finally, movement!

Omg you have no idea how excited I am. In the three months I've been engaged I have spent exactly $130 on the wedding on these really appropriate stamps for invitations and $50 to the travel agent to get like, even a peek into possible destinations, resorts and the like. While the number makes me seem extremely frugal, it means that I have none of the following booked or paid for:

1. A dress
2. A photographer
3. Favors
4. Invitations
5. A venue
6. Again, for emphasis, a venue
7. Probably like, a dozen other things I haven't thought of yet.

I don't have a photographer because I don't have a location. I don't have favors because I don't have a theme (determined by said venue). I don't have invitations in part because it's overwhelming, but also because without a venue to put on them, what's the point, and the venue might render whatever effort I exert futile. And while all of these points could be addressed, I like to restrict each entry to a single topic, so we'll focus on the dress.

I don't have a dress for any number of reasons, such as it's not a high priority and I'm waiting for a good sale to come along. But one of the main reasons is because I have looked at more bridesmaids' dresses than brides' dresses in trying to find something that is even remotely serviceable to all three bridesmaids and isn't ugly as sin. Because if you've been to a wedding in your life, you've probably noticed how awful bridesmaids dresses really are. And many people have suggested that, apparently, the whole point of having bridesmaids is to make the bride look better. I hate this line of logic because it suggests that I make three of the most important women in my life look bad in the interest of my own vanity. Which is so ridiculously petty I don't even know how to respond, except to point out that I'll be the girl in the big white one and I'm not quite that insecure, thankyouverymuch.

So the two priorities with the bridesmaids dresses are that they look nice and are in colors that "work." Let's go on a tour of "what I don't want," since that's pretty much the only determining factors I've been able to conceive.

No satin, since it'll glare right up in the photos. And bonus "No" points if it's puckered at the seams, like all the David's Bridal satin dresses seem to be.



No slinky things because man, that crap even looks bad on the model.




No black, even though it's the easiest and most neutral option and I generally love black, because it's going to be outside on a sunny beach in May, and that's gonna look weird.




None of these colors, even though they are bright & cheerful because while they may be these things, they are still very ugly.




And ESPECIALLY no turquoise, because whenever you say "beach wedding" every bridal shop lady ever thinks turquoise will really match the water, even though I'm pretty sure the best it could do is clash with the water, and hey the water will definitely be there, so why belabor the point with hideous?




So we need neutral colors, Okay. Well, we can't do tans because in addition to being pretty drab, they blend into the sand.




I had a thought on champagne...




...except Mom wants to wear champagne, and I agree it would be much more appropriate for her to do so than the bridesmaids.

And lastly, I really wanted something with more than one color to break things up a bit, effectively doubling the effort required in actually selecting colors.

So the findings above represent countless dress shop visits, tears over the phone from my sister in Vermont with no car, no means to get to a dress shop, and a figure that is difficult to flatter, a general distaste for David's Bridal (which, by the way, is the site from which I nabbed all these horrible pictures), and an overwhelming frustration with dressing other people. Dressing other people is just *weird*, especially since at some point I will have to say "YOU ARE WEARING THIS ON THIS DAY," which just seems so silly, really. This is all compounded by the fact that these dresses just fit so poorly on um, everyone, so even the ones that look like they could be cute, aren't.

After all that, imagine my delight in visiting a shop with my Matron of Honor just last night and finding the perfect dress (btw, thanks for being my model & muse, H!).



It's by Alexia, though not on their site yet, and we really loved the light blue + black combination. The dress shop lady mentioned how nicely the black band would tie with the groomsmen tuxes, and we were like "wellll they're wearing khakis, but that's okay..." and AN IDEA WAS BORN (this shot is in better lighting and I think closer to the actual colors).




And this is officially the first time in the whole process that I have found an available color combination that I LOVE and really feel will work perfectly. It's two tones that are muted but not lifeless, beachy but not turquoise, and the sash will bring the grooms' party together with the bridal party, a detail often overlooked (and really just a bonus since this was a relatively low priority). I can still wear ivory without matching, my mom will still be able to wear champagne, and the airiness of the design goes so well with the color combination.

Additionally, the dress is so elegant and has all these folds of chiffon that will flow so beautifully in a gentle breeze. In short, unless some kind of unforeseeable change occurs, we officially have made a decision.