Suck it in!

Today I have my first dress fitting. I have to bring my undergarments and shoes with me. When I told a male friend I had been trying on wedding undergarments, and that it was tedious, he was surprised. He thought that wedding undergarments were either sexy pieces or you'd be commando. Oh boys. Aren't they cute?

My dress is strapless and goes down a little in the back, so I can't wear my strapless bra. Instead, I got a strapless, backless, adhesive bra. It's too cups that stick to your boobs. It's so weird. It works alright, though, so I'm keeping them.

I wanted shorts to wear under my dress. However, it was hard to find shorts that wear snug enough and not a ridiculous color. So I opted for a pair of nude, "slimming" type shorts. They can't be seen under the dress, which is the point. I don't really need my lower half slimmed down, because the dress flares out right where my hips are, but like I said, it was hard finding regular shorts that you couldn't see under the dress. Most shorts I found had a waistband that you could kind of see. That's not gonna fly.

So the fitting is today. I guess I should hit the gym for one last little workout. Currently, I'm not feeling it. But I'm going to go anyway. Partly because I'm bored, haha.

So Pretty in White, Pretty When You're Faithful

So a funny note: I definitely thought that the lyric in the title was "pretty when you're painted." haha.

Anyway. I just bought a super cute dress! It will be for Easter and then for my rehearsal dinner. Cute eh?? I love it. I got some yellow accessories which will at least be for Easter. $3 at Claires.

This dress was $70, on sale at JCPenney.com for $50, and I got it on sale from the store for $42. Love deals.

I don't think it's technically a part of my budget, but if it is supposed to be, I'd count it only for half, since I really wanted an Easter dress, then decided after I found the dress that it would work for the rehearsal dinner as well. $23 for a rehearsal dinner and fun accessories? I'll take it!

So Excited!

My bridal shower is coming up soon. It's going to be within a week after Easter, I think. My mother-in-law-to-be and future little sister are going to be coming into town on Tuesday the 6th and leaving on Sunday the 11th. So sometime between then will be my shower. Probably that weekend. Oh, the power of deductive reasoning. Beyond that vague time frame, I'm in the dark.

I'm so excited! I really wish I knew when it was, but the surprise and excitement is pretty great as well. We'll play games, and there will be friends and presents and fun!

The thing I have to get over is that I can't help in any way. I'd love to do something, even bake, but I can't. It's kind of hard not being able to do anything.

But I'm excited!

100 Day

Yesterday there were 100 days left until my wedding. Now, there are 99. Goodness, we are out of triple digits. That's a wee bit intimidating. For my own piece of mind, let's review what is done:

• Location has been "reserved" along with back-up location
• Caterer has been chosen, given deposit, and meal chosen
• Baker has been chosen, given deposit, and cakes chosen
• Tent has been reserved
• Chairs are reserved
• Tables are being borrowed
• Dress is bought
• 4 of 5 bridesmaids have ordered/gotten their dress
• Invitations, etc. have been sent
• Flowers have been acquired and are being worked with
• Officiant and "day-of-planner" are chosen (Aunt and Uncle, haha)
• Vases and punch bowls are bought
• Photographer has deposit, agreement signed
• DJ and Videographer roles have been assigned

That's all the big things I can think of. The pricey things, mostly. The ones that require a deposit. So many other things to do still, but a lot can't be done until much closer. Oh man.

Your 50-Minute Hour

RoyBoy and I have completed our Marriage Counseling sessions. All in all, I think it went well. We are very in tune with each other, which comes from having communication as a strength and from the degree of closeness our relationship has. It was really cool to learn that the exercises we filled out were often similar or had the same end goal. For example, we had to write goals in each category. When we went over them together, we found that one goal in each category was practically the same. This is really good, as far as I can tell. We have a shared outlook on our life together, and we both want to accomplish the same thing. Plus, a lot of it was easy- we had either already talked about the hard stuff, or we were in agreement. There weren't any huge secrets revealed, nor any make-or-break choices to make. Again, this comes from our communication being strong.

We just have one more thing to do- a teleconference with my pastor. Then, we are all set! It's nice to have another thing done.

Spa-Day

I have decided to start giving myself little facials: mask, exfoliate, etc. I will be doing this on a weekly basis. I sort exfoiliate on a daily basis, in that I use a face-loofa everyday. It's gentle enough that my slightly-sensitive skin can handle it.

Still, on a weekly basis I am going to use a scrub that incorporates sugar, baking soda, and sesame oil with perhaps some honey.

Tonight I did my first mask in a long time, and my first mask made at home. All it was was plain yogurt and oatmeal. Sound yummy? My skin feels very soft. I think I was supposed to remove it with a steamed towel, but I was iffy about that because of the oatmeal and gooeyness, so I just splashed it off. It smelled nice... but that was probably because there was a glob on the end of my nose. :)

I have also been trying to take better care of my nails by using a nail hardener. My nails like to peel; both pointer fingers did the other day, and others were on the verge, so I chopped them all off.

They're all little things, I know, but hopefully by starting now I can make those things a habit. I am especially excited to start exercising again! Yay no crutches!

Keep it in the Family... the good way.

This wedding is going to be as inclusive as I can make it, without going crazy. That's the way a wedding should be, right?

There's a family that is like my family- they are basically my second parents, and we kids call each other brother and sister. The two older boys, whom I look up to like big brothers, are going to be in the groom's party. I asked the dad originally to man the video camera, then asked the daughter to help, because she wants to go to college for film. The mother will probably do a reading (if one is done), and that left one son. I asked him to man the iPod and announce people as needed. He won't have to do much, but I did want to include him; he is my little brother, although he's now so tall that I don't even reach his shoulder...

RoyBoy tried to reach an aunt and uncle to see if their kids could be ring bearer and flower girl. I am going to try to reach them, since he hasn't been able to.

I am disappointed that my grandmother and Nanna will not be able to come. My Granma definitely can't, as she had a stroke last summer and has not been doing well since. There's no way she could be here. My Nanna has gotten to an age where traveling is conducive to her health, so she probably can't come. The fact that they won't be able to makes me very sad. They will each get a wristlet regardless, which we be sent to them after the wedding.

RoyBoy has also lost two grandparents. We are considering a way to honor them at the wedding, such as a small table with their photos or something to show that we wish they could be there.

Are you in-tents?

Like I said in a previous post, my future in-laws were very generous in sending us a $700 check to get a tent for the reception. The tents we were looking at were going to be around that much. I talked to my Dad, and he advised going with a 30' x 30' tent. I looked at the three places I narrowed the search to, and eliminated one that may not have included set up. Then I noticed that the two places each had the right size tent, but one company was much more expensive. I'm getting my tent from a Taylor Rental location, and set up and delivery is included because the store is located one town away. I chose a simple party tent, with center poles. I put $900 in my budget for a tent. The tent is $450. Amazing. I'm glad I did more research and asked around, because without my Dad saying to go with this size it would have been $100+ more.

I'm offering to give the extra $250 back to my FMIL. It's only fair. :)

UPDATE: My FMIL said I can keep the $250 left to start an emergency fund. How generous!! :D

Make mine silk.

My mother has started making the boutonnieres! They look nice. Very simple: a single, small, bright gerbera daisy with a leaf or two tucked behind them. We also got some filler flowers for wristlets and corsages. Michael's was having a GREAT deal: buy one, get one free on all stems! KA-CHING! We got a bunch of flowers for $26. lovelovelove. We also got two huge gerbera daisies for the flower girl and ring bearer to carry. They are quite nice and a lot of fun, I think.

We need more daisies for my bouquet. We got the two stems they had, but they aren't nearly enough. I was iffy about them at first, but they've grown on me.

RoyBoy's and Dad's boutonnieres were also made: white for RoyBoy, yellow for Dad (to match me with my bright shoes!) :)

Mum has also started making with wristlet prototypes. She's never made wristlets before, but the one she was designing today was looking nice. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of wristlets. They are kind of large, and I think they are too large for my wrist. A small one I'd be ok with- maybe one flower, instead of the two+ they do. However, I'm not wearing them, so I don't care!

I also picked out which handkerchiefs will be used for each bride's maid. Well, mostly. I think my MOH, the Koala, will have one that has a pink trim. I want to see it with the bouquet first. Mine may have a light yellow trim, but I also want to see it with the finished bouquet. Since my bouquet will be white oxeye daisies with large yellow gerberas, I want to compare a yellow-trimmed hanky to a plain one and see what I like better.

I'm very excited that my mum is doing them. Each one will be special and made to complement the wearer.

Although, I almost had a stroke when mum mentioned ordering some flowers that could be $4 a stem. WHAT??? I told her no way, that's way too much! And I told her that she had to consult me where money is concerned.
Me: "We have a really tight budget!"
Mum: "Then I'll buy them!"
Me: "It doesn't matter who buys them! It's still from the budget!!"
more conversation.
Dad: "Just let it go."
Mum, to me: "Yeah, just let it go."
Dad: "No, I was talking to you."

Crazyness. After I apologized for my little freak out. "That's ok. I'm glad you freaked out. You're the calmest bride I know." lol. Ohhh mum.

So busy!

I've been busy lately. Not with wedding things really, just in general. It's slow going right now for the wedding preparation. Here's what's new:

-My future in-laws sent a generous check of $700 to pay for the tent. Yay! That means I can order it this weekend and pay for it in full, which is nice. Thanks!!

-The rehearsal dinner plans have been started, which is nice! I'm not involved really, but I'm hearing about it and I like it. It will be simple and a low country boil. Yum :)

-My photographer and I have worked out a contract. Now I just need to send him a check and the contract. Sounds good to me!

Beyond that, I've been doing a lot of thinking and little things. S'all good. My mother and I will also be doing flowers this weekend. Hey, they're silk, so why not?