Interview with a budding fashion designer

Me and my pretty cousins!

Singapore, December 2009

from left: Nina, Bianca, Marg

I am beyond excited to reveal the designs for the junior bridesmaid and flower girl dresses!  I have three gorgeous cousins who currently live in Singapore.  My youngest sister Chrissy and eldest cousin Bianca are our junior bridesmaids.  And Marg and Nina are our flower girls.

I have shown Chrissy's dress before, from bridesmaid shopping weekend 2.  I selected the same pink purse for her and my cousins.

Chrissy

The dress is a great length, but I think a heel would make it seem too short.  So I picked out some cute flats.  I don't wear flats (they make my feet look too wide), so can someone explain why they're so expensive?

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$42.27 Gap

$68 Free People

$85 Dillard's

When Bianca found out that I was doing mismatched dresses, she wanted to design the dresses for herself and her sisters.  My only guideline was that they should coordinate with pale pink flowers. The designs turned out so great!

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Accessorizing the bridesmaids

Wedding planning has become extremely stressful again.  So I decided to devote some time to my bridesmaids (hello ladies! this post is for you!), since that's always a good way to de-stress.

I found this cute Etsy store called ToonDesign based in Thailand where I hand picked an adorable (and affordable!) clutch for each bridesmaid as part of my bridesmaid gift.  I'll hold off on giving my review until the clutches arrive, but the seller currently has 859 (100%) positive reviews.

 I selected several shoe styles that I personally would pick for each dress and purse combo.  These are IN NO WAY meant to pressure my bridesmaids, and you should not feel obligated to select one of these shoes or even a similar style.  I picked shoes that I would actually wear and that would look good in pictures (and I tried to pick affordable shoes too, sometimes).  I completely understand that my bridesmaids have to consider your comfort, your personal style, and your wallets.  But in case you're having trouble picking your shoes, maybe this will help you figure out what you want.

Quick tip: If any of you are planning to buy your shoes on-line, definitely email Leia first.  She's really awesome at getting online discounts.

Leia (Maid of Honor)
The simplicity of this sweet little dress made me gravitate towards funky prints.

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$49.99 Anne Klein

$73.06 Oh Deer

$49.95 Joan & David

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Dress reveal!

{This was originally posted on the Weddzilla Blog this morning.}

I have shared photos of my dress before, but today marks the first time that I share photos of me in it.  Jeffy, in case you happen to be perusing the blog today, I know you don't want to ruin the surprise so I suggest you stop reading.  Love ya!

(Priscilla of Boston's Mackenzie)

On Wednesday after work, Leia and I went back to Remziye Perkin's for my second fitting.  My first fitting was way back in February, and I admit that I was a little worried that I might not fit into the dress because I have been pretty lax about my diet recently.  I almost screamed when I pulled the dress on and it was actually loose on me!

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Engaged Encounter weekend

To anyone expecting wedding stuff, tune in tomorrow.  I promise I have a lot of girly wedding things lined up, including photos from my 2nd fitting, and an interview with a budding fashion designer.  But today, I'm talking about the M-word.

Last Friday, Jeffy and I attended an Engaged Encounter weekend at Summerfield Suites in Gaithersburg, MD, and we both loved it.   You may remember that in February, we completed our Pre-Cana requirement in Brooklyn.  In order to be married in the Catholic Church, couples are required to complete either a Pre-Cana or an Engaged Encounter program, but my mother insisted (and though reluctant to give up a weekend, I admit I agreed with her) that Jeff and I complete both.  In fact, a couple does not need to be Catholic in order to participate in either one, and I personally feel that any engaged couple could benefit immensely from the experience.

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The Prenuptial Questionnaire

{This was originally posted on the Weddzilla Blog this morning.}

Although it was nearly a month ago, I think it's worth noting that Jeff and I completed a pre-nuptial questionnaire.  I'm not talking about a legal contract.  The prenuptial questionnaire is one of the requirements for being married in the Catholic church.

We met with Father English on Sunday, March 28, to complete this questionnaire.  Per his explanation, the whole point of the questionnaire was to be certain of our freedom, that is, that we were both entering into this marriage freely.  The interviews were conducted separately, as another means of ensuring that we could answer freely.  The questions covered a range of topics: the length we have known each other, our mental health, whether or not we have physical defects that would affect sex, whether we have ever been married.  It was much easier than I was expecting.

There were a few notable moments.  I tensed up for a fraction of a second when I had to report my address, knowing that in ten minutes Jeff would be providing the same address.  But we don't regret our choice to live together, and when the three of us met again after the questionnaire, Father English did not mention it at all.  Also, when he asked how long Jeff and I have known each other, I was a bit shocked when it added up to over five and a half years.  Father was thrilled- he said it was wonderful to hear that we had known each other for so long.

Now that we have completed everything on the list of Catholic wedding requirements (except the marriage license, which will have to wait until the end of May), it's pretty easy to breathe a sigh of relief.  Barring any freak accidents, we at least will be married on our wedding day, even if nothing else goes right.

Layered haircut

I got my hair cut today at lunch.  Even though I ranted last week about celebrity hairstyles, I brought a photo of this layered hairstyle of Mary-Kate (or is it Ashley?), telling the stylist that I wanted it a bit shorter than this:

 via ShoppingLifestyle

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The problem with celebrity hairstyles

{This was originally posted on the Weddzilla Blog yesterday.}

My sister Leia and I got into a small argument the other day about how I'm going to wear my hair on my wedding day.  I have super straight hair that does nothing, and my plan has always been to wear it down with a headband or a simple clip.  I almost never wear my hair up, so I definitely don't want it up for my wedding day.

Since Jeff and I are getting married in June in notoriously muggy DC, I have been planning on getting a shoulder-length haircut so I don't get overheated.  Gwyneth's sleek and simple style is my inspiration:

Wherefore art thou perfect? (source)

So I have been set on a shoulder-length bob and that's that.  No discussion.  Except my sister  stubbornly insisted that it needs to be longer if I'm just going to wear it down.  'You don't understand!' I wailed, thinking of Gwyneth's perfect hair, 'It will be chic'.  But she kept insisting that it would be better long.  And when we parted, I just agreed to disagree.

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Inspiration board fail

After reading Miss Veggie's post on making an inspiration board, I thought, 'I'll have to try that.' And today after two glasses of wine (what, you don't drink wine on Saturday morning??), I did.  And I have to preface the photos by saying that I am not that pleased with the results, but they took soo much time to make that it feels like a waste to just delete them. Also, I may still be a bit buzzed.

The bridesmaid dresses (I unintentionally plagiarized Leia's board):

 Background image from Paper Laces

And my dress and shoes with the bridesmaid dresses:

 Background image from 7-Art Screensavers

At the very least, these reminded me of how much I luurve the bridesmaid dresses! I made an appointment to go veil shopping with Leia this afternoon, hopefully I'll be able to find something I like.

Invitation feature!

I was so psyched to see my invitations featured on Wedding Bee's DIY Friday column yesterday!

Married (Gmail Account) Name

{This was originally posted on the Weddzilla Blog on April 7.}

First of all, thank you for all the lovely comments on my last post.   After writing it, my whole approach towards wedding planning really has changed for the better, and even Jeffy has noticed. :)

Anyway, after reading Dolly's post on changing her name, I started doodling out options for my new signature.  For as long as I can remember, I have been set on changing my last name when I got married.  As the wedding draws closer, I stand by this decision, but I'm having a difficult time letting go of my Maiden name. I decided that when I change my name, I'm going to eliminate my million middle names (fun fact: Filipinos love middle names) and make my maiden name my only middle name.

So "Michelle Marie ...(etc)... L*****" will be "Michelle L***** T*****". (fun fact #2: my new name is iambic trimeter if you pronounce my maiden name wrong, which most people do!)

My current gmail address is Michelle.L*****@gmail.com. Today, I went to save my married name account: Michelle.T*****@gmail.com.

Alas- it's taken! I'm having a really hard time picking a new gmail account now.

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Fresh perspective

{This was originally posted on the Weddzilla Blog yesterday.}

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Wedding planning has been an extremely emotional experience for me. As much as I love wedding blogs, I think they have contributed to my (already heightened) sense of insecurity, because even the “off-beat” weddings make me feel as though my wedding will never look this cool, or be this pretty, or feel this unique. This just compounded by my feeling that this wedding is more about what my mom wants than what I do.  It’s even worse when wedding planning is basically running my entire life, and while this excites my co-workers and casual acquaintances, it seems not to register with people to whom we thought we were close. The whole thing just makes me want this wedding to be over with so that Jeff and I can be married and go to Disneyworld already. I don’t think I need to explain how painful it is to realize that that’s how you feel about planning your wedding.

But my MOH and sister Leia, as always, has helped put things back into perspective.

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Letter to my fabulous bridesmaids

I'll admit it: sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, worried that my mismatched dresses idea was a horrible mistake.  Then I see a photo like this:

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and I feel like everything is going to be just fine.  Anyone need help picking out fabulous heels?  I am more than happy to assist.  Also, did I mention that I'm requiring a 2-inch heel minimum? Kthxbai!

<3