Day 358 - That was easy!

I was absolutely thrilled to have all my girls in one spot at once. as much as each may not be as close to the other as much as I am close to each of them it really is so nice to have them all together. 

As it turns out I will have one less bridesmaid than initially anticipated but it is with no drama and without heavy heart. I know it is for the best considering her current changes in life and where life is taking her. We are still great friends and will still be in touch. I'm glad she was honest with herself and I when I brought it up because I would have hated for her to put down a hefty deposit and then regret it later.

As far as picking the dress goes, it was actually really easy. All the girls agreed on one dress and although the original plan was for the maid of honor to have a different color combination than the bridesmaids they all loved the same combo. So instead we will make something else personal, perhaps a different color on her bouquet etc. 

girls in deep though (42)

It has been decided! 

 After dress shopping was complete it was off with my Maid of Honor to do some more bridal accessory shopping. With our daughters in tow of course. My daughter found this adorable lace umbrella and then gestured for the rain to come down.

 

<3 your hippie bride

Day 357 - Changes

Been meaning/needing to get the girls together to decide on a bridemaids dress. We have a general idea of what we all want in a dress but I'm a little apprehensive that we aren't going to find it.
Also, on a topic I don't really wish to discuss here but as part of the blog I guess it is part of the wedding planning game that I'm sure every bride has encountered. The subtle changes in bridal party. Although it is possible that nothing will change... I have this feeling on the breeze that something is amiss, something is about to or should change for the ease and comfort of all involved.

Normally, or at least what I perceive as normally, there is some big dramatic closing when a bridesmaid/MOH/Groomsman/BM back out. You know, a big dramatic fight and tears followed by a giant tub of rocky-road and eventually a reconsilliation either just before the wedding or months after. That is how I've known it to happen in the past. The difference here is it's not drama (at least not right now) it's more changes in life that make me feel it would be appropriate to at least offer the opportunity for a change in bridal party. This is a longer than usual engagement as well which of course lends opportunity for changes in life to drastically effect relations over time.

Long story short, I feel as though one of my bridesmaids might be a bridesmaid currently mostly out of obligation. Again, nothing to do with our friendship but there will be distance between us soon among other apparent things and so as much as I am excited about tomorrow I am apprehensive as well. But I trust that our friendship is close enough that I can bring this up without damning it. Obviously if I am wrong and she still wants to be a bridesmaid then I will welcome the challenge of the distance and any other things to come our way. I just don't want to make this any harder on her than it needs to be.

As a result this post will remain a draft until after we talk.

<3 your compassionate hippie bride


Edit: Boy did I forget about this post :p

Day 134 - And the dress is mine.

Today I made the first payment on my wedding dress. With 30lbs down and 20 more to go I'm a little nervous. But the bridal consultant feels I should still fit even if I do lose another 20 lbs.

But having my purchase made I spent the rest of the day in the judges chair playing simon while my sister tried on nearly 2 dozen dresses for my approval.

When she saw how many dresses there were she was shocked. Of course not all of them were legit we did have to have some fun with her and shoved some lemons in the pile. Just had to make sure she'd be honest to the bride if she didn't approve. She was!

Day 133 - To dress or not to dress

Seeing as they still needed to clean and patch parts of the dress, which I am buying off the rack to save money, I will be going in one more time tomorrow to see how they did. I'll take Niki and Jer and likely take a look at some bridesmaids dresses with them. Who knows, promises to be fun no matter what.

My day was made even better when basking on the sofa before Breakfast and my hubby-to-be was caught staring at me.
Me - "What?"
Him - "I just don't know what you're going to look like 20 lbs lighter."
Me - "What? Why?"
David - "Well ... you're just.... I don't know... I just... I don't see where you can lose 20 lbs more."

I will take that to the bank. I am happy where I am but not satisfied. I still see too much when I look in the mirror before my shower. Mostly in my thighs and butt so I suppose that could be why he doesn't see it. He is an ass man after all ;p 

Day 118 - Progress

I seem to now be losing half a pound every second day. At this rate these last 8 lbs will be gone in no time! Which means I will be able to order my dress so soon! I'm not sure if people feel obligated to discourage me from losing more because of my past or if they feel I don't appreciate what I have already accomplished. Whatever the reason people have started to say, "you look great. You don't need to lose any more weight!" Or the comment I received today from a former co-worker "you have a smoking hot body! Why aren't you showing it off?!"
The truth is, I still look better with clothes on. I want to look amazing even naked! There, that's the naked truth!

But enough with my weightloss, it just seems to be the most productive part of this story lately. I still have no money and so have gone and done very little with regards to the actual wedding. All I can do right now is lose this baby weight and get to my wedding body.

In other news, I received a gift from my friend in England today. She sent me a packed "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue." I love it! I will probably use some of it in my actual wedding :) In particular the panties lol. Who knows.

In a few weeks I can purchase my wedding dress ad in 9 months we can/will order the bridesmaids dresses. Some days it seems so far away, other days it's right around the corner. Getting excited.

Day 23 - We'll get there in time

Well if I ignore the direct results with the wedding I can feel slightly productive. It can be so frustrating to know what you need and not be able to get it yet. I can't control our income but I can control our output and my weight and so I have focused on that.
I've began to tighten those budget strings. I'm doing it slowly because I know if I go too fast we'll only fall back and go further in debt or at least back to square one. This week we have cut up and canceled (completely paid for) 3 credit cards! That felt great! Still a way to go but it's a start.
I've also been very active and consistent with my fitness pal and have lost another 2.1 lbs. Even with David's christmas potluck today and my friends daughter's birthday party I managed to stay under my calorie goal for the day. Strong will and determination will get me there.
For a laugh David received a bridal magazine for his christmas present from work. He was given a gift card too but I loved the bridal magazine gift. There was a little post it stuck in it that said, "David I think you'll look good in this one."
Of course I was excited to get home and look through that magazine for inspiration. :) But I'm the bride, of course I'm supposed to be excited to flip through thousands of pictures of dresses that mostly look identical!
There was a little part of me that said, "wouldn't it be funny if I ended up in the dress the co-worker had quickly and likely blindly stuck a post-it to?" but of course the dress selected was not the dress I was looking for.