The countdown is on

People keep asking me how many days to my wedding. This is not something I really cared about but it felt odd to not know so, I wrote the days down in my calendar. -It is on the side of this blog but I never look at the public page. Anyway, 88 days.

Things are moving along. We have reservations, party plans, the cake is picked out, etc.

I have ordered all the things to go in the favors which I will post more about when the items come and I can take assembly pictures. Now it is time for more work on the clothes.

Chris has an appointment tomorrow at John H Daniel, a Tailor in Knoxville. They make some of the best suits in the US for the likes of Tiger Woods and Bill O'Reilly. I am sure some of their lines are very much out of our price range but if you live here in Knoxville and go right to their main tailoring site you can get a great deal on a pretty standard suit. Chris has such long arms that it is hard for him to find a suit that fits without lots of expensive tailoring. We have worked out that going to John H Daniel will cost him less than Mens Warehouse.

As for me, I had another superb dress fitting. I am going to be so gorgeous. I feel like a princess. I don't have any dress pictures since it is still not put together but here is a picture of the FINAL selection of shoes.

Clothes and Accesories Redux

I had my first fitting on Sunday and "Wow!". Even though it is only the pattern and made out of muslin, I am in love. Jillian made one strap and 1/2 the top out of satin to see how it lays. It looks stellar. She took my trim and cut around so the individual pieces can be laid in a different pattern, Then she put light blue crystals in with the gold. Since my trim is gold (and isn't it one of my colors) I had to go with a new necklace.

This one is from etsy seller Timelesstrinkets.

Jillian is going to try and incorporate some seed pearls into the trim too.

Since now we have gold, pearls and crystals - the shoes were just too much. I sent them back. Yay! for Zappos free shipping. I am now on the hunt for light blue strappy sandal.

I ordered the men's ties. Chris and his best man get the Victorian Gears tie in navy on baby blue and the dads get the Cliipership tie in white on navy.

I went with the lego cuff links and got these; baby blue which I hope to match the tie. From etsy seller cufflinks.

I know we are going with blues allover the spectrum but usually when you have enough shades they all come together as complimentary.

I still haven't decided if I should get the mom's something since the dads get ties. The parents as couples will get a traditional parents gift.

Dress Making Update

Okay, I am a picture posting slacker. I have fabric and trim. I also have shoes, fondation garments, everything I need for my next meeting with Jillian. I have an appointment on Sunday at which point I am going to pay my deposit. Yay! I will totally add a picture to this post by then.

Fabric, maybe

So my trip to Baer was a success. I think. I only found 2 fabrics in the whole place that I liked and they were both on clearence so what did I do? I bought the whole bolt of each. One is low luster, the other is a sheer. I am not very good at deciding. (I will post a great picture of Chris walking down Market Street carrying the sheer on a home decor roll later).

What's going on?

I had my meeting with Jillian (my dress designer) yesterday. We talked about design, fabric, etc. Looking at my inspiration board below. We are goign with a funky strap like the braid, a trimmed waist, empire waist and tea length.
Chris and I are going out of town Memorial Day week-end and luckily there is a big warehouse style fabric store that sells online. I am going to go buy some samples to bring back and then we can order the yardage online when we find out what we need. I also hope to find some trim or an applique for the waist. Jilliam can hand bead it but that would go WAY over my budget. My original dress budget was $500. I want to stick to that plus the cost of fabric. The thing about working with an artist is I can't get a flat quote because she will design it as we go along. You are assured that I will nag her along the way - "So if we add this how much does it add to my price?" Having seen some of her more complex designs I know I can keep it in budget if I don't go off into fairytale princess land once we get started.

My Dress Inspiration Board

So I haven't yet made my appointment with the dress maker. I have been busy dancing up a storm. We have a little break now and I hope to meet with her this week-end.

This is the inspiration board I made to take with me.

From left to right:

1. Jenny Packman - Elizabeth 2. Hairstyle from the the knot 3. Beach Braid from etsy seller LondonDemimonde 4. Mademoiselle from Joan Shum 5. Hairstyle from the knot

6. Bonny #734 7. Necklace from etsy seller LesChic 8. Lea-Ann Belter Bride - Natalie

9. Necklace from etsy seller GoMeagan 10. Veil from MyraKim