Living in The Moment

When we first began wedding planning, I remember vowing to myself that our wedding would be "timeless". I was so hellbent on having this "timeless" affair that I didn't realize I wasn't being true to who I really was.

Looking back, I'm so glad that I decided to live in the moment and choose things that reflected who we are right now rather than trying to predict the future. As we all know, nothing remains in style forever. Fashions come and go, people change — life goes on. So who was I to think that our little wedding can be the huge shift in the time-space continuum and remain stylish, chic and beautiful forever? Yes, it will be a wonderful memory that we'll always cherish but will it stand the test of time? I mean who the hell cares? Luckily, not me anymore!

This was especially true when it came to picking my dress. I was down to two very beautiful but very different options and was torn between which one to choose. But eventually something clicked. I stopped trying to envision myself 50 years down the road and what I'd think of my wedding photos and instead pictured myself right now, in this moment of my life and how I felt. Because really isn't that the beauty of it?? Who cares if in the future I laugh out loud at the style of dress or the type of cake, flowers, etc., that we had at our wedding. What I'd rather remember is the FUN I had and the JOY I felt in marrying the love of my life.

So my advice for those planning a wedding now is to be present and live in the moment. Make decisions that complement your life as a couple today, not your life years down the road. You'll be a happier person because of it :)


Image via DeviantArt

The Wedding Dress Fitting

In less than three weeks I will have my first wedding dress fitting. After months and months of waiting, I will finally get to try my dress on again. As you may recall, the whole dress buying process was pretty tough for me. There is so much expectation with the bride's dress and this coupled with my incredible indecisiveness made for a difficult dress buying experience.

But alas, I made a deadline and I stuck to it. And with the help of my mom and sisters bought a dress. In crazy wedding world, if you buy your dress from a traditional wedding dress retailer you have to do so at least 6-8 months in advance. Yep, six to eight months or else you'll be stuck paying a rush shipping fee that can run you another couple hundred bucks.

So I bought my dress in October and will finally see it in April. In those six months in between, I've been going back and forth between nightmares of my dress not fitting, having second thoughts about buying it and excitement about finally getting to try it on. Whoever thought of the rule that there has to be SO MUCH TIME in between purchase and actual pick up of the dress is obviously evil. Don't people know girls will try themselves insane?? As Kanye would say "that shit cray." It's times like these that I wish I were a guy. Just gotta get sized for a tux and they're done.


Image via women24.com

Said Yes to the Dress!

 

Soo after many trials and tribulations with this whole wedding dress business, I finally said yes to a dress!! With the help of my sisters and mama of course :) There really is SO MUCH PRESSURE on a bride when it comes to choosing a dress. I never really felt that until it was finally time to pull the trigger and decide. That's when it dawned on me. Holy sh*t. This is the dress I'm gonna be married in. And that ladies and gentlemen is when things got real.

It wasn't an easy decision for me. Did I mention I hate making decisions?? So after several visits to various bridal salons, some persuasive opinions from my sisters and a firm desire to stick to a decision-making deadline, I finally got my dress! It's weird to describe how I feel exactly: excited, relieved yet also a bit nervous and anxious. The list goes on. All I know is that at the end of the day, the most important thing is I'm getting married! Holla!! My awesome fiancé will absolutely love whatever I'm wearing ♥ and I will rock my dress like nobody's business ;)

The Over-Budget Dress

The all-powerful wedding dress God — Randy of Say Yes to The Dress

So when you're getting married, the dress is a pretty big deal. So they say anyway. They also say not to try on dresses that are out of your price range. And now I know exactly why.  Damn you Randy (of Say Yes to The Dress fame) you are so freakin right!!
It all started out innocently enough. During an impromptu Los Angeles roadtrip I suggested to my friends that maybe we should check out wedding dresses, for fun of course. Since this was the only time I could shop with my friends I figured why the hell not? So off we went to a land of white, flowy creations. I instructed everyone to grab a dress they wanted me to try on, since this was just for fun, price point was not really discussed except "don't pick out some crazy dress for $10,000."

And so it began. Just like on the famed TV show, my friends sat outside my dressing room while I modeled our choices. Each dress received feedback from my judging panel, some bad, some good, and all around entertaining.

Wedding Dress Sizes Are Crazy

As if wedding dress shopping isn't stressful enough, the evil wedding world people decided that making dresses absolutely tiny is a good idea. Say you're a size 6 in regular clothes, guess what? In the wedding dress world, you are more like a 10 maybe a 12. Now, I'm usually not one of those girls that fixates on a number but c'mon people! Couldn't they do the opposite and make me pretend I'm a smaller size??

And if you happen to be a curvier gal, choosing a dress is nearly impossible. It's pretty hard to imagine what a dress would look like on you if you can't even try on the sample for a sneak peek. Needless to say, it's frustrating. Wedding planning takes you on many emotional journeys. Some days you have it all together. And some days you want to curl up into a ball and cry. So, wedding world take note, let's try to make our lives easier why don't ya and make wedding dresses true to size! :)


Image via http://weddingdress-factoryoutlet.co.uk/

Solo Wedding Dress Shopping

So apart from choosing a date and venue, most people will probably tell you that THE DRESS is the next most important aspect of a wedding. I've heard all sorts of crazy things like:

"Your dress will set the tone for the entire wedding!"

"You have to pick your dress to complement your venue."

 I mean really?? C'mon people it's just a dress. That you wear once. End of story.

I didn't give the dress any thought whatsoever, but inevitably when friends, acquaintances or co-workers asked about the wedding, the dress topic was always brought up. Now I have watched my fair share of Say Yes to the Dress (it's addicting don't judge!) so I know that the DRESS has this weird effect of making even the most normal girls go batsh*t crazy. But I'm determined that this won't be me! That is why, I've decided to tackle this problem head on.