Getting Ready: Putting on the Dress

The Lodge had this beautiful upstairs room that was perfect for getting ready, so we hustled upstairs from the Winne to put on our dresses and make sure the final details were all together. Dan & I had decided not to see each other before I walked down the aisle so we made sure the boys had vacated the area before moving in. However there were windows, and every once in a while they'd walk by below and I'd duck down, as evidenced by the photo below.

dress/vintage gunne sax :: shoes/seychelles

fascinator + veil/fascinating creations :: tights/forever21

I wore my mom's vintage Gunne Sax dress. I've wanted to wear this dress since I first saw it. I've never even gone into a wedding dress shop or browsed the bridal magazines for another dress. My mom got it for 99 bucks at an outlet store in 1980, can you believe it? I've had my "wedding shoes" for a while. They're my favorite pair of Seychelles that I got last year. My mom is a bit taller than me and the heels were the perfect height to make the dress just skim the floor! The only things I bought for my outfit were the tights (which I wasn't even planning on wearing to the wedding, but I loved them so much they ended up being part of the outfit!) and my veil and fascinator. It was so awesome to have my mom there putting on the dress she wore when she married my dad.

My "something borrowed" was a flower from my mom's bouquet. Her bouquet was made of faux flowers and it's been in the bottom of the garment bag along with her dress for the past 31 years. It was so amazing to be able to sneak a little flower from her bouquet into my own.

The photos below are of me reading a letter that Dan surprised me with right before the ceremony. I was almost mad because I didn't cry at all before the wedding until I started reading his letter. Of course I was trying super hard to cry in a way that didn't ruin my makeup, but it didn't really matter. It was a beautiful letter and just one more affirmation, as if I needed any more, that I was indeed marrying the most wonderful man.

photos by arrow & apple (all except bridesmaid shoe photo)