May Day!: It's All About Me

There are so many cameras, so many pictures being taken, and so much pressure to look good, that your wedding day will become an exercise in vanity. When you finally look in the mirror and see yourself as a real bride, at first it will be hard not to be astonished at how awesome you look.  After a few minutes of gazing at yourself in wonder, reality sinks in and you think to yourself, "hot damn, I'm fabulous!"

Right after Sister Goodlaff finished my makeup and I was about to get my hair finished, I had my first "fabulous!" moment.

There were many, many more moments that the cameras captured that day, and I thought I'd share some of my favorites. I didn't really have a plan for how I wanted to look, so here's what we came up with:

May Day!: Dress Success

Hair? Check!
Makeup? Check!
Dress? Check minus.

Clearly, I needed one more big thing before my bridal transformation was complete.

You know, it didn't occur to me until the moment I was going to put on my dress in front of the cameras that the moment would be awkward. See, I'm not an exhibitionist, nor do I have a beach-ready body, and with unattractive yet effective undergarments on under my robe and two male photographers in the room, I knew the way to proceed: the only way I was getting into my wedding dress was by doing the seventh grade P.E. quick-change shimmy.

Not familiar with this move? Allow me to demonstrate:

May Day!: Beginning the Bridal Transformation

 It took hours and hours for me to go from this:

to a bride. The process took over three hours, but at the end, was totally worth it.  First, Lindsay Mackey from Styles pinned all of my hair to my head and let it set for several hours in pin curls--I have to say, it was not the best look for me.

A Day at the Spa

The day before the wedding, Sister Goodlaff, BM TCollins, and I were all sporting rocking hangovers, but as the saying goes, the show must go on! And go on, it did, but with a little help from the infamous Golden Arches. As if his wanting to marry me wasn't enough, Mr. Goodlaff sacrificed a portion of his morning to go and get me hangover food: a sausage McGriddle and hash browns. That is love!

After a morning of McRehabilitation, Mama Goodlaff, Sister Goodalff, and I met BM Sunrise and BM Cosmo for a late morning brunch at Kane's in Grass Valley (TCollins was still suffering, and hence did not join us until later that evening). We had a tasty lunch, walked around town for a while, and ended up at the nail salon, ready to get fluffed and buffed in preparation for the big day!

It was manicures and pedicures all around, and my army of pink t-shirt wearing bridesmaids took over the salon:

 

I'm ashamed to say--and Cosmo and Sunrise were horrified to find out--that it was only the second pedicure I've ever gotten, and it was lovely. I felt incredibly spoiled and pampered, but spent the next 24 hours trying so hard not to chip a nail (I was unsuccessful) that it was almost more trouble than it was worth. Still, my toes were the perfect shade of pink, and my nails--chips and all--have never looked better!

Post beautifying, I took Cosmo and Sunrise to get settled in their hotel, ran home, and set about getting ready for our somewhat impromptu rehearsal, followed by our rehearsal dinner!

Are there any other spa slackers out there?

Blinded by the White

What is it about weddings that makes a bride want to look her best?  Oh, I don't know...maybe the fact that more pictures will be taken of her on this one day than any other day in her life?

I can tell you, trying to look perfect for the wedding could be a full-time job in and of itself.  I have already begun field-testing contact lenses, which has been going, for the most part, well (although a few days ago I had a contact in backwards for about an hour and a half before I finally fixed it--it's a learning process).  I have gone to the dermatologist and gotten a cocktail of creams and medications to fix my skin so I look lovely and acne-free on my wedding day.  I have picked out the perfect shoes, dress, and jewelry to make me look oh so lovely, and one of these days, someone will finally give me my swirly cloak of bridal glow, which will be the cherry on top of it all.

But there is one more thing I need to achieve bridal portrait perfection...

Source

In Which Miss Goodlaff Sticks Her Finger in Her Eye on Purpose

So, I wear glasses.  And you know what?  I love them.  I've had glasses since my senior year in high school, worn them consistently for the last four years, and I've never been one of those people that was in a hurry to get rid of the frames and switch to contacts. I don't want glasses that blend in with or disappear on my face--I figure if I have to wear them (and I do), they may as well make a statement.  

But on our wedding day, I don't want to wear my glasses.  I don't want to have big, thick frames in every picture.  I want classic, carefree, non-reflecting-glasses-lenses-in-pictures beauty. My first option is to not wear my glasses, but then I wouldn't be able to see Mr. Goodlaff as I'm walking down the aisle or anything else happening more than 10 feet away from me.  That plan's clearly out. 

What's left?

Um, Ow?



Contacts.