Getting Dressed!

After we got our hair, nails and/or make up done, my girls and I headed back to our beach house to finish getting ready before the pro portraits (after stopping at Subway for a quick lunch... it was kind of funny going in there all made up!)

Our photographer showed up for "pre-ceremony" shots just after we got back to the house. Problem was, there wasn't much for him to photograph as I already had my hair and make up done. But, he did get some good shots of my girls.



Meanwhile, I was hanging out in the front room texting my cousin/DOC making sure that everything was still going smoothly.


And then just staring out the window, hoping that the fog would break.
(It never really did... but I'm not too bent out of shape about it. lol)

(The flowers were from Jacob... he had his cousin delivery them while we were at the salon. But there was no note or anything, so I thought they were a gift from our florist or something. lol I didn't find out until later that they were from him!)

After finishing up with us, our photographer went over to the guys house next door for awhile (Those photos to come later).

After my girls finished getting ready and dressed it was finally time for me to put my dress on. I was trying to put it off as long as possible so I could be sure to pee beforehand and hopefully not have to go again for awhile! lol Some of you may remember the conversation that went on in blog land a few months back regarding using the bathroom when in a wedding dress (I particularly loved this post via Morgan at the Handcrafted Hitching Post), and after my bridesmaid Holly asked who my "personal attendant" was going to be, I started to think about it and realized that I was dead set against anyone having to hold my dress for me while I did my business! My goal was to not have to go until the reception and then, if I ABSOLUTELY needed it, Jacob could hold my dress for me! lol

** I was so concerned about this that I ended up "testing" it out before we left the house for the ceremony. I was VERY happy to realize that I could gather up my entire skirt and hold it by myself in order to use the toilet normally! lol I just had to make sure that I had the whole thing... there was almost an incident in the reception restroom stall (not a lot of space in there!) but my dress stayed dry and I happily held onto my privacy! =)

Anyway.... back to the photos. lol


**All photos above courtesy of Justin at Sky Blue Iris Event Photography

My dress was a lace up. Girls, if you get a lace up dress, make sure you give your helpers PLENTY of time to get the thing laced! It takes FOREVER:


The whole process was pretty boring for me... I just stood there and held my dress up. Thankfully, when the cinching started to get a bit tighter I was able to focus on other things... like trying to decide what jewelry to wear! I had two pairs of earrings and two necklaces... and I couldn't make up my mind...

As you can tell by the above photo, I'm unsure (and seem to make this face a lot I've realized). Bridesmaid Jessica, on the other hand, is giving me the o.k. on my earring choice. lol

(and didn't end up wearing my original necklace and earrings.. the ones that I purchased for the ceremony! lol I ended up wearing stuff I had around and earrings that Jacob's mom found while cleaning out her house!)

After many minutes of cinching, the dress was finally done (though it did need to be re-cinched about 20 minutes later when I realized I kept hiking the thing up! I guess lacing up a wedding dress is kind of like saddling a horse... lol)


Then on went my beautiful custom garter


And the "check myself out in the mirror" stage began (it lasted a while. lol)

**Above photos by my fantastic MOH/unofficial second shooter, Josie!


Next up... The boys! =)