Strange Things Happen...

...when Miss Doe picks up her wedding dress. Does anyone remember what happened last time I went to pick up my wedding dress? Yeah, i'm talking about the time I accidentally got locked out of my house and wasn't able to grab necessary items such as a camera, shoes...and oh yes, proper underwear. 

Well, last week we went to pick up my dress from my final fitting to take it home for good. Only this time, we had somewhat of the opposite issue. Let me explain further.

We had spent a good hour or so in the bridal salon. I tried my dress on, spent a good amount of time in it, and had a few more pieces of my dress pressed. As we walked out, what do we see but my mom's car with the trunk wide open. She has a Ford Edge, which means when the trunk is open...the entire car is open. Apparently we had left it like that and her car was wide open the entire time we were inside. We looked around, and luckily the kind citizens left it alone. 

(Although I am quite sure that at one point some stray cats took shelter in there, and possibly the random dude I saw hanging out at McDonald's on our way there. But i'm just guessing.)

Here's the kicker, when we tried to close the trunk...it popped back open. We tried shutting it again, and once again it flew back open. We did this a couple dozen more times, all while trying to keep our composure and not die of laughing. Something about this situation was oddly hilarious. 

Finally after shuffling some things around and pushing a few unknown buttons, we were able to get the trunk closed. HOWEVER, there was no way I was putting my dress in the back of that car. I could just see it flying open on the freeway and there goes my freshly altered dress.

Which means the only suitable place was in the backseat with me and one of my bridesmaids. 

Garsh that was some funny stuff. Almost as funny as Miss Turkey's situation, but on a Northern California level. 

Forty five minutes later we were all home safe and sound. If you were wondering, no the trunk did not fly open on our way home. I can promise you though that if my dress had been back there...I bet you it would have.

I just know it.

Have you run into any interesting situations while out doing bridal things?

Bouquet After The Wedding

As I start preparing all of the small things that go along with the wedding, there are a few that have left me frustrated. My latest obsession has been trying to figure out what to do with my bouquet after the day is over. This is a decision that usually needs to be made a head of time so that you can prepare your bouquet before you leave on your honeymoon and it wilts away while you are gone.

When I was younger I use to save all of the flowers Mr. Buck had ever got for me. At one point I put all of the dried petals into a frame.

That's great and all, but I don't think this is what I want to do with my wedding bouquet.

Many girls decide to go the preservation route, such as this:

{Image via Heller and Reid}

This is a wonderful option because it perfectly preserves your bouquet, and you can also include such things as your wedding invitation and grooms boutonniere in it. Unfortunately, these run anywhere from $400 and up. I am having a difficult time justifying that cost.

Some decide to go an eclectic route and turn their petals into jewelry. This is a more affordable option.

{Image via Blooms to Beads}

That is something very unique, but the only downfall is that you lose the look of the petals and the bouquet. 

I have tried to look into how to freeze dry my own bouquet, but I can't seem to find any way to do this with out potentially destroying it. I can only imagine what my potential DIY freeze dried bouquet might look like. I have a feeling it might frighten anyone that walks into my house, so I best stay away from that option.

I would like to know from all of you what you did or plan to do with your bouquet after the wedding. Do you plan to just toss your bouquet, or do something special with it? 

A Special Date For A Marriage License

Yesterday marked a big day for Mr. Buck and I. We celebrated ten years of being together, and decided it would be as good a day as any to go apply for our marriage license.

I have to say, it was incredibly easy. For some reason I built it up in my head that this was going to be some long cumbersome process where we would have to stand in line forever at the court house. Not so. There was nobody in line, and the entire thing took approximately fifteen minutes.

The only things you need for California is a valid photo ID and your parents birth names as well as their birth state. Oh yeah, and $97. Which if I recall hearing the cost of other states, this seems a little high.

I told my mom and dad that I couldn't believe how expensive it was. They agreed, and my dad continued with, "well your mom was a bargain then back in the eighties!" Dad humor again, at its finest.

The one thing that is cool is that yesterdays date of April 19 is on our marriage license, because that was the day it was issued. From here on out we will forego our April 19 celebrations since we will have a marriage anniversary to celebrate instead. However, I think it was a nice and subtle way to tie in the April 19 date.

I can hardly believe it has been a decade since we first got together. Now the wedding is just next month. Time does in fact fly right on by.

Did anyone else decide to apply for their marriage license on a particular date? 

Zappos Saves The Day

Remember way back when I talked about flower girl dresses? I let my flower girl choose her favorite out of those dresses. From there I had planned on purchasing the dress. Well, life got a hold of me and before I know it we are a month away from the wedding...and I still had not bought the dress.

No big deal, right? If you buy from Nordstrom and not a bridal store, you don't have to worry about waiting weeks for it to arrive. I should have just bought the dress months ago when I was thinking about it, because guess what? They were out of stock.

Shoot. That's no fun.

I was not happy, no sirree. I love Nordstrom and it definitely was not their fault I waited so long, but I was bummed. Then a friend of mine mentioned to me that I should try Zappos. I responded with eh, I don't know. She encouraged me to give it a shot because they had free shipping.

Well, I could handle that. I went on and what do ya know? Not only did they have that dress in stock but there was also free shipping. But not just any ol' free shipping, free overnight shipping.

Well bust my buttons! That's a horse of a different color! (Wizard of Oz, anyone?)

I was overjoyed, this was beyond fantastic service. I started my morning gloomy and sad because the flower girl dress I had wanted was out of reach. I ended the following day with having that dress in my hand...all thanks to Zappos.

After all this fuss I should probably show you the dress that had my feathers ruffled. It's all kinds of blush pink and tulle fun goodness.

For anyone looking for a particular dress that they might not be able to find somewhere else, I highly recommend giving Zappos a shot. They have nearly everything you could possibly need and you cannot beat their shipping policy!

Have you ever been pleasantly surprised by a company?

The Time Miss Doe Forgot Her Hair Trial

Yes, you indeed read that right. I had my my hair trial scheduled months in advance and what do I do? I forgot about it. This is not like me whatsoever. I keep all my appointments scheduled and I never miss one, especially a hair appointment. Even more important a bridal hair appointment. This was bride brain to.the.max.

Last Saturday I was enjoying my day very much. No big plans, just a few errands here and there with the occasional wedding project planned. I had just gotten out of the shower when I received a call from my hair dresser wondering where I was. I was confused, what does she mean? My hair appointment is not until next weekend. I wrote it on my calendar, so obviously I am right.

No. I was wrong. Way wrong.

My hair appointment was in fact that day, and I was already fifteen minutes late. I was so embarrassed, and I quickly threw on some clothes and I was out the door. I furiously tried to dry my wet shower hair by cranking up the AC and hanging my head out the door like a happy little puppy.

Luckily I only live about five minutes away from my hair salon, so in the end I was about twenty minutes late. I flew in the door like a flipping tornado and pronounced my arrival by again apologizing a million times over. I had never been late to a hair appointment let alone almost missed one entirely.

We were all good though and on we went with my hair trial. After I finally caught my breath and cursed myself for having such a scrambled brain at this point in my life.

Enough with that though and on with the hair trial. Here is the final result that I think might be the winner.

I kid, I kid. Of course this was before she started to pull all of my hair up. Here is he real final result:

With the veil that I have yet to show you:

Here is the thing. I don't love it.

It looks great and she did my hair exactly as I asked her. However, I felt like I have worn my hair like this a million times at different proms and what not. Nothing felt overly special to me and I did not feel bridal. (Besides of course the white veil. That could make anything feel bridal.)

If my hair were like this at the wedding, I probably wouldn't complain. I also wouldn't be particularly overjoyed, just content. I want to love my hair and I would like it to make a statement. It is back to the drawing board, and if she can squeeze me in before the wedding then I am going to have another trial. 

My hair dresser has fairy hands so I know that she is able to do any hair style that I come up with. I just need to find the right one. Oh yeah, and not almost entirely miss my next appointment like a scrambled bride that I am quickly becoming. ;)

What's Up, Post Office?

I have been having a bit of an issue the past few weeks with the post office. Between the massive cost of invitations and stamps, I really was not interested in forking out more money so that the invitations could be hand cancelled. (Meaning they do not run the invitations through their sorting machine.) While for the most part I would say that was a good call because the majority of our guests received the invitations with no problems. The envelopes were a little worn, but the invitation itself was just fine. However, we did have one casualty:

The postcards that came back were also not looking too hot. Luckily, we are the only ones that see them in this rugged condition.  

I have to wonder though, what on earth is going on over there at the post office. I have visions of Buddy the Elf sorting my invitations himself.

(Video via You Tube)

In all seriousness, I realize that I made the choice to just drop them in the mail and not worry about hand cancelling. Thus, it is my fault that some of them got banged up. It is a bit of a bummer, but it's a lesson learned. 

Did you have your invitations hand cancelled? Did any become lost in transition?

Brideslaves?

I have to say, I have been very lucky to have such great bridesmaids. I have tried my absolute hardest to not be anything even remotely close to a bridezilla. I can only hope that my bridesmaids can attest to that. While my wedding might be the most important thing on my mind, I realize it is not exactly their top priority with their own busy lives. I really had no expectations of them, as I am sure they had none of me.

The way we roll is pretty laid back. I have kept them informed about different appointments and what not, and if they are free to come along then they will. No hurt feelings and zero issues if they can't.

They were able to choose their own dress which means they had complete control over the cost. They know there will be a hair and makeup artist available should they choose to have that done. If they want to, great. If they don't, that's cool too.

To be quite honest the best unspoken policy we have had is to be completely open and honest with each other about everything from shoes to the bachelorette party.

I believe this great system we have all stems from all that I have bore witness to during my travels to bridal shows, shops and the like over the past sixteen months of our engagement.

I remember during one of my first bridal outings with my mom and sister, I had what started as a lovely conversation with another bride to be. We had been discussing things such as dresses, shoes and so on. When the conversation then turned to bridesmaids. She told me that she is forcing all of her bridesmaids to tan before her wedding...at their own cost. If they don't want to, then they don't have to be in her wedding.

I thought to myself yeesh, that sounds fairly demanding. Maybe I am missing something and that's just how it is? I had never personally been in a wedding before so I was not completely up to date on how things go.

Then a few months later, an acquaintance of mine who is also getting married, told me that she was going to be "firing" one of her bridesmaids. I did not know that a bridesmaid could be fired.

Maybe she had to hire some bridemsaids, who knows? With her attitude, I am thinking that might have been the case.

Her reasoning was that her bridesmaid wasn't available to help with any of her DIY projects. Thus, she's out of the bridal party. I quote, "she should want to help me put together my paper lanterns and fold the origami place cards."

Those words actually came out of her mouth. I know, I was shocked too. How I held in mounds of laughter is beyond me.

My question is, since when did bridesmaids turn into brideslaves?

The more and more I immerse myself into the the wonderful world of weddings, the more I realize this has unfortunately become fairly common. I mean hello, have you seen the bridesmaids version of Say Yes To The Dress: Atlanta? Enough said.

I became aware of this ghastly bridal behavior fairly early on in my engagement. This made me super aware of how I treated others around me. I am most certainly not trying to toot my own horn, but I think it is important to keep everything in perspective. I am sure I have had my moments, but I have tried to remain very conscientious.

It is crucial to remember that these girls (and guys!) are your sisters and friends. Not only do they have the honor of standing next to you on your wedding day, but you also have the honor of standing next to them.

Maybe I am being ultra critical, but where do you stand on this issue? Do you have any expectations of your bridesmaids? Have any bridesmaid horror stories that you might be able to share?

My Re-updated Updated Project

Although my cork board collage was headed in the right direction, it still had not met its final destination. I was still bummed out that I wasn't able to add burlap over the cork. Until my post last week about my updated project, Hive member LK2511 suggested that I use a credit card to push the burlap underneath the frame. I thought I could give that a shot. Since I am at it, I might as well change up the whole thing.

It suddenly hit me that I should add words to the board with wooden letters. That way it will match the look of my table numbers. I decided to also remove the pictures of us when we are younger, because it was no longer relevant to what I was trying to achieve.

I first cut a large piece of burlap and put it over the board. I took a credit card and started pushing the burlap underneath the frame...and what do ya know, it worked! I did take an exacto knife afterwards though to tidy it up a bit.

As for the words I wanted to add, I decided to use 'Better Together' since that is our first dance song. I painted these letters to match the frame of the board. I also decided to add photo corners to all of the photos to give it a finished look.

I was using tacky dots for all of this. I thought this was a great idea. That is until I came in the next morning and my project looked like this:

I instantly pictured the wicked witch from Wizard of Oz, screaming "i'm melting, i'm melting!"

I had to reevaluate since something stronger was needed to bond my project together. I ended up using mod podge and that worked beautifully. I slathered it on the back of the letters, and just lightly brushed it on the photos.

Here is the FINAL cork board collage. I promise you, I am done now. Unless you have any other suggestions for me?

Okay no, please don't. I can't do this to myself again.

What do you think of my re-updated updated project? Have you drove yourself crazy trying to perfect a particular project?

Doe Invitation Reveal

One week ago, we did this:

I can hardly believe that our wedding invites are off into the great yonder. For so long I have been thinking, planning and obsessing over these invitations. Now they have run along to their proper places on our guests refrigerators, mail bins, or wherever it is they keep such things. 

Before I show off these beauties, I have to properly cite the designer. Her name is Vanessa Ottenbreit and she is the owner of VO Handmade.  Her work is phenomenal, and I am incredibly impressed with the way she handles her business. She was beyond easy, fun and professional to work with. I honestly cannot say enough fantastic mushy-gushy words about her. 

Okay, enough with the love fest. Let's get on to the invitation reveal. 

When I discovered these invitations, I was immediately fired up because I knew these were perfect for us. 

First up, the envelopes alone are enough for me to jump up and down with excitement. The pearl shimmer lives up to all of my girly hopes and imagination. 

Inside of this shimmery goodness is a black metallic pocket fold sealed with a sticker that is adorned with our first initials inside of a carved heart. 

We decided to keep the pearl shimmer throughout the rest of the invitation suite. I obviously couldn't get enough of it with the envelopes. At one point during the design process I exclaimed that all paper must shimmer! And shimmer is what I got. 

Besides getting a little crazy with things that shimmer, I adored the fact that I could have a tree on our invitations. Not just any tree, but one that resembles an almond blossom tree. When I think of spring in Northern California, my mind automatically envisions luscious pink almond blossom trees. I am enthralled that she was able to so closely mimic that beauty. 

The wording on the invitations was a bit tricky at first. We wanted both parents names, and wording it just right took a few edits. I never imagined it would take so long to figure this element out, but I guess that's how most wedding planning seems to roll. I think we hit the nail on the head though, and it seems to flow nicely. 

Ahhh, the famous clever RSVP wording. I went back and forth on this so many times. I wanted something with a little flair, but not to the point that I would confuse people. I thought this was cute and fun, while still getting the point across. 

Our venue also provided us with a stack of cards to include in our invitations. These cards have very useful information on it such as directions, weather and other important features. Go Monte Verde Inn for being so helpful and detailed!

I am very happy with the way these turned out. Ultimately I think they perfectly reflect the style and vision that we are trying to achieve.

What do you think of my invitations? Were you pleasantly surprised with how your wedding invitation process went?