For you, Future Hubs.

I'm back. Under duress, but I'm back. FH doesn't know what is going on with the wedding unless I post to the blog. Or, so he says.

So, on my last trip home, I finally got to see my bridesmaid dresses (or, one of them) next to my flower girl's dresses:

As I suspected, they look fantastic together! I keep on reading on other blogs about great deals on flower girl dresses - this usually seems to involve paying under one hundred dollars. Hmph. I got my flower girl dresses at Tarzhay for fifteen bucks and they are perfection!

Problem Solved: The Dress

Finally, after much laying around on the couch and flipping through wedding magazines and obsessing over THE dress, I looked it up on CSIS's website. I never would have picked it out in a million years based on the picture and styling they used online. But I'm glad I looked it up, because it was fifty dollars cheaper than the store price, which had already been marked down. Sign me up for that!

To recap, not only did I buy my dress from a fairly ridiculous place that represents the wedding industry that I have come to loathe, I bought it from their website. And I love it. I can't wait to turn the corner and have FH see me for the very first time.

I don't dare post a picture, or even a picture of something similar, since FH reads this blog. But here's what it doesn't look like:

Stressful Wedding Things: The Dress

Going into this, I had some pretty definitive opinions about what I wanted in a dress and I figured it would be hard to find the type of dress I wanted while also staying within my budget.

I took some great advice from a good friend, who told me to pay a visit to "[Chain Store I Scorn - CSIS from now on] and just try different things on, to get an idea of what looks good on you and what you like". Okay, cool, great advice.

I walked into CSIS on a Saturday morning and they promptly assigned me to an associate who showed me to my dressing room, complete with gold framed mirrors and frayed teal carpet. She started bringing me things to try on and you know what? It was kind of ... fun. My Mom and sister were with me and I felt so pretty and special - it was kind of nice to have someone basically wait on me. And don't even get me started on how fun it was to stand on the pedestal thing and stare at myself all dressed up.

The dresses were all pretty, but I didn't come to CSIS to buy, I came to try on. Then, she brought THE dress out. I actually didn't know it was THE dress until I tried it on. But once I did, I didn't want to take it off. I twirled on the pedestal, my sister took a million pictures of me, I looked at myself from every conceivable angle. It was THE dress.

I didn't want to buy it right then and there, despite the grave warnings from the store associate that "it could be gone tomorrow". I went home and thought about it, and thought about it some more until I was basically obsessing.

[to be continued]

Stressful Wedding Things: Bridesmaid Dresses

This may surprise you, what with my history of strong opinions, but I really didn't care about my bridesmaid's dresses. I've read all kinds of articles and blog posts on brides who dictate every aspect of the maid's appearances, all the way down to jewelry and well, I love my girls, but I just can't bring myself to be that crazy.

My maids are all different ages (31, 18, and 8) and accordingly, all different body types. The only thing I really cared about was that they were comfortable, felt pretty and, most importantly, didn't spend a lot of money on something they would never wear again.

Enter, J Crew.

I've loved their dresses, wedding-specific or not, for a long time. They have a lot of great dresses in fantastic colors. I don't have wedding colors per se, at least, I didn't when I was looking at the dress selection, but for some reason I was drawn to pinks and oranges. Eventually, I decided on pink ("tea rose") and the girls then picked the style they liked best.

My Maid of Honor, also known as my big little sister, will be wearing this:



My Matron of Honor, also known as the ultimate sister-friend, will be wearing this (this is tea rose as well, but for some reason looks lighter than the dress above):



And FH's daughter, whom I love and adore, will be wearing this, which is beyond adorable and I am very annoyed I could not find a proper JPEG of it to upload.

All of the dresses are the tea rose shade and cotton blends. I think the color and style of the dresses will work well for the casually elegant backyard vibe I am going for and each girl can style and accessorize their dress any way they want. I can't wait to see them all lined up together!

Problem Solved: Flower Girl Attire

I was a little worried about flower girl dresses - they all seem so poofy and ridiculous and trying-too-hard-ish - I mean, these are little girls we are talking about here, not reality show contestants in the making.

But then I stumbled across this gem at the one and only Tarzhay...


Isn't it cute? Very summery and it definitely fits my criteria of being re-wearable - I don't want anyone in my wedding party to buy something they will never wear again.

My flower girl is the cutest thing ever so I know it will look fantastic and it will look fabulous with the dresses my bridesmaids will be wearing (more on those tomorrow).