So, I got my wedding dress!!! I lovelovelove it and keep staring at the picture of myself on my iPhone – I can’t wait to wear it again but it doesn’t come in for 4 months!! So long to wait. My mom and I first went shopping a few weekends ago and hit 3 stores in one day. The first store (Van Cleve) was small but the girl Abby is so nice and relaxed – never pushes you to move on to the next dress or to only pick a few dresses. We tried a bunch on in very different styles (since it was my first time shopping) and I really liked one with ruffles at the bottom (pic later). As soon as they put the veil on, I definitely had that bride moment that everyone talks about! It wasn’t the dress, but it was the veil! Really pretty with lace on the edges mmhmm! Anyway, we had a bunch of options that we really liked, but it was our first store – we had to press on.

The second store we went to was Sabrina Ann in Ardmore, which had the tea-length dress I love from Priscilla in Boston, but on me it just wasn’t as special as the full-length dresses I’d tried on earlier, so that was out. We tried on a couple others, but honestly none of them were contenders. SA is a second-hand shop so you can only try on dresses that they have in your size, and it was kind of slim pickings. I could see if you lived there and could come by every week to see what new stock had come in, but for a one-time visitor, you’d really have to be lucky with the timing. For me, it was clear that my dress wasn’t there.

Finally, we went to Bijou Bridal which is a huge store that kind of reminded me of Kleinfelds of Say Yes to the Dress. We tried on a ton of dresses and it was kind of fun traipsing out in the store and going on the big podium in front of the mirrors, not gonna lie! There were two dresses that I LOVED that ended up being by the same designer (Stefan Jolie – no pics, sorry!), both strapless with a natural waist and a fuller skirt. (LOL a fuller skirt is the one thing that I swore I didn’t want but there you go, you really do have to try them all on to see what looks good on you!) The one was a sweetheart neckline and pleated bodice (I die) with a really textured skirt that I LOVED. The only thing was that it had this weird applique thing on the waist, and I could already picture Drew saying, “That’s weird,” and it just bothered me. The other one was straight neckline with tons of  beading and Swarovski crystals on the bodice…honestly can’t remember the skirt. It was too formal for me but I just really liked the shape.

So, now that I knew I was looking for a sweetheart neckline, natural waist, and a fun, flowy skirt, we headed back to Van Cleve to try on more dresses. I tried on my previous favorite and several others, including the one I eventually ended up with. I had actually tried on my dress the first time around but thought the skirt was too big and the waist was too high. But as soon as I put it on for the second time, I knew it was exactly what I wanted. Mom still really liked the first dress, but could tell I was just in love with the second. They jacked me up with a sash and a veil and we popped open a bottle of champagne to celebrate! YES! I have my dress. And it’s awesome.

Here’s the dress I originally liked (I think I tried it on 3-4 times since it was at BB too):

Super pretty…I loved the different layers of lace over top of each other on the skirt. Definitely needed a sash on me since I don’t have hips, but it just didn’t feel like me. Here is my dress!

And it has a jacket! I am in love with the jacket and I think I’ll be able to wear it to fancy parties after the wedding. I’m so excited – LOVE it! I can’t wait to wear it again…just have to wait another four months. In the meantime I’m on the hunt for the right sash! I got the standard one in oatmeal that comes with it, but I think I’ll end up going with either a satin ribbon from Michaels or something handmade from Etsy. Something affordable though since I may have gone a bit over budget on the dress…oops! We’ll find something else we can save on, no worries…

So, anyway, I actually started writing this post to talk about how I’m really digging handmade design pieces lately. After giving up my dream of being a homeowner for now, I’ve given myself a little monthly budget to decorate/upgrade our furniture from hand-me-downs so satiate my design appetite! This month I got a new living room rug (on sale!). It is huge and plush and chocolate brown with swirls in all different colors. It looks great and the room looks so much bigger already. We’ve rearranged the furniture a bit and now I’m trying to decide about art. My Craigslist post was kind of disappointing. Got a few responses back but no one whose style I really said, yes, that’s it! So the search continues. In the meantime, I’ve found plenty of contenders to fill up space on our very blank walls. What do you think?

Loving this heart art from a couple in Ireland. You can personalize it with your names, dates, etc. Such a cute idea for a wedding/anniversary/new child present! They have lots of different colors and two different sizes.

This handmade paper mirror…such a statement piece!

This cute peacock print from Dekanimal. I LOVE it!

This mirror inspired by Picasso’s Girl Before Mirror painting. I own a print of this piece and I’m really digging this mirror inspired by it! Maybe for over Goliath’s crate?

I LOVE this ikat chandelier – thinking about it or DIYing something similar for over our dining room table:

That’s all for now…this morning I did a lot of looking into handmade wedding invitations. The ones I’ve been drooling over at Rifle Paper Co are SO expensive…so I think I need to look into alternate options. Luckily for me there are so many talented artists out there! Yay