Evelyn: More Sleeve Please!

I arrived at my second fitting to find my beloved looking kind of scraggly. She was the right length now, but she had threads hanging out all over the place and was stripped of the majority of her beautiful buttons.

Unless a dress advertised to be temple ready is purchased, in most cases an LDS bride has to choose whether she wants to go with a bolero or pay to have sleeves custom built into her dress. There are specific parts of the body that must be covered, as I spoke about here, and 99% of mainstream dresses do not fit the bill.

3 years ago I would have told you I was going to buy a bolero (yes I have been planning this thing for like 10 years), but I decided it wasn't for me. I think I also liked the challenge of finding a way to maintain the integrity of the dress while making it temple ready at the same time.

To create sleeves, A Bride Beautiful simply ordered some extra fabric from Watters when they ordered my dress. At my first fitting the seamstress and I discussed the look I was going for, and she was able to whip something up in just 2 days for me. I asked her to make sure that the V was high enough that I didn't have cleavage hanging out of my dress the entire day.

Here I am with my signature bun, modeling the mockup. Can you even tell what is new and what is old? This fitting had me so excited to see the final product.

We also agreed that little "modesty panels" as I like to call them, should be added around the armpit area and up near the bra line, so that I would be covered as I move around throughout the day. It was the only decision we made that took away from the asthetic of the dress a little bit, but I was willing to make the sacrifice.

I was instructed to come back the next day at closing time to pick up the finished product. Time couldn't go by fast enough!

The Wedding Bands: A First Look

Continuing with the wedding band creation process by bddesigns, today we have hammering and engraving.

Engraving. My handwriting is so terrible with a pen, I can't imagine using a hammer.

Hammering. Look fun doesn't it?

A smooth finish, 1/4 inch band for Mr. Avocado.

My finished trio. I'll reveal what the inscription says when I receive them in the mail.

Did you do something untraditional for your wedding bands?

Toothless Bride

Update: Tooth fell out one hour ago, giving me the opportunity to show you the following. Not the look I am going for. My mom is coming home to glue it back in, but since it fell out while I was eating a corn tortilla with cheese melted on top I have decided to stop eating until after the wedding day.

Please note that this is neither my dress nor my veil. At my mom's house there are currently 5 wedding dresses and 2 veils, and I only own one of those things. It's fun to play dress up sometimes.

The Wedding Bands: Forming and Soldering

I love my e-ring. I love it so much I don't want it to have to share my left ring finger with anything else. I wanted a wedding band, especially due to the existence of our ring ceremony, but I wasn't sure how I was going to wear it. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that in Eastern Europe, wedding bands are worn on the right hand and not the left. Perfect! I would keep my e-ring on my left for America, and wear something on my right for Poland. My two homes.

Then I opened the wedding budget, and things were not looking good for me. Enter Alchemy, the portal for custom item requests on Etsy. I created a request detailing I was looking for, and the price I was hoping for. I received 5 or 6 replies, and was immediately drawn to the work of bddesigns. I love the look of hammered jewelery, and I thought that a set of her inscribed stacking rings would complement my e-ring nicely.

bddesigns

For just a little bit more, we set up a a payment that would include a trio of engraved stacking rings for myself, and a wedding band for Mr. Avocado. She was very prompt to reply to my emails, and we had soon settled on a price and a design. I was pumped to have her offer to send me photos of the creation process. Shots like that are a bloggers dream.

My Bands

His Band

I also want to note how beautiful her photography is, good photos get me so excited. Although I don't have the final product in my hands yet, she has sent me the next batch of photos and they look exactly like what I was envisioning. I'm going to make you wait one more day to see them though!

Photographer = Friendor

Before I show you my beyond fabulous engagement photos, I want to introduce you to my photographer, Kelli Nicole.

First I will tell you a sad story. I found a photographer I loved. He takes pictures that make me want to cry (thats how pretty they are). He was available, he was affordable, he would fly across the country for me. I mailed him a contract and a check, and then he called me to tell me that he hadn't realized I had changed my date and that a couple had booked him for the 11th just a week before. I cried.

Then I was reading through some friends blogs. My freshman roomate Kelli's blog came up, with a particularly beautiful shoot featuring a gorgeous family. I was startled. Could this be the same girl I roomed with 4 years ago? The pictures she was putting up looked nothing like I remembered her creating back in the day. Would I make a Friendor out of this girl? Could we reconnect once again?

Cue the wavvy music that cheesy sitcoms use. And the fuzzy edged effect.

We partied it up at the Wilkinson center.


Kelli let me take cheesy portraits of her before we met up with our dates for a freshman dance. (Kelli, do you remember these? Why was I the one behind the camera for this?)


She fell down and dropped a box of her stuff while moving. She didn't hate me for grabbing my camera to take a picture instead of helping her up.


She frequently fell asleep in this very position. This is not staged my friends.

End scene. Back to the present.

I called her up, and I was honest. I was nervous about booking her. Some might say I was brutally honest. Kelli knows me well enough to know what a photography blog stalker I am, and she had spent time admiring the work of "the one who was not meant to be" as much as I had. She didn't have very much wedding experience, but she is interning for The Image is Found this summer (and stealing all of their amazing photography secrets to use for my wedding, hee hee hee!) She told me her prices, and I learned that I would save not hundreds, but thousands of dollars. I remembered my mantra concerning using personal resources. I hesitantly said yes.

Miss Avocado is currently patting herself on the back for a job well done. Pat pat pat.

You've seen the proposal shots, but that was nothing. Kelli dropped a bomb in the name of 1000+ engagement photos in my lap this week. Yes, 1000 photos. Friendors rock.

Post proposal. Friends for life. Let's credit That Groom for this gorgeous shot, shall we?

Have you been surprised by the creative genius of any of your Friendors?

The 3 Guest List Bride

Some brides have 2 dress. Some brides have 2 veils. Some brides even find a way to work 2 or 3 pairs of shoes into the wedding event timeline.

I have 3 guest lists.

Best movie ever. I pulled my tshirts off my shoulders and danced around just like Belle as a child.
Source.

Event 1: The Temple sealing at 12:00 pm on October 11th. As I explained previously, this is a private ceremony. The room we reserved seats 35, and we can fit 45 with people standing. The preliminary list from my mother was 67 people. I have had to fight tooth and nail to narrow that list down to an acceptable number. It's been a process filled with tears, and I am very happy that the list has now been finalized.

Event 2: The ring ceremony/dinner at Hotel 1000 at 4:30 pm on October 11th. We are sending out invitations to 127 people for a space with a capacity of 120. 40 of those guests are just my family members (and this only includes grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins over 20). Once we added 41 guests for the groom, and some bridesmaids and a handful of friends for myself, there weren't that many slots left for my parents who are hosting the wedding!

We made the decision to only invite married couples and older cousins, and then I made it extra controversial by inviting 4 of my cousins under 20 and no others. These 4 are my double cousins (my mom's sister married my dad's brother), and we have lived 30 minutes apart our entire lives. We see them at every family function, since they are related to us on both sides, and the two boys will act as ushers, and the two girls will be junior bridesmaids.

Event 3: The tented reception in my hometown on October 18th. I have lived in the same tiny town my entire life, and there are just too many people in my life that would be very sad if they didn't get the chance to meet my husband. We'll be having a potato bar, cake, and a lot of socializing at this event. We are sending out 200 announcements for this, although we only expect about 125-150 people to attend.

In putting together my invitations, this many guest lists has been a nightmare. I have two wedding websites, and two versions of the invitation that must be sent out. I don't want to send out an invitation stuffed with information about the weekend in Seattle and realize that it went to the wrong person!

Creating a guest list means making sacrifices (and a few headaches). What sacrifices did you have to make?

Evelyn: The First Fititng

Mr. Avocado. No looking. Do it for me.

********************************

It's been sitting in the shop waiting for me for weeks now. I loved her the moment I saw her. I will call her Evelyn.

The seamstress laughed and laughed about this shot.

Back when I found Evelyn at Mockingbird Bridal in Dallas I forgot one major detail. I didn't note what size I had tried on, and I was ordering my dress from a completely different bridal shop. When the owner of A Bride Beautiful asked me what size to order, I took a guess and ordered a size 10. My nervousness about fit was compounded by my 15 lb weight loss between the ordering and the fitting. Walking into the store I had no idea if the dress would be around my size or if I would be swimming in it.

She was a little big, but overall she fit quite nicely. Below you will find her all pinned up and marked for alteration. I will be adding 1 inch to the neckline, and two more inches of sleeves.

The back looks super funky and uneven because she is all pinned up to fit a little big snugger. But you get the idea. I love the neckline in the back. I love the long trail of fabric covered buttons. I love my Evelyn.

Now onto the veil dilemma. I though I wanted a birdcage, and that no other veil would even interest me. But you know how bridal shops. They have no mercy, and tempt you with all of their overpriced goodies. Please excuse my veil descriptions, I don't know the exact terminology, but I think you get the idea.

Veil #1
Elbow length, double tiered, ribbon edged.

Veil #2
Waltz/fingertip length, double tiered, ribbon edged.

Veil #3
Waltz length, single tiered, ribbon edged.

Veil #4
The birdcage!

I think I am leaning towards the birdcage, because it shows off the back of my dress the most. I love the back, did I mention this?

Editor, Please insert a poll here!

Veil 1
Veil 2
Veil 3
Veil 4

The Weddingbee Classifieds DOC

I emailed all of the Seattle Day of Coordinators (also known as DOC) that I could find contact information for, and then did research on all of them. After creating a tentative budget and setting my priorities I realized that I can't afford to spend $1000 on a DOC. I had resolved that I would have to figure out everything by myself and probably have to fix some disasters on the wedding day.

Then the weddingbee classifieds stepped in and changed everything. Way back when I was a subscriber and not a Bee, I was scrolling through some posts and saw an ad for a Seattle DOC. Her price was so low that I was skeptical at first, but this is her first year in business and she is attempting to get started. Since this is a fairly normal thing to do (and exactly what I would do if I were attempting to start my own wedding coordination business), I decided to give her a call and see how we clicked over the phone.

The phone call went well, she was willing to do the things that I really needed, and I made a split-second decision to go for it! Mr. Avocado is supportive and thinks it's a great idea. It's so nice when he backs up my wedding decisions. I hope to give you all a positive review of her services come mid-October!

Please, share your Weddingbee Classified success stories!

Self-Discovery

Disclaimer: I am not a Doctor, Nutritionist, or anything of the kind. I am just a former chubby girl who figured out a system that worked for her. I share this system with you in hopes that you might figure out something for yourself as well.

Looking through pictures of myself on Facebook is an interesting experience. I start off looking pretty foxy (if I do say so myself) as a high school graduate, but slowly a change starts to creep up on me.

Here I am as a hot little 18 year old.

You see, I gained the Freshman 15.
Except in my case it turned into the College 50.

Murder Mystery night fun.

Mr. Avocado and I lived in the same building together for a year once before we started dating, and we don't have a single memory of each other during that time. I suspect it was because I was overweight and unhappy and lacking in confidence. It wasn't until after I had pneuomonia and moved home for 9 months that I finally made a change.

I had participated in lots of fad diets with my Mom in high school and after taking nutrition 101 in college I realized that I didn't want to be harming myself anymore. I decided I wanted to make a lifestyle change. I would be more active, and revolutionize my eating habits.

I have finally lost enough weight now that I am able to look at these photos. It has taken me a long time to accept what I used to look like.

I started using a calorie tracking program called Fitday, attempting to measure every single calorie that went into my body. My parents live out in the middle of nowhere and so it wasn't hard to avoid eating out. I was working on getting myself out of debt at the time and I began to see the similarities between calorie counting and bank accounting.

I thought about it this way: Your caloric intake is a lot like a bank account. When you have money, there are no rules about what you can spend it on, just the rule that if you spend more money than you have, you will incur a fee. It's the same idea with nutrition. You spend your calories by consuming them, you make investments for the future by making healthy choices, and the fees you incur are on your mind every day in the form of cellulite and stretch marks.

I focused on investing in protein, complex carbohydrates, and as much fiber as possible. I avoided saturated fat and refined carbs like the plague. Since the photos above were taken I have lost almost 50 lbs (using Fitday on and off). It has taken over 2 years to do it, but I enjoy doing it the right way. I feel happier, healthier, and have so much more confidence.

When I showed Mr. Avocado the photos below, he was shocked. The photo on the left is the night that I told him we either had to date or stop "hanging out". The photo on the right is last month when we were in Mexico. It's hard to believe that I was able to achieve such visible results in just 15 months.

As of today, I am still about 15 lbs away from my original wedding weight goal. Unless I crack down and make the last few pounds my focus before the wedding it's looking like I might not get to exactly where I wanted to be. It's hard not to look at gorgeous bride after bride who look to be a size 0 and think "I won't be happy with myself unless I look exactly like that on my wedding day."

The thing I keep reminding myself is that I am the product of my own actions. I've worked incredibly hard to get myself to where I am today, and I have to be patient if I want to do this right. I hope I haven't come to the end of this journey yet, but it sure feels good to be here, right now.

It's Going To Happen, Really

I had never heard of a Save The Date until I started reading wedding blogs, and I actually thought they were kind of ridiculous. It seemed like an extra expense that everyone was tricked into thinking they needed. Then I started getting asked when my wedding was almost every week, sometimes by the same people over and over.

So I did the easiest thing possible and sent out an email. The "It's going to happen, really" was added because I was still ringless at that point. You can imagine how frustrated I was getting, planning a wedding with no one believing it was really going to happen.

It didn't solve all of my problems, but it was free, and it got the message out to almost everyone.

What other ways did you try to get the message across to your guests to prepare them for the invitation they would be receiving in the mail?

We're Falling in Love to Half Time

Mr. Avocado agreed to take dancing lessons. Great!

Miss Avocado decided to move home for 2 1/2 months right before the wedding. Boo.

The Avocado's do not plan on seeing each other for the entire 2 1/2 months. Double Boo.

Mr. Avocado and Miss Avocado have taken 2 lessons and practiced one time, and naively think they will be able to show off some sweet moves despite any time dancing together beforehand.

Look at the intense manner in which Mr. Avocado is focusing on the next move!

Anyone else thinking they might go with the 8th grade sway after their dancing lessons?

BTW, if you live in Dallas, I highly recommend Beata Howe. Mr. Avocado was a little wary of the idea of dance lessons, but after our first set with her he told her 3 or 4 times that we would definitely be back. Her prices are great, and she lets you do as many lessons (or as little) as you like!

My Greatest Fear

I have a fear. It's not of bugs, heights, or death. It's of missing teeth.

When I was in 4th grade, Cody knocked his hard head into my mouth and knocked my front tooth out. My dental assistant mother knew enough to soak it in milk until they could get me to the doctor to have it glued back on the next day. Then I was playing tag round my house with a little boy who just came up to my nose, when he decided to switch directions as we were running and ran straight into me knocking it out again (more glue please!). The next time it happened I was playing with one of those kickboards that float, and I was having fun pulling it under the water as far as I could and watching it shoot back out again. I leaned over a little too far and watched it come up and knock me in the mouth. If you can believe it, we found the little trooper tooth again and glued it on once more.

Fast forward 5 or 6 years to a snowboarding trip my senior year of high school. I couldn't get my glove off my frozen fingers, so I bit down hard and pulled, and felt a weird sensation in my mouth. I rescued the little tooth once again, but the dentist decided it was time for a crown. I had a root canal, and spent about 2 months with a loose tooth cover that popped off to reveal this:

I thought I was set for life with the shiny new crown mom and dad bought for me, but a year ago I bit down on a Subway sandwhich and proceeded to cry when I realized it was off again. I've since gone in to the dentist 4 more times to have it glued back on.

I can't afford a new crown right now, and so I am struck with fear every time I bite into a taco or toasted sandwhich. Eating with me can be an interesting experience as I sometimes spit my half chewed foot out because I am positive it has come off again, and I am scared to death that I will swallow it.

As far as the wedding day goes, I am not sure what to do. It's a time where you are smiling constantly, and the toothless smile above is not what I want to be flashing all day. I guess one of the brideslaves will be packing around superglue in case of any tooth related emergencies.

What do you fear might go wrong on your wedding day?

Under the Big Top

A tented reception the week after the wedding. Doesn't sound hard does it? Just get a tent, throw some chairs, tables and food inside and it's a party. At least, that is what I thought. And then I realized that I live in the middle of nowhere.

That cute little crown marks the approximate spot where I live. A tiny little town of 3,000, if you count every single person (and possibly a few pigs and cows) living in a 25 mile radius. It's a 3 hour drive one way into Seattle, and the closest mall is 1.5 hours one way to Tri-Cities.

Some google searching led me to a rental company that should be able to provide everything we need, and for a great price IF we want to drive 2 1/2 hours one way to pick it up, and set everything up ourselves. The driving would be worth it though, as it would cost an additional $500 to have the company transport everything, set it up, take it down, and come pick it up again. Poor farmers like my father like to save every penny they can and so we plan to go with the self help option.

We are anticipating having approximately 150 peole show up to an open house type reception in the middle of October where no formal dinner will be served. The average temperature in my town for that time of year, for that time of day, (according to my handy wedding planner on weather.com) is 62 degrees. Chilly.

All of the little details that are popping up all over the place (heating, tables, chairs, lighting, food, drinks, tent, tent panels, parking, linens, just to name a few) are making my head spin. The guy on the phone says I can rent a 30'X40' tent and fit everyone in just fine. My dad feels like a 30'X75' would be better (although I think he would prefer something even larger!).

An example of a 30'X60' tent according to this site.

So I turn to all of you married ladies for help (and all of the brides planning tented receptions). How many people (a few tables and chairs included) can a tent really hold? Is there a fantastic tented reception planning resource out there that I have not yet heard about?

The Grandma Quilt

This weekend I received my first wedding gift. In our family, Great-Grandma N makes every grandchild (and now great-grandchild) a quilt when they get married. My sister sleeps with one quilt that my mom received from this grandma, and I sleep with another. Now I'll be able to take one of these quilts with me no matter where I live.

I'm already completely redesigning the dream master bedroom I had in my head to best frame this gorgeous work of art. This will be the first thing packed in my suitcase when we move to Poland someday.

I don't know anything about sewing or quilting, but I know what a work of love something like this is, and I appreciate the effort grandma makes for each and every one of us. I called her immediately to thank her for the beautiful gift with such a "gorgeous swirly pattern".

What kinds of treasures have you received from friends and family members?

Her Ivory Dress + His White Shirt = ?

I'll be picking my dress up in 2 weeks, and so I think it is probably time to start thinking about what Suavocado will be wearing underneath that hot suit of his.

Here is a reminder of what my dress looks like:

If I pair up a white shirt under all of the suits with my pretty pretty dress am I going to be suffering from the dreaded "dirty dress" phenomenon? You know, the one that all mother's seem to believe in that dictates that ivory dresses will look scrungey next to a crisp white mens shirt.

Almost all of our groomsmen are church attenders that wear white shirts to church every week and so I know they already have a favorite white shirt hanging in their closet (hopefully right next to the black suit they will be wearing). Putting everyone in white shirts under their black suits would be free, and save me a lot of time (and money!) tracking down ivory shirts for everyone. Not to mention the fact that Mr. Av is insanely picky about dress shirts.

White shirt or Ivory shirt? What have you seen in the past?

The Marilyn Dress

I love Marilyn Monroe. I collect calendars, clothes, watches, and even perfume branded with her name and image. I love her confidence, her curves, and her clothes. My mom's mom is also named Marilyn, and has apparently been hiding away her 1950's wedding dress in the back of one of her closets all of these years. She pulled it out and I fell in love. It looks exactly like the Marilyn Monroe style that I have always swooned over, and I was thrilled to have the chance to put it on this weekend (and that it zipped up!).

My little sister and MOH might have been a little annoyed at my insistence that the bride should be the one to try the dress on and prance around in it.

We asked Grandma what was up with the pointy breast style that her dress is sporting. It's some serious pre-Madonna conage action happening. She couldn't remember why all the girls thought that was so attractive back in the day.

I cannot believe that I never picked up the phone to call and ask if any relatives still had their wedding dresses, and if they might be open to the idea of me wearing it for my wedding dress. I still love my dress (and can't wait to go pick it up in 2 weeks), but their is so much significance behind wearing a dress passed down through the generations. For a dress not cleaned or preserved in any way, it's in rather good condition. Grandma even thinks she let us grandkids play dress-up in it when we were younger. I cringe at the thought of how careless I probably was with such a treasure.

Grandpa, Grandma, and myself.

The 50's style dresses are so fun to swish and spin around in. This shot highlights the two problems with the dress. See the ripped netting swinging around behind me, and my cone shaped breasts :)

My grandma and grandpa own and live on a diary, and while we were outside taking pictures on the lawn, my sister MOH runs out in a full length cow pantsuit. The resulting photos are marvelous.

She is going to hate me for posting these. Let's all let her know how hot she looks as a bovine.

The Bedding Down

While researching Polish traditions that I could potentially incorporate into the wedding, I stumbled across a fascinating book in the folklore section of my university library. I was pumped to see it had an entire section devoted to Polish wedding traditions. The excerpt I share below is definitely ancient and I have been assured by a few different Poles that no one does this anymore, but it's so hilarious that I couldn't resist sharing it with all of you.

Source

Pokładziny-The Bedding Down


In ancient times, putting the bridal pair to bed was a normal and expected part of the marriage customs, and was down with much joking and hilarity. The young couple were directed by the entire wedding party to a room that had been specially prepared for them. The swat, still overseeing that all went according to custom, placed himself on the marriage bed to "warm it up". The womenfolk jumped up and down on the bed to make sure it could hold up and now break down. Rocks or sharp straw or thorns might have been placed underneath the sheets. The swat and swata then chased everyone out of the room and took the bride and groom to the bed and left them alone. The door was locked behind them and after serenading the bridal couple with some very warm and bawdy songs, along with vodka toasts and admonitions "not to be lazy," the couple were left alone.
The next morning, musicians awake the couple and gave them kasza cooked in milk and vodka that had been dyed red as a sign of lost virginity. The sheets were inspected for the expected stain that meant the loss of virginity. This made everybody happy and was the cause of more singing and dancing.
From "Polish Customs, Traditions and Folklore" by Sophie Hodorowicz Knab

At my wedding there will be no warnings against being lazy, and the best man isn't coming anywhere near our hotel room to warm things up for us.

'Fess up my friends, are there any traditions in your own culture that have you shaking your head in bewilderment?