Woke up to this song this morning

The Story of my Wedding Dress, Part Two

The second dress was a rather beautiful and simple satin a line dress with a lovely lace overlay and a see through lace fishtail train. As I lifted it up over my thighs and my waist, I noticed how pretty it was, with small, detailed beading covering all the lace, and the beaded straps holding the dress up. Drew's aunt zipped it up, and despite feeling a teensy bit snug around my ribcage, it fit perfectly.

In fact, it felt a little too good to be true, so I asked for a mirror. The attendant brought out a gnarly, bent out of shape mirror where I could more or less see myself. There I was, a sheen of sweat glistening on my face dressed in a lovely wedding gown that just needed a good dry cleaning and maybe a ribbon or so. Drew's aunt gushed, "Oh, it's perfect! And it fits you like a glove, like it was meant for you!". I noticed it as well, but the funny thing is that Drew's aunt had been a textile designer in NYC years ago, so she gave the dress her clinical once over and deemed it of good quality.

It dawned on me that I had just found the wedding dress of my dreams in the unlikeliest of places. I searched for the price tag, and it was $250 without tax. I could tell it had probably been worn once, or maybe used as a display dress, but was in mint condition. I quickly decided to go for it, but as I only had $20, I asked if they accepted lay away. They did, but needed to be at least 10% or more of the price tag (which would've been $25 if you do your math correctly, kids). 

I almost started hyperventilating, thinking that the dress would surely not be there if I didn't put it in lay away immediately, but Drew's aunt sweetly gifted me with $40 so I could put the down payment. She said it was a wedding gift since she wouldn't be able to attend the wedding. She saved the day! And the dress was put in lay away, but not before I took some pictures with my phone. 

I waited patiently for two weeks before going back and getting the dress out. I dreamed about the dress, and gazed upon those images time and time again, plus I showed it to everyone and anyone. I was elated, but also a little terrified. Had I made the right decision? Was it too much, too showy for a daytime wedding? Would it fit me on the day of? After all, the waist did feel a little snug. 

The day came for me to drive up to Aguadulce and pick up THE DRESS. I was apparently very excited because on the drive over was pulled over by a cop for speeding. I put on my best smile and excitedly told him why I was heading to Aguadulce. I was getting married in three months and was picking up my dress! I guess it kind of worked, because he said if he checked my credentials (pele police) and I was clear, he wouldn't give me anything but a warning. I smiled and confidently mentioned that I was clean as a whistle. He ran my license and it was as expected, free and clear! So he gave me the go ahead and I was off to get my dress. As I drove off, I honked a little honk and bid him adieu. Nothing was going to drag me off my cloud!

The dress was everything and more that I ever could have hoped for and wanted in a gown. It was lovely, made carefully and perfectly. The only alteration that I had made, were letting out two inches on each strap so that it could fit me without eating into my shoulders. I also added a long, black satin ribbon wrapped around my waist to give it a bit of OOMPH and style. Beyond that, the dress was perfect! 

When I got home I decided to Google the dress' designer, Oleg Cassini, and maybe put an original price tag on it. It was obvious that the style was from a few seasons back, but not too long to make it outdated. After some heavy duty Googling, I found the original price tag: $1,099! I even found the same dress on sale for $700! I had gotten mine for $267 with tax, so the joy of finding THE DRESS coupled with the huge discount in price, made for a very happy bride. 

Walking down the aisle of ficus with my father

My favorite part of the dress: the gorgeous lace chapel train!

Heartfelt poem by Maid of Honor during ceremony

Bride and Groom by the river

It was even more beautiful the day of the wedding. As lovely, simple, and breath taking as I could have dared to dream it. 

So, what did I learn from this? Keep your eyes peeled, for you never know what treasures you can find in the unlikeliest of places. 

The Story of My Wedding Dress, Part One

I knew exactly what kind of wedding gown I wanted. After all, I had spent countless hours on the Internet, Pinteresting every dress that caught my eye and then e-mailing to a select group of eight ladies for their feedback and approval. Of course, everyone has an opinion, and it is hard to get an idea of what you want without first having tried it on.

I was also on a budget; I had decided that I didn't want to go over $500 USD, which did not seem like a huge amount at the time, but when I look back I do realize that it is a lot of cash to spend on ONE item of your wedding budget. Suffice to say, I was willing to scrape and borrow and do whatever was possible to buy the wedding gown of my dreams. Even if it meant going broke in the process.

I was just about decided on ordering a dress off the Internet off one of those knockoff Ebay sites, that re-create designer for 1/4 of the price. This also required hours upon hours of researching bridal feedback on certain sites, more mass e-mails asking for approval and suggestions, and dogging my poor (then) fiance, until everyone was saturated with my Wedding Gown Indecision and neediness. Something kept me from clicking on the purchasing button. I still wasn't sure, and it was killing me slowly.

One day I decided to drive up to Aguadulce (about 30 minutes away) with Drew's aunt who was visiting from the US. We were planning on hitting an outlet store called La Importadora Americana, which basically sells new and gently used goods brought by container from the US. I had about $20 bucks to my name, as I had no desire to buy anything worth more than that.

We got to the OUTLET store of La Importadora without even knowing it. All the items smelled funny and were broken or in an awful condition. It was the worst of the worst and we didn't see anything that caught our eyes, and were generally horrified by how rundown it all seemed.

As I was walking out of the OUTLET store, I noticed a small room on my left hand, stacked with all manner of cocktail dresses. This caught my attention, so I ventured in to this small, stuffy room and my jaw dropped. Lined up floor to ceiling were at least two hundred wedding gowns, from all manner of decades: puffy sleeved, high necked, lace, white, ivory, chapel train, strapless, the list went on and on. Awful, beautiful, amazing, ugly, it was all here in the middle of nowhere Aguadulce, forgotten in an outlet store.

I immediately started rummaging through the piles of gowns, my hope slowly sparking a little flame in my heart. Could it possibly be that I find the wedding gown of my dreams here? Is it possible? I walked out of the room to ask for help from the staff. I don't think they had ever sold a wedding gown, and didn't much help me out. Ill prepared is a small term to describe them. I was already sweating buckets when I decided to take matters into my own hands, so I grabbed a fold-able metal chair and crawled on to it so I could get a better view at sizing and styles.

By this time I was sweating buckets, as the room was tiny, badly ventilated with an old lazy fan, and an air conditioner that hadn't worked for many, many years. I found three gowns that were more or less what I was searching for: lace, NOT strapless, with a small train if possible (I wasn't really picky, after all, I was in an OUTLET store!).

Once I had the three gowns in hand, I asked the attendant (oh ha ha ha! Worst attendant ever!) if there was a changing room. She shrugged and said there wasn't one, but she could offer me a bathroom, or I could do like most patrons of the OUTLET store, and change behind the cocktail dresses in the back of the stuff little room. Well, I knew for sure I wasn't going to drag the wedding gowns into the potty room, so I shrugged and headed to the back.

I took off most of my clothes and was left with my sports bra and underwear. I was feeling very, very sticky and uncomfortable, but I was determined to see if any of those dresses could work. I managed to get the first dress on after much shimmying and squirming, as it happened to be a mermaid cut, and my very voluptuous and sweaty body did NOT slide in. It ended up looking awful me, and I learned a very important lesson: most women with rather large behinds DO NOT look good in mermaid cuts.

The first dress left me feeling deflated and uninspired; all of that work for nothing! These wedding gowns were turning out to be more work than they were worth!



Part Two coming up!

The 1940's Bride

A little bit of retro inspiration.

Everything Perfect

This wedding is everything simple and gorgeous.

I am aiming for something similar, with the help of my family and friends, of course. There is so much planning to be done! Every day I need to be getting some wedding related thing done with. I am behind in a lot of things, which means I need to get my butt into gear. Not so easy when you're easily distracted like I am.

Palette: burlap, old lace, black and gold.

Today I bought some black tulle which I plan on converting into gorgeous tulle flowers with little gemstone centers. Yes, pretty hilarious. We'll see how it goes.

Drew and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary on March 9th. Yes, 12 months with the Viking and hopefully many, many more. I feel lucky in love, eager to see what the future brings for us. I can't wait!

Photo taken with the tripod. Look at those stars!

I received a wonderful gift from him, a camera tripod! Such a thoughtful, KICKASS gift. I plan on using it always. It will definitely be used for our diy wedding photobooth!

two and a half months til the wedding

... and I haven't advanced much with anything, holding on to the credo of past Master Last Minute Doers and hoping that everything will magically come together at the last minute. I have a clear idea of what I am going to do for the wedding in terms of the style of the wedding, the overall theme, and the end result, but how I am going to achieve it all is still a mystery and hasn't come together quite yet (my fingers are cramping from crossing them so hard).

I have yet to speak to a coordinator who can help me The Day Of, but I have an idea of who it will be, as he helped my SIL in her recent wedding (which was gorgeous btw. That story soon!). I have some of the menu planned out, but haven't really gotten actual quotations from either of the caterers. Truth is, I am thinking of wrangling some help from some of my friends so that it can be a buffet where everyone chips in a tasty dish. I think a couple of my friends would definitely go for it! Drew and I are leaning towards having a fun, yet simple bbq, where tastes reign supreme. We are definitely having a casual wedding.

Some good news: I found my dream wedding gown in the unlikeliest of places for a great price! It needs a couple of alterations, starting with adding a pair of simple, tasteful, lace cap sleeves as the dress has spaghetti straps which I don't find very flattering. Also, it's a wee bit snug around my waist and I'd really love to eat at my wedding, so I am thinking of having it taken out an inch or two (so that I can you know, breathe). It also needs to be bustled because it has an absolutely, jaw dropping, gorgeous lace chapel train which I don't want trampled and soiled on the day of the event.

About the dress: it is fitted through the waist with an a-line skirt, satin underneath with a lace overlay shift that is adorned with tiny beads and seed pearls. Spaghetti straps are adorned with a row of tiny pearls, and there is also a row of tiny pearls right underneath the bust. Oh and it was made by Oleg Cassini. I am totally enamored and it is taking all of my willpower not to parade it around as I do my household chores.

We've been collecting various succulents in every manner possible in order to hand them out as favors for the wedding (though we might also have seed favors as well, going with the whole theme of "growing your love" or something cheesy like that). Burlap, burlap everywhereeeeee.

My whole family has been collecting all manner of bottles which we plan on perhaps painting and having as the table centerpieces. So the centerpieces are advancing. A couple of days ago I spread out some sunflowers seeds as a little experiment and surprise surprise, they sprouted! I don't know how fast sunflowers grow, but I just might have some beautiful blooms for the wedding (fingers crossed, again!).

I keep track of all my inspirations via Pinterest, follow me there: https://pinterest.com/panajane/

This week's inspiration:

This wedding! I am loving the lace, one shoulder gown, the simple air comb, the hints of burlap; everything so classy and pretty.

Embracing the great outdoors: Rustic Weddings

A beautiful example of a simple, well done rustic wedding. Outdoor ceremony and reception, dance floor under beautiful strings of light, and lots of celebratory good times. I want people to dance the night away at my wedding, laughter floating through the night sky, a celebration of life, love, family and friendship. Just realized that I'm a giant cheeseball with a Cinderella complex. Let's settle for love and see if everyone joins in the celebration.

I've been corresponding with my cousin via e-mail over wedding dresses, and I think we might have reached a consensus and perhaps even found THE dress for the ceremony. It's airy and beautiful, without being an overdone mess of a Shelby dress (if you didn't get the Steel Magnolias reference, we can't be friends). It has a bit of a floral motif, so maybe the bridesmaids dresses can reflect that with their dresses.

I've decided that I want two dresses for the wedding: the main dress which  will be used for the ceremony and part of the reception, and then change into a lighter, shorter dress for the rest of the night. I might just be looking for an excuse to show off the gorgeous heels I plan on wearing that day. Let's dance the night away!

Don't let Mother Nature ruin your big day

Unfortunately, when having an outdoor wedding there are many things to consider. Luckily, I don't live anywhere near a dessert, but I do have other climatological issues to deal with such as rain. Lots of it. One of the issues with living in a tropical country, no? 

On the lookout for the perfect gown

I am many things, but a princess I am not, so let's just nix the 20 foot train + matching veil, the $10,000 wedding gown by such and such renowned designer and the $700 shoes with matching purse. There's a wedding budget to keep in mind, plus I'm a rather practical shopper and excellent bargain finder, so I have no doubt the dress I have in mind is out there. It just needs to be found. Let's get started then!

    

      Light and airy, it has a rather vintage 60's feel to it. 

The Vintage Wedding Dress Company

BCBG Max Azria Tiered Lace Gown

Lily Wedding

I don't remember where I got this from, woops.

The Limited

Textured bride and another orphan image. 

Something Old

If you're looking into buying a vintage wedding gown, The Frock has a bridal department with unbelievable vintage wedding gowns by top designers. Prices are steep, but you might just fall in love all over again.

I Do by Seychelles

I LIKE:

I Do by
Seychelles

How gorgeous are they?! I'm absolutely smitten.

Martha's Vineyard Wedding

I'm loving this simple, meaningful wedding on Martha's Vineyard. Notice the twine and the mason jars, items I would also like to incorporate in the wedding reception.

Alix & Ollie | A Martha's Vineyard Wedding Trailer from I Do Films on Vimeo.

Go Big or Go Home

Somehow we became that couple that wears matching costumes. Drew's outfit had two secret pockets sewn to keep his cellphone and cash; one inside the red sash and another one somewhere on the white tunic. We never actually discovered the last pocket; that's how well hidden it was. 

Another costume surprise: somewhere around 12 midnight it suddenly dawned on me that my costume was not bathroom friendly. By that I mean, it was so complicated to take off, that in order to go to the bathroom I would have to dismantle the entire outfit. It somehow didn't matter anyway, because I was sweating ever so profusely under layers of makeup, leotards, satin, synthetic hair, cardboard and pantyhose that I never had the urge to use the bathroom until the very end and by then I was ready to go home (attending a civil wedding, driving two hours, taking an hour and a half to get my costume on, and then attending a huge Halloween party all on the same day will do that to you). 

Drew lucked out with his costume because he was basically wearing a pajama. It was also his first adult Halloween where he dressed up. It took some convincing, but once I showed him pics of past halloweens he decided to go with it. We had such a blast!

The eyeliner marker I bought didn't last a minute, so I had to resort to my trusty old pencil eyeliner. Max Factor, you have tricked me! The eyeshadow (Revlon Matte Eyeshadow) lasted All. Night. Long. and all through the day as well. It stained my eyelids a soft blue that could be seen in bright daylight. Not even makeup remover could erase it! Took a couple of showers and some effusive face and eyelid scrubbing to finally come off. 

This is the first time I truly make my own costume and it was worth it! 

Crepe Paper Pom Poms

I decided to try making some big pom poms with crepe paper I had lying around. I used crepe paper, but most tutorials suggest tissue paper. Next time I will be using tissue paper because I think the end product looks better. The crepe paper is simply not stiff enough. But hey, it was fun trying it out!

I was racing to finish the pom poms because there was a storm threatening to rain on my parade. In the end, I wasn't able to take appropriate pictures because the weather turned all of a sudden and it got really dark and windy, which doesn't help when the item you want to photograph is made of paper. The pom poms were bouncing about, smashing into each other quite aggressively (Take that you poncy pom pom!). 

I used clear fishing line (it has a different name in Craftyland, but it escapes me now. P.s. I am probably the worst definition of crafty ever) to hang it from a low hanging tree limb (minutes before it started pouring as you can see from the erratic bouncing of the green pom pom).

Some of the pom poms' edges were cut in a round fashion, while others were cut in a pointy fashion. I am not putting a tutorial because there are plenty online, plus it's a little obvious that mine didn't come out very pretty, but were good enough for a trial run. 

How to make tissue paper pom poms

Been flirting with the idea of hanging big tissue pom poms in the reception hall for the wedding and didn't know how to go about it, but this video makes it pretty easy to do (just realized that I won't be able to use crepe paper for this, as I think it is not stiff enough).

Another great wedding blog and a world of pom poms

This one is in the UK. Love most of the things they have featured, plus it goes hand in hand with the theme of what I would like to do in my wedding. I've got a lot of crafting to do. Today I bought plenty of crepe paper to start making some pom poms. Directions which you can find here.

I also want to buy some yarn to make some old school yarn pom poms. I remember making one as a kid; it was dark green and purple. We'd wrap the yarn over and over around a cardboard circle, then cut the ends. The point was to end up with something akin to a koosh ball (if you had to click on the link because you have no idea what a koosh ball is, I feel sorry for your childhood).

Found a kind of cool looking one shouldered sequined wedding gown for dirt cheap, but there is something about it that is not convincing me; maybe it's the fact that I am leaning towards a more traditional fabric instead of white sequins (very glam, but not exactly what my wedding is about). I'm enamored by lace and would love for my dress to have a touch of it.

Also thought that maybe I can buy a very simple wedding gown and dress it up via a sash (look online for bridal sash prices and your eyes might pop out of their sockets and roll down the hall). Is there space on my ever growing To Do list for a DIY bridal sash/ribbon? Thought I might even make one for each bridesmaid and for both mother of the bride and mother of the groom. Hey, let's do it FOR EVERYONE IN THE WEDDING/TOWN/COUNTRY/WORLD.

At some point this has to stop, right? There is no possible way I can do all the DIY projects I have in mind. I already feel like I'm running behind on stuff. Doesn't help when my mom calls me freaking out about the wedding. I've already mentioned that on the day of the wedding everyone is getting a helpful helping of Valium to keep us all mellow and not raging Type A Bridal party (We of the Bitchy Bride Parade).

DIY Bunting Inspiration

Some of the websites that inspired me to make my own bunting (bunting is a really funny word and one I don't use often, but from now on I'm going to find every excuse to insert it into a conversation).

Vintage Wedding Bunting and Easy Peasy Crepe Bunting. I decided to forego sewing my bunting because I have zero skills and don't have a sewing machine, so I glue gunned them. I did get some burned fingers, but nothing too severe. This was an easy project that took a couple of days to complete. I haven't finished all of the banners that I had in mind, but I was able to make some of the reception banners that will be giving the rancho some life.

I'm also dreaming about doing this absolutely gorgeous lace-ball lamp. Need doilies first and foremost. Wouldn't dream of making them out of paper and burn the whole place down.

I'm loving this Southern California wedding! How tasteful and beautiful.

Bamboo-zled

I've been playing around with ideas that revolve around burlap, twine, bamboo, a touch of lace, and the colors: blue, yellow, white. That is real bamboo behind the blue mason jar. We have a bunch of big, beautiful bamboos growing in our backyard, so I took advantage that the gardener was pruning them and had him make me a little bamboo vase. Clever and cute! 

Palette which I found online and which has become my go to on everything wedding + reception colors. 

Everything is going rather well, except for a minor dress setback. The order for a really pretty simple dress I found online and on sale, did not go through because I am a nitwit and forgot to change the billing address. What aggravation! I thought I could stop worrying about the dress and focus on other crap, but now I am back to square one. Square one sucks, btw. 

Two weekends ago I went on a short trip up to Volcan with my love. I took pictures of lots of flowers and ate my weight in huevitos de leche. It was truly enjoyable and oh so very beautiful. 

Translation: "Whoa, check this out! The plant that lays eggs! Yes, you can touch them."