We Danced the Night Away!

This will be a pretty picture-heavy post…I’m bound and determined to finish these recaps before I give birth…so cross your fingers for me that I make it!

I already showed you what a good time some of the kiddos had…but they weren’t the only ones! I think that our DJ did a great job of playing music that we requested, music that kept the people out on the dance floor, and taking requests from guests. Yes, there was a song or two that was played that Brent asked me “Why did we choose THAT song?!?!”…but it turns out that they were guest requests. But enough from me - take a look at what a good time was had by one and all...us girls got our groove on!




I’m really NOT sure how this one didn’t make the “funny faces” post…

And here’s the requisite picture of the bride dancing while holding on to her alcoholic drink for dear life!

At one point during the night, the boys took a break and toasted each other back at the bar when Brent's one music request "A Country Boy Can Survive" was played…


It was a tradition of theirs or something…but don’t be fooled – they tore up the dance floor as well…check it out!




Yes, the YMCA was done…

My Mom even joined in on that one!

And at one point there was a Congo Line…though I really couldn’t tell you why…

And there was line dancing too…

I even managed to get my new step-son on the dance floor with me…isn’t he cute?!?!


And at one point, Brent and I managed a quick two-step…

Then it seems that neither MOH or I could find our husbands, so we made do with each other…

Before long, the music got a little raunchier…and the dancing got a good bit dirtier…



And I got hot! That’s the one thing that no one told me about wedding dresses – they get HOT!! So I improvised a quick fan from one of our programs, and went on with my grooving…

Last, but certainly not least, a circle was formed at some point, and we all went out one by one (or in pairs) and strutted our stuff…The Bride took her turn…

…with my fan, of course!

And a co-worker really showed us how it was done…


But even with all of HIS moves, I think that the Groom and one of his guys took the cake!



That was B on the left...Yep, they took it “old school” and had a blast doing it.

I have to tell you that I danced so much that I literally could not feel my toes for three days after the wedding. I did take a break here and there, once to put on flip flops, but for the most part I was on the dance floor from the minute the dancing started until it was time for us to leave…

A blast was had by one and all, and our friends and co-workers are still talking about what a great party we threw at our wedding. To be honest, I don’t think that anyone could pay me a higher compliment. I worked hard to make our wedding special, meaningful and FUN…so to still hear them talking about what a great time they all had…well, it just melts my heart!

**All photos courtesy of Christina Carroll Photography

Need to catch up? Here’s some links:
Girls’ Spa Day
Bachelor/Bachelorette Party
Setting Up the Venue…
Practice Makes Perfect…
Rehearsal Dinner
5 Minutes is All that I Need
A “Quick” Stop at the Hair Salon
A Sneak Peek at the Venue...
Arriving at the Venue...to Stay!
Getting Dressed
The Maids Pose for the Camera...
Oops - I’m Out of Order!
The Boys Smile and Say “Cheese!”
It’s Show Time!
Here Comes the Bride!
Becoming Man and Wife...
We’re Man and Wife!
Family Pictures
Now THAT’S Love!
The “Group” Says Cheese!
Now It’s Just Us...
It’s the Smallest Things...
Here Comes the Bride! And Groom!
Raise Your Glasses...
Our Cake Buffet
The Great Cake Cutting Debate
We Danced...
Two More Special Dances...
One Lucky Girl...and One “Excited” Guy!
The Many Faces of a Bride...
The Kids...

Now THAT’S Love!

Oh wow. Are you in for a treat today or what? You can’t possibly be as excited as I am right now...you should be, you just don’t know it yet! I have a funny story to share with you. I know, it’s almost unheard of...me doing something outrageous or hilarious and making you LOL while you sit at your desk and “work.”

I mentioned a few posts back that the music was the main “oops” moment during our wedding...and that still holds true. For the most part. But there was something going on behind the scenes that only a few people know about...and it’s pretty funny! I wasn’t sure that I was going to share it with you all...not that I don’t love you...but it’s too funny to NOT share. So here goes. Oh, and I won’t even begin to apologize for there not being any pictures that captured this “oops” moment...just sit back, read and enjoy the story!

We finished with our family pictures, and what I haven’t told you yet is that all during the ceremony – well, mainly just the walking parts, I was noticing a “shift” in garments. Undergarments to be more specific. Standing still for family pictures was not that big of a deal since the rest of the family moved around us and the four of us stayed stationary for the most part. But during “scene changes” between families, I was giving a gentle tug (when I thought that no one was looking and I could be discreet) on my underwear. Now, I know what you’re thinking...the most common underwear problem known to women is crawling underwear...crawling up, that is. But that wasn’t the case here.

You see, in an effort to be slightly romantic for my hubby I had gone out and bought some new sexy VS undies for the big day. But the joke was on me, wasn’t it? Since Mother Nature “blessed” me the day before our wedding, the joke turned out to be on me...hahaha. No, I wasn’t really laughing either! Anyway, so these panties were new – washed, but unworn. They were too pretty not to wear (they were in our colors – black and cream) so I decided the day of the wedding to wear them anyway and feel pretty, even if it was that time of the month. I even managed to go to the bathroom all by myself (like a big girl!) before the ceremony started with no assistance needed from any of the Maids. They were willing, but there’s just only so much a girl can ask of her friends, right?

Anyway...so these panties were new. Tried and un-tested previous to our wedding day, which might have been my mistake. I maybe should have worn them one other time just to see how they “wore” for lack of a better way of describing things. But I didn’t. Learn from me, PLEASE! Wear your special panties at least for an hour of serious walking around before wearing them on your wedding day when they’re not easily accessible for adjustments! It’s just smart to do these things...me? Not so smart, obviously.

We finished up the family pictures and gathered all of the wedding party back together so that we could traipse off back into the meadow that we all loved so much...and as we’re walking, I admit to MOH (sort of under my breath) that I think that I’m having difficulties. I explain the problem – there are too many layers between gown, under-gown and petticoat for me to find a gauzy layer of underwear and give them a good yanking up. After we both had a giggle about it, I decided to press on and finish the pictures first and then I could make a quick “pit stop” before making our entrance in the reception hall. Good plan, right? Yeah...

Well, it seems that the panties had another plan of their own. Before we could even get around Redbud Hall to the meadow, I knew that the situation was a little more serious than I had first thought. I paused, and MOH stopped with me, along with the rest of the bridal party. One look at my face and MOH broke out in laughter, she understood that look, and immediately took charge of the situation...even if she DID laugh while doing so. She called Maid Britney over to hold all flowers, and shooed everyone else on towards the field, telling the photographer that we were having a “wardrobe malfunction” and would be along shortly. We turned and started toward our dressing room, and I had taken no more than two steps and realized that these undies were NOT going to make it to the dressing room. They honestly felt like they had already slipped over my hips and were making their way down towards my thighs...It had to be fixed, and it had to be fixed right HERE!

Being the good sport that she is...MOH didn’t even bat an eye. She backed me up against the back of the reception hall, put Maid Britney on the “look out” and dove up under my layers of dresses. Where she proceeded to get a good “grip” and make some adjustments for me. In other words, MOH has now seen my bare butt. I mean, not like she was trying to look, but how could she avoid it?!?! I was mortified...but SO very grateful to feel “secure” once again. LOL! And if you ask me, she gave an extra tug – “just to be sure” or so she said...maybe it was payback for having to pull up my britches in the first place!

After all was well in my world again, we fell apart in laughter. I mean, like give-me-side-stitches laughter. It was THAT funny! Luckily, or hopefully, no one saw anything (other than MOH, that is) and we rejoined the rest of the party quickly. B, of course, assured me that he would have been more than happy to help with the problem once I explained to him what was going on...and I’m sure that he would have...but we were in a field with our closest friends and some of their spouses...maybe not the time and place for his sort of “help.”

So the moral of the story? You’ve really got two choices: 1) Wash and wear your special undies for at least a little while before that special occasion or 2) Be sure to surround yourself with women who are willing to “go the extra mile” for you when you start to have wardrobe malfunctions! Either way works...just depends on your own personal level of embarrassment tolerance! ;)

Oops - I’m Out of Order!

Yeah, yeah, I hear you. I point-blank said that next up was pics of the guys...but I lied. Oh well. I’m pregnant and my brain does NOT work like it should be working! I’m also slightly anal-retentive so I like to stay in order...jumping back to the Maids’ time with the photographers for a quick post.

Hit rewind. All the way back to the field...before the Vogue/GQ poses...

I wasn’t crazy about doing a bridal session before the wedding. It was one of those things that I could live without. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that this wasn’t my first wedding...or maybe I just didn’t care about that little detail. As much as I like having my picture taken and putting on some “cheese” for the camera, it just wasn’t something that I wanted to do. But practicality says that at some point someone – my soon-to-be-husband or maybe my parents – might want a picture of just me in all of my bridal glory. I don’t want one on my desk...but someone might.

So keeping others in mind and trying not to be a totally selfish bride, I stood my ground in the field a little longer than the other girls so that Christina could grab a few shots of just me. Since I think that I actually did this FIRST before anyone else, they were all laughing at the faces that I was making because of the sun-glare hitting my eyes from the sun thingy that the second photographer had. Don’t worry – I told them to stuff it and got my revenge a few minutes later once they were blinded by it as well!

Here I am...this will be short and sweet since I feel funny posting pictures of just myself. Yes, I have a blog. Yes, I talk about my life as if it’s the most interesting thing I’ve ever heard about...but I’m really NOT that self-centered. At least, I don't think so.

Standing in the field, looking my most bridal-ish...

It was SO much easier looking off in the distance...
A little more breeze to lift the veil up a bit...

There's the sassiness that those who know me best are looking for!

This one is my favorite...

I love that my veil is just barely blowing...and the angle that puts the grasses blurry in front...

When we got over to the other hall and posed in the shade (Thank the Good Lord!) I opted not to take any other pictures of just me...five was plenty for people to choose from! But looking back, I’m glad that I did take a few shots of just me on this special day...especially since I didn’t do the bridal session before the wedding.

How do you feel about bridals? Did you do one or just take a few pictures of yourself alone on the big day to accomplish the same goal?

**All photos courtesy of Christina Carroll Photography

Need to catch up? Here’s some links:
Girls’ Spa Day
Bachelor/Bachelorette Party
Setting Up the Venue…
Practice Makes Perfect…
Rehearsal Dinner
5 Minutes is All that I Need
A “Quick” Stop at the Hair Salon
A Sneak Peek at the Venue...
Arriving at the Venue...to Stay!
Getting Dressed

The Maids Pose for the Camera...

My Final Dress Fitting!

I haven't written about my alterations experience yet. There are several reasons why...but mainly because I wasn't sure what all I wanted to talk about. I will do vendor reviews on all of my vendors, and my alterations lady will get her review then...but for now, I'll reveal my final fitting and try to leave my opinions for the later review post.

MOH and I showed up about 4pm on the Thursday (about 10 days) before our wedding. Norma quickly showed us to a dressing room and went to get my dress from the back. We went right to work getting me into my dress...and it was a little harder than I thought it would be!

After what felt like forever, I was in my dress and petticoat and shoes...and MOH was struggling to get my dress closed. Yes, ladies, I had a freak out moment when I thought that my dress wasn’t going to fit. MOH gave me a hard time, but since she hadn’t been there the other times to see that the corset flap (that hides behind the straps) was ALWAYS hard to fasten, she didn’t know. After that, we came out of the dressing room so that Norma could give MOH a hand in finding the bustle loops and learning the ins and outs of lacing up a corset. It was easiest to lace me up with the dress bustled, so unfortunately all the pictures show the bustle up, and none were taken with the dress skirt down...sorry! Here's a shot of the bustle:
Right off, we assumed that the best way to lace a corset was top to bottom. But we ran into a little problem. The last two loops on the left side of my corset were caught in the seam, so that they were sewn closed. To be perfectly honest, my Mom had noticed that when we picked up my dress in the first place, but I had forgotten all about it when I took my dress in for alterations with Norma. Oops! After a quick consultation with Norma, we decided to try lacing the corset from bottom to top and see if that worked better...I had a couple of thoughts about what I could do to fix the loop problem in the back on my own, but nothing could be done there in the shop.

In between lacings, MOH started to have a little TOO much fun!
Yes, she’s “driving” me like a wagon...I thought it was funny, but she didn’t think it was funny that I caught her doing it on camera! Another 10 minutes of lacing and we met with success. MOH had a minute or two of contemplation to figure out how to “tie” the ends off...in the end we settled on putting a knot after the last loop had been laced and tucking the remaining cords into the dress. Which meant that MOH had to dive under my skirts to pull them through. I guessed that I had better get to used to it, since I would need her help to pee the day of the wedding once I was dressed as well! We liked the look of lacing from bottom to top MUCH better. It looked okay, even if I wouldn't be able to fix the bottom two loops...

When we first put the dress on, the hem seemed a little long. But once I was all laced up, it fell just right. You could just barely see my toes peeking out...and my shoes looked gorgeous with the dress! Here I am, hamming it up for the camera. I'd say that I was a LITTLE bit excited to be in my dress...
When we got done and it was time to get out of my dress, I struck this pose dramatically in the dressing room and MOH had to recapture the moment on camera! It looks like that plastic bag is perched on my head, but it's hanging on the wall... All in all, a successful second fitting for my dress. And the total on the alterations was more than reasonable as well, it came out to just $75 plus tax, which was reasonable to me for a bustle and a hem. Norma brought B’s suit up to the front, and once I was back in street clothes, I paid for both things and loaded up the car again...little did I know that panic and mayhem would break out when we got home and B tried on his suit...

Stay tuned for more!

What’s That You See???

While I don’t want to do a full reveal so close to the big day, I don’t want to leave you all hanging either. I know that I’m behind on my posts...LOTS has been going on the past two weeks...but I did want to give you a sneak peek at my final fitting.

You won’t see much...I don’t want to run the risk that B will open my blog and see something that he doesn’t want to see ahead of time...so here’s a teaser...

Aren’t they lovely? They really do look black...but if you look close enough (or just trust me!) they are the deepest purple with hot pink polka dots.

More to come...but I’m SO EXCITED to be putting these shoes on with this dress tomorrow!!!

A Little Angel Amidst Chaos...

OK, maybe I really should wait to dub her as an angel until after I see the results, but right now I’d like to introduce to you to my newest personal angel...Norma, of Sewing by Norma.

Yep, she’s my alterations lady. I knew way back when, even before I bought my dress, that I probably did not want the bridal shop to handle the alterations. Even my own favorite, Alfred Angelo – sorry guys! I’ve used other bridal stores in the past, and my experience was always that the prices charged were SUPER expensive in comparison to a smaller, local tailoring shop. So I actually never considered having them done at Alfred Angelo, and just put this on my To Do List for down the road. Well, don’t you know that “down the road” snuck up on me and bit me in the butt? It got here quick, like lightning! It seems like just the other day when I was picking up my dress...or saying that I had 100 days left...the time has really flown by!

So now, here I am about 60 days out (this was last month!) and I realize “Holy Cow! I need to find a seamstress to handle my alterations!” and a flurry of internet searching started. I even posted the question out on the Austin boards on wedddingbee, trying to get recommendations. In the end, the trusty yellow pages led me to a little shop that was in South Austin, tucked right behind Olive Garden on South Lamar, called Sewing by Norma. I found the shop, drove by and decided that I liked the look of it one day (because you never know) and I called the next day to make an appointment. I spoke with Norma herself, and surprisingly I was told that I didn’t need an appointment, just bring in the dress with all the accessories including petticoat and shoes whenever I wanted during normal business hours.

Talk about easy! Score one for the bride that puts things like this off until the last minute. So I meant to go home that night and load up my stuff in my car so that I could go see Norma the next day. Yeah, that didn’t work. I don’t remember what exactly happened to stop that plan, but something did. I forgot or something (this was obviously prior to my daily To Do List that gets carried everywhere and checked before I go to bed each night!) and then the next morning had little J to get off to school and ran out of time. No problem, since I didn’t need an appointment, the next would work too.

Yeah, not so much. You see...a little thing happened in Austin that hasn’t happened in months and months. It’s a little thing that we barely recognized called rain. I’m not teasing when I say that Austin has not seen rain in almost 3 months – literally drought conditions and all down here in Central Texas. So the next day, imagine my surprise when it starts raining. Well, I’m certainly NOT taking my dress out in the rain, right? No way, Jose. No big deal. The rain won’t last that long anyway, right?

Wrong. It’s rained for almost two weeks. Which is good for us (and hopefully it didn’t ruin Mrs. Mouse’s wedding!) because we needed it. I don’t begrudge the rain or wish that it would go away. But we passed the 30-day mark yesterday with no end in sight for the rain...how frustrating! I vowed to myself (and added it to my List) that if it wasn’t raining when I got home that I would load the stuff in my car in hopes that tomorrow it might not rain. On Wednesday, they said 30% chance for Thursday, which is good. It might not be raining during my lunch hour (which is flexible) and I could still do it. If not, the weatherman was not calling for rain at all on Friday...so worst case scenario I would go on Friday.

Luck was on my side. Well, it was still too wet Wednesday night to load it all up, but Thursday morning dawned at my house with dry ground. So I loaded up, and held my breath. The rain started around 10am...but by noon had cleared off. I took the chance and went. Not one single drop of rain fell while I transported all my junk into Norma’s shop. Yea! Success!

Norma was very easy to work with. She showed me to the dressing room and offered help, but since I’m so adept at getting into and out of bridal gowns by now, she left me to some privacy to get into the gown. She came back when I called to lace me up, and even gave me warning when she was going to pull tight. And let me tell you, pull tight she did! Wow. I hope that MOH takes some good lessons when we go for my 2nd fitting...my waist looked so small!

The good news? The dress still fit! Was I worried about it not fitting? Yes. I know it’s irrational, but I was. Lucky for me, it fits fine. I still had minor back cleavage going on, but it was MUCH less than when I bought the dress and even less than the last time I wore the dress back in June...and I’ve got 30 days to work on that! Norma took about an inch up on the hem in the front, that was all that I needed with my heels – good call on those shoes Ladies! Once that was pinned, we moved to the bustle.

So pinned both the American bustle and the French bustle and let me look at both. I think that I picked the American bustle. If I remember what she said right, the French bustle goes under and the American bustle goes over...and with the beading and designs on my dress, I thought the American looked better, or whichever one it is that goes over.

She unlaced me and I got back into my street clothes and headed to the counter to wrap things up. I was hoping to be able to pay under $200 for all alterations needed on my dress, and was really hoping that time wouldn’t be a factor either, since I had waited so long. Norma gladly told me that she was setting my 2nd fitting appointment for Oct 8th (two weeks!) and to bring someone with me so that they could practice the laces and the bustle.

I asked Norma about the price and she was hesitant to quote exact numbers. I can understand that, since in sewing each project is different and you might run into problems that you didn’t foresee, but I assured her that I was just looking for a ballpark and wouldn’t hold her strictly to it. She quoted me $75. And then she had to pick me up off the floor. %75?!?!? That’s a STEAL! I’m sold! I know that the number might change a bit between now and then, and she offered to call me before the appointment with a more firm amount, but I’m really happy that she’s going to come in under my budget no matter what. Really happy. Like doing a little happy dance as I type this out...

I’m a good fiance and also asked Norma about her suit tailoring skills. She assured me that she could handle B’s suit within a two week time period as well, and I’ll send him over her way to get that taken care of. Just one more thing off of my list...But I was a BAD bride and didn’t take my camera with me. (Insert sad, ashamed face here) But I pinky-swear, cross my heart and the whole needle in my eye bit that I’ll take one for the 2nd fitting. MOH will take pics and you’ll get to see Norma’s great work.

So, if you’re looking for a seamstress in the South Austin area, I think that I feel comfortable recommending Norma. Obviously, until I get the dress back, I can’t say with 100% certainty, but based on my initial meeting and gut feeling along, she’s a keeper! I’ll let you know for sure on the 8th...

Did you go the traditional route and use a bridal shop or find someone else to handle your alterations?

What to Do with Your Dress?

You know which dress I’m talking about...THE wedding dress...YOUR wedding dress. This is a topic that I really haven’t seen a lot posted about on the boards and other blogs that I read daily. So I figured that I might try to get you all to weigh in on things to help me out.

There’s really only a few options that I can think of:
1. Keep it forever (or at least until later when the “connection” to it isn’t as strong)
2. Sell it
3. Donate it to a charity

Or maybe I should say that those were the only options I had thought about BEFORE I had a conversation with Maid Britney a few weeks back. (I’ve had this on my “back burner” for a while since I was focused on other things.)

I don’t remember how the topic came up, but one day we were chatting back and forth and she mentioned her wedding dress. Oh, I know! She was moving into her house, and we were talking about all of the things in her closet – that’s right. Anyway. She mentions her wedding gown and says that she really needs to decide what to do with it. It’s been almost a year since her own wedding, and the dress has just been in her closet this whole time.

A look crosses her face like a light bulb went off and she said that there was something that maybe I could help her with. She started telling me about going to a bridal show somewhere up in Dallas during the year and a half that she was planning her wedding and had seen that there was a company that made quilts out of wedding dresses. She said that the quilts that were made were just gorgeous, and she would love to have one. Was that something that I could help her with? Maybe make it for her?

Well, sure. Sign me up! You know that I love a challenge and I figure that after I finish my own wedding quilt (from the guest “book”) that I’ll be a pro at making a quilt. Or at least more familiar with the process than I am now. LOL. After clarifying with Maid Britney that this would be AFTER my own wedding was over and done with, we agreed to talk about it later. But I really can’t get the idea off of my mind.

This is where you all come in...You see, I haven’t really had any free time to search for ideas for how to do this or tutorials on this subject from other brides. Is there a specific pattern out there to use, or can you just use any quilt pattern that you like? (That’s what I’m assuming) Did you do this with your own wedding dress? Or do you know someone that did? Or have you seen a post about it on a blog somewhere else that I can check out?


I’m pretty much just asking for help on this one...I think that this is a REALLY cool idea for what to do with the dress, if don’t want to keep it for future generations to possibly wear. If you find something that you think that I should check out, leave a comment with the info or click on the “Email Me” button on the right and let me know. I appreciate it and I’ll be sure and post credit for the find!

Girls' Night Out!!!

Hello Brides! Gather up your girls and get ready for a GNO! Alfred Angelo stores across the nation are hosting a GNO for brides-to-be tomorrow night. Check out the flyer...

source

...or go to their website to get more information. I believe that you DO have to call and register for this event, so get to workin' those phones today for a fun night in a bridal store tomorrow. Personally, I can't think of anyplace I'd rather be than surrounded by my Maids and lots of pretty dresses to try on!!! LOL.

Sale - Alfred Angelo – Aug 8th-16th

I just got this notice in my inbox and wanted to share with you all.

Alfred Angelo is running a sale August 8th-16th where you can take up to $300 off of your bridal gown and save 15% on your veil or headpiece.

I LOVE my dress from Alfred Angelo – it was my dream dress with designer quality at a GREAT price. And I cannot say enough about the service that I’ve receive there...including the multiple times that I’ve gone back into one of their stores to re-try on my dress in a different city for my bridesmaids... The above was just the picture off of my email, but you can try to click here for coupon. If that doesn’t work for you, simply email me at the link located on the right side of my page and I’ll forward the coupon to you using Alfred Angelo’s Forward to a Friend service.

Happy Shopping!