Honeys Do: Gettin' Bridal!

We had a lot of girls getting ready in the house...eight bridesmaids, three flower girls and one bride. We set up the kitchen table as our "get pretty station" where the hair stylists did their magic, nail painting occurred and a full length mirror was set up to apply makeup.

The flower girls transformed from Disney princesses to Wedding princesses...

 

 

With five bridesmaids hair all done up and lookin' good, it was finally my turn in the hair styling seat. E curled and sprayed and pinned my hair, and a mere 45 minutes later my hair was done!

I never talked about my wedding day makeup...but it was never a question for me that I would be doing my own. I've always loved makeup and considered myself capable of creating the look I envisioned (I even perfected BM Scoot's makeup on her wedding day). I picked up the 24 hour Lash Blast mascara in black gold and the coordinating 24 hour liquid liner in enduring black. I also grabbed a sapphire blue eyeshadow to create a subtle blue smokey eye. I used some primer that BM Scoot had left over from her wedding, and everything else was my familiar day to day makeup.


Up until this point, I considered myself a super mellow bride. Then all of a sudden it was 1:30...no one was dressed, we had to take pictures, and be at the venue for the first look at 2. All in thirty minutes. I had a minor freak out and started requesting the girls "get dressed now so that you can help me get my dress on!". I panicked, sorry girls! Being diligent bridesmaids they added their final touches, put on their handpicked dresses and were ready to help me.

BM Candace helps BM Fawn with makeup

BM Scoot looking gorgeous!

Everyone gathered in the main living room for the main event...the main event of getting dressed that is. Time for the big.white.dress!

First we had to convince the flower girls that it was time to stop playfully fluffy the flowers...it was so special to have the girls be such a big part of my morning. Seeing them in pictures so infatuated with the process of me becoming a bride makes me smile!

A little side note: I always thought my mom would be with me when I put my wedding dress on...it was never a second thought. However, it didn't work out that way. She came over to our house to get her hair done and even brought her dress to get ready with us. But I could feel her energy, she was nervous and excited and everything in between (perhaps even a small headache from the jager the night before?!). Here she is talking with a few bridesmaids, she was entertaining for sure, as her energy kept her focus on nothing that morning. 

After she had her hair done she calmly said "I think I'll go get ready with your aunts, that way you girls can be in charge here." I think she just wasn't quite ready for that moment of her only daughter becoming a bride...maybe she wanted to see me for the first time as a bride with my dad by her side...I'm not sure why, but I nodded and said "Okay, mom. The girls can handle it." She gave me a big hug and headed back to her house to get dressed with her ladies. And it was okay; although I think if she was there it would have been more special, my girls did a great job of helping me into my dress...and it may have been a little less nerve wracking without my bawling mother there (love you mom!).

When I went for my final fitting, I found it easiest to put my cowboy boots on before my dress...now, I'm not very shy, especially in front of my girls (and apparently the photographer) and realizing that getting dressed is nearly impossible without showing some skin, I just stripped down and threw on my bridal socks and boots (yeehaw!) and then stepped into my dress. I'll spare you those pictures :) Once in my dress, I double crossed my fingers and sucked it in so I could be tightly laced into the dress.

MOH Stac did the honors of securing the back panel...

Then it was much more of a team effort by BM Fawn and BM Scoot to properly lace up the corset back...

BM Fawn then took the reigns and made sure the ribbon was perfectly cris-crossed and laying flat...

It was SO exciting to finally be at this point!!

My bridesmaids then started to adorn me with all of my accessories to make my transformation complete.

BM Hogan clasped my necklace...

BM Fawn secured my bracelet...

BM Candace put on my earrings...

The final detail was slipping on my handmade garter, making my bridal outfit complete!



Our plan was to take the girls pictures at our house and then head to the venue for the first look where we would then do more pictures with the rest of the wedding party. With the perfect snow storm happening right outside the door, my super tough (and dedicated!) bridesmaids and I headed outside for a walk in the snow. Not before a quick tug and tuck of my underskirt...BM Fawn was really on top of keeping my dress perfectly in order!

I just love this shot!!

All dressed, primped and bundled (okay a cardigan doesn't really qualify for bundled) we stepped outside to a winter wonderland...

*All Photos by the talented duo of Zak Fleming Photography

·         We had a busy wedding week

·         Teamwork made our Dream Work

·         We rehearsed casually

·         There was a pizza party!

·         Friday night was Princesses, Panties & Practice

·         Bridal details made me reminisce my morning  





Honeys Do: A Morning of Memories

When I think back to the morning of my wedding day, there are very vivid memories in my mind...the kind that were captured on camera (hello, bridal details!) and those that weren't. Perhaps it was because it was the calm before the storm or because it was the transformation from leggings to the dress; here's how I remember my morning.

I spent my last night as an unmarried lady in a king size bed, with my 8 month pregnant MOH and her two little girls. It was actually quite sweet...there's nothing like being spooned by a 5 year old the night before your wedding! Fortunately, all the excitement from Friday wore me out and I slept ridiculously good...and I was wide eyed and bushy tailed by about 5:30 that morning.

I woke up and brewed a big 'ol pot of coffee, sat down in an overstuffed leather chair and wrote my vows. My bridesmaids actually didn't believe me when I told them Friday that I still had yet to write my vows, and in all honesty, I couldn't believe it either. I knew what I wanted to say but I knew if I had tried to write them any earlier, they would have morphed and changed a gazillion times. So there I sat, as the sun came up on my wedding day, writing out what I was going to promise to my husband...that hour was very clarifying. 

Our little rings with so much significance, ready for their debut at the altar

By 6:30, girls were starting to stir...and it was official, my wedding morning was upon me. BM Kel Bel baked six varieties of quiches while Bob Marley played on Pandora. The smell of nail polish filled the air as 8 girls and 3 little girls painted their nails.

The sound of a crackling fire was present all morning, perfect for a blustery day:

Just like the peaceful early morning sixty minutes I had to myself, the preceding few hours of becoming a bride are something that really resonated with me. Before all the excitement, before all the guests, before seeing my almost-husband...I cherished this time. Never again would putting on mascara be my wedding day mascara...or watching the first snowflake fall from the sky be the start of my wedding day blizzard...never again would I be getting ready with all my bridesmaids on my wedding day.

All of the girly attire hung perfectly, ready to be worn:

The flower girls were contently watching Disney movies and eating handfuls of grapes, while both mom's started to try and convince them it was time to shower and become pretty princesses. There may have been bribing with marshmallows... 

A pile of peach tulle just waiting to be twirled in:

Along with little sweaters and tights to keep the little ones warm:

The house that we stayed in was rather secluded; it was down a maze of ill-marked dirt roads and we had plenty of people that were going to be trying to find us soon. MOH Stac & I hopped into her minivan armed with paper plates, a sharpie, a knife and yarn to hang direction signs; cleverly marked "Cara's Bridal House" and decorated with hearts and arrows. I tromped through knee-deep snow to hang a cute paper plate on a pine tree as MOH Stac helped direct me from the van, at this moment I realized we would in fact be getting married with snow on the ground.

Cowboy Boots never looked so purty!

Bridal Socks? There's no other way when it's snowing!

As BM Fawn led a morning boot camp for most of my other bridesmaids, I chose to shower. As they were working up a sweat to lunges and sit ups, I enjoyed every second of a steaming hot shower.

Fabric flowers galore...

Showered and warmed to the core, I headed back downstairs to join the girls...about that time BM K (one of my cousins) received a text from her husband saying that his grandmother had just passed away...this stands as a memory for me because it was a real moment. Nothing stops on the day of a wedding, real things still happen. It also brought my grandma and great-grandma's memory to mind.

The power of inherited jewels; my beloved family heirloom kept my grandma's close to me that day:

The sound of the first champagne bottle popping, and subsequently the first sip of my wedding day Mimosa occurred promptly at 10:30...along side the arrival of the hair stylists and photographers. With Mimosa in hand, I was ready to get pretty!

Pearls, oh pretty bridal pearls 



We switched the vibe of the tunes on Pandora to MGMT, I turned my cell phone off and  became a bride!

*All Photos by the talented duo of Zak Fleming Photography

• We had a busy wedding week
• Teamwork made our dream work
• We rehearsed casually
• There was a pizza party!
• Friday night was Princesses, Panties & Practice

Accessorize!

I've shared with you my dress, my boots, my rings and garter...now for the rest of my wedding day accessories. Earrings are an everyday staple for me, necklaces and bracelets are worn almost as often so wedding day accessories were a must.

I started with my necklace, I knew I wanted something big and bold, statement making. I couldn't add anything until I had the necklace. I found loads of inspiration but by far my favorite is this picture:

Image via Style Me Pretty/Photo by Alders Photography

The best part? This gorgeous bride made the gorgeous necklace and provided the tutorial here. I set out to make the necklace, but I'm sorry to announce this is not another DIY post by Miss Honey. Each time I went to Hobby Lobby to search for pretty pearls, I got overwhelmed and gave up. Still though, the bold pearls were what I was dreaming of. The day Mama Honey and I went shopping for her dresses, we happened to pass the jewelry counter and there it was, the perfect wedding day necklace! I tried it on and pulled my debit card out before I even took it off.

Okay it was almost perfect, it just needed to be altered a little bit. One of my dear friends, H, makes jewelry and I knew I could commission her for help on how to make it just perfect. Here's the original necklace:

The part of the necklace that stole my heart is the more chunkier strands, not the longer hanging strands. It was just a little too much with longer strands, and H reassured me that it would be super simple to alter.


A clutter of pearls

I gave H the necklace and a couple days later, she had it back to me...now it was the perfect necklace! Bold, chunky pearls...my Wedding Day Necklace:

It looks much less cluttered without the long strands:

Maybe you are wondering what happened to those extra strands of pearls? Well, H made me a beautiful bracelet out of the extras and gifted it to me at my bridal shower last weekend! I knew she was creating something, I just didn't know what. I love that the pearls are recycled from the original necklace and that the sizes of the pearls vary just like the necklace. The bling is just right and the magnetic clasp is just brilliant. 

Wedding Day Bracelet:

I have a weird thing about wearing too much of a dangly earring when I'm already wearing a necklace, but on the other hand pearl studs would just be too simple. It's kind of hard to tell in the pictures, but the color of the chain on my necklace is gunmetal gray, a pretty dark color. I wanted something in that color of metal, but not something that would distract from my necklace. In Target, I happened across a pair of sparkly, gunmetal gray earrings and snatched 'em right up.

Wedding Day Earrings:

They are like mini disco balls so it was difficult to get a good picture

I've never shared with the Hive that I won't be wearing a veil, so obviously I needed something to make my hair more wedding-y. I could have made another fabric flower, but I felt like I had that style covered between my garter and my dress. When I was at Maurice's buying a new cardigan for my rehearsal dinner outfit, this pretty little flower was just calling out to me. Wedding Day Hair Flower:  

That's all of the piece, Hive! Did you notice how I 'stumbled' upon all of my pieces? Every single one was found when I wasn't looking, isn't that it way it always goes? I'm sure if I set out to find the perfect hairpiece or earrings, I would have come home empty handed. I love all the accessories together and can't wait to have my girls adorn me come W-Day!

Necklace: $60 from Dillard's

Bracelet: Recycled from necklace

Earrings: $8 from Target

Hair Piece: $8 from Maurice's

A total of $78 for accessories

One final piece I'm keeping an eye out for is a clutch. I haven't had any luck at any of the stores I've visited but I'm not giving up hope, I'm sure I will stumble upon something :)

Did your wedding day pieces fall into place or were you more of an accessory searcher?

Makin' My Thigh Pretty

Just because we aren't doing the bouquet/garter toss, certainly doesn't mean I don't want my thigh to be looking pretty on our wedding day. In fact, part of the reason I didn't want to do a garter toss is because I'm quite in love with the circle of lace I've set aside for my thigh. My thighs are far from my best feature so this really is my only chance to dress it up with something feminine, pretty and sexy.

I wasn't really looking for garters, I hadn't even really thought about if I would wear a garter, I was just browsing the 'web one day and this picture made me stop dead in my tracks:

Image from Etsy Listing/All About Chic by Antiya

I loved the style, the more artsy take on the garter. I liked that it wasn't delicate tulle, but a more bold design. At $33, the price is actually quite reasonable, but I decided I would make mine...I mean it's just lace, some fabric and beads, right? Actually, yes, I was right.

A long, long time ago I stumbled upon this fabric flower tutorial and have been diligently making fabric flowers for a few other elements in the wedding. They remind me of the delicate flowers on the skirt of my wedding gown and they were just about the exact match to the flower on the garter inspiration picture, so I figured I would make a few extras for my garter. Done and done and here's the steps. I actually watched Little Birdie's video tutorial before diving in and it made it easier for me to learn. But here's my version.

The strip doesn't have to be perfectly even, so don't worry about measuring that precisely.

As you wrap the fabric around the knot/center, you want to twist the fabric at the same time. I dotted the fabric with glue every other twist just to be sure it was secure.

Waa Laa, 15 minutes later you've got a perfect fabric flower!

On to assembling my garter. I decided using stretch lace would be the quickest and easiest route, I'm not friends with sewing machines. When Wally World didn't have any stretch lace in stock, I turned to Etsy and found the shop Mary Not Martha. I purchased three different kinds of lace, all in one yard increments, for a total of $10, including shipping. I wasn't sure which color lace I would prefer, otherwise I could have stuck with just one. I picked up a package of pearls for $1.97 and piece of felt for a whopping forty cents.

I attached pearls to the centers of my flowers and then cut leaf-like shapes out of the felt. It was assembly time.

To add some fancy to the leaves, I applied Fabri-Tac to the felt and stuck the pearls to the glue, leaving a small blank space to attach to the flower:

I got pretty technical when it came to measuring the lace...ha just kidding. I wrapped the lace around my thigh, in the general area I figure I would like the garter to be, and snipped. Then I glued the three flowers to the lace, before gluing the actual lace together to create the garter.

The last step was gluing the ends together to make the garter an actual garter.

The true test was slipping it on my leg and making sure it work in all the ways a garter is supposed to work. It did fit, it didn't fall down my thigh, and it did look good! Fair warning, the next picture is of my thigh with a pretty lace garter on it...

Sorry for the pasty leg shot, it's January in Colorado!

I'm in love with it! I am so happy with the final outcome, I may even told my mom that my true calling is garter making (how fun would that be!). Now you can see why Mr. Honey's friends won't be getting thier dirty little hands on my precious piece of lace!

The total cost of my garter, $4.62. Total assembly time for my garter, 1 hour, tops. A true DIY success in my book.

Did you unexpectedly fall in love with your garter? Any other DIY garter brides out there?