Let Them Eat Cake (of their choice)

My Grandma sold her house right next to mine and moved away from me when I was about 7 years old and I was very sad....until I learned that the new woman next door was a baker. A baker of cakes, cookies, caramels, toffees, and every other kind of dessert you can imagine. So while I was crying about missing my Grandma I could stuff my face with homemade almond rocas.

Every Christmas since that time (even though we don't live next to them anymore) she has brought over a huge tin of 6 or 7 different varieties of cookies. Even better, for every birthday she brought over a huge german chocolate sheet cake. Every time it was german chocolate cake, and every time we stuffed our faces for days. Once when I was moving back to college I had her make me one for the drive, and I kept it in the freezer and ate it for weeks. The cake itself became freezer burnt and nasty, but I couldn't resist picking the frosting off of a little (okay huge) piece each night.

This image is from flickr, but this is how big the cake was, and we only have 4 people in my family!

I was so sad to learn last week that she is having knee surgery in mid-September and will be unable to create her german chocolate masterpiece for our closest friends and family. This means I have to go back to the drawing board in terms of finding someone to fulfill my cake vision.

I am looking for this:

Photo by the always fabulous Punam Bean

But all I can seem to find is bakers who want to create this (charge me $6+/slice for it):

Cake by Pink Cake Box

Let's be honest here, the collection of cakes look much more delicious than the stiff looking (albeit pretty) fondant version. If you disagree, I challenge you to a bakeoff. I will make some buttercream delights, you have to come up with something covered in icky fondant. I want to do a cake buffet of 6 or 7 different options and let guests come up and decide which flavor they want. I wonder if the Avocado's can get away with cutting a slice out of every kind.....

Finding vendors on the internet has been really easy up until this point. Finding bakers who make fondant, tiered masterpieces is also easy but I don't want to pay for that. I am looking for the neighborhood bakery that everyone talks about and those neighborhood bakeries don't tend to have websites.

After all, this is all I want to see on my wedding day:

Photo by Kate McElwee

I think this idea of cake spreads is becoming more widespread. I love collecting inspiration for this little project so feel free to point me towards more photos! Is there a Seattle bakery that's to die for?

The Hodgepodge Inspiration Board

Let's be honest, some of the other bees have posted some gorgeous boards. Check out the boards by Miss Cupcake and Mrs. Flamingo. The colors, the concepts, everything comes together so well. I've never been able to create "pretty" things very easily, but I figured that after reading 100's of wedding blogs for 9 months straight now, I should be able to put together something similar.

My board.....not so much. I really fought with the kind of board I wanted to create. Something a la Snippet & Ink, a little more conceptual and gorgeous? Or did I want to create a board that was a little more scrambled which really represented what I think of when I try to picture my wedding in my mind?

Sources: votives, mailbox, cakes, frames, bouquet, centerpiece, umbrellas, suitcase, brides dress, Mr. Avocado in his suit, and black bridesmaid dresses.

I decided to go for the hodgepodge look, focusing on the actual ideas rather than the way the photos look. I can write a post about every single one of these photos, as I want to incorporate each and every element in some way. It does bother me that everything doesn't fit in with my overall color scheme, but I know that I chose a versatile color palette and all of these elements can be customized to fit in with it somehow.

Now it's time for me to systematically go through all of these elements and introduce you to where I am headed with all of this. Before we dive into the little details, I think it's time for you to learn all about my fantastic location!

Anyone else having a tough time creating an image which conceptualizes to the kind of wedding you are trying to create?

First Things First: A Dress Found!

Hey Mr. Avocado, I don't think you're reading my posts, but if you are it's time for you to stop reading right now.....remember our little deal?

Please forgive me, as I only have pictures of three dresses this time (and they just aren't that pretty), since all of these photos had be taken on the sly by my fabulously creative friend Nicole who had to misdirect the sales associate with requests for veils and tissues and the like. It would be a completely different situation if it were up to me. All of these dresses were found at Mockingbird Bridal, chosen because of it's large selection and price range.

This first dress was a big contender, it was actually the first dress I tried on during my time in the store (I only tried on 6 dresses total this time, not how it was before). I thought that the horizontal stripes might cut me off, but instead the dress had me looking rather long and lean.

I am just not a fan of sparkly embellishments, beading, sequins, etc. I guess I like having control of what the embellishments are going to look like. I've heard that it would be no problem to have the dress made without any sparkles on it, but even without the sparkles the dress is out because I don't think sleeves or a bolero would ever look good with it.

Don't I look a little fried here? I was new to Texas and jobless, which meant a lot of time spent at the pool. I love how the ruffles cascade and flow down the back of this dress. It was just a little too architectural for me, a little more structured than I was looking for.

It's a good thing that I didn't end up loving this next dress the most because it was the most expensive one I've tried on yet. It was very romantic, and I loved the bubble skirt, but a little busy for my taste. I wish we had a picture without the sash, but the sweet little sleeves are a nice touch. The back was very pretty with crystal buttons down the back. I love two things on wedding dresses, pleate and buttons down the back. If you love this dress, I found it on the the Jasmine website here.

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for.


The dress!

It's Watters 9055B, and even though these photos of me are some of the worst ever taken, I can't get over how much I love this dress. I've lost 15lbs since these photos were taken and so I think it will sit a little bit smoother on my back and stomach. I hope I ordered it in the right size, I don't even know what size I tried on!

The sleeves will need to be added to, and I am going to do some searching for a new brooch at the waist. But other than that, it's Mary Poppins perfect.

I called A Bride Beautiful the moment I got home to find out if she could order it, and put a deposit down right then. I'll be flying down to Utah the third week of August for a few days of fittings and alterations, and then it will finally be mine all mine.

How can they ever expect us to wait so long for such an amazing dress?!?

First Things First:: Dress Me Beautiful

My Mom came in to town sometime in March, and so we decided to look up some dress shops in Salt Lake City and see what we could find. We found A Bride Beautiful and had a really fantastic experience. We had the store to ourselves and my Mom, sister, and I went to town. Orrie, the owner was so great at listening to my likes and dislikes and was NEVER pushy.

Side note: Speaking of pushy, what is up with sales people at bridal shops attempting to push their own preferences on you? At another store I visited I spoke about the possibility of a birdcage veil and her response was "Oh you don't want a birdcage veil. You need a REAL veil." I consider the birdcage to be a real veil thank you very much.

I have a lot of pictures because I called all of the bridal shops in the area to find out if they allowed photos to be taken. If they said no, I didn't visit. I'm all about the photos.

My Mom loved the dresses like the one above. Full of interesting details and flair. I wanted something a little more elegant.

Whenever we found one that we thought might work, we would attempt to improvise some sleeves to get a better idea what it might look like after alterations were done. I loved this dress (and still do), look at those amazing pleats along the bottom! You should know I have a mild obsession with pleats.

This one was made with a type of fabric that I loved. I didn't like it as much at the time as I do now.

My found me a birdcage veil to try on with this one. If I were to walk back into the store and choose one dress right now, it would be this one. My waist looks so curvy. I luuuurrrrvvvvee it! (But I don't have dress regret, I found something better!)

We thought I was going to buy this one. The sleeves would have been so fantastic, and I love the way the bustle looks. As soon as I got home and looked at the pictures I realized that it just wasn't doing it for me. I decided to keep looking in Dallas when I moved down in a few weeks.

I had decided not to get any of these dresses, and I was feeling stressed about how I was going to find a dress and who I was going to order it from, when I received a card in the mail from Orrie letting me know that she has the ability to order almost any dress from any designer. I had looked through a book of her alterations and was really impressed by their ability to reconstruct gowns. I knew that when I found what I wanted, I would be ordering it from her.

Anyone else think they found "the dress", only to look back on the photos and change your mind? Also, please brainstorm with me on ways that we can convince the bridal apparel industry that the photo ban is unnecessary and outdated.

Happy Birthday Mr. Avocado (and I guess America too)

When I was creating my profile I tried to put Mr. Avocado’s age as 27 but he was not having it. He was 26, and he wanted all of you to know. Today my love turned 27 years old. This bumps him up into the late 20’s age bracket, although he doesn’t like to admit it. I’m still too young to get all stressed about getting older, and I eagerly look forward to each birthday I get to have. I would celebrate half-birthday’s if they would let me.

That whole “better with age” thing is so true.

Unfortunately, I don’t get to spend this day with him, for the second year in a row. This meant that I had to find a way to give something to the ultimate non-materialist. He hates receiving gifts, and I, of course, love giving them.

Etsy came through for me as always, where I found a fun variety of bar soaps (get the mint chocolate from seller Daisycakes Soap) and one of the cutest collections of cards that I have ever seen (from seller smackofjellyfish). I left him one note for each day, and told him not to open the package full of soaps until today.He likes the “squeaky clean” feeling that bar soap leaves him with, and I thought it might be fun for him to venture away from the blue Zest he has been depending on for so long.

If you can't read the tiny text, these cards have the cutest phrases like "you launch my rocket", "you light my fire", and as an English major my personal favorite "you (verb) my (noun)".

He’ll love the notes, and although he will appreciate the gesture, I’ll probably end up using up all of the soaps. Men always seem to be really hard to buy for. Has anyone else found the secret to giving gifts to someone who consistently claims he has no desire to receive them?

First Things First: The Dress 1.5

Before we get into the second part of my shopping experience and the pictures found therein, I need to explain something before I look like a most hypocritical little avocado.

I mentioned before that I will be making some promises that deal with modesty. I will not wear anything sleeveless, plunging (front or back), off-the shoulder, or above the knee. This does not just mean dressing like this on my wedding day or for the ceremony, I will be following these guidelines every day for every outfit that I wear for the rest of my life (before you get the wrong idea, I can wear a normal swimsuit to the beach, but I do try be demure in my choice of attire).

As with all belief systems, this can be interpreted in different ways by different people. Although I have not yet made these commitments, I still strive to follow them right now, because I believe in what it means and because I would like to prepare myself for the way I will be living very shortly.

My next two posts will include photos of myself wearing dresses I tried on from various designers, most of them being strapless dresses. It might seem two-faced to some of you that I say I do these things, and then show you photos of myself wearing something completely different. I used my own judgment to decide whether or not I would post these photos of myself on the internet, and have decided that I feel comfortable doing so.

These photos act as a reference to help me decide which gown I like best. I think that all of you enjoy seeing the photos as well, and so I hope you will indulge me as I walk you through my shopping experience and the many many many pictures I have from it.

Get ready for a whole lot of dress photos to come your way. And one more thing, my posting at Weddingbee won't always be so.....like this. Get excited about my adventures in Italy and Poland (including a bridal shoot in front of the Trevi Fountain and Coliseum), my inspiration board, and the cake buffet idea I am developing!

First Things First: The Dress

Dress shopping as an LDS bride is in many ways a different experience. When married in the temple you make certain promises concerning modesty, dictating the type of gown you are able to wear. It must have sleeves of a certain length, and it must cover part of your chest and shoulders. I am very excited to make these promises and I wouldn't want to be married anywhere else and so I'm happy to find a gown that fits these requirements.

An example of the dress selection in the Utah stores I visited.

Unfortunately, finding a dress that meets these requirements can be really hard. As you can see from the dresses shown above, they tend to look exactly the same. A little bit of a 90's style, mixed with a square neckline and the same short sleeve on each. I am not being manipulative in what I am showing you, most of the styles look just like this. I did find a very pretty all lace dress with a nice v-neck, but it cost close to $1000 and I knew I could find something I liked more somewhere else. I wanted something different that would never feel out of style. 3 out of 5 of the stores I visited carried dresses just like this, and I was feeling pretty discouraged about my options.

Another round of dress shopping in a store that caters to LDS brides.

Up next: I decide to branch out and try on some gowns that are little more mainstream. The tradeoff being that they have to be altered.

Anyone else have "modesty" requirements they have to meet? If so, how did you find your dress?