Inspiration For "The Dress"

 

As you may have read YESTERDAY I'm now engaged!!! I am SO excited, and now feel like I should've been working on my dress about a month ago so it could be done instead of just starting it...oh well, I'm sure it will turn out fine either way lol.

I'm working on a Timeline post to keep track of everything I'm doing to the dress so that it can all be seen in one place. This is also where I'll be linking each post I write until the dress is finished so that it's organized and easy to find! :) I'll probably be publishing that soon, but I'd like to add some photo's first...

As you may recall from The Wedding Dress Find post, this is a thrifted dress I bought in October for only 0.25 cents!! NO JOKE! I absolutely plan to refashion the dress into something much more pleasing to the eye, but for now here is what it looks like:

Here are a few new photos I took yesterday when I was writing this post to share with you (I didn't want to publish this yesterday so it wouldn't take away from my I'm Engaged!!! post). I took them on an old sheet my Grandma Karon gave to me a few weeks ago so the dress would really stand out...and because I really love the sheet!

 

The top. I'm pretty sure this won't be staying seeing as I don't know how to add this and make it modest...and it doesn't fit me at all in the bust...it's MUCH too small for me.

 

I do like the ribbon that runs around the bottom of the outer skirt/tulle.

 

The bottom of the skirt.

 

This will be the main fabric I use to make the new dress. I really cannot wait to get going on this project!!

 

The under skirt which I'll be using. I may have to redo a little of it so it won't be too thick under the new skirt style, but I still think it would be good to have in the finished product.

 

The tag from inside the dress: Gunne Sax by Jessica McClintock.
It says size 13, but if that's so then this is a really small size 13 cuz it doesn't fit me!

 

In the post Gah! Planning A Wedding Is Hard!! I shared a few ideas I had for a dress I originally wanted to make from scratch, of course when I found this dress I realized that some things would have to change so now I will share with you my new ideas (although I still have the same basic idea for the skirt part of the dress!).



(photo via TBarton Photography)

I really like the sleeves on this dress. I may be able to pull off this look if I have enough extra fabric left over when I get the skirt of the dress done. I really would like the sleeves to be past my elbow if I have enough leftover fabric. I guess we'll see!

 

(photo via Sew Much Ado)

 

This dress was put together by Justine @ Sew Country Chick. I really was worried about sewing my own dress until I read her post over at Sew Much Ado!

 

(photo via Pinterest)

 

I love the scalloped neckline of this dress. It may be too complicated or time consuming, but I still think it's gorgeous and I may be able to incorporate it so I'm going to put it here on my Inspirations post!

 

(photo via The Metropolitan Museum of Art)

 

I really love this vintage wedding dress with the layers on the bottom and the beautiful train! I may do the bottom of my dress similar to this since I have a lot of the tule which you saw was on the outside of the dress originally.

(photo via Pinterest)

Here is a modern take on the layered look! I absolutely LOVE this dress!!
 

(photo via Ruffled)

 

I haven't found anything to beat the look of this dress though! Love the ribbon, and I love the way the bottom half of the dress looks. Not big and poofy but not too tight either. It's just right!

Black Friday Shopping?

So after my little rant post about being Anti-Black Friday you are probably surprised to see that I was out on Black Friday...well, I was out, but it was at 11:45 a.m. and I was with Autry who had a desperate need to cash his check...I'm not really sure why. Anyway, since we were already at WalMart and it wasn't crazy busy he asked if I minded if we looked around to see what the 'leftovers' were. I didn't mind so we looked around. There was actually quite a bit of interesting things, mostly stuff I'd never use in a million years, but still...stuff I would've thought to be gone by that time of day.

We were strolling along the back of the store and he stops all of a sudden and says, "go ahead and pick you some." I had no clue what he was talking about...until I saw a WHOLE BIN of huge rolls of yarn for only $4!!! Usually the 10 oz. rolls are about $6 and the 14 oz. rolls are $8 so this was a pretty good deal...especially considering that there was a huge amount of the green camo which is the color I've needed to finish up the blanket I've been working on since May.



The rolls on the left are 14 oz. the rolls on the right are 10 oz. The green camo and black yarn will be used on Autry's blanket, and the white yarn I'm not quite sure what I'm using it for yet, but knowing me I will come up with something!!

So, now you see that yes, I did end up shopping on Black Friday, but it was quite by mistake, and I did not have to fight anyone for anything or get up ridiculously early, or anything crazy like that. Now that is what I call a great deal!

Since we were out and about and I had a voucher from where I had to take a few things back to the thrift store a few weeks ago Autry & I also stopped at Goodwill. I made a few nice discoveries there as well...not on sale of course, but I figured I'd go ahead and share them instead of making you wait a few weeks:

Purple silk rose petals. $1.
Although my wedding colors are navy blue, my sister's wedding colors are deep purple...she probably won't be getting married for a while, but she was glad I found these. :)

Beautiful ribbon. $.050 cents.
Grandma Karon said that the cut outs in this ribbon are so you can thread a different color ribbon through it.

My favorite find from today: a handmade plate. It's really heavy and beautiful! $1.

On the back of the plate it says something-land mold "Sally, 1979."

Other than spending about an hour out of the house I spent the rest of the day enjoying leftover food from yesterday's feast and I edited more photos. Oh yes! I also helped do a few things over at Eclectic Darling! Quite the busy, but nice day today. :)

Wedding Planning | Something Blue

I realize that it is Tuesday and I usually share a fashion or style post...but I just got this put together and HAD to share it right away!!! Later on today I'll share an outfit post (from when I went voting!) with you so you won't be too deprived!

When my parents got married (we have a two families are now one family) they gave all of us children a very special gift. Of course, boys don't wear rings so my brothers got a different gift, but all my sisters and I were given a Claddagh Ring. We were all given the option of choosing the color stone we would like in our rings; I chose an almost navy blue color. It almost matches the color of my eyes! I absolutely love it! When I was choosing the color for my ring I had a hard time picking between a clear/diamond color and the one I chose. I went with the one I now have because I figured it would be a really nice thing to wear when I get married since my family has been so helpful and supportive and I couldn't be where I am today without either of my parents!

Our rings were given to us as a symbol of their love and loyalty to each other and to us and that we will always be a family and look out for one another. I love my ring! I think it is beautiful! I keep it safe in its nice little box where it won't get damaged (and because it's kind of too big, and because I don't wear jewelry as a general rule). I do love my ring though, and I plan to wear it as my 'something blue' when I get married!

A little about the ring's history in case you don't already know: The significance of the ring comes from its meaning. Over the years the cladagh ring has had minor changes, but the basic meaning and significance of the Irish claddagh ring has stayed the same. The hands of the ring are shown holding the heart and the hands denote friendship and togetherness, the heart itself signifies love and the crown in the claddagh ring stands for loyalty. The meaning of the Claddagh ring could be summarized as: Let Love and Friendship Reign Forever. (Source)

The Wedding Dress Find

This is not what you would expect I will warn you right now! I was shopping last weekend at all the many yard sales going on in our area and I just happened to stumble upon this dress. I saw it and thought, "oh, a wedding dress...how nice." And then it hit me, "hey girl, you wanted to make your own, maybe this is it!" and then I thought, "um, I probably can't afford this thing...besides I'm supposed to be buying stuff for the house...not more clothes..." So, I set the dress back into the pile and continued looking through the clothes. Yes, I know I just said I didn't need to be looking for clothes, but I figured, "hey, it's a yard sale, why not?" Besides, you never know what you'll find!

Well, the lady of the house for this particularly yard sale came over to a table opposite of where I was and I asked her about the dress: "how much were you asking for the wedding dress?" and she said: "oh, all the clothes are .25 cents." I said, "Oh okay, but what about the wedding dress?" she said: "That includes the wedding dress." To which I replied: "Hmm, cool. Thanks! I just might have to get it then!"

Much to everyone's surprise when I walked in the door at home I had this horrid wedding dress. It really is horrid. I don't like it one bit! Especially the tutu thing around the waist. Whoever designs these things has no clue what actually looks good on women! Anyway, I plan to take this whole thing apart and put it together keeping in mind some of my ideas which I shared in this previous post on my dream wedding dress design. If this works out I will be one very happy bride! :)

My Great Mary (grandma, that's what we've called her for years) likes the dress like it is, but everyone does like different things I guess. Here are a few pictures for you. As you can see by my face, I'm not too impressed by the look of the original dress. I bought it for the fabric, and not for the design! If I had been thinking at the time of taking the pics I would have shot a few close ups. Oh well, not that it really matters...you get the general idea here.

P.S. There is no way this thing would fit me as is...it doesn't even zip up on my sister Lyd  who is smaller than me! Yes, refashioning is in the future for this dress!

P.S.S. If you want to see the details about the outfit I'm wearing check out this post! And if you would like to see all the other great finds (and a few more clothes I found which I also plan to refashion) check out this post too!

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• Forever Friday's #1

Change In Wedding Plans

Well, after a lot of talking and figuring things out it seems we will be doing a private, family only wedding instead of the normal ceremony. I still think it will be nice and I do have a few things I hope to do/use for this but it won't be the things in my previous post: Gah! Planning A Wedding Is Hard!! Now I just have to figure out what I'm gonna do about a dress since it won't be like the one I was hoping to make using inspiration from the 5 photo's in that post. Oh well, I think this will be much better in the long run and for sure a whole lot less stress for me!

Gah! Planning a Wedding Is Hard!!

Where are the best friend's when you need them? Over 200 miles away and busy working... grr. I am trying to figure out some wedding details to find an average cost. This is my first time ever and I'm finding it much more difficult than I had imagined. I will have 2-4 bridesmaids, I know the flowers I want, I have my dress plan figured out (I'm making it!) and I know the main color is going to be midnight blue. Why does everything else have to be so hard?

If you have any ideas which may help I'd sure love to hear them!! Also, to view what I've kind of pulled together so far you can check out my Pinterest board When We Get Married. Of course, I've posted a few photos here (only the ones with links are linked the others were link-less...sorry!). Make sure to leave some comments please!

Flowers



Baby's Breath

Lavender

White Orchids

I plan to have my mother arrange my wedding bouquet. She has always done well doing that sort of thing whereas I am terrible at it.... This is my inspirational photo for what I would like my wedding bouquet to look like. I don't think I will be using white roses though. The flowers above will be included.



Isn't it beautiful! I'm thinking of wrapping the stems with a matching midnight blue ribbon.

And for the bridesmaids I would like to do a mix of the lavender and baby's breath, also tied with ribbon.

Bridesmaids dresses/hair
I would love to be able to make dresses for the bridesmaids. I just don't see that happening since they all live in different states and none of them are anywhere close by. I would like each dress to be a different style. I want them to be modest. High neck and the length long...possibly at the floor, although I'm not against it being at knee length. I also would like elbow length sleeves. I have a lot of ideas pinned on that board, but these are my top three favorite.



Bloomingdales. This dress, however, is no longer available.

Jen Clothing. This dress runs at about $60 a piece and only comes in large and extra-large.



Shabby Apple. $94. Sizes 0-16.

All of the girls I want to have as bridesmaids have hair that is mid back or longer. I would like to have their hair done up in pretty styles. I have a few ideas, but I'm not really picky in this area.

 

 



I also love the hair pieces and will probably make that myself since that is something I love to do.


My wedding dress idea
I have the dress itself planned out, but it takes five photos for you to even begin to see what it will look like.



The end result of the skirt part should have the basic shape like the one in this photo.

I love the layered look of this lace, however, because of time,
 I may end up using just one piece of lace instead of many pieces.

The smooth ribbon around the waist, under the
bust is beautiful and something I want on my dress.

I love the bust and neckline of this dress.
This dress can be viewed at Utah Bride & Groom.

And finally the sleeves, elbow length and lace.

The men
I would love a beige suit on the men, but Autry doesn't like that look so I think we will be doing the normal black tux. I do think I want to use midnight blue tie's for the men and of course boutonnieres. The ring bearer is his nephew who is two at the moment. He will wear a tux, and we are going to use a Bible to 'carry the rings' on. (I am thinking his uncle's Bible because it is special to him.)

Everything else
So far everything else is just up in the air and I don't know how I'm going to piece it together. If you have any suggestions, ideas or photos please link them below and I'd love to check them out! Thanks!

Life Goals - 8 Things I'd Like To Happen When I Get Married

These aren't really "goals" but I would love for them to happen on that special day!

All photo's are from Perfect Bucket List via Tumblr, but I found most of them on Pinterest. They just linked back to Tumblr.

Future Wedding

Be his bride. Yup!

Dance with my dad at my wedding. Bill is the best dad I could've ever asked for!

Get married on a sunny day. Who wants rain on their wedding day?

Have my family at my wedding. I would love this!

Have my grandparent's at my wedding. They all mean so much to me!

Marry the love of my life. This will happen for sure. :)

Say "I do". 

Wear a beautiful dress. I am planning to sew my own dress!