Without further ado...

As you know, I was unable to post these pictures earlier because it was in my sister's possession in America while I was in Jordan, but now I'm stateside, and I'm very happy to present....MY DRESS!

Ok, before I show it to you, however, I give you the honorable mentions:

First, the sweet, simple, sleeker silhouette I was originally leaning toward:

Then things got poofy...

REALLY poofy. The David's Bridal associate picked it out based on things I seemed to like. On the hanger I was thinking "Oh sweetie, this is a swing and a miss." But, then when I put it on...I loved it! She was fantastic--definitely my best consultant at any of the places I went to.

Then there was this:

The dress I loved in the cataloge, but had decided NOT to try it on because it was over my budget. But, my mother insisted I try it on! Now, we've both watched say yes to the dress enough times to know this is a mistake. I was working my budget around furiously after leaving David's bridal, certain that I was sold.

Then, I stopped at a little local boutique and found this:

It was another dress I had saved on my computer (but only for inspiration--as it was also out of range.) But at this boutique, it was HALF OFF! Squeeee! It was all that I wanted: ruffles, lace, and drama. Not to mention it made my waist look smaller, haha.

Well, guys, sorry it took so long to show you the dress! Hopefully, you weren't too disappointed!

SUIT UP!

Well, guys, David went back to Cali today and this is what I've got in terms of wedding things:

Suits.

Ok, we postponed engagment pics for a number of reasons. One of the reasons (that wasn't actually decided factor, but still) is the 15 pounds I gained in Jordan! EEK! No worries. Already on the way to losing it, but more on that later. We did go to Mens' Wearhouse and after looking at tuxes, I went to where my heart had always truly lied with: suits.

I was especially inspired by this:

Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Inception was rockin' a great look. I loved the three piece idea and really thought by giving David the suit jacket and the other guys just a vest, it'll set him apart nicely.

We ended up deciding on this! They are charcoal suit separates and we're getting a vest for all the guys and a jacket for Dave as well! It worked out perfectly! Now, we haven't made the purchases yet, so if I decide on suspenders after all, we can still totally do that!

As for ties, we decided on skinny ties. David wears them all the time anyway. =) He suggested the guys all wear the same colors, but with different patterns to which I responded "I SAW THAT ON WEDDINGBEE!" One of the girls on the board posted all these fun ties she got for the guys!

Sweet, right?? Also, I love the argyle socks! =) She ordered these from TieBar.com, which is pretty cool, but reeeally hard to navigate! We may try Express. Till then, I'll just keep my eyes peeled! ;)

I'm Not Dead!

Hey guys! Sorry for dropping off the face of the earth there for a while! I was slammed with exams and travel and the ever daunting task of moving back to the US. The good news is: I'M BACK! I got back to my hometown in Texas yesterday afternoon! YAYAY!!

My original plan was to arrive at the airport looking beautiful for my fiance whom I haven't seen in four months. HOWEVER, after missing my flight to Atlanta, being sent to New York, having all of my luggage (including carry-ons!) being held hostage in Tel Aviv, I arrived looking more like train wreck. My curly hair had become a mess, I had cried off all my make up in Tel Aviv and I had been sick and traveling for over 30 hours! Haha, yes, I don't know that I was a sight for sore eyes. Never the less, my family and fiance welcomed me into their arms. It was so wonderful to see them all again--even though I have to keep my distance so not to infect them, haha.


My study abroad experience was spectacular and eye-opening. I made a lot of really good friends (some of whom I hope will attend my wedding!) and I really improved on my Arabic! Yes, Jordan was fantastic, and honestly, I had a pretty rough go of it having to say goodbye. (That's probably why I kept crying at Tel Aviv. That security man had no idea what to do with this bawling passenger so concerned about her duty free cookies.) But, honestly, getting in on Christmas Eve, seeing David, laughing and sharing stories with my family; there really is no place like home for the holidays.

It's Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?

It's DECEMBER? Wait, what happened to November? And fall? Wow, I guess time flies when you're studying abroad! I'll be home *this month*!! That means seeing DAVID again!! =D Unfortunately, in the one week we have together before he heads back to California, we have wedding stuff to do. Don't get me wrong, you all know I *love* wedding stuff, but his time home is limited and it's always a downer when we're on a schedule. Nevertheless, we have two main objectives for our arrival home: Engagement pics and figuring out what he's gonna wear!

Engagement pics are going to be done by our friend Katy! She's super awesome with pictures and photoshop, and I'm really looking forward to what ideas she has! That bad thing about the timing of this however....studying abroad has left me about 10 pounds heavier than I usually am. I am super confident I can lose the weight when I get home, but I don't think I'll be able to get back to a normal size for the pictures. =( My plan is to wear something loose and flowy and pray my face doesn't look to round!

As far as what the guys are wearing, I'm torn between buying suits and renting tuxes and I think it'll chalk up to which is cheaper. I've always preferred suits to tuxes, and grey suits would just be the bees knees! But, I also like the idea of having the guys in tux vests with David wearing a jacket. This may also be done with suspenders....

See? There's all sorts of fun things to be had!

Also in December/January I need to:

• Finalize guest list
• Order invitations and
• Start our registries

All doable, right? =)

A THOUSAND PLUS ONES WILL DESCEND UPON YOU

AND THEIR RSVP'S WILL BLOT OUT THE SUN!!

My answer? Then we will party in the shade! That's right. Unlike most brides who (rightfully) shun the dreaded "plus one," I am fully embracing it. I mean, once I put the guest list together, the final number was...daunting, to say the least. But, in all honesty, I'm seriously doubting I get more than 10 plus one's out of the 65 or so I'm including. Why? I've invited plenty of people they know and want to hang out with! There are only a few I can guarantee they'll use their plus one. Also, I can't help it--the more the merrier in my book! Yep...in my naive, slightly deranged book...

So, what's my no-holds, pres-cutting of any kind number? Aha, ok, get ready....495. Ok, ok, I know it's a big number. But after you get over the initial shock...about 50 are younger kids (or babies). Those kids don't eat much, and also drive their parents to not attend the reception or duck out early. Also, a good portion are distant family members that are mainly getting an invitation as more of an announcement. Add in the elderly, sweet couples from our church that have to get home before dark, and we're talking a reasonable number. However, I purposely made an inflated list (I did the same thing with my budget) so that I wouldn't have any surprises. So, bring it on!

Also, if you didn't get my 300 reference, go rent it. Now. And do yourself a favor: prepare for glory.

When a Phoebe Marries a Chandler....

There's a serious lack of Monica. Truth: I have no absolute guest list. I've just recently started to try to put things together in Excel (which is both a cursed and blessed thing). I am still really confused about how to organize them. I'm really worried about people slipping through the cracks due to my scatterbrained method (or lack thereof). You see, I've just been too busy thinking about the creative things! Colors, food, decorations galore! I'm the Phoebe =). David, true to Chandler behavior, is constantly ducking out of any preparation and plans to just show up and party the day of. (Admit it David, you know it's true, hehe!)

So, now I have a list of about 300 guests. No prob, I was expecting this--more acutally. I just know a much smaller number will be coming. I'm guessing about 200 or 150 RSVP (or, come, rather since no one RSVPs). What I DID realize, is that even with 300 or so expected guests, the actual number of invitations I need to send out is sitting at 121!! In retrospect, it was very silly of me to think I'd need an invite for every guest! That's hardly any at all! So, I've hopped on over to Mercucio Bros. again to reconfigure my price of invites at this new lower number and I'll go into that a bit more on another post, but, for now, I will remain on the subject of guest lists.

First of all, thank God I'm not having arranged seating. That would be a whole other level of stress I can't deal with. I already feel like I need a ton of separate lists as it is! The "They are definitely invited" list, the "I can cut those guys if I need to" list, the "needs a hotel" list, the "I need to double check these names with my mother" list, and so on and so forth. I may end up writing everything down on notecards...then I could sort them into different piles...but what if people need to be in more than one pile?! And don't even get me started on collecting addresses! Oh dear....this part of wedding planning is too confusing.

Speaking of Phoebe and Chandler, here's a great moment:

If the A.D.D. quality of this post doesn't attest to my disorganization, I don't know what does...

Bridal Bargain Finds!!

Okay, so, as many of you know, I'm going through some Black Friday withdrawals. I love love finding good deals. Now, although I cannot participate this year, I decided to scour the internet for great finds to satisfy my thirst for money-saving....hehehe.

Many Bargain Brides know that the internet can be your best friend in looking for deals. I'm not just talkin' Etsy, either. Wholesale sites are the BOMB. In my ventures I've come across some great stuff, and I wanted to share it with any brides lookin' to save a few bucks on the essentials!

Votives and overlays were things I left next to big fat question marks on my budget list. I could not figure out how much they would cost, or if I'd rent some linens...I just had no idea. After I started adding things up, however, I saw overlays were unpleasantly high when you need 25. I tried finding other brides who wanted to share them or something of the sort, but no luck! (PS, still up for sharing if anyone out there is up for it!) BUT I found the cheapest champagne satin table runners, possibly on the face of this earth. How cheap? 25 for $63.50. Yeah, that's right. I found them here www.efavormart.com.

Votives? Why should I pay so much for mood lighting?? No problem. www.candles4less.com sells votives *with* the candles for about 50 cents a piece! They have a bunch of different colors, all for the same price--check it out!

I have one more bridal bargain to share with you, but I don't think I'll be using them personally. Before, I was pretty set on have lanterns as centerpieces and these commonly used lanterns:

Are about 2 dollars cheaper at www.superwholesaler.com than they are at most other *wholesale sites*. Honestly, I've seen these things (and similar lanterns sold at the site) go for *way* more on ebay! A bride could actually make a profit doing this!

Anyhow, that's all I got for now! These finds really trimmed down my budget and let me expand my invitation budget a bit more comfortably...I know my original idea was to spend very, very little on those, but with a little wiggle room, I think I can spring for some envelopes with the gold foil! Weee! =D