Bridesmaids

Picking bridesmaids for a wedding can be tricky. You don’t want to leave anyone out whose feelings might get hurt, and you also don’t want to have the entire female guest list standing up at the alter with you…

Luckily for me I had an easy time of it. I have a younger sister who is my maid of honor and her best friend who has been in my family for years, two cousins, my brother's lovely girlfriend who has also been a part of my family for years,a friend I have known since I was a baby, and another friend who I have known since I was about 12 or 13. I feel so blessed that all these lovely ladies have agreed to be with me on my special day.

As any bride knows…if picking bridesmaids is tricky then picking a bridesmaid gown is near impossible. First you have to pick a color and you just pray no one will complain (too loudly) about your choice! Second you have to pick the dress! So far all my ladies have had great things to say about the dress and color (so let’s hope they really like it!!)

The dresses my bridesmaids will be wearing are long satiny gowns in the color claret which is a rich, dark red. The gowns are long and have a little crisscross design on the front with a rhinestone pin that looks like a snowflake. I loved this dress the minute I saw it because my theme is wintery with snowflakes! They will also be wearing long red gloves. I am so excited!

The only bridal party attendants left to be determined are the flower girl and ring bearer. Matt has the groomsmen already picked out.

I can’t believe how quickly things time is moving by! I got engaged on August 5th and even though I have gotten a lot done in the last month and a half I feel like I still have a zillion things left to do! I am sure it will all work out though ☺

Talk to you all soon!

Melissa

My Little Pretty

Brides... check out this site: mylittlepretty.com. I just got a necklace from them and it's GORGEOUS!

My Little Pretty has a great treasure trove of gifts for us brides, our bridal parties and our "mother of the bride". The designer Kristy Nuttall is awesome. Her sense of design and creativity even goes beyond bridal (I would wear my necklace any day!!). She has created an exclusive line of sterling silver, pearl and stone pieces--it's a contemporary-classic combo look. I found out she works with brides to come up with a necklace to match any neckline and dress. Ladies, check out her collection of necklaces, bracelets and earrings at mylittlepretty.com. You will love them! Or email her to set up a time to talk about your needs - kristy@mylittlepretty.com. She's great and will treat you well!

The dress!

Wedding dresses take MONTHS to come in! If you are a fellow bride planning a wedding, then please read that sentence again! MONTHS!
I ordered my dress right after Matt asked me to marry him and it is due to arrive 2 weeks before my wedding! That means alterations and fittings will all need to occur within a 1 week time period! Scary huh?
I have to say that dress shopping has been my favorite part of the planning so far. Maybe it’s because I am a clothing fanatic or maybe it is the excitement I felt when I saw myself for the first time in a long white gown, but I just loved dress shopping!
My mom came with me the night we went looking for dresses and I tried on about 7-8 gowns. The first gown that I tried on I thought was the one for me, but around gown 5-6 I really found “my dress”. They say that every bride knows her dress the minute she puts it on, and in my case I would have to say that this is true. Funnily enough as I was standing there in my ballroom, strapless, VERY long train, diamond white with gold embroidery gown I overheard a bride in the next dressing room over say, “Well, I guess this is fine. Most brides don’t fall in love with their gowns anyways right?” My mom, myself, and my salesperson all looked at each other with a look that just said “not true!!” I couldn’t believe it! I hope that bride next door ended up finding a gown that completely knocked her socks off, because I know my gown did!
Buying a dress also includes finding a veil and I found the “perfect” one! Long with little crystals on it and a small crystal headpiece that goes with it… I am in love with my wedding attire! For jewelry at the wedding I have not decided 100% on what I will wear, but right now I am thinking of wearing a white gold heart with diamonds that Matt gave me on Valentine’s Day and then these beautiful white gold and diamond earrings that were left to me by my grandmother. I still have time to decide on these smaller details, but at least I have the dress picked out!!
Speaking of dresses…I also picked out my bridal shower dress! It is a beautiful ivory dress with hints of gold in it. For jewelry on that day I will be wearing a beautiful necklace by My Little Pretty. It is sterling silver with Swarovski crystals and white and tan mother of pearl beads.
I am getting so excited talking about all the clothing and jewelry for the wedding I think I am going to try on my bridal shower dress right now!!
I will be writing back very soon!

~Melissa

P.S. As a bride... I have many questions! So I recently asked Amy Nichols, founder of Amy's Guide to All Things Bride (www.amysguide.com) and owner of Amy Nichols Special Events (www.amynichols.com):

What is one thing brides usually forget on the day of the wedding?

Here is her answer:
Melissa,

That's a great question. A few things that I'd recommend to any bride would be to most of all, smile, relax, and try to be aware of the moment and take it all in. It is a day you've been planning for months, so why not enjoy it!

Also important - remember to EAT both before the wedding and during the wedding. Ask your caterer to make sure there is a dedicated server bringing hors d'oeuvres to the bridal party during photos.

Another thing you might want to bring is a stool without a backrest which you can sit on before the ceremony -- have a couple of your maids help lift your dress over your head, then sit down on the stool, and then they can delicately let your dress back down. This way, you'll be able to sit without wrinkling that gorgeous dress!

Lastly, make sure you have a day-of emergency kit with anything you might need - some painkillers, bandaids, breath mints, etc.

Amy

I'm Engaged!

Planning a wedding always begins the moment a young girl catches her first glimpse of a bride...she starts thinking about colors and flowers and cakes...and then eventually, as she gets older about the groom. At least, that is the way I always perceived it. I began planning my dream wedding when I was about 8 years old but had yet to know who my groom was going to be until August 5th, 2006. My boyfriend and I had talked about marriage many times...I had hinted at my desires (ever so un-slightly) as far as timing, rings etc... I will never forget the moment that Matt, my fiance...(I just love typing that word...fiance) asked me to marry him, or the moments leading up to that event. :)

The prior weekend to our engagement, my boyfriend Matt had text messaged on Friday night to say that he would be home on Saturday if I wanted to get together. He is in the military and gone quite a bit so the unexpected moments that we get to share together are some of the best times we have. I was having coffee with a good friend of mine when I received the message and from that point on I just had this "feeling" that we were getting engaged. I drove to San Diego on Saturday morning really expecting to get engaged and although we had a lovely day together it didn't happen. However, some "hints" were dropped that I felt meant the following weekend, when he was officially home from this particular block of training, might be the day.

As that next Friday night rolled around I was so very excited. We were going out to dinner together and I had high hopes of engagement rings and wedding bells. Matt, knowing that I expected to be proposed to, decided to try and throw me off a bit by telling me that he loved me very much and that he knew that someday we would get married, but that were just weren't there yet. Needless to say I was kinda upset!

On Saturday my dad and Matt spent the afternoon together and when they got back Matt asked me to go out to dinner with him. We got all dressed up and he took me to this great little Italian restaurant where there was a piano player and it was so romantic. After dinner we went to the beach and were watching the waves crashing on the sand when suddenly Matt looked into my eyes and said, "Melissa, I love you so very much and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?"
Of course I said yes!!!

Now, getting engaged is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to wedding plans! There is so much to do in the days ahead...ESPECIALLY since my fiance and I have decided to get married in 4 months! I am just amazed at how many things there are to planning a wedding! I am excited, scared that things won't get done in time, and did I mention excited!!

I know we will get there...to our beautiful wedding day...this diary will be the story of how we make it...I am really looking forward to sharing the journey with all of you!

Love,
Melissa

Meet Melissa- Diary of a Bride to be.... Follow us along this journey!

Diary of a Bride to be- meet Melissa