Potential Dresses (for me)

Remember this post? Well I just got an email asking how much shipping was to a girls zip code out in CA! I emailed her back almost immediately, but who knows if she'll follow through with it.

And with every email I get about the dress, I started looking at other dresses. I found a local store that carries the Dessy bridesmaid lines in Durham and, if the dress actually sells, I'm going to go look at them.

I am currently coveting these, but I dunno in what colors until I see the fabric in person... Oh, I couldn't copy the dresses, only the sketches, so you have to click through to see the actual dresses. They're so pretty! Now for the girl to come through and purchase mine...

After Six Bridesmaid Style 6524

Alfred Sung Style D401

Dessy Bridesmaid Style 2510

After Six Bridesmaid Style 6507

After Six Bridesmaid Style 6280

So... what do you think? :)

image sources for all dresses: dessy.com

Random Wedding Related Stuff

There was much to discuss last night in the Benaim-Fletcher household. And discuss we did! He doesn't think he's cynical, just a realist. He knows I am nothing like his ex's, and that I am so totally different from them. I am different from every woman he has ever dated. He is different than any man I have ever dated.

We discussed the wedding events, time frame and more. We also discussed the wedding I am in at the end of August. While he is obviously invited to it, he doesn't want to wear a suit (but really, what man does?) since it is in August and hot and and and. I assured him that for our wedding, he can wear flip flops and shorts for all I care, but for this wedding, he needs to have a jacket and tie be a part of his wardrobe. Sadly, that's a big reason why he doesn't want to go. But I do know a thing or 2 about being unhappy to be forced to wear something I dislike. I've been in tons of weddings and haven't always liked my bridesmaids gowns.

<--- the dress for the August wedding. Hopefully it looks normal on your screen and not squat like it does on mine!

A friend of mine tweeted me a link from the Church of the Flowers website. They are apparently casting for a new TV show about Vegas weddings (go figure):

Happily Ever Faster - Casting Questionnaire: Happily Every Faster is a new wedding series on TLC that documents the love stories of different couples and their journey to matrimony at the Chapel of the Flowers.

Any other vegas brides out there? And really is anyone actually reading this thing?

Fiance Frustrations

Do you ever have a stupid misunderstanding with your significant other and question why you're in a relationship with someone who does [fill-in-the-blank]?

I did earlier. He is overly cynical about relationships in general, mostly stemming from his 2 long-term previous ones with some real witchy women. I am nothing like either of them. I do not lie to him; I do not drink more than once every like 6-7 months; I do not do drugs (nor have I ever); I am not planning on telling him something life-altering 3 days before our wedding so he can't back out; and I don't have a kid. Nope.

I do, however, have a steady full-time job; I am going to grad school for my MBA; I did my undergrad in 4 years and a semester; I do not shop like some of my friends (as in when I do shop for clothes, shoes, or bags, it's a few times a year and only spend a few hundred dollars as opposed to going many many many times a year and spending a few hundred dollars each time); I have been independent and living on my own since I was 17; I have a very reliable car; I am a realist-optimist; I am, for the most part, extremely responsible and reasonable.

Then why do I fly off the handle over his cynicism of relationships? Maybe because it makes me feel like I am being lumped with the rest. Or like I am being punished for the ways they treated him. Who knows. I just wish I could not do that. I'm still learning.

And yes, I write and vent... and then I go home and talk to him. Because I love him with every fiber in my body and know that he is the most wonderful and loving man on the planet. And I can't wait to be his wife and have kids with him.

Image found here

Basketball Antics at the YMCA

WRAL.com's Mark Roberts and former UNC/ NBA player/ ESPN Color Commentator Eric Montross give a play by play at the Inaugural 1st grader basketball game at the Chapel Hill-Carrboro YMCA (where I happen to work)

It's just a fun video to share. Mark and Eric are so funny! and the kids are just adorable with their mad basketball skills.

and also... because it's so cute! Can't you just picture the Harlem Globetrotters theme song in the background?

Inspiration Board

top row, left and middle row, 2nd pic are possible earring choices for the bridesmaids
top row, middle are the bridesmaids bouquets (purchased flowers to make them all myself)
top row, right i just want to incorporate somehow!
middle row, 1st pic i'm thinking for myself, cuz new + blue! and also ♥ (purchased & wear all the time)
middle row, last pic possibly for table decorations
bottom row, 1st pic i already have these for each bridesmaids as part of gifts (purchased from personal PartyLite shop)
bottom row, 2nd pic i want to make with blue/ cream fabric for each bridesmaids
bottom row last pic is a mirror for bridesmaids gifts (purchased in 5 different designs for myself, 3 bridesmaids, and brother's girlfriend)

best part is they almost all are found on etsy.

Wedding Info Dump from my Journal

Evening my lovelies!

So I have had an online journal for many many years, but it's locked down tight since I discuss everything in the world on it - good, bad and very ugly. There is a good chunk of stuff on it that relates to the wedding, and I've decided to pull all that out and put it into this blog. Prepare for an influx of ideas! :)

since getting engaged in April 2008, we have discussed getting married in port before a cruise (honeymoon) sails, getting married on an island mid-cruise in the Caribbean, getting married in Miami, Chapel Hill, and Vegas; having a big 100++ person bash or having a handful of people in either Vegas or Miami and the reception for 100++ later; eloping to the JoP. in all this discussion, the date just kept getting pushed back and back and back. i think we've actually settled on 10-10-10 finally. we needed a memorable date for Steve - his mind is great with math, but not numbers, whereas i can still remember my first ever cell phone number but am terrible at math.

my wedding ring was ordered on April 22, 2009. Steve's ring arrived on May 27, 2009. mine was ordered through Etsy seller: JewelryByJohan, and his was ordered through Etsy seller TitaniumKnights.

apparently loads of discussion culminated in a definite Vegas wedding on February 17, 2009, according to my other journal. :)

We went to Miami to visit my [entire] family and for Steve to meet them. he asked my dad, very non-nonchalantly!, if he could marry me. dad, of course, said yes since everyone loves Steve! April 5, 2009 from my journal:
daddy said yes. no surprise there though. my older brother likes him. younger one seems to as well. and of course mom and dad do too. pretty much everyone he met this weekend thinks he's awesome and that we're awesome together.

my darling bridesmaids bouquets consist of...

1 stick of red/ orange orchids - palaneopsis i think, 2 bunches mini white Calla Lilies, 3 sticks of Stephanotis (with pearls in the center), 2 things of grass for more green.
the stems are wrapped up and pinned tightly with a dark blue ribbon and a sheer white with silver stars ribbon overlay.

no clue what mine will look like. probably the same flowers with a few deep orange large Calla Lilies. we shall see.

More Vegas Stuff

i was reading one of my favorite wedding blogs this morning, Help Me Pay for my Wedding, and came across this post about tacky weddings. why on earth do people feel they can dictate what is tacky and simply not their taste? The article she has linked actually disgusts me.

we are going to Vegas next October with about 10-15 friends and my brother and his girlfriend. that's it. whenever we can afford the big party, that's when we'll have it, complete with a mock ceremony for my parents, aunts, uncles, grandmother, and the other 150 people that i simply don't want mucking up our amazing wedding day. i have been getting grief from lots of people already. i already know that i will catch a load of crap from ummm most people for going to Vegas. "ugh, how tacky, why didn't they just have a nice wedding?"

i personally think there is nothing wrong with Vegas or a Sunday brunch or an adult-only affair. this is our wedding and we *really* don't want to get married in Miami (where the party will be) simply because that is where the majority of the family is and where we have a free location at my parents 8-acre home. thanks, but no. call us tacky all you want, but i will be having the wedding i want. and at 33 and 39 on our wedding day, we don't need big and lavish anymore. we want pictures along the Strip, tours of the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, and, oh yeah... Vegas for 5 days!

we are already having people exclaim how cool it is that we're going to Vegas. a few have said that if they knew when, they'd be there in a second. so apparently it's not just large "traditional" weddings that have self-invited guests. as it is, Steve and i started working on the guest list a few nights ago. we have 10 definite and 25 possible guests. the definites are bridesmaids and spouses, my brother and his girlfriend, and a few others. the maybes are our immediate families and a handful of other friends.

and because the wedding is in the desert and we love our guests, these are the potential wedding favors. they are stainless steel water bottles from World Market and are currently on sale for $5 each! They have green, blue, orange and silver and we'll probably get an assortment of colors. I am currently thinking of buying caribeaners (sp?) and making some sort of "hey thanks for coming to our wedding" tag to attach to each bottle.

whatcha think?

Buy my Wedding Dress? Please!

When we got engaged in April 2008, I foolishly went out and bought a wedding dress. I only say foolishly because we had no idea what kind of wedding we were going to have, where it would be held, if we'd need to travel, etc etc etc.

Now, with a Vegas wedding, a long plane ride with layovers each way, and Steve not wanting to see my dress, I need to sell it. If we're lucky enough to arrive on a morning flight into Vegas the day before the wedding, there will not be enough time to fix the dress back to the perfection that it deserves. This of course assumes that I am allowed to carry the dress on to the plane with us. The bottom is so poofy that it's seriously like carrying a dead body. We will probably have to buy a seat for it. OY.

Don't get me wrong, the dress is the most gorgeous dress I tried on and made me feel like a complete princess in it. I went to David's Bridal 3 times and all 3 times I tried it on, loving it to pieces. I took picture after picture; posting them all on a secret website to hide from Steve.

Here is my beautiful gown, in all her glory, listed on BravoBride.com, just itching for a new owner to love it as much as I do. I could stare at it all day long if I could keep Steve from seeing it.

The only reason I am not posting a picture of it here is in case Steve decides to start reading. He might flip out if he does see it and I don't want to do that to him!

I would love to wear a dress like

this: or even this:

dog image courtesy of: Spoilurpets.com
dress images courtesy of: bridalonlinestore.com

Adoring my Fiance

This note is reason #843 why I adore my fiance. Last July was the beginning of our life under the same roof. My lease was expiring in July, but Steve's wasn't expiring until October. The plan was for me to move into his tiny 1-bedroom for 3 months and then we'd move into our larger 2-bedroom place in October.

I gave myself a week to move and clean my place. The evening I was going over to clean everything, I arrived to find this note stuck to my front door. Unsure of what to expect, I slowly opened the door. The apartment was spotless.

SPOTLESS.

He came over on his day off and vacuumed, scrubbed and swept up my entire apartment. All I had to do was load up my car with everything and dump stuff off at the dumpster. I didn't have to drive myself crazy cleaning and stressing out. He made my last moments at my beloved villa apartment that much better.

I know this isn't a wedding-related post, but it kinda is since it's why I adore my fiance so so much!

Lola, Brindle & Tobin BFFs :)

Our little puppy, Lola, is a Miniature Pinscher. She's the little blur below - haha. She adores all our neighbor dogs. There's Brindle, left, and Tobin, right, and also Kiki and Amy and Dexter and Davey and Dude and and and. Yeah, we live in doggie heaven! There are so many dogs here and it is simply awesome. BTW, I grew up with tons of dogs, all beagles, so I simply love being around dogs.

Wedding Jewelry for Me

I purchased this Estella Garden Luxe Hair Comb from Etsy seller LuluSplendor as my wedding hair piece.

Next I'm going to see if it's possible to add tulle to the bottom of it for a super short veil, or to the top of it to create a birdcage veil.


Like so:

birdcage or short veil

This necklace is my "something blue" and was purchased from Etsy seller, TheBrassHussy.

I just love her shop name! I have worn this necklace quite a few times already and get compliments every time. I absolutely adore it!







comb image source
birdcage veil image source
short veil image source
blue pendant image source

Vegas Anyone?

There is a very high, like 85%, chance that our wedding will be held in Las Vegas.

I was given the name of a company called Scenic Las Vegas Weddings that performed my friend Jody's wedding last year. I have been in contact with SLVW multiple times and perused their website incessantly. They are an amazing company with loads of wedding packages. We are currently deciding between the $399 and $499 Vegas Strip packages. The only real difference is the number of locations for photographs; 2 versus 3.

What I need from you is locations for the pictures. So send them my way! What are the best, most amazing locations for pictures - wedding or otherwise - and including the Vegas sign, neon graveyard, hotels, landmarks, etc? Once I gather all the info, I'll post a poll to see what everyone thinks. Of course, the final decision will be up to Steve and I. :)

Hit us with your locations!

Wedding Guestbook

I won 2 free books from Inkubook.com. Just wanted to share some of the fun stuff that I've been working on! Here is the most recent version of our wedding guestbook. The final version will be an 8"x8" hardbound book.

Welcome to our Corner of the Web

Welcome to our blog! It is a place for Becca to chronicle the multitude of choices about everything concerning our wedding, and our life together. Be sure to follow us or subscribe in your RSS reader to keep posted.

We'll be discussing everything from our wedding to Becca's MBA graduation (May 2010!) to Steve's MAcc degree to where we'll end up after we both graduate with our kids and pets.

Enjoy!