Earrings

After MUCH deliberation about what jewelry to wear in my wedding, I finally purchased these earrings...

...They are the same ones Kate Middleton wore in THE ROYAL WEDDING, so VERY fitting!  LOL

Now I just have to find a bracelet and maybe a necklace to match (not sure if I will wear a necklace since the bodice of my dress is so ornate).

Dress Progress

I saw my partially completed wedding dress yesterday & had my first fitting IN the dress & I finally had my "Say Yes to the Dress" teary eyed "ah ha" moment where I realized that is DEFINITELY my ideal dress (my Mom cried too)! It is all coming together PERFECTLY after much back & forth for a few months. The seamstress at the dress shop in Charlotte got the beading on the bodice EXACTLY the way I wanted it. I am so lucky to be able to create my own dress from putting together 3 dresses (Monique Lhuillier, Lazaro & Pnina Tornai) that I absolutely LOVED & adding my own finishing touches. I am so blessed to have VERY caring, patient & generous parents who have not bitched about the cost of anything & just want me to have everything the way I want it! I can't wait for my BIG day 11/17/12!!!

My Dress

I have my FIRST fitting IN my dress 9/12 with the alterations department at which time I get to see and approve the design of the bodice!  My dress is a CUSTOM combination of the Monique Lhuillier rosette skirt below (1st pic), the Pnina Tornai crystal beaded bodice (2nd pic) & the Lazaro crystals IN the rosettes on the skirt (3rd pic).  I am also having more Swarovski crystals and Pearls added to the top like on the Allure Couture bodice in the last pic for extra embellishment. :-)

Twelve Weeks

TWELVE weeks from today I will be MRS. Jack Fleissner! Ya'll ready to party???

Bridesmaid Dresses are Here

Here is my littlest bridesmaid (aka flower girl) Laken Riddle & her Mom Ashley Riddle in their dresses (they need alterations & steaming still, but are super cute!). The bridesmaids dresses are strapless, but Laken's has little straps. Its all coming together now!!

Rehearsal Dress

I am trying to decide between one of these dresses in either Black or Ivory for my rehearsal dress. Which one do you like?

Cakes

Here is the drawing of our wedding cake and a picture of what a few of the layers will look like...

The Grooms Cake for the rehearsal dinner will have the bottom 2 layers and colors of this cake...

And the top 2 layers of this cake with the people on top (me blonde, and Jack bald of course)...

Engagement Pictures

Jack and I did 2 golf themed engagement picture sessions with 2 different photographers (I will post some of the pics later).  Next week we will be doing another session with a 50's Kentucky Derby type theme at Moses Cone Mansion in Blowing Rock.  Here is the dress I ordered and one of the pics I want to try to recreate...

Wedding Shoes

I purchased the shoes for Wedding Day!  They are Louboutin brand, Torero style, in "Nude" which looks almost White with Black accents and a Red heel, so they incorporate all the colors of our Wedding! I LOVE them!

Bridesmaid Dresses are Ordered

Well, I decided to go in a totally different direction with the bridesmaid dresses than I had originally decided on after meeting a few of my bridesmaids at the Bridal Store and liking this dress more than the other one on everyone...

It is Forever Yours Style # 78101 and we have ordered it in Claret color (dark red) with a Black sash.  The girls will wear black shoes with it.  ;-)

Flowers & More

We met with the Florist yesterday and picked out all the flowers for the bouquets, boutonnieres, corsages, altar, beside the altar, lobby of church, reception ball room, etc.  We are going with red & white roses, white lilies and red gladiolas.

Jack & I decided on the design for our wedding cake, now we just have to decide where to get it made!

I also got pictures from the Rental place of the table cloths and vases.  Its going to be VERY pretty!

Everything is coming along nicely!!!

Awesome Wedding Party

I am TRULY blessed to have some GREAT friends!  I watch "Say Yes to the Dress, Bridesmaids" and all the girls complain about the style of the dress, the color, the price, etc and bitch about even being bridesmaids & the money they have to spend. ALL my bridesmaids have been so agreeable, keep telling me its my day and they will do whatever I want to make me HAPPY.  Not one of them has complained, they are all so excited, supportive & can't wait to get their dresses.  I was FINALLY able to speak with all my friends who have so graciously accepted my invitation to be a bridesmaid, so below is my complete list. I am sad that my love Bryer will not be able to accept my invitation, but I completely understand because she lives on the other side of the country and just had a baby. I would also LOVE for Jacks gorgeous sister Joelle to be a bridesmaid, but with her and her husband living in PA and them being so busy with all the sports their 2 sons are involved in, time constraints were a concern, so they will be there to support us from the "audience". So, here is now the COMPLETE list of my bridesmaids:

1- Jennifer O'Neill-Beard (MOH)
2- Lisa Manos-Tamaye (MOH)
3- Leslie Bailey-Amerson
4- Wanda Bevins
5- Delane Costner-Mitchell
6- Gillian Hedden
7- Jenny Hester-Carrigan
8- Ashley Michael-Riddle
9- Renee Pendlay

Flower Girl- Laken Riddle

And, Jacks alphabetical list of Groomsmen is:

1- Tim Bailey
2- Jake Fleissner
3- Daniel Fowler
4- Eric Hefner
5- Patrick Laney
6- Lou Mazza
7- Scott Reid
8- Charlie Thompson
9- Brian Vaughn

Ring Bearer- Zane Riddle

Bridesmaid Dress Finalists

#1 choice $158

#2 choice $175 (will be in red, can be long or short)

#3 choice $178

#4 choice $175 (will be in red, can be long or short)

#5 choice $190  (only comes in this cranberry color)

#6 choice $129

Car Color

I am re-thinking my decision to get a WHITE car for the wedding.  I am thinking maybe Black or Silver will show up better in pictures?  My cousin just gave me a link to this website which has a large selection of other colors...

http://www.englishcarriage.com/index_files/Page1681.htm

This place, however seemed to have the best package pricing but they only have white or blue cars...

http://www.theroyalrides.com/

This guy was VERY nice, but I just dont think it will be cost effective to have him travel all the way from Bennettsville, SC and he only has white cars as well...

http://www.fx1studio.com/

Reception Decor

We have decided to use http://www.itsmypartyrental.com/ for the decor/linen rental for the reception. We are going with black & white damask table cloths and table runners and red napkins & accents, etc.  The reception will look something like these...

 

Transportation

This is a pic of the ACTUAL vehicle I have decided to get to transport me the day of the wedding...

White 1963 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud III

Wedding Cake

We have narrowed it down to 3 places to get the cake from and will be doing taste tests over the next week...

www.StickBoyBread.com

www.SugarPlumCakes.com

www.KarensCakesAndCafe.com

Has anyone had experience with any of these places?

Wedding Cars

We have a choice of 4 cars to use for our wedding.  Its a hard decision... thoughts?

1948 Cadillac

1963 Rolls Silver Cloud III

1958 Bentley S1

Rolls Royce Phantom Limo

Top 2 Bridesmaid Dress Choices

Ive narrowed it down to 2 bridesmaid dresses which we would get in red. I like this one bc it had the ruching at the waist like my dress and a line style skirt (if we get this it will be knee length.)...

or this one, in red, bc it has the chiffon flowers on the skirt like my dress...

Grooms Rehearsal Dinner Cake

A cake like this would be sooo cute for our rehearsal dinner, which will be golf themed!

Groomsmen

Jack was finally able to get in touch with his last groomsman, so I can now post the list.  I LOVE all these guys and am happy to have them in our wedding!

Best Man- Lou Mazza
Groomsman- Jake Fleissner
Groomsman- Daniel Fowler
Groomsman- Scott Reid
Groomsman- Charlie Thompson
Groomsman- Tim Bailey
Groomsman- Eric Hefner
Groomsman- Patrick Laney

Making Progress

Today was a productive day.  My Mother and I met with the wedding Photographer Scott Huffman at his studio, IG Studio, in Gastonia.  His place is AMAZING!!! I KNOW him and his wife will do a wonderful job on all my photos.  We are doing an engagement pics shoot tomorrow.  Cant wait.  I got my nails and toes done today for that shoot.  Here are some pics...

I also went shopping with one of my bridesmaids, Ashley, and we tried on every style bridesmaid dress I had picked out and decided on ONE, finally!  Now, I just have to make sure the rest of my bridesmaids will like it!!!

Wedding Dresses

I went to so many bridal shops and combed the internet and could not find the perfect dress, so I decided to design my own.  I ordered a dress from http://www.nybride.com/charbrides.htm which has the bottom that I LOVE and a top that fits nicely, but needs more "bling".  I am having a designer custom design a bodice with Swarovski crystals and pearls and adorn the skirt with the same Swarovski crystals.  It is going to be BEAUTIFUL!  Here are some dresses that inspired to me to create my custom design...

 

 

I am also having a dress designed for the rehearsal dinner that will look something like this...

I would like some shoes, possibly like this, to incorporate my red, white and black theme...