My dress has arrived!

The UPS man delivered my dress yesterday! Here's your first look!

I couldn't believe that it fit in such a small box!

The time my mom called me a "bridezilla".

I live 3 hours from my mom and step-dad, so I talk to my mom almost every day.

A couple months ago I was on the phone with my mom talking about wedding stuff. I don't even know the topic of wedding discussion, but after I had said my peace my mom said, "Ok, bridezilla." That pretty much ended our phone conversation.

When I hung up the phone the comment kind of stung. Was I being a bridezilla? Did I need to take it down a notch? After thinking about it I decided that, no, I wasn't being a bridezilla.

I've seen those girls on Bridezilla on WE. Chicks be CRAZY. Am I weighing-in my bridesmaids? No. Am I kicking people out of my wedding? No. Am I throwing a hissy fit if people aren't doing things on their "to-do" lists? No, because I'm not giving people to-do lists.

I came to the conclusion that my mom just wanted to be able to use the word "bridezilla" at least once during my wedding planning. That or she wanted to get me off the phone so she could go "watch her shows" because my parents have yet to invest in a DVR.

The next morning my mom called and apologized. She said that I wasn't being a bridezilla and that she was sorry. I told her it was ok and that I didn't hurt my feelings because I know I'm not a bridezilla.

:)

Let Them Eat Cake

Our cake baker is old school.

She doesn't do tastings. She only does white or chocolate cake. She only does buttercream frosting. She said she has the ability to recreate anything. She comes highly recommended by our caterer and DOC. She is cheap (~$1.75 per person).

I was sold.

I didn't care that she didn't make hazelnut praline or red velvet cake. I think most people go to weddings expecting chocolate and white and are happy with that.

I don't think people need fancy surprises. Last year I went to a wedding with lemon cake. I bit into my piece of cake thinking it was white, and I did the very unladylike thing and spit it back out onto my plate.

Did I mention that I don't care for lemon (unless it's in my water) and prefer to not be surprised by it?

I LOVED the fact that she only does buttercream frosting. It's the only way to go in my book. That whipped topping frosting is disgusting. Period.

I didn't care that she didn't work with fondant because I don't like fondant anyway. Yes, it's pretty but you can't eat it. I hate going to weddings where the cake has the layer of fondant and I'm trying to peel it off in the most ladylike way possible. (I still think it looks like I'm playing with my food.)

Moving on to my design idea... I L-O-V-E, LOVE Swiss dots. Our entire wedding cake will be covered in Swiss dots.


I'm still debating as to whether I want every tier to be round, or if I want to do two round tiers and two square tiers.

Since we'll have a cake topper and not flowers I want to add color somehow. I might see if our cake baker can add ribbon to the base of each tier like the picture above.

To make our cake table stand out I plan on using a pink or green tablecloth since all the other tables will have white/ivory tablecloths.

Happy Halloween!

That's my brother and me circa 1989.

I'm the mouse. He's the dinosaur.

My mom made the costumes herself. She made almost all of our costumes growing up. I can only hope that my sewing skills are as good as hers by the time I have children. If not, luckily, she saved all of our costumes so I'll just dress my children up in them. :)

Table Name Cards

I didn't want to be plain and boring and just number the tables, so our tables are going to be named after places we've traveled to together. We've been on two cruises together so that helped give us enough names for all the tables.

I designed each card in Photoshop with the location name, a photo of us at that location, and our monogram. I'll print them on cardstock or 5x7 photo paper. Then I'll print our menu on another piece of cardstock (or 5x7 photo paper) and put it behind the table name card.

I'm using chrome plated table number holders to place them on the tables. I found a bride on Craigslist who was selling 18 for $15. Score.

Silhouette Matters

Ball Gown. A-Line. Empire. Mermaid. Sheath. Fit-and-Flare. Trumpet.

I'm a true believer that every girl looks best in a certain silhouette. My belief was sealed when I began searching for my dress. In my quest for the perfect dress I ventured into 5 bridal salons, traveling across state lines to go to 2 of them and tried on 40+ dresses.

I'm going to show you how I look in certain silhouettes to demonstrate how some are not for everyone. (NOTE: I will not be posting a pic of my dress. I know, I'm no fun.) I lopped my head off most of the photos because I'm not making the best faces. :)

Alright, let's get this party started!

The very first dress I tried on! Here I am in the biggest ball gown type dress I tried on. I felt like I took up too much volume, and I look like it too. No ball gown dresses for me!

Moving on to empire. Oh empire and I are not friends. I look large and frumpy-- not the words I'd like to describe myself as on my wedding day.

A-line. I think that everyone looks good in A-line... including myself.

However, I don't like the look of pick-ups, as shown with this A-line dress. I think I look squatty. I also don't like how it looks like I'm wearing a down comforter.

Fit-and-flare. I liked the look of fit-and-flare dresses or sometimes called modified A-line. When comparing this photo to the photos of myself in the empire waist dresses it looks like a completely different person to me.

I wasn't about to try on a mermaid or trumpet style dress because I don't need to overly emphasize my hips, thighs, and booty. :)

What silhouette do you think I went with?

I found my wedding cake topper.

Sunday evening I set out with a goal: find a wedding cake topper.

I took to Etsy.

I had already decided that I wanted a customized topper that looked like FI and I. I also wanted to include our pup. After searching for a while I stumbled upon Lynn's Little Creations. She makes custom toppers starting at $65 for the couple (add $5-$10 per pet, depending on size)! Most custom toppers I've seen are easily $100-$500+! I'm very excited to see how it turns out-- especially my dress!