Selling My Wedding Dress?

I'm seriously thinking about it folks. It's on my 101in1001 list, but I was never sure that I would actually do it. The more I think about it though, the more I think I should.

My dress is literally hanging in a closet in Sean's mom's house. The same place I left it nearly 2 years ago. I haven't touched it. I'm not going to make it into a Christening gown or First Communion dress for a daughter of mine. Nor will I ever make it into pillows or whatever people do with old dresses. It won't be in style if/when any of my daughters get married - and it will probably be yellowed before then anyway. Sean's mom's dress was professional preserved and it was still yellow and brown.

So. I'm going to clean it up, post some pics on a website that saved my life when planning, and cross my fingers that it sells. It's definitely money that we could use for our house fund. 

I'm thinking about asking $300 for it. It's a $700 dress, with a $200 18 point underbustle. There's no alterations, and it's fairly clean (though, I'll get it professionally cleaned before I sell it). I'd definitely include shipping too, if I sell it outside of KC.

What do you think? Think it would be worth it? Has anyone ever sold their dress before? 

A Year of New Beginnings.

One year ago today, I walked down the aisle and said "I do" to my favorite guy. I became a wife. Sean became a husband. And we started (our official) life together.

First off, I can't believe it's been a year. An entire year. I don't feel like I've been married a year, but other times, I can hardly remember not being married. It's a comfortable state of life - it's like we've always been this way. Or destined for this.

Second, so much has changed this year!! Sean has completed 3 semesters of law school, and still enjoys it. I got a new job - one that pays just enough for us to live a comfortable life (though not lavish) - and it's probably been the single biggest factor in the last year. I'm also only known as a married woman at work, and it's strange how much that changes work relationship dynamics. We moved into a little house - the two bedroom home is perfectly sized for us, and we really feel like it's our home.

Another thing that's changed? We live life slower now. Not in the we-don't-go-out-and-party way (we actually do this more than the first year we lived together!), but in the planning way. Before, we were making plans about when we'd have kids and buy a house and do this and do that. Now? We live life as it comes. We know we don't want kids yet, but we don't know when we're going to have them. And that's perfect for us right now. There's no stress for us to meet life goals at certain times. We're living in a moment, and when Sean is done with school/gets a job, we'll focus on the next step of life. But not before then.

So what's the plan for us on our anniversary?
-Last night, we went to J Gilbert's - it's a fancy steakhouse. We probably spent waaay more than we should have, but it was the best steak and crab cake that I've ever had in my life. Plus, I got to try an Argentinian wine, which was delicious, but a bit too dry for my tastes. 
-Last week, I found a $75 gift card to Macy's that we got for the wedding. We hadn't used any of it! We're probably going to go there, and maybe get a rug for the office, or maybe some pillows.
-There's pulled pork in the crock pot for dinner. I bought some hoagie rolls, so it'll be a delicious bbq night.
-We're actually going to eat the top tier of our wedding cake. Or at least try it. We wrapped and foiled and froze the top right after our wedding, and we're really hoping it turns out pretty well. I've been slowly defrosting it since Thursday...if it doesn't taste good, you can bet I'll be baking a red velvet cake tonight.

You guys, it's been a fabulous year. And here's to many more to come!

And the tale unfolds - Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust!!

So I know I haven't been bloggity lately, which is probably driving those of you who are waiting for honeymoon details crazy. But it stops now. I'm finally catching up! After all, I'm just chilling in the airport waiting for my flight (for my first business trip!)

As you've already read, we took a Disney Mediterranean cruise for our honeymoon. We got engaged in Disney World, and we thought it only fitting to continue in the Disney tradition. Yes, it was a kid heavy cruise. But, for the most part, we didn't even notice them (and even if we did, we wouldn't have minded - you kind of HAVE to expect kids on Disney anything). There was a ton of on-board activities that ran from 7 am - 1 am on the ship, and it seemed like every soul under the age of 18 was either there or at the family pool. There was a separate pool, lounge area, and even a separate cafe for the adults of the ship - and it was much appreciated. We saw a Disney show every night (which were amazing), and went to a couple of other shows (a comedian, magician, and piano player) on other nights. We had late seating for dinner (which was kind of hard to get used to), so a lot of the kiddos were in bed. Even as it was, most of the kids weren't American (and let's face it, British accents are toddlers are ADORABLE). The only remotely annoying children were the Spaniards (and really, they were), but the adults were too.

At our table, we sat with 3 other adult couples. One was on the honeymoon like us, and the other two were celebrating their anniversaries (28 and 15 years). It was a really good mix of people, and we interacted really well together. I wish I could find them on facebook, but alas, it's not going so well.

We started our journey at the St. Louis airport. Why? Because we had to drop our cat off with Sean's parents (and I worried just a bit that Sean's not-so-cat-loving dad would throw her against the wall). We left at noon, and landed shortly after in Atlanta. We had a quick layover (and can I say how awesome the Atlanta airport is? Seriously. We got a meal at T.G.I. Fridays in TEN minutes).  And then.

 

On the plane!

Huge Airbus 330 planes

Then we got on the plane for the transatlantic flight. 10 hours in a plane? Suuuuccccckkkkksssss. We had thankfully upgraded to Economy Comfort. The seat leaned back more, and we had a TON more leg room. The funny headrests were awesome for me, but Sean didn't like them. And we got free drinks :) It was a pretty uneventful flight, but we did see a wicked sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean.

Gorgeous

10ish hours after we landed, we were bussed off the tarmac (yup, bussed), and whisked away on a bus by a crew with giant white Mickey hands...the adventure was about to begin!

It's here! Our wedding album!!

Part of our wedding photography package was that we got an album - the promise was a 20 page, hard-back, image-wrapped photobook.We got 30 pages (for the same price!), and couldn't be more in love with it.

But let me tell you, picking photos for that book was hard. We parred our fabulous, rockin', 18 hour wedding day into 72 photos. Seventy Two. That's it. Our photographers gave us over 1,200 photos - not all of them were fantastic of course, but most of them were. That means we could choose only 6% of our total photo quota. Yikes. And then of course, we wrestled with the ideal of what we wanted our photo book to be. Did we want an elegant book? Did we want fun images of our loved ones? We ended up with a combination of both - fun, artsy photos, and pictures of our families having a great time.

So what did we get? Here's a look at our oh so fabulous wedding album!

 Our front cover

 First page - detail of my dress, shoes, and rings

 Gorgeous shots during our ceremony

 Beautiful solo shots on historic Main Street (and yes, the cars stopped for us)

 

Reception shots!

 And it came in a gorgeous, hard case to protect it

Many many thanks to Adler Photography for the gorgeous shots!

(source, because the logo is fantastic)

On The Other Side.

The past two weekends, Sean and I have had the pleasure of going to not one, but two weddings. They were gorgeous, outdoor ceremonies, and fantastic receptions (one more so than the other). There were completely different from each other and from ours, but wonderful nonetheless. One wedding was to the tunes of bagpipes - the other, to Autobots and Star Wars. They were great.

But it was so weird.

To not be part of the planning. To not be the one with butterflies. To not be reveling in all of my own hard work.

They're the first weddings we've been to as a married couple, and it was so much sweeter than any wedding I was at before my own. To have my husband sit next to me, squeezing my hand as certain parts of the ceremony occurred, and smiling at each other, knowing exactly how they feel up at that altar. It's beautiful people. Just beautiful.

I can't wait for the 2+ others we have this year!

And because we're terrible at taking photos of ourselves, here's one from our first wedding we went to!

Latest Project (brought to you by wedding day left-overs)

Check it out!!

We had quite a few bits and pieces of wedding lying around, so I decided to use some of it to fill an empty poster frame. The ribbon on the top and bottom edges are actually the wraps from my bridesmaids' bouquets, and the paper is stuff I had lying around. That brings the total cost to this project to absolutely ZERO! Love it!

I'm still to this day in complete love with my invitation suite. I designed it myself, and Sean's cousin printed it up. I can't put together enough words to say how glad I am that I did this. It. was. worth. it. And now, these gorgeous invitations and programs will be proudly displayed in our home.

New Passport!

I just got my passport in the mail!

I'm super excited about it, mostly because it means thundercats are go for our honeymoon in August! It's also one of the new, fancy ones with a microchip (hence the little flag looking thing). It cost $110 for the book (if you only plan on going to Mexico and/or Canada, opt for the Passport Card, which is a much cheaper alternative), but since our travels will be in Europe, it was required. And since I was getting the book, I didn't bother with the card. Hah!

It was actually a really simple process. I already had a passport, so technically all I was doing was renewing mine with a name change. Because of that I could A) mail it in, and B) identification parts weren't needed - I didn't need to gather up my birth certificate or anything like that. All I had to do was send away my previous passport, my marriage license (ie, proof of name change), two photos, the DS-82 form, and a nice, hefty personal check. I also had my photos taken at CVS - the $10 made my life simpler, and I didn't need to worry about them being returned for not being properly sized and whatnot.

It took less than a month for me to get my passport back (though, for the record, I still haven't gotten back my marriage license. It should come back in a separate envelope in a few days).

It's nifty, and it has my new name! I love all of the holographics on the US passports...even if they make me look like an oompa loompa with nearly blonde hair (wtf?!). The coloring is a little off, clearly.

So now, I'm only 1 step away from changing my name on everything - all I have left is my car title. Which, coincidently, is being changed on Friday. I wouldn't bother, but when we refinanced my car, they offered to pay for the change - done!

The Greatest Shower Gift Ever.

Yep, this post was written in March, when my shower was in November. Get over it, I was planning a wedding.

So, my bridesmaid Allie gave me what is quite possibly the best shower gift ever. And if any of you ever need to come up with an easy shower gift for a bride, I highly highly highly highly recommend this one.

I received a shiny box.

But the shiny box wasn't the cool part. The cool part was what was inside the shiny box (duh).

It was a thank you note kit!!

Inside, the box held thank you notes, addressed envelopes, and forever stamps. I had to add a few envelopes (a few older cousins bought their own gifts, so I wrote them their own notes). But seriously. It saved me a ton of time having to address envelopes, and I didn't need to go buy cards or stamps so I was able to start writing them right away.

It wasn't very expensive. It wasn't very complicated. But it was very very helpful, and to me, meaningful. It was useful.

Get this gift. No bride will ever complain.

P.S. Will someone get me this as a shower gift when I have babies? That'd be great. Thanks.

The Thank You notes are GONE.

Thank. God.

Okay. Let me preface this post by saying this: I think thank you notes are incredibly important. I don't expect them for annual events (like birthdays, Christmas, or Halloween - which my family sends cards for), but I do expect them for unusual circumstances. When I graduated, I sent thank you cards. When I had my bridal shower, I sent thank you cards (which was made SUPER easy by my bridesmaid's awesome gift - which I never posted about. sad. I'll do a back post!), and now that I've gotten married - you guessed it - thank you cards. It makes me livid when people don't send thank yous for the big events. Someone took the time to A) schedule time to attend your event, B) travel to your event, and (most likely) C) pick out and purchase a gift, for you. And you can't bother to write one lousy note? I'll even take a typed generic note!


/rant.

Okay. So. I've spent the last 2 1/2 months writing thank you notes. I bought a big box of standard, pretty cards from Michaels, punched a circle out of cardstock, stamped (and embossed) a Thank You on the front, added a touch of ribbon, and voila! Thank you cards.

83 cards.

That's a helluva lot of thank yous!! But I'm so grateful to be able to thank so many people...it means we're that loved. Which makes me feel awesome.

Adios!!

Honeymoon Excitement

Generally, one honeymoons right after the wedding. Due to work, law school, and getting married in the middle of the freaking winter, we're (obviously) not following that course of action. Our 'mooning plans have been postponed until August, in order to give us A) time to save and B) a better schedule to work around. Now, plans have just been finalized, and I'm here to reveal our honeymoon destination!!

Where might we be going? Here's a hint:

(source) 

Oh, and this isn't just any cruise folks. Oh no.

This is a cruise aboard this ship:

(source)

That's right. We're going on a Disney cruise. 

Sean and I will be adventuring to the Mediterranean, on a 7-night Disney cruise.

I was very leery about doing a cruise for the honeymoon (and, at first, adamant that we would not do one), but this one is different I feel. We'll be docked by 8 am every morning, so we'll spend a majority of our day at the ports of call. If I do get seasick, it will only be at night (and the ocean will be calmer). Because we'll be flying on Disney Air, if the flight is delayed, the ship waits for us. Plus, it's the only way we'd be able to see all of these places in just one week. 

And it's Disney. Sean proposed in Disney World (the first time). I love Disney. We're planning on buying the Disney vacation plan, so we can go there much more often. 

So where will we be going?

(source)

We'll be flying into (and out of) Barcelona, Spain. We're really hoping that we'll have time to explore a bit, but we're not entirely sure. 

Our first stop will be Villefranche, France (not Cannes, like the map says). It's the port for Monoco and Nice. 

Next, we'll head over to La Spezia, Italy, which is home to Pisa and Florence.

Our next stop will be Civitavecchia, Italy, which is port of call for Rome (and, more important to us, Vatican City!!)

Following that, we'll be off to Naples, Italy, with hopes of going to Pompeii.

We'll get a day at sea (our only one!), followed by a stop in Palma, which is a Spanish island. 

The back to Barcelona, where we'll catch our flight home!

The Disney cruise won't be cheap (that's for sure), but we've got the ability to do it. Sean's parents were amazingly generous, and gifted us almost the entire amount (actually, it covers everything except one of our flights to Europe). By saving up and waiting to take our honeymoon in August, it really helps too. It's going to be fantastic and I can't wait!

#13. Send a future email - for me to get on my wedding day.

I did this one folks. I sent the email around the 4 month mark, and I'm really glad I did. I ended up getting my future email at around 9 am - right when the day was getting hectic. I knew it was coming - I don't forget things like that. What I had forgotten, however, was what was in the email. The 4 months ago me was smart though - she knew exactly what I needed to hear.

Basically, it was short and sweet, but it told me to relax. And while everyone and their (and my!) mother was telling me to relax, nothing does it as well as my own self. Only I can talk myself through things like that.

If you have a stressful event coming up, I totally recommend this. Seriously.

Oh Hey! I iz married!

As of Saturday, I'm officially a married lady. I'm rockin a brand new shiney, I've got bruises on my ribs from my dress (hehe corset fail!), and 3 food processors (so people aren't the best at registries...).

All of that crafty work I did? It totally paid off. The wedding turned out perfect. Yes, it was freezing - but I had a super awesome coat, and super awesome friends who were willing to smile in 19 degree weather. Everyone was so helpful and supportive with getting everything together, and I had the time of my life. I'm pretty sure Sean did too hehe.

While it'll still be quite a while before we get pro pics, here are some of the awesome photos our friends and family took! (warning: lots of ridiculously happy pictures ahead)

 

 

 

 

Summary of the weekend? 

Like, awesome.

Tomorrow.

Tomorrow, I'm getting married.

Married.

You know, that event I've been excited about for the past 2 years? The past 750 days? Yea. Happening. In 15 hours.

The rehearsal was tonight, and it went super well. I hope everything falls into place tomorrow, but it seems like it will. I don't want to jinx it though XD I'm surprisingly calm. I know that everything will work out on its own, and everything will fall into place.

Here's to hoping tomorrow is an AMAZING day.

Crunch Time.

We are 18 days away from getting married. Eighteen. In between that, there's my brother's birthday, Christmas, and New Year's. I work 10 more days. Sean has 2 days of class. I will spend 9 hours driving to and from StP.  And I will probably have a heart attack.

So to keep myself straight, here's my to-do list (at least the big ones):
1. Marriage Certificate
2. Garter
3. Veil?
4. Programs
5. Wedding Party Gifts
6. Necklace
7. Make appointments: lunch & nails before wedding

This doesn't include finished christmas gifts, wrapping them, making dessert for christmas, and a holiday party we have next week. Or the whole celebrating thing. Ya know. 

Some of projects have been scrapped. And it's probably a good thing. It means I'm stressing less, which I am a-okay about.

You know what though? I'm at a really odd state of calm. I've reached that point where I know that no matter what, we will be married in 18 days. It doesn't matter what's there and what isn't. The wedding will be. And love will be.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek

What Bridal Magazines are About...

I saw this picture, and I couldn't help but blog about it. I think it really hits home about what the wedding industry is becoming, and what brides are starting to think about their own weddings. It also gives me a chance to focus in about what weddings really are all about, which, despite popular belief, isn't cake toppers and dresses.

Brides today spend so much time thinking about what others think about their weddings. Do you know what people think? They think about whether or not the food that was served satisfied them (and trust me, I've been to some where it hasn't), and whether or not they had a good time. They don't remember the vows, they don't remember what the cake looked like, and to be honest, they don't even remember what you looked like.

I will be the first to admit that Sean and I have a lot of unnecessary details. And while other people won't remember them, we will. And to be honest, they're things that we love. They're the things that make the wedding about us and for us. This wedding isn't for our 200 guests (though we want to keep them happy, well fed, and entertained as all hosts and hostesses should), it's about us. We've done many hours of pre-marital counseling, which I think was amazing and insightful (and I think every couple should do it, religious or not). We're accepting of each other, and when we do fight, we make it a point to fight fairly - and to NOT bring up things from years past (even if they do still hold a sore spot).

Our wedding isn't to snob unmarried people - hell, do what you want. There are plenty of people that are perfectly happy being unmarried, or single, or whatever. What's the point of being unhappy but married? I think that people should do what makes them happy, and not judge others for not sharing the same goals or happiness.

The wedding industry has really gotten on board with capitalizing on people's insecurities, and it kind of sickens me. There is no need to drastically diet (didn't someone fall in love with you for, ya know, you?!), or get bridalplasty, or anything else. There's no need to be "hot bride" or to invite people that aren't close to you.

I just people would stop thinking about the wedding, and more about the marriage. It's not just one day. It's (hopefully) the rest of your life.

Making it.

Throughout this whole wedding process, money has been a pretty big concern. While each of our parents are contributing significant amounts, there's always a stress around being able to accomodate and entertain large groups of people. Money automatically comes with it - whether it's DIY or not. While our invitations didn't cost a lot of money, we still paid for paper, envelopes, stamps, ribbon, etc.

One thing that was really important to Sean and me was that we didn't have "friendors" - you know, the people who would rather be enjoying themselves at the party than working for you. Anyone that we invited automatically did not have a "job". This wedding is a celebration and a party, not a networking experience. While we have friends and acquantinces that are extremely talented people, I don't want them to work for us. I don't want to have to set rules and guidelines and expectations for them. I want them to enjoy themselves. This, in turn, drives our cost up a bit. We can't bank on Grandma to bake our cake for free, or our parents to cook the dinner.

Yesterday, we really crunched the numbers. Money is due really soon (or has already been paid, in the case of our photographer) for our vendors, and we needed to double check everything. We're making it. We're planning this gala for 230 some-odd people, and we're going to make it. In fact, we're gonna have a little left over. We could easily pay it all in cash too, though we are going to put a bit on credit cards so we can have some buffer room - just in case. We'll simply pay it off after the wedding.

Even better? My bonus for the month will cover my girls' getting their hair done. It was something I really wanted, so, because I'm "requiring" it, I'm also paying for it. The bonus is just an extra drop in the bucket. It's really nice to have.

So while tonight I'm punching out favor tags and cutting ribbon, I can rest easy knowing that we're not going into debt for this. We've managed to squeeze everything out, and money is no longer a concern.

So what is my biggest concern? Making sure everything gets to St. Louis...and that nothing is forgotten in KC. Which is why our wedding rings are already there, and the dress (and anything else I have done) will be going with me next weekend.

The Final Reveal - Invitations!

 This is a super pic-heavy post, but I can't help but brag about my invitations! These babies took forever to assemble, and they're a huge work of love (and sweat and frustration). I'm so relieved that they're finally out - but I love hearing about how people love them. :)


They're totally worth everything. In the end, they still only cost 61 cents to mail, so I spent less than $3 on each of them - which was my goal. The actual total was $2.68 a piece - and that includes the ridiculous amount of adhesives I ended up purchasing. It doesn't include the stamps (I already had them), or the liners (left over Costco wrapping paper!). So, ready for the reveal? Here it goes!!

 

 When the envelope is opened, here's what our guests first see

 

 Here's the pocketfold closed and ready to be opened

And here's the pocketfold opened!

The main panel of the invitation

 

Our RSVP postcard

The map and directions card - I made the map myself (on Power Point believe it not!)

 

And all of the inserts together

I love the way they turned out! It kind of makes me sad that I still haven't found my camera cord (and therefore still have crappy cell phone pics). At least I have an awesome phone, right? So there you have it folks. The great invitations of the Seanmanda wedding.

It just means that it's that much closer - and the official countdown? 36 days!!

My Super Ridiculously Awesome Cake Topper.

I love my cake topper. Really, I love all cake toppers. I think they're a great way for people to personalize one little element without thought. It can be as ridiculous or classic as imaginable. I've been keeping an eye out for a great topper for quite awhile, but I hadn't really found anything that really screamed "us". We're not very defined people. There's no game or television show that we're obsessed with. While we're band kids at heart, Sean hasn't really played in nearly 4 years, and it's not as big of a part of our lives as it once was. We're true Mizzou fans, but sometimes I feel like it gets overboard.

And then. Then, I discovered Keren at MudCards on Etsy. She's pretty popular on the Bee front, which is exactly where I found her. Her toppers are kind of expensive, but I fell in love. I adore her custom designed, personal toppers. I think they're adorable and I immediately fell in love.

I bought one.

I couldn't be happier with the results. Keren worked with me to personalize my topper (even to the details of my dress and flowers!). Because we didn't want a theme like most of her others, she put a heart on ours with our wedding date. It's super light, and we won't have any problems putting it on top of the cake (which was a fear I had). And don't those little people look just like us?

I'm so excited to see our awesome cake with this baby on top of it!!

frivolous things and a pretty hanger.

Let's talk about spending money frivolously in wedding planning. It happens. You see one of those things, and all of the sudden its *omgihavetohaveitoriwilldie*. These are the items that don't matter. The things that won't impact your day in the end and that no one will notice if they're not there. They are, for most purposes, completely useless.

But. They are the items you will remember. They're the items you will swoon over on pictures, that others will awe over, and that you will always love.

This is the first of those items. I fell in love with this hanger and I couldn't imagine anything more perfect. You know those beautiful pictures of the dress hanging before the bride puts it on? This is for those pictures. It's also one of the first things (okay the only thing) I've purchased that says Mrs. Byrne. Crazy!!

Take a look at my gorgeous hanger, purchased from Aressa - an awesome Etsy seller :)

I'm super excited to see this baby hanging in the window, with my dress on it, waiting to be worn. Exciting!!

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Drowning

I am drowning under a pile of invitation crap.

Who the hell ever thought that addressing envelopes is remotely easy? It sucks.

I've gotten like...20 done? Go me? Only 80 more to go?

*sigh*