Monday, January 31, 2011

Blame it on Oprah!

You'll understand, how everything boils down to being Oprah's fault. This includes the fact that I'm writing about my dress again even though I said I wouldn't... that's right, blame it on Oprah!

I want to also preface this post by saying that I am not having second thoughts about the dress. Just the semi-shabbiness of the dress and the cost; in essence, it's worth... Allow me to explain:

Let's go on a journey, shall we?




Kyle, your only journey will be to some other web page that does not have pictures of my wedding dress on it.

But I still love you and we will take our own metaphorical journey together somewhere else, at some other time.

Smooches!


Long long ago, I fell in love with Vera Wang. Our relationship, though, seemed doomed from the start. You see, I was just too cheap for her, and she was just too much of a snob for me. I was in love with her creations. Diana:
And Erica:
 

Both dresses were too expensive ($7000!), until my loving fiance (who by the way, approved of my love affair with Vera) said "Just put it on my credit card" with a non-committal sort of shrug at my profuse promises to pay him back as soon as I could. It was as if he wasn't even going to miss the money once it was gone (in reality, not only does he want me to have what I want because he loves me, but he's also a firm believer that if you want it, get it; you only live once).

I was psyched but still very apprehensive about the money, because it was a ridiculous amount of money to spend on an article of clothing... I have never, and will never again wear a piece of clothing that costs $1000 an hour to wear!

All of a sudden, Oprah (seemingly) came to the rescue. She whispered in my ear that my estranged lover Vera was designing a line of dresses for David's Bridal. I'm not too proud to walk into David's Bridal, but I do have a general problem with their assembly line mentality; get in, find a random, no-name dress, take it home, leave us alone. I loved how pampered I felt at other non-chain bridal salons not because I need to be pampered, but because it made me feel like I and my possible dress were special, not just a number on the assembly line of bridal chains.

But my former love, Vera, was once again within my reach. I searched online for pictures from the new Vera Wang White collection for David's bridal. Folks, I wasn't too too impressed:

This was the best look I saw and it was blurry and pink (blegh) and I had a problem with the simplicity on top contradicting the spectacular-ness (sorry, I don't have time to consult my thesaurus) on the bottom. It was too plain on top! How can you make such a marvelous skirt and then ignore the whole bodice?!

So I went about my business convinced I would never be happy: either I would spend way way more than I was comfortable spending, or end up with a dress I wasn't happy with...

Sad sad story right?

There's more! Another (deceptive) miracle occurred shortly thereafter! I chanced a look at the Facebook page of a bridal salon that carried my beloved's creations in Maryland and they were having a sample sale the next day! I drove two and a half hours to get there and I think that the excitement ('If I don't get this, someone else will snatch it up!' 'So what if the fabric seems discolored, I'm sure dry-cleaning will fix it!' 'I drove all this way, I have to get it now!') got in the way of deliberate, firm, logical thinking.

See, it hasn't been dry-cleaned yet, so I will make my complaints brief because I know I am jumping to conclusions! It's discolored, there's a rim of other women's skin cells (eww, I know!) on the inside of the neckline. There's a small rip in the organza in the skirt, this happens, and is probably an easy fix, but still annoying. And in general, I feel like the fabric sags a little from just being a year old sample gown! I'm worried that I rushed into buying the dress of my dreams while being too cheap to really buy the dress of my dreams and ended up with a too-loved, discolored, sagging sample gown version of the dress of my dreams!

Where is all this coming from? you ask. Well, I felt and still partially feel, that I am over-dramatizing right now. I still love the one that's hanging in my house right now and I will wear it without complaint on my wedding day BUT, in the meantime, I got an e-mail today... It was a preview of the White collection that's just been announced and is now available to view on the David's Bridal website.

Oprah, you bitch. Why wasn't it made clear that there was more to the collection than you brought on your show?! She showed quite a few, I thought it was plausible that that was the whole collection! Well, it wasn't, there was one more that was thee one that could have possibly saved me $2000!


(Ignore the sash in the middle, it's extra and I wouldn't get it; it's jeweled and I don't want any fake bling)


It's a V-NECK!!! And with the SAME SKIRT AS THE DIANA!!! Slight drop waist (my favorite because too high a waist doesn't look good on me and too low a waist doesn't flatter my lack-of-hips). In short it needs to be tried on!




Also, just to add insult to injury, you remember that pink dress that looked so ick on the blurry website picture?
Looks a hell of a lot better when properly styled and well-photographed doesn't it?! (Plus I still wouldn't get it in pink)

Photographed like this, it no longer looks like there's nothing going on up top, the bodice does look interesting and this dress now becomes a must-try-on as well!!



But Wait! Haven't I already bought a dress?! Why yes, I have. Thank you, and I must reiterate again that dramatizing aside, I still love the one I have, but IF (I know, hypotheticals suck!) I try on the David's bridal dresses and IF I like them and IF a dry-clean does not accomplish the feat of making my sample dress look semi-new and IF I put it up on preownedweddingdresses.com and get around the same price for it... got all that?... then the David's Bridal dresses cost from $1600 to $1800 LESS than the SAMPLE Vera Wang dress I currently own AND it would be a new dress.

Well I won't even ask the loaded question "What do I do?!?!" because I know the first two things I have to do regardless before which none of the other IFs matter: Get my sample gown dry-cleaned and get an appointment at David's Bridal to try on the new Vera Wang White collection! Nothing else can appease me until these two things are done.

So, that wasn't so bad a journey, I'm sure my mom is rolling her eyes. C'mon Mama! I think it's natural for second thoughts to occur, and hey, at least it's not about the style. See, I went to so many salons (5?) and tried on so many dresses (40 ish?), I think everyone thought I didn't know what I wanted. But style is not the issue, now it's price and shiny-newness...

And the fact that Oprah tricked me.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

The Dude abides

Bad day, science-wise.

But Jordan says I'm a bad blogger.

Don't ever go into science, science hates everyone. Science is a racist. Science is chauvinistic. Science is rude. I hate science, and if science crosses my path again today, I am going to kill it dead!

Kyle's words of love and compassion: "Sometimes you eat the bar, sometimes the bar eats you."

Thanks Kyle. Or should I say, Thanks Dude.

But it made me think about The Big Lebowski (where he stole the quote from, in hopes of making me laugh... I didn't get the reference because it is, in fact, also a real saying) and that made me think about bowling.

Kyle organized a bowling night with all his coworkers as their holiday party, and I got to tag along.



Check out those guns!!


Thanks Mike, for ruining that one!
It was fun.

Thanks, Baby!

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Mmmm, lotkas

Eeeeeee, my package from Of the Earth came today!! It only shipped (from Oregon or some crazy place) two days ago, so I was very pleasantly surprised when I opened the door to let Bailey out and the package fell over on her... I also laughed.

I received a sample sheet of chcoloate lotka paper, skeleton leaves ('cause I like them), pressed flower stickers, natural seeded envelopes, and vellum for INVITATION MAKIN'!!!!

I had no more excuses, I had to drag myself to Joann's... (time between getting the package and getting in the car? Let's just say Kyle had to let Bailey back inside). I had to get burlap and twine to finally see if my vision of these invitations was a good one. Creative people who also have ADHD can tend to go overboard.

So, I started out with this:

Paper with words on it. Our RSVP, the Save the Date, and the Invitation (not sure why I capitalized that, but I'm not changing it).

Sorry it's so dark. I think it might be time to get a new camera. This picture is just so you can see my blank slate. Notice my pretty, rough edges!

I then set to stampin'!



Thanks to Mia for the stamp, it ended up being a real asset. I think it's just right!

My next touch was watercolor pencils in the corners, and then a blending pen to blend the browns and purples and reds







I think that this picture probably doesn't do it justice, but I put some close-ups in too so you can see the details in the corners.


SAVE THE DATES!!!!!!




INVITATIONS!!!!!!!

I accidentally stamped the middle of my parents' name.

Sorry guys!





I found some fantastic burgundy-lined envelopes. Fantastic because as much as I'm loving this whole DIY thing, I don't have the patience to line all those envelopes when these lined envelopes cost NO more than regular envelopes!




Here's the Save the Date in it's very own lined envelope!

I put the rest together next.
 Here it is! The trifolds from LCI paper, the trifolds that are too light-colored. And seeing them together reaffirmed that I do not like the invitations up against that color. I need a darker brown.

Mia also told me I don't want to try and fold all my trifolds myself because it doesn't look nice enough, but I think this one looks too nice!

Oh, and how did I get the invitation adhered to that trifold?




TA DA!!! The Scotch Adhesive Dot Roller. Possibly my new favorite toy. It's like those old white out rollers, but with little glue dots. And they're tiny glue dots, so you don't have bulky spots where you put a dab of glue.

OK, and it makes little clicky noises when I roll it :)



Anywho! Next I put the folded invitation in the lined envelope. Again, burgundy, and you can see the slightly larger regular envelope on the outside.

I would like this whole suite more if that trifold was a nice chocolate brown.
 

Lastly, here's the inner and the outer envelope side by side, addressed! Of course, with some sweet little leaves stamped onto the inner envelope!

Now, this is all well and good, but as I said, I don't like the light brown trifold, and I did get my package from Of the Earth AND I got burlap and twine from Joann's!


TA DA again!!! I know it's hard to see because in order to get a good picture with my camera, I had to use the flash. But the lotka paper is much darker, and I think it goes much better with the invite. And of course, on top is my vellum, just a nice touch I think.

I haven't yet figured out where I am going to put the RSVP and other inserts, but I might construct a little pocket on the right side of the trifold.

So I tore the lotka paper and folded it myself, glued the invitation in with my handy dandy glue dot applicator, put a skeleton leaf on the outside, wrapped a strip of burlap around the whole thing, and tied the whole pretty package up with some twine. Aaaaannndd:


TA DA A THIRD TIME!!! I was so excited!! I had an idea and then I made it happen and then it ended up looking really great!

Rustic? oh yes, look at those rough edges! Look at that burlap!! No frilly satin ribbons here (not that I'm knocking anyone else's invitations, to each his own!)

What would make this suite even better?

Seeded envelopes and sweet little pressed flower stickers!


This picture does not do the envelopes justice, they're a gorgeous ivory/ecru, they smell like earth, and they have seeds in them! Our guests can plant their envelopes (!) and grow wildflowers! Even if they can't come to the wedding, they get a gift from us!

Also, I personally love the pressed flower sticker, BUT, while Kyle was there every step of the way and truthfully really liked the rest of the package, he didn't like the pressed flower sticker. What was his alternative?? Sealing wax!! We'll see about that, but apparently, pressed flower stickers are out :-( While I think sealing wax is pretentious, I also think it's cool, so I'm at least going to look into it :-)

Last but not least, I debated the envelopes: while I love the texture and look of the natural, seeded envelope, I like the burgundy lined envelopes. What was I to do?? Oh hey, the seeded envelope fits inside the lined envelope!


Best of both worlds! Everything is falling into place beautifully. So scratch all the top images, the lotka paper will make up the trifolds, the seeded envelopes are now the inner envelopes, and the "inner" lined envelope, is now the outer lined envelope!








So is all this work and time worth it? Well, let's see:
  • Invitation paper: $0.30 a sheet
  • Lotka paper trifold: $0.44 a trifold
  • Vellum: $0.16 a sheet
  • Skeleton leaf: $0.26 a leaf
  • Burlap: $0.02 a strip
  • Twine: $0.01 a length
  • Seeded inner envelope: $0.75 an envelope
  • Lined outer envelope: $0.26 an envelope
  • Response envelope: $0.16 an envelope
Grand total: $2.36 per invitation!! So, our invitations will cost $118.00 as opposed to $500 from a real company, and as I said over and over again in the beginning, these are our invitations, no one else's. We picked the fonts and the colors and the paper and all the accoutrements ourselves.

And at the end of the day, even though my fingers, my back, and my eyes are going to be burning after doing them all, it makes me feel really good on the inside!

I hope everyone likes! Let me know what you think!

Friday, January 21, 2011

She's a maneata!!

I know I know, I've been very bad.

But as you know, the counter over there to my right is going extremely slow, and it seems like there will never be enough things to do to keep me occupied until November 25th.

This is of course a lie, but it feels that way, it at least makes me feel like I need to chill when I see some craft or something and think 'I must do this!!' No, I musn't, because it'll end up sitting in my house somewhere collecting dust and then get broken in about a month.

I need to get my dress dry cleaned, so of course, there is nothing interesting to write about there... except how hard it is to find a good wedding dress dry cleaner, and how expensive it is. Well, it's not horrible, but more expensive than I thought, I guess...

I've been thinking more and more about invitations. I got some samples of tri-folds from a company called LCI paper. They're too light-colored, I have now decided that I want a darker brown as the outer covering:



Also, the description mentions something about matching response envelopes but does not expressly say that it comes with a response envelope.

Well, I assumed a company would have the decency to include the correct response envelope.

I ordered a sample... no response envelope. I was not amused.


Meanwhile, I found this stuff called Lotka paper from a company called Of the Earth:

Spectacular yes? Rustic yes? And the middle color is just what I was thinking for a perfect color for the tri-fold!

So I ordered some samples of their chocolate-colored lotka paper as well. I am still in love with the idea of a burlap strip and twine tying the whole thing together. I cannot wait (!) to show the whole thing! I know I keep talking about it and talking about it. I am going to do it finally! I am going to do a full mock-up as soon as I have the lotka paper for the trifold, the burlap, the twine, and envelopes.

I don't think it will be done this weekend because I doubt I will get my samples in the mail in time, but I can and will work on my technique for designing the invitations more, because it's all I've been thinking about all week.

Kyle also said we would think about music this weekend! It's always exciting when he offers to do something wedding-related. This is not because he's a grumpy old guy who doesn't like to help. He does, but when it's his idea, with no coaxing from me, it's exciting. It's also fun, especially when we find ourselves dancing like total idiots in the kitchen to Hall and Oates and Phil Collins and Toto. It's fun to get a glimpse into what it's going to be like, because we're both so much fun when we're together. I honestly think I'm only mildly fun without him, and he's only mildly fun without me, and when we get together, we're enough fun to fill a canyon.

Maybe a music list will come your way this weekend? Or at least some laughs about Kyle's white-man-overbite (love you Babe!).

Friday, January 14, 2011

Mother of all dresses

Well, as promised, I have posted about bridesmaids dresses and now want to talk about MOB dresses. I am by no means dictating what my mom wears, but I do want to just put a small plea out there...

Please don't let it be this:


Yes yes, ha ha. I know, this is over the top. Truth is, typical mother-of-the-bride dresses are not as bad as they once were. There are more stylish get-ups out there now.

But I think regardless of how ridiculous that woman's hat is (I'm getting a very very strong Edith Wharton vibe...) there is still a bigger problem. I have a problem with the whole jacket thing. I think it looks not only matronly but as if you are intentionally trying to cover something hideous. Now, I should have prefaced this by saying that our wedding is going to be a little less formal, I mean, fine dress up, but no one is wearing tuxes and Elizabethan gowns as guests at the wedding!

Now, I realize that the time of the year itself is going to require cover-ups of some sort, but maybe a shawl or something really sweet and romantic. Ha, I just realized that some might consider that matronly, but I think the vintage/romantic nature of the shawl or shrug or whatever is making it really classic-looking now:


(I'm actually currently making one like this in burgundy)


I know, I'm a sucker for knitting, but it's timeless, and I think it should be the only way anybody covers up!

Not everyone agrees with me, that's totally fine, but if we can just say goodbye to the satin jacket, we can move on to better things!



I mentioned yesterday that some of the ideas I had concerning bridesmaids dresses were going to tie into MOB dresses, well, I was telling the truth.

I want to re-emphasize that Mama, you can wear whatever you feel comfortable in, I was just looking online to see what was out there, and I was for the most part disappointed. I did find a few dresses though that I thought were appropriate for a b-e-a-utiful, still young MOB like this one:





So this was what I found in the MOB sections:




That's right... don't be scared, it's a one shoulder, but it's awesome! I would be ecstatic to see my mom walk down the aisle in this. I just got word that my sister liked the one shoulder short dress:
Wouldn't that be perfect?!?!

.........

Now, I already know that my mom is probably making that funny noise she makes when she's trying to humor me but is by no means on board, so I did find, like, one? maybe two other dresses?

But they're still not my favorites, my fave is that one shoulder.

This next one is unrelated but I found another modest one shoulder that is a bridesmaids dress but still classy in my opinion for a classy MOB:

Yeah, that's classy. I really really like this one, and I'm reserving it for MOB, if she likes it. The first one is still my fave, but this one is second.

The first, black one shoulder goes really well with the group of bridesmaid dresses I liked (the fabric is similar):


while this one shoulder goes really well with the one shoulder bridesmaids dresses group:



If she does want something a little more modest, I did find another bridesmaids dress that I thought would be perfectly suitable as an MOB dress:



And I love love love that v-neck, on this dress (long) it's elegant but still appropriate.

So anyway, the moral of the story is that I want my Mama to be comfortable and wear what she wants, but I also want her to dress like the cool, hip, with-it, sexy, classy lady that she is!!

Embrace it, Mama!!!

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Someone else's dress for a change!

Yeah, my bridesmaids!

My bridesmaids are Mia:



She's my college roommate, the one who introduced Kyle and me!



My sister Jordan... she's my sister. HA! But really, we certainly get along better than we did when we were kids.



And Keri! My friend from grad school. I talked to her so much about the wedding and she was such a good listener that it seemed only too right to ask her to be a bridesmaid.

Anyway, so I had a mind to allow them to wear whatever they wanted, and all three were opposed to this, saying that I would regret it. Now, I didn't really care, but I figured this was there nice way of saying "I am not going to pick something you don't like and then have you hate me for it." So I said, FINE, but all I cared about was that it wasn't made out of shiny satiny material. This still wasn't enough because that doesn't narrow it down any. Do we get them from the same store? Do we get the same color? Do we get the same length? Sleeves? Strapless??

Alright, alright!! I started thinking about all these things and it occurred to me I would like if they were all my burgundy/wine color. It would look nice. And I really feel that it's a color that will go well with all their skin tones and hair colors (you can't see Keri's hair, but it's like a strawberry, dirty blond, depending on the light). Other than that, I was thinking... and we still have so much time to decide this it's not even funny... that if we can pick a sort of theme then everyone can pick their own from that theme.

For example (from Jim Hjelm occasions)!
Just as the description implies, these are all a softer chiffon or organza - similar to my gown - some with ruffles, some without. The first has a v-neck, the second has a scoop-neck, the third is one shoulder and the fourth is sweetheart. Three are short, one is long. The point? They all have the same fabric but with slightly different styles, and I think this is my favorite concept so far.

There's a few other styles I'm diggin' though:
Cowl back, super fun and sexy while still appropriate. These are made with luminescent chiffon, so, it's still not satin, but a little shinier.

More one shoulder dresses, slightly different styles and lengths:


In theory, I love one shoulder dresses, and I will expound upon this in my next post as well, when I start talking about MOB dresses, 'cause Mama! I'm excited about coaxing you to wear something fun and sexay!!!

Lastly, I love love love v-necks, I actually wanted a v-neck gown but couldn't find one that had anything else I liked (hence deciding I love modified sweetheart instead!). Not only do I love v-necks, on me, on everyone, but I have personally seen every one of my bridesmaids in v-necks and think that they are also flattering on my lovely ladies! Disagree with me if you wish, and of course I'm not going to force anything on you, but I found several really flattering, pleasing, pretty, [insert additional adjectives] v-neck gowns from Jim Hjelm (not sure why I gravitated towards Jim Hjelm, I really think he just so happened to have the most that I liked):
What I love most about all these is that there's a great mix and match; within a certain theme, all my girls can choose the one they like best; short, long, v-neck, one shoulder, cowl, etc...! They might look girly, (like the second and the last one of the second row, ruffles and a funny bow) but as far as details are concerned, I don't think they should be over the top like my dress is, but a little ruffle would tie the bridesmaid dresses into my dress, and that funny bow is self-tied, that doesn't need to be like that!

So the real question is what do my girls think? I can't emphasize enough that this is not a pressing concern, just one that's on my mind now that my dress is purchased. Especially because my sister is leaving for Germany in a few days for, like, three and a half months! By default, we don't have to think about this for three and a half months!!

But still, I really value your opinions!! So bridesmaids and anyone else; give them to me!!!

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Possibly the last dress post!!!

So, sorry it's been so long, but I struggled with just how to proclaim this, then remembered that most of the people who read my humble blog already know!

I BOUGHT MY DRESS!!





Kyle, Sweetheart, now would be a good time to go see what's on TV!

Below are pictures of thee dress, so unless you want to ruin the surprise (it's ruin'd) you'll go find something else to do.

Love you!!!



It was a very sneaky sneaky venture, accidentally though. I think I mentioned that I was going to go to a bridal salon in Chevy Chase, MD later this month for a Vera Wang trunk show; 10% off. 10% is better than nothing off. The dresses, any of the ones I was waffling between, were still going to be expensive, but at least almost $1000 less expensive. Well, on a whim, I went on Facebook (I'm rarely on facebook, someone has to message me or something to coax me to sign in... I hate that you have to enter your whole e-mail address!! Mine is long!!) and saw an update on the Facebook page of the salon, they were having a sample sale... 60%-90% off Vera Wang bridal, bridesmaids, and accessories. Excuse me what?? When did this happen?? I have missed so many sample sales because I don't check Facebook enough. Oh great, it's tomorrow... 2.5 hours away...

But, but... 60% off!! And for once I didn't find out the day after (I found out about a sample sale from a Vera Wang salon in New York literally the day after their sample sale, and I found out about Vera Wang's flagship's sample sale a few weeks after it took place).

I actually started getting really distracted and confused... It was decision time. I was looking to save $4000, but did I want a sample? Did I want the older season (you can't get new season samples until about a year after they come out)?

Here was my dilemma:



Erica, Spring 2011, not for sale as a sample, I would have to wait a few more weeks for the trunk show, only get 10% off, but get a brand new dress.

Even on this woman, who is presumably more curvy than the Vera Wang model, there is no shape to this dress even though there should be a nice curviness to it.

I looked back over the pictures Keri managed to sneak of me in the dress in New York and I can't get over how I look disproportionate in it! My shoulders look too wide and my hips look too narrow.

I seem to recall swearing off mermaid dresses from the start anyway. And the more I thought about it, the more I thought, this wedding is not about me showing off my curves, my entire family and his will be there, I want it to be romantic, pretty, and... I hate that band across the top. To ME, it makes my bust look even bigger... this is not a priority for me!!

Mia and Keri assure me I'm being nit-picky, but I disagree, I do not have the hips to pull off this dress.

Were you convinced by all of that? Because I'm only about 90% convinced that I'm convinced by all of it. There was one factor that was bugging me; the Erica is a phenomenal dress, and it is worth the money... for someone who has that much money laying around:



It was very flattering in the hind area :)


In an A-line, you don't see any rear ends, and the Erica as a mermaid does show her off nicely.


The skirt is also really great, it moved really beautifully. But there was another that moved just as beautifully and has just as wonderful a skirt!


Welcome back, Diana!


It's the perfect A-line without being too ballgown-like on the bottom. It has a modified sweetheart neckline which accomplishes the spectacular aim of flattering the chest without over-displaying or over-emphasizing it.

It has great ruching, it has a spectacular skirt. The fact that it flares at the hips instead of hugging them means that it flatters the waist.

Most importantly, it accomplishes my aim of being rustic, unfinished/raw, playful, and romantic, but still appropriate.

And it's still a Vera Wang but it cost me $4000 less!! However, I cannot ignore the fact that it is a well-loved sample that needs dry-cleaning (which I will have to take care of myself) and alterations (which I will have to take care of myself) and one tiny piece of organza needs re-attaching (which I will have to take care of myself).

Nonetheless, I couldn't deny what a smart purchase it was going to be. I threw my credit card on the counter and that was that! If this is wrong, then why does anyone have sample sales? Do I feel cheap buying a sample that's not as fresh as an original? Was I too hasty in buying a dress that, upon further inspection, looks a little more care-worn than I would like? Do I feel like I bought the dress only because I drove 2 and a half hours to the salon to get it? No, not at all, I have posed as many tough questions to myself as possible, and every one has led me to believe that I made the right choice. After a dry-clean, it's going to look a lot better, and it was only slightly too big for me, which is great because it means alterations are going to be really straightforward (easier to take in than to let out).

I then had to drag it out of the salon all the way to my car, drag it through my tiny narrow stairways and stuff it in our tiny spare bedroom where it's now just hanging from a door (I'm definitely posting a picture of that once I get it, it was hysterical, and pretty treacherous too)! I didn't fathom the fact that by buying a sample, I now have the dress, in my possession, just chillin' in my house, in my trust for the next 10.5 months!

Mom was happy for me that I made the decision, but still kind of on the fence about the Vera Wang dresses in general. I believe she still thinks they're a little too over-the-top. Kind of like, they're beautiful, but up on the wall, as a piece of fashion art, not on a body... as a wedding gown. I wrestled with the thing for awhile, I really wanted my mom to love it. But I had just had so many mediocre reactions in every other dress I tried on. I just couldn't bring myself to buy any other of the umpteen-billion dresses that I didn't love. I told her "You'll love the whole package." I think it will all go together perfectly.

I will always kind of look at the Erica as the one that got away, but the way I see it is not that it was the actual right dress, just that it was neck in neck with the Diana, and the Diana just had too many things going for it, significantly the price, and even more significantly; everyone who is still reading will attest to the fact that this is like my gagillionth rant about dresses. It was about time to make this damn decision and quit pussyfooting around, wasn't it?!