Shoes Fit For The Dudes

Fishboy has had very few requests in the process of planning the wedding. And since it's not just "my" day but "our" day, he's gotten every one of his requests filled. For example, he had a very specific idea on what he wanted for a tux.

While it isn't what I had in mind, and not what I would have picked it made him happy and that's what matters. The way I figure it, I got to pick out what I'm wearing, why shouldn't Fishboy get to pick out what he's wearing? Which brings us to his latest request... 

Converse Shoes! Now, I know it's becoming uber popular on the wedding blogs to see the groomsmen wearing Converse shoes with their tuxes but let's face it Fishboy isn't one to be stalking wedding blogs like you and I do. When I asked him why he wanted him and the dudes in the wedding to wear Converse he told me the simple truth...because their comfortable. Not because it's trendy, or cool, and not because he's a huge Converse wearer. But because he wanted all the guys to be able to be comfortable, or at least their feet. Did you let your groom get his way every once in awhile?

Dressing the Princesses

 Remember when I told you here that Groomswoman Mulan made for a verry interesting dress shopping experience? Well, since Groomswoman Jasmine was home from college this past week I gathered the 3 bridal party princesses that I could and we made a trip out to the Bridal Shoppe in Eau Claire where I bought my dress. Shannon, the same woman who's helped me pick out my dress, the tuxes, and even our flowers (she owns Chippewa Valley Floral too, if there are any Chippewa Valley brides looking for their gowns I HIGHLY recommend Shannon and the Bridal Shoppe)  was kind enough to help these princesses find their dresses.



Groomswoman Jasmine trying on a black one shoulder. The only requirements I gave the girls was that the dress had to be black. I told them I preferred tea length but if they weren't comfortable with it being that short I understood. Was I too lenient with the girls? Probably but like I kept telling them-I wanted them comfortable and wearing something that made them feel fabulous.









 Groomswoman Jasmine trying on the strapless version of the one shoulder dress. 









Groomswoman Mulan, in the one blurry photo I was able to capture of her wearing a dress. Poor girl, none of the sample dresses were quite in her size so she wasn't really able to find anything that she was comfortable in. Plus, what she likes style-isticly wasn't quite fitting her figure. Since she NEVER wears dresses, she wasn't quite sure what she wanted. I helped her figure it out though so by the end of the day she had a little better idea of what she should be wearing.




Bridesmaid Ariel tried on a gorgeous purple halter that would be ordered in black. This was my favorite for her but I could tell it wasn't her favorite and that's what really mattered












Ironically, Bridesmaid Ariel and Groomswoman Mulan both liked this brown dress. They decided it looked better on Ariel.











This was Groomswoman Jasmine's favorite dress. I wasn't too keen on it but I couldn't get past the salmon color even though I knew it'd be ordered in black.





 
 
 Bridesmaid Ariel gave me her best "fierce" model pose. All three girls tried on at least one version of this black dress, it came strapless, halter, and one shoulder.












After we left the Bridal Shoppe, I treated the princesses to some lunch at Panera Bread. Once we were properly fed and refueled we headed over to Oakwood Mall and hit up Macys, JC Penny, Deb, Yonkers, and couldn't find ANY black dresses that looked even remotely appropriate. Since it was the day after New Year's weekend they had short skimpy New Year's Eve dresses and Old Lady Matronly dresses. Not appropriate for a group of 20-ish sassy women. Then we went to David's Bridal and although the girls could all find dresses they were all kind of chintzy quality and not flattering at all. 


All in all we had fun and it was a good bonding experience. What do you think? Was I too lenient with the girls, should I just pick a dress for them?

Our Princess Army

Fishboy and I have been blessed to have been surrounded by some wonderful women in our lives who've been there for us through thick and thin and whom we cannot imagine getting married with out them standing up there with us. And since every little girl dreams of being a princess on their wedding day, and to protect their fragile anonymity, I've decided to give our ladies the names of some of the most famous princesses I know- the Disney Princesses. So...without further ado I present, our very own army of princesses!

We'll start with his side of the aisle and yes, he's having women on his side cause we're non-conformists like that. 


First up...Groomswoman Mulan, aka: Fishboy's best friend and the only other woman other then me that he hangs out with on a regular basis. why Mulan? Well, I'm pretty sure that if you cross her she could kick your butt plus, Mulan spends most of the movie dressed like a man and GW Mulan hasn't worn a dress since she was a youngster. Which made for a verrrry interesting dress shopping experience (another story for another post).

Next, Goomswoman Jasmine, aka: Fishboy's younger sister. Why Jasmine? Well, cuz Jasmine didn't need Aladdin to save her, she saved herself from Jafar and was able to stand up for herself to the Sultan. Making her a very strong and confident woman just like GW Jasmine...but not afraid to put on her sassy pants and let you know exactly what she thinks.









And on my side...well, I have three very sassy women of my own. Bridesmaids Belle, Ariel, and Snow White.



 First, Maid of Honor Belle, aka: my older sister. Why Belle? Well, other then the fact that her FAVORITE movie of all time is Beauty and The Beast-she can tackle any beast that comes her way, especially when that beast is a certain sister with an upcoming wedding. She can calm me down and reminds me that at the end of the day it's my wedding and I'm the one who has to be happy.

Next in line, we have Bridesmaid Snow White. Snow and I have been best friends since she moved into my Grandmother's old house and we used to play hide and seek (my favorite spot was in the shower, unfortunately I managed to injure myself in a particularly competitive game) Why Snow White? As you can see, she has a knack with wild furry critters. Including a wild and crazy bride to be.

Last but by no means least, we have Bridesmaid Ariel. Ariel is my cousin but we're as close as sisters. Her parents are my godparents and my parents are hers so we've always joked that we're "godsisters". Why Ariel? Because she's always dreaming of being part of someone else's world. She's very empathetic and caring, which is a good thing since she's going to school for psychology.








There you have it! We've assembled an army of strong, confident, sassy women. Even if it's non-traditional to have women on both sides of the aisle we're comfortable with the women we've chosen and can't imagine having it any other way.
Is it a bad thing to be non-traditional and have men and women on both sides of the aisle? Yup, we're having men on both sides too-but that's another story for another post.

Inspiration

I just had a brief moment of clarity and realized that I forgot to share with you guys the vision for this wedding.

 

Going clockwise from the top left; our bridal party men's tuxes, an idea of the boutineres that I want for them, inspiration for asile decorations for the church (christmas lights wrapped in tulle), our current color scheme, my bouquet's inspiration, and an idea of what I want the bridal party girls to look like (black dresses with different colored sashes)

So there you have it-I really don't have much more then that. Except I'm toying with the idea of throwing some polka dots in there somewhere but other people around aren't digging the idea.

What do you think? Do I need to do some more googleing to find more inspiration pictures?
 

One Down...Only About A Thousand More To Go

 Remember when I showed off all the cool toys in my toybox? Well a few weeks ago I finally got a chance to play with them! I whipped out my little Cricut and created some "Will You Be My Bridesmaid?" cards. I wanted to wait until all of my bridesmaids had received their cards and given me their answer before I showed the project off. 

It's a pretty easy DIY project, mostly because I tried making it more complicated and just wound up getting frustrated and gave up after countless numbers of tries and failures. Finally I realized this was a simple project and I shouldn't dwell on it too much. Although it was difficult for me to give up and keep it simple I realized my sanity was more important then the fancy project I'd envisioned.

So how did I get from this...







 
 








 To this? 







Well it's elementary, my dear Watson...first I opened up my fabulous Cricut Design Studio

 I laid out the 3 dresses and one tuxedo I needed for my 3 bridesmaids and 1 bridesman on the screen and after several attempts and even more explicatives screamed at the Cricut I figured out the way the mat is laid out on the screen is not identical to the way it goes into the Cricut. And when I was using 8 1/2" x 11" paper on a 12" x 12" mat it was verrrry frustrating when the paper and the designs weren't perfectly matching up. 

When I finally got it to work...

the dresses came out beautifully...this just reinforced my love of the cricut (oh by the way, please ignore the date stamp on the photo-I forgot to reset the date on the camera I didn't make these cards last year before I was even engaged I promise) after I cut the dresses it was a matter of figuring out how to get them off the mat, which incurred more cursing and I almost needed a little liquid calm. But I did manage to get them off the mat and ready to be put on the cards...

 
 But I couldn't decide how to mount the dress onto the card...

So I looked through my stash of craft supplies and found my foam pop dots...score!!! 

Now the dress would be slightly above the card giving it the cool shadowy effect underneath.


But now I was confused as to how to incorporate "Will You Be My Bridesmaid?" onto the card since as you can see, the dress took up majority of the front of the card. Then I remembered I had this cute little font I'd downloaded from dafont.com called Jellyka-Love and Passion
















A quick little type into the wonderful little Microsoft Word and I wound up with 4 neatly written "Will You Be My..." plaques for my cards... 2 bridesmaids, 1 maid of honor, and 1 bridesman. 


 

I added a couple more pop dots to the
back of the plaque and stuck it on the inside of the card.












After countless tries and fails, and finally four victories I wound up with some wonderful cards that I like to believe my bridesmaids will treasure for ever and for always.

The best part of the whole experience? I got a card from one of my bridesmaids with a simple word on the front...

I'm glad to finally have one DIY project checked off my list, the journey of a thousand projects begins with single one.