Not One of a Kind

There's one thing in particular that I have in common with a lot of other brides.  Here's a hint:

Its name is Casablanca 1900.

Left: Photo by Erin Jean, via Style Me Pretty / Right: Photo by J. Cogliandro Photography, via Style Me Pretty

Left: Photo by Allison Davis Photography, via Style Me Pretty / Right: Photo by Ben Q. Photography, via Style Me Pretty

Left: Weddingbee user monicamiller101010 / Right: Weddingbee user asweetpea737

Mrs. Frozen Yogurt

This is a tough post for me to write, because no matter how I try to put it, it makes me come across as snobbish. But it's something I've never addressed, so I'm going to give it a go... One of the things I'm most known for within my family and circle of friends is my fashion sense. I love clothes. And shoes. And handbags. And I have never in my whole life worn the same outfit as anyone... until I picked what might be the most popular wedding dress of 2010. (Really, I've even seen threads on the boards awarding it that title...)

When I first got engaged, my visions of my wedding day look were very high fashion. I tore out pictures of Oscar de la Rentas and Monique Lhulliers... Christian Louboutins and Jimmy Choos.  If there's a day to go all out, it's your wedding day, right? But the closer I got to trying on wedding dresses, the more conflicted I felt about my family spending that kind of money on an outfit I'd only wear for one day.  So I made an appointment to try on more practical dresses at Down the Aisle in Arroyo Grande, California, and I promised myself that one day I would make a fabulous fashion splurge to make up for it.

The ladies at Down the Aisle were wonderful, and I just had so much fun trying on dresses!  Each one I tried on made me more and more excited about getting married!  And when I tried on Casablanca 1900, I loved the swiss dots on the lace, the subtle sparkle, and its soft, vintage vibe.  Not everyone with me thought it was the one, but my mom and I both teared up at the idea of me walking down the aisle in it! So I decided to say yes to the dress!

Then I got home and noticed a few brides wearing it on wedding blogs, including our very own beautiful Ms. Frozen Yogurt.  At first I was just so excited to see what my dress looked like on real people! But then, on facebook, I saw the wedding photos of a girl who I'd grown up with, and guess what dress she was wearing? Casablanca 1900! And then one of my engaged best friends texted me with excitement that she'd found her dress!  She texted me a picture, and once again it was "my" dress.  (She hadn't realized it was the same as mine and ended up going with a beautiful Priscilla of Boston instead.)  All of a sudden, "my" dress was popping up everywhere! Since then, four more girls I am facebook friends with chose to wear Casablanca 1900... all of whom had overlapping guests with our wedding!

On our wedding day, I loved wearing my dress.  It felt comfortable and swishy and just really fit the vibe of our wedding. But over the past year, it feels like everyone I run into says something along the lines of, "I saw your wedding pictures!  You wore the same wedding dress as my daughter/cousin/family friend!" And as shallow as it is to admit, having that in common with so many people just makes a girl who never even wore the same prom dress as anyone else feel pretty...well, unoriginal.  I feel like people who know me expected more. Of course I want to appear all confident and everything, so I brush it off and say something along the lines of, "Wow! That is such a fun coincidence! It really is a beautiful dress!" But in an effort to be candid with you guys, I didn't even post wedding pictures on facebook until just recently, partly to keep our wedding private, but mainly because I knew everyone would recognize my dress and connect it to all the other people we know who've worn it.

I understand that this may be a petty issue to many of you, but it's really taken me this long to come to terms with it.  It's taught me an important lesson. The point of your wedding is not to be original.  As the judges on American Idol like to say over and over again, the best thing you can do is "make it your own." Even though I have a crazy amount of wedding dress twins out there, I really think we all looked beautiful in the dress in our own way.  Looking back, do I think it was "the dress?" No, not really.  As hard as it is for a sentimental person like me to admit, I don't even think I believe in "the dress." I'll admit that some days I still dream of floating around in a show-stopping couture gown, or having a dress made just for me like I did with my lace shrug... but who's to say that I wouldn't have regretted those options if I'd chosen them? In the big picture, I really truly am glad that I wore Casablanca 1900.

Do any of you know someone in real life who wore the same wedding dress as you?  How did you feel about it?  Has an aspect of your wedding besides the dress made you feel conflicted about originality?

Wedding Regrets

Illustration by Flickr user The Fabled Needle

I've found that a year into our marriage, the question I get asked most often, with the exception of "How's married life?" and "When are you guys going to have kids?" is "Do you have any wedding regrets?" Pondering this has got me thinking not only about wedding regrets, but also about the concept of regret in general.

To be completely honest, there have been moments in the past year, when looking back on our wedding day, in which I have found myself regretting my choice of dress, shoes, florist, and not hiring a videographer. There are a few people I wish we would have invited, and a few I wish we hadn't.

After a lot of thought about this, the ultimate realization I have arrived at is that at that point in time, on July 10, 2010, our wedding was exactly what I wanted. So how can I possibly let myself regret anything about it? As we grow up, we change. (Duh.) So of course the wedding I planned when I was twenty-one wouldn't be the same as the one I would plan if I'd waited to get married until thirty. (There are already things I'd do differently at twenty-two!) I'm sure many of the women who got married in the 1980's look back at their photos and feel like if they could have a do-over, they'd lose the hat and puffy sleeves.  But growing up, you have to admit that your favorite part of your parents' wedding photos is how they look so eighties, (or seventies!) Someday our kids will probably look back on our wedding photos and laugh about how they're so 2010. And I can guarantee you that I'll find that quite funny.

In summary, I'll never forget how overwhelmed with joy and love I felt on our wedding day. So do I have any wedding regrets?  No, absolutely not! And my best advice for planning a wedding that you won't regret? With every decision you make, be true to yourself.  (And tell your future self that regrets are not an option.)

Measuring Up: Inspiration vs. Reality

One thing I've seen other brides do, and felt curious to try myself is taking a look at how the actual wedding compares to the original inspiration board. Our goal for our wedding style was part Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette and part Father of the Bride. We wanted the whole evening to feel more like an elegant backyard dinner party than a wedding. Here's our inspiration board, or what I liked to call our "reality check board," at the time:

Photo credits: (Left to right, top to bottom) 1. Personal photo, 2. Personal photo, 3. Domino Magazine, 4. Style Me Pretty, 5. The Photobooth Experience, 6. Watters, 7. Style Me Pretty, 8. Classic Party Rentals, 9. Style Me Pretty, 10. Style Me Pretty, 11. A Boxed Event, 12. Style Me Pretty, 13. Jose Villa, 14. Evrim Icoz Photography, 15. Martha Stewart Weddings, 16. Style Me Pretty, 17. Martha Stewart Weddings, 18. Style Me Pretty, 19. Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette, 20. Personal photo of backyard, 21. Martha Stewart Weddings, 22. Style Me Pretty, 23. Personal photo of veil (I put together these credits back when I originally posted this inspiration board, so I apologize that they're not more specific! If you have any further information on any of the photos that aren't mine, please let me know!)

And here's how it all came together in real life:

All photos by the fabulous Chloe Murdoch, with Mike Larson Photography, Inc.

I am really pleased with how our wedding turned out. There are definitely some differences in the details, mainly due to DIY projects I gave up on toward the end, like having a cool guestbook. But I think the overall feel of the event was exactly what we had hoped for and more! What do you think?

Married readers, have do you think your weddings compared to your original inspiration?

Happy One Year to Us!!

It's been a while, but some of you may remember reading about my wedding planning journey. You followed along as I learned to make French macarons, designed our invitations, and had a lace shrug made from my mother's wedding dress. When our wedding day finally arrived, I couldn't wait to share everything with you; from the way all of the reception details came together to changing into a 50's prom dress for our first dance as a married couple. And now, as July 10th approaches once again, I can hardly believe it's been a year!

Photo by Chloe Murdoch, of Mike Larson Photography, Inc.

Wondering what we've been up to?  Well, our first year of marriage has certainly been a whirlwind of both fun adventures and challenging new experiences. Immediately following our European honeymoon, we packed up all of our belongings (and wedding gifts), and left our beloved home state of California behind for the opposite coast. I can tell you from experience that a cross-country road trip is definitely an interesting way to spend your first weeks of marriage...

"The Turtles," at Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee... Just one of the fun stops we made in between California and Maryland.

Thanks to living on the East Coast, we've had opportunities to visit so many places we'd never seen before, like our nation's capitol!

Being married wasn't our only new adjustment. Mr. Turtle started his first graduate program and I started my first post-college (full-time) job.

We also had the pleasure of experiencing real seasons for the first time, including thunderstorms, changing foliage, and snow right outside our window!

One of our favorite memories has been our train trip to New York City in December. (We'd both been to the city multiple times, but never at Christmastime!)

Due to my work schedule, we were unable to go home for Thanksgiving or Christmas. It was a bittersweet experience to celebrate these holidays by ourselves, especially since we are so close with our family, but we tried our best to have our own merry little Christmas!

Thankfully, we eventually were able to visit California to share some important occasions with our family and friends, including a very special wedding I had the pleasure of being in! (Anyone remember Bridesmaid Red? Didn't she make a beautiful bride?)

And finally, celebrating the 4th of July in Annapolis, just a week ago.

Despite some tough challenges, including Mr. Turtle's grammy being diagnosed with cancer, and having our landlord decide to sell our condo, forcing us to make an unexpected (and very untimely) second move, we've made it through our first year of marriage! I like to believe that we are both stronger individuals as a result and have a closer relationship than ever before.

Of course our anniversary has caused me to reflect back on the Weddingbee community and all of the good times we shared! I'll admit, I did kind of speed through my recaps and promptly sign off... (At the time, I was all too ready to leave Wedding Land behind.) So I thought, why not come back for the week, just for fun... you know, like old times? (Except hopefully with a little bit of additional wisdom concerning weddings and marriage!)

How does that sound?  Any questions?  :)

Mrs. Turtle's Vision for the Royal Wedding

Photos by Mario Testino, People Magazine

With the royal wedding only days away, did you really think I'd miss this chance to re-enter wedding blogland?  Definitely not!  I've missed you guys!  And honestly, the only reason I haven't been obsessively caught up in the royal wedding buzz until now is that deep down, there's still a part of me that's mourning the loss of my girlhood dream. Prince William was supposed to be mine. :(  However, I guess if it wasn't meant to be, I couldn't have lost him to a classier queen-to-be than Catherine Middleton. (I mean, the fact that we both studied Art History in college does make us kindred spirits, doesn't it?)  And now that I've found my very own "prince," Mr. Turtle, it's time to move on with my life.  But don't think that means I will ever stop envying her stylish hat collection... or the palaces... or the jewels. Sigh. ;)

It's a difficult task to predict the details of a 21st century royal wedding, but I hope you enjoy my vision of the occasion...

Let's talk about Kate.

The dress: The two designers who have been at the center of the bridal gown rumor mill are Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen and Bruce Oldfield.  Just for the fun of it, I'm going to predict that the modern Ms. Middleton will be a two dress bride.  For the ceremony, she will wear a majestic, conservative gown, with architectural lines, designed by Oldfield; something along these lines, but with a royally extravagant train.

Bruce Oldfield

I hope her dress for the reception/after party is something young and fashion-forward by Alexander McQueen.  I'll love it if we see her in one of these lacy minidresses, but a more realistic guess might be the one in the middle...

Alexander McQueen's 2011 Resort Collection on Style.com and Alexander McQueen's Fall Ready-to-Wear 2011 Collection on Style.com

The hairstyle: Normally, I prefer brides with their hair down, but since Kate always seems to have her hair down, wouldn't it be fun to see something a little different?  I vote for the loose side ponytail.

People Magazine

The jewelry:  Just that gorgeous sapphire and diamond engagement ring and some sparkly statement earrings!

The veil:  She's becoming a princess.  Of course she should go for the dramatic cathedral length veil! The exact length?  I doubt she'll try to outdo Princess Diana's twenty-four feet... so let's just say... twelve feet!

The shoes: I heard somewhere that she's going to wear white lace flats.  I don't know how accurate that is, but whether she wears flats or heels, I definitely don't foresee her wearing colored shoes.  

Let's talk about the rest of the wedding.  

How long will the ceremony last? One hour. 

What colors will the bridal party be wearing? I predict that the bridal party will wear deep blue, like the sapphire in Kate's engagement ring!

Daily Mail / Bruce Oldfield dress, Yumy Shop

How many tiers will the cake be? Five! And each one of them covered in delicate, ornate white fondant flowers.

What will the main color scheme and the prominent flower type will be?  My prediction for the color scheme is sapphire blue accented with silver and gold.  I read that William and Kate want to incorporate the four national flowers of the British Isles (English rose, thistle, daffodil, and shamrock) into their cake decoration.  I love the idea of using these in the bouquets and other floral arrangements as well!  Mainly creamy white English garden roses, with the other three blooms as accents... I would love to see the bouquets arranged in an updated English garden style.  And Kate's all-white, with a big navy blue ribbon tied around it.

Bouquet by Flowerwild on Style Me Pretty / Thistle from Germ @ Namur / Shamrock from Flickr user Cobalt / Rose from BBC Plant Finder / White daffodil from Boise Daily Photo Garden Shot

To sum it all up:

Ring from Hilary Shepherd / Westminster Abbey from Edesi Babes / Royal carriage from Dappled Grey

To all of my Weddingbee friends: I hope I find another excuse to visit you soon!

And to Prince William and Miss Catherine Middleton: I wish you a true fairytale of a marriage! :)

Are you excited for the royal wedding?  What are your predictions?

So Happy Together: A Hesitant Farewell

As the evening winded down, and the music from our "first and last dance" began to fade away, I remember looking around at the faces of the people who were still there and thinking that it was an absolutely perfect moment in time.  Some people were still dancing in the gazebo, some were taking one last turn in the photobooth, and others were wrapped up in conversation with people they hadn't seen in years. I knew that it was time for our "farewell," but I still found myself asking our wedding coordinator if we could just hang out for another hour.  She laughed, and pointed out that the candles had all melted down.  The vendors were coming to clean up soon and most of the guests had already left.  I looked around and although I understood her valid points, I just didn't want the night to end.  (Isn't that how every bride should feel at her wedding?)

The remaining guests gathered along the driveway holding the getaway flags. (Which may look like a super cute DIY project, but I have to be honest with you:  they were a serendipitous find at T.J. Maxx!)

 

Everyone cheered as my new husband and I ran through the human tunnel and drove away in my cream colored MINI Cooper.  I remember watching our closest family and friends wave and smile out the window until I couldn't see them anymore.

A lot of you have commented about the amazingly beautiful weather we experienced on our wedding day. Well believe it or not, less than thirty minutes after we drove away, the rain began pouring down from the sky.  Thunder and lightening and everything!  What a perfect ending to a perfect day.  :)  I also have to add that the next morning, it was bright and sunshiney again!  Mr. Turtle and I went back to his grandparents' house (where we'd gotten married), and our family watched us open our presents.  Then we ordered pizza and had a glorious feast of pizza and leftover wedding cake in the backyard.... sitting on the Chivari chairs that the rental company still hadn't picked up!  How fancy... ;)

Anyway, does it make sense if I say that the feelings of hesitancy, of bittersweetness, that I experienced at the end of our wedding are the same way I'm feeling now as I write this farewell Weddingbee post?  I whipped out my recaps pretty fast, as far as recaps go, but every time I sat down to write this post, I ended up procrastinating.  Planning this wedding was such a personal journey for me.  As cheesy as it sounds, the process of planning a wedding made me a better person. Working on the wedding together also brought me closer to my family, friends, and husband.  These 23 months of my life were a rollercoaster.  I laughed harder than I'd ever laughed and cried harder than I'd ever cried.

Blogging on Weddingbee during this stage of my life was certainly a time-consuming commitment to take on, but I can honestly say that it served to further enrich the whole experience.  I may never meet any of you in person, but this online community is made up of some of the kindest, most genuine women I have ever encountered!  I carefully read each and every one of your comments on my posts.  Your encouragement and advice definitely helped shape our wedding.

I'm hesitant to leave Weddingbee behind, but I guess it would be weird if I stuck around forever.  That's the funny part about life.  Just when you get comfortable somewhere, you find yourself moving on to newer, sometimes better, and always more challenging things.  Mine and Mr. Turtle's life together has definitely not slowed down or gotten boring since the wedding.  We've moved from California to Maryland, and are now living together for the first time.  He's started graduate school, and I've started my first post-college job.  If you're interested, I invite you to come visit me on my personal blog: www.bricolageblog.com !  I can't promise that you won't see me around Weddingbee every once and a while though.  I plan to pop in here and there!

Thanks for reading along while I planned my wedding!  I hope you enjoyed the ride.  I'll never ever forget you, and I wish you the best not only for your wedding, but for the rest of your lives!

Love always,
Mrs. Turtle

So Happy Together: Our First and Last Dance

For those of you who are wondering what happened with the garter, Mr. Turtle and my dad got it down from the roof with a broom! And a friend I grew up with at church caught it.  Problem solved! As my wedding recaps draw to a close, have you noticed anything missing?  Dancing, maybe?  Well believe it or not, Mr. Turtle and I chose not to have dancing at our reception.  No, we didn't have any deep religious or philosophical reason behind this decision.  Mr. Turtle specifically does not like to dance, so naturally, dancing hasn't held any real significance in our relationship.  And I figured, why make him do something he doesn't like to do on what's supposed to be the "best day of our lives?" Also, the deeper I got into planning our wedding, the less I envisioned dancing fitting into the our reception vibe.  I wanted the evening to feel more elegant dinner party in the garden than crazy dance party.  But the closer our wedding day became, the more I started to wonder if I'd regret not having a traditional "first dance." So Mr. Turtle and I made a sort of last minute decision to end the evening with our first dance as husband and wife.

Obviously I'm not wearing my wedding dress in that picture.  Maybe I should explain!  A few weeks before the wedding, I realized that I didn't want to leave our reception in my wedding dress/wear it walking into our hotel that night. I wasn't sure what to wear, and honestly didn't feel like buying yet another dress, after I'd already purchased outfits for so many other wedding events.  Well, as Mr. Turtle's family was in the process of helping his great-grandmother move, they stumbled across Mr. Turtle's grandmother's high school prom dress!  Just for fun, I decided to try it on and it fit like a glove!  So as soon as it occurred to me that this could be my getaway dress, I felt like the whole thing was just meant to be!

Left: Me trying on the dress for the first time; Right: Me wearing the dress at our wedding with Mr. Turtle's Grammy, the original wearer of the dress back in the 1950's! Soooo special, right? :)

So back to our dance, here's how our little surprise unfolded: After the bouquet and garter toss, I quickly changed into my getaway dress and then rejoined the reception.  I grabbed a microphone and stood up on a chair so everyone could see me. (Yes, I stood on a Chivari chair. *gasp*)  By this point, many of our guests had left, and the only ones remaining were our very close family and friends, who were all well aware about our decision to not dance.  I proceeded to make an announcement that we were so thankful for everyone's attendance and support, and before we called it a night, we had one surprise left: a dance in the gazebo!  Right on cue, our DOC started the oldie but goodie song we chose only moments before: Frank Sinatra's "The Way You Look Tonight."

After about a minute of all eyes on us, we invited anyone who wanted to join us in the gazebo to do so for the rest of the song.

As unplanned as our dance was, I'll treasure these brief few moments in my heart forever.  This definitely was not the most traditional way to go about a "first dance," but somehow, for us, it just fit!  Perfectly!

Brides-to-be: in what ways are you throwing out tradition, in favor of something that feels more right for you?  Married bees: did you have any unplanned moments at your wedding that looking back, you can't imagine the day without?

In case you missed out on any of my earlier recap posts:

• So Happy Together: The Rehearsal
• So Happy Together: The Rehearsal Dinner
• So Happy Together: The Wedding Morning & Bridal Details
• So Happy Together: The Girls Get Ready
• So Happy Together: The BFF Shots
• So Happy Together: Bridesmaid Portraits
• So Happy Together: Groomsman Portraits
• So Happy Together: And Here Comes the Bride!
• So Happy Together: Now Pronounced Husband and Wife
• So Happy Together: Cocktail Hour & Family Pictures
• So Happy Together: Wedding Party Portraits
• So Happy Together: Just the Two of Us
• So Happy Together: Everyone Wants Candy
• So Happy Together: The Photobooth Experience
• So Happy Together: Reception Details
• So Happy Together: Wedding Party Entrance & Time to Eat!
• So Happy Together: Toasts
• So Happy Together: Cutting the Cake
• So Happy Together: Almost Forgot the Important Part!

Once again, all of the wedding photos in this post were taken by our wonderful photographer, Chloe Murdoch, with Mike Larson Inc.