Dressed to Impress: the Inspiration

I know I’ve said it before, but I wasn’t one of those girls who planned her wedding when she was younger.  I didn’t have visions of me in big poofy ballgowns or anything.  So when Monsieur P proposed, I finally had to sit down and really think about what I wanted to look when I got married.  THAT was a weird time.  What do I want to look like?

Well, I knew that I wanted to look like me, that’s easy.  Years before Monsieur and I got engaged, I actually started easing my hair back to my natural color (I know it sounds ridiculous, but I had dyed my hair dark and I knew I wanted it to be somewhat natural when all the major things in my life started happening.  And that process literally took a year).  So being my natural blonde was one thing I knew I wanted for my wedding look.  And I’m naturally pale, but don’t worry, I got that on lock whether I want it or not.

All terrible photos personal.

Just for fun, the first-ever pic of Miss Parisian & Mrs. Palm Tree – from Mrs. PT’s 21st bday. A testament to how not-blonde I was.

But what did I want to wear?  What kind of dress even SUITS me?  Who am I?  What fits me?  The whole thing was really strange.  I’ve never been a big dress person to begin with.  If I had the pictures readily available (I’m so relieved that I don’t), I’d share my high school prom photos with you.  Sophomore year I borrowed a dress of my best friend’s older sister, which was a cupcake-type dress.  So I got that out of my system.  Junior prom, I bought my dress from DEB (oh yeah, DEB, taking it back) for a whopping $130, which doubled as my Junior Miss dress (what up, “scholarship program” pageant friends?), and senior year, I borrowed my sister’s dress from a wedding in which she was a bridesmaid.  Suffice it to say, I’m not a huge dress-buying person.  So suddenly I was at a complete loss when faced with this massive endeavor to find a wedding dress.

Ugh, the Deb year. I still don’t wear strapless dresses because I can’t hold them up…

One of the borrowed-dress years. And yes, my hair was short as crap and I had braces. It’s a whole different Parisian.

So let’s take it back 40 years… my mom MADE HER OWN DRESS for my parents’ wedding.  There was a time when I thought “sure, I could wear my mom’s dress.”  Except that MOH Big Sis apparently wore/modified my mom’s wedding dress for a Halloween costume one year.  So that option was out the window.  Which is fine, a clingy satin dress wouldn’t really be my ideal wedding dress anyway, though I’m sentimental so I would’ve liked that aspect.

Simple and gorgeous, but I’m way too lumpy for this plain of a dress.

And so… to my beloved Google I went.

I was drawn to the classic look of lace dresses.  Ahhhhh, yes.  I’m not great at describing myself, but “classic” taste I think fits me pretty well.  Some of my friends might call me “boring” but I like to call it “classic.”  And so, a lace wedding dress fit me pretty well, I thought.  Plus all-over lace is a great way to cover up lumps and body imperfections, no?

Well, all logic aside, when I started looking online at lace wedding dresses, I fell in love with this beauty:

My dream dress. Maggie Sottero Bernadette

They since have updated the model, but I prefer the old model because she’s blonde and I can visualize myself so much better in the ivory.

I mean, look at this detail!

Up close, via the knot

But, alas, my dress lust pointed out that no dress shops near me carried her, and that was the end of that.

Because both MOH Big Sis and MOH Palm Tree got their dresses at David’s Bridal, one might think that I’d start my dress search at David’s Bridal.  But no, I looked online at their selection of lace dresses and could not be swayed.  So I started my dress search at another big bridal store, Alfred Angelo.

I even thought for a minute that I could be swayed by one of their Disney Collection dresses.  I mean, I have always loved Belle… but no.  That dress is not for me.

Ahh Belle, via Alfred Angelo

Maybe if they had this when I was looking, but it’s too late now.  Plus I never really identified with Snow White anyway.  I mean, what kind of girl lives with 7 men, amirite?! 😉

Snow White, via Alfred Angelo

So I was pretty sure I was looking for lace, but I wanted to try on plenty of different silhouettes so I could be sure that the slim lace gown I envisioned would be the one to look best on my body.  I’ve watched enough Say Yes to the Dress and I Found the Gown (sorry, I REALLY like TLC) to know that what you think  you want isn’t always what you end up with!

Did you play wedding when you were a little girl?  or were you at a complete loss like I was?  Did you wear a homemade wedding gown?

Phinding a Photographer

Sorry, I had to do it.  Cheesy alliteration achieved.

Possibly before we even got engaged, I knew who I wanted our wedding photographer to be.  You see, Monsieur P and I attended friend V’s wedding back in 2011, and their photographer was V’s friend from high school.  She and her second shooter were so great throughout the wedding, making sure to take photos of each couple as they milled around the property for cocktail hour and throughout the reception, as well as all the “standard” shots.  But what really won me over was when I saw the photos that V posted a week or so after the wedding.  Now, V’s wedding was pretty, but these photos were so fabulous, everything was OMG, magazine-worthy.

And after the rain stopped, the sun and clouds were amazing / Tressa McCune Photography

Wedding Planning 101: Where to Begin? Not Pinterest

You may have guessed from the title, but I’m one of maybe a handful of brides on earth who is NOT using Pinterest to plan her wedding.  Truthfully, I don’t even have a Pinterest account, nor I do fully understand how it all works.

What I do know, however, is that I cannot have it.  I understand that it’s great for finding inspiration, and there are tons of cute things on there.  I get it.  But I have a hard enough time being productive in life with just Facebook hanging over my head.  Add in another time-sucking app, and I’d never accomplish anything.

Exactly my issue.

The other reason I can’t have a Pinterest is that it’s wholly overwhelming to me.  I would “pin” probably everything on the site, and it wouldn’t  be helpful to me because then I’d be overwhelmed by the millions of things that I pinned.  It’s a vicious cycle, but it’s better if I never start.

I found StyleMePretty to be distracting and overwhelming enough, and that was all the inspiration photos that I needed in order to feel completely and entirely confused and useless.  I made my best attempts at putting together inspiration boards, but I love everything, so it was pretty hard to narrow it down.

My best attempt at an inspiration board before I gave up

Ultimately, I’ve given up on making an actual inspiration board or something like it, because I get too overwhelmed with the “OMG I LOVE EVERYTHING” feelings.  Maybe I’ll try again when I get a little closer to narrowing down the details, or maybe I’ll just make a “how it turned out” board later on!

Anyone else drowning in inspiration?  Am I the last bride-to-be on earth without a Pinterest?  How do you stay focused?