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Out of my 11 bridesmaids, 6 are married and 3 have already given birth to one child.  Another one is currently pregnant with her first due in February, and I just found out today, that another is pregnant with her 2nd due……the week of my wedding.

What to do?  What to do?  Naturally, given the demographics of my bridesmaids, I understood early on that at this point in our lives (circa 29-30 years old), we all have our own family lives and demands that make it hard to plan around.  I understand that my bridesmaid due in June may not be able to make the wedding or fit into a matching dress.   However, I don’t want to NOT have her because of that.  Just because she may not be able to participate in the “big day” I still consider her as I do the other 10, vital important people that have contributed to making my life special throughout my various walks of life.  I’ve told her that I would love for her to be considered a bridesmaid and participate in whatever she can.  Obviously, everyone understands that a 9 month pregnant woman may not be able to commit, however, I still want her included in my roster of special people.

Have any of you been a pregnant bridesmaid or have pregnant bridesmaids?  How would you feel and what would you do?

Last you heard, I was making the tough decision of deciding how many bridesmaids I should have, 2 or 11.  Well, we (my fiance and I) decided on all 11, and we’re sticking to it and very happy with our decision.

I wanted to ask my bridesmaids in a special way, and found so much inspiration on wedding blogs  it was hard to choose.   But when I stumbled upon a fantastic post about Elise’s Envelope Pockets, I knew I wanted to do the same, but different :).  Again, I am so thankful that I don’t have to re-invent the wheel but rather just refurbish it to suit my own taste.  Thank goodness for wedding blogs!

The front of the Envelope Pockets.  It looks like I have a pretty equal showing of blondes and brunettes!

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Love the above cards from Stinkerpants.

I’ve been having a battle with both me vs myself and me vs my mom, over the number of bridesmaids I plan on inviting to be part of the wedding.  I’ll spare you the details because it simply comes down to this, it’s either 2 or 11.  I either have only a matron of honor (sister) and maid of honor (friend) or I have them both plus by 9 dearest friends, none of who I can spare or cut.

My mom cannot swallow the idea of 11 maids and thinks it may be tacky.   However, I cannot swallow the idea of not having my best friends involved in my wedding day, regardless that it may look a little out of control to outsiders.

I know what you are going to say, “Go with your gut.”  And that’s what I plan on doing.  It’s just sooooooo hard to go against your mother, a woman who is helping finance the very wedding you are battling over.

How do you handle situations like the one above?

On a separate note, the save the date postcards from printsmadeeasy.com (#100 for only $28) look INCREDIBLE!  So professional, delivery was so quick, quality is outstanding - highly recommended.

So it must be Save the Date week at EAD, I believe I am the third blogger this week to present hers!

I toyed with the idea of magnets, CDs and finally settled on postcards b/c honestly, it was easy.  I’ve been working like crazy lately and traveling nearly every weekend to visit my fiance in Texas (I am in DC), so I’ve had very little time to brainstorm.  But last weekend, I went to my faithful google reader and searched “save the date” ideas in the months worth of entries I had starred.  I came across a STD that I adored - totally urban, artistic, minimalistic and chic - precisely the vibe I was going for (and I am now hitting myself in the head as I can’t find my inspiration and I totally owe credit to it, so when I find it again, I will post it).   So I took my original inspiration but altered it and added personal elements and our fabulous photo from our engagement session with Missy in photoshop to suit our needs, and voila, this is what I came up with.   There was just no time to re-invent the wheel this late in the game.

Front:

Back:

I then ordered 100 postcards for ONLY $28 at www.printsmadeasy.com.  Unbelievable value.  I should get them by Friday so hopefully they turn out great!

After months of mental anguish over dress shopping, I finally did it - I bought the dress of my dreams.  I found the dress online and swooned over it a year before my fiance proposed to me - at a time when I was only dreaming of our pending engagement.  I tried in on weeks after the proposal and fell madly in love.  However, I tried to test fate by going out to a gazillion other bridal salons and trying on over 150 gowns to no avail.  I stopped competing with destiny and bought the dress I’ve had my eyes on since 2008, also buying the classic, dreamy cathedral length veil w/blusher at the same time.  I feel so calm and happy about my decision I know it was the right choice.  I am linking it right here - still can’t bring myself to display it out in the open for the public (my fiance) to see.  Click on the runway tab at the bottom to see the back…swoon.

On a similar note, I thought I’d share a big tip about shopping for bridal gowns , since you know, I’ve kind of become an expert after all.  Always ask for a discount.  That’s it.   Every single time I asked for a discount - without hesitation, the sales associate gave me atleast a 10% discount.  I would try to negotiate even more than that if you are buying a veil, purchasing your bridesmaids dresses, or any other accessories there.  Don’t pay full price no matter how high-end the salon.  Don’t be intimidated.  For the record, I went to arguably the highest-end salons in Chicago and Manhattan and got the same discount just by asking.  Happy shopping!  I’m moving on.  Dress, check.

Hi All,

So sorry I have been MIA.  With two amazing back-to-back weddings this month, I focused all my energy on assiting my dear bride-friends.  I’m back to planning my own wedding, and although one more friend just got engaged this weekend, I believe mine is the only one between now and June 12.  Anyway,  I promised you the end results of the colored birdcage veils I made for my friend’s bachelorette party, so voila, here they are!

They were a HUGE hit.  We loved wearing them and received many compliments from both men and women throughout the night.  The best part about it is that we felt classy and cool and part of a group,  even though some of us didn’t know one another before the night.  The bride wore white, and the rest of us had either magenta or red.

What do you think?  Can I use this idea for my bridesmaids?  I was thinking of letting my maids wear any dress in one color of my choosing, and unifying them with small couture black birdcage veils.

I’m at that point in wedding planning where I’ve already made a LOT of big decisions but am not ready to tackle the smaller ones yet. So, there is nothing much to report except the lamenting to myself about my dress (that I do not yet have).

I’ve resigned myself to the fact I found THE DRESS and should just stop looking. It imprinted me - it’s fate (for Twilight fans). I found it a year before I even got engaged and after trying on hundreds of others it is still the ONE. Unfortunately however it is also $2k over my budget. Moreover, I truly had an aversion to spending that much money on one dress to wear one time. I tried to find it used, tried to find it at sample sales, and tried it find it on clearance – to no avail.

So even I was surprised when I told my fiancé last weekend that we needed to cut 20 people off our guest list so I can buy THE dress. This did not go over well. It’s not that I am a bridezilla (or is it?) but it’s my wedding and I can cry if I want too and I should wear my dream wedding dress right? I know what this sounds like…do you know what you sound like? Have you noticed yourself whining about the small stuff? Have you noticed yourself turning into (gasp) kind of a bridezilla? It’s happened a couple of times now….and I’ve still got 10 months. Yikes.

It’s 9 months from my wedding date and I still haven’t chosen my bridesmaids.  It’s not that I don’t know who I want in my wedding, contrary, I know exactly who I want and they total to 11 amazing women.  I am postponing the inevitable however because personally, the idea of asking 11 mature women to wear matching  outfits does not sit well with me…but on the other hand, I have no idea what I want them to wear to make them look a little in sync.  I am going to be a little frank…Ive been a bridesmaid 6 times in the past 3 years and have never felt my best in a matching bridesmaid dress.  My friends are extremely unique, energetic, flirtatious,  sociable and coquettish - and they will be the life of the party -  so I want them to feel good, young and hot.  Although I’ve long thought that will probably have them pick their own dresses in a color so they can find the dress that best suits their body type and personality, I’ve been anxiously obsessing over how I can make them look in sync, other than the traditional avenues  i.e. matching shoes, shawls, flowers, etc?  I think I finally got it.  Colored veils.

The idea first struck when I watched Confessions of a Shopaholic where the protaganist wore a hot pink veil.

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Then I got the June issue of Vogue, where there was a mock wedding spread with a bride and her 5 bridesmaids all wearing black birdcage veils.  And so a melange of those two ideas kind of stuck - colored bird-cage veils.  I went to Michael’s a bought yards of colored birdcage veil fabric to experiment (as it was only around $1 a yard!).  I LOVE the way they are turning out.  Before I commit however, I am making these veils for my good friend Kate’s bachelorette party held in NYC in two weeks.  I’ve been making little birdcage veils as seen below for all of us and will share the picture with you when we are all dolled up.

From top left clockwise:  Blue veil from 10eisha on etsy, white veil from 10eisha on etsy, blue feather from 10eisha on etsy, picture from June 09 Vogue.

Have you found any new and unique ideas to make your maids look different but the same?  You know what I mean. :)

Let me preface this by saying I am a researcher by nature and by profession….please don’t think I am crazy.

Back in March – just two months after I got engaged - I had already been to 7 bridal salons and tried on over 50 gowns. By April, my number had reached 100 but at that point I had also FOUND my dress - I just didn’t buy it.  Not only did I have to be SURE it was the One, I wanted to find it online or at a sample sale since I couldn’t bring myself to spend that much on a dress I was to wear once. I gave myself the summer, prime wedding season, and hoped brides would sell their gowns afterwards. Unfortunately, to this date, I still haven’t found MY dress at a discount. Along the journey however, I’ve been to a plethora of bridal salons, online sites, and sample sales - my most recent one being the Running of the Brides in Washington, DC.

It was a very busy week at work, and there was no way I would take the day off to sit in line at Filene’s all morning long. So I asked a couple of friends if they would like to join me for our weekly Friday happy hour at Filene’s instead of the local watering hole (which we ended up at afterwards anyway). Who knew that was the best choice? I walked in to a calm Filene’s showcasing a gazillion gorgeous gowns all hanging orderly on their respective racks.

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As you read, my fiance and I recently took a practice engagement shoot with my sister.  Good thing we did, because if I dare say so myself, we did a lot better on our real engagement shoot.  And guess what?  They’re here!  I just got home and unwrapped the most fantastic gift I’ve received to date - my 225 incredible engagement photos by the fabulous Melissa Murphy of Missy Photography (whose services we won in a blog contest back in March!).

The contest I won was originally for Missy’s services and photos for the wedding day and day-after, but when I requested we switch the day-after shoot for e-photos in NYC (Dave and my previous stomping ground and Missy’s current one), she happily obliged.  I’m sure glad she did because I am obsessed.  Not only are the pictures, the color quality and artistic shots breathtaking, but I am downright giddy and 100% in love that we have pictures at Columbia University, our alma mater, where we spent 70% of our dating relationship.  I can’t wait to show our kids the photos and point out the places we used to sit at, drink at, eat at, picnic at, meet up, etc.  I have just become a huge supporter of picking engagement photo locations that mean something to you rather than pretty sites - although if they’re also beautiful, it doesn’t hurt.  :)

Finally, before I share with you some of my favorites - I just wanted to mention Missy.  The reason I entered the contest is because I loved Missy’s photography (and had it vetted by a dozen family members before I entered), so I was confident I would be happy with our photos.  Naturally however, since I hadn’t yet met her, I was nervous about our rapport.  Within 5 seconds of meeting Missy however, I realized it was impossible not to like her, and rather, I fell in love with her!  She is super sweet, laid back, talented, easy going and cute, but also gives you enough direction so that you don’t look like a fool lost in space walking around.  Dave and I are ecstatic that she is our photographer and already, I give her a high recommendation.  Not only is she fabulous, but she sent me the edited photos within a week~!

Ok, here are some of my favorites from the ones Missy posted online.  (As you can see, I nearly posted them all, it’s so hard to choose - there are SO many I love).   I also have a gazillion others I love that will be revealed at later days (probably as STDs or guestbook photos).  You can also find more on Missy’s blog.

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