Shoes Part Two

My original plan, when it came to shoes, was to wear these all night long.

I figured I would have happy feet which would equal a happy me. And who doesn't want to be happy on their wedding day?

But then, there was the conversation with my dress maker. She asked what I was thinking about for shoes and after I told her, there was a total look of shock, disgust and fear on her little French - Canadian face. She was not happy. I quickly began to back peddle and said, well, maybe that was just one idea. Needless to say, I caved under the pressure . . . but then I found these:

Nothing too fancy, but something I could wear again. These are actually the shoes I had wanted to find for Seattle Groom's sister's wedding, but at that time, I couldn't find them anywhere in my size. Somehow I found them, bought them and haven't looked back. Now my plan is to wear the fancy shmancy shoes during the ceremony, then change into the ultra comfy, stylish Vans for the reception. Now all I have to do is learn how to walk in these things without tripping, ripping my dress or breaking my leg. Good luck to me!

Flowers

Flowers. What am I supposed to look for in a florist? I had no clue. I decided I wanted someone close by the Lake Union Cafe. I was thinking that if it was close, than that would be one less of a hassle to deal with on the big day! After a couple of google searches and some heavy review reading, I found The Flower Lady!! The cute little shop is just a couple of blocks from the LUC and is right on Eastlake . . . very convenient!!!

This little shop is quite the eclectic shop. There is a little bit of everything! The shop is owned by the super nice lady who obviously has a passion for what she does. And have I mentioned what a great job she does? No? Well, take a look at this arraignment she "whipped" up for us in about five minutes time!

It was pretty impressive! She seemed like she is going to be a lot of fun to work with too! Even better than all this? She is really pretty inexpensive. We don't have an actual quote, so this one could bite us in the butt, but we were looking over an invoice that was left on the counter for a wedding she was currently working on (I know, nosey us!) and this girl had a TON of flowers. She had aisle arraignments, six or seven bridesmaids, flower girls, table arraignments, the works! We aren't having nearly that many flowers, just me, the three bridesmaids, our two moms and that's it! I want just simple tulip bouquets - I am still going for the less is more mentality here. We are thinking that this is the one thing that is going to come in under budget . . . yay!!

Catching Up

I feel kind of like I have neglected my little blog, but in all honesty, there isn't much going on right now!! Here's where we are at:

• Bridesmaids dresses are all picked out and will be ordered within the next couple of weeks.
• I did change the shade of blue . . . originally I wanted a light, robins egg blue, but thought i could only get this deeper "pool" blue. As it turns out, I CAN get a lighter blue for the girls' peek-a-boo skirts! Yay!!! And even better? This new blue totally matches the blue of the save the dates and the favor tags, so I won't have to re-do them!!!
• I still don't know what to do with my hair . . . any ideas? It will be pretty long by March!!
• The invitation printer people still need all of the guest's addresses before they can print the invitations. That is goal number one for this weekend . . . come Hell or high water! :-)
• We, and by we I mean Seattle Groom, are still trying to figure out this groomsmen thing.
• We have to finalize the hotel block before invitations go out.
• We have to register before the invitations go out . . . which means that we just might have to agree on one or two things sometime soon!
• Officiants/Photographer/DJ/Cake/Location/Florist are all booked, but starting in January we will have to start meeting with them one by one (again) to talk details and finalize things.
• We still have to pick out/figure out what the groomsmen will be wearing.
• Rehearsal dinner still needs to be planned/organized.
• The favors haven't even started to be worked upon . . . that is a Christmas Vacation activity I think!
• I want to make a card box. Not something too fancy, but not something tacky either (and trust me, I have seen some VERY tacky card boxes on various wedding blogs and sites).

I guess instead of giving you an update as to what has been done, I gave you a list of what has yet to be done! At times I think about this wedding thing and I think that there isn't much to do, but then, especially once I put it down on paper, I realize that there is still a lot to do!! Now if only I could get motivated, or better yet, motivate my main partner in crime, to get a few things done!!!

Ideas

I haven't posted in quite awhile and I have lots to catch up on!! But first, I wanted to share this super cool idea board I just created! I love the concept of idea boards, but had no idea how to create them. Then a super nice blogger on WeddingBee posted a mini tutorial on how to create one using PowerPoint. I had a file full of potential bouquet ideas so I put them to work and here is what I created!!

It couldn't have been easier!!

These are just a few of the bouquets I have bookmarked from my various searches.

Really, I was just wanting to play and see if I too could be one of those "cool" bloggers who create these awesome collages!!

The Dress

Have I told you about my dress yet? I can't tell you too much, just in case Seattle Groom decides to peek at this, but I will share a few details along the way!

While I did go to a local dress shop and totally fell in LOVE with a beautiful ivory, lace, beaded gown, my mom convinced me to at least meet with a friend's dress maker friend before I made my final decision. I humored my mom, not having the highest of expectations, but what do you know? I fell in love again, with Chantal, the most amazingly talented couture dress designer! Amazing!!!

I am just beginning this dress journey! We have been to the fabric store and have narrowed down the fabric options (more on that soon!) and next Tuesday I have my first meeting with Chantal where we will begin to design my dress!

I will admit, I am a little nervous about this whole process, but I am doing my best to be open minded and flexible . . . two traits I do not normally possess! :-)

Hair Update

Remember awhile back I posted a picture of Taylor Swift and a cool up-do I wanted to try out when I got my hair done for Seattle Groom’s sister’s wedding? Well, that plan didn’t quite work out! My hairstylist just started in on my hair without asking what I had in mind or wanted and I got a little intimidated (go figure!) by her so I said nothing. Dang it! Especially since what she ended up doing to my hair was nothing like I wanted and it fell out before the wedding. Super annoying! I didn’t get any pictures of it either (super annoying, again!) but I am sure I will find one or two to post here soon!

Could the first up-do I find be “the one?” I think just maybe. I keep looking at different hair styles and up-do’s and I have to say, the photo I posted of Taylor Swift’s hair is still my favorite!

Officiant Searching

For the past couple of weeks, I have had one thing on my “to do” list and I am just not sure how to get it done. How do I find a wedding officiant? Seattle Groom and I are not religious. Not being part of any sort of religious group is making this task a little tricky.

I have done the Google searches, the Knot searches and even asked around to a couple of friends who have gotten married somewhat recently. So far, no luck. The people I find through my on-line searches all seem a little too over the top for us and many of our friends had family or family friends officiate their ceremony. I am kind of stuck here!!!

How do you pick someone to marry you to your best friend?