One Step Closer...

Well I'm a slacker, huh? Foxy and I went and got our marriage license almost a whole month ago and I never told you guys!!

It actually completely fascinates me how this whole process works. In Maryland, you need to apply for and get your license in the county that you are getting married in - so for us, it was Harford County. The license is also good for an astounding 6 months.. we could have done this ages ago!! Anyway, it was kind of amusing because we didn't even need to show our ID's or any other proof of identification - we just shared our information verbally, gave them our credit card, and walked out with a license in under 10 minutes. Boom.

Now, for whatever reason, I was under the presumption that, on our wedding day, Foxy and I would need to sign the license along with our officiant and one or two witnesses. This was further cemented into my brain at my mom's wedding in New York almost two years ago, when exactly that happened.

Foxy Mama, her hubs, me, and my uncle signing the license

Photos by Ellen Silverman

However, upon further inspection of our marriage license, Foxy and I noticed that only our officiant - the fabulous Miss Emily - is supposed to sign it.

That's it. Not even us, much less a witness or two. Which is a little sad, since I kind of love the pictures of people signing it (like above), and we won't have a chance to do that. Foxy Mama did suggest getting a "fancy" certificate (as opposed to an actual license) that we could all sign and have as a sort-of keepsake (it's nothing official), so that might be an option.

Image via Style Unveiled

We shall see! Regardless.. we are now officially able to get hitched. Huzzah!

How far in advance did you get your marriage license? Who all gets to sign it?

When in doubt.. dye it.

I've been on the hunt for a rehearsal dinner dress for quite some time now. I've spent endless hours scouring sites like ModCloth, ASOS, Victoria's Secret, Express, and the like in search of the perfect dress. Seeing as I wore white for my shower and bachelorette party, I originally wanted to keep the tradition going and find a cute LWD for the occasion. Then Foxy reminded me that we will be picking crabs for dinner, and how it didn't go so well for me the last time I decided to wear white when doing so.

Right he is. White has been nixed.

My search then just turned into one for a cute dress. That's all. Basic, cute, colorful. So when I saw this little tee dress from Victoria's Secret, I fell in love.

Victoria's Secret The Little Tee Dress

What really sold me was the color - it looks like the perfect shade of coral in the picture. And we all know that coral is the new black. At least in my world it is.

Anyhoot, I ordered the dress and got it in the mail a few days later. This is what I saw.

You might notice that it is not necessarily the color it appears to be in the picture from Victoria's Secret. It's.. neon. Which may be the reason why they called it "Caliente Coral". Go figure. It is caliente, indeed.

No matter which way you spin it, this would not do. It looks electric in the pictures I took, and it looks even brighter in real life. If I had aspirations of being a traffic cop, this would be a wonderful little dress to have. Alas, I do not. And alas, again, because I was dead set on wearing a coral dress to the rehearsal  at this point. This coral dress, actually.

My solution? Try and fade the color a bit. Don't go lookin' at me all crazy eyed just yet. Because all of my friends already have.

See, the dress itself actually has two layers: the top is a sheer pattern that you can wear as a sexy little beach coverup, or you can add a tank liner and wear it as a dress. The liner happened to be that perfect coral shade I was aiming for, but it was useless under the neon tee.

Liner on the left.. do you see the difference between that and the top layer?! My eyeballs burn.

I figured that if the liner could be that color, why not the dress itself? The worst case scenario would be that the top layer would get effed up and I could either bleach it white and figure it out from there, or just wear it as a beach cover up in Mexico. Either way, I'd get a blog post out of it. ;)

So I headed to Michael's and got some Rit Dye Color Remover.

Image via Rit Dye

Following the directions, I put some hot water in a pot, turned on the burner, and added the solution.

I also made sure to wash the top layer of the dress before soaking it in the color remover solution. Then I threw it in and stirred, stirred, stirred!

Warning: this stuff is smelly.

Soon enough, the fabric started to lighten in color.

 I'll admit that I started to get a bit nervous after about 15 minutes of stirring. The dress is made up of a few different fabrics and patterns, and it seemed like some areas were getting faded more than others. I made a judgement call and took it out at that point, washing it two more times before drying and seeing the final results.

And.. you guys? It totally worked.

Boom. Awesome. Rehearsal dress: done.

In my dying frenzy, I also decided to dye a white dress (also from Victoria's Secret) that I deemed a bit too sheer to wear anywhere but the beach. A little blue dye later, and I had a new, wearable dress!

So the moral of the story is: when in doubt, dye it!

Have you played around with dying or lightening your clothes, wedding related or not?

Don't Forget Your Dress! (And bra.)

One of the bajillion websites I oh-so-freely gave my email address to when I first got engaged was Project Wedding (and WeddingWire and The Knot and David's Bridal, blablabla). So, ever since "365 Days Until the Big Day", I've been getting their titled-as-such daily emails - 99% of which never applied to me, in large part because I already did them or they just weren't in my realm of thought. The earlier emails talked a lot about things like Wedding Boot Camp (aw hell no) and Top Wedding Tunes (none of the songs were really my cup of tea) and Unique Ideas for Your Engagement Party (which would have been helpful if we had an engagement party). Into the trash they went.

I can't knock it too much, though, because lately? Lately it's been lots of helpful and interesting things, like: Get Your Marriage License (check!), Do A Vendor Check In (check!), Top Ten 80's Songs (because the 80's were the best, obvi), Create Your Own Ceremony Programs (check!), Changing Your Name - Here's What to Expect (don't even want to think about it), and - ready for it? - Don't Forget Your Dress!

Alas, surprisingly enough, this isn't actually a post about Project Wedding and all of its email goodness. This is a post about the latter subject - the dress. The article mentioned above talks a lot about making sure you get your alterations done, bringing things to the wedding in case your dress needs an emergency fix of some kind, and remembering to accessorize. All of this is well and good, but I just thought it was extra awesome and appropriate at this moment in time because of what I just picked up the other day.

Oh, hello there!

Now, I've technically had my dress in my possession since last October, since it was cheaper to have it shipped to Maryland from New York and get alterations done down here than it was to purchase and have alterations done up there. Blame it on lovely New York state taxes and up-charges.

Once I initially had my dress, however, I had to wait (semi)patiently until April to start the alterations process. I eventually ended up taking it to a local seamstress by the name of Estee, thanks to some recommendations from both friends and the 'Bee. I have to boast and brag about her for just a hot minute, though, because the woman is simply amazing. She works out of her home, which in turn keeps prices low (we're talking under $200 for taking in the dress, significant hemming, creating a bustle, and adding what she dubs a "lingerie strap"). I saw her a total of three times, and was able to pick up my dress at the third fitting, just the past Monday. The dress went from somewhat of a hot mess that was too long and terribly unsupportive to one that fits me like a glove - thus, having me fall in love with it all over again. Now I just can't gain or lose an ounce for the next three weeks. #nopressure

I also have to give some credit as to how the dress fits to my undergarment selection. The process of finding a bra that would properly support me yet still dip low enough for both the very low sweetheart neckline and very low dipping back was a lengthy and anxiety-inducing one. I'll be honest with you, here: even though the top of my dress has some supportive boning, there was no way in Hades that I could get away without wearing some sort of bra. The tatas just.. need some support. Whatever, it's what I was born with. Sewn in cups won't do, those silly little sticky cutlet things are a joke, and a backless bra is almost just as laughable. My girls need some help and some oomph. My only real option was some sort of dippy longline bra.

I scoured almost every store and every website I could think of. A close contender was this little number from Victoria's Secret.

Victoria's Secret Back Off Baby Low-back Bustier

Would you believe me if I told you that it didn't dip low enough on either the front or the back? Because it didn't.

My last resort was Amazon - I didn't want to go this route because it's all a crapshoot - I could potentially spend a ton of money on several different bras, wait days to get them, only to have to return them all in the end.

However, this story does indeed have a happy ending! I eventually made myself go on Amazon, and wouldn't you know it: I saw, I bought, and I conquered. I got one of the few bras that looked like it not only dipped low enough, but had enough support for the girls.

Carnival Women's Invisible Plung Longline - 206

No, it's not the sexiest thing in the world, but I'm counting on the fact that Foxy will be too tipsy to really care. Especially since I also intend on taping and gluing the shiz out of myself to the both the bra and the dress. That thing isn't budging at all.

Yes, that is toupee tape on the left. It's the poo.

And yes, I will probably be trying on my dress every time Foxy leaves the house for the next few weeks until the wedding.

How far out from the wedding did you take your wedding dress home? What did you do about the undergarment situation?

Foxes Like Cake, Too

I actually have no idea if foxes like cake or not. I'm going to say yes, though, because there will be a couple of them sitting atop our wedding cake in just a few short weeks!

Waaaay back when, I found this cute little penguin cake topper that I decided I just had to have, mostly because they were just too cute to pass up. That, and they were coincidentally in our wedding colors.

Image via Etsy shop Kikuike

Then, right after I started blogging for Weddingbee, I found this insanely adorable topper and was instantly smitten.

Image via Etsy shop Kikuike

However, as badly as I wanted to purchase either one of them right away, I resisted. Both are above the $100 mark, and I wasn't sure I could justify spending that much on a cake topper. I know that either one would eventually double as a little house decor in the future, but it still felt like a lot money, especially so early on in the planning process.

So I let it drift from my mind for a while, but eventually came back to the idea a few months ago. I decided to poke around Etsy some more, where I found these little beauties.

Image via Etsy seller Bunny With A Tool Belt

I die. They're so simple yet elegant yet rustic and adorable.

Again, I waited. While not as expensive as the clay cake toppers, these guys are still not cheap and there has just been so much else that has needed to be purchased and paid for lately. Could I really justify it?

I sat on it some more, then had a random stroke of pure genius (okay that's a lie.. I was inspired by my lady peachplum09). A while back, I randomly purchased two little fox salt and pepper shakers off of eBay for $3.50. I didn't have a use for them whatsoever, but I mean.. why wouldn't I buy them for $3.50?

In an effort to save some dough and to actually find a use for these guys, I got my scissors and glue gun out and got to work trying to transform them into something resembling a bride and groom. Worst case scenario, if I effed it up or didn't like how it looked.. they were $3.50. Really not a big deal.

A few hours later (yes, it takes me a while), I had this!

Don't worry, I checked with Foxy.. he's cool sporting a flower. Think of it as a centered boutonniere.

I made the hat out of stiff felt that I cut and glued together, and the veil out of some tulle I had lying around (I still don't know why I had that tulle in the first place) and little pink beads. I also added some lashes to make the bride a little more feminine! I think the whole thing came out to about $7 total, and doesn't look too shabby for a relatively impromptu DIY project!

Were you able to repurpose anything to make it wedding related?

Adventures in Faux-tanning

A few of my fellow pale skinned brides have mentioned their exploits with getting their (lack of) tan on for the wedding. I know that being a pale bride is beautiful and all, but.. I still yearn for that sun-kissed skin. I think it's that whole "want what you can't have" thing.

See, I have this perpetual fantasy that I can get to be this nice shade of golden tan, whether it be through the sun or lotions or sprays or what have you. The problem is, I usually just go from white as heck to red as heck. On occasion, that red eventually fades into a pale shade of tan.

Not cute.

Back in college, I used the Jergen's Natural Glow for fair skin tones almost every day for two weeks.

That, up there? Is incredibly tan for me. I'm sure I also went to the beach a few times that summer, but I sure was rocking my version of a golden glow. On the flip side, though, I have very distinct memories of feeling gross and slimy and sticky every time I sweat or, you know, moved (which is a lot when you live in an apartment with no air conditioning in Philly in the middle of August). It just wasn't an ideal scenario.

Regardless, I decided to try again with the tanning lotion back in March, this time using Jergen's Natural Glow Express for fair skin tones - it's supposed to give you the same amount of glow, just in less time. This is what happened after four days of using it.

That would be nothing, by the way. Especially not compared to Em's fantastic glow up there. So while I oohed and aahed over her sun-kissed skin, she told me to stop messing around with the fair skin tones stuff and just use the lotion for medium to dark skin tones.

 Well.. ok then. So I did just that. Then this happened.

I was.. very sad. I also didn't see this part of it until halfway through the work day.

I hope you appreciate what you are seeing. That is a very distinctive tan line, where I clearly washed my hands (and wrists?) after applying. In my defense, that's what the bottle told me to do! On the bright side, however, this was after only one application and, even though I was seemingly channeling my inner Michael Jackson, the color was pretty good and natural.

So I tried again the next day, in an attempt to even out the harsh lines and get some color on my hands (and feet.. those were bad, too).

Uh-huh. #fail


For the life of me, I do not understand how you are supposed to apply/wash off the lotion on your hands and feet. But again, on the rest of my body? I looked pretty damn sun-kissed.

At this point, I've resigned to fact that I'll just be pasty-pasty for the wedding. But I'm still turning to you for help, because I will forever hold out hope that I can be golden: how the heck do you get even coverage, without lines and splotches of orange, on your hands and feet when using tanning lotion? What have your experiences been?

Let the RSVP stalking commence.

Welp, the RSVP deadline has come and gone and we still haven't heard from 25 people (which is more like 50 if you add plus ones and children and all that nonsense). Granted some of those people are family and wedding party peeps that I know are coming, but still - you don't send me an RSVP, I will stalk you.

I figure I'll skip my tirade on how I worked really hard on the invites and RSVP's and prestamped everything, so all guests would have to do is check a box and drop it off in the mail, yet this still seems to be too much to ask for. Grr.

Moving on: I'm actually pretty surprised at our total number so far. Back in October, I was having a mini freak out at how rapidly our guest list was growing. We ultimately ended up inviting a total of 153 people (plus kids), with the hope of not ending up over 120 (for sake of both space and money).

Here comes the fun part: as each RSVP rolls in, I have been keeping track of them in Google docs.

If we get a yes, the name, number of guests, and address gets highlighted in purple with bold text. If we get a no, they are highlighted in red and the guest count number decreases to 0. The white reflects those who have yet to respond, with their possible guest count still listed. This leaves it so that we always have a tally of the highest possible number of guests, and only decreases when someone replies that they can't come.

All this means is that, with everyone who has responded so far combined those who haven't as of yet (who are currently being counted as yeses), we are at a grand total of 107 people.

107!! That is actually perfectly within range of our original goal of 100-110 people. Now my worry has morphed from fretting about having too many people to having too few, seeing as we are monetarily responsible for at least 100 people whether we reach that number or not. ::Cue ominous music::

I'd like to think that all the non-responsive guests will eventually say they can come, but I definitely need to get my stalk on. Of the 25 who have not responded:

7 are close family
4 are in the wedding party
6 are Foxy's friends
4 are my friends
6 are miscellaneous friends of family (these are also the "up in the air" folk)

So yes, clearly some of those people will be coming and just haven't sent their RSVP in yet. However, with our current 30% decline rate, I'm a bit worried that we'll end up under 100 people in total (and yes, I actually remembered to count myself and Foxy this time). We've even invited a couple of more recent friends last minute, once we saw the guest count go down. I know the wedding and the people there to celebrate with us be perfect either way, but I'd still like to keep the number over the ever-mystical 100 mark. That, or I'll just have to eat enough myself to make up for the cost. Makes total sense.

Don't lie. You know I'm sexy when I stuff my face.

Did you have to stalk anyone for a response after your RSVP date? Did you have a higher than expected decline rate?

A Favorable Idea

I am so stinkin' excited to finally share about our favors!! They are something that I had seen in a magazine and fell in love with a while back, but had to wait until much closer to the wedding to acquire all necessary ingredients and assemble them. Don't get me wrong, I changed my mind about what they should actually be about 29853 times before I finally settled on one, but once I stumbled across this idea, I knew it would be perfect.

At first we were thinking bottles of Dinosaur BBQ sauce for everyone, but that would really only make sense if we had the wedding in upstate New York near Foxy's parents and actually served their (freaking delicious) BBQ.

Image via Amazon

We also considered wine as favors since we are both such big wine-heads, but that had the potential of going out of our budget very quickly. I also think it fits more with a vineyard wedding, and it didn't quite work with the rest of the feel of our wedding, if that makes any sense.

Image (& label) via Etsy seller Beau Chic Prints

So.. what exactly does resemble our wedding? Well, we are both New Yorkers who transplanted ourselves to Maryland. We've made this place our new home over the past few years, and plan on staying here for a while. One of our favorite things about Maryland is the fresh seafood, which obviously refers mostly to crab in this case. We are having a crab feast for our rehearsal dinner, after all! And what is synonymous with crabs, at least here in Maryland? Why, Old Bay, of course!!

I ended up using these cute little babies I ordered a while back..

..bought me some massive amounts (as in, 15 pounds) of Old Bay..

Nice jugs. 

..and filled those babies up!

A lot of sneezes were also involved at this point. Damn Old Bay and its "miscellaneous spices".

Ta-da!

Of course, as you can see, I also spruced them up with some ribbon and a little card - the ever popular MiniMoo's worked great for this!

Front and back of card

I'm so pumped about the way these turned out, despite the fact that we have an almost full 7.5 pound jug of Old Bay left over (I may have overestimated how much I would need by just a bit). No matter.. that's what impromptu, at-home crab feasts are for!

Did your favors have a local flair or mean something special to you?