Accessories Round-Up

I'm not sure exactly what accessories I'd like to have for myself for the wedding, but there are so many that I see that I like.  This post is dedicated to those.

I love the green orchids in this bouquet that match the invitations I chose.  I think they are bright, fun, and yet still classy.  I'm sure I could wrap a different color around the stems, because I'm not a huge fan of the green and pearls.  But yes, these are lovely.

The matching boutonnieres, of course.  You can find these, along with the bouquet, here.  I really like the calla lily one.  I'm not even sure that we have a best man...considering we don't have a maid of honor anymore.  But that's another story...

Also, these.

The same orchids, just with hair combs.  If I could figure out what the heck to do with my hair, I would know what to purchase.  Honestly, I already purchased one birdcage veil, but when I unboxed it I realized how unruly and smashed it was from being boxed.  I left it at my mom's in hopes that she can figure out how to steam/stretch it.  

This beauty can be found Here.  

This one is really adorable too!  With all the little sparkles on it.  Etsy is great for veils.

Oh, and the invitations I mentioned earlier?  I'm not sure that I've blogged about them before, but I love them.  

They are so beautiful.  Thanks Bed Bath & Beyond.  I'm ordering between 50 and 75 to send out, I think.  You know, once I pin down the location.  Eek.

June 8th, it's a Friday...that's going to be our wedding day.  I hope.  I don't really want to put it off 'til the Saturday.  Friday has meaning for me and Nick.  Every Friday of my 3-day weekends I would go to New Orleans to see Nick.  I would put on The Cure's "Friday I'm in Love" and drive to New Orleans to spend a few precious days with my love.  Four years of long distance might have taken a little of our souls, but none of the love between us.  Seven year mark is coming up soon.  Yes, I'm sleepy.  I'm starting to ramble.

Anyway, we have a shitty frozen lasagna to eat and I, unfortunately, have to go to work tomorrow.  The panic attack I had yesterday wrecked me.  I spent most of today recovering from it.  I got the shakes pretty bad in the grocery store and I can't really make eye contact with people right now.  Yeah, I get panic attacks.  Often.  Too much stress piled on me as of late and I'm really starting to feel it both physically and mentally.  So just know that if I'm a little off, that's why.  I can't help it.  On that note, I'm off.

Happy Valentine's Day, Y'all!

I normally loathe Valentine's Day.  It's full of hearts and flowers and lace doilies and hard feelings for those who don't celebrate it.  But this year I guess the impending wedding has made Nick and I both a little more romantic.  Friday we went shopping in Castle Rock for shoes for him.  I came away with boot and panties.  Luckily he found shoes too.  But seriously, the Lane Bryant outlet was great for me.  Sure, they're shorter boots, but I can't believe I found boots that fit.  And frankly, finding shoes that fit Nick is a chore as well.  But I got a strawberry cheesecake caramel apple out of the deal and he seems to be happy right now.

Yesterday I spent most of the day doing taxes.  I seriously did them between 3 and 6 times.  No jokes.  Some were charging too much, some wouldn't let me do two states at once (blame H&M), so yeah...several friggin' times of doing taxes.  By the end of it I was a blithering, inarticulate mess.  And what does Nick do?  Offer to take me to dinner.  We picked Olive Garden (I know, I know...how romantic) just because we hadn't been in a really long time.  And, ya know, because Hacienda usually ends up pissing both of us off.  The meal was good, but sitting with him and just enjoying quiet company was better.  We piled the kitten in the bed with us and again it made me thankful for my tiny little family.  Sometimes you just need a reminder during all the layers of wedding bullshit that you have made the right choice.

So when I have staggering piles of laundry and he's yelling at a game on TV, we can forgive and (try to) forget. I couldn't have asked for a better Valentine than Nick.

There's a drumming noise inside my head that starts when you're around...

 I know it's been a while, so I'm going to attempt to make up for that by having a pretty picture-heavy post laden with pertinent details.  Without further ado...

Of course the most important detail is....the dress.  I could have been nice and said "the groom", but we know better.  I've had my dress for a few months now and I love every little beaded detail except for the plain satin band on it.  It will be replaced with something significantly snazzier (as soon as I figure out what that something is).  I don't want to broadcast a pic of myself in the dress yet (that's what bridal portraits are for).  But, I can give you the next best thing.

She is all lace and covered in tiny beads to boot.  And no, I won't be donning that floofy thing on my head.  That's just distracting...

So as far as accessories go, I haven't purchased any yet.  I scout online every so often for new things and add them to My Pinterest.  I'm thinking of going with black accessories, just because I think they'd be really pretty set off by all the bright green I plan to incorporate.

I may have finally found a headpiece that I like.  Luckily, my girl Haley and I can probably come up with something similar that's a little more affordable for the likes of...well...me.  You can find amazing Haley creations at Button + Bloom.  Oh, you wanna see it?  Duh.  Sorry.

I mean, her pretty little face hiding behind that blusher is gorgeous as is, but look at that thing.  Somehow it melds sweetness with drama and in my head, that's how I see myself.  Hey, it is my day after all.

I have bought a handful of things.  Only things that were such a great deal I couldn't pass up.  Like apple green cocktail/regular napkins at 47 cents a pack.  Thanks, Target.  Oh, and my favorite (that I'm eagerly awaiting by mail):

Oh, yes.  That is a ridiculously over-sized cake cutter.  I hate all of the cake cutters and servers that I find that are supposed to be saved (for what???).  This  I will actually use again.  Birthday cakes.  Pies.  Chasing the cat.  My only regret is that I had to pay double its cost just for shipping.  Ouch.  No bueno, Fred Flare.

I have started trying to work out makeup looks.  I'm hoping one of my amazing makeup artist friends will be on hand to help me out.  These are the eye shadows I picked up yesterday from the cosmetics outlet.

Gorgeous, right?  I'm going to try a really pretty smokey eye with these to see if they are the shadows I want to go with.  If not, they'll be perfect for some other day.  They're a little more demure than my normal looks, but I think the chartreuse green adds something fabulous.

We are working with The Holiday Chalet on Colfax right now to book a place for the wedding.  It's a beautiful Victorian brownstone that you can find more details about Here.  The other possible venue will be the boathouse in Wash Park.  It's a pretty little place that is going to be our go-to if we do host a larger wedding.  The boathouse looks like this: 

Right now we are trying to assess as accurately as possible how many people will be able to come to the wedding.  Of course we would love to see everyone, and I don't mind sending out lots of announcements.  But I can't invite 50 people and have 100 show up.  And vice versa.  If we go with about 50 guests, we are holding it at the Holiday Chalet because it's extremely affordable, beautiful, and guests can stay there (provided they have rooms & accommodating dates). 

I am still on the lookout for a bright green or charcoal grey bridesmaid dress for Cynthia.  I found beautiful ties for Nick and whomever he chooses as his groomsman on a wedding site online.  I'm currently waiting to hear back from a Craigslist poster about a cupcake tray that she's selling.  It's perfect and already painted my exact green color.  I want it REALLY badly and I wish she'd just get back to me about it...

We have decided to hire a caterer if Holiday Chalet doesn't provide one.  Although making food for 50 people sure beats making food for 100.  That detail is a little up in the air at this point. 

I found some gorgeous invitations with cymbidium orchids on them on Bed Bath & Beyond's website.  I am also in love with these flowers (real or fake) for bouquets.  Check them out:

Just gorgeous.  I'm pretty much in love with them. They are exotic, yet still classy.  I like that they look beautiful by themselves and don't need a lot of other flowers to back them up, so to speak.  And the fake ones made up into bouquets are decently affordable!

That's all I've got for you so far.  I'm always open to new ideas and maybe I should start blogging more often.  I'm a bad blogger, what can I say.  Thanks for reading!

Still No Progress...Stay Tuned

One of my friends has decided to play wedding planner for me, which is fantastic because again, I hate the whole process.  She called several venue sites, most of which were too expensive.  I think one of our choices is going to be the Event Gallery @ 910 Arts.  It's one of the least expensive venues, and it's still pretty.  It's the kind of place I would like to have family and friends as guests in.  A place that I don't really have to decorate.  Loren, friend/wedding planner, is super into decorating.  I am not.  At least she's super flexible, one of the benefits of her being my friend.

I've been looking at more dresses online.  I try to like white ones, I keep liking red.  Who knows which direction I'll go in the end.  I wish I had someone to go with to go look at dresses...although plus-size wedding shopping is like putting a gun to your own head.  It's a miserable experience.  Even when I was a size 14, I still couldn't find dresses that made me feel pretty.  Size 20 Alyson knows it's just better to look on the internet than to burden myself with overly-helpful bridal shop salespeople.  "What, you don't want a dress with sleeves?  Oh..."

Hopefully Nick will help me decide what kind of food we want to have at the reception.  I know I want a buffet-style presentation.  If I could self-cater, I have this vision of lots of silver trays and crystal platters...like a mismatched tea party.  And then I found the fabulous tea party-esque cake that I posted on Facebook.  And then Nick decided Thor should marry us...

No Thor.  Sorry, babe.  Like you said, it would only work if he was in full-blown character, and let's face it--most people won't "get" the whole Valhalla thing.

I've been so busy lately, what with the new job and all.  It's crazy!  I am going to love working at H&M.  But seriously, it's going to be a lot of work.  It's extremely fast-paced and I'm going to be running around like a chicken with my head cut off.  But I'm happy about it.  Truly.  I have pink hair again!  And I haven't taken my nose ring out since my last day at Clinique.

I have to buy shoes today for work.  Something ridiculously comfortable, and hopefully not ugly, considering I'll be working in a fashionable environment for once.  I also have to get money for rent together, and make myself a sandwich.  Oh, and take out ground meat to make a meatloaf for dinner.  I'm practically married, can't you tell?

You Win Some, You Lose Some

So what do you do when you can't get that ONE dress out of your head?  Even though I know it is completely wrong for me, I keep wanting this one dress.  I can picture every little detail surrounding it, down to which side I want my hair parted on.

Oh, you want to see it?  The more I look at it, the worse I feel.  Not to mention the fact that I can't even remotely fit in a size 16 anymore.  And I'm not one of those crazy brides who thinks I can lose 8 dress sizes before a wedding.  A 16 is completely doable.

And this is why I need girl friends.  To tell me that I can find another dress I like just as much as this one.  That this one won't look good on me.  Blah blah blah.  Instead, I just keep showing it to Nick, hoping that one day he'll hate it and I will too.  But it has little tiny pearls all over it!

The good news is that it's on clearance on David's Bridal's website and it will probably sell out anyway.  Wait...that's bad news!  But I'm too practical to justify purchasing a dress that I don't fit in (yet).  Or am I?

I've been checking out a few different venues in Denver for le wedding.  One in particular is Mercury Cafe.  I've seen a lot of cute wedding/reception photos from within that place, and it's very cute on the inside!  I'm just having a hard time putting all the proverbial pieces together and I wish I had more people here to help me out.  I know my mom feels bad because she never had a real wedding, just that courthouse jazz, so I don't like throwing too much on her.  

Oh!  And good things are coming around.  I still can't mention them yet, but when I can, I will!

Pity Party: Invitation Accepted

I have been sleeping worse than I have in a very long time.  I have some good things that are bubbling under the surface right now, but I don't want to talk about them just yet for fear of jinxing them.  But these dreams...ugh.  They are ridiculous!  They're hateful and horrible.  I actually dreamed that I was murdered last night and you know, I don't dream of dying very often.  I asked Nick why the hell I'm dreaming about being murdered and he responded that he'd forgotten his lunch at home.  This is my life.

There isn't much new on the wedding front.  Nick and I talked about colors and we've mutually decided that we both hate yellow and no pink is allowed.  He's not a pink fan.  Also, that we don't hate orange, but it's not going to work.  Yes, I had even considered orange.  I'm still really liking apple green.  I found a more clover green bridesmaid dress for a really good price online, and if it matches Cynthia's measurements, I plan to get it for her.  It would be cute even with a wrap, because she will probably want one, if I can find a good color, of course.

But all of this matters to no one, because everyone just wants to know when when WHEN.  I don't KNOW when.  I don't have the money for a wedding right now and I don't know when I will.  Yes, I want to get married next year.  If I could, I'd get married right now.  I'm in love, people.  I think most people forget that we aren't "living the dream" here in Colorado.  It's like, I have bills to pay.  Rent to pay.  Everything to pay.  And saving just isn't going to happen for another couple weeks, after I bounce back from paying off a medical credit card.  Ugh!

So.  I plan on doing my own makeup (which is not inconceivable, considering I am a makeup artist).  Honestly, I could even make my own cake.  If I buy a couple decorating books, some new recipes, and pans just for the occasion, I could do it.  My dress will be cheap, but still pretty.  Shoes will be the hardest find for me, really.  If I want to be really happy, I'll go barefoot.  I can make my own decorations.  I want a very small ceremony.  I can't do my own hair, but I'm sure I can figure something out.  Ugh.  But these things still cost money and money isn't something I'm rolling in.

Enough with my pity party, though.  So think happy thoughts and maybe he and I will get inspired and be able to make this whole thing come together.

Dresses!

This post is all about dresses.  I love dresses!  Most of my life I envisioned myself in a red satin mermaid-style strapless dress.  I wanted to have a bouquet of calla lilies and a beautiful veil/fascinator combo.  Everything would be perfect.  But you know...it's come to my attention that nothing is perfect.  Things that I love may not come to be.  More and more I am considering just finding a pretty dress and whisking Nick away somewhere so that we can get married and I won't have to take anyone's opinions into account.

But honestly, I'm open to people's opinions all the same.  If I weren't, I wouldn't be putting myself and my future wedding out here in cyberspace for all to see.  So without further ado...

The Dress:

This is the dress that I'm pretty sure I'm in love with.  It's the red satin strapless beauty I've always dreamed of.  It's also hella cheap.  Like, with shipping and custom measurements, only about $150 cheap.  Most of me really, really wants me to get this dress.  I can afford it myself and I know that Haley can make fantastic accessories for me to wear with it.  

Then.  Well, then...there's the little part of me...that really likes this dress.  A tiny little part of me wants a traditional white wedding dress.  I love the Greek goddess look of it and the crystals on the straps.  There's a gorgeous cowl-neck across the back and let's face it, the draping is stellar.  I would look damn good in this dress and I really like it too.  Plus, I can wear it with no shoes and no one would know the difference!

The Reception Dress:

This is a dress I'm considering for the reception.  It's got twisty straps so that you can make it look different when you play with it.  That was a really inarticulate description of a pretty, spring-y dress.

I like the artsy-ness of this one with the brushstrokes and the pickups at the hem.  It's a little more casual, but colorful and fun.

I think this is a really classic, pretty dress.  I have no idea what I'll look like with a peplum on my dress, but it is pretty adorable.  

This is classy, pretty, and great for hourglass figures like mine.  Very classic too.  Hmm.

The Bridesmaid Dresses:

This has been my favorite by far.  I love the green apple shade, I love the pleating...the neckline...I love everything about it.

I think the peplum on this is adorable, but the neckline isn't for everyone.  It depends on who I pick as bridesmaids, I guess.  If I pick bridesmaids at all.  Honestly, it's so hard to pick from the girls that I love.  And I don't want any of them to have to wear this pink shade.  Ha!

The third possible bridesmaid dress is this little number.  Love the color.  Love the pleating detail.  I think this would look good on most girls...

So by all means, give me your opinions on these.  If you love them, hate them, or even have suggestions for me, please, let me know!  I don't have any girl friends here and I'd really love someone to just say, hey, these are my opinions.  I've been gathering lots of wedding-related ideas on Pinterest.com and I'll be posting snapshots like these for this blog, including wedding color palettes, food ideas, accessories, etc.  So, if anyone is reading this, thanks for reading!