Finding the Dress: Part 2

Miss part one? Find it here!

I walked out of the bridal store, drove home, tried calling my mom to no avail, frantically googled the a-line dress, and sent MaidoH A a message on gchat:

Me: hey, do you have a night free this week? (See how calm and collected I am?)
A: we could do something after crossfit. i am normally done around 8
Me: mmm k (less calm and collected)
A: or we could hang out before (what an awesome friend)
Me: because I either messed up big time or did something awesome
A: ohhh?
Me: I went to the dress shop on Union
A: ok
Me: two reasons, one because I wanted to see the swatches they had for bridesmaids dresses
Me: but also because last week was absolute (bad word) and I wanted to look at pretty things.

Then I sent her a link to the a-line silk dress.

A: whoa. that's cool.
Me: yeah. it is this almost goldish blush ivory color. gorgeous
A: ohhh fancy
Me: Normally $3,000+, and on sale for the next week for $500
A: ok
Me: so I was hoping we could find a time when you could come with me so I could try it on for you
A: yeah def
Me: It is the first dress I felt comfortable in.
A: I can leave work
A: and go now

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why MaidoH A is AWESOME. She left work, and met me over at the bridal shop. We walked in, walked down to the fitting room, and tried on the dress. And guys, seeing her reaction, I knew beyond a doubt it was the dress. We tried it on with two different veils, but she loved the one that matched perfectly. It is the sort of creamy silk with little seed pearls on it. Gorgeous.

Back of the dress and the veil. Don't say I never gave you anything!

I am not sure yet about the hair flower, but if we do we'll make one ourselves because that one was RIDICULOUSLY expensive. But, now you can see the veil, and somewhat the color. After taking some photos and videos to send to my mom (who is currently in Alaska on vacation) we left.

I, probably obnoxiously, called my mom several times that evening in between the event I had to be at for work, and finally she had the chance to look at the photos. I was really worried she would be disappointed to not have found the dress with me, but when I told her the price, she said "don't be stupid, buy the dress." So, the next day, right after work, I went back and bought the dress and the veil.

The good and the bad is that, because it is off the rack, they let me take it home. This will be great as I find shoes and jewelry, and can actually put the dress on to compare them. It is really terrible, because I now have to go the next 13 months without blurting the whole thing out to my best friend (aka Mr. C). MaidoH A bit the bullet for me and it is now hanging in her apartment instead of ours, so at least the temptation is less, but I still want to go over and try it on every single day. I guess that's a good sign!

Finding the Dress:Part 1

A week ago today, I was in rough shape. Things at my job have been difficult, I was feeling a lot of wedding and non-wedding related stress, and it just wasn't pretty. I was trying to narrow down the bridesmaids options, as the sooner we can get those figured out the earlier we can watch for sales so the girls don't have to sell any organs. I drove over to one of the bridal shops in our town to look at swatches for the bridesmaids dresses, to see if the designers they carried actually had anything in the colors I liked.

As often happens at bridal shops, I walked in the door and was blinded by a sea of white and sparkles. Except this time, I sighed in a, oh aren't those pretty sort of way. And since our last trip had left me with a pretty solid idea of what I was looking for, I decided to ask if they had time for me to try on some gowns. My goal was to find maybe not the exact dress but definitely one or two stores that had what I was looking for, so when my mom comes out to visit in the fall we could actually buy something.

The owner of the store helped me, and after describing my last dress experience and what I was looking for, let me walk through the racks on my own. They were starting a large sale to clear stock for the fall, and so I went through those dresses first. I took one pass down the line, and actually pulled the same dress twice, once in ivory and once in blush. It was exactly what I'd had in mind. Fit and flare, soft skirt, sweetheart neckline, and an un-obnoxious train. I put the blush back, added the ivory to the rack and kept walking.

There wasn't anything else  that really jumped out and said "pick me" so I walked back along the line one more time to make sure I didn't miss anything. I grabbed a few more gowns in a similar style, plus one that was a silk a-line, but had a fun feature that MaidoH A and I had been laughing about in our first store.

I headed down to the dressing room where the owner helped me into the gowns. I think she was impressed by how quickly I could decide, but I figured there was no reason to doddle once I'd figured out it wasn't "my" dress. Slowly we made it through the stack, discarding left and right, even the twice pulled dress from the sale rack. The next dress was a gorgeous soft netting, almost a mermaid with a sweetheart neckline and beading along the bottom of the bodice, rather than in the middle or the top.

Imagine this, but with bling along the top of the skirt. via Dress for the Wedding

I put it on, goose-stepped out to the mirror, and paused. It was gorgeous. It actually gave me a shape. There was little obnoxious train to speak of. When she added a sparkly belt and a veil, I thought, alright I need my mom to come see this. I stayed and admired the fact that I actually had shape for awhile, before shuffling back to the dressing room. I say shuffling because the bodice/skirt junction was mid-thigh, and made it a little tricky to take a full step. Not ideal, but it looked good.

I decided, for the sake of the argument, to try on the last two dresses that I'd pulled; the a-line silk with the fun detail, and a gorgeous beaded gown in silver. Neither of them was a serious contender after the last dress, but I figured if I was still thinking about it after trying on others, that was a good sign.

I put on the a-line, walked out, and froze. All of the sudden I had a picture in my head, one of the photos I've seen of our venue, from the back of the aisle looking up towards the groom. I stepped up onto the little box, and just stared for awhile. It was completely different than what I'd expected. The color is different, the silhouette, the skirt, all of it. Not what I thought I was looking for at all. I thought I'd wanted the princess on bottom slightly sexy on top fit and flare, and yet, in this dress, I felt like me. Then she added a veil that matched, and I felt something click. And oh yeah. Didn't hurt that it is a normally $3,000+ dress on sale this week only for $500. No pressure, right?

I stared for a long time before walking back to the dressing room. I tried on the silver gown. Gorgeous, but more Hollywood than wedding. I put back on the fit and flare. I still liked it. I looked awesome in it. I knew I had a few phone calls to make. We wrote down all of the numbers for the gowns and veils, and I walked out the door.

It's Not Just For Loaf Pans: Meatloaf Cupcakes

One of Mr. C's most requested meals is meatloaf cupcakes. It is a twist on the old standby that I stole from one of my favorite food blogs, Iowa Girl Eats. The big secret here? Meatloaf doesn't have to be cooked in a loaf pan. In fact, it doesn't technically have to be in any sort of shaping container at all.

Case in point, for Halloween last year, I made Mr. C a themed dinner; steamed swamp trees, mashed rat brains, and a baked werewolf paw. He didn't think my idea was nearly as adorable as I thought it was, but he did think it tasted delicious. The werewolf by was the meatloaf, with some onion pieces stuck in for decoration and a slice of cheese on top for effect.

Halloween '12: I made two of the paws, and they took us about three days to eat!

So, I guess you could say it has been awhile since I've felt confined by the traditional bounds of a loaf pan when it comes to my meatloaf. I've also significantly tweaked the meatloaf recipe, at least compared to how my mom used to make it!

For Meatloaf Cupcakes: 
1 pound Ground turkey (I used 97/3 this time)
1 shredded medium zucchini, drained
1 handful shredded baby carrots, drained
2 tablespoons minced onion
1/2 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs
1 tablespoons worchestershire sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
Whatever seasonings you like. I normally dash in garlic, some italian herbs, or whatever else I have handy.
Dollop of ketchup and worchestershire sauce for topping

For Creamy Mashed Potatoes: 
1 pound potatoes (I normally use red or yellow, although my rat brains were purple!)
3 tablespoons greek yogurt
3 tablespoons broth
2 tablespoons skim milk
1 tablespoon butter
A dash garlic salt
A sprinkle of pepper

See all of those yummy carrot and zucchini chunks in there? Sneaky veggies!

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Combine all meatloaf ingredients and mix well. Scoop mixture into muffin tin*
3. Spread a dollop of ketchup/worchestershire sauce on top of the meatloaf
4. Bake for 22-24 minutes
5. Meanwhile, cut potatoes into equal pieces and place in pot of cold water
6. Bring pot to boil and cook until potatoes are tender
7. Drain potatoes and return to pot.
8. Add remaining mashed potato ingredients and mash to desired consistency.
9. Remove meatloaf cupcakes from pan and place on plate
10. Scoop generous spoonfull of mashed potatoes on top of the cupcake like "frosting"
11. Enjoy!

Unfortunately we ate all of the cupcakes before I got any completed pictures!

A Lovely Sunday Dress Shopping Excursion: David's

Our final stop for the day was the nearby David's Bridal. After two small, local owned places, it was a bit of a shock to the system to walk into the near warehouse sized space filled to the brim with white fluffiness. It was exceptionally overwhelming, even after having narrowed down what we were looking for on both the bridal and bridesmaids sides of things.

I'd made an appointment, but when we checked in she told us that their preference was to wait until I'd selected my bridal gown before looking at bridesmaids dresses, so they could match. Huh? I told her that although we hadn't purchased my gown, we had a good idea what we were looking for, and still wanted to try both as I'd indicated when making the appointment.

We wandered around for awhile, and realized that although they have a new blue color called Bluebird that looks like it should be a dusty blue, it is actually periwinkle, and very very purple looking. Not what we were going for. But, never fear, having so many different styles would give us the chance to see how things looked, even if we weren't going to find the perfect color.

First up, we walked through every single bridal row with our very helpful and nice consultant. We pulled a number of dresses that looked hopeful, almost all of which were of the same vein as earlier. The only real exception was one very pretty Melissa Sweet ballgown that caught our eyes. I haven't been a big fan of lots of embellishment, but having it under the tulle was really pretty.

Alas, after trying on a good dozen dresses, there was really nothing that worked. I was noticing a definite difference in the quality of the dresses, especially in the thickness of the fabric. There were several dresses where the boning showed through the bodices of the gowns, which isn't for me.

After disregarding the bridal gowns, we turned to bridesmaids. Here, we were much more successful. The great thing about David's is that my two differently built maids could try on the same style gown at the same time, which gave us a great comparison.

Here's what we liked:

Quite simply, this one didn't wow us. Plus, the ruching in the center looked a bit odd. 

Standard, pretty bridesmaid dresses. The pleating on the skirt was distracting, and didn't really flatter.

We were getting closer, but weren't in love with the pencil skirts

Ding ding ding! Both girls looked gorgeous in these!!

Although we may not end up going with David's Bridal because of the color component, we definitely figured out the type of dress we were going for. And, after sending the photos to my other maids, they all agreed and liked this one! The black Alfred Angelo one shoulder from the first shop was very similar to this, so we might see if we can track that down anywhere in their dusty blue color!!

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!