Memories of a Champagne Gown and a French romance

Marriage.

What a simple two-syllable word that already holds such a heavy, happy weight in my heart.

Married.

I don’t have any professional pictures or the video back yet, so I am going to only post a few pictures to give a brief overview.

This day was heavy and thick with emotion and in the future, I’ll blog about moments in-depth (such as opening my wedding gift from Mr. Speedy or finding out my little brother was wearing my veil and taking selfies).

The 1920’s theme turned out amazing! It was blast to see how everything came together.

I will say, my absolute most favorite part of that entire day, was saying my vows.

I really thought it was going to be when I first saw and locked eyes with Mr. Speedy while walking down the aisle… but saying my vows was the most surreal moment I have ever had in my short life. I’ll never forget the look of pure happiness and committment and love on his face.

And apparently (I do not remember this), I jumped up and down a little out of excitement in the middle of this process. Megan and Brittany, do you recall?

Vows.

Favorite moment.

Married!

From there, the rest was a blur but a lot of fun and LET ME JUST SAY-

Having a big wedding is worth it for the fact that you are surrounded by a group of people who would probably never be together in the same room and there is such an overwhelming feeling of support and happiness, it makes it worth every single penny. After the vows, the best part was spending time and seeing people from near and far!

These kids were the best. I am so happy they were a part of the wedding.

Me with Londyn….. she was great!

MOH Shea and I 🙂

My sister looked amazing.

My cousin — can we just take a moment and be amazed at her hair???

Photo booth fun!

Mr. Speedy wants this framed. Now.

Gazing at each other

First dance!

A snapshot of the reception

Kiss and cake!

My wedding gift from Mr. Speedy was a beautiful pearl and crystal back drape necklace.

I am only going to wear backless gowns now.

It matched perfectly and was simply stunning. If you really want one, you can get order one from BHLDN from here. And then we can be twins.

HONEYMOON-

So when did I find out where I was going???

While signing our marriage license with the Priest, best man, and maid of honor someone let the secret out.

The Priest.

Of all people, he simply says to me, “So, I heard you are going to Paris. That’ll be quite a trip.”

Mr. Speedy’s face was shocked. I think he felt somewhat betrayed by the man that just married us.

So the next morning, straight from the hotel, we flew to Paris. PARIS.
PARIS.
PARIS.
PARISSSSSSSS.

This is probably the most selfless trip Mr. Speedy could have planned. My undergraduate degree was in Art History and impressionism is my favorite, but I have never been to Paris. Mr. Speedy planned this entire honeymoon around my love of art.

Each morning, I’d ask him – “What do you want to do today?”
“I want to see you smile and happy.”
And then I usually would have an internal debate on exploring Paris or staying locked away in our honeymoon nest of hotel room and come up for air hours, days later.
What is a girl to do with a response like that?

Louvre!

I made an amazing discovery on this trip. Mr. Speedy is completely capable of looking at art for hours, but only if you feed him a beer or two every other hour or so. This kept him sustained to see and observe art in an enjoyable matter.
When I missed my opportunity to get him a beer or food, this is what resulted:
Sleeping in Notre Dame.

On the other hand, I could have given up food and all drinks and showers for weeks and would have still had this smile-

Are you ready to see another cathedral???

We spent the first half of the week in Paris, then took a train to Nice for the remainder of our honeymoon.

And somewhere between getting married, being in Europe, and seeing so many new things –  I decieded t oget my hair cut by a man that did not speak any English and smelled strongly of espresso and chocolate.

It truly was a wonderful trip.

Hair cut! This is in Nice.

I am wearing the dress he bought me for the honeymoon in this picture. I felt extremely posh prancing around in this with my new haircut.

🙂

 

More to come this week….. XoXo

 

Sincerely,

Mr. Speedy’s WIFE

Musee Rodin! This was my favorite place.

 

Rehearsal Invitations: DIY

I made my own rehearsal invitations and by golly, they were pretty spectacular.

They were fairly easy to make and I tried to maintain the Art Deco theme- using certain fonts and a deco arch printed paper for the belly bands.

Soooo pretty.

All together I made 25 invitations and it cost around $20 ($12 for the blank paper/envelopes, $6.50 for the special Deco printed paper). I had access to a laser printer (so that was free!) and a paper cutter (free!) and already had all the stamps and tools for embossing (free! except for when I bought it all).

The first step was designing my invitation. The paper is from Paper Source and they have templates that you can download (here) for free, based off what kind of paper you got. This made it SUPER easy. Just download the size you need, open in Microsoft Word (or whatever program you prefer) and start designing!

Then I found the paper I wanted for the belly bands. Embossed accents were added (with the help of my girlfriend, I stamped and she poured the powder), making the invitations just a little extra glamorous and elegant:

Perfect paper!

Envelopes

I just adore this S.

Invitations complete.

The belly bands- I just measured how wide I wanted them and sliced the paper. Then I snipped away along the top deco arch, to really make the scallop pattern pop. Wrap around the invitaiton and tape together in the back. Simple. Done. Stunning.

I love the scallop!

Good thing about doing this yourself:

• Cheap- they did not cost a lot but have a high quality/formal look!
• They were made with love – really I poured my time and love and heart and soul into these.
• Paper cutter- Who doesn’t love using one of these bad boys? Makes me feel like I’m slicing meat at a deli… except it is shimmery and gold and not smelly.

Bad thing about doing this yourself:

• I want to make belly bands for everything.
• I want to emboss all future cards.
• I want to buy a really nice laser printer.
• I basically want to just make cards all day, everyday.

If anyone needs any custom invitaitons, please, may I help? You can feed my thirst to create more frilly things and give me an excuse to keep using the paper cutter.

Sincerely,

Lily

Almost Married = Busy, Busy

Three weeks.

Three weeks is all the stands between me and my new life.
I will go from fiance to wife in a matter of seconds.
I will lose my current last name, and gain Mr. Speedy’s.
I will make a promise, an engagement, into a lifetime commitment.
I will be one part of a two part new family.

Serious vogue faces.

I have done quite a bit to prepare for March 28th, but I still have the following to scratch off my list:

• Bikini Wax: To do or not to do? Frankly, I have been debating this for months and I still don’t know if I should take the plunge or not.
• My wedding ring: Next week, I shall go to the jeweler and leave them with my engagement ring so they can make a band that perfectly matches. This is kind of important. Kind of need this done. I already have Mr. Speedy’s boxed up and ready to go.
• Do not lose weight: When I get busy or stressed, I have a tendency to eat less and less. My dress is getting fitted  to my current bod. Mr. Speedy doesn’t want me any smaller and I don’t want the dress falling off of me. No weight losing is allowed.
• Beauty regimen: My feet are SCALY LIKE A DRIED UP FISH. Seriously. I am trying really hard to put thick lotion on them every night. This is my main beauty regimen.
• Coordinate deliveries, finalize reception layout, decor: Ugh…… I am trying not to think about this one too much.
• Coordinate day of meals: I will be in a hotel suite with my ladies. We will probably be hungry. So far I have mimosas on my list of foods. I should probably work on this.
• Prepare for visitors! I am just so excited for all the family and friends that are coming into town… I have to mentally prepare my heart and mind for all the visiting. I cannot wait. Mr. Speedy’s family will be here from NE, along with his dear Aunt and Uncle from TX, friends from Iowa, CA, IN, DC, WA, VA… all over. I am beyond excited to see everyone. It is like the best reunion ever.
• Memorize my vows: If I can memorize the alphabet, I can memorize my vows…. right??? Every time I practice them, I start crying and my heart squeezes up like I am sprinting in a race. I need to learn how to say them c-a-l-m-l-y.
• Hair Trial: I am doing this on Saturday! I already had one but it did not turn out…. so we are trying it again! If it doesn’t work, I’ll just wear this hat-

So chic.

I am getting very curious about what guests are wearing to the wedding…. since it is 1920’s theme, I am sure (and hoping!) there will be lots of pearls, feathers, glitz, tuxes, top hats, and canes. It is also black tie optional, so very formal. I am really excited to see what people wear and how they accessorize. Our entire wedding party will have these 20’s accessories, so no one will be out of place — it’ll be such a roaring good time (so corny, I KNOW)!

Love deco cakes!

In OTHER news, I got Achilles tendinitis about a month ago which really threw me off. Running kind of keeps me balanced and happy and sane and focused. But, I have been healing and biking (very different from running!). Biking is a good workout but it certainly makes one’s butt super sore! I am not sure how my marathon training will be once I start running more… but I am trying not to even think or stress about that at the moment. Marriage is my #1 thought and my marathon just might have to take a back seat for a while.

I have book club this weekend – we read the Divergent trilogy. Has anyone else read these books?? I am excited to get together with the club, eat some food, wine it up, and discuss what faction we would be in and how Tris and Tobias are probably not the greatest couple and should just break up and date other people.

I have a few blogs written… to make myself more visible the next few weeks! So bear with me, they are very wedding-related!

Sincerely,

Almost-Married-Lily

The Wedding Dress

I found my wedding dress.

But not the traditional way- let me explain…

Are you familiar with the scene in Sex and the City (the movie) when SJP shocks Charlotte and the wedding planner by proclaiming that she already found her outfit for her wedding.

No label. Vintage. Simple.

And they gasp. “What?! No Label? The bride wore a dress by… no one.”

But SJP loves her choice. She sticks to her fashion choice and is happy with it- it is simple. Classic. And romantic. Just like her and Big.

Mr. Big = Mr. Speedy. But Mr. Speedy is cuter.

That is what I did. I mean, kind of.

“Do you want to go shopping soon for your dress?” my girlfriend asked.
“Oh no, I already bought it,” I responded.
“WHAT. WHATTTTTTT. You already BOUGHT your dress?”
“Yes,” I replied with a smirk.
“When? How? We didn’t even go shopping!?” my friend shouted.
“I found it online. It was a steal and well, I put it in my cart and clicked BUY.”

Her mouth dropped wide open and her face was a mixed of nervous excitement and pure confusion.

I wasn’t planning on finding a wedding dress via the internet on a random Monday evening with only my brother, Louis, at home for opinions.
But somehow, that is how it happened.
And somehow, it worked out.

Four quick days later, it arrived at my doorstep. But because I live in a house with Pirate-people that snatch mail, I did not locate the box until today, 5 days after it’s arrival (someone strategically hid it in the dining room). Quickly, my mother (who had just got out of the pool and was in her suit) and I ran up to her room to try it on.

We opened up the box, holding our breaths. A million questions buzzed in my head – would this look like the picture? What if it got damaged? What if it looks horrible on me? I pulled back the fire red tissue paper and squealed with excitement- it looked perfect. PERFECT.

With her help, we slipped it over my head and I didn’t even need a mirror to conclude it looked beautiful- my Mom had tears forming.

“Oh…. it is beyond stunning, Lillian. It is just beyond anything.”

As I peeked in the mirror and caught a glimpse of myself and thought of Mr. Speedy, I started to cry. I didn’t even have to look at it fully- it just felt different than anything I had ever tried on. I felt different. Changed.

And then Pirate wandered into the bedroom, in his bathing suit (EVERYONE IS ALWAYS IN A BATHING SUIT), and had slight tears in his eyes too.

SO…. What does it look like?

WELL I CAN’T TELL YOU ANYTHING ABOUT THE WAY IT LOOKS BECAUSE MR. SPEEDY READS THIS.

But I can tell you this-

• It was less than $400. YEAH THAT IS RIGHT. LADIES YOU CAN FIND A DRESS FOR A REASONABLE PRICE.
• It is not your typical wedding dress but once you see it, you will think ‘Oh that is such a pretty wedding dress!’
• It does not require me to having any assistance while peeing. This is wonderful because I pee often.
• It is made of THIS and THAT and has THIS and THAT on it and THAT (so vague, I know).
• It suits our wedding theme – the 1920s. Think vintage. Think Gatsby. Think Art Deco. Think Glitz. Think Atonement. I love that movie. Sheesh!

We will be channelling these two for our wedding and pretending to be like them. Minus the whole going to jail and war and dying in a tunnel.

And since I spend a whopping $388 (that includes tax, shipping) on my dress, that means I can now SPLURGE on MR SPEEDY even MORE.

And I might even pay someone decent to wax my eyebrows so they aren’t burnt. I need to figure out accessories- full veil? No veil? Shoes? Of course I’ll wear shoes, but what kind? Drop earrings? There is so much accessorizing!

This whole wedding thing, it is not as complicated as you think.

YOMO.

Sincerely,

Bride-to-be-with-a-dress