Hello, my lovelies!
I've been a bad procrastinating DIS bride! I've been getting lots done, but I haven't been posting about it! My trip back home to Chicagoland was GREAT! I enjoyed spending time with my DM and DBFF! EXCEPT on the airplane there, I picked up what I was calling "The Head-Cold from Hell" virus! So during and after my trip I was feeling pretty miserable, and I unfortunately passed my nasty virus onto my DBFF too
OOPS! Help me in sending her pixie dust to feel better soon!!!
on Friday (8/10) I called into work... It was my ONLY day I could go Tux shopping with Michael! We went to a small shop way far away because I'd met the guy's wife at a Bridal Show back in February and they said they carried a selection of tailed tuxes to try on... I e-mailed him and *womp womp* they don't carry them anymore because they don't sell well! Drat! Well, he had ONE tailed coat for Michael to try on, and wouldn't ya know, he loved it. BUT I was in love with "Savoy" which was a beautiful silver ("heather") suit in one of the books... So... We bought both! AHH! Okay, way more than we'd expected or wanted to pay- those bits and pieces add up quickly! But since we got 2 instead of 1, he gave us $100 off one of the suits, and threw in a free tux shirt, studs and cufflinks, and two pairs of dress socks! We also bought some really cool pre-worn shoes for only $20! For the black tailed tux we ordered a "platinum" vest/bow-tie/pocket square set and for the silver suit, we ordered a royal blue vest/bow-tie/pocket square set. Now, the company we got the vests from doesn't offer "tie it yourself" bow ties! Crazy! Since Michael already knows how to tie it, we had to give them $10 each set to custom make the un-tied version! Yeesh! Well, our tux guy referred us to a tailor in Winter Park and the tailor gave us $30 off because the tux guy had called and said we were on our way! Very cool! By the way, I love that guys alterations cost much less than ladies alterations! So, at this time we're just waiting for the tailor to finish alterations and we're waiting for the vests/ties from the tux guy. After that, Michael's attire is DONE!!
Saturday (8/10) I flew into Chicago, got picked up and had some delicious moon fish that my DM picked out at Whole Foods and Grilled up at home! SO tasty! So we headed over to the hair salon and instantly got lectured by my hair stylist about the fact that half of my hair was over-processed and half of my hair was "virgin hair" that perming it would cause the baby hair to curl wonderfully, and she was afraid that the processed ends would end up like "shredded wheat" and that she'd just have to chop it all off... Now, I'm not interested in an afro for my wedding, so she's agreed to follow me around the ship with a curling iron to fix my hair when the curls fall out! So instead, I just got some high and low lights (it's not nearly as bright blonde as I was hoping for
) and she curled my hair, put it in an updo and sent me on my way- When you see photos from the bridal shower, that's the remainder of the curls she gave me on Saturday! (Sleeping with pins in your hair is NOT comfortable!)
Sunday, DM and I went to church then immediately drove back to Midway airport to pick up my DBFF/MOH. Since we were closer to a certain mall, we stopped and went shopping for my MOH's dress for my wedding. We tried lots of beautiful blue dresses on her and eventually decided on a floor-length cowl-neck royal blue dress from Lord & Taylor. When we were at Nordstrom's, we had tried on a bedazzled black satin sash with one of the dresses, so we got the idea in our head to recreate that look! Since those pre-made sashes are insanely expensive (that one was $300!) At the dress shop, we bought a gorgeous brooch, and picked up some double-sided satin ribbon from Hobby Lobby and voila- instant sash for roughly $40-$50, not $300! The Brooch I picked wasn't my DBFF's or DM's favorite of them, but it was definitely the brightest and shiniest, so it won my affections! (Am I that predictable?) Alright, so here's the photos of her dress and a mockup of the sash:
I may have accidentally fallen in love with a gorgeous pair of shiny silver peep-toe pumps while wandering around Macy's that day, and my precious mother got them for me to complete my triad of fabulous heels for my three-night cruise!
Alrighty, then after our shopping extravaganza, we dropped off our spoils, changed, and headed back to church for my bridal shower that was thrown for my by the ladies of my mom's church! They felt back that I "probably won't get many gift" because of the nature of a cruise wedding, so they gave me a shower! It was very lovely
I got a lot of cards with gift cards to Bed Bath & Beyond (I can't wait to go shopping with them!) and also a lot of cards with photos of items from my registry that were being sent directly to my house (So I didn't have to fly with them). I wound up with a handful of fun AND USEFUL kitchen gadgets, a spice rack with 5-years of free refills, and a bunch of my china and my flatware set! Another highlight of the shower was that my 5th grade teacher joined us! She was my favorite and also taught my two older brothers, so it was really cool that she could come! I really enjoyed catching up with her! Since I gave my plague to my DBFF, she hasn't had a chance to send me more photos of my shower, but here's the two that were posted on facebook
Then Monday we went to the Bridal shop for my second fitting. The bodice was perfect, the hemming just needed some adjustment. It consisted of a whole bunch of "runway" walking, back and forth and back and forth to make sure that it was pinned to the right length. Then DBFF and DM got a crash course in bustling! We were given the necklace that I ordered (I don't like the earrings that came with it) and I picked out a new set of earrings. We also picked up that gorgeous brooch for Kelly's sash. Afterwards we went to a nearby mall that housed a Sephora. We set an appointment time with a makeup artist (to hold a reservation, all you have to do is buy a $50 gift card... so essentially, the consultation is free because you're getting a gift card for the makeup you need to buy anyways!) The artist was great, everything she did looked great! I don't remember who said it, but somebody said that I looked like Belle! Well, the scariest part of that day was the total of the makeup bill- $350! Ouch, it makes me a little queasy to think about! Luckily, I won't ever have to make such a large makeup order ever again! Also while we were out, we got a few white/off white coverups to wear with each of my three white (or off white!) dresses for the cruise. I know it'll be September in the Bahamas, but it'll be air conditioned inside and I get chilly easily! One was a loose shrug on sale at Chicos, one was a long-sleeved thin sweater from Express, and a sheer shawl with rosettes on the ends from Charming Charlie's (OMG, I wish I had that store down here!). All of the new photos of my dress are on my DBFF's camera, so those photos will have to come at a later date! For now, here's my wedding jewelry!
Tuesday I went shopping with DBFF escorted my my mom's best friend. It was a lot of window shopping, but I did end up getting a gorgeous satin kimono robe from Victoria's Secret to wear while I'm getting ready on my wedding day! I'd intended to buy a solid hot-pink robe to have "Bride" bedazzled on the back, but instead I got a gorgeous cherry-blossom patterned robe, so writing on the back would get lost. Luckily the color looks good with my pink heels! Here's a photo for you, I apologize for the horrible bathroom lighting!
than after shopping, we went back to the bridal shop for my final fitting, walked back and forth several more times, had another trial run with the corseting and the bustling! My MOH ended up taking lots of photos of the bustle process to refer to at a later date! Then we bagged up my dress and my crinoline skirt and we left! My dress is now MINE!
I'm not exactly sure which night we worked on the floral, but my DM, DBFF and I all spent a few hours remaking the corsages. The additional corsages (for sisters-in-law and wives of our dads) that the florist made were these pastel pink roses with dingy-pink hydrangeas- GROSS! Instead we worked blue and bright pink hydrangeas together with some iridescent bead details from Hobby Lobby. Since I added the beads to the corsages, I decided to rework all of the boutonnieres, too! I think the beads jazzed them up a bit! If you know me at all, you know that I'm a lover of shiny details! Here's the floral:
One of the bouquets is for my MOH, and the other one is "backup" in case something dreadful happens to mine... The current plan is to set it on the cake table to add a nice touch, and also to bring it along to our table at Royal Palace that night as a "centerpiece". Hmm... What else, what else... Ah, I got the rest of the crystal pendants! I'll include a photo of the blue starfish one... I hope it goes well with my MOH's outfit! My brain is really just so full of tiny details that I can't even imagine it! I'll also include pictures of the flower girl dresses- Michael has photos of the girls IN the dresses, but you'll have to wait for my wedding photos to see that
Hummm Humm Humm... I can't really think of anything else to include right now! The projects I need to complete: About 10-15 more soaps, about 10 more bags need to be painted. I need to take all of these images for the door magnets to Kinko's to be printed, laminated, cut out, then magnetized... OOH and my mom bought 50 ring pops for about $10 or $15 from one of her stores, so that'll be a fun addition to my favor bags! Alright ladies! You take care of yourselves! I've got another 14-hour work day ahead of me- I picked up an opening Pretzel Kitchen shift, followed directly by a stocking shift at Fantasmic! Luckily after that, I only have Fantsmic stocking shifts, which start in the late afternoon which gives me time to get things accomplished beforehand! Wish me luck! I'll try to keep you updated as things happen instead of another MONDO-HUGE post like this one! I hope you enjoyed my pictures!!! <3
Hopefully I get everything done tomorrow without being late to work!! On the bright side, While making all of these soaps for this gift basket, I'm also conveniently making soaps for my wedding favors- BONUS!!! I think after this batch (or maybe one more) I'll be done with favor soaps! Which is GREAT because I'm almost out of soap base!!! 
