment set up for Saturday the 28th - so the moms and I can see the dress! Janet said that with 4 months left, we could definitely meet to start talking about the alterations, but we'd probably hold off on any size changes until closer to the wedding.

A little bit of anxiety hit me yesterday when I called the bridal shop to verify the day my dress will be in... They said that the Maggie Sottero dresses were running a few weeks behind, but "it shouldn't be a problem to get the dress by the end of January." When she said, "It shouldn't be a problem," I kind of got chills. The overbearing planner part of me doesn't like to just trust that something will happen, but I was also trying hard to be the opposite of Bridezilla. Still, one thought popped into my head: "I need a better answer than THAT!"

I asked them to call the company to verify a date, and when I checked in today, they said the dress WILL be delivered to the store no later than January 20th. That leaves 8 days before the moms get to see the dress AND we have the first alterations/fitting appointment. I like having the additional flexibility of a few days just in case.

Phew. Much better!

I also realized that while listing the things to look forward to in 2012, I completely forgot to mention the half-marathon. Maybe it was an omission that I made subconsciously... ;) but we actually ran 8 miles yesterday. Don't get me wrong, though; when I say, "run," I mean a mixture of jogging and walking, but we were moving in the right direction throughout! It still scares me to think that we'll be doing 13.1 miles in less than 2 months, but it's seeming more feasible than it seemed when we first talked about it. The running has been really good for me, and I really think it's the main reason I've been able to lose the 20+ pounds since we got engaged. Being sick the last week and a half hasn't helped, but my Achilles and knees have been holding up well. Crossing my fingers the sickness(es) go away and the healthy knees/Achilles continue.

-Lisa

I Found My Purse

I have been looking for a cute & fun purse that I could use for the wedding day. I didn't necessarily want something white; my ideal would be a fuschia-pink color.

I finally found it! Not only is it pink, but it looks glitter-covered - without the glitter being able to fall off everywhere because the tiny sequins are in the fabric - AND the inside is a blue/teal color that's very similar to the bridesmaid dresses. It has spots for my credit cards, ID & money (just in case) and can hold everything I think I'll need: makeup (for touch-ups), kleenex, a camera, my phone and some other small emergency kit items. I couldn't not buy it!

With the day off today, we're planning on running 8 miles, working on some projects around the house and I'll hopefully get some more of the ceremony planned out. I love days off.

-Lisa

Two Thousand Twelve

Yep: 2-0-1-2. That means it's officially our wedding year... AHHHH!

There are a lot of things to look forward to this year: both sides of parents coming to visit in January, trips to both St. Louis and Cleveland (dates - tbd), bridal showers, a bachelor/bachelorette trip to Vegas, the rehearsal dinner, wedding ceremony, wedding reception & our all-inclusive honeymoon to Jamaica! There's also already one wedding to attend on the books, and at least one of our friends will be having a baby. Who knows who else will be getting engaged, married and/or pregnant.

It's still weird to me to know that our friends and us are at that point in our lives. It's always seemed like that point was so far away, but knowing that it's actually closer to the near future than the far future is kind of scary - but pretty darn exciting.

Happy New Year to everyone!

-Lisa