Happily After All: Slipping Into My Dress

Sorry about yesterday's slightly depressing post about my flowers.  I promise to be happy and joyful from this point forward =]
After we finished getting ready and all the girls were in their dresses, it was finally time for me to put on my lovely dress.  But first I had Brandy take a few pictures of the dress itself and the cute hanger I ordered from LilaFrances on Etsy.  I just barely got my hanger in time, she is now backed up 8-10 weeks from your time of purchase.  Mine arrived just 3 days before the wedding!

She also clicked a few pictures of my jewelry with my bouquet at this point too.

This is the necklace that I had custom made from Etsy seller Jwhiz.  It also had a matching bracelet.  I talked a little about the process here, but I'm going to be doing in-depth reviews on all of my Etsy purchases when I do my vendor reviews at the end.

Here's the gorgeous peridot ring my mother lent me to wear that day.  Ever since she got it a few years ago it's been one of my favorite rings.  I would steal it from her for weeks at a time to wear.  I figured it was the perfect accessory for my wedding day since it matched our green color perfectly.

And of course, what's a wedding day without your engagement ring??  This is the beautiful, 80+ year old heirloom ring that Mr. T's great grandma originally wore.

And finally, it was time!  At this point we were running so far behind so we were trying to do this as quickly as possible.  I grabbed my bridesmaid Brittany, and my dress and headed downstairs to get started while everyone else was finishing up their final touches.  The best place for me to get my dress on was actually down in the computer room since it was wide open, and had wooden floors without much dog hair on them.  I kind of felt bad that I was starting this without my mom and sister and all the other girls, because you always see pictures of a whole group getting the bride into her dress.  I knew it wasn't going to take that much effort though, and we really had to get going!  They did all join us towards the end though.
I ended up not wearing the corset I originally picked to go under it.  It didn't work out quite right in the neckline, so I went without a bra, and slipped on a cute pair of blue undies as part of my something blue.

It was so great to have the two girls that have been in my life for the longest helping me at this memorable time of the day.  I've actually known Brittany longer than my own sister, so I'm glad she was there with me at this time.

Here's the standard holding the boobs shot.  Had to make sure they were in there good and tight!  And don't worry, I did eventually remember to take off the rubber band that has a permanent spot on my right wrist.

At some point, my veil made it on top of my head like a hat, so that I could see what was going on.
And after what seemed like forever, the dress was finally on!  By then, the bus had already gotten to our house and was waiting to take us to the church.  But I wasn't ready quite yet.  I still had to print out the readings for the ceremony, and make sure I had the programs with me as well.  I managed to forget those though, so my mom brought them when she drove out separately after she finished getting ready.

This was the point when everything finally started to feel real.  I stepped on the bus and realized at that moment that everything that wasn't finished, wasn't going to get finished.  There was nothing else for me to worry about, or run around like crazy trying to get done.  I finally got to relax and live in the moment.  I had a 20 minute bus ride with my best friends to enjoy, and a ceremony in which I would be marrying my husband to look forward to!

Next up:  The bus ride over, and the goings on before the ceremony.

Unless otherwise stated, all pictures are by Brandy Swartz of Photography by Brandy.

In case you've missed anything...

The Flowers

Getting Pretty
A Crazy Lady The Morning Of
Decorating the Reception Hall
Honoring Our Family
The Rehearsal