Wedding Tips

• Break in your shoes before the wedding. Oh how I wished I had followed this bit of advice. One of my shoes chaffed my foot in one place and rubbed my skin raw. I was not in a lot of pain but it was certainly uncomfortable walking in then during our outdoor shots. It was not until my planner gave me a band aid that I found relief. Even if its a little each day, make sure you break them in and know how they will wear. Or just have a back up pair of slippers ;)

Remembering my loved ones

In my getting ready post I mentioned remembering my grandmother who could not attend by pinning one of her rings into my dress.  When I was 18 I lost my grandfather who was my best friend in the world. I felt like a part of me died with him that day and it saddened me that he was unable to be there for my wedding. Before the wedding my mother gave me my grandfather's old camera, the one he used to take all of my mother and aunts and uncles childhood photos. Fortunately I was able to locate film for it and the manual online. My photographer was great about taking a couple of pics that day with it.

Now I just need to take the film over to the photo development place here in Philadelphia

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.

Wedding Tips

Wedding Tips

• Make sure you eat a healthy breakfast or lunch! It will give you the energy you need to get through the day. Given all the excitement you will eat very little at your cocktail hour and reception. Remember you and your husband are the center of attention and hostess and host of your wedding, you will be greeting guests, making the rounds, and busy with the wedding events of the day. When you think of it you will have little time to eat so make sure you get something in before the day really gets into swing.

• Wear a shirt with buttons or a zipper when getting ready. It just insures nothing has to be pulled over your head which can cause makeup smudges or tousle your hair.

Recap Intermission : Our Stationery

All photos done by me

Lauren Brown from Lauren Brown Studio designed our Save the Date and invite. Lauren is a graphic designer and she has some beautiful creative pieces. What I love most about her work is that each piece has an unexpected surprise design element (I can't say more than that because you just have to see for yourself and unfortunately I can not take pics in respect for Lauren). Plus she is so easy to work with!!!!

Save the Dates

Lauren actually mocked up two designs for us (the other of which can be seen on her website), one with the gatefold and one with a pocket. However, from the start I knew I wanted a gatefold card for our save the date (the idea just stuck in my mind). The mock up included a crystal accent and an additional layer, however, we had to cut back to fit our per piece budget - but they still came out fantastic.

Invitations

When we started our planning process my fiance and I were both convinced that we wanted pocketfold invites. And Lauren did two beautiful samples in this style, but something was just not resonating as screaming "Nicole & Roosevelt". I had seen pictures of accordion fold programs and fell in love with them, and was seriously thinking that it would be more cost effective to do them as an invite. I suggested this to Lauren and she loved the idea. After getting the sample of her version of the accordion invite and we both knew that it was the one.

It fit into our theme so perfectly. On the cover was a picture of Philadelphia City Hall with the date of our wedding, the first panel had a quote about marriage from Benjamin Franklin, the second panel was the formal invite, the third contained directions and accommodations info, and the last panel had a belly band which had the rsvp post card slipped underneath.

Getting Ready : Good Morning and I am ready for my closeup

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

Once I got back to my room I had just enough time to order breakfast before there was knock after knock at the door. Roosevelt made me promise that I would take time to start my day off right with a good breakfast. I ordered oatmeal with brown sugar and raisins, ginger ale, and crackers. I usually don't indulge in soda but wanted ginger ale just in case I got an upset stomach due to nerves.

In the span of 45 minutes my wedding planner, photographer, videographer, make up artist, mother, and one of my bridesmaids arrived. I felt like the suite was Grand Central Station. OMG it was really starting to happen, I was getting ready for my wedding!

We had left over water from our out of town bags which we put out for everyone in the suite. (The labels were done by Jessica's Design Shop with a monogram we purchased from Creative Montage.) Also Roosevelt made a run to Corner Bakery and bought muffins, bagels, and coffee for all the vendors and had it sent up to the room. We realized that we had a much earlier start than most weddings and wanted to give our vendors a nice little morning boost.

Vivianne my make up artist began to work her magic in the dressing area. During our trial back in January we discussed to possible color palettes: a neutral one of natural browns and highlights of bronze or one of soft pinks. I am very conservative with make up and decided to do the neutrals. We joked and laughed and through it all I remained calm, though I had to forcibly relax myself with the camera being that close. (I hate getting my picture taken so any picture occasion causes me slight anxiety)

One of my planners Stacey peeking at Vivianne working on me.

My first look at my totally made up face

The look of surprise and disbelief that I was looking at myself in the mirrorr! I love this shot.

After makeup it was time to get dressed.

Getting Ready : Oh my gosh is this a sign of things to come?

I was able to get in about 5-6 hours of sleep the night before the wedding which was surprising. I thought I would be too anxious to sleep but I was able to get in my normal amount of hours. I woke up on time and got showered and dressed. I made sure I wore my sweatsuit which had a zipper front, remembering the advice from my bridesmaid to not wear a top that goes over your face so as to not risk smudging your makeup in changing. It was also a great choice because I felt relaxed and comfortable.

My driver was out front waiting for me. He informed me that he already had the address and route mapped out so I could just sit back and relax. The driver (sorry I forgot his name) was a great conversationalist but after a couple of minutes I noticed we were getting on the highway going past the exit for my salon. At that point I perked up and asked what address he had on file and learned that there is another salon with the same name as the one I attend which is in a section of the city very far out. This was the salon we were on our way to! Thankfully I was paying attention and not totally relaxing and let the driver know of the error. He immediately turned the car around and entered the correct address into the GPS.

At this point I was calm since the driver assured me I would still make my appointment in time (Also I was doing some inner Woosaaas as well). However, when we were stopped at a light about 2 miles away from the salon I felt a jerk and bump from the back of the car. I couldn't believe it, we were just hit from the rear! At this point I started to freak out a little. We were in a shady part of the city where a limo is not a common place sight and we just got rear ended, I was hoping this was not a robbery.

The driver asked me if I was ok which I assured him I was and then he got out to talk to the driver. After a minute of conversation he got back in the car. He said since there was no damage to the car, not even a scratch, he just let the guy go. I was just breathing a sigh of relief. Thankfully no one was hurt but could you imagine getting into a major car accident the morning of your wedding?!!!! I was very lucky and blessed in so many ways.

We got to the salon on time and my hairdresser started in on my hair. We had discussed this as the inspiration for my hair.

I had been concerned the whole year and a half leading up to the wedding because I had to cut off a substantial amount of my hair the previous year. When I say substantial I mean Halle Berry short, because it was breaking off and severely damaged. To this day I am not sure what caused it but needless to say I was not pleased, in fact I was devastated! So I did away with coloring my hair and babied my hair for a year and a half to grow it as aggressively as possible. And I must say it came back healthier and longer than it was before all the damage occurred. I was ecstatic that I was able to get the hairstyle I wanted, yeah! We just added in some pieces to give it fullness but I was so happy with how beautiful it looked along with my clay gardenia hair flower from dkdesignshawaii. (You will see how it turned out in the upcoming posts. Sorry ....)

But to completely do my hair took almost 2 hours and I had to be back at the hotel by 8. After the rocky start I was wondering if this would be indicative of how my whole day would go. If it was I was determined to bear through with a gleeful heart because I knew no matter what happened at the end of the day I would be married to my love.