Sock it to Me

Ya'll know how I feel about custom items. If I cant find it in the stores, and I cant make it myself, I have no problem turning to someone else to make it for me.


These little socks are no exception. Aren't they adorable?

When I picked out the flower girl dresses, I knew I wanted them to wear ruffly socks. In a perfect world, they'd have a teal ruffle. Well, I never found any teal ruffly socks. And I wasnt about to spend a whole lot of money on these little socks that they might wear only once (famous last words, right?). So I popped over to Etsy and found BRKids. When I contacted her, I told her I had some teal ribbon I wanted to use (because the color needed to be spot on), and would be willing to mail it to her. She told me that she would do the 3 pairs of socks I needed for $6. Yup, $6 for all three pairs. Add a few dollars (literally) to the pot, and I was able to get 3 pairs of custom little girl socks for less than $10.

I was a little hesitant about the quality when she gave me the price, but turns out that worrying was completely unnecessary. The socks are a nice high quality cotton, the ruffle is sewed on very professionally, and she finished the edges off so the ribbon wont ravel. Long story short, if the girls are interested, they will have these socks for many years to come.

Have I ever told you about my love for dainty little girl clothing? No? Hm, maybe on the next blog. Just know, these little socks are making me swoon.

♥

Mama's got a brand new dress

One of the highlights of my whirlwind FL shower weekend was that I finally got a chance to eye-ball MamaP’s dress gown!


I wanted her to try it on so that I could snap a pic, but we ran out of time. Hope the catalog pic will tide you over til October. MamaP found this lovely while dress shopping in Ft. Lauderdale with my Godmommy a couple months ago. The color is called “Praline” which I think is fitting and will be very pretty next to my light ivory, and the dark teal that the ‘maids are wearing. I can’t remember the exact dollar amount, but the gown is coming in well under $200, and that includes the cost of the alterations! The seamstress at the store she purchased it from is going to convert the shawl that comes with it to a short-sleeved bolero jacket (ya’ll that know MamaP know she loves her bolero jackets) that looks kind of like this.


The best part? Her ensemble will totally coordinate with mine. From the color to the design, its like her dress is the fabulous, non-bridal, more mature equivalent of mine. Hmm, that’s actually a pretty good definition of MamaP – the fabulous, non-bridal more mature version of me.

::giggles::

♥

I Got Shoes!

Remember how I was telling you yesterday about my secret fret list? Well, I am happy to report on another item that has recently seceded from said list: my shoes.

Yes, I know. I love shoes. And I used to talk about shoes ALOT. Then I decided that I was going to wear shoes I already own - fabulous teal peep toes. But then I came to my senses and realized that despite our ceremony being only 30 minutes long, that would mean 30 minutes of me standing still in heels. Not a good look. Not going to happen.

So I solicited the assistance of my fabulous honor maids to help me find shoes that were flat, allowed me to have my toes out (can we say cute pre-wedding pedi), but still gave off a "bridal" vibe. In my mind that should have been easy to find, but I was having a really hard time finding a viable option. MnOH Krissi really came thru for me, and found these little darlings on Piperlime.

{found them here}

Before I found shoes, I was really dreading having to buy them. See, the best part about wearing shoes you already own is that you've already paid for them (duh!). However, I cant get too worked up about these little things - they only cost me about $30. Cute and budget friendly is definitely my kind of shoe.

I have to start my dress fittings within the next couple of weeks as I'm told they could take up to 4 weeks to complete, and now I'm ready. My shoes were the last thing I needed to get. Now when I go for my fitting, the seamstress and I will be able to adequately decide if Elle needs to be hemmed, and how to arrange her bustle.

65 days to go! Yay shoes!

♥

Alchemy for Arshela

See this little dress? This is the dress I ordered off Etsy for my little cousin Arshela who is unofficially serving as our Head Flower Girl. No, I haven't decided If I'm putting that title in the program yet, so she's still unofficial - lol. What happened was, remember those adorable flower girl dresses I found at The Children's Place? The ones that were $25, but by the time we ordered them, they had gone down to $18? Well, one look at the dress ordered for Arshela proved that her's would be too short. She's long and lean, so the around part is rarely an issue. Its the length. And for her, extra length is always appreciated.

At this point, the dresses were no longer available on the Children's Place website, so I knew it was time to exercise my original option: having the dress made. And I knew exactly what I wanted it to look like. White (like the other little girls) with a teal sash (like the 'maids). In my mind, Arshela's dress would be the imbetween point, and the dress that brings the ladies dresses together.


As I mentioned earlier, I turned to Etsy. I used their Alchemy function, which basically lets you put in a request for an item. Any and everything can be requested: jewelry, clothing, wedding stuff, artwork, you name it. How it works is you set up a request, outlining what you want and providing as many details as you know, including how much you want to spend. After you complete your request, Etsy sellers (think: members that have stores on the site) bid on your project, outlining their store policies, the details of the item and the sale, and the projected cost. You can also designate how long you have your request is active, as well as shut your request down when you think you've gotten enough bids. At that point, the choice is yours. You have conversations (think: emails on the Etsy site between you and the seller) to ask further questions or get more details, and (hopefully) ultimately find a seller that can make your item.

I went through the Alchemy process with Arshela's dress, and I was very specific in my request. I wanted a solid white cotton dress that looked like the other flower girl dresses, and a teal satin sash to adorn it. I wanted the cost to include the material and labor for the dress, and I would send the satin material for the sash. Its the same material that were making the table runners out of that matches the 'maids dresses marvelously. I was looking for the best price and spent some time looking through potential bidder's sites to see examples of their work. I ended up going with Cissy of CissysSewnSew. She was a dream boat to work with and made exactly what I wanted.


Here's a closeup of the bodice. The benefit of having the dress made is that I was able to provide Cissy with Arshela's measurements, and it be made to fit her: long and lean. She's bound to grow a little between now and October, so we added a little extra to accommodate that.

I love this little dress on so many levels. I love that it bridges the gap between the big and little girls. I love that it was budget friendly. I love that it will be long enough. I love that it looks exactly like I imagined it would. I love this little dress so much that I almost wish I had all the little girls' dresses made.

Almost.

Thankfully MamaP took the lead and arranged with Granma to get Arshela's measurements. If it weren't for her, or if we had to do this times 4, it would have been a much larger undertaking. And maybe not quite worth it. Overall, I am very happy with the way this dress situation turned out. I'm even happier to check female bridal party attire off my list. And trust, all a bride in the double digits (87 days to go) wants to do is check things off her list.

Checkety check check!
♥

Bows for the Bride

Happy Monday! Today I'm flying out to Seattle for my job and will be here all week. The PHI has family up that way (actually along a good chunk of the west coast), but I've never been to the state of Washington so I'm pretty excited. But anyway, I'm stopping by today to talk shower attire. Specifically, accessories.


I've pretty much decided that I'm wearing this white dress to my Florida shower. I got it ages ago, and am excited to finally wear it. But I need something to jazz it up a bit.

I have my eyes on this one:


I think its the bows. And that netting. Can we all take a minute to swoon? Remember on Friday, I told you I was really feeling the brooches I got for MdOH Dani and MnOH Krissi. Well, I think I'm going to order one for me. Ana Alicia is still running her buy 1 get 1 half off promotion, so getting 2 is uber tempting. But I'll be good and resist. And just order one. Just not sure about the color.

{click to enlarge; source}
The felt Ana Alicia uses comes in about a gazillion colors. Like too many colors. If you're curious, the brooches are in willow and white. I'm not terribly wild about the beige in the picture, but I do like that netting on top. Either way, I'm in the custom order realm.

Back to colors. I need some help. My "short" list is:

• verona
• midnight
• carribbean
• willow
• japonica pink
• melon pink
• geranium
• sunflower
• peat

Which is obviously unmanageable - lol. So can you help a sista out? Real quick, let me know which color you'd choose. If you could text me, tweet me, or just leave it in the comments, I'd really really appreciate it, k.

♥

p.s. In case you're worried I left you hanging while I pretend to be bicoastal, don't fret. I've lined up a lil sumthin sumthin to tide you over while I'm away.

Meet Elle

This is Eleanor.
I call her Elle for short.
She is my wedding gown.
And I am absolutely in love with her.


Right now, she lives in my closet in the guest bedroom (there are 2 of them). Next to my coats (including that my fave one, that tan plaid one that MamaP wore in graduate school). Yes, the PHI already knows she's in there. He's the one that carried her in the house. She's pretty heavy.

I haven't decided how much more of Elle you'll see before the wedding. But for those of you that have been with me since Dress 0, I wanted to prove that I had in fact purchased a dress I love and will be wearing down the aisle.

Besides, at this point, I don't have time to replace her if I wanted to.
Which I don't :)

♥

DIY Week Drive-By: Hair Flower

Whereas most of my DIY Week posts are long and explanation laden, there are at least a couple projects that I can show you without all that. A little text a few pictures will suit them just fine. Enter the drive-by post.

Think of these posts as the equivalent of you coming over to my house to hang out, and I pop up suddenly from the sofa to say "ooh, lemme show you something real quick."*

So, lemme show you the flower I made to wear in my hair for the wedding.

{meet my model, my favorite bear Lorenzo}
This was yet another project that I was not willing to pay very much for. Essentially, I purchased a silk flower (I believe it may have been a gardenia) from Michaels, and took it apart. I wanted it to have a little bit of visual interest, so I added some pieces of tulle between some of the layers.

{its amazing to me what a little tulle can do}
After I decided about petal and tulle placement, I hot glued everything to each other, and then added some pearls to the front. I then used the hot glue to add a piece of felt and a pin back to the back of the flower. This way I have the option of wearing it on my clothes or (with the help of some bobby pins) in my hair.

{thanks Zo!}
And there you have it, easy peasy hair accessory!

♥

*yes, this example is based on my real-life behavior - lol.

Heart Bling + Target = All Good

Remember that bracelet I told you about? Well, I bit the bullet and ordered it! As soon as it got here, I immediately opened the box and tried it on - I had to see it on my wrist. It is so sparkly and those are definitely blinged out heart shapes. Here are some pics I took just for you (because I love you just that much):

{the topside}
{and the underside where you can really see the hearts}
Please excuse how dark the photos are (and that trash that needs to go out). It is SO sparkly (I know, I keep saying that), I had to turn the flash off to get a decent pic. I am so glad that ya'll encouraged me to order it. I absolutely love it. Waay more than anyone should ever love a bracelet. Even one with blinged out hearts - lol.

However, seeing the heart bling in person has made me seriously reconsider the remainder of my accessories. I still wanted to wear earrings with some type of sparkle, but maybe not on the level of the essence of pretzel earrings we all loved. Then I remembered that I had some earrings that I got from Target ages ago. Here's a (halfway decent) pic of them in my ear:


The earrings are pearls, clear crystals and rhinestones. Simple, elegant and a lovely accompaniment to my blinged out bracelet. At the time, I liked their elegant simplicity (and $8.99 price tag), but over time I had stopped liking them quite so much. Yesterday, while tidying up the apartment (before the cable/internet came back on) I ran across them and saw them in a new light. Whereas before, they were a little too understated, now they were just what I needed. Dangly, with some sparkle.

That $8.99 price tag ain't half bad either.

Normally, I'd end the post with brilliant piece of take-home advice. Ya know, something to inspire your own wedding or accessory shopping, or something to encourage you to look for bridal accessories in unexpected places. I'm going to break up the pattern and leave you with three (fairly obvious) words: I love Target.

♥

White dress, hold the stockings and the shoes.

I had the privilege of attending a very prestigious Historically Black college for women. I loved attending a my alma mater and I believe that it definitely helped mold me into the woman I am today. One of the biggest characteristics of women's colleges is the sense of tradition. We did a lot of things because they were traditional; because that's the way the founders did it. Yes, we all know a good bit about Sophia and Harriet.

One of the more interesting traditions involves the required dress code for important events, like graduation. All of us wore the same thing under our cap and gowns: White dresses, flesh toned stockings, and closed toe black shoes. When I share this aspect of our tradition with others, most people can dig the dress and the hose, but they are thrown off by the shoes. Remember what I said earlier about our reverence for tradition? Well, for the founders and the first students, their nicest shoes (think: church shoes) were black. So it made sense that those were the shoes they wore with their finest for school events. And we do it today because its tradition.

What does all of this have to do with wedding planning? Well, I feel like a bride should have a cute white dress to wear to wedding events. Especially since my gown is ivory, I wanted a white dress to wear to our rehearsal and maybe my shower. Something that speaks to the bridal tradition* without the mounds of fabric and the train. That, and I haven't owned a white dress since I graduated from college and considering my background, I should have one in my arsenal. Thankfully spring fashion has finally sprung, so you're starting to see white dresses in light breathable fabrics (a necessity for SoFla) in the stores and online.

I ended up ordering this dress from Old Navy.com:


I love that the dress is white and cotton and can easily be dressed up with some cute flats or wedges and big chunky jewelry, or dressed down with flip flops and a jean jacket. I think it will suit my current white dress needs quite nicely.

I'll pass on the stockings and the shoes this go round. However, when I need to step foot on campus for an official event, I'll make sure to complete the look in the way tradition mandates.

♥

*you like how I worked that in dontcha :)

My Ears Need ♥ Too

The other day I showed you my swoon-worthy bracelet. I haven't ordered it yet, but thanks to your feedback, I probably will.

So I'm back for more. I've been shopping for earrings. As a refresher, here's what I wanted from my wedding day jewelry:

As far as my personal accessories, I'm only planning to wear my e-ring (of course), earrings and a bracelet. Dangly earrings (maybe chandelier) and a cuff bracelet to be exact. I want them both to be sparkly. If the right non-cuff bracelet came along, I'd be willing to give it a shot. Oh, and the accessories will get extra credit if they manage to have hearts.

In addition to the aforementioned criteria, I also want the earrings to be on the long side - between 1.5 and say 2.75 inches long (yeah I know I could have just said 3 inches...but doesn't that seem long? 2.75 seems more manageable.). So here's what I've come up with listed in order of obviousness:

Option #1

Yup, these are almost like the earrings that showed up in my wedding day look board. I've been looking for them ever since (becuase of course I didnt save the link), and I found these that are actually a little better! I love that they are simply sparkly hearts dangling from my ear. And that they scream Patti in an obnoxious tone. But are they too obvious?

Option #2

I like these earrings, mostly because they are still hearts, but they aren't just hearts. Like someone tried to design a look around hearts. But they also look cheap to me. And I happen to know that of the three, they are the cheapest, which is normally great. Unfortunately, in this case, I'm pretty sure "cheap-looking" outweighs any of their other more redeeming qualities.

Option #3

I just like these earrings. I can't really explain why. They have what I'd call essence of heart - like if you flipped them upside down. Okay, maybe they're more like essence of pretzel. More importantly, I know the fact that they don't scream "I'm heart earrings!" appeals to me. Alot. Plus, don't they seem sophisticated?

As you have probably gleaned, Options 1 and 3 are my faves. My head knows that #1 would fit the bill, but I'm drawn to #3.

Perhaps a better question is, which pair (if any) go best with the bracelet? Should I choose Door 1, 2 or 3? Or even if there is one you think I should definitely opt out of. Whatcha think?

♥

I'm in love with a bracelet

Found it here.

Is it in the budget? Probably not.
Is it worth it? I'm thinking so.

As far as my personal accessories, I'm only planning to wear my e-ring (of course), earrings and a bracelet. Dangly earrings (maybe chandelier) and a cuff bracelet to be exact. I want them both to be sparkly. If the right non-cuff bracelet came along, I'd be willing to give it a shot. Oh, and the accessories will get extra credit if they manage to have hearts.

Geez, the more I look at it, the more I like it. And those hearts are making me swoon.

Whatcha think? Worth it for a (kind of expensive but) fab bracelet? Think I can sell it after the wedding?

♥