happy halloweeeeen.

I'm dressing up as a wedding guest for Halloween. Matt and Tara are getting married this weekend! How exciting. I've always liked weddings, but now that I'm planning my own wedding, it's even more fun! It's a good way to get ideas and its fun to see how other people make their wedding their own. Plus, I get to wear my new shoes! I can't find a picture online though, or I'd post it. I went a little crazy at Kohl's the other day. I don't normally buy clothes there, but I'm starting to love the Simply Vera collection by Vera Wang. When my sister comes to visit, she is my fashion consultant. And a bad influence, because I spend more money than I want to. I bought this shirt to wear to the rehearsal dinner.

And this dress to wear to the wedding.Tank and dress both Simply Vera from Kohl's.

pretty flower clutch.

I love this clutch. I think I have a thing for fabric flowers lately. I could get one to match the flats with the flowers on them!

Or I could get one in ivory to match my dress. Pretty.
Clutch by J.Crew.

i wish i was shorter.

I wish I was a little bit shorter. I don't mind being tall on most days, but since Adam is only about an inch or so taller than me, heels won't be an option for my wedding day. The good news is, my feet probably won't hurt. The bad news, I can't wear these. I can't justify spending that much money on a pair of heels anyway. But I bet I could find some on ebay. I've seen a brighter pink/purple color of these that would be perfect.

I love the trend of brides wearing bright colored shoes on their wedding day. They are so much cuter and so much more fun than white shoes. Plus you might even be able to wear them again! Hmm...maybe that would justify the price tag?

I haven't found the perfect pair of brightly colored flats yet, but this pair might be it if they offered some other colors.Heels by J. Crew. Flats by daniblack on Zappos.com

bridesmaids dresses.

While we were at David's Bridal this weekend, we had some extra time to look at some bridesmaids dresses. Dani and Gaby found one that I think might have potential. And it comes in colors very close to my original color scheme.

Here are the dresses from the website. The purple one is much deeper color in person (more plum, less royal purple).Here are the dresses on my sisters. Keep in mind Gaby's dress is about 5 sizes too big. I think it looks better with the bows tied in the back rather than in the front.Here is a close-up of the colors. I think they're really rich and will look great since its a fall wedding, without being the standard reds, oranges, browns that most people use during the fall season.I was originally going to let you girls all choose a dress style that you liked the best in the same color/fabric. We can definitely still go about it that way if you prefer. If we went with these dresses, I think they would be flattering on all of you. I'm thinking it would be cool to do all three colors, and you guys could choose the color you prefer (as long as there was a mix of all of them or at least 2 of them). Here's an idea of what it might look like. Again the purple on here is much different.

What do you guys think? Do you like this dress? Please be honest! I want you guys to feel comfortable in what you wear that day. The dresses are pretty reasonably priced, at $135 each. Would you wear it again to a holiday party, new years, another wedding? Again be honest, I want your opinion!

Dresses and online photo by David's Bridal.

details.

Dana asked for pictures of the details on the dress, so here they are.

The bodice of the dress, front and back will actually have less beading on them than shown in the pictures. You'll be able to see more of the lace that way, and you know how I feel about a lot of beading. It will end up looking more like the lace/beading on the bottom of the dress.

The back will also have the covered buttons going down the zipper. And of course it will actually zip up all the way. I got the dress from The Bride's Room in Wheeling, IL. I highly recommend this salon to anyone! The girls there are so nice, and they shut down the whole bridal area for you while you're there. They also pick out the dresses for you, which some people may not like, but they really get to know your style and find the dresses that fit your taste.

Since this was the first place I went yesterday, I wanted to be absolutely certain before I bought the dress so I went back after my other appointments to try it on for a second time. I didn't have an appointment of course but they still were very accomodating and the same girl that had helped me earlier in the day stopped what she was going to help me try it on again. I was very impressed with their service! Now I have to wait 6 months before my dress comes in :(

Next thing on the list...bridesmaid's dresses!

Photos by my maid of honor and lovely sister Dani.

the dress!!

I found the dress! I am really excited. Here are some pictures, mainly so my fabulous father can see :) Adam, I'm pretty sure you don't read this but if you do, stop now!
Dress is Jasmine. Photos by my future mother-in-law Connie.

dress shopping.

So my mom and future mother in law, as well as my sisters are in town this weekend to help me look for a wedding dress. We have 3 appointments scheduled for tomorrow, so hopefully I can find a dress! One of my appointments is at a place called The Bride's Room in Wheeling, IL. This is a really nice boutique where they only allow one bride in at a time and you have their full attention. I took my matron of honor, Dona there to try on dresses, and she said it was by far the best experience she had while dress shopping. Hopefully it will be the same for me! It can't be any worse than my experience last week, where I was told that my $1,000 budget was causing the lady to struggle to find dresses for me to try on. She also said that since it was a "boutique", girls with budgets typically don't come into the store. When Dona asked if they had any dresses without beading, the lady told her that she did, but that those dresses were made of fine fabrics and were not within my budget. So basically, it was a disaster. I did find one dress I sort of liked, but I really don't think I'm going to go back there. If they treated me that badly before they had my money, imagine how they will treat me after they have my money! Here's the dress I found at that store.
Dress is Blue by Enzoani.

look what i won!

So Vane over at Brooklyn Bride today sent me an email saying that I won a set of these custom dolls from goosegrease on Etsy. I forgot I had even entered the contest. Needless to say, it made my morning. Aren't these super cute? Thanks so much Vane and Michelle!Image by Brooklyn Bride. Dolls by goosegrease.

i scream for ice cream.

My matron of honor, Dona is getting married in May and is planning on serving ice cream for dessert at her wedding. Wouldn't these spoons be perfect to serve it with? Dona, you can even put "Bondini" on them if you want! Now I am craving ice cream :)

Spoons and photo from Paper+Cup.

cocktail hour entertainment.

I'm planning to have a family friend play the piano during the cocktail hour at our wedding. I love the sound of the piano, and I think it will be something a little different, a little unexpected. Plus it allows people to socialize without having to talk over the music. I would love to be able to rent a baby grand, it would look so classy!

Unfortunately though, I don't think the budget will allow it. Although I have no idea how much it costs to rent one for a few hours. Instead, we will probably go with something a little more reasonable like this Clavinova.

Do you have any other ideas for the cocktail hour? Anna, you are welcome to play a song or two during the wedding :)

wedding transportation.

One of the disadvantages to getting married in a small town is the lack of limousines to rent for wedding day transportation. The only limos available are from about 1980 and people drive them around as their actual cars. Driving around in one of those on my wedding day? No thank you. Luckily for us, Adam's dad happens to own a 1936 Chevy Sedan that he's been fixing up for the past year or so.
I think this picture was taken before a lot the fixing up began, it looks much better than this now I swear! It is definitely better for us to leave the ceremony in this rather than Adam's truck, although that would be pretty funny and not that surprising in the UP. I think this sign or some variation of it would be perfect to hang on the back of the car for our exit! Sounds like a DIY project to me! Templates for the sign are available at Martha Stewart. What do you think, is the car okay or should we find something else?

Car photo taken by Adam. Sign photo from Martha Stewart.