Our Wedding: Bridal suite-ness

While the girls and I got ready in the bridal suite, our photographer took some time to take a series of beautiful detail shots.

My favorite ring shot of the day

My something old and something blue... the locket on my bouquet was a graduation gift from BM Breeze when I earned my Master's degree and is engraved with my maiden name initials.  I wear it almost every day.  For the wedding, I slipped in a picture of my dad, so that he could walk down the aisle with my mother and I in spirit.  Only me, my mom, and our photographer knew it was there.  That was the advantage for me of a locket instead of a clear frame- it wouldn't make any family members sad.

My something new (Vera Wang Princess perfume) and something borrowed (my mom's beaded purse from the 1960's... the ivory pearls matched my dress perfectly!)

A sneak peek of my "Rachel" garter by Etsy seller Gmarasa!

The girls' dresses (B2 by Jasmine in Indigo) and my veil 

(from Etsy's Bella Bridal Veils) waiting to be worn...

And finally, my dress (Casablanca 1827) in all her glory.  I only went on one dress-shopping excursion, with my mom and Breeze, and when I got this dress on, I didn't want to take it off.  I had a mental list going in of things I didn't want:  strapless, lace, anything but white.  This dress is strapless, lace, and ivory.  And it was perfect.  I knew flowers would be a strong feature in my wedding and loved the floral pattern in the lace and the subtle but gorgeous pearl beading.  The sweetheart neckline won me over, and the train had me swooning.  With each alteration, the dress got even more beautiful as she became more uniquely mine.  The lace, color, and style were all really inspirational to me as I shaped the vintage Southern theme of the wedding.  I could hardly wait for the girls to hurry up and get dressed so I could put my dress on!

I was almost as excited as George was in The Wedding Singer! 

(animated picture from LJ community gifgiving)

* All photos by Lesley Wray, except the .gif of George.

Previously:

- We whipped my hair into shape

When did you start to feel like your wedding was really happening?