Belated Wedding Post #1: The Dress

After the wedding E and I jumped right back into the swing of things as if the wedding had never happened. There was work to be done and classes to take and we didn't have a honeymoon so there was no real reflection on what we'd just done. Thus, I was a terrible, slovenly blogger who never got around to posting all the recap photos from this big day that everything had been building up to. 

Since I still have very little time, we've been married for over 6 months and haven't picked our album photos, and still haven't done our day after session, I've decided that more time will not be forthcoming and I might as well kick myself in the butt and get stuff done. I'll call it part of my getting back in shape for the day after photos since we need to take ourselves back there mentally as well as physically.

So, without further ado, I present:

The Dress

Custom made by Brides by Liza

French lace imported from Italy (funny, no?)

No, my boobs are not supposed to be climbing out like they are, my little sister didn't lace up my corset properly so we had some wardrobe malfunctions all evening.

Dress Picked Up!

I just picked up my wedding dress and veil!!! They're gorgeous and I can't wait to show off pictures.

That's all for now, I have to go print programs and favor bags and place cards, oh my!

Second Fitting = My Dress!

E (aka Mr. Button) Stay Out!

Confidential Wedding Information Beyond This Point!

First Dress Fitting!

Yesterday at 6:00 pm I had my first official fitting for the dress. It wasn't too much to be excited over since it was just a line fitting, and there was no actual dress to try on, but it was still exciting because it's progress!

Liza had a piece of thin blue satin cut to the pattern of the body of the dress from the neckline to my thighs. It  was assembled from four panels sewn together that pinned closed in the back. They marked my waist, where the sweetheart neckline should dip to, how rounded the boob shields should be along with all sorts of embarrassing measurements, like where my boob chub ends, where my belly is and where it creases when I sit down. Ideally knowing all these embarrassing facts should help hide them from my guests on the day of the wedding, assuming I haven't worked them off yet. I have some hope for the little belly but I'm not sure about the boob chub, the only time I can recall not having it after puberty was when I worked out with a personal trainer in high school and it was more muscle than chub. Come to think of it, I'm not even sure if that counts since it was still there, just harder and creepier since it flexed when I moved like tiny aliens in my arm pits. Sorry for the TMI.

Random dress pattern, in theory I have one of these too!

My next fitting isn't until December 10th so I have a little time to try and shrink the belly. If I manage to lose more weight between December and March, they can still alter the dress up until I take it from them which is awesome. I'm not sure how the weight loss is supposed to happen since I'm working out but haven't altered my diet (whoops) but hopefully it'll happen in time :) As my mother so lovingly told me, she thinks I have a fat back that I need to lose before the wedding. Then again she also told me that she doesn't care about me getting married, will dance at my wedding because she have to but really only wants to dance when I get into medical school and if I don't she'll be disappointed in me for the rest of my life. I know I have to invite her to the wedding being as she's partially paying for it, but I think i'll accidentally lose her invitation to any medical school acceptance parties I have, preferably in another state.

So, following that charming heap of maternal inspired self-loathing, yay! I have a dress pattern!

6 Month Check In

Wow! It seems like a lot has been happening really quickly in the past couple of weeks. I figured it was time for a six month wedding planning check in and give everyone an update.

The Dress

Yes, I have put down the deposit on my wedding dress!!! It ended up being a style I never would have chosen for myself but looks amazingly beautiful.

The Dress

So after trying on way too many too tiny dresses, I think I've finally found THE dress. I have to say it was definitely frustrating and I was just about done with the whole dress experience. I don't know what dress shopping is like in other places, but in Los Angeles the largest dress size stocked in store is usually either a 6 or an 8 for a 5'8 woman. Remembering to convert to bridal sizes which are 3-4 sizes smaller than street sizes, you need to be smaller than a 2 or a 4 to fit into the sample dresses correctly. If you are any larger (or smaller) you will quickly find yourself trussed up with clips and strings holding the back of the dress together. When you tell your salesperson that hello, you can't possibly get an idea of how the dress will look when you can't even get the top to lay flat, they will generally ignore your concerns and insist that it'll fit when they order it. This then leads me to another HUGE problem in the bridal industry, usually for smaller people, the dress alterations.

When you order a dress from a bridal store, they don't order a size that will fit you. This is absolutely done on purpose. Unless you fit the perfect stock size, they will order multiple sizes up claiming that they are fitting the largest part of your body. For women who don't have exceptionally large breasts or abnormally large hips, or another very disproportionally large body part, you don't generally need to order multiple sizes up. Especially with corset backed dresses, you DO NOT need to order a dress 4 sizes too big to get the best silhouette. This is done so they can charge you for alterations on the dress and even when you get an initial quote for under 100 dollars, those alterations can somehow go up to 500 or 600. I have talked to so many brides now who argued and argued with the sales person who measured them and insisted they needed huge tent like dresses only to gouge them with the alteration charges later. Although I'm one of the few people who would need a dress ordered a million sizes too big to fit my chest, this is one of the main reasons I loved the idea of a custom dress from the beginning.

As predicted, my dress is going to have to be a custom gown. Since it's hard to visualize how something on paper looks on your body, I was able to get into a gown close enough to make the decision. It stays true to my original design, no "poof" but is still surprisingly flattering. It's all over lace, and unlike anything I tried on previously, is fitted all the way down to my thighs in a fit and flare style with a dual layer skirt. This I thought was a huuuge no-no, since my thighs are not even on the dainty scale but it's surprisingly flattering. My mom and grandma really liked it, and while no one cried or said the stereotypical "oh my baby's so beautiful, she's growing up", they didn't tell me I looked like a stuffed sausage either. The dress will definitely have a sweetheart neckline with a scalloped edge, a corset back and a built in bustier so I won't have to wear a bra. There was definitely no "aha!" moment where I knew this would be the dress I got married in, but I really liked it and I think I will love it once it's done.

Pictures to come as soon as I can get back to the store to put down a deposit.

When The Power Of The Dress Becomes Exponentially Larger Than Your Brain

There's something that happens inside your head the longer you shop for wedding dresses. The more dresses you try on, the more desperate you seem to get to find "the" dress, the one that makes you feel like a bride whatever that's supposed to feel like, and the one that makes your mother cry. It should be beautiful, timeless, elegant, fun, and most importantly You. The trouble is, who really knows what they look like as a dress? And who's to say that "You" will actually look good on, well, you? Maybe you are all about the slick mermaid style, but your hips don't realize that. Or you feel like a plunging beachy neckline, but your boobs didn't get the memo? What happens when what you thought was you, suddenly doesn't look even remotely good on you?

I always thought I was a classic all over lace, strapless, sweetheart neckline, modified a-line. Simple, elegant, and vintage. The strapless, sweetheart neckline works wonderfully. However, simple modified a-lines don't really do it for my figure. They make me look top heavy and curveless. I look much better in a big, nay, HUGE skirt bottom. The kind of skirt bottom I swore I would never wear, the kind people occasionally call the dreaded "cupcake" dress. Although I haven't found "the" dress and I'm not sure if I will off the rack, I've tried on enough to know that that simple modified a-line just isn't going to cut it. I've now switched gears and turned towards super-poofsville in search of a big poofy dress with a visually interesting skirt.

My Wish List:

- Strapless, sweetheart neckline

- Corset back (this is a must for any sort of waist definition)

- Built in bra (I can dream right?)

- Big, full skirt with asymmetrical pick ups, different fabrics. I'm thinking layers but No cupcakes.

- Lace (non-floral!), silk and tulle

- Under $2,000.00

This seems like a pretty impossible wish list to achieve off the rack, but I'm going to keep looking a bit longer before I put down the deposit on a custom dress.

In more productive news, 90 of the Save the Dates are officially on their way to the correct recipients! I had them hand cancelled at the post office so hopefully they'll arrive in good shape. Fly free little Save the Dates! Only 8 more to go if I can ever get the correct addresses.