Okay so color me naive, but how does a garter belt work?

I've been trying to decide on a very personal problem: what to wear under my wedding gown. The main things, petticoat and longline bra, I'm buying from the bridal salon. I know the rest is a bit personal, but I'm pretty torn.

On one hand, I'm chubby. My thighs...well, they rub. I usually wear shorts under dresses and skirts. Pantyhose will cover them. But...I'm going to be pretty hot in that heavy gown, and the top of the pantyhose will probably be under my longline bra. Making using the restroom more difficult than necessary.

My other option is a garter belt and thigh-highs. I have honestly never worn one and have no idea how it works. Yes, I know, duh. After asking around on Twitter I think it'll work out. Easier to go to the restroom, a little, well...cooler. And yes, sexier. ;)

I know, this all may be a bit TMI, but I wouldn't mind some feedback from ladies who have been there! Please?

Album of most of my finalized #wedding details if anyone is interested: http://bit.ly/9PSNK0

It's really all coming together! I have centerpieces, boutonnieres, corsages, bouquets, and filled vases. Our outfits are complete, the alterations have begun. I am SO excited with how everything looks!

Centerpieces:

My gorgeous bouquet:

My GOWN!

I'm just going to concentrate on that and not how much I have left to do, m'kay? Cuz I'm kinda panicking. Just a bit.

Which bridal bouquet do you like better?

I worked long and hard on my bouquets recently.  Ran out of ribbon and had to buy more.  Each bouquet took about 3 yards of ribbon to wrap the stems!  So here are the three bridesmaid bouquets:

The yellow one is Beth’s, the orange one is Allie’s, and the red one is my sister Katy’s, as maid of honor.  I put the white rose in the middle of hers to make it more distinct.  So I can’t decide whether to have a little burst of those colors in the middle of my bouquet:

…or keep it all traditional bridal white:

Thoughts?

Simon and I are casual people.  I enjoy the occasional fancy get-together, but in general we’re very laid-back.  I knew when my aunt asked me about my shower that I wanted it to be co-ed, as it’s Simon’s wedding too!  And with guys there, you don’t want anything too frilly, so I requested a BBQ.  I received the official invitation recently, and it’s super sweet.  So of course I needed a new dress, even though it’s casual, because that’s me!  ;)  I went shopping at Kohl’s with a cute pair of new shoes to match it to: aqua wedge espadrilles.  I ended up with this adorable number:

It’s far trendier than my usual style, so it was something fun and different.  It was $60, marked down to $45, then I had a $10 coupon.  Woot!  I love it.  I even bought Spanx and a bandeau bra to go under it so it looks even better, lol.

In other news, I’m officially down 30 lbs. total, woo hoo!  Hoping for another 10 by the wedding.  My first gown fitting is Thursday, so pretty much while you’re reading this blog.  I can’t wait!  I miss my gown!

Taking my FMIL shopping!

Saturday was pretty awesome. I took Simon's mom to the mall for her birthday present: her mother of the groom dress! We started out at Macy's and she tried on a couple that I liked (she totally left it up to me!) but had sort of busy prints. Then we hit Nordstrom on my aunt's suggestion, but their Women's section (size 14+) was minimal and had only one outfit that was almost what we were looking for (neutrals). Fail. I decided to give Sears a shot next, and I'm glad I did.

We found FIVE appropriate dresses there and she tried them on. One was particularly flattering and comfy and was even the right length (she's almost as short as me). It's a sleeveless dress and short-sleeved jacket in cream with satin trim. My dress is white so I'm not worried her outfit is too “bridal,” It's a deep ivory, almost yellow. The price tag said $100, which was fine, but I knew we had been digging around the clearance section. I was still shocked when it rang up for only $30! Sweet!

On Sunday, Simon and I went out to do some errands. We knew we had to look at tuxes ASAP, so I called them and asked if we needed an appointment and they said no. We swung over to Men's Wearhouse. We had originally planned on getting the deal where if you rent 5 tuxes, the groom's is free (to keep!), but since I already have ties and don't want vests, we wouldn't be renting a full outfit and therefore wouldn't qualify. It's $22 less to have no tie or vest rental, so we figured we'd save the money. We were going to rent them for our dads to reach the minimum number, but without the deal, it was easier to just get Simon's and the groomsmen's. The dads can just wear suits they own.

We had been looking to get a more suit-like tux, but the standard rentals were, well...standard tuxes. Since the gown I chose is far fancier than I had originally planned on, we figured regular tuxes are fine. So we chose the Calvin Klein 2-button, which is a nice light-weight fabric, important to Simon.

This will be Simon's tie:

This will be the groomsmen's tie:

The example photo looks like a similar tux, so it gives a pretty good idea of what it will look like. I also ordered matching pocket squares from Dessy, where I bought the ties from, since it looks good on a tux. Dessy makes the bridesmaids dress we bought, so the men's and women's colors will match perfectly. SO glad to check tuxes off my list!

I started playing around on VistaPrint and decided I wanted posters to go on the guest and photo tables. I was going to make something, but these look so nice and tie in the leaf logo I've been using on everything.

This one would go on the table at the entrance to the reception, to encourage people to write us a message and take a favor:

This one would go on the table with the Fuji Instax camera I bought:

What do you think? Does the wording work on each? They're 11”x17”, and I'll mount them to foam board then prop them up on the pretty silver easels I bought that turned out too big for my photo canvases. Glad I found a purpose for them!

Wow, is time flying. I can't believe it's in less than 3 months!!!

Oh my...that's a lotta wedding stationery...

Last Thursday night, I sat down to this monstrous pile of stationery:

I had invitations, their envelopes, RSVP cards, their envelopes, museum tickets, inserts explaining the museum tickets, their envelopes, return address labels, guest address labels, and stickers to seal the back of the whole thing. Whew!

It took a little while just to get myself organized, then I went at it. It took me that evening and part of the next day, but I got them all together:

All neat and pretty. I mailed them out Tuesday, July 6, so they'll arrive just about 3 months before the wedding. I know I'm pretty early, but I have so many out of state guests that I want to give them plenty of time.

My aunt asked me the other day what I want to do about my shower. I decided on a co-ed wedding shower, rather than an all-girls bridal shower. I always thought that was a bit silly, to leave the groom out. It's his wedding too! So we started debating dates, but then I remembered Simon's mom is having her other hip replaced in August. She has to be there! So I called her and found out it's August 16. To make things more complicated, Simon's dad works in PA for 2 weeks, then works from home in CT for 2 weeks, so we need to try and do it while he's home. We need to call him and confirm, but it looks like the only weekend we can do it is August 14-15. We're just going to do a simple BBQ at someone's house. My aunt is taking care of all the details, which is a relief (and a bit obvious, as we can't throw it ourselves!). I just emailed her a list of names and addresses. And the best part is, that's right before our 3 year anniversary, August 18! The last “dating” anniversary we'll celebrate. How time flies!

Omg I think I found my wedding gown. For reals.

Wow. Saturday was quite the wedding day. It started out at 11 am with my appointment at Precious Memories. They were very nice; it was definitely a step up from David's Bridal, but not intimidating. My saleswoman Christine helped me in and out of every gown. She let me pick some out, she picked some out, she changed her mind about some she picked out for me and picked out more. I only ended up trying on four or five overall, because the second to last gown was...wait for it...THE GOWN.

Yes, that's right. The most indecisive bride ever MADE A DECISION.

I was worried when I first walked in, because with my wedding date of October 9 they said most gowns would barely make it in time even with a rush. Well, that's what samples are for. This gown just about fits me in the sample size, and as it's a corset back, it's very flexible.

So what did I choose? Ta da! The gown!

Behold my badly Photoshopped masterpiece to get the saleswoman out of the shot. ;) The gown I chose is Tenille by Maggie Sottero in diamond white. Heavily beaded and pearled to the waist with three beaded pick-ups on the A-line skirt. Sweetheart neckline...which is about the only original gown requirement I had that this gown ended up having. Of course the saleswoman picked it out; I never would have. But the woman is a genius. I LOVE IT.

This is the face that tells it all. I NEED this gown!

Even Simon didn't try to talk me out of it. He talked me out of the MUCH less expensive gown I tried on after. This is a real BRIDAL gown, he told me. He was right!

So that's it. I slept on it, they held it for me, and I placed the deposit on Monday. She gave me 20% off as it's a sample and last year's style. It's everything I said I wouldn't get. It's a real designer wedding gown from a real bridal salon. Now if only I hadn't been SO STUBBORN about being different, I may have gotten it ages ago. But...lesson learned! See the whole album of pics of the dress here.

Our day continued with a trip to Barmakian Jewelers in the afternoon. I was just curious to look at some rings, no rush to make a decision on one yet. I wasn't looking for diamonds; I have enough of those on my engagement ring. However, with the style of my ring, the saleswoman suggested either a completely plain band, or a simple diamond one. An engraved band wouldn't work with my ring. The plain bands were, well...plain. Too plain. So I gave in to looking at diamond ones. This one was totally gorgeous:

The diamonds don't go all the way around, just the length of the diamonds on my engagement ring. It wasn't prohibitively expensive, and I really do love those rings together. So that will most likely be my wedding ring! What a productive day!