Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow...

It's been awhile, I know.  I got sick for a couple of weeks and it's also National Novel Writing Month...I plan on being a winner again this year.  Alright, enough with the excuses.  On to the snow-I mean wedding-recap!

Since it was lightly snowing when we made our way to the church, I knew there was a good chance of it still snowing when we got out.  This is Chicago, after all.  I'm pretty stoked that it was, personally.  Don't get me wrong, it was cold but the pictures look great!  (And you'll notice that the junior bridesmaid is missing from these photos.  The cold was a bit of a shock for her so she sat in the limo for these.)

That's me holding up my dress.  While the following pictures were taken, Nicole was on the sidelines helping me bustle it up again.  (What would I have done without her?!)

love this one, don't you?

I think I jumped for joy when I saw this image.

So following pictures of the boys, Jake took a few of me.  I kinda love them.  Ok, I do love them.  I'm not ashamed to say it. 

snow in my hair :) 

cute with just a bit of a goofy air...yeah, that's me.

And with that, we made our way to the limo with the wedding party.  Tune in next time for the last batch of wedding party photos! :)

xoxo 

Ten Days

Programs are printed and they look amazing, thanks to my super talented fiance who worked so hard on them. Almost every RSVP has been sent back to us and we even got a card from the Obama's! Bachelorette party this weekend. Meetings with photog, dj and florist have been taken care of. Thank you cards came in a matter of days. There is finally a hair and makeup person to take care of us. We are scoring a pretty sweet deal at our reception site and the words "I want to honor what you were told" have been said. I have to count my blessings because we do have a lot to be really thankful for.

Here I am ten days away and still no dress. My family must have a problem with dresses because my mom's dress got snagged as well when they were hemming the bottom. She's waiting on her dress to come in as well. My dress was supposed to come in yesterday but Richard was called and told "maybe tomorrow". You just don't say that to a person who's getting married next weekend. I know I'm being told it's on it's way but that nagging feeling won't go away. So I've decided if it doesn't come in today, I'm not messing around anymore. I need to find a dress that can at least serve as a back up.

All that drama aside though, I'm getting pretty freaking excited. I'm getting married and I can't wait! The things I'm most excited for is exchanging vows, dancing and getting to San Diego. I cannot wait to get to San Diego, people. With my new husband!!!!!!!!!! :) Love it.

xoxo

Well, this is a surprise.

24 days.

I don't have a wedding dress.

Yes, I'm freaking out. I'm actually doing a lot better than I was yesterday though. I was at work ready to have an anxiety attack.

Let me tell you the short version.

I called the shop, they said the dress was in. Thanks for calling and telling me that. So I made an appointment. Monday, I go in to try the dress on in all it's glory. After waiting with a friend for a few minutes, I know something is wrong. The manager comes back and says my dress isn't here, there was a snag in it so they had to send it back (to China) and I'm getting a new one. At that point, I'm speechless. My friend starts talking for me. The woman promises it will be here in time, we'll work with the fastest seamstress they have. Then she tells me this: "We just didn't want you to worry and freak out."

It's three weeks before my wedding. I don't have a dress. You didn't want to freak me out?! Well, I am now!!

When it gets down to it, none of us believe that the dress was there to begin with. The place that the dress is made is closed for Chinese New Year and they don't know when it will open again. My dress will be in the next shipment, whenever that may be. Let's just say we're calling everyday now.

So, I may be on the hunt for a new dress. My mom is going to the shop on Saturday which I think is just wasting time but she wants to do it in person in the middle of the store so people know what they're dealing with. She said she will be talking nicely and calmly but if she needs to go momzilla on them, she will. Her goal is to either walk out with the sample, a sample of any other dress I want in the store or money to buy me a sample somewhere else.

I'm trying to stay positive. Whatever happens, at the end of the day I'm marrying Richard and that is all that matters.

xoxo

Dress shopping

I can't believe I've tried on wedding dresses! It was a surreal experience. I couldn't believe it. Me. Trying on wedding dresses. Wow...is this my life?

I started at David's Bridal. I'll be honest...I actually kind of really liked a couple. I couldn't believe how heavy the dresses could be though! I was also taken by surprised how different my style ended up being. Every dress I saw in a magazine had too much going on. I liked plain dresses. I still do but I can see how a little detail makes a dress that much more personal.

My second shop was House of Brides. It was weird to have someone just ask me what I want and then have me search the racks for it. Well after I found about 4 dresses that fit to put on I found a couple that I really really liked. The woman who was "helping" me (which consisted of zipping me up and telling me whether or not she liked the dress on me) said to my friend that I must know what I want because all of the dresses I pulled were generally the same style. Really? I didn't know I knew what I wanted...cool! :)

So it looks like my mom and I are going back to these two stores for her to see the dresses I like on me. I'm still on the hunt for my dress but I'm hopeful that it won't take too long to find *my* dress.

xoxo

*thee* best dress

I came across a problem last weekend when I was trying my dresses on with my new bio-fit. The zipper on my dress wouldn't zip up. Normally a nightmare for girls because it means their dress doesn't fit anymore but for me, I just have a broken zipper on my hands. So that means, I have to go out and buy a new dress for the rehearsal or the wedding this weekend.

After our meeting with a dj (which will probably be the one we hire!) on Tuesday, we headed to the mall, much to PeachGroom's dismay. It turned out to be a bust but we did have a yummy dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. (I suggest you try the pineapple upside down cake cheesecake...yum!)

I went out again the next day to the mall near my work and just about had a breakdown. I headed to the prom dress section, which was all on sale and started grabbing anything. Anything. I saw this cantalope colored dress that had a bunch of ruffles and laughed. Of course I should try this crazy dress on! Armed with about 6 dresses, I head to the dressing room. Dress after dress, I grew more and more disappointed. Until I put on the crazy cantaloupe ruffle dress.

Oh. My. God.





It looked so good! I don't go for anything like that at all. So of course, I bought it. I was so excited that I even showed it off when I went into work. One of my co-workers said "you are going to steal attention from the bride!" I don't think that's true but it *is* an awesome dress. My friend said I looked like Tinkerbell. PeachGroom thinks this should totally be the inspiration for my wedding dress. I've never felt this way about a dress before. It makes me very excited to go dress shopping. Anyone want to go? xoxo

dresses

So I've been trying to set up a date with my friends to go dress shopping. Right now it doesn't look like I'll be going to mid-June. I mean, I know that it's 9 months away from my wedding but I really want to start looking now. Why? I'm not so much of a dress girl. I'm the girl who pitched a fit while shopping for my communion dress. I used to tell my grandma that I was going to wear jeans to my wedding. Things have changed since age 8 for sure. I have a great love for a beautifully constructed dress. I love fashion. I just don't know how it's going to go for me while looking for a dress. Am I going to be one of those girls who tries on at least 100 dresses before I find the one that I want?

xoxo