A Lovely Sunday Dress Shopping Excursion: Jocelynn's

After our first shop and a stop at Olive Garden for pasta, far too many breadsticks, and a flirty waiter boy (go MaidoH A!), we went to the second shop in our epic Sunday Dresss Shopping Excursion. We decided, since they carried most of the same bridesmaids dresses, to stick purely with bridal here. Plus, it was my first time trying on bridal gowns, and I was a little anxious to see if what I thought I liked would actually be what I liked on.

Turns out, it wasn't, at all. I had identified three different styles of dresses that I kept coming back to. The first, MaidoH A calls Structured Grecian. Basically, flowing chiffon skirt but with a fitted bodice and top, strapless or one shoulder. The second is the Poofy Princess. Big, full skirt in any variety of fabric with a sweetheart neckline. Then the last, and the one that surprised me as the favorite of the day, is the Fit-n-Flare. I really didn't expect that, but over and over again I kept coming back to those as my favorite.

1. Dress number one, the dress that got an emotional reaction out of MaidoH A and FSIL C, was an asymmetrical draped net fit and flare from Blu by Mori Lee.

via Mori Lee, shown here with separate caplet

It was nice because it had the softness that I tend to like, but the shape that I think really flattered me. We tried it on with a belt, and eventually a veil, and it looked pretty darn good. In the store, this one was number one. The problem for me now is that we didn't get any photos of me in it without the veil, and I don't love the veil I had on. So, I'm wondering if that's skewing my perspective. Here's a shot of my in the gown from the back:

2. Dress number two was actually one that I had previously pinned on my Pinterest boards, but had wondered if it would be too "much" once it was actually on. This was the Divina from Maggie Sottero, and although their picture is in a blush color, I tried it on in white and with a white and crystal belt. 

via Maggie Sottero

Honestly, this one ranked 4th in the store. I liked it, I liked the mix of fabrics in the skirt, but it didn't strike me quite as much as the other ones did. Here's an angle shot of me in the Divina:

Excuse the awkward arms

3. The third dress was another Maggie Sottero, this one called Jenna. Laugh if you get the joke. 

via Elegant Lace Bridal

Anyway, this was one I would have completely passed over looking at it online, and in fact did so again when I was trying to find it by browsing. But, on, it was a different story. 

We liked this dress, but it was hard to tell because it was a HUGE size, so we were having a hard time visualizing what it would look like. Even after our wonderful consultant lady helped lace me up, it still was hard to get a picture. But, it was very pretty. Probably walked out with this one at the #2 spot, but that could be contested because it was very, very difficult to walk in the dress. It was massively heavy, and the lovely skirt was very thick, making it impossible to do anything other than little baby steps. 

4. Last but not least was the Alfred Angelo Sleeping Beauty gown. Now, my four girls from home and I love Disney, and each have a princess of our own. Mine is, you guessed it, Sleeping Beauty. 

via Alfred Angelo

I wanted to try this gown on for sentimentality's sake, but ended up really liking it. It was one of the later ones I tried on, and after dresses that felt like they weighed tons, it was a relief to be in something so light and soft. 

See how light that skirt looks?

This dress probably came in at number 3 for me while we were at the shop. But now, looking at pictures (and I do have pictures of the fronts, but I don't want to give too much away!) this one is my favorite. It just has an element of softness that I don't see in the other three. The one thing I wish was different is the back. I loved the shape that I got when we had the lace up backs, and you can't quite get the same thing with the zipper. 

So, for now, this gave us a definite direction as far as styles of dresses to look for. Gone are the Structured Grecians, gone are the Poofy Princesses, and we're pretty solidly in the land of Fit-n-Flares. I didn't buy anything, as I'll need my mom with me when I do that, but it gave us a good foundation to build off of!

Next up, part three!

A Lovely Sunday Dress Shopping Excursion: Danielle's

On Sunday, I had an amazing but exhausting day with my MaidoH, aka and my FSIL. We went to three different bridal shops in the area (the only ones open on Sundays) and tried on both bridesmaids and bridal gowns.

At our first shop, we looked at bridesmaids dresses. When I called earlier in the week, they told me they didn't take appointments, and when we got there they let us look through samples to see which designers have the color I'm looking for, and then just pull whatever we wanted to try on. It was pretty chaotic, but actually I think worked pretty well. We're aiming for something a little more formal to keep up with the venue, and hopefully in a dusty blue color, ala this inspiration board:

via Chic Vintage Brides

Looking through swatches, we decided to focus on gowns from the designers Alfred Angelo and Jasmine. The other consideration is that I, like many, have a wide variety of heights and busts for my girls, and want to find something that everyone is going to feel comfortable and beautiful in. This meant we were looking for things that had at least one strap, and a thick enough strap to hide a bra. Sorry, spaghetti!

Here's what we came up with"

Liked the Alfred Angelo in red on FSIL C, although in retrospect the flower seems a bit big. MaidoH A looked adorable in this light blue Alfred Angelo, but we decided that anything chiffon seemed a bit informal compared to the venue. 

We all universally hated the yellow color on this one, but thought this style from Jasmine's B2 line was cute 

MaidoH A rocked this gown, although turns out that it is actually by Jordan and doesn't come in our color

Now I had MaidoH A try this one on not for the style but for the color, which is Alfred Angelo's Once Upon a Time and the closest we'll get from them to my blue. The dress FSIL C is wearing doesn't show very well here as it is way too big on her, but was another Alfred Angelo and probably the dress we liked the best from the first shop! 

Drumroll please..................

We've selected our venue!!!!

Ceremony space via Our Forever Promise Weddings

Reception space via Catering DSM

We will be getting married at the Temple for the Performing Arts! I am very, very excited. It is right in Downtown Des Moines, and will give our out of town guests a great feel for all that the city (and the state!) has to offer. It is a gorgeous, gorgeous space, PLUS I have a personal connection there. Growing up, I sang in the Des Moines Children's Choir, which eventually became the Iowa Youth Chorale. We rehearsed in one of the smaller rooms in the Temple, and had concerts in the same space where we'll have our reception! One of the first conversations Mr. C and I had was about our love of singing. Had he grown up in the DSM area, he probably would have been in that choir with me.

From a practicality standpoint, the venue is awesome. As I said it is right in the downtown area, which means that it will be very easy for guests to get around. Most of the local hotels offer a shuttle service to and from the airport, and it is a very walkable downtown, so we can probably get away without having people rent a lot of cars. Plus, there are wonderful restaurants, shops, parks and museums right around the area. And, there will be plenty of places for us to go for some great photos the day of the wedding!

Can you tell I'm excited?

Today's happy song

We've been working on making some big wedding decisions the last week, and some days it has gotten exceptionally stressful. Then, every now and then, you're cruising around on the internet and you hear the perfect song to bring you back to the place you want to be. Today, for me, this was that song.

Wedding Craft One Conclusion, or Please, Please, Please

Check out Part One of this post!

Sorry to leave you hanging with that last post, but I wanted to make sure all of my girls had received their
necklaces before I gave too much away. Actually, I totally blabbed with my mad and matron of honors and asked them before they got them, but patience has never been my virtue.

So, the big reveal!

We'll have to see how many knots actually get tied, but I thought it was cute. I won't make them actually wear the necklaces day of if they don't want or if they find something better, but my dear future sister-in-law put it on right away :) Made me pretty darn happy!

Here's a look at the supplies:

The papers I designed myself on InDesign at work over my lunch breaks. Nothing too exciting, but they get the job done. I printed them on some leftover thick paper we had sitting around the apartment, cut them apart using my fun little paper cutter, punched the holes, slipped the ends of the necklaces in, and then put them in the boxes. 

I had planned on purchasing boxes online, and had actually placed an order when my coworker asked if I had any need for some old cardboard jewelry boxes she was getting rid of in our gift shop. Heck yes I did! She gave me a stack, and saved me a few bucks. Honestly, the biggest expense was shipping them to my ladies across the country!

I'm so glad I did these. They came together really well, only took about an hour when it was all said and done! 

Wedding Craft Number One, Or Hopefully No Green Necks

So, as I've mentioned before, Pinterest is a wonderful and terrible thing. There are so many IDEAS, which also means there are so MANY ideas. It can be a little dangerous. But, pretty early on, I found one that I knew I wanted to do.

I have a number of remarkably special women in my life, but for me knowing which of those women to ask to stand with us was pretty easy. There are other great women not in the bridal party that I am really hoping to include in other ways, because gosh I'm lucky and know a lot of amazing women.

But, I wanted something special to ask my bridal party. On pinterest, there were lots of suggestions, but this was my favorite:

Via Cafe and Cream

I debated for quite some time about the type of jewelry to get for the girls. Finally, I decided on a necklace. Most of my girls don't wear extra rings or bracelets, so it was a pretty easy choice. I also wanted something in a knot or bow shape. Initially, I looked on Etsy, and did actually find a necklace I liked until I did the math and realized that, for five girls, I'd be looking at over $75. 

In the grand scheme that isn't terrible, but I wanted to see if I could find a less expensive option that I still liked. After much web browsing, I found an adorable necklace from Forever 21. I don't think the girls will mind me telling you that the final tally was $1.80 a pop, and I really don't think they look cheap at all. The true test is if they turn anybody's necks' green. 

Waffling, or It Is All About Two Families Coming Together

A few posts ago, I weighed the pros and cons of the various locations we were considering for our location. As you may recall, Mr. C is from Connecticut, I'm from Iowa, and we live in New York. We did a lot of thinking and decided that, logistically, we were really leaning towards having the wedding in New York. We even went and looked at a really great venue that we were very very happy with. Both of us walked away imagining our wedding day there. Here's a photo of the site. Lovely, right?

via Matt Ramos Photography

The night after our venue visit, I called my parents and let them know that we'd found a place that we really liked. I'll preface this by telling you that my parents are awesome. They are exceptionally supportive, have always been there for me eve during some really tough times, and are some of the most practical minded people you'll ever meet. That's why it was such a shock that they were so upset when I told them we were looking to get married in New York. Mr. C and I had both assumed that once we laid out the practicalities of it, they'd understand and be right there with us. 

Now, they both said that no matter what, they'd be wherever we were with bells on. But, I could tell they were really unhappy. It took about a week for us to connect again, and to be honest I was over everything wedding. I cried more times than I can count, had my awesome maid of honor bring me some chocolate milk, and was generally just miserable. Finally, I got my parents sat down over Google Chat, and we were able to talk everything out. Their big suggestion was to do two separate days, one in Iowa, one in New York. Two days, two groups, hopefully with some people able to travel but really one of my family and one of his. 

Mr. C and I sat down and had a big heart-to-heart about this. I was pretty distraught, trying to figure out how we were going to work two parties into our budget, and how we would be able to make everyone happy. And then, Mr. C, in his brilliance, said the exactly right thing. "Isn't this whole process about our two families coming together, to celebrate our new family? And if we have one day with your family, and one with mine, that is kind of contrary to the point." 

So, we completely scrapped the idea of two weddings. I called my parents, and told them we were going to get married in Iowa. Mr. C's family, bless them, are totally okay with it. We'll try to do a special dinner with his grandparents and anyone else who can't make it, and try to set up some sort of live video feed for the ceremony so they can watch. We actually went over to see his parents and sister this weekend, and they really reassured me. I can't tell you how lucky I am to have this awesome family that I get to be a part of. They are really supportive, and now we can start moving forward with the actual planning of this thing!