Our Semi-Alternative Wedding Party

Meg at a Practical Wedding posted yesterday on non-bridesmaids, and I realized that Beau and I are having a semi-non-traditional wedding party.  We are going to have one, though we are calling them honored guests because its mixed gender, there won't be a best man or maid of honor distinctions, and some of them will be asked to preform ceremonial functions in the wedding.  

The Beau's group is not completely decided, but it will definitely include is brother, his sister and his sister's fiance.  It will also include two more close friends as chuppah holders.  

My group is a little more complicated.  I did want a MOH, but there were three possible choices - my sister, my best friend Big D, or my other best friend Maya (not her real name).  I was recently Big D's MOH and would love for her to be mine, but in August she is moving to Turkey for a two-year assignment as a US diplomat (cool-right!).  She will be able to attend the wedding, but it is unlikely that she will be able to attend any of the other wedding related activities.  My sister would hate every minute of it and may even move back to Israel sometime in the next year and half, so she is out.  Maya, would love to be the MOH, but I just couldn't pick between the three, so I'm not.  

I will also be having two chuppah holders my childhood friend O-bear and the lovely Doctor Whimsy (hey Doctor, if you are reading, I just hadn't gotten around to asking you - will you do it?).  

Maya was initially skeptical of this arrangement, especially in relation to who is planning any pre-wedding events and who is giving the MOH speech.  The speech was easy, Beau and I are going to open the floor to any of our honored guests who would like to say something.  The pre-wedding activities took some thought, but I decided to delegate, so that no one person was saddled with all the responsibility - as a former MOH, I can say that it took a huge amount of work to plan it all!

• Engagement party - Big D and O-bear; I didn't want an engagement party but Big D was very insistent that she wanted to throw me one before she leaves for Turkey and they are both excellent cooks!  I think its going to be a Memorial Day BBQ.
• Shower - my sister/mom and the doctor (doctor, is that alright? I swear I was going to ask you in person)
• Bachelorette party - Maya; this is going to be outrageous!  I can already tell that Maya's going to go all out on this - in high school she liked to make me blush with talk about sexual things and in college she tricked me into going to a male strip club (long story)!

Its complicated, but so far it seems to be working.  No one person has tons of responsibility and I didn't have to potentially hurt anyones feelings, by picking my one bestest friend out of my best friends - I refuse to let my wedding be a source of contention between my nearest and dearest.

And finally, dress.  The men will be asked to wear dark suits that they already own and we will provide the ties.  I haven't decided what to ask the ladies to wear.  I'm thinking of asking them to each get a knee-length dress of their choice in any shade of green (or possibly purple) - I will probably take a vote to see which color they prefer.

Wow, that was a surprisingly long post.  I hope it wasn't too boring!

Invitation Experimentation

Every so often I feel the need to be creative and continue learning how to use Adobe InDesign and Photoshop.  Last night I made a wedding invite using "swatches" that some lovely bridal blogger posted once upon on time.  Not sure where these swatches came from, so hopefully I'm not stealing.  Here are the swatches.  I used the one at the right on the second row.

Here is the final product.

I pretty happy with how it turned out, and I'm really happy with all the new InDesign and Photoshop skills I'm picking up along the way.  If this whole med school/grad school thing doesn't work out, at least I'll know more than how to set up Western blots and put in IVs.

I bought the dress

Not sure if I'm going to post pictures yet, but maybe.

More thoughts on the dress issue

I thought of one more general "Pro" for the sample dress.  It conforms to my general wedding dress requirements:

• No lace
  
• No beading, unless its very subtle and tastefully done
  
• Short train
  
• A little different, not a standard dress (I guess thats why its being discontinued...)

Anyways, 24 hours of analysis to go.  Ultimately, I think I'll go there tomorrow and ask to be left alone in the dress for 10 minute and hope to gain clarity.  I also might bring my friend Emmy, who (at least in regular clothes) has vastly different taste from Doctor Whimsy for a second opinion of the dress itself, not the bargain.

OMG! First real wedding decision!

Sorry for the long absence.  I've been super busy and just exhausted all the time.  

But, I do need to share that I'm totally freaking out right now.  I went dress s

hopping on Saturday (with the lovely Doctor Whimsy) and the unexpected happened.  I found a dress.  Its a beautiful dress, it looks amazing on me, and I really like it, but its a sample.  This is great and awful all at the same time.  Its great because the dress is $290 (from a store where all the dresses retail for over $1000), awful because I'm super indecisive about stuff like this.  I need time to think and examine and compare and think some more and compare again, and think a little more.  Luckily, I didn't have to buy it on the spot like you usually have to do with a sample.  The store was closing in 15 min and isn't reopening until Tuesday at 10AM, at which point I have another appointment, so I'm not in danger of it being sold while I think a little (or a lot).  Since, I can't make up my mind I've spent a good portion of the weekend asking people what to do, including multiple calls and emails to Israel to get my mommy's opinion.  So far the tally is:

Me - undecided

Everyone else (and this is at least 10 people, including the Beau and my daddy) - "What the f*%$ are you waiting for?  Just buy the damn dress!!!"

Mom (by email, from Israel) - "The most important thing is that you feel good in the dress.  Don't feel pressured there is plenty of time."  (I love my mom, she is super relaxed and non-stressed by these things)

Even my little sister who does not care at all about weddings or dresses or anything to do with weddings said to buy the damn thing and that if in 6 months I don't like it, I can just sell it on Ebay.  

Despite all the overwhelming pressure to buy, I'm still not convinced, so I've made a pros and cons list.

Pros: Super freakin cheap for a quality dress, looks great on me, comfortable, would travel well, fits with the kind of wedding I'm planning, Doctor Whimsy said I seemed more confident in it than the other dresses and apparently it matches my ring, I felt kind of happy and giddy in it, no more dress shopping, oh and did I mention its only $290!

Cons: "Champagne" color (looks great on me, I just always pictured a white dress), its around 1.5 years till my wedding and I change my mind a lot, not getting a chance to go dress shopping with D (my high school BFF who is visiting in two weeks), I'm really afraid my mom will hate it and I can't bare the thought of my mom hating my wedding dress, no more dress shopping.

Internet, I need your help.  Buy or wait?

Oh, and for those who care, here is the skinny on the dress.  Sweatheart top, trumpet silhouette (fitted through upper thighs, then flares out), rouching on fitted part, the same fabric on the lower part but crinkled, "champagne" color, no train, but its currently long enough so that I can have the front hemmed to my height leaving a sweep train in the back.  I've included a picture of a dress with the same silhouette (from Liancarlo) and a picture I drew of the dress to email to my mom (please don't judge me based on my drawing abilities - or lack thereof). 

Actually, the fabric, color, ruching and top portion (without that center detail) are very similar to this Nicole Miller dress.