Getting ready

The morning started... the groom and wedding party left for the market. He didn't need to stay and get ready as early as we girls, and we thought that the wedding party would enjoy the Rennes' market. It is really nice, huge, and we love it so we wanted to share that with them.

In the meanwhile, I went to get my hair done at 11:30am till about 12:45. I ate something while watching the olympics, I think it was fencing. Everyone came back, and the girls went to get ready while I was relaxing. I decided to put my own makeup on as I was confident I could do a good job... and I was really happy with the end result!

My maid of honor helping me put on my dress, trying not to smudge makeup all over it, and not to destroy my hairdo (no worries, there were thousands of pins and tons of hair spray).

Voila!

Then my mom went to fetch my bouquet and Rich's boutonniere.. we decided not to get flowers for anyone else. I wanted peonies, the florist said it was possible. The tuesday before the wedding she called me and told me it wasn't anymore. I had to pick another flower. I didn't want roses, but ended up going with it... I just needed a bouquet and to this point who cared about the flower as long as it was nice. But it was beautiful!!! Notice the cameo, and the "ribbon" was the fabric of my dress. It all came great together!

My mom putting my veil on. I wanted a birdcage, but went with a Chapel length. I didn't have a train and though it would be nice to walk down the aisle with something flowing behind me. 

Maid of honor helping the groom get ready.

We are all ready now, and I went to see my groom waiting for me in the back yard (actually I waited for him, I was ready way before he was!)

Next: Couple photos before the ceremony...

More shoes

Here is a piece of advice:

Ballroom dancing shoes are the most comfortable, light shoes ever! I will probably switch from my wedding shoes to my dancing shoes once we start dinner... I wear those shoes for dancing, my feet never hurt, I don't loose them, they are really light, and closed toes! Yes, closed toes is a good thing to get if you are a beginner... and if he is too!

Alternative if I hadn't decided on a dress...

I love this Oscar de la Renta's gown because it is simple yet sophisticated. I particularily love the details at the bottom as usually the beading is on the top of the dress. Just love it.. if only it wasn't out of my price range.

The Dress

Finally, here are pictures of my dress. I am really happy the way it turned out, and it fits me perfectly. I am sorry, but had to crop my face out of those pictures because somehow I ended up doing horrible faces...

Enjoy :-) !

Fabric

As my dress is being custom made, I had to go shopping for fabric, and what I though would be pretty hard ended up really easy. We went to 3 places:

Denver Fabric, Elfriede's Fine Fabrics, and to Allyn's Fabric & Bridal Supplies.

The first one was Elfriede's (a really nice old german lady owns the store). We spotted a fabric we really liked, but being the first store, we didn't dare buying it. Then we went to Allyn's, where we asked for swatches. They wanted us to pay for a little square of fabric, which put us off as Elfriede had given us a huge one for nothing... we left. Finally, Denver Fabric is quite big, discount prices, but you either find your dream fabric or don't... we just didn't. We realized that the first fabric we saw was the best (ladies, you will know it is it when you see it). Elfriede remembered us and had loved the design of my dress. We asked for 5 yards, and she gave us the whole roll! We ended up with around 8 yards for the same price!Go to Elfriede's Fine Fabric, 2425 Canyon Boulder, CO 80302, Phone:303 447-0132.

Shoes

While going to Macy's one day to figure stuff out for our registry, I decided to look around in the shoe department in case I found something.. and I did. I wanted simple white leather, but not totally plain. I wanted something I would wear again, which meant no glitters/pearls/shiny shoes. Here it is: Arthuro Chiang Arieli Pump.

Dressmaker "shopping"

I just couldn't buy my dress, so I had to find a dressmaker. I contacted 5 dressmakers in the Denver area. I was a little scared it was going to be too expensive, which happened to be the case with some dressmakers. I contacted:

1. Christine Hoyt (CH Studio): First one I met. She was nice, but we just didn't click. From 800 to 1200.
2. Nancy Thompson (FancyNancy Designs): I had a problem making the appointment. So never ended up meeting her. Offered from 600 to 1200.
3. Kathleen Lopata (Sew Fine): I didn't feel so comfortable with her, it didn't feel right. From 800 to 1200.
4. Nora McCray (Sew Fresh Studio): Wonderful lady, total confidence on getting a wonderful dress. She adviced where to get fabric, and gave a lot of tips. Unfortunately she was a little too expensive for us. From 1200 to 1800.
5. LeNore Kerber (the Eye of the Needle): Great. Amazingly affordable for a custom made dress, we felt comfortable and right at home. She is an MIT engineer who loved sawing, and started her business. Please go meet her, she is great.

So we picked LeNore Kerber . If you need anything made form scatch or alteration she is great. Pictures of the dress to come...

Wedding Gown "Shopping"

Crazy as it sounds I Never went gown shopping, and never set a foot in a Bridal Store. During my search of the perfect dress, I went through thousands of pictures and websites. And I mean thousands. Unfortunately I can't really show you my inspiration as my hard drive died about 2 weeks ago, and I hadn't backed up. So I lost pretty much all of my wedding stuff... but that is another story.

Back to the dress: after losing all hopes of finding something I liked in my budget, I got new bridal magazines for inspiration. Going through the pages of the Knot Colorado one evening while watching tv, I found it. That was it! Perfect AND in my price range.

The J CREW DAPHNE dress.

I rushed to JCrew.com. I looked but nothing. Wierd, the Knot had just came out. The following week I called JCrew to ask about the dress... and guess what? It was SOLD OUT! Yep, it was offered for a couple days, then sold out. They put me on the wish list, and I waited. Waited and waited.
Then found 1 on ebay. I bid on it. It went for $1200 (originally $800). Then another one came up, sold for $1800. Then a 3rd one came up, sold for over $2000.
I stopped looking there was no way I could afford one, and I went back to my magazines... :-(