Nature, family, and friends are a few things that Jamie and Jerad hold dear to their hearts. The beautiful cliffs of Jamie's home town,Taylors Falls, proved to be the perfect setting for this intimate ceremony. Jamie is a graphic designer and she made one of the cutest guest book ideas we have ever seen-- guests signed cards and hung them on branches. View Jamie and Jerad's engagement session here.
On our only day off together in FOREVER, I roped Ted into wrapping up a duck tape clone of me.
Lots of great DIY tutorials are available online, so after a bit of research we began the mummy-process. We started at the bottom, wrapped it tight below my butt, around my waist, and around the shoulders. All of my girly areas we kept it loose as to not squish them. The boobs took a special cross-your-heart, up and around the shoulder maneuver. No major clumps of hair were caught in the tape, and Ted managed to cut the entire contraption off without slicing me or my bra/ooo la la's!
What looked like a molted shell of me has now been sitting in my closet for a solid two months. I've gone to the hardware store multiple times trying to come up with some sort of frame to drape the form around before filling it with foam. No luck and worse, no motivation. First DIY of the wedding failed.
A few weeks ago I saw an ad from a fabric store that announced 50% off dressforms. I've read countless reviews about how shitty they are, and how they fall apart, snag, collapse, etc, but it's getting down to crunch time and my custom dress form will be a great halloween prop someday, but it will never become what it was conceived to be, so I gave in.
I bought a Dritz My Double model, and couldn't be more smitten! I took my measurments, adjusted the dials and doo-hickies, and voila, my shape on a stick!
Even if it cracks as soon as the dress is done, it's been worth the $117 it cost on sale. On with the dress!
xoshayox
One night I started sketching up what my dream dress would entail. After drooling over countless PFT Couture, Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood dresses I had a vision. A bottle of sauvignon blanc later and I had it on paper! A lovely tulip-shaped sheath with a feathered bottom skirt that is convertible (long-dress for the ceremony, party dress for the reception). Boom!
I'm not a very experienced seamstress. I was too busy taking all the math, science and writing classes my high school had to offer to consider home ec. In fact, an ex-boyfriend had to teach me how to thread my first sewing machine when I was in college. But I did make a winter coat using a Built By Wendy pattern a few years ago, so I figured as long as I could find a pattern, the rest was just following instructions.
I scoured the fabric stores and found a Badgely Mischka pattern similar to what I sketched (on sale for $2 from $30!)
A few dress colors popped into my head but I was hesitant to make a decision. I'm still not sure what color my hair will be in October, and as I learned from my recent adventures as a blonde, hair color can mess with your skin undertones and completely knock certain colors out of your wardrobe.
My lovely Mom and I hit up fabric stores one weekend while she and my dear old dad were visiting (he slept in the truck while we shopped). S.R. Harris, our first and final stop, is a remarkable place for fabric lovers! I felt like a kid in a candy shop the second we walked in, but I was on a mission. We found our way to the satin section and the work out began. Bolt after bolt of blush, tiffany blue, lavender, dove grey, mint green were pulled from the shelves and lined up. It came down to the pinks. Only problem with S.R. Harris is the lighting is pretty terrible, it is a warehouse after all! I went back and forth between several different blush pinks, some were too peach, some too pale, etc. In the end I decided on a lovely shade and five yards cost a whopping $17!
They also had feather trim for $5 a yard, compared to $20 a yard online! But they only had about five yards in stock so the feather search continues. I suppose it wouldn't be a terrible thing if a few hundred dollars is spent on feathers, considering what brides tend to pay for dresses and my grand total thus far is under $20.
This past weekend I scooped up a soft gray lining fabric on clearance for $1.40 per yard. Now the scary part begins, CONSTRUCTION!
xoshayox
I’ve decided to make my own wedding dress. After looking through tons of vintage and new dress websites, I realized nothing really captured what I want my dress to look like and if I’m going to spend more than $500 on any article of clothing, it better be designer, and I’m going to want to wear it more than once.
A few weekends ago, my partner-in-crime, Jimena and I decided to wiggle our toes (you have no idea how literal this became at one store) around a few wedding dress stores just to make sure I couldn't find anything that would save me the time and trouble of crafting something from scratch. I also wanted to try on a few things so I could get a good look at the guts of the style of dress I had in mind.
We only made it to two places before giving up and getting cocktails. First stop, Andrea’s Vintage Bridal, which is quite the gem of a shop. Unfortunately I was more enthralled with the Art Deco mirrors on the walls than any of the dresses.
Images via Andrea's Vintage Bridal
There were some amazing vintage party dresses that I would love to prance around in, and the jewelry they have is incredible! I just can’t see myself wearing white or any other virgin-like color for several reasons: 1, Mr. T and I have been shacking up for the past few years so big shocker that white isn’t very fitting, 2- I’m blond right now, not sure if it’ll stick until October, but white, beige, champagne, and all BLAH colors make me look completely washed out. Finally 3- I shouldn’t be allowed to wear light colors, especially if there are dark, alcoholic liquids around, nuff said…
Next stop was Brides of France, which I seem to remember as a place that always had amazing shop windows with crazy loud dresses and oodles of rhinestones. Maybe it’s been forever since I’ve been to the Calhoun Square area but the shop window looked like any other bridal shop: white, boring dresses. We stepped inside and were immediately halted by a florescent sign taped to the floor demanding we remove our shoes. It was gross and soggy outside so I understood the need for this but the crusty, raggedy slippers that were sitting there, terrified my sockless feet.
A perky shop girl approached us and posed the question I have learned to loathe: “Who’s the bride?” Repeat it in your head with an over-the-top enthusiasm and squeakiness that sounds like nails on a chalkboard. I know they have to do this and I realize that many girls love this kind of attention. Those are the girls that want to be treated like a princess and have attention showered on them from the minute the engagement ring slips onto their finger. I totally get it, but I’m still going to gag when they try to treat me in that fake sort of way.
We managed to shake the shop girl, which wasn’t difficult after she gave us the once over. Apparently brides-to-be don’t show up to wedding stores in ratty jeans…
The dresses all looked the same to me with few distinct details to tell one from the other. Jimena noticed that the two girls trying on dresses were wearing almost identical gowns, but no one else seemed to noticed. I did find an amazing vintage hat made entirely of tiny feathers! Other than that, it was time to duck out.
We gave up after that and went to a bar. Bridal shops are great for some girls and there are tons of different kinds of shops. I guess it's just not my thing, which is just fine because my wondrous dress is in the works after a long Memorial Day weekend! More adventures to come!
xoshayox
They say you just know when its right. That it’s a feeling which comes naturally when you’re not expecting it and you just…know. I have to admit I was skeptical. While most of my life I’ve been a romantic, being in a mature relationship has shown me that everything is not black and white. More gray…or champagne. My moment of truth came in the boot closet of The Wedding Shoppe in St. Paul.
When I set out to find my wedding gown, I had a solid idea of what I wanted. There wasn’t much criteria, just a few key components I knew I had to have. And of course…my dress doesn’t possess any of these things. The idea of the dress is exactly what I thought of…romantic, just like the rest of the wedding, but that’s about it. I’d give you more details, but call me old fashion, Spenser can’t know about it or see it until I walk down the aisle a blubbery mess.
The best part about picking out your wedding gown…taking your bridesmaids with you! While I wasn’t fortunate enough to have all the ladies with me, I did have four of the five sisters that will be standing next to me on that glorious day, as well as MA!
Heading out to find THE dress
Such classy bridesmaidsAs many of you know, I try to be extremely punctual everywhere I go. You know my motto…if you arrive on time you’re late. So against my inherent nature, we left the house a little late, and slightly malnourished. When we arrived at The Wedding Shoppe my first priority was price range. I’m highly aware of my innate ability to pick out the most expensive item in a store without even looking at price tags (Foster genes I believe), and like most women, if you put me in a $4,000 dress, I’ll somehow find a way to convince myself of two things: (1) I deserve it, and (2) my luck is already changing, so I’ll probably be winning the lottery soon anyway. Case in point: my senior year prom dress. A pink tye-dyed chiffon gown with lacing up the back and ruffle embellishments around the bottom for about $200 above my price range…don’t act like you’re not impressed.
Senior Prom
From there, I tried on a little bit of everything. I went through a lot of dresses that day, and I’m fairly certain Sisty and Amanda saw more of me than they bargained for. At the end of my runway extravaganza though, I was left wondering if I was just too practical of a buyer. So many of the dresses I tried on were so beautiful, but I found a reason to dislike each one.
My personal dresser
After dress number 452, we were collectively starting to scare the other customers because our stomachs were growling so loudly. Everyone but Amanda and I headed downstairs as I stripped for her one last time in the dressing room…or so we thought. As I was putting on my boots, I glanced up at some of the dresses in the boot closet and saw a beautiful swatch of fabric. I pulled the dress out further and it was gorgeous. Surely it was $4,000. No! It was near the lower end of my price range! Amanda quickly convinced me that it was worth trying on, even with four other starving women down in the lobby. So I did. And I knew. It was my moment of truth.