Meet the Parents

Chad and my parent's met for the first time while we were home. we all ate tortilla soup and drank white hot chocolate. Chad's dad suggested we finish the napkin rings we bought with some vegetable oil instead of stain and my parents did the project last night and they allegedly look totally awesome. good work, moms and dads.

dresses dresses everywhere

dress drama was rampant over the last week or so. i bought two dresses on eBay, both vintage, both really pretty. one was twice as much as the other. the cheaper, less awesome of the two was shipped to my parent's house while i was home, so i tried it on. it didn't fit. not only did it not fit, it REALLY didn't fit. like, no way could i fit into it in a month fit. granted, it was christmas and i was stage 5-ing, so i was at the tip top of my regular weight range, but still. i was crushed. so, so sad. i had no recourse if the dresses didn't fit. i cried for a whole day.

my mom asked me to go and talk to a lady in her ward who makes wedding dresses, who could mock something up for me or have me rent one, but it was all still too raw. i didn't want another dress, i wanted the dress that was shipping to seattle that was perfect and vintage and awesome and way, awy too small for me. (the measurements were even smaller than the one i'd alreaady tried on)

so, i come back after christmas and begin shopping. addy told me that there was a big sale with lots of white dresses at nordstrom rack, so i went. after much digging, i decided to get this dress (from a no name italian designer, an unlined cotton dress that retailed for $800! insane) for about $50. i was going to add a tulle skirt for a bit of frill and to make it dressier)

note: it was freezing and snowy that day, so yes, i am wearing knee socks with under-armor.

as a whole, it's a little nurse-y, but i thought with a new skirt, it would do just fine.

then. the clouds part.

my other perfect dress comes in and i try it on for kicks. it's so so gorgeous. no cotton to be found, all chiffons and taffetas and silk. so i try it on. and what? it fits! i could still stand to lose a few so that it looks perfect, but it was awesome. so, so, so great. i, for one, couldn't be happier.

not, all i need it to add dozens of layers of tulle to the crinoline i got this weekend and bam! the perfect dress.

i spelled comparatively right on the first try. take THAT, college!

i am now the proud owner of two spectacular wedding dresses.

vintage? yep
cheap? comparatively
awesome? yes
exactly what i wanted? yes yes yes

too bad i showed chad the auctions, so he already knows what they look like. maybe i won't tell him which one i choose. awesome? awesome.

A.J. hey hey

Alex is my friend. Alex is the best. Alex is, among other things, a wildly talented artist. We wrote each other while he was missionning in Austria and Switzerland and his letters were always a really big deal. one of my favorite envelopes he sent was my name and address in huge, black (with yellowed edges) gothic type. it was so ornate and interesting and seemed so...european. anyway, alex offered (or agreed to, i'm not sure which) write out our wedding invitations. i love the look of handwritten invitations, but i don't want fantsy pantsy calligraphy, as i don't think it'll match our more informal atmosphere.

i like the looks of these styles of fonts alot. it's going to look awesome. i ordered the invitation supplies today and we're humming the tune of about $300, not including the screen printing kit, paint, and TONS of stamps. not bad for 200+ invitations.



(pictured- the former trampoline hole and me at our reception site. note the nervous nail biting. some things never change)

love that

i just spent 1/5 of our budget flying kristina and her husband out to shoot our wedding (that's a testament to how small our budget is, not how expensive it was). i feel so, so awesome about that decision. man, talk about a weight off.

party in AZ!

napkin rings acquired. they're really simple, which is good. are they boring? i'm not sure. do we need hot pink puff paint to spruce them up a bit? YES.

sort of wedding-y update

i just got a recrunkulous flower and some feathery goodness to tackle my veil, but i've got an entire quilt top to sew. add that to the fact that i'm exhausted and still sick and you've got a recipe for daunting projects being avoided in favor of watching the several Colbert Reports that are inexplicably saved on my parent's Tivo.

UPDATE: didn't touch my veil, but totally killed the quilt top. thanks, merm!