Before...

AND AFTER!!!

Aren't they beautiful?! FINALLY...something went right! I'm sad I don't think I'll be wearing them at the reception...but they're so pretty now, I might try for a little bit! There is no way I'll be dancing in these, however. :) 

Here's some pics of Alyssa in her dress...

I tried to curl her hair...it didn't really work. :( 

She'd found this headband at Claire's and bought it herself because "it matches the pink for the wedding." lol

Oh, Jim. :) 

The BLING!

Well....I've obviously had my ring for a while...and I have this posted in my planning bio, but I figured I might as well post in on here too. Hey, a girl's gotta show off her ice, right? :) 
I absolutely LOVE my ring! I had a little part in picking it out...I had picked out a couple that I liked and Jim got the one he said, "Made me glow." hehe It's a Princess Plus, and they are no longer available. They are really one-of-a-kind, no two are exactly alike. It has a diamond inside on the left side, to be placed on "the vein that leads straight to your heart." It is always sparkly and brilliant, even when it's not it's cleanest. This was my first attempt at working on getting a crisp, clear picture with my camera (which is smarter than I am). Of course, the pictures do not do this ring justice....it shines CONSTANTLY. <3

The dress is in!

However, I will not be trying it on very soon.... Hopefully I will be able to go check it out next month. I keep reading this horror stories, and since it takes so long to order these damn things, I NEED to go see! AAAHHHHHH

Ladies and Gents...my motivation is back!

So...since the whole house-buying process began back in, what, September...?...I've completely stopped planning altogether. I tried to get back into it a few weeks ago, and we did book our transportation, find my wedding band, and find a purse for me, but that's NOTHING compared to what I have left to do! So when 6 months hit the other day, I thought...OH MY GOD...now I have LESS than 6 months! **** :) So I'm back to looking online for things to order, pricing items everywhere I go. I did manage to find some beautiful necklaces for my girls (with the exception of my jr. and flower girl...they will have something different). I looked online and found some nice ones at Kohl's...well wouldn't ya know..I just opened an account with them (ugh) and had a coupon, plus I still had $10 in Kohl's cash to spend by today...so Jim and I went and were looking. I was torn between two, and this lady that was shopping came up behind me and said she works in jewelry and offered her help. She suggested I get these, and I agreed I liked them better. Of course, they only had 2, so I had to go to another location to get the other 2. I wasn't about to wait until AFTER Black Friday. haha The pic isn't the greatest..I was in the basement with poor lighting. 

My purse for the reception...SUPER CUTE! :D

I held it up against my swatch, and it's pretty darn close! Should be perfect to keep lipgloss, kleenex, and Tylenol in, so I don't have to search for whoever has my stuff. :) 

Wedding Day Jacket!!!

I knew I wanted a personalized jacket to wear on my wedding day while getting ready, but I wasn’t willing to spend a ton of money on one, and I didn’t want one that just says “Bride” on it…I would like to be able to wear it again after the wedding. I had found the perfect pink crystals at Michael’s and they were on sale, so I bought a bunch. I knew I didn’t want a long-sleeve jacket, since our wedding will be in late May, and knowing Nebraska..it could be 50 degrees, or 90 degrees, so I want to play it safe. I looked online for a cheap white hoodie. After an unsuccessful hunt, I scoured the mall. Again, unsuccessful. The only short-sleeve jacket I could find was at Younkers, and they wanted $60 for it! Ridiculous, right?! Later on, Jim and I ran to a different mall and he happened to see that same jacket. I shook my head and told him the price. He looked at it again and said, “No, it’s on sale.” WHAT?! He’s so awesome! It’s not a hoodie, but it is short-sleeve, comfortable, and not “cheap-looking”.  I printed our names and the wedding date and then placed the paper over the back of the jacket. I didn’t want to ruin the jacket in case I messed up, so I used a pencil to poke tiny holes throughout the lettering. Once I took the paper back off, I had a general idea of where to place the crystals. I played with them until I liked the placement. I took pictures of it (I wasn’t home at the time) to see how many crystals I used with each letter/number and how they were placed, and then once I was home, I was able to replicate what I had done. I took an iron (I was not about to spend money on a tool that I would never use again) and placed it right on top of the crystals for about 10-20 seconds. Once they cooled, I did a quick iron-over again and let them cool. I made sure they were all on there really good and left it flat overnight. When I put it on the next day, one of the crystals came off, but I was able to iron it right back on, and I haven’t had any issues since. The picture where I am wearing it is missing one crystal in Jim’s name, but you get the idea. The other pictures show how it looks.

I ordered my dress!!!

So I FINALLY ordered my dress today! It's been a HUGE stressor...and it will be until it's paid off, but at least it's ordered! We were going to get it from a salon here in Omaha, but when I asked them about the deposit to order, they told me I had to pay half the tag price plus tax, plus $100, plus shipping. WHAT?! So I then asked about alterations. They said it would depend on how much they had to cut off and how we bustled it, and since I'm only 5'0 and the dress in the petite size is still way too big, they were guessing it would be quite a bit, but they couldn't even give me a ballpark figure. They just said it would depend on the situation at the time and which seamstress was going to be there. I asked if they would start alterations while we were making payments on the dress. Nope...has to be paid in full. Makes sense, but sucks for me! So we kept putting it off. A couple months later (which would have been last week), I get this e-mail from the first salon that we had visited (a very bad experience). They sent me a copy of this letter from all of these designers that have their gowns manufactured in China. Due to the labor issues over there, they said prices were going up 20-30% starting August 1st, and this included my designer. :( In a panic, I started researching and asking other brides and calling salons and asking around. Everyone said that it has happened before and it may happen again this year. Not willing to take the chance, I called a little salon in Fremont, which is a small town nearby. They said to order the dress, I just had to pay half the tag price. Tax is added later. They also do not charge me shipping. Interesting, right? So I asked about alterations. It is a flat fee of $139, no matter what. And they said I could have alterations started as long as I'm making payments. I just can't take the dress out of the salon until it is paid in full. (Well duh!) Happy as a clam, we made the drive to Fremont. I tried on the dress and was measured. I am SOOO glad I didn't end up buying a used one (it was often thought about)....I was guessing I was around a size 4. The smallest I had found was an 8...and we thought MMMAYYYBE we could tweak it and alter it just right. Uh yeah...I'm a size 2. haha Guess I'll leave the measuring to the professionals! So now we wait. It's going to be a LONG 4-5 months. *sigh*

P.S. I'm NOT showing my dress or announcing what it is...but I WILL say I'm a Maggie bride, all the way! LOVE LOVE LOVE her gowns!