I’m not going to lie. I was a little nervous when it came time to put the dress on. The alterations and pressing weren’t finished until the Thursday before the wedding, and I never tried it on one last time. It was falling off at the last fitting, and the seamstress promised to fix it, along with some tacking issues, adding boning, etc. (She failed, but again, we’ll talk later about that.)
We decided that the best way to do this was for me to step into the dress. Not wanting to mess up any of the pleating (ha!), I sat on the bed and sort of slid into the dress.
I then stood up and took the tank I’d been wearing off. After playing basketball for 13 years, one learns how to totally undress and redress without showing everybody the kit and kaboodle.
I held the awfully heavy dress up while Mom and Laura zipped me in. There was a lot of boob-holding that day, as the dress was way. Too. Big. Didn’t bother me on the day of– I just kept absentmindedly hoisting it up or awkwardly boob grabbing.
Mom and Laura tied the bow, and then tried to fluff it to perfection.
After the dress was on, it was time for my something blue, one of Wednesday’s shaky mice. I still am eternally grateful to our kitty for letting us borrow one of her beloved toys for our wedding day.
Shaky mouse was safety-pinned into the underside of my skirt. It wasn’t visible from the outside, but I could always reach down and feel it for good luck and love.
Next, my mother put on my something borrowed, her pearls from my father.
I closed my eyes, held up my hair, and soaked up the moment.
Laura slid on my garters…
…and I leaned down to give her a hug. We were just big piles of love that day.
I sat down and she slid my shoes on.
Luke did a quick veil test, but we decided it would be better to put it on when the time for the first look came. Too much veil for travel!
With Hello Kitty and her kitty husband holding down the fort, and the other girls were dressing…
…it was time for Laura and me to leave for the first look!
I’d like to impart some words of wisdom at this point. While making your final preparations to put your gown, your accessories, and your special items on, realize what is happening. Don’t rush it. Be present. The amount of love and ceremony that came along with getting dressed was so special, so powerful, and so unexpected. Every element had a weight, a meaning, and I was filled with a love that I hope everyone is able to experience on their wedding day. Brides, relish in those moments with your family and friends. Absorb it, feel the love that is around you, and soak up every moment.
So, what was JP up to while I was having bridal-zen-love-fest 2k10? Well, we’ll see in the next installment of recap-a-palooza!
*All photographs from Matt Miller of Our Labor of Love.
Need to do some catching up in the recap department?
- I popped in to say hello a few days after the wedding.
- I showed off our awesome wedding video, which was subsequently publicized by Ashton Kutcher.
- The day before our wedding was entirely too hectic, and our rehearsal was almost foiled by a contact.
- I pulled it back together and had a blast at our awesome rehearsal dinner, starting with toasts and roasts, followed by us being handcuffed together, and ending with a good old fashioned beat down.
- The wedding day morning started off with some note writing and veil steaming and then some detail shots were shown off. Then, we all got our hair done, I cried with presents, and topped it all off with some more video action.
