Found Shoes and Shirts

In a stroke of luck, this past weekend we wandered into Macys and stumbled across the most perfect Cubavera shirt (though at first we didn't want a short-sleeved shirt, but then realized it would be more comfortable for the men...in Mexico...in August...). This shirt suits our purpose perfectly and will look fabulous on all our guys.

______________________________________________

I was inspired to find the guys' shoes as well (we decided to buy all of the guys, including the officiant, matching flip flop sandals) after finding the perfect shirts, so after quite a few minutes (okay fine, hours) of searching online, I found a pair of leather, handsewn, dark brown (walnut) sandals at Sierra Trading Post - and they had all of the sizes I needed (finding 7 pair of the same shoes is amazingly difficult, even on the internet). So we ordered them - received them today (a 2-day turnaround, amazing!), and the FI loves them (he got a pair too)!
They came with a sandal bag and were very well-packaged - I would highly recommend Jeffrey Fitzhugh (the maker) and Sierra Trading Post (the shipper) to anyone. What a wonderfully productive week!

Progress!

I am so happy to write this post. It seems we may have found a suit for the FI to wear to his own wedding - hooray! We originally decided to visit Banana Republic because of past success in purchasing great-fitting, good quality suit wear there. However, this season, BR decided to implement the 'noticeable stitch' on the lapels of all its suit jacket (yack). We randomly decided to hop into Express MEN and wouldn't you know, we found this gorgeous white/ivory suit jacket and matching pants there. Ordered his size via the internet, and voila - we love it! I can envision an aqua blue handkerchief inserted into the chest pocket of the jacket...and a simple white collared shirt underneath it, with just 2 buttons un-done. (The FI still maybe wants to wear a tie though, so I'm holding back on my dreamy visions for now.) Here are a few photos of the suit. I love the idea of both of us being in all white, it's elegant and casual at the same time.

Thoughts on Veils

One element of the wedding attire I never thought I would think too much about: the veil. I figured all veils were created somewhat equally, and that there would not be too much pain or consideration in the process of finding a veil that would 'go' with my gown.

Obviously....I was so very, very wrong.

So after some botched attempts at veils - I ordered one off Ebay at the same time I bought my dress, and while it is gorgeous and beautiful and wonderous, I'm afraid it just isn't quite what I had in mind (after seeing it on with my dress). Who knew I had something in mind at all?

I traversed through cyberspace to find out how other brides have chosen their veils. Most of them have indicated that they always knew they wanted a 2-tier illusion tulle veil in the color of their dress (2 tiers so they could wear one of them as a blusher, aka, the part that hangs over the bride's face), or that they always knew they didn't want a veil at all. I read about destination brides in particular, and those getting married on the somewhat-windy beaches of Mexico had this to say: find a veil with some weight on the ends, and get one that is at least waist-length, so it isn't always blowing in and around your face, so as to prevent seeing yourself fighting with it in every single photo or video clip. A-ha, good advice! So, I began the hunt for a veil that meets these specifications.

I found one right away and thought, I better just order the darn thing. Then I realized the veil itself cost just under $200. ARE YOU KIDDING?! For a piece of tulle, that crap they put in icky prom dresses, and on prom tables and chairs, and around wedding arches? It was then that I decided to search a bit differently - I typed in "45'' bridal veil ivory" and wouldn't you know, the wonderful handmade-seller site Etsy.com came up in the first page. Someone out there was making bridal veils at a fraction of the cost of the one that I liked, and still had the style that I just loved. Stay tuned for more on whether I bought the veil or not...and how it looks with the dress!

*Photo courtesy of ETSY seller bellabridalveils

Confession

I personalized my tank top. Well, not altogether personalized, but I did stick the word "Bride" on the darn thing last night, all the while feeling a little silly and a little excited as well. I still have no idea what to do with the girls' tanks, but hopefully this is a step in the right direction! I did find very similar rhinestone stickers that say "fabulous" so perhaps that is the way to go, as opposed to writing Matron of Honor on two of them, and Bridesmaid on the other two. Hmm. Ideas? Anyone?

To personalize, or not to personalize...this is the question.

I have to confess: I am an anti-personalization bride. I have seen weddings that are personalization-happy to the point of insanity (personalized linens on the tables, personalized tags on the silverware, personalized sparklers...) and I'm afraid I do not have one single item or image that I love SO MUCH that I would stick it on every single thing in sight. Nope. Can't be done. I'm not even so desperately in love with my new last name or initials that I would put that everywhere. (I'm only moving up 1 letter in the alphabet anyhow...kidding honey!) But, with weddings does come some element of personalization, whether that means that your intials are plastered on foreheads, or you spray-paint the room in 'peppy tangerine orange'. So, I have embraced the practice in small ways. For example, fun tank tops for the bridal party ladies to wear the day of the wedding - now that is something I can get behind. After scouring the internet for possible options, and finding the average price of a personalized blingy tank to be hovering in the $25 range, I thought it might be better if I did my own personalization and bought some quality tank tops instead. JCrew had a sale...so I am now the proud owner of 4 'bright tangerine' tanks, and 1 'cerise' tank - all of which are waiting in my office to be personalized. Now the question is...with what? Iron-on bling? An aqua satin ribbon tied around one of the tank arm-holes? Printed iron-on decals? There's always the 'bridesmaid' 'bride' business, but I wanted something a bit more unique...hmm...maybe just the word 'mexico'? Or "lucky" (the new song we love for a 'theme song' for the wedding)? I don't want to put anything on there that will prevent the tank from being worn again, quite honestly. Can it be done?