progress (is the opposite of Congress)

One more thing done in my assembling a wedding dress without a wedding dress shop*: I bought my petticoat today. * I had absolutely NO idea that buying a wedding dress involved purchasing more than a dress. Sheesh. Somebody might've warned me. To date, I've bought: a dress, a petticoat, a bra, panties, shoes, earrings and a hat/veil thingy. Future Brides take heed. I suspect this dept. is a major source of budget-busting. But I digress ...

I originally saw it last week in a vintage store near my apartment. Just to be sure, I did a lot of looking around this weekend in other vintage/thrift shops. It turns out that a petticoat without the wedding dress attached is rather difficult to come by. The only other ones I found were much more expensive, and there were only two of those. So I went back to the first place today, and hooray! it was still there. The best part:

That's right. $17.00. Now all I have to do is get some colored tulle & attach it to the inside layer of this thing, so that it hangs down below the dress' hem a bit. Flash of color + extra inch of length = double win! Major shout-out to the store where I found it:

By the way, I've found SO many cool clothes in perfect condition during this search ... why the hell did I fall out of my vintage habit & go back to paying retail?!?

The other thing I got this week is these: I'm going to make cuff links for Mr. UB & his groomsmen. Now all I have to do is come up with an idea for what to put on top of these. Feel free to leave ideas in the "comments", because so far I've got nothing .... (Photo credit: me; eBay seller here.)

In other Mr. UB-related news, he now has wi-fi at his place. Which means I can bring my laptop over & cruise my wedding porn while a) we're watching football, or b) he's playing World of Warcraft. I think this is a fabulous development. He asked me what I'm going to do with my time after we're married.

My response: Home Decor porn.

it's not the having, it's the getting

I had my first "Oh gosh, I wish I'd seen that dress before I bought the one I did" moment today. Based on what I've read around the bridal blogosphere, I think this is kind of normal. And I still love my dress -- for how it looks, how I'm planning to style it, and the deal I got.

... but that being what it is: Color me drooling. Joli dress via Vintage Glam Weddings.

shout-outs & stuff I've seen

As I mentioned in a previous post, my wedding dress arrived. And I managed to get through the alteration experience without passing out.* (*barely, but who's counting?) But I've been remiss in letting you know about the amazing people who made it possible for me to get a dress I love on freakin' eBay:

1) Julie at bobsbijoux eBay store. We chatted back & forth via email before I made the leap, and she did so much to calm my nerves about buying a wedding dress online. She was happy to let me exchange it for another size/style if I needed to, with just the cost of shipping, and even offered me some advice when I was wavering between 2 similar styles. Her shop sells overstock & past season J Crew dresses, in lots of colors and short & long lengths. Great stuff for brides & b-maids. I got mine for $122.95 with shipping!

2) R & L Tailoring & Alterations. I found them on Yelp, and wasn't disappointed. They couln't have been nicer, and their price ($75 to take in a wedding dress all the way down the sides & in the back where the zipper is) was very reasonable. They don't have a website, but you can find them at 1263 Smithwood Drive, L.A. 90035 (just a few doors north of Pico, between Beverly Dr. & Beverwil.) 310-557-0249. Read more reviews on yelp here.

3) My dress has pretty thin halter straps, so I realized after very little searching that I was going to need one of those 100-Ways bras from Victoria's Secret. They've been discontinued in stores (probably b/c they're being sued by someone who claims they stole her design) so you can only get them online. The neutral ones are $37.50 now (down from $50), but you can get it for $19.99 if you can make do with a slightly funkier color. The sale ends tomorrow, according to their website.

In my search for a few more wedding things today, I came across these at Ikea: Not my colors, but if they're yours, Ikea Burbank has them on sale for 49 cents each. They're hidden down in the bins right before the cash registers, fyi.

I also managed to order the paper for our invitations today. I finally decided that I'm fed up with regularly cruising the aisles of Michael's for one color, and JoAnn's for the other. (Why can't one or the other carry both? It's the same freakin' manufacturer, for peet's sake.) Even with shipping, it's cheaper to go to the source & get it in bulk, anyway. These are crappy pics plucked off their website, but here's what I'm getting: The top back color "Blonde Columns" is actually just a textured, solid-color cardstock. It's really nice, and I like that it echoes the columns in the achitecture of our ceremony site. $40/125 pieces of 8.5 x 11. We can get two invites per sheet, based on the size of our design -- which leaves lots of extras for screw-ups/people we forgot.
We're getting the 2nd color from the left, "Artic Ice."It just happens to perfectly match the gold ink that I found to stamp the invites with. I like that it's a soft sheen, and not one of those "where are my sunglasses?" sparkly papers. We want classy, not Ceasar's Palace. $13/25 pieces of 12 x 12.
(All images & prices available at The Paper Company.)

Finally, my search for a petticoat continues. I've found a couple in vintage stores, of which L.A. has a ton, but nothing that's quite right. (I have until October, so I'm not worried yet -- check back in August to see if I'm in a lather about it.) But I'm happy because today's outting reminded me of the existence of one of my favorite places: Shareen Vintage. It's an absolute treasure trove of vintage clothing, in a warehouse down where the 5 & the 110 cross. Shareen, who was there today, has an incredible eye, and even better sources. (Seriously, I don't know where or how she finds her stuff. But I wish I did.) The best part: her prices are insanely reasonable. I had to take slow, deep breaths to keep from walking out with a whole new spring/summer wardrobe. (Her collection at the moment is heavy on dresses. How does she get inside my mind?!) No hits today -- one slip was too poufy, one was too big in the waist -- but I told her what I need and I will be going back. She's got locations in Venice & NYC now, too -- info, etc. on her site.

I'm sure this is normal

This absolutely terrorized me for almost a week:

Why, you ask? Is my mail carrier mean? Did I have an early childhood incident with a slightly mangled box? Did the return address label say Kaczynski? No -- it was far worse than that. This box contained my wedding dress.

I wasn't expecting to feel this way about it, mind you. Quite the opposite, in fact. Perhaps I should've reflected for a moment on how quickly I ran out of the one wedding dress shop I've managed to walk into, and factored that in. As it was, I left the box sitting there on the chair for several days. I kept "meaning" to try it on. But what if I hated it? I considered grabbing my next door neighbor, Theresa, and making her hold my hand while I tried it on. (Metaphorically, of course -- that would be logistically difficult, if taken literally.) But I decided not to "bother" her, and left it sitting there for another day. (I say "bother" in quotes because she's terribly excited about the whole wedding thing, and has said she's more than willing to help.)

And then, one night, in the middle of a tv show that I wasn't paying much attention to, I just got up, opened the box and the protective envelope inside of it, and tried it on. Right over my wildly wrong-colored underwear. I remembered to put my shoes on, too.

And I didn't hate it. It was a little wrinkled from its trip, but in perfect condition & exactly as advertised. I think I made the right call on the size, too -- it fit in the boobs, but needed to be taken in down the sides. Which I figured was better than the alternative of fitting in the waist with boobage spilling out the top.

Now, of course, I found myself in the position of having a wedding dress without an accompanying wedding dress shop to do the alterations. D'oh! I looked on The Knot and Wedding Channel.com, but all of their recommendations for "L.A. alterations" seem to be in Orange County. Not out of the question, but not exactly convenient either. (Plus, it's scary behind the Orange Curtain, and I try not to go there.) On a whim, I looked on Yelp -- which took a damned long time to load for some reason, but then yielded up gold. Two tailor shops just outside of Beverly Hills with specific reviews for altering wedding dresses. I ultimately went with the place that had six reviews that were all raves, with three of them specifically mentioning that she saved them from wedding dress disasters created by other people.

Of course, getting the dress altered meant that I had to try it on again. In front of other people this time. And while I was standing there, moving my arms out of the way so the very nice people with pins could do their thing ... I literally got dizzy. The room didn't quite spin, but I was definitely light-headed, and possibly green around the gills. "Holy crap this is my wedding dress ohmigod I want it to look perfect I'm freakin' marrying J__ in this dress ohmigod do i hate it is it ridiculously drab what if i wanna change it can i change it of course i can change it i don't wanna change it it's fine ..."

Ahem. I'm a little bit embarrassed by that outburst. I think I just had my first "bride" moment.

Also, it's about an inch or two short. Which I don't think the tailor can fix, but I bet a petticoat will. (And thank you, sis, for pointing out that the correct term is not, in fact, "poufy slip.") And if it doesn't, and the thing people remember most about my wedding a year after it happens is that my dress could've been an inch longer, then we will have done something wrong.

purchased: 1 dress!

I'm not going to post a picture here, because Mr. UB is known to lurk around these parts on occassion. But I bought a wedding dress (yikes! really?!) the other day. One click & there you are. Or there I was. It was? Anyway: many thanks to the very lovely Julie for all her help & reassurances about the online purchase, and for waiting to ship it until I've returned from my trip to snowbound Portland. (If we make it, which is apparently running about 50/50 odds at the moment.)

And I still think I'm going to grab my friends K__, J__ & P__ and go try on a bunch of fancy dresses. Why the heck not? Deep down under my minimalist skin, I loves me a little fancy. Besides, maybe it'll make me feel a tad more "bridal" -- thus far, it still all seems a little theoretical.

In lieu of a dress pic, I give you this, from The Knot via The Pissed Off Bride here:

Pretty. Sigh.

what (not) to wear

I've started making tentative little steps toward finding a dress. By which I mean I'm looking at dresses. Online mostly, though I did manage to set foot in a store today. No, I didn't try anything on. I figure since I don't even know a) where it's going to be & therefore what would be "appropriate" (yes, I only use that word in quotes), b) how much the total budget will be (I'm going to force myself to have that conversation soon, I swear) or c) whether or not all that creamy silk would burn my heathen skin ... I'd better stick to just looking.

Unsurprisingly, I'm thinking "Less is More." Even without financial restrictions, I flat-out refuse to look like I belong on the top of a cake. Here's what I've seen & liked so far:

My favorite bride blog, Broke-Ass Bride, found this in the J. Crew catalogue, of all places. It's not only beautiful, but it's on sale for $300. Heck, even at full price it was $395. Of course, it says "catalogue only", so there's no trying it on first, but I highly doubt that J. Crew wildly alters their return policy just for long white dresses.

Further investigation of their website led me to this. Also $300, and also very pretty. I'm not sure that I like this variation quite as much as the one above, but I'm happy to know that dresses like these exist. Of course, if I go this low-key with the frock it's pretty much gonna have to be a daytime wedding, but I'd be fine with that. Especially since the reception isn't going to be right after the ceremony. Come to think of it, I wouldn't feel like nearly as much of a fool putting this dress back on, on a 2nd day, as I would a cake-topper. Plus, Mr. UB could go with a dark suit instead of a tux ... hmmm, indeed.

Another source of good ideas: Rodeo Drive Resale was kind enough to remind me of their existance this morning, with a happy little email announcing New Stuff!

So, I just have to put it out there: ... too much? I mean, I know it's lavender, but one of my b-maids has already informed me that she's going to laugh if I wear white. And it's a freakin' Roberto Cavalli for $499!! There's no threat of us getting married in a church, so the quite-a-bit-o'-cleavage factor isn't a problem. I'm going to have to drag myself over to the valley to check this little gem out in person -- thank goodness RDR has an actual bricks & mortar store. Hopefully it's not filled with the creepy Titus Andronicus mannequins, though. I mean really ... who thought those were a good idea?

On a slightly less ... purple scale, RDR also has these to offer: Either one of which could work. They're $189 and $169 respectively. I'm gonna have to get some cash on hand quickly, just in case one of these we-just-have-the-one dresses really grabs me.












The store that I checked out today is one that I read about on ... somebody's? blog. I promise I'll start doing a better job of noting where/when so that I can give proper credit, but meanwhile: I found this snazzy little store on La Brea called Glamour Closet. They're a San Francisco store that just opened up a location down here, and they sell designers' sample dresses for a BIG discount. And I'm not talking David's Bridal here. I actually laid my hands on dresses by Carolina Herrera, Reem Acra, etc. (Thank god I'd just purelled.) Now, these are serious Wedding Dresses, not the "that'll do" category like my examples above. And some of them can still lighten your wallet to the tune of a year's college tuition (at a UC school, anyway.) But I did see things that were as cheap as $500, and the staff could not have been nicer. I'm going to go back with girlfriend(s) in tow ... hopefully, since all my b-maids are non-local, I can get some of my S girls to lend a hand.