Bridal Hair Styles

My cousin, Sarah, did a trial run on my hair last night. She only did one hair-do and I thought it was wonderful. Check it out.

There's a slight poof in the back and the bun is to the side of my head. I also love the part in the front. It's a very elegant look. The only question is - where do we put the veil if the bun is off-center? I want to wear it low on the back of my head, so maybe we just center it in the back, even if that means it's not over the bun. 


I'm starting to look like a bride, don't ya think? :)


And to step up the hair-do one more notch, I want to wear a (fake) white flower in my hair. They're very popular these days and you can find a zillion of them on etsy.com at lower-than-bridal-shop prices. Here are some of my favorites:

 

Thank you to Sarah for being awesome and volunteering to do my hair and my bridesmaids' hair for the schwedding! We're all going to look soooo pretty.

Marriage Prep

John and I started our marriage prep at St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Houston, TX this past weekend. Coincidentally, John and I met at speed dating put on by the St. Vincent de Paul Foundation as a found raiser. Oh, and we got engaged 4 days before St. Vincent de Paul's feast day. Perhaps St. Vincent is the patron saint of our marriage. And making him an even more appropriate choice as our wedding's patron saint, he is considered patron saint of hospitals (where John works day-in and day-out) and volunteers (I was a part of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps for 2 years, during which I met John), among many other things. We have a saint on our side. Neat!


I was thinking I should write about the whole marriage prep process, as it's a huuuuge part of the wedding preparation for both John and me. Yes, it's true that there's a lot of physical stuff to prepare for the marriage during our engagement (e.g. dress, tux, flowers, decorations, reception venue, cake, hotels, etc.), but more important than any of this is the preparation of ourselves spiritually and emotionally. We're both in this for a lifetime, so we have to make sure we're ready for that come the big day more than anything else.


On Saturday, we arrived at the St. Vincent de Paul Parish Center around noon to take the FOCCUS test - a 156-question pre-marriage inventory. After bride and groom take the test (separately), the scantron-like answer sheets are shipped off, analyzed somewhere by some computer system, and sent back to be reviewed by priest and couple. Well, we haven't gotten our results yet, but look forward to seeing them. The test has questions that cover a variety of categories including lifestyle expectations, personality match, communication, religion and values, parenting, sexuality, marriage readiness, key problem indicators, and family origin. 


To take the test, you read each statement and either mark agree, disagree, or uncertain, depending on your personal feelings towards each statement. Here are some sample statements from the test (taken directly from U.S. Catholic Bishop's website):

1. We are in agreement about the husband and wife roles each of us expects of the other in our marriage relationship.
2. There are qualities about my future spouse that I do not respect.
3. We have discussed the ways our families solved problems and how this may affect our problem solving.
4. We disagree with each other over some teachings of the church.
5. My future spouse and I are open to having children.
6. I am concerned that in-laws may interfere in our marriage relationship.
7. My future spouse and I can talk about our sexual fears, hopes and preferences.
8. We are in agreement about how we will make financial decisions between us.
9. I sometimes feel that this may not be the right person for me to marry.
10. My future spouse and I agree that our marriage commitment means we intend to pledge love under all circumstances.

After answering 156 questions of that nature, you can imagine that you have quite a bit to discuss with your future-spouse. Well, John and I spent most of the rest of the day chatting about how we answered the questions, how we thought each other would have answered certain questions, and began to go over some of the topics we had never discussed before (mainly financial stuff). It was great! And that's the true purpose of the test anyway - it's not to tell you whether or not you should be getting married to this person, it's to get you talking about the big ticket marriage items before you sign up for a lifetime of marriage. 

So in a few weeks, we'll be getting our results and sitting down with a priest to discuss them. When the tests are analyzed, it gives you percentages based on how well you matched in each one of the major categories. If we don't match on some of the questions (which we've probably already discussed anyway), those questions get flagged by the test analyzing system and topics of discussion are printed out with the test based on the non-matchy stuff. 

Also, after the new year, we're going to be meeting with a sponsor couple. This well-established Catholic couple will be meeting with us 5 times to discuss all the topics that we briefly encountered on the FOCCUS test. They'll even meet with us a few months after the wedding to check in with us. We're looking forward to having this relationship with another Catholic couple in Houston, to see us through some of the most important months of our courtship :)

And I'll leave you with a hilarious story that involves a friend-couple of ours who went through the same marriage prep process as us before they were married. The groom of the couple, nicknamed D, encountered the statement on the FOCCUS test, "I have a problem with the amount of alcohol my future spouse consumes," and thought it would be funny to answer "agree," in that he wished she would drink more. Well, the bride, nicknamed V, did not think that this was funny. And V reeeeally didn't think it was funny when the priest who reviewed the test with them kept questioning her about her drinking problems. 

Oh, how fun it is to play little tricks on your future spouse, especially when a priest is involved. 

Dear readers,

I've decided that I can't hold it in any longer.

I would like to show you guys the beautiful dress that I will be wearing come July 16, 2011.

It is amazing.

It makes me look sooooo good.

Like a 15 out of 10.

That's probably the highest score I've ever given myself.

So here it is.

The moment you've all been waiting for.

Drum roll please.

Hahah! Made you look!

So it technically is my gown. It's my gown in a bag!

You thought you were going to actually see the gown? Oh, so gullible, you.

I promise to post pictures of me in the gown from every angle possible after the wedding happens.

We're almost at the 7 month mark, folks. Start the countdown now :)

Dress Obsessed

The dress shopping experience has been... well... an experience (to say the least).

Shopping at Priscilla of Boston

It all started back in October. I decided to get the ball rolling early on the gown shopping. I figured, why not? The idea of going into a bridal shop and trying on pretty wedding gowns was quite appealing to me (I mean, what girl wouldn't enjoy this?) so away we went. I took co-worker and Glee-friend Veronica and roommate Ann with me. First stop: Priscilla of Boston. Bad choice. Not only were the gowns all over $2000, but none of them looked great on me. Oh, and their sample gowns are all size 8. If you didn't know, wedding gowns run about 2 sizes bigger than your normal pants size, so ladies, prepare for that before you go gown shopping and don't let it upset ya. In case you're wondering, my gown size is 12. Woo-hoo double digits!

Anyway, Priscilla was a bust. So, onward we went to Houston Bridal Gallery. They had gowns in larger sizes with lower prices and prettier/more flattering styles. I actually fell in like with one of the gowns there. It was strapless with alternating patterns of lace and a cinched waist. It flattered my skinny parts (waistline) and detracted from other parts by flaring out on the hips. It was pretty but I wasn't 100% sold. Plus, the gown was a bit out of my price range, so I didn't let myself get attached. I headed out still with high hopes and then put a halt on gown shopping for a month.

I wanted to take my mom and sis gown shopping with me since they're the two most important ladies in my life, so I knew I was going to have to wait until I was home in RI to have them with me. Thus, it was quickly decided that Thanksgiving vaca would be the perfect time to shop together. We went to three different bridal shops: Sassy & Classy, Bridal Garden, and Cinderella's. With my lovely entourage (Mom, sis, sister-in-law Meg, cousin and hairdresser Sarah, and bridesmaid Kate), I modeled about 30 dresses that day. I found a beautiful one at Sassy & Classy that I thought had potential to be "the one" although I was a little nervous about the flimsiness of the dress and the sweetheart neckline (scooping strapless top = lots of cleavage).

And this is when I started to go lace-crazy. Everything I tried on from hereafter was going to have lace and look vintagey. Why? Because I like the elegance of it and it compliments our theme perfectly (vintage theme - to be discussed later).

So next, we moved on to Bridal Garden across the street. No contenders there. I tried on a bunch of lace ones but nothing was better than the one at S&C or the one back in Houston. So...

On to sushi lunch break. Delish.

Finally, we hit up Cinderella's. Wouldn't you know, they had the same lace gown that S&C had! I started to think that it was a sign. I tried on a few other dresses there, and then put the S&C lace one back on. It was beautiful and definitely vintagey. It fit my body well. It made me feel like a bride.

But then the pressure started. The flamboyantly gay bridal consultant/owner with spikey hair showed me a calculator with a price figure marked way below my budget. He was going to sell me the sample gown at half the price of the dress. Then he showed my mom which made her happy. Then the woman who was helping me into the dress kept saying, "You look amazing. You look stunning. You look beautiful." And they told me I needed to come in the next morning before my flight to try it on again to make a decision. Oh, and they also said that gown makers close up shop during the months of Dec and Jan so I basically had to purchase a gown now if I wanted any hope of having it in time for my wedding.

And then a mild freak out ensued. I was feeling overwhelmed and was tired from a full day of gown shopping. There's a lot of pressure being up on those pedestals! I asked to take the gown off and then got out of there pretty much as quickly as I could. Phew. Pressure was off. I was starting to think clearly again.

But then we got back to the house and John and I started watching a movie. Not even 2 hours after having left Cinderella's, the lady who was helping me into the dresses called me on my cell phone to ask me if I had changed my mind about the gown. Talk about pushy! Well, at that point, I took this as a sign - the opposite of the sign I had seen/felt earlier in the day.

So, the dress shopping ended, and I knew I was going to be leaving RI without a gown picked out and without my mom, sister, and amazing entourage to be there when I tried on more dresses. Thinking about this caused some tears in the airport during our layover in Atlanta. I wanted my closest relatives/friends to be there with me when I tried on/picked out/ bought "the one" but the reality hit me in that uncomfortable airport chair that there was pretty much no way that was going to happen anymore. I had to pick out my dress soon so that there was enough manufacturing time between now and the schwedding and I wasn't going to have my family/bridesmaids/friends in Houston to do it with. And to top it all off, I was feeling overwhelmed and thinking, "I'm just never going to find the right one. Maybe my body isn't meant to look perfect in a wedding gown."

Well, with some encouragement and tear-wiping from John, I picked up my chin and started calling around making appointments at bridal shops in Houston. I even did some gown shopping alone and it wasn't that bad! I went to David's B by myself (on a whim) to try on gowns this past Tuesday and though I didn't find "the one" I got some ideas.

Then, the day came. The day that an average, ho-hum, gownless girl became a stunning future bride with the perfect gown. Sounds dramatic, right? Good.

It was Thursday. Kate Niemer (stellar coworker and Houston Jesuit Volunteer) was getting out of work early along with me so we decided to spend our extra free hours gown shopping. Seriously, I was on a mission and every waking/non-working hour was going to be spent in the search for the gown. First shop on the list - Marry Go Round.

Ok, I need to take a second to sing praises to this bridal shop. It's a consignment bridal gown store meant for brides-of-the-past who are looking to sell their worn or unworn dresses and brides-of-the-future who are looking for discount gowns in perfect condition. The idea is brilliant! And you can tell it's brilliant by the number of gowns the shop has! There must have been 20+ gowns in my size and then more in the back that weren't yet sorted onto the racks!

So, I go to town picking out dresses. They had so many lace ones! And I even picked out some that didn't have lace but I still liked. Well, about 7 or so "not the one" dresses in, one of the store workers pulls out a dress that she wants me to try on. She said that it had just been brought into the shop at noon that day by a bride who hadn't worn it at all. The bride's wedding venue had changed so her designer dress wasn't the right style or fit for the feel of the evening anymore.

Well, it fit me like a glove. I can't say much except that it's not lace. It's better than lace. It's just pure amazing all in one gown. And how did I know for sure that it was the one? It was a collection of the following things:

• I gave it a grade of an A, instantly.
• I didn't want to take it off.
• I didn't want to try any others on, even though I still had more in the dressing room and was originally planning on going to another shop that was having a sample sale.
• I wanted to buy it immediately so that another bride-to-be didn't have the chance to come in and buy it.
• I wanted to keep trying different accessories on with it.
• My mom and dad both loved the picture Kate sent to them.
• Kate was excited for me.
• I was happy.

So it was a long process (and you just got all the details... because I knew you were crazy curious), but it was all worth it in the end. Oh, and I'm under budget by about $200. Sweet! 

And, I've decided that the gown is going to be top secret til the schweddin' day (save my bridesmaids and mother, of course). Now, if you know me well, you know that this is basically an impossible feat for me but in the past 24 hours, I've kept it on lock down, so we'll see how I do keeping this secret for the next 7.5 months.

As we left Marry Go Round (with gown in hand!!!), Kate and I posed for this very special picture. And no, none of the gowns featured here are "the one."

A special thanks to Ms. Kate for being such an integral part of my big decision! She was so encouraging and made the shopping experience tons of fun. You can read the story through here eyes/ears/brain at her loverly little blog: http://niemerjvc.blogspot.com/

Oh, and if you'd like to see pictures of all the gowns I tried on that weren't the one: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stepherrara/sets/72157625016954743/

I said yes to the dress and I'm 100% elated!

Rhody Love

Thanksgiving week was spent in Rhode Island with the fiance and my lovely family. We had so much fun doing a bunch of wedding related stuff, and it started immediately upon landing! We called a (free) Radisson shuttle from the airport and were taken directly to the hotel within 20 minutes of being in RI. It was great! The Radisson is actually right across the street from TF Green Airport so it will be suuuper convenient for our guests flying in from outta town.

We arrived at the Radisson and Linda (the wedding coordinator) welcomed us almost instantly. She showed us the cocktail room where guests will get delicious beverages and snack foods during a reception hour (... btw, we're renaming it "happy hour"). Then we saw the ballroom. It's perfect! It'll be a great space for one heckuva party. We then saw the courtyard which Linda said will probably have decorated trees - with strands of lights. I love this! It'll give such a magical feel to the courtyard.

After the tour, we sat down and chatted with Linda for a while about vendors, decoration ideas, and just life in general. She seems like a great chicka who's going to be a lot of help during this whole process.

My parents and sis (with Lindsey) joined us around 4:30pm at the Radisson for a sample tasting of our dinner choices for the wedding. It was so great to see my mom, my dad, my sis, and my niece after having been away from RI since June. And we all got to enjoy an amazing meal together. We tried so many delicious foods! Pesto pasta, tossed salads, steak, chicken, potatoes, veggies, and tons of desserts. By the end of the meal, were stuffed, but we pretty much knew exactly what we were going to pick for our 4-course wedding menu upon putting down the utensils. All I can say is, it's a meal to look forward to. Especially the dessert. Especially if you're a chocoholic.

The next morning, John and I headed to Christ the King Parish to meet with Fr. Matt for our pre-nuptual inventory. We attended noon mass first, then shared delicious greek food from International Pockets during our meeting/chat. Though he probably won't be saying our wedding mass, it was great to meet with Fr. Matt to get this first Catholic detail checked off our wedding prep list. Fr. Matt is such an awesome guy, so of course we had a great time. And John and I were smiling ear-to-ear as we answered the pre-nuptial questions. We're just so excited about marrying each other! And Fr. Matt totally picked up on the happiness.

Since the parish is basically on the URI campus, we picked up Jeff (little bro) and brought him back to the house with us for his Thanksgiving break... but not without stopping for some bubble tea first. Mmmm so yummy! We then headed home and had a wonderful night with my sis (Lauren) and her boyf (Dave) at The Remmington House for dinner and The Crowe Bar for drinks. And I got to see one of my bridesmaids at The Crowe Bar! Justine was there with her hubby, so we had a grand ol' time catching up and chatting about the schwedd. I hadn't seen her since her wedding over 2 years ago (since she lives in Maine), so it was so loverly to spend some QT with her.

The next day was Thanksgiving, which we spent with aunts and uncles on Mom's side of the fam. We spent time bonding with the relatives and John fit in perfectly. The evening was spent chatting, football watching, fooding, and playing hilarious games (e.g. Toss the Cookies).

The last day of our short vaca in RI was spent wedding dress shopping with Mom, Lauren, sister-in-law Meg, cousin and hairdresser Sarah, and bridesmaid Kate. I must have tried on 30 gowns. I'll give a more detailed gown-shopping account in my next post as it'll be all about the whoooole gown search.

After the unsuccessful gown shopping trip, my mom hosted a party at the house for all relatives and close family friends to meet John. No joke: John was the belle of the ball! He worked the crowd like you wouldn't believe. He was only by my side about 25% of the night. The rest of the time he spent getting to know my aunts and uncles and high school/college friends by chatting them up. He thought they were all quality people, and I think they felt the same? Can't wait for him to meet my dad's side of the fam!

Well, Rhody, I miss you already. Hopefully the next trip home (Christmas) will be just as fun! And hopefully there will be more wedding planning to do. I'm really liking this stuff!