Dress love

Another blog has featured my dress designer. Makes me fall in love with them all over again. My dress may or may not be up on the blog already...

wedding dream

I had my first wedding related dream last night and it wasn't a good one :(. It doesn't quite qualify as a nightmare because I didn't wake up in terror or stressed. In the dream it was our wedding day and it wasn't the wedding we wanted a) because basically nothing was planned (I was literally making a single program for the officiant before the wedding) and b) it wasn't the wedding we wanted. I was incredibly calm in the dream but right as I was waking up I was looking around and realizing I didn't want any of this. It seemed like we threw it together quite quickly and that was why it was that way. I definitely don't like that I'm already having these dreams because that means I'll have to live with them for over a year!! I rarely dream and when I do I still rarely remember them so this is another thing of note.

We have decided we want to contact our top choice venue after the holidays and see if it is a possibility (aka in our price range). Maybe that is where this has sprung from.

Have a wonderful holiday season everyone!

First Official Act as an Engaged Couple

So it's officially holiday season. I've spent most of this morning getting some christmas shopping done online (I refuse to battle the crowds). Not only does the holiday season mean presents but also cards. We have to send out a holiday card! I would love to do one with a picture of us but there is one slight problem with this... we don't have many pictures of us. My favorite picture I have of us is this one

(personal photo)

Problems with this: It's almost 3 years old. I'm in an Iowa sweatshirt. I would like us to be clearer and more of the focus of the picture.

So that leaves us in a bit of a pickle. We need a good picture for holiday cards ASAP so we can get them ordered and shipped to us so we can ship them out in time for the holidays.

Inspirations & Hair

For 3 months now I've been gathering pictures of ceremonies, flowers, decorations, invitations, guestbooks & more and articles about writing vows, booking vendors, creating budget, & staying sane. I've amassed quite a few to say the least. I'm slowly starting to organize all of the photos into categories. I have a file of invitations, ceremony markers, reception decor, & cupcake/dessert tables.

Since buying my dress my new obsession has been hairstyles. I'm definitely keeping my hair long but am thinking of highlighting it. When I was younger my hair was definitely blonder. In high school I started highlighting it but stopped sophomore year of college. It got REALLY blonde after a summer in the sun.

Here is when I decided my hair was WAYY to blonde (and crispy - so glad I don't gel my hair like that anymore!).

Here I am 4 years ago. This color was good. The highlights were basically gone then.

Interestingly enough, my hair is wavy in both of these. The second was a more natural wave from a day at the beach. I would love for my wedding hair to have the beachy wave to it as well - just better than this picture. I don't know if I want to to be completely down, maybe half up. I'm also thinking headband or hair flower or clips. Some sort of hair accessory that's not a veil. I don't really like veils & I think it would just be a mess on the beach.

Eventually, I'll start posting some of my inspirations thus far. Once we get through the holidays perhaps we'll start wedding planning. Perhaps.

Secrets

On Monday after everyone had left and it was just Ben and I, I realized I have to keep a HUGE secret from Ben for a VERY long time. I can't show him or tell him about my dress for what could be well over a year! HOW IN THE HELL IS THIS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN??!?!? I'm so excited about it and can't share it with the person who means the most to me! BOOOO!

Purchases

The weekend went REALLY well. Everyone had a great time and some progress was made on the wedding.

Mainly, I BOUGHT MY DRESS! YAY! I'm so excited. Saja was a great experience. The designer, Yoo Lee, was there and the other girls were really great too. Only one appointment at a time in the small store so their full attention was on me. I chose an accessory to go with my dress on their suggestion and am TOTALLY happy with my purchase. I can even go visit my dress at the store anytime. Yoo actually seemed to encourage it. I'll probably go back in a bit and actually take pictures of me in the dress. One minor thing we forgot to do was take pictures while I was trying on dresses! If you want to know the one I selected e-mail me or comment and I'll send you a message with the website and the one I chose. That will have to do until I take some pics!

My Initial Reaction necklace also arrived on Saturday so I got to take it with my to my appointment and see how it looked with my dress. It looks good! Here's some pictures of the necklace. (sorry for the yellow tone. There isn't enough light left when I get home from work to use natural light!)

Preparing

In 4 short days my mom is meeting Ben's family. I'm excited and nervous and stressed! My mom is staying with us so I used my holiday cleaning up and getting somethings done around the apartment. There is still plenty to do during the evenings this week. I'm excited I get the day off on Friday to be here when everyone lands and gets into the neighborhood. I'm also glad we get the evening together before my BFF flies in on Saturday to join in the fun. I got a confirmation e-mail from Saja for my appointment on Sunday. My necklace should be here any day now. Things are starting to happen.