Getting Ready : The pieces that made the whole

All photos by Edmund Moon of Daily Thousand Words unless noted otherwise

After my make up was all in place it was time to get dressed.

I was just so excited to finally see how all my pieces were going to come together. A lot of my accessories were purchased months, some almost a year, in advance of the wedding and had been secretly hid away in my closet from the eyes of Roosevelt. Some I had agonized about for months trying to find the perfect piece. Others had deep sentimental meaning to me and was a way for me to remember beloved family members who could not be there with me.

My diamond earrings were a gift from my father, who unfortunately has not been a consistent part of my life. Though he has not been a major part of my life and has not really contributed to my upbringing in this small way he made a contribution to my wedding. The earrings are a part of a set and my mother wore the matching necklace.

My purse was one of my first wedding purchases after choosing my dress. I contacted Blue Orchid Handbags and had her do a custom bag for me. Even though the wedding colors were pink and brown I went with a gold purse with accents of pink, cream, and blue. It matched my ensemble perfectly. (Just shows that you don't always have to be matchy matchy)

When I first started doing my wedding planning, I was immediately captivated by the colored shoe trend.  At first I got some weird looks from my fiance and family but I was determined not to wear white/ivory shoes. I will admit I forgot what website I purchased my shoes on since it was over a year before the wedding. I do remember that I had the following shoe purchase criteria: 1) reasonable price (under $50), 2) at least a 3.5" heel, and 3) dyeable. The biggest angst I had about my shoe was finding some way to jazz them up. I love shoes with big rhinestone accents and shoe clips were are an easy way to embellish my shoes.  However, because the vamp of my shoe was so large it was difficult to find shoe clips that were large enough. This was one of the most frustrating searches in my wedding planning. After an exhaustive search for the perfect pair of shoe clips I stumbled upon the idea of using rhinestone buttons after visiting a bridal notions shop. There I found gorgeous rhinestone buttons and in all sizes. After unsuccessfully experimenting with attaching the button to a shoe clip, I decided to sew the button on my shoe. I will admit that this was a little difficult because I ad to sew through leather, however, an extra thick needle made it easier. Also it was a bit awkward because of the placement on the shoe and the size of the needle (a thick curved needle would probably have worked best). But in the end it turned out well and I was able to tightly secure the button on the shoe. Due to the size of the button I selected I chose to place it a bit to the side to prevent any chance of it chafing my skin with wear and chose to do only one shoe since I thought one on each would have been a bit much.

My handkerchief was my something blue and was purchased from Molly and Mom on etsy.

I did not want to wear a veil all day and decided to only wear it for the ceremony. Based on that decision it did not make sense for me to invest a lot of money into a veil. So I purchased a simple ivory drop veil from the Veil Shop for less than $30.

My brooch was borrowed from my bridesmaid and was the same brooch she wore in her wedding two years ago.

One item that was not captured on film was my grandmother's ring that was pinned to the inside of my dress. My grandmother is in a nursing home after being severely debilitated after a series of serious  strokes a couple of years ago. My grandmother and grandfather never had a wedding ring but I was able to wear one of her favorite rings pinned inside my dress. It was a ring I remembered from my childhood as her wearing everyday and it was on her in the hospital until we had to remove all her jewelry (due to some treatments she receives her hands could potentially swell and last time this happened we almost had to resort to cutting her rings off her fingers).

My dress was from Priscilla of Boston and up until 2 months before the wedding I was not enamored with my choice. I will admit I went through buyers remorse and just didn't think my dress was as fabulous as the day I bought it. It didn't help that by the time my fittings came around I had lost weight since purchasing it and was literally swimming in it.  But the seamstress at Priscilla worked magic and did a great job at the alterations. By the time she was done I fell in love with it all over again. What I loved most about the dress was the fact that it had detachable cap sleeves which gave me two looks for the wedding day. (I choose to wear the sleeves for the ceremony only.) Also it was an affordable alternative to the Monique Lhuillier lace gowns with sashes that are so popular.

Here you can see my wedding planner Stacey preparing my gown for me. My sash was silk charmeuse and purchased also at Priscilla of Boston.

With all the pieces in place I was ready to be put into my dress.