When Yellow is Not Mellow...

Ever heard the saying: "Make my words as sweet as honey, for I may have to eat them later"? Let's just say I'm keeping a spoon handy.

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A while ago I told the Goodlaff bridesmaids that they could wear silver shoes for the wedding.  Just like with their dresses, the style could be of their own choosing, and if they already owned silver shoes, so much the better! Sparkly, tall, short, peep toe, doesn't matter; as long as they can stand up in the shoes, the shoes are good with me.

But then I saw these pictures:

Holy crap, they are wearing yellow shoes!

Gah! Again with the yellow shoes...

And just like that, I was in love with the idea of yellow shoes.  It's one of our colors!  It looks so cute! So. Cute.

Tossing Tradition

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Of all the "traditions" that Mr.Goodlaff and I are happy to be tossing out the window at our wedding, the typical bouquet and garter toss might be the one we are most relieved to see go. Loathed by all single guys and girls everywhere (including me at one point), it was an easy decision to cut it out of the program.  I don't want to single out my few single friends and chuck my bouquet at them, and Mr. Goodlaff doesn't want to fish up my skirt in front of a bunch of people (even if they are family and friends) to find a garter. Plus, most of Mr. Goodlaff's friends are married, which could lead to the most predictable garter toss ever.

But that's not to say that I won't be tossing a bouquet at all.  Oh, no.  I'll be tossing a bouquet that everyone will want to catch...

Dressing the MOB

Is there anyone else out there that wonders why it is that the Mother of the Bride is supposed to be dressed like a dowdy dowager?  Why is it on the day that the bride is supposed to look her best, her mom has to look so, well--old?  Mama Goodlaff is not the Queen Mum, and we both agree that her dressing as if this were true is out of the question. But, as you can see, the bridal industry generally thinks otherwise.

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Given the general reputation for MOB dresses, one day I turned to Google to find the worst offender of all, and was not disappointed. I was able to send Mama Goodlaff this picture:

"What did I ever do to you to make you hate me this much?" she asked.

Mama Goodlaff printed the picture, carried it around in her wallet, and showed a lot of people her "mom-in-the-box" Mother of the Bride dress. 

But in all seriousness, Mama Goodlaff just wasn't finding dresses online and in magazines that fit what she was looking for. 

She just turned 50 (Hmmm, I hope she doesn't kill me for broadcasting that on the Internet...), and she certainly doesn't look it. She has a great sense of style and the typical bridal store's idea of what her outfit should look like would age her about 40 years. That just will not do, so this past weekend Mama Goodlaff and I set off in search for a Mother of the Bride dress that was not frumpy, ugly, or peach, and hopefully didn't cost an arm and a leg. 

"And You Can Definitely Wear it Again!"

Before Mr. Goodlaff and I were even engaged (in fact, way before there was even a Mr. Goodlaff), I knew that I wouldn't be putting all of my bridesmaids in the same exact dress.  Because of my college roommate's love of all things bridal, I had seen a company that made bridesmaid dresses in a rainbow of colors with mix and match tops and bottoms.  Even at 18, I recognized the benefits of picking a color and letting everyone choose what they were most comfortable wearing.  Unless your girls are all 6 foot Swedish Bikini Models, you're going to have trouble finding a single style that not only flatters everyone, but that everyone also feels comfortable in. 

Fast forward about 9 years to a few months ago, when I was frantically searching for the right shade of blue for the bridesmaid dresses.  My conversations with Mr. GL went something like this: "This one's too blue blue, but that one's too navy blue.  I do like this one, but it's just too cerulean, you know?" He almost had to get out a box of Crayolas to see what I was talking about. I looked at David's Bridal (Horizon was too bright, Marine too dark) and Alfred Angelo, and was beginning to expand my search when Mama Goodlaff, Sister Goodlaff, and I went to the Folsom Bridal show. 

Now, sometime in the beginning of my planning, I came across an ad for what I considered to be some of the classiest bridesmaid dresses I'd ever seen.  I loved colors and adored the retro, but somehow modern vibe. Still, I immediately wrote them off as probably being too expensive, without doing a single bit of research.  Stupid, I know, but we all have our moments...

Alfred Sung, by Dessy 

They still make my heart flutter.

Bridal (Af)Fair

Have you ever been to a Bridal Fair? Oh. My. God.

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My first Bridal Fair was last April, when I was newly-engaged, mostly vendorless, and still in the process of forming a wedding vision. Mama Goodlaff, Sister Goodlaff, and I headed over to the Folsom Bridal Show in search of...well, if I'm being honest, we weren't really looking for anything.  We went because the shiny ring on my finger gave us an excuse to venture into once-forbidden territory; it was a bridal fair and I was a bride, 'nuff said.

Upon arrival, the fair organizers gave me a goody bag (bubbles!), a vendor bingo card with the promise of being able to spin the wheel for a fabulous prize, and shuffled the three of us out the door and into the main hall.  That's when I learned that a bridal fair isn't champagne and roses--it's barely controlled wedding vendor chaos.  The Yellow Pages come to life and there's row after row of real, live vendors desperate to talk to you, all peddling their wares and services, and after a while, it becomes total bridal overload--especially when you don't know what you're looking for.  I talked to photographers, bakers, DJ's,  caterers, wedding planners, florists, and spa owners. I wrote my name and contact information dozens of times to enter a drawing for "insert a free something for the lucky winner here".

A Christmas Day Makeover

Christmas brought Sister Goodlaff to us all the way from L.A., and with her an opportunity to try and answer an as-yet unresolved wedding day question: what to do with my face?

I decided to trust Sister Goodlaff, who is about two and a half years my junior, to not exact her revenge for all the torture I put her through in her younger years, and I graciously let her come near me with eyeliner, mascara, and an eyelash curler (i.e: devices of torture). I had clipped a few inspiration pictures from magazines and gave her general guidelines:

1. No spackled foundation
2. Make it look natural, not runway
3. Don't hurt me

I would like to say she followed all three rules, but I would be lying.

Hair Fascinator 2.0

You know what I hate? Deceptively easy online tutorials--they get me into all kinds of trouble. 

I've blogged before about the DIY Chiffon and Tulle flower from Project Wedding, and how my flower and their flower didn't quite look like they were cut from the same cloth (heh). Let's refresh, shall we?

 Original, then mine in two different fabrics

I know I've done this project before, but the other day I decided I would make my own veil and realized I would be needing a fascinator.  The two flowers I've already made are in the wrong color.  It would appear that I am a glutton for punishment, because I decided to go for round two and try making the flower again.  This time, I documented the process of following this tutorial.