While the world crashed down around the guys at the wedding venue, I was blissfully unaware getting ready with my ladies. Okay, maybe not blissfully unaware... I had stopped at the venue in the morning to drop off some flowers, and I couldn't see the top of the tent over the stone walls where it was supposed to be set up. I guess my brain went into protective mode and I remember thinking "It's okay, the walls are just taller than you remembered, that's why you can't see the tent....". I realize that literally makes no sense but at the time I fooled myself into thinking everything was fine. I mean, it was better to leave it in the hands of my very capable friends and husband-to-be than to throw myself into a stressed out tizzy worrying about it. So, bridal protective brain prevailed, and I carried on to our hotel to start getting ready for the day.
I realized later that room 119 was perfect for us since we were getting married on the 11th of September :)
I came in, hung up my dress, and opened my gift from Dan. He bought me a Frank Gehry ring from Tiffany which was gorgeous but a touch too small, so we ended up exchanging it for a Paloma Picasso necklace and a pair of earrings. The little blue bag was a BIG surprise, and his note was so sweet. It made me even more excited to see him. Awwww.
The rest of the girls trickled in and it was time to get to work with our amazing hair and make up team! I will say, it was a pretty small room for over a dozen people, but we made it work. The whole place was alive with laughter and fun (and a bit of champagne). When I look back on my photos, I love that I'm always laughing!
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| A moment with my mother-in-law. She was beside herself with excitement. |
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| My mom. I think she looks like a happy kitty in this photo. Too cute. |
I love this shot of Kathe. She's so freaking adorable.
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| Stacey has an evil smile about her GIANT curly hair. It's exactly how she wanted it! I'll admit, I freaked out a little, it was pretty huge. But the stylist was right, it settled down as time went on. |
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| David. My stylist. My dear friend. Ahhh I love you. You are simply wonderful. |
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I went upstairs to get dressed. I'm very proud of myself that I made it until about 1:30 before my first cry. My Auntie Jeanette came upstairs to tell me that she had seen Dan. He was driving around the parking lot yelling "I'M GETTING MARRIED!!!!!!!!!!!!" with a huge smile on his face. She said it was the cutest thing she'd ever seen. That made me cry!
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| This is my grandfather's WWII dress regiment lapel pin. He gave it to me on my 20th birthday and kept the matching one. I think it's my most treasured possession. I wanted to wear it for the wedding, but I wasn't sure how. He and my grandmother recently moved out of their condo and my mom and I were cleaning out the leftover "stuff". I came across this lace shoe clip which happened to match my dress perfectly, so I sewed on a brooch pin, pulled a fake pearl off the front, and attached my grandfather's pin. I loved having elements of both of them on my dress :) | | | |
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So at this point, Dan was late to come get me for our first look. I was really ready to see him and was just about peeing my pants in anticipation.
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| If you look closely you can see me on the right side of my dress peeking out looking for him! |
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| Maybe if I go out front he'll show up.... |
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| Alright, let's do this thing! |
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| My mom and sister get me zipped and buttoned in. Note to brides: If your dress has tiny buttons, bring a crochet hook to do them up!!! You'll never get them done by hand (never mind undoing them at the end of the night!). |
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| This is one of my favourite shots of the day. The love on my sister's face makes me tear up every time I see this photo. We're so different in so many ways, but our relationship is so deep and loving, I don't know what I'd do without her. |
Lessons learned while getting ready that I'll share with other brides to be:
- Make sure you eat! Have lunch brought in by the hotel you're at, or order sandwich trays from a local supermarket. I didn't eat tons, but I forced myself to eat a little and I'm glad I did!!!
- Allow yourself a bit of gray zone time. There was terrible traffic jams due to road construction that we couldn't have predicted getting to the hotel. Thankfully we had a bit of buffer time and managed to take some side roads (what did we do before the iPhone with Google maps?!?!?!) and get around it. A few of my other girls didn't have GPS though and had to wait it out. Life is unpredictable, give yourself some dead time because it'll get filled in, trust me!!!
- Have a drink. Seriously. I don't drink, but having a glass of fizzy champagne put a smile on my face and marked it as a really fun special day. I wasn't nervous, but I'm sure the champagne helped with that feeling too ;)
- If you're doing a first look, remember that your girls can finish getting ready while you're off shooting your photos. That way you don't have to get up at 6am for hair and make up appointments. I think we got started at a very respectable 11am. It was heaven especially since our venue and hotel was an hour away. I'm not a good morning person, so it was perfectly timed for me.
- Stick on bra. Yep. I said it. The cups in your dress won't do much for your ladies. I spent $75 on this Victoria's Secret sucker (literally) and I'm so happy I did! They gave me a bit of oomph although Dan was a little confused/scared when he saw them later on, LOL!
- Lose your self consciousness. So when I was getting dressed, I realized that there were two photograhers, two cinematographers, my mom and my sister standing there watching and helping me. Uhhhh dropping your robe and getting into your dress wearing very little in front of strangers is a slightly disconcerting. I never thought of that moment until I was in it. Remember that the people shooting your wedding have seen literally hundreds of brides before you, some in better shape, some in worse shape, in their underwear get into their wedding dress. Swallow your pride (or lack thereof) and get on with it, LOL! It was weird, but whatever. They're professionals!!
- Double sided tape will help to keep everything in place. Nuff said. My hair stylist's boyfriend is a wardrobe designer for movies, thank god he was there!!!
- The aforementioned crochet hook. Do it.
- Assign someone to be in charge of your purse, a change of shoes for dancing, and any other items you're going to need for the rest of the day. Pre-pack your purse with copies of your thank you speech, vows, and tissues. Trust me. Oops....
- Stop. Breathe. Enjoy it.
See you in the boy's room!
