Bridal party attire!

We finally have a Bridesmaid dress! I'm just waiting for everyone's info to place the order.

These are Ann Taylor silk dupioni dresses, and with a coupon code, are incredibly affordable (I'm even getting one for myself!)
Pink for the maids (and Mom and I are making navy sashes for them to wear instead of the removable pink one)

And navy for my Maid of Honor, who will wear one of the pink sashes from the pink dresses.

I'm also almost ready to start making 75 Save The Date (STD) cards. I have to do some final sizing on the details text, and somehow come up with an ink jet printer to print on vellum. (which means I'll either go visit my parents, or Clint will bring his printer when he visits).

Finally, our wedding website is kind of up and running (it contains a list of our registries, the event time/place, and a partial list of the wedding party, with possible name misspellings (my fault)). There's a password, so email me if you'd like it.

Various photos

I am very late about posting these- so sorry! Moving and starting a new job in a new city is a little more confusing than I thought.

First, I had my hair and makeup trials at the beginning of February, the day after I bought my wedding dress (no pictures of that here, though, sorry!)


The makeup is a bit orange-y, but I love the eyes.

The hair, however, is beyond perfect. I also brought the nearly-done veil to the trial.




That weekend, we also had cake tasting with Harvest Bakery (in Simsbury) cake, and went to an open house at the Pond House in West Hartford. I really liked the cakes and fillings at the Pond House, but not so much the frosting. I really liked the frosting from Harvest Bakery, but while the cake had good flavor, it was rather dry, and the frosting:cake ratio was off. However, we chalked that up to cupcakes not being accurate representations of cakes.

Harvest Bakery cupcakes:

Somewhere in the mix are: red velvet with cream cheese frosting, vanilla cake with lemon curd and vanilla frosting, vanilla cake with lemon mousse filling and vanilla buttercream frosting, carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, and lemon cake with raspberry mousse filling and vanilla buttercream frosting.

Vanilla with lemon curd and vanilla buttercream:
And carrot cake with cream cheese frosting:


In other news:
our registries are about done (still haven't done Lux Bond and Green, but we'll do that on Easter weekend. it won't take too long). We're still deciding on a caterer, and waiting now for some proposals from them all, before we make the big decision.
I'll start working on the STDs very soon, and pretty much everything else is being decided. We'll do a lot of Easter Saturday, or perhaps the Sunday of the next weekend, since I'll be home for something Friday and Saturday.

SHOES.

This time, it's serious.

I just ordered my wedding shoes!!I saw them on bluefly, and you know how they say you just know when something's right? I just knew. (the return policy on bluefly is also very convenient if they don't fit). I ordered a half size up in case my feet get a little puffy or something. I may even have them in time for my next trip to the bridal shop!

Icing, by Stuart Weitzman, in gold. I hope they look as ivory as they do here. 2.5 inch heel.

In non-shoe news, I have my hair and makeup trials both on Monday, Feb 9th. The hair stylist suggested I bring my veil and any hair jewelry I plan to wear. Um... I don't have any of that yet. I have decided on the style of veil (I'll find an example and post a picture tomorrow), but that's all. However, I'm leaning towards no hair jewelry anyway.

I can't wait til my shoes arrive!! 5-9 days.

Edited to add: the shoes turned out to be a little darker than they appear in the picture. But, even though they're several shades darker than the dress, I've decided I don't care. They're super comfy. I'm going to break them in at the spring CT DAR meeting, when I'm wearing an ivory dress with gold stitching, and it's all indoors on carpets, so a good chance to try them out. :) I loooooove them. I have to leave them at my parents' house so I don't waste time gazing at them every day.

STDs

A rough sketch of the save the date cards. Once we cement the date, I'll get working (there's also no point in working on them before I move, I won't finish them before I go, and I'll probably lose half the stuff by the time I get to Worcester).

Cover:
Cover will feature our engagement photo (not actually a photo of a gingerbread house, but the same size) with a pink ribbon (sheer like this, or grosgrain) on the edge and a darker background paper (either green or navy, depending on which we choose for the wedding colors. I'm partial to navy, but Clint should have a say). Also a little embellishment like the flower, and possibly "engaged!" or "we're getting married" stamped near the top.

Inside:
The inside will be stamped with this wedding cake stamp in pink (pictured here in red, I don't have a pink ink pad) and the vellum over it will be printed with the details- Save the Date, Catherine and Clint's Wedding, date, location, etc etc. Vellum will be secured with oh-so-awesome sticky dots, but will have a pink ribbon at the top to make you think the ribbon ties it down.

note to self:

I want Kate Winslet's Golden Globe hair for the wedding... minus the in-her-eyes bangs.

Also, pictures of rough STD (save the date card) sketch coming soon!

Possible BM dress?

I'm mostly putting this here to remember it.

Delores, by J Crew, in pink flamingo
Also, I've booked my makeup artist! I'm using one of Naomi Martinez's team members. My trial's on Feb 6.

Oh, by the way...

I've found a dress! I'm not going to post it here, but if you're on ravelry, you can find it there, and a few other members-only spots. Email me if you want to see but can't.

It's ivory and is by Blue by Enzoani, a designer I'd never heard of until a small bridal shop in Westbrook, CT, emailed around about a trunk show.

I'm also madly desirous of Mattie by Kate Spade for my shoes. I have an idea for a veil, but need to acquire it (borrow or make, I'm not spending $180 for mosquito netting on a plain hair comb), and I'm wearing heirloom jewelry. I also need to acquire proper undergarments, but I feel like that can wait.

So, wedding day attire is nearly set. I'm doing things backwards, though, because we still don't have a definite date!

Current reception thoughts: food stations. Kind of like a trendier buffet. Coffee and tea will definitely be self-serve (waitstaff anyway are way too stingy with hot beverages), and I have dreams of a square 3-tiered wedding cake, white with fondant/frosting pink and green flowers. Or white fondant-covered cake with real flowers, hmm.