Well, I am about a month behind with my wedding blog updates, so I decided to skip the gym on this cold April morning to catch up before I get ready for a long day at work. These photos were taken on March 24th, when Lindsey and I spent a Saturday afternoon running to David's Bridal to pick up her bridesmaid dress from being ordered. It was the first time I got to see the dress on someone in my color, "jade" and it was super exciting. She was such a good sport about letting me take pictures of her, even though she knew they would end up on the internet! :o) Love her!!
My sister Aly, went through a ton of fuss to get us all these champagne colored cardigans with rhinestone buttons from Macy's and ship them to us so the girls could try them on with their dresses. We wanted something for them to be able to wear over their shoulders since the wedding is in October. Turns out though, that once Lindsey had it on with the dress...the sweater Aly bought didn't really work at all. The flat woven material offset the silky fabric of the dress, the length wasn't quite right, and the fitted nature of the sweater didn't allow for it to be buttoned comfortably and would hide the rouging at the waistline of the dress anyway. Lindsey and I felt horrible that after all Aly had done to pick them out, order Elise's, and have them shipped them to us-- we didn't like them. Lindsey tried on a few cropped jackets at David's, but they were $50 each and had to be ordered. That was more than half the cost of the dress itself so we left those behind.
 |
| Lindsey had fun looking through the racks of wedding dresses while we waited for them to get her bridesmaid dress for us. She may have even found her perfect dress, so I can't post that picture here yet! |
Since we couldn't use the cardigans that Aly bought from Macy's, Lindsey and I took a trip there to try to return them. Even with the receipt, that proved impossible because we didn't have Aly's original form of payment (her debit card). We wandered the store a little disgruntled to see if there was anything Lindsey could spend her gift card on, and it turns out we ran into the sweetest Macy's Sales Associate who helped us try on scarves as shawls and find the cutest shoes. She was our fashion consultant right there in the dressing room and helped us decide between the caramel, chocolate, or ivory colored shawls that Lindsey graciously agreed to try on with her dress after having to run back to the car to get it! She was exhausted and tired of playing dress up, but kept a smile on her face for me--since I will be a bridesmaid in her wedding next year, I know my day will come! Haha.
 |
| Jeff & Lindsey--my favorite twins in the whole world! |
After I got home from shopping with Lindsey, Jeff and I drove out to Glennpeter Jewelers to pick up our wedding bands. We had Mike with us, because we planned on stopping in Amsterdam on our way home to meet Lindsey and Matt for dinner and a movie. I was caught off guard when we picked up the rings because I was so excited and when I slipped it on my finger my heart sank. Something was wrong but I couldn't put my finger on it. No pun intended. Jeff gave me a funny look and couldn't understand why I wasn't happy with it---it's gorgeous, let's go, he said. With Mike there, I didn't want to dwell on it and make a scene, and I didn't know what was wrong anyway--he was right--the ring was gorgeous, and we had dinner and a movie planned so I signed the paper saying we approved and picked it up and we were on our way.
Back in the car, I got on my phone and pulled up this very website to check my wedding blog from the day we ordered the rings. Turns out, what was missing on my ring was the mil grain detail that I had wanted to make my ring match Jeff's. I felt better once I knew what was missing and that I wasn't crazy, but panicked because I didn't know if it would be an easy fix or a fight to get it right when we went back. The whole time Jeff rolled his eyes at me while I advocated for the fact that, when we had spent that much money on rings, and when I had to wear it the rest of my life--they better be right! At Applebees, when Lindsey arrived I pulled her into the bathroom like an hysterical teenage girl to vent about the issues with the ring and Jeff's nonchalant attitude. She patiently reminded me that Jeff is a man, and men don't really care about things like jewelry and that she was sure we could get it fixed. With a better perspective, and a deep breath, I was able to enjoy the rest of my night with friends and the love of my life (even though the movie we watched, The Grey, was horrible--lol).
On Tuesday night, I went to Jamie's house to make the bridesmaids' bouquets. I had spent the weekend floral shopping with my aunt, and then Tuesday while I was at work the grapevine balls that I ordered from Oriental Trading Company came in the mail...so I couldn't wait to sit down and put them together. 
Using wire cutters I dismantled the floral stems so that I had individual flowers and leaves with only a few inches of stem. I ran satin ribbon through the ball leaving a piece hanging from the bottom and a loop to hold onto at the top. With the "rule of threes" in mind I arranged the flower and leaf stems into the top of the grapevine balls while they were set into bowls to keep them from rolling all over the table. 
Once we had the flowers arranged the way we liked, I hot glued them into place.
I used two different sizes of ivory rose flowers, green hydrangea, leaves from the rose stems, as well as green button mums and sprigs of maidenhair fern. 
We decorated a grapevine basket to mimic the bridesmaids bouquets so that the flower girl will match. It is my hope that they will reflect the centerpieces' fresh flowers and everything will be tied together with a rustic shabby chic elegance. 
Thanks to Jamie for her patience and ingenuity as we assembled these! I couldn't have done it without you!
Today Jamie and Lindsey came out to try on the bridesmaid dresses we had settled on before with my sisters. It would seem that after rack fulls of dresses, just nothing could quite compare to this strapless dress with pockets that didn't require alterations for either of them. After getting the $20 discount for me having purchased my wedding dress at David's Bridal, their dresses only came to $85. Whoohoo! Now the shawl/cardigan and shoes shopping and we will be all set. I will be making their jewelry as part of their bridesmaids gift. 
Jenna found her flower girl dress too! (See previous post)
Here are the girls lined up to place their orders and pay for their dresses. Jenna smiles with her elephant, Ellie, and mom, Nicole. We were excited to be headed to lunch next, where I treated the girls to Olive Garden's soup, salad, and bread sticks. We lucked out and only had to wait a few minutes for a table and I had plenty of time to spare to make it back to Amsterdam for work at Joann Fabrics for the evening. It was a great day!
This afternoon I went bridesmaid dress shopping with Lindsey, Ginger, and her mom, Sue. We had a blast! Thank goodness I made us an appointment because it was a mad house with a $99 sale going on--all the fitting rooms were jammed with girls and we would've had an hour and a half wait!
We got right in and set up with a fitting room and with a brief explanation of color and size guides we hit the racks looking for styles to try on.
This was the first dress Ginger tried so we could get a sense of how the color would look--I wanted "truffle" brown or "cocoa." 
Lin looked smokin' in this satiny red number, which ended up being one of our top two picks of the day. Little did we know we'd return to this style...but looking at this photo now, I can see it has a lot of potential especially in the color we decided to go with--"jade."
This was my favorite dress of the day on Ginger--I loved the sheen and texture of this fabric along with the gathering in the right places. We decided to go short to avoid unnecessary alterations costs and to give them a little more comfort and mobility from carrying around a bunch of fabric all day. 
We had to have some bad picks too...I promised not to post the really bad picks, haha, but here is the what they called "The Grinch" combo. 
These ended up being our top two style choices, which my sisters will try on at a North Carolina David's Bridal to be the tie breakers, or we may end up going two and two. 
And finally...me with my troopers. I know from a few weeks ago how exhausting dress shopping can be and they were awesome! We were positive and productive and I'm impressed that we got so much accomplished in our hour and a half appointment time--wait--I mean, the 3 hours we stayed to try on dresses!!! Our marathon session left us with two possibilities and a confirmed color choice that everyone is happy with, so it was a great day!
I chose Jeff's twin sister Lindsey to be one of my bridesmaids because we always giggle when we get a chance to hang out and I know she will help keep things lighthearted, and help me to keep my eye on the prize--her amazing brother! She will have his best interests in mind when helping with decision making, and it will be easier to make decisions when he's not around when I have her input. I am happy she agreed to be part of my wedding because I think it will be an amazing bonding experience and I know she will make a wonderful sister-in-law! :o)
My sisters Elise and Aly are the obvious choices for my bridesmaids. They are by default my best friends, and those people you can get mad at or can get mad at you, but you know in the end you will always be sisters and we will be there for each other always. It makes me super bummed that they don't live nearby anymore, and with a fifteen hour drive separating us, with me in NY and them in NC...its going to be hard to not have them as readily available to share in the process as much as I'd like. I'm so psyched to be able to visit them next week for Christmas, and maybe we can fit in a day with my mom and my Grandma Haymore to do a little dress shopping. I'm not ready for a dress yet, but my friend Ginger made a good point--that its an experience I'd cherish to be able to share with them, and I should take the opportunity if I have it. Speaking of Ginger....
Last night I officially appointed her my Maid of Honor. She's been my friend for 6+ years and I can think of no better person to help me with this creative journey. As a fellow CTMH consultant and partner in crime, we've got this uncanny knack of being able to sit down and work on a project together and make magic happen. Oh, I could make something gorgeous on my own, and she can make something gorgeous on her own, but when we get together and can feed off of each others' ideas--then it becomes gorgeous times ten! I trust her taste in color and design, and I know she will be the voice of reason to talk me down and put things into perspective when I get stressed. I'm glad she so excitedly accepted the responsibility--because it's going to be a long bumpy ride! :o) But tons of fun too, of course!
