Our Aruba Wedding

Even though my wedding is almost here I still can’t turn down an episode of Say Yes to the Dress. Right now one of the girls is wearing a Romona Keveza gown I love. I had never heard of Romona until a consultant at Macy’s Bridal Salon in Chicago went and grabbed what she insisted was going to be ‘the dress’ I was looking for. She was right although it was probably 50% more than the budget I had given her to work with. Ugh!

But I was in love. Love doesn’t care about practical — I have a totally impractical dress and also fell in love with who might not be the most practical guy. Its funny sometimes how the things that might not make obvious sense are perfect! See – I can give up a little control now and then! Here is Romona’s more affordable Legends line and here’s the Couture / Collection line that got me into trouble. I wish I could show you mine but can’t take a chance of the groom checking in on the blog!

Ahhh… and now I’m laughing — on now is another bride that wants her dress tighter and tighter! I went to the salon yesterday for my next to last fitting (now they’re just finishing up the hem). Its fitting perfectly though I am wishing it was a little tighter. Of course a smart alterations person will put you through the ’sit test’. It can fit like a glove while you are standing but if you want to be able to sit down at all, you need some wiggle room. (Mine has kind of a mermaid shape, (good for the beach, right?). It’s not tight at the knee though – its softer and starts to flare more gently. I wish they could bring in the hip a bit more, but I’m going to trust the pro on this one. After all, I will have to sit and do plan to eat!

If you’re looking into J Crew bridesmaids dresses you might be finding the fabric samples difficult to get. I sure did but I’ll spare you the details. After 5, maybe 6 weeks (and a couple phone calls and a couple trips to their retail stores), I finally got my samples. I no longer need them and would be glad to pass them along. For the trouble, I’m asking $1 each plus $2 for shipping. Just send an email with an address I can send a Paypal invoice to and include which samples you would like. I’m guessing they’re maybe 1.5″ x 3″ each and mounted onto a card stock. (Sorry – color of my photo is way off – Its the best I could do with an iPhone.)

I have one each of:

• Cotton Cady: Peppermint (a light pink)
• Cotton Cady: Azalea (a dark pink with a little bit of a purple tint)
• Cotton Cady: Tea Rose (a bright medium pink – this is the color I chose -
  be sure to look at it in the sunlight – its so pretty!)
• Silk Tricotine: Champagne
• Silk Tricotine: Deep Rose (a dark pink – mulberry?)
• Silk Taffeta: Light Flamingo (fushia?)
• Silk Taffeta: Champagne
• Silk Chiffon: Deep Rose (a medium dusty rose?)
• Silk Chiffon: Tea Rose (medium pink)

Here’s J Crew’s Swatch Page»

Oh my gosh – RueLaLa is running the Nicole Miller bridal clearance again! Today only! There are only two styles left. One is selling for $399, the other for $499 (there had been other styles starting at $119). Please know that Nicole Miller runs truer to size. I’m a street size 4 and fit a size 6 in their dresses (where other wedding dress makers tell me I’m an 8-10). Imagine how cute the middle one would have been for a beach wedding! Only $119 (down from $575) and sold out of course.