The Hunt for Dresses is On!

As the colorful spring fashion lines start popping up in stores, it's time to start thinking about bridesmaids dresses. My plan from the start was to let my bridesmaids pick out their own dresses. I gave them three colors to pick from and a dress length. The rest is up to them. I figure this way they will like their dresses, the dresses will be in their budget, and I don't have to worry about shopping for dresses I'm not going to wear. The colors I gave them are orange, red, and yellow. Now that those colors are starting to show up in stores, my bridesmaids have started shopping! Bridesmaids "I" and "S" and going to wear red dressed, bridesmaid "D" is going to wear orange, and bridesmaid "W" is going to wear yellow. I'm really happy that all three colors will be used. I think the autumnal range of colors will look nice. It's fun to get emails with links to dresses or chat with them about it on the phone. What was really great, though, was getting to go shopping together in person a few weeks ago!

Since I am making my own invitations, I had an invitation making party and invited my bridesmaids down to help me out. They came from as far as Boston! We had a great time hanging out, blasting through the invitations (we made, addressed, and stamped all 90!!), and having girly time. We also got to go dress shopping. "D," who had decided to wear an orange dress, was having a hard time finding any online. Neither of us really thought about the fact that it's a rare color. But at the Columbia Mall, we stumbled across this one and it fit great! "D" got it! So she wins first bridesmaid to have her dress. She's going to get a different belt for it and I'm sure she will find some great shoes to wear with it, too. Even though bridesmaids "S" and "I" didn't find their perfect red dresses to wear, we all had fun trying stuff on and hunting through the racks.

It was a great weekend and I'm so grateful to them for coming and helping out.

Different Types of Flowers

Ever since getting my dress I have been passively musing about the accessories for my wedding day. I've gone back and forth about necklaces, earrings, and what to put in my hair. Now that I've gotten all of the vendors figured out for the wedding, I felt it was time to start filling in the details. Intermittent poking around online is over. I started looking for shoes back in the fall. I am very picky about the comfort of my shoes and wanted to wear flats. I found Zappos to be my best hunting ground. It took me a couple orders and returns to get it right, but I eventually settled on the Kimball2. I wasn't 100% sure about the neutral color and the texture of the fabrics, but when I put them on, I was thrilled. They are linen with a big suede flower on each toe. The softness of the shoes makes the pearly dress shine even more. Plus, I think they are fun, while not being overly noticeable.

Beyond shoes, I want to get my other accessories handmade, as much as possible. I love Etsy and shopping on their site is so much fun. I scrolled through page after page of hair flowers, boleros, and earring. There are so many good looking vendors, but Clark and Diversey really stood out for having some unique flowers. I ordered this hair flower, but they are replacing the rhinestones in the middle with pearls. I really like the combination of different materials. I do have to laugh at myself, though. I spent so long looking at every detail of all these different flowers, but at the end of the day, all anyone will see is a big white flower.

From Clark and Diversey

With these two details squared away, I have begun contacting vendors for a bolero. I also have an appointment to show my dress to a seamstress on Saturday! The "look" is coming together.