Unveiling The Veil

Before I get into the recaps, I still have to finish the rest of my pre-wedding posts I didn't get to. First up is to talk about my veil. I found a veil I loved that perfectly matched my dress at the dress shop. Unfortunately, this lovely perfect veil was ~$300. That didn't work for me. That much money for 1.5 yards of fabric glued to a comb? Um, hell no.

We thought about ordering extra fabric from the designer and having the veil made. The store offered to do it for $275. Solution fail. I sat on it for a while. I read post after post on the Weddingbee blog and boards and then it hit me. "Stop acting like you don't have other ways to fix this problem crazy lady"

I turned to Etsy. I checked out really affordable veils by several Etsy stores I loved. I sent custom item requests to two sellers who's stuff looked very much like the veil I loved and in a price range I really loved.

Image: Forget-me-not 30x36 wedding veil by Etsy seller simplebeautyveils

Image: 2 Tier Fingertip Bridal Wedding Veil by Etsy seller BellaBridalVeils

I knew I couldn't care less if the actual veil was the exact, expensive but oh-so-soft, material of the dress skirt. I just wanted the color and a comparable material. After I sent the messages, I waited with bated breath for a response that would make me happy. I thought about messaging more sellers. But y'all know how I roll, hive. I see something I like and then I go with that, not looking at more than 2 options if I can help it before I make a decision.

But these first sellers didn't respond to my private messages, so I moved on. I found Joyous Illusions. This woman responded quickly and often to me. She messaged me back and forth well over 10 times.

She sent me samples, in the mail, of what veil options I had based on what I described I wanted.

Personal Photo: only a handful of the sample options she sent me.

After I finally made my decisions, she made a beautiful veil for me and sent me the pictures.

Picture from Joyous Illusions

Picture from Joyous Illusions

Picture from Joyous Illusions / Detail shot of the Swarovski Crystal appliques

I hopped over to my private Etsy listing and bought my veil. She shipped it to me immediately. I was so happy to have taken care of a detail that haunted me for months, and I was really glad I didn't have to pay $300 for a veil.

Mr. Kettle and I posing before our ceremony.

And The Dress That's No Longer My Enemy

When we last met, my wedding dress and I weren't agreeing. Things have improved since then. My second dress fitting made me feel like slightly less than a fat ass. Slightly.

It didn't take two women to zip up my dress. I could breathe in my dress. I didn't get bruised ribs!

But the dress was still too tight. The seamstress thinks that if I lose another 1-3 pounds, I should be fine. Seeing as how I didn't get back into exercising like I should have, I could probably squeeze in 1-3 yoga sessions and accomplish the goal the seamstress set for me.

It's such a relief to know that I may get into the wedding dress without any alterations. They're steaming the dress, and I'll pick it up next week.

To celebrate a dress that finally fit, I went shopping. I bought a great hat for the honeymoon and a beautiful hair flower/fascinator for the wedding reception. I've always wondered about the difference between a fascinator and a hair flower. Is is the feathers that make it a fascinator?

Well, what I purchased has feathers, a tulle, and a flower. It will be perfect for my hair for the reception when I take the veil off. Speaking of veils, my lovely wonderful Etsy shop of choice, Joyous Illusions, and the angel behind it is currently working on my veil!

My veil will be done by next weekend, and then I will be ready for the big reveal of my whole wedding outfit. There will be dress, veil, fascinator, shoes, stockings, jewelry, and undergarments. So many details went into choosing the whole ensemble.

How long did it take to put together your entire wedding look? How many dress fittings did you have?

Over-Achieving My Dress Goal

My final dress fitting has happened and once I order my veil, every part of my wedding ensemble will be in place. I can't wait to tell you how the fitting went. After that, I will share the entire outfit.

But first, I have to tell a tale of woe. A story about a petite girl who ordered a dress and then feared that dress would be too big.

That girl is me. When I first picked out my wedding dress, the sample size was 10. That dress swallowed me up. They took my measurements and found I was a 6-6-8. You know, size 6 boobs, size 6 waist, size 8 hips.

After the initial shock of feeling extra huge because the wedding sizes run extra small, Momma Kettle and I decided on the size 6. The dress had an A-line ball gown skirt, so we'd rather fit the boobs than the hips in this case.

I worried about the dress fitting too loosely. The top has 3D flowers all over it and wouldn't be easy to alter. I didn't want to risk ending up having to fidget with dress all night long or having a saggy tube top dress. If you've ever had a saggy tube top, you feel my pain.

Well, I didn't do much exercising because I was terrified of losing weight. The size 10 was huge on me, the 8 would be too big, and the 6 might even be too big. At least that's what was going through my head after we ordered the dress. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what happened next. I got to my fitting, eager to try on my dress.

I got into the room with my consultant. She tried to zip up the dress. It wouldn't zip. She called for help from the front of the store. One woman had to hold the dress together while the other one zipped. I was almost tipped over several times.

And my dress has buttons. Those little buttons that require a special little hook to get closed. Again, one had to hold it closed while the other buttoned. Then the consultant pulled on the skin of my back. It hurt. When I said ouch, she replied, "I just want to make sure you don't have a back ass." That's a verbatim quote.

I had back booty, Oprah arm, and side boob everywhere. I had achieved my goal of not gaining weight. I had over-achieved it. The consultant began assuring me the dress could be taken out all would be fine.

Momma Kettle told her no. She said I would go back to yoga and I'd be tiny again in a few weeks. Then she had me walk, sit, dance, and twirl in my dress so she could make sure it would stay up (that dress wasn't going anywhere!) and see how it looked.

She took some pictures and I loved the photographs. But I couldn't breathe, and my ribs got bruised, and I was sure there was no way I could eat and dance and breathe all night if I wore that dress that way.

I firmly believe in not forcing myself to conform to some image of how I'm supposed to look, but it's not like we have the time or money to rush order some other dress. So I will take my butt back to yoga so I can wear my wedding dress while eating, dancing, and breathing all night long.

I care more about my health than my appearance, and if I'm honest with myself, I honestly haven't been behaving as if I cared about either since we ordered a dress I was afraid would be too big.

Since I'm Miss Kettle, I had some images saved on my computer of kettle in case I need them. Remember Miss Potts from Beauty and the Beast (on 3D in a theater near you, woot!)? Yeah, I feel like her right now.

Image via Disney Wikia / Happy and loved, but overweight is she.

How did your first fitting go? Did you dress have to be altered?

Dress Shopping With My Momma

My dress is already ordered. The bridesmaid dresses are already ordered. If you read my last post though, you'd know there were still a number of women involved with this wedding who weren't yet dressed.

When I talked about Momma Kettle's wedding clothes options, I thought she might be leaning more towards getting a suit, like what Grandmother Kettle got. But, I was completely off. When I mentioned that I figured she'd look best in something similar to what she wore for my cotillion, she seemed a bit un-enthused.

Turns out, she definitely had an evening gown in mind, but not one like she wore at the cotillion. The cotillion had all these rules about what had to be covered and her dress had long sleeves. For the wedding, she had something a little less... covered in mind.

Off we went to West 95th street, in search of a bridal shop. I'm not sure whether or not we ended up at the same place Mima Kettle got her dress from or not. We just stopped at the first store we saw. We went inside and met a lovely young woman who got us started on finding the perfect mother-of-the-bride gown.

I showed her some pictures Momma Kettle and I brought from a magazine to give her an idea of what we were looking for. She found a couple dresses that fit the basics and we went to the dressing room. It was really nice to be on the other end of the dress trying on.

Personal photo: My chair set up at the viewing area outside the fitting rooms

She began trying on dresses. The first one she put on fit our requirement of a very elegant dress. All the dresses are in colors that may not necessarily be what we would've ordered them in.

Personal photo: This dress was very elegant and pretty. But it wasn't much besides that And the train, while beautiful, could possibly interfere with my mother's dancing on the wedding night. Momma Kettle is a dance machine!

Personal photo: Neither of us really loved this dress. But seeing this photo now, it looks pretty amazing. But we still ruled it out while we were still at the store.

Personal photo: After seeing the elegant dress, we wanted to see a fun dress. This dress was definitely fun!

Personal photo: There was a bolero that went with it that we loved. there was also a train/cape thingee that we couldn't figure it out.

Personal photo: At this point we were having too much fun! After not being able to figure out what the train was doing, we decided it should be a cape. Momma Kettle is so much fun.

When we were trying to sort through the dresses, we decided we'd choose one of these. Another saleslady came over to "help", but I found her extremely annoying. She wasn't being helpful. She was just trying to take over our first lady's appointment. Knowing, they work on commission, I wasn't having that.

I dragged our first lady off to find this other dress she mentioned. That gave my mother a chance to talk the ear of the other woman, who was thankfully gone when we got back with the dress. She put my mom into the dress and she walked out in it. It was great! Just see for yourself.

Personal photo: It was a bit too large, but it was super cute. It was elegant, sexy, fun, and everything we wanted for her dress that night.

Personal photo: This fabric color is called "honey". It's a beautiful neutral color that's in the golden family. It's a chiffon fabric and will be fabulous!

Personal photo: This is the dress on the mannequin. Zoomed in so you can see the pretty swooped fabric.

We ordered the dress and and were very happy to do so. Because we got it from a bridal shop, we had to put a rush order in (+$60) to get it here in time for the wedding. But it doesn't matter, because she's got her dress.

I also want to clarify about the clothes for people who aren't bridesmaids. I think it might be a cultural difference kind of thing. But most weddings I go to at my church have everyone coordinated who's even loosely related to the wedding.

Imagine a procession of of 25 family members all dressed in white clothes and black/silver shoes. That's how things are around here. By giving my family three-four different color options for clothes and letting them pick their own jewelry and shoes with only loose guidelines for color is actually seen as easy-going.

There are people who hand-pick stuff their second cousin wears to the wedding. That's why it's good to have Weddingbee.  Hive, you keep me in perspective. I've always thought planning out clothes for the entire family was a bit crazy.

I figured making sure those who would be wearing corsages and bouts are coordinated would be pretty tame by comparison. But I decided to back off and let people wear what they want. And in typical contrary fashion, as soon as I called my grandmother to tell her it was fine is she wore silver, she said she had thought about it and decided she didn't want to be the only person in silver and would be sticking with her gold accessories. After all, she doesn't even like silver.

I'm deciding to put the women's clothes on the list with the men's tuxes. I haven't asked much about the tuxes since that fiasco. I'm 100% sure the neither Mr. Kettle nor Daddy Kettle have gotten their tuxes yet. But we're still over 100 days out, so it's no big deal, right? Right?

How was dress shopping with your mom? Have you ever gone overboard on planning other peoples' roles in your wedding? Is that just me?

How To Be A Rebel Bride - Wedding Party Attire Edition

I like to consider myself a rebel in some respects. I know it's wholly not true, but it's really fun to talk and blog about. So in continuing with the rebellious spirit of previous posts, I'd like to cover all the "rebellious" things that concern our wedding party attire that have gone down so far.

Bridesmaid Dress Price Shopping
Our actual dresses are not very rebellious. In fact, the dresses are some of the most popular being sold by Bill Levkoff right now.

Image: Bill Levkoff #537 via The Knot

What makes the dresses rebellious was our search for the lowest price. Those on a budget understand this. You can't settle for the first price a store tells you, especially if it seems ridiculously high. Thanks to Google (my best internet friend) and you ladies here at the hive, I've found the lowest possibly price for this dress available right now online.

We pushed back ordering the dress by two months in an effort to secure the lowest price. We know our dresses are now set to deliver the week of Christmas, which is a recipe for disaster. We're rebels though, so we took that chance. We may be using scissors and my old ass Singer sewing machine to hem the dresses, but we'll make it work.

Bridesmaid Dress Selection
In a previous post, I discussed dress shopping for the bridesmaids, maids of honor, jr. bridesmaids, and flower girls. I glossed over our selection process, but I want to highlight it now.

As a bride that is pretty opinionated about clothes, I took a step back and decided not to force dresses on my girls they wouldn't love wearing. The best pictures come from when you're feeling beautiful inside and out, and I wanted that for my girls.

At both stores we dress hunted, they picked out every dress they tried on. I only glanced at the dresses, and I made not one single selection for them to try on. They grabbed all the dresses they thought they would look good in. My only input was to veto dresses that I definitely didn't want them wearing. This basically included one should gowns and gowns with useless fabric.

Image: One Shoulder Bridesmaid Dresses by BuyWeddingDresses.org
I don't know why, but I am not a fan of one shoulder dresses

Image: Bill Levkoff #628
Seriously?! It's the faux bow that I meant, but just look at this number! If anyone knows someone who looks amazing in this gown, please send me a pic 'cause I won't believe it 'til I see it!

My Wedding Dress
I'm not going to show a picture of it again, but I have in a previous post. Just go look through my older posts so I don't have to send Mr. Kettle away, I like when he reads my posts (Stalker!).

My dress is not white. I told Momma Kettle I'd be wearing something other than white. I don't think she really believed it until we were putting down a deposit on my coffee/natural dress.

Also, my dress is tea length. I'm not having a train, and I will be showing off my fabulous shoes all night!

I didn't go full rebel and wear a birdcage veil. My mother wants me in a fingertip length veil with a blusher, and we found one that looks amazing, so that's what I'll be wearing.

Clothes For The Groomsmen/Groom
I let Mr. Kettle pick out the clothes for the men. I told him and GM Light that they simply had to get a tux or suit in gray or black and hopefully have the option of a colored tie/vest combo and I left it at that. Lots of brides wouldn't leave it up to their guys, but I went out on faith.

I regretted it when he came back calling colored vests prom-y and wanting to wear an ascot. After a couple of weeks of rough conversations about it, we reached a compromise. This made things go much smoother.

In the end, we stuck with the original plan and Mr. Kettle is picking out what he wants, not what I'd prefer. I guess Mr. Kettle is a rebel too, huh? He got his way and I know the guys will look fabulous on our wedding day. The more I get used to the idea of the clothing selections, the more I'm excited to see how it all comes together.

Clothes For The Ushers and Ring Bearers
Well now, hive, if you've gotten to know me by now, you know I have a mild control freak streak in me and Mr. Kettle has turned me into a world class person-who-compromises. Our compromise for the groomsmen wearing what he wanted was that the ushers and ring bearers would wear what I wanted.

I want the ushers to match the hostesses so the 5 of them match up but remain inconspicuous as they move around getting things done. And the ring bearers have to be tightly coordinated with my clothes since they and the flower girls will be the last down the aisle before me.

Have you made any decisions for clothing that went against tradition or the obvious desires of others? Are you a real rebel?

The Verdict On The Ascot

In a previous post, I talked about Mr. Kettle and his journey to get clothes for the men in the wedding party. I talked about the ascot he wanted to wear and how I was very much against it.

I put up a poll and asked if you all thought he should go with the ascot or not. Some people put up some comments that were... harsh... to say the least. Ouch guys. You know Mr. Kettle reads this blog, right? As well as his mother, Mima Kettle. You can't say those things like we're having girl time over martinis. But I digress.

Most of you seemed to think he should be able to wear what he wants since that's what I'm doing. I don't necessarily agree with that because he and I have lots of input regularly on what we wear from day to day. I checked with him to make sure he was okay with my dress length, color, and style. Believe me, if he'd wanted me in an all white trumpet gown with a 10 ft train and I didn't look terrible in it, that might be what I was wearing. But again, I digress.

The hive voted on the poll, over 100 people gave their opinions. It was about even, but now it keeps creeping in the direction of... ascot! I have to say at first this didn't make me happy. Mr. Kettle and I got into 2-3 pretty heated discussions about it. It wasn't even about the ascot (at least not on my end), but the tux in general, as well as communication between him and other male members of the wedding party. It was bad, real bad.

I think after he and I got into it at Mima and Poppa Kettle's house this past Sunday, the dams broke. He realized he was kind of being a jerk. I realized I was kind of being a jerk. We both stopped our jerkiness and came to a compromise.

Image: Compromise Cartoon via Calbuzz

 Our compromise was that he would get the ascot. Mima Kettle pointed out that he didn't have much of a neck anyways, so losing it wasn't a big deal. He will probably get a black ascot to wear with the black tuxes the men will be wearing. The groomsmen will wear black tuxes, black vests, and purple ties. The ushers will wear black tuxes, taupe vests, and taupe ties. The ring bearers will wear black tuxes, taupe vests, and taupe bow ties. Daddy Kettle and Poppa Kettle will both wear black tuxes, black vests, and black ties.

I agreed to help Mr. Kettle make sure he was getting the right colors for the suits, and he agreed to let me pester him about informing the wedding party guys of what their responsibilities are for their wedding day clothes. Here is what they'll be wearing.



Image: Perry Ellis Virgo Tux via Formally Modern Tuxedo

Hot right? They will look fantastic on their day, ascot and all. It feels good to let go of my apprehensions and not let my crazy bride brain cause a rift in otherwise happy feelings Mr. Kettle and I have had toward each other throughout the planning process.

Bride Brain Image via Tara Getting Married Blog
This particular picture can be traced back through several blogs that always source yet another blog.

How did you settle differences in wedding planning ideas? What are your guys wearing for your wedding?

Great Hair & Makeup Advice

When I first told my friend who is a Mary Kay consultant as well as my hairstylist about my engagement, they both launched into plans for the wedding. I've read enough posts around the hive to be aware that having a good plan in place ahead of time can save you a lot of hassle in the long run and avert a possibly crisis.

So, hive, I will share with you what these two lovely ladies have told me in hopes that someone else (especially with my type of skin or hair) may benefit from their expertise.

Skin care: My skin type is combination skin. That means I have some areas that are normal, some that are dry, and some that are oily. I've been blessed in the skin department people. I've never had any terrible outbreaks or bad acne, even in puberty. But choosing the right products that make my skin neither dry nor oily has been a delicate balancing act. I use a Dove Bar on my face and skin because it has amazing moisturizers in it. I use Oil of Olay body lotion as well as Palmer's Cocoa Butter. My skin stays smooth and healthy because of it. We also do a number of Mary Kay products that are targeted towards someone in my age range. There's a long list of products I use, But I use them all every day for the most part, in addition to drinking lots of water.

Image: Oil of Olay Lotion via Bzz Agent

Image: Palmer's Cocoa Butter via Oh My Beauty

Image: Mary Kay TimeWise Night Restore Complex

Image: Mary Kay TimeWise Eye Cream

Image: Mary Kay TimeWise 3-in-1 Cleanser

Image: Mary Kay TimeWise Moisturizer

Image: Mary Kay Tinted Moisturizer in Bronze 2

That's a lot o' products for real y'all. We didn't add them all at once. I first tried the lotion back in 2007 and we just added the tinted moisturizer a little over a month ago. NEVER add multiple products at once if you can help it. How else can you identify what's working and what isn't?

Make-up plan: We are doing a classic Mary Kay Color Party for all my bridesmaids and Mr. Kettle's maid of honor MOH Sis. We will each get to play around with makeup colors and get a personally designed color palette for our day of makeup that will be based off our skin tones and the wedding colors. I don't know when in the world we'll get it scheduled, but I'm looking forward to it!

Hair care: My hairstylist has told me that keeping my locs healthy all the time is very important. There's not much we have to do for preparation for the wedding in terms of normal maintenance. But what we are focusing on is hair color. My locs are not my natural hair color. I can play with color a bit more because the hair won't get brittle or break since it's not being combed/brushed. But it is important to keep it from getting too dry. We deep condition my hair so it says a nice color and doesn't end up brassy or faded. She makes her own hair care products and if she gets a website or begins to sell it online, I'll let you know. Anyone in the Chicago area with specific questions, just ask and I'll pass on the info.

Hair plan: We're searching for the perfect hairstyle. But we're also playing with color now so we don't try a dye job two days before the wedding that I hate. Right now my hair is red, but I may want to go more golden brown in February. The plan is to try in out in January in case we need to adjust it lighter or darker.

Wedding Planning Tip #8: Have a real plan in place for your pre-wedding beauty regiment. Please don't shock your skin or hair right before your wedding.

Do you (did you) have a pre-wedding skin and hair care plan? Did it work?

Bridal Hair 101 - Au Naturel

Au naturel is defined as

adj.
1.
       a.   Nude.
       b.    In a natural state: an au naturel hairstyle.
2.    Cooked simply.

I won't be naked at my wedding, if only because my dress is too pretty! I certainly won't be whipping up a simple meal for possibly 300 people! So all that's left is an au naturel hairstyle. This simple hairstyle I will have won't actually be simple, it will just be natural.

As an African-American, we have a myriad of hair issues that run the gamut depending on the state of our hair. I must admit I feel especially proud of my decision to have natural hair. To stop straightening my hair and let it just be itself wasn't easy. Anyone who's ever contemplating keratin treating curly hair or putting curly perm in straight hair should feel my pain.

After deciding to be natural, I had a number of styles. Time to dig into the photo archives on this one.

Personal Photo: This was an interesting style. It's slicked down and wavy, I wish I had a better picture of this style because I liked it.

Personal Photo: This was some of my favorite hair right at the end of college. I was wearing it curly and free. 

Personal Photo: This was during medical school, more purposely kinky than curly, even more free.

Personal Photo: This was last New Year's Eve (duh) with my new dreadlocks. I was wearing a tube top, so now you understand better why I must have pretty clothes in order to not be naked, haha.

Personal Photo: This was me in Florida this past April. The locs were getting longer. More tube tops...

It's funny that I'm always saying Mr. Kettle needs to put on pants. Apparently, he's not the only one who needs to wear more clothes...

Personal Photo: A recent photo of my hair dyed red and even longer.

I can't wait to see how long my hair will be by the time we have to style it for the wedding. You never know because most African-American women don't have hair that grows at fast rates. I expect mine will be just past my shoulders by then. That should be enough to play with.

My hairstylist told me to check out hairstyles I might want and we'll figure it out through hair trials in the weeks preceding the wedding. She can work magic so I'm not limited to just styles specifically for locs.

Some basic things about my locs:

• Don't call them 'dreads'. They're dreadlocks or locs. The first time has a derogatory slant to it and doesn't support the loving culture shared by those with natural hair.
• I like playing with my hair. I'm always pinning it up or pulling it back into semi-intricate styles.




Personal Photo: A not-so-good shot of one of the complicated styles I come up with for myself. I swear it's a great style.


• I get it done once a month. That means going to a shop and letting my stylist wash, condition, and re-twist my hair.
• It drives me crazy that I can't wash my hair more often, but it's the nature of the beast when you can't do your own locs. I do use a hair oil that keeps it smelling good at least.
• The freedom to get up and go whenever because my hair is now incredibly manageable has improved my life more than I can tell.

I'm not the first bee to have natural hair and have an interesting path to the altar in terms of that natural hair. Shot Out To Mrs. Swan with the natural hair! Check her out if you haven't yet.

Can You Wear Your Birthday Suit To Your Engagement Party?

No matter how much you want to bury your head in the sand and try and forget about the million and one details of wedding planning, you must take time and find actual clothes to wear. Not doing that is against the law. At least in Illinois. With this in mind, I had to figure out something to wear to my engagement party. It was shaping up be a big party, so I had to be dressed impeccably.

Well, I think I put too much pressure on myself. I didn't really have the time or money to shop the way I'd like. And I had the silly notion I should wear our wedding colors. There's only one problem with that. "Regency" isn't really in right now.

Personal photo of wedding color palette
Left to right: regency, black, taupe, ivory, gold

Color fail.

 So I branched out. I found a great dress at Delia's that I bought. I know you want to see it.

Image: Prima Ballerina Dress by Delia's

Because I am so very short, it stops right at my knees, making it perfect cocktail length. And it's a great color for summer. But it's just... plain. I'd have to jazz it up. I and don't really do jazzy. I don't have a blingy belt or jewelry or anything else like that. Sexy high heeled shoes is about all I have. So this dress would have required waaay more shopping to get it perfect.

I started searching for either another dress or some killer accessories. Of course, I started with Macy's because that store never lets me down. They had tons to choose from. I wanted something cute and sexy, but not too sexy. I wanted it simple, but not too plain. With that vague idea in mind, I came up with some favorites.

Image: Sleevless One Shoulder Ruched Cocktail Dress by Lauren by Ralph Lauren at Macy's

 Sexy and simple. But is it too simple? And should I really be wearing black to a party in the middle of August? I don't know.

Image: Floral Pleated A-Line Dress by Ellen Tracy at Macy's

 Girly and sweet, but is it sexy? On me, it will go below my knee and it looks like something I'd wear to church or work maybe...

Image: Beaded One Shoulder Draped Satin Dress by Nine West at Macy's [Temporarily unavailable]

 Let's be honest, one shoulder dresses are not my thing. I only own one and it was forced upon me through participation in a wedding. And perhaps it's too sexy? And I will clash with all the golden decorations, won't I?

Image: Asymmetrical Neck Cocktail Dress by Jessica Howard at Macy's

This one is actually called a cocktail dress. And it's exactly my style. But is it too sweet? Is it too blue? And might it be too hot for an August party at which I'll already be nervous?

Image: One Shoulder Belted Mini Cocktail Dress by BCBGMaxAzria at Macy's

Everything this man makes looks great on me. It's sexy and a soft tone, so I wouldn't be overdoing it. But I have a small frame. Perhaps it's just one detail too many. That's a lot o' ruffles. And I have a small frame, but not small hips. Le sigh.


Image: < haref="http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=550578&CategoryID=5449&LinkType=#fn=SPECIAL_OCCASIONS%3DLittle Black Dress%26sp%3D1%26spc%3D70">Sleeveless Beaded Sheath by Ellen Tracy at Macy's

 This one kept catching my eye, but when I look at it, all I can think is my grandmother telling me I need more color and pizazz in my wardrobe. This dress is just my style though. But perhaps it's not enough. Ultimately, I decided to take a trip to the store. When shopping in-store, I always start with The Limited.

BM Milk and I, along with her adorable son, went to the mall the day of the party. Yes, I waited that long. A mix of work and other priorities made this the case. But out we went and we struck gold at The Limited. I tried on several dresses that didn't work. But the clearance rack saved us with something lovely. I'll show you the picture from the website, but you'll have to wait til the post about the party to see me in the dress.

Image: Cowlneck Dress by The Limited

Put On Some Pants!

Alternate Post Title: Clothing The Kettle Men. I chose this title because one of my favorite moments in The Hangover. It makes me think of Mr. Kettle because he's morally opposed to wearing pants when he doesn't have to. I alluded to that in a comment about MOH Sis in a previous post. Our wedding is such an occasion for which he must wear pants.

Watch the clip here. Around 2:43 is when the pants funniness begins.

Needing to have pants for our wedding, Mr. Kettle went with his best man to find tuxes for the males in our wedding party. There are a lot of males in our wedding party. There is: Mr. Kettle, my best man, his best man, my two guy attendants, and his eight groomsman. Oh, plus both our fathers, 2 ushers, and 2 ring bearers. That makes 17! Yikes!


Freak Out! Image by Bezinga

Okay, hive, I just had to get that out. I'm calm.

Mr. Kettle went out that first time and narrowed down the possibilities to two options. I asked him to take photos for the hive... but... well... there aren't any. He went back with his best man GM Light and another groomsman GM Dark (named for their skin tones, think white chocolate and dark chocolate, they have great skin) to try on the suits again.

The one picture he took shows his preference for clothing. They decided on black tuxes and black vests. Apparently, colored vest look too prom-y. This is what I get for telling Mr. Kettle the clothing was all his decision. The other thing is that he wants to wear an ascot. An ascot!!

Hive, am I being ridiculous for hating the idea of Mr. Kettle in an ascot? He likes it a lot. A lot. I think it makes him look short. I think it makes him look pretentious. He disagrees. I don't know what to do except let it go and let him wear what he wants so he's happy in his clothes on our big day. At least the groomsman will be in regular ties...

Here's a picture from my inspiration board on Weddingwire. It's more along the lines of what I saw the men wearing.



Image via

Personal image: Mr. Kettle's crappy iPhone pic

Poll: If you could choose would you go for no ascot or ascot? In full disclosure, he's going to wear a solid one, not a striped one.

Option 1: Ascot Yes! Why don't you see how awesome this looks?
Option 2: No Ascot! Is he trying to be funny by suggesting this?