I'm Complete!

My look, that is.  Finally!  I finally decided on the shoes.  Remember?  I was all torn and indecisive?  I made an executive decision, ordered the shoes, and loved them.  So?  Here are the ones I chose.  

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I love them, and when I showed them to my sister/MOH, she loved them, and Mom loves them.  I ordered them from Sonja's Brides.  I'm not sure it's something I'd do again.  The shoes were $65, which is a good price.  But then shipping was $15!  For one pair of shoes!  It seemed a little extreme to me, but I couldn't find them anywhere else on the web, so I sucked it up and paid it.  When I got them, I tried them on immediately (right after a mile walk home in 99-degree heat) and they were slightly too tight.  I thought I'd exchange them for a bigger size.  But to exchange them, I would've had to pay to ship them back, pay a $15 restocking fee, and pay to have the new pair shipped to me.  So that would've put these shoes well over $100, which really seemed extreme.  So I tried them on again when my sister came up for my bachelorette party, and they felt much better.  I decided to keep them as is.  I know, I know - my feet will swell on my wedding day, I'll be standing for the whole ceremony, blah, blah, blah.  I plan to only wear these shoes for the ceremony and for pictures - max, 2 hours.  They'll be fine.  I'm gonna work on breaking them in between now and the wedding, so I should be ok.  So, yay, shoes - DONE.

If you remember, the bracelet that I ordered from Etsy seller sparklyshoes.  Apparently, after making mine (which was a special request that she make a bracelet instead of the necklace she originally had) she now sells the bracelets, too!  So I guess it worked out for both of us!

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And, of course, my hair feather, from Etsy seller PowderBlueBijoux.  I love, love, love this hair clip. 

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AND, I found a clutch that I want to use, too!  Another Etsy purchase, this time from seller syl2830.  I kept it exactly as is - navy blue with a brown letter.  

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And, as you know, I got my opal ring back, and we got our wedding bands!  So that's it!  My look is complete!  I'm debating about showing you the dress....stay tuned to see if it pops up in a future post!  Before the wedding, that is...

They're Here!

Anybody else picture this in their heads every time someone says "they're here!"



No?  Just me?  Hmmm...  Well, anyway.


I picked up our wedding bands today!  That's right, a little over 2 weeks after we ordered them, they're in and ready to go!  See?  I told you Steven Singer rocks! 

I tried on my wedding band right in the store and it fits like a glove.  I'll be honest, I was a little nervous.  I have super-teeny fingers (um, size 3.75).  Fitting rings for me can be...challenging.  But Steven Singer has nailed it with both my engagement ring and my wedding band. 

Remember that they also resized my opal?  Did I mention that they did it for really cheap?  They were going to charge me full price, since I hadn't purchased the ring there, but then our salesperson wrote down that I had purchased it there, so it was less than 1/2 the price.  Well, that fits perfectly, too!  I'm so happy to be wearing my opal again - I have missed it for the last few months. 

Say you: What's the deal with this opal?
Say me: It's very special to me, for many reasons.  And they are....

When I was 16, I was invited to be a student ambassador with People to People, an international ambassador program (started by Jimmy Carter).  My group of 30 students and 4 chaperones spent 3 weeks in Australia - starting in Canberra, up to Sydney, along the Gold Coast, into the Outback, and back out to Cairns.  I had two things I had to do while there: pet a kangaroo and buy an opal.  While in Sydney, we were treated to a tour of the Costello jewelry store, which specializes in opal mining and jewelry.  We got a P2P discount while shopping there, and so I jumped all over it.  I found a beautiful ring that I bought on the spot and wore it proudly ever since.  It was a daily reminder of my amazing opportunity to travel through Australia, and I absolutely loved it.  It was a part of me.

Because of how soft opals are, I was instructed that I should try to not get the ring wet.  I should take it off when I wash my hands.  So I used to put it in my mouth while I washed my hands, especially when in public and without pockets.  However, when I started working at a hospital, I thought putting it in my mouth may not be the best idea.  So I usually put it in my pocket or set it on the sink.  One weekend I was heading back to Hershey for a weekend with my best girls, and I got within about 20 minutes of my parents' house (an hour from my house) and realized my ring wasn't on my finger.  My heart dropped to my toes, and I called my co-worker to see if she could check the bathroom sink at work.  It wasn't there.  It was gone.  I immediately reported it to security at the hospital, but I knew I'd never see it again.  I called Matt, crying.  I was heartbroken. 

4 months later, on our Christmas morning, I came downstairs to find a stuffed kitten in my stocking (I keep bugging Matt that I want a cat, but he's crazy allergic).  It had a ribbon tied around it's neck, and I noticed something shiny hanging from it [Yeah, don't think for a second that I didn't think this was a diamond, cuz I totally did, but I was not disappointed because...].  It was a brand new opal ring that Matt had gotten me to replace the one that was stolen!  Isn't he the cutest?!  Not only did he replace my ring, but he found one that looked really similar to my old ring!  I was so excited, and wore that one proudly until we got engaged and Matt wanted my only left-hand ring to be my engagement/wedding rings, and my opal didn't fit my right hand.  

So now I am complete, with my opal and my aquamarine on my right hand, and my engagement ring (and soon to be wedding band) on my left hand!  Yay!!!


*all personal photos

Etsy Love

Have you been on Etsy? You should. It's awesome. I'm obsessed. Since starting to plan our wedding, I have now purchased several items from various sellers. Etsy is basically an online marketplace of handmade goods and vintage wears. You can find anything on there. Here are some of the uber-fabulous things I've found...

Remember those wine glasses? The ones that were my inspiration for the color scheme of the wedding? Well, I contacted the seller and told that she was my inspiration, and asked her to set up a "registry" of items for us. And she did. She created (custom-painted) champagne flutes as well as salt and pepper shakers. They were purchased for us by Matt's fabulous aunt and cousins. Wanna see?

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The champagne flutes are actually painted in our wedding colors. The salt and pepper shakers are as-shown, and we put salt in the bronze one and pepper in the white one so that the feathers really stand out. They're GORGE!!!

Ok, next! The feather fascinator for my hair. I don't know how I came up with the idea to check out Etsy for this, but I'm so glad I did. Seriously...how pretty is this:

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This will be my only hair accessory - no veil, no headband. Just this pretty little thing and some curls. So simple and understated. Love it.

I wasn't really looking for jewelry. I don't wear a whole lot of jewelry on a day-to-day basis - my engagement ring, the aquamarine ring my mom had designed for me for my 21st birthday, and my watch. Since we got engaged, I have not been wearing my opal ring, but once it gets resized so I can wear it on my right hand, I will have that. [I used to wear it on the middle finger of my left hand, but Matt wants my left hand to have only my engagement and wedding rings. Too sweet to say no to, right?!] Oh, and my ever-present hair tie, even though my hair is short and I virtually never pull it back. Nonetheless, I found myself perusing Etsy one day, looking at jewelry. And I came across this:

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Technically, that's a necklace. And I don't want to wear a necklace. So I contacted the seller and asked if she'd be able to make it into a bracelet. She did, and made a custom-sized bracelet (small chain for my tiny wrist and smaller feather). I just got it in the mail yesterday, and it's beautiful.

Oh, and we also ordered our wedding invitations from a seller on Etsy! She has worked with us really closely (well, through email), and has kept us up-to-date on her progress. She consulted us on every. single. aspect of the design process - colors, font...everything. She sent us samples of the cardstock she has so we could pick out exactly what we want, and also sent us samples of the 50 different fonts she frequently uses (but was also open to suggestions about other fonts if we had something else in mind.

I've also purchased a few other items (mostly baby gifts for the thousands of my friends and family who are having babies this year). Every single transaction has been pleasant, smooth, and easy.

Seriously...if you haven't checked it out, you should. You'll be hooked. But you'll thank me for it.