Pergola Begun

Check it out on Domiciliate, we started building the Pergola!

Invitations in the mail...

Exactly 20 days after we finished making them. I don't really know why it took me so long to get the address labels on them, but somehow it just did. Anyway, they went in the mail today! Not all of them yet, but all the ones I have addresses for: 58 of them, in fact. I've also hand-delivered another dozen or so. I can't wait to start getting RSVP post-cards back in the mail...

Dresses from David's Bridal

Since I bought my dress there, they gave me coupons so all of my bridesmaids get 20% if the bridesmaid dresses are also purchased at David's. Somthing to keep in mind, anyhow...

So here's what they have in long, black dresses at ~$100 or less:

For $80, the Gorgette Spaghetti Strap dress:

For $100, the Spaghetti Strap Satin Ball Gown (Nordstrom has a dress almost exactly like this for the same price, too):

And for $110, the Satin Tea Length dress:


Any of these really grab you? Let me know!

Compare to the Long Silk Chiffon Faux-Wrap Dress from Target at $60. Better, worse??

Bridesmaids' dresses revisited

So, this morning on my way to work there was a story on the radio about how Target had just come out with a line of bridal and bridesmaids' dresses that were getting rave reviews from fashion types and were also very affordable, yada yada. Anyway, I checked it out on their website, and there are some really cute dresses in the line, that I could really see working for us. I've been really sort of stumped on how to dress you guys for a while now, since the dress I got is sooooo much more formal and foofy than I had anticipated. Separates are still in the running, the skirt part is easy but I've found it really hard to find good dressy tops. One option I considered was to decide on a skirt and have you all get the same one, and then let you each get your own top in whatever color or style you want, but my fear is that we'd end up looking TOO miss-matched. What do you think, could that work? I'm also concerned about affordability - I don't want to pick something that takes too big a bite out of your budgets, because that would be mean.

So, anyway, here's what they have at Target. THese first three are from the aforementioned new bridal collection, and each cost $160. This is my favorite, it's called the Trapunto Bell Dress.
This one is a little fluffier, it's the Tulle Princess Dress.
This one is pretty snazzy, I like the top/neckline a lot, although I'm not sure how it would work for those of you with larger bossoms. The belt thing is detachable. It's the Classic Princess Dress.

These next two are not officially part of the bridal collection, but they look like they could be dressed up easily with the right accessories. They have the advantage of being REALLY cheap and also somewhat easier to wear after the wedding. This one is the Long Silk Chiffon Faux-Wrap Dress and it only costs $60.
This one is called the Long Linen Maxi Dress and it's only $23! It clearly needs a stout slip, as noted by several of the commenters. It only comes in size 2-14 though.
Initially I put all these pictures up in black (there are a few other colors available in most of these designs) so they would be easier to compare. But then I got to thinking, why not have you all wear black? Black is a good color on pretty much everyone, the guys are wearing black tuxes, and black always looks elegant. On the other hand, it might look kind of somber & serious... Ack! too many choices!

Questions, Comments, Rants, Raves, Alternative ideas? Let me hear it!

Postage, continued

So... I still haven't mailed out the invitations. The post office came out with a new .41 stamp that Cary really REALLY liked (Star Wars) which, after a little hesitation, I decided would be OK (I wasn't super excited about having the emperor's ugly mug on our invitations, but I figured I'd save those for bills). BUT, when I went to get the stamps I found out that the invitations weigh slightly over 1 ounce (1.3 actually) so I have to put .58 on them. And there still aren't any .58 stamps available, they are supposed to be released the end of the month. So, I can either wait for those, take the whole lot of them down to the PO and have the postage printed with the machine (blah), or using two stamps, put .64 postage on each one. Sigh.

Invitations Made!

Saturday night, I had an invitation-making party - and we not only got all the invitations made, but we had a total blast doing it. I'm very lucky to have such crafty pals, you rock! :) The invitations turned out absolutely beautifully. I'm not going to put up a picture though, so it'll still be a little bit of a surprise when the rest of you get them in the mail.

Unfortunately, postage just went up a couple of days ago. Which not only sucks for the budget, but also for artistic reasons: there are currently only 4 designs of stamps available in the new .41 denomination. Flags, Liberty Bell, Some Old Dude, and Jamestown. (D'oh!) I'm hoping that by the time I get all my addresses in order, say next week sometime, there'll be something a little more fun available. But if not, I guess it'll probably be Jamestown. Oh well, it's what's inside the envelope that REALLY counts. :)