Shower Style.

I am starting to get very excited about our upcoming wedding shower. Because we are two women the guest list is a little large but we’re certainly not complaining about getting to see some of our very favorite ladies for a special day.

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Fun, right?

So I’ve got the dress. I’m keeping that a secret for now but I had my eye on it for many, many months when I finally caved and bought it. I’ve got some fun, super-high wedge heels to pair with it from BC Footwear. I wanted nude shoes with a splash of color and I certainly found them. Now all I need is the perfect necklace, which I’m working on.

My sister is flying down that Friday morning for a special lunch and shopping date so we can finally find her a gorgeous dress for the wedding. I know what I have in mind but we’ll certainly take plenty of photos the day of. Now all I need is to be patient until June 1st!

The Lengths I’ll go to.

My wedding vision has always been something a little blurry and a little bizarre, and it has always included long, flowing hair. Hair that I cannot grow myself. Hair that would need to be professionally created. Enter Jill Hammelman, my new personal hero.

After a million questions and a few freak-out emails (Should I really be doing this four months before my wedding? Will I ruin them? Are you sure I won’t ruin them?) I couldn’t contain my excitement any longer and we went for it. The results are amazing. I am now incredibly vain and obsessed with my hair. However, I am about to leave for a spin class and this will be my first work-out with the hair. I don’t know how Jill does it. I cannot get all of this hair into a proper ponytail. Oh well, looking insane is a small price to pay for the best thing that has ever happened to me. (Second only to Sam … )

See the transformation below.

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Before. I’m simply giddy with excitement. My hair is long-ish but thin and damaged. This is no way to live.

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Back of my hair before. Gross.

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Now dyed and trimmed … check out those dark brows.

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So this is love.

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I mean. I can’t.

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Jill and her awesome hair. The lady who made this all possible.

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This post would not be complete without a selfie.

I have to stop writing now and go stare at myself in the mirror. Bye.

All Hail Monique.

So it’s a known fact that Monique Lhuillier and Vera Wang are like, the first ladies of wedding gowns, right? Well, for my purposes I am going to assume this is a given. Today let’s talk about Monique and how she can make dresses do unnatural and incredible things to womens’ bodies. She can make a demure lace gown look positively sexy, where there are no hips, she creates them!

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No spanks required! This thing is like armor.

I have a few friends who are currently engaged and my most annoying refrain is “Let’s go try on dresses!” (I don’t mean we should all try on dresses, I mean they should but I should get to come) It’s surprising and exciting and a little stressful and the event itself demands hours of recovery over cocktails, so obviously I am a fan. It’s always good to have a plan but so important to go out of your comfort zone, too. If for no other reason than it’s ridiculous fun.

This is a different look that was pulled out for me at Bergdorf’s. It certainly felt unique and special, and made my figure look like someone else’s. My straight line body was practically hourglass (Maybe not but I’m letting my imagination go here) and though it was a touch modern and racy for my mom’s taste, it was surprisingly comfortable for how sexy it felt. My boobs! My hips! The detail on the bodice demanded a close-up. Of my boobs. I’ve decided to incorporate bridal wear into my every day life.

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My Baby B’s have never looked better.

I remember reading in a bridal magazine an article titled something like, “Wear it Again,” that tried to convince women that it would be totally normal to throw a party in your apartment and invite your girlfriends to wear their wedding gowns as you sit around drinking wine. Let me tell you what I look like when my friends come over to drink wine … dirty hair. no make up. leggings. old stretched out ribbed tank top and flip flops. If they’re bringing their boyfriends I’ll put on a bra. I get it now, wanting to look like the best version of myself every single day in an expensive and beautiful gown. I’m still never hosting a party like that, but if someone else invited me to that sort of shindig I would absolutely wear this dress and I would drink only clear liquids, possibly be so bold as to sip white wine.

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I’m coming over!!

Mainstream, and Other Lesbian Descriptors.

I started this blog for two reasons, really. First, though I knew nothing about planning a lesbian wedding, friends and family were asking me questions like I was the spokeswoman for gay brides. Second, I like doing lame girly wedding stuff like staying up late perusing wedding blogs, and I was finding little to no lesbian content. So here we are, all of us (that means me and you, Mom) discovering together that planning my wedding with Sam the girl is basically the same as if I were planning this wedding with Sam, the boy, except there will be two dresses and two father/daughter dances. Still, imagine my surprise when the newest New York Magazine Wedding Guide went live on the web and there were lesbos everywhere. Here are some featured in Real New York Weddings, and another right here in this slideshow. Stop it. There is another lesbian couple in this same slideshow. That makes three featured lesbian couples in one issue. Three.

I’m already trying to pick the pieces of my mind up off the floor when I sign onto StyleMePretty and find this, another lesbian wedding on a mainstream wedding blog. While it’s happened before, it’s not often, and when I saw it I peed my chinos a little. I’m lying. I don’t even own chinos … but Sam does. And I was jealous (of the stylish ladies, not the chinos).

Turns out Sam and I are just bandwagon girls planning an average wedding … No I’m totally lying again. Our wedding is going to kick ass. Or it will be a disaster. We’ll see.

Shower Invites.

As I wrote earlier, our bridal shower will be at a vineyard, so when I found these adorable invitations on Zazzle by Marlene’s Market I was so excited to customize them.

To be honest Sam didn’t love them as much as I did, but I think the wine glasses are cute and zazzle has never let us down. Their paper goods are affordable and cute. I won this battle.

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There’s one more thing. These invitations just happen to be our sorority colors … a silent nod to our beginning ;-)

Wedding Salon Showcase

Yesterday afternoon Sam and I headed downtown to The Metropolitan Pavilion on West 18th Street to check out a bridal showcase by The Wedding Salon. The place was packed and I was twice referred to as Sam’s “assistant.” We couldn’t figure out why, as we were both wearing our required entry stickers, which read “I’m a Bride.” Sam swore she wouldn’t wear her sticker outside but as we left I slapped mine on her chest and we made it all the way to Sixth Avenue before she peeled them off.

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Sam near the entrance.

 Upon entry there were rows of bridal gowns by various designers. If this showcase is any indication of this year’s bridal trends some of these dresses were wild and over the top. Lots of tulle, shiny beading and sequins in unexpected places.  The models in the gowns were stunning, of course, but most of the dresses were just a bit much for simple gals like us. There was a row of elegant dresses on display from Michelle New York that I kept eyeing, with feminine lace and figure-flattering cuts, I gave them a long, final glance on our way out the door.

Some of what we tasted: Yummy Cakes by Kevaughn, custom colored black & white cookies (Sam’s favorite) by Nussbaum & Wu and gorgeous & tasty chocolate covered pretzels by Fatty Sundays & Co.

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Don’t mind if I do.

There were plenty of spirits there too. I sipped on some Seagram’s Escapes malt beverages, tasted various champagnes and was introduced to Mercy Hangover Prevention, a canned beverage packed with vitamins that we were told  prevents hangovers. Currently our cans of Mercy are in our fridge. I will get some real answers after my next night of drinking, but I’m skeptical.

There were vendors everywhere, and tables showcasing varying décor. Some of the centerpieces were opulent, others understated, and our favorite was the elegantly rustic table of wildflowers in mason jars. I took a look at some lovely jewelry by Merry Alchemy and signed up for all kinds of raffles.

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Rustic elegance.

I think the showcase was a success. Not only did we get to taste plenty of baked goods, and I do so love a baked good, but we are surer than ever that our own wedding will truly reflect our style. Seeing all the different gowns and centerpieces was a real reminder how different each couple’s tastes are, and the endless options when it comes to designing your own wedding.

We had a great time, and I’m looking forward to putting my can of Mercy to the test.

NOLA or BUST!

Sam and I are both planning to get a little wild for our bachelorette parties, which is why we’ve scheduled them for the same August weekend. If she’s at a strip club in Vegas then do I want to be:

A) At home on the couch with our dogs thinking about all of the trouble she’s getting into. 

B) In New Orleans on my own stripper pole in a mansion I’ve rented with a handful of my closest friends.

Answer: B

Sam and her friends are in the middle of planning a trip to Vegas, which, don’t get me wrong, sounds like an absolute blast. My own bachelorette destination: New Orleans! I’ve never been there but have heard repeatedly that it’s a must for a gal like me.

Why not check it out for the first time with a gaggle of girlfriends (and a very handsome boy toy or two. Gay of course, which is how I prefer my men) and stay in a bad-ass mansion complete with what appears to be a stripper pole in one of the bedrooms, an outdoor jacuzzi and outdoor kitchen.

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Photos courtesy of homeowner.

I promise to have more details as the planning process continues. But for now, my flights and our mansion are booked!!!

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Fleur de Lis Mansion, courtesy of homeowner.

Toilet Paper Brides

Since the wedding is stressing us out a little bit this week, I thought I’d focus on something else: Our Bridal Shower!

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Sam as a toilet paper bride at my sister Katy’s bridal shower

(Full disclosure, that’s also stressing us out)

Sam and I have really controlled most of the details in our wedding planning process, so we finally let my mom and Sam’s Godmother step in and plan something. Okay, so we chose the venue. The beauty of a lesbian wedding is the ease of the joint shower. If I’d have to say there was a “theme,” I would say wine. Definitely wine. It’s going to be small, and there will be Briermere pies. When I reminded my mom and sister that I do not want shower games, they both shot each other a look. I’m quickly losing every single battle I fight in this wedding planning process …

I think the invitations are pretty adorable but, unfortunately, I have not seem them in person, so I’ll have to post a picture when I get out to my parents’ house. Until then, I hope these ladies can agree on a menu.

My idea of the perfect shower: booze, a pretty dress, no opening presents, no silly games. Oh well.

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My sister Katy, me, Sam, and our sister-in-law Jaine at her bridal shower.
(Also Sam will kill me for sharing this)

Wedding Bands.

One of the trillion ways that Sam and I are different involves our decision-making skills. When it comes to the easy stuff, she cannot volunteer an opinion.

What do you want for dinner? I don’t know, what do you want for dinner?

What do you wanna watch? I don’t know, what do you wanna watch?

But she can test drive one car and drive it off the lot that same day. She found a wedding band online from Bario Neal, she liked it, we went to Philadelphia and she bought it. Done. I, on the other hand, am just as indecisive about what to choose from a dinner menu as I am about the big decisions, like my wedding band. I’ve been putting it off since I cannot make up my mind. Finally, Sam made an appointment with the people who made my engagement ring and dragged me in there. We sat down and I stared at bands full of diamonds and thought, None of these are me.

So she suggested I go try stuff on at local jewelry stores to see what I liked. First stop was Tiffany & Co., and I know that place is a zoo, that tourists are literally revolving in and out, but of the three associates who helped me (Some of the rings are on different floors) the man was polite, and the two women were rather rude. The first had absolutely no patience for me. I tried on three rings, all from the same case, and she treated me like I was wasting her time. The other was the same. She couldn’t be bothered to let me see the rings. So we left. When you’re an indecisive girl looking for a wedding ring, being treated poorly does not help you make up your mind!

So we walked over to DeBeers, where Jeff greeted us, offered us drinks and took us upstairs to try on some bands. He didn’t mind that I was asking questions and was incredibly patient and helpful. While the woman at Tiffany seemed aggravated when I asked her to repeat the name of a ring, Jeff wrote down all of the information on his card and didn’t rush us out. What a pleasant experience.

Wedding planning is a lot of work and a lot of money, so even if I dare to walk into the world-famous Fifth Avenue Tiffany & Co., I don’t think that it’s asking too much for their employees to be courteous and help me out. It’s not like wedding bands are a $10 investment.

I digress. I still don’t know what the hell I’m doing. I tried on two thin bands that I quite liked, one channel set, one pavé, and I am sure I would be happy with either. I also love the unique rings at The Clay Pot … It might all come down to flipping a coin.