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!