Indecisive Font Monster

Hello my name is Miss Ticket and I am an indecisive font monster. Yes it's true. There's no hiding it. I  spent so much time staring at and changing fonts that they  all became one giant blur to me. I said I was done with invitations and yet somehow I still sat down in front of my computer to AGAIN revamp the RSVPs (while watching one of the worst movies ever made please don't watch Skyline.... save yourself, just say no!). I  printed out another 8 options of different fonts and wording and continuously asked opinions of Mr. Ticket. I think even his eyes grew confused after all the different fonts.

It was shortly after this point that I decided to give up. It's not normally in me to do that, but I'm afraid it was the healthiest course of action for my sanity. What I had was good enough. They would have to do. It was time to finish the little monsters and move on with my life. I knew I had hit my limit when I begged Mr. Ticket to redo our RSVPs and he said, "Only if I get to include a picture of a Starcraft Zealot ripping a Disney Princess' head off." (since of course he knew I would never agree to this) and I agreed.... Yep definitely done with the invitations!

 After making Mr. Ticket, Mama Ticket and Daddy Ticket double...triple... and quadruple check spelling, grammar, directions, etc. It was time to print these babies out! We actually contemplated sending them out to be professionally printed for a long time, particularly when we realized that Mama Ticket's printer doesn't particularly like pink. But in an attempt to save some money I decided to rework the coloring of the invitation for the temperamental printer. It was actually painful to see the neon pink on my computer screen, but I knew it would print out the color I wanted. So we printed out the invitations, RSVP cards, directions and maps on our home printer on ivory card stock from Staples and braced ourselves for a serious round of paper cutting and trimming.

Which shockingly turned out to be not so bad! After hunkering down with the paper cutter for a few hours on a random Saturday I got all these babies cut out and ready for assembly. The next step was to attach the invitation to the backing. After a great suggestion from genius WC I decided to pick up some '3D' stickers at Michael's and go to work.

These little stickers really made the invitation pop off the page. I loved them!

Mr. Ticket periodically came in to check on how the invitation progress was going, at one point he picked up an invitation and asked if I had cut them using scissors. I immediately sensed a criticism incoming... "No. Why?" his reply, "Well this one looks a little crooked" busted. There were a couple I had used scissors on in an attempt to rid them of thin little strips of non colored sides that the very dull paper cutter was unable to get rid of. I of course (in my state of OCD) ripped the invitation apart immediately and ran to the paper cutter to fix the offending crooked edges to which Mr. Ticket laughed and said, "I'll never point out a flaw again" and left leaving his approval of the overall invitation project.

So after a few hours of embossing, stamping, wax sealing and sewing (Mama Ticket and Mr. Ticket helped out at different points) I boxed up our invitations and I mailed them off this morning. I'm done thinking about them, done worrying, just done. It feels good I'm not going to lie. My inner perfectionist can just shove it, because I think they turned out alright. I'll share good pictures with you in a couple of days once most of our guests have received them in the mail.

*All Personal Photos

Were you pleasantly surprised by the simplicity of a project you anticipated would be difficult? Or do you now have a deep seeded fear of designing ANYTHING like me?

The Design Process & Procrastination

I won't lie to you, I went into this invitation endeavor with the soul intent of shamelessly copying Mrs. Panther in any way I could. I figured I wouldn't get mine to be near as beautiful and I certainly couldn't afford letterpress or calligraphy, but I was going to try to do my best with what I had.

I couldn't find a background online I liked, so I bought a pack of designed card stock from Michaels and scanned a piece. Then I edited some color in using Corel PaintShop Pro after finding the colors I wanted to use via Pantone. Bam step one down and it only took me about 2 hours! I decided on the wording I wanted and then spent another 3 hours looking through every free font known to man to find something I liked. Then I tried to figure out how to include our awesome silhouettes. The design process is actually quite boring to describe, just picture a tired and frazzled Miss Ticket sitting at a computer and occasionally smacking her head into her desk.

Image via The Online Sleep Clinic

I frequently put this project off, I would get frustrated with my inability to figure something out and just walk away. My sanity was (and continues to remain) more important to me than these little pieces of paper. Then Mr. Ticket and I received a wedding invitation from Brother/GM M & FSIL L and it suddenly became very clear to me... I need to get cracking on these invitations!!! Their wedding is only 1.5 months before ours! So with that in mind I sat down that night and was DETERMINED to finish the design process. Overall I know they aren't perfect but I'm pretty happy with them.

Not the FINAL version but a pretty close one, minus all the blurred outness (Personal Photo)

Did you put off a project you knew was out of your league? Were you happy when you finally finished it?

My New Obsession

When we first started planning for the wedding I started mentally cataloging things in order of priority. There were certain things I knew we would want to spend more money on because they are simply more important to us. There was one thing however that I never particularly intended to spend much on, but deep down I knew I would be completely dissatisfied if they were anything less than AWESOME. I'm talking about invitations.

As I was working out our budget with Mr. Ticket I put down a very measly amount for invitations, one day while I was at Michael's I even bought a pack of really nice looking ivory and orange invitations for about $5 (after coupon) I figured that even though I wasn't in LOVE with them the price was just too good I couldn't NOT use them.

Exhibit A: Perfectly nice invitations that even come with lined envelopes and ribbons!

Personal Screen Shot taken from Michaels.com

As time passed by the little voice in my head reminding me that these were just simple pieces of paper being sent out, they weren't food or drinks or entertainment in any way got TOTALLY drowned out by Bride Brain that was screaming we needed to have nicer invitations. I'll give you two guesses at who won that battle and I'm sure you'll guess correctly the first time. That's right ladies... Bride Brain won.

Knowing that I was dissatisfied with the invitations I had purchased I started looking for reasons they wouldn't work. My printer for instance didn't have a function for printing specialty sized paper, (which of course the invitations were) but really that is what I get for buying a $30 printer. With this excuse in hand I went on a mission to find new invitation options. Daddy Ticket VERY generously offered to pay for us to have our invitations done professionally (via WeddingPaperDivas, David's Bridal, or some other equivalent) and so I started searching the web. I found many beautiful options but none of them were perfect (Bride Brain is a *itch).

After seeing Mrs. Panther's invitation suite I was COMPLETELY smitten. They were without doubt the most beautiful invitations I had ever seen.

Image via WeddingBee and the FABULOUS Mrs. Panther

I love every detail of these babies from the shiny envelopes down to the mini moo cards. With this in mind I decided to design our invitations! One small detail... I have never in my life attempted anything like this and have zero experience going into this project. Should be fun!

Did you ever change your mind later about which wedding details were important to you after all? Have you gotten yourself into a project that you feel is WAY over your head?

Unsolicited Advice

For some reason weddings and children seem to bring it out in people. Everyone thinks they know best and that you of course want to know how they would do it, because naturally you won't have an opinion of your own. From the month of the year you choose to marry to the wording on the invitation, EVERYONE has an opinion.

Mr. Ticket and I chose to have a relatively short engagement (though at times it's felt like it took FOREVER) with 11 months to plan our wedding. From the very beginning we have received advice/suggestions/requests some were taken more seriously (those given from parties assisting in the payment of the big day) and others were taken with a grain of salt (no we will not be playing Ke$ha at the reception Best Man A, Mr. Ticket put his foot down on that one).

Whether they want to submit your wedding to David Tutera's My Fair Wedding after you've already spent 6 months planning (and don't even watch the show) or they suggest ideas for favors when you are less than 2 months out from your date (favors which you already had picked out 4 months ago) they mean well! While I've greatly appreciated the advice and the help I've gotten from family and friends throughout the wedding planning process, I must say some suggestions are harder to swallow than others.

How have you handled unsolicited advice?

Pink Pretties

Cake stands are expensive. No joke. And while I love to drool over beauties like this...

Image via Rosanna

I simply can't justify $75.00 for a cake stand right now. But we still need (as much as anyone can ever NEED something frivolous for a wedding) a cake stand. I really love pink ones, they are a bit more unique than the average clear glass ones (which I still love and totally have one of). I searched high and low and couldn't find one in a reasonable price range. Then one day I was checking Groupon (as I so often do) and they had a deal for Color Me Mine. With credits I already had the deal equated my spending $5 to get $30 worth of awesomeness at the store. So I called up the local Color Me Mine and sure enough they had a cake stand available to paint! Sold! I bought the deal and figured I would just go in when I had time.

Well a few days ago I was so inspired by Miss High Wire's artistic bachlorette party I decided to go after work and make our Cake Stand! I have to admit I was pretty stoked. When I got to the store I asked them about the cake stand only to find they had just sold the last one and they didn't know if they would be getting any more in! Color me disappointed! I didn't give up that fast though, one of the store's EXTREMELY helpful workers helped me piece together a bowl and plate to makeshift a cake stand. I set to work and started painting and painting and painting...yeah I'm a bit of a perfectionist and I had to force myself after 2 hours to just let my effort be good enough and quit while I was ahead! I loved how the colors were turning out but my ability to write Mr. Ticket's (and my future) last name on the stand (under where the cake would be) was failing me miserably. I won't get to pick up the finished product till later this week (at which time I will show you pictures as I failed to take any thus far SORRY!) but I have to say I'm pretty excited to see how it turns out. Even if it's not perfect, I made it! Okay well I painted it... but still it's something we get to keep and use for the rest of our lives. And it's pink!

FYI as I googled 'Pink Cake Stand' for the link earlier in the post just now I found this beauty for only $33... live and learn!

Image via Amazon

It cost about the same as what I paid for my Semi-DIY cake stand today. Except mine will say Mr. Ticket's last name and our wedding date on it, so it was totally worth it.

Did you decide to Semi-DIY a project because you found an awesome deal you couldn't pass up?

Finger Shrinkage

So the other night I had a dream that I was playing with my ring, twirling it around on my finger (really nothing out of the norm I actually play with my ring all the time) and when I woke up from the dream I reached for my ring to do the very same thing only to find it wasn't there.

Queue sheer panic!

Image via Zazzle/ Posted by lilramscheer01

I had gone to bed with my ring on, I was sure of it. So at 4:30AM I darted out of bed, flipped on all the lights and began searching. I checked the sheets of my bed, the floor, under the bed. I ran to the bathroom to make sure I hadn't left it on the counter by accident, then back to my room for some more searching. Then frantically back to the bathroom again, this is where the crying started. I was freaking out. How could I have lost my ring in my sleep?! Mr. Unicorn was going to be so mad (he probably wouldn't have been he would have helped me look for it in the morning but my sleepy hysteria was not being rational). What would I wear on our wedding day?! I continued freaking out and looking everywhere for my ring. The tears were getting more serious. Then I stopped for a minute and decided to read my Bible (it helps calm me down) attempting to regain my composure, then started the hunt again. This time I was more successful (God took mercy on my frazzled soul) I found my ring a good 4 feet away from my bed under a chair.

How the heck did it end up there? I slipped the ring back onto my finger with a vengeance and vowed to never remove it again (again sleepy hysteria talking) and sadly didn't even have a chance to go back to sleep before my alarm went off reminding me I needed to get ready for Boot Camp. This incident shook me up enough to mention it to Sister/MOH Unicorn, she laughed at me then looked at my ring and exclaimed, "Miss Unicorn this ring is WAY too big! You need to get it resized!" I knew it was a LITTLE loose but I didn't think it was that bad.

A couple of days later I decided to take my ring back to Jared's (hooray free sizing for life!) and see what they said. Mr. Unicorn and I had placed bets on how much my finger had shrunk since my weight loss, he said he thought I would be a size 5, I thought he was crazy! There was no way my finger had shrunk a size and a half... 1/2 size MAYBE. But we would see.

As the jeweler handed me their fitting tool she started off by telling me I currently had a 6.5 ring and then handed me the size 6 to see how it fit. Still too big she declared, then she handed me the 5.5... nope still too big. So we tried the size 5, wouldn't you know it that one fits. That Mr. Unicorn is smarter than he looks... So I sadly left my ring over night (I actually had to go home and put on another ring because being without a ring on that finger now leaves me feeling totally naked) and waited for it to be properly sized.

When I went back to pick it up the next day it was a little strange, I was so used to a loose fitting ring it seemed like this new one didn't fit. But a day later I'm already used to it. And the best part... it doesn't fall off while I sleep anymore!

Did you have to get your ring resized before your wedding? Did it take a mildly traumatic experience to make you realize it was necessary?

It's all in the details...

The awesome wedding day attire details! I have had so much fun shopping for all the little incidentals for the wedding day outfit. This one is a particular favorite of mine. Oh but first...

 (Personal Photo)

I always liked football but I was never an avid fan, however upon meeting Mr. Ticket I started watching Steelers games every chance I got. Now I love it! Which is why I knew I needed to incorporate Mr. Ticket's and my love for the Steelers into our special day somehow and as soon as I saw these babies I knew it was meant to be.

 Image via Etsy/ Posted by GartersbyKristi

I bought them from GranniesGarters on ebay and she was great (they are identical to those shown above). Despite my first set getting lost in the mail (tracking number says they are still in transit, first class mail doesn't take 3 weeks to arrive) she promptly sent me another pair and I love them! And at only $21.99 with shipping included they were the cheapest and cutest garters I found! I can't wait to see the look on Mr. Ticket's face when he sees these.

Anyone else sporting their favorite team somehow on their wedding day? Anyone else TOTALLY stoked for football season?!

Epic Ending

In case you missed THE Dress...

I finally have pictures of me in my dress! I love it! It's awesome and epic and well why don't I just show you! But first...

(Personal Photo)

With that out of the way, I will now share my disclaimers. The dress isn't fitted yet obviously since I JUST got it. And I'm wearing no supportive undergarments whatsoever, not even a bra in these pics. Also no heels so it looks super long, but really with my heels it won't even need to be hemmed (YAY!) So remember the dress will be much more fitted around the hips (darn my broad back forcing me to get the dress a full size bigger than my pant size). Okay enough disclaimers time to share some pictures! I wanted a dress that would WOW Mr. Ticket and I think I found it. I don't normally wear fitted clothes or low cut clothes or low back clothes... Haha Yep it's going to WOW Mr. Ticket.

I love it! I love the delicate ivory lace and the little bling of the beading. I love that its lightweight enough to be comfortable and that the train is small. I love that I get to have a nifty little bustle added and I'm so glad I listened to my gut despite all the drama I caused myself along the way because this is my dress. This beauty is the dress I will become Mr. Ticket's wife in and I absolutely can not wait.

Did you have an epic dress adventure? Was it all worth it for the right dress in the end?

THE Dress

In case you missed Dress Size Surprise...

Well my first month of boot camp came and went, I even waited an extra week of camp for good measure and I tried on my brand spanking new Ivory size 12 dress. It didn't quite fit yet, but it was definitely in the realm of fitting soon. But something became very apparent to me, this dress was no longer as magical as it had once been. Oh before we continue...

(Personal Photo)

Through the stress of color and size changes, the stress of needing to lose a certain amount of weight to make this dress fit. It had lost some of its magic. On top of this sad realization I had another nagging thought. I had lost 30 pounds (yay!) and the dresses I originally wanted to try on but couldn't because they didn't come in plus sizes were now a possibility for me. I started to become bitter about this fact (silly I know). I started gazing at those original dresses online (HORRIBLE IDEA) and wondering how I would look in them. One in particular really caught my eye, it was the first dress I had seen that I liked all those months ago but it was A. Out of Budget and B. Too Small at the time. However NOW it was on sale and back in budget and I could actually fit into the dress. I comforted myself with the knowledge that the model always looks better in the dress than real people, I looked up real people in the dress to assure myself I was right. There were a few exquisite bride's the dress looked amazing on, but just as I had thought the model always makes the dress look better (darn that airbrush).

Then one day the troublesome little voice inside my head won. I decided to make an appointment to go to David's Bridal alone (I wanted to get an idea of what I thought of the dress on my own rather than what others liked on me) and off I went. I went in armed with the item numbers of the dresses I had so long coveted and a confused head. A big part of me wanted to try on the dresses and NOT like them. I wanted to try them on just to get it out of my system and go home and love my dress with renewed fervor.

Then the sales lady brought out that first dress, the one I had been staring at on my computer monitor for so long. I slipped into it easily, walked out to look in the mirror and horrified as I was... I LOVED IT! This was not what I wanted at all (okay secretly it was totally what I wanted) I had wanted to NOT love any of these dresses and go home happy with the one already in my closet. The girl left me for a few minutes to walk around and get a feel for the dress and then came to let me try on the next one (sorry for no pictures but I went alone and without a camera).

She asked how I liked it (I super disliked it, it had virtually no back and I felt totally naked) and I told her I liked the first one much better. So she had me try on another one, and I still liked the first one much better. So she had me try on another one and... well I think you're getting the picture. I was smitten. It had everything I had loved about my first dress and MORE. It was ivory, there was lace with just a hint of beadage to add some sparkle, it was floor length with a tiny train, it was light and comfortable, easy to walk around in and this dress had a SHAPE.

Now what? Now I was in love with a new dress, but I still had my dress at home. I didn't have another $600 to spend on a new dress. Really had not thought this one through at all. The sales manager happened to be walking by and my sales associate decided to share my problem with her. She told her I had an unused dress at home, that I was so stressed about it fitting and that I had fallen in love with this new dress. Well sales manager lady was like the coolest woman on the face of the planet, because she told me she would let me exchange the dress and pay the difference. That's right they were letting me exchange the dress for a third (and FINAL as they informed me) time. But I didn't want to buy it without any other opinions, this was a big decision. So I called Mama Ticket and she agreed to meet me at David's Bridal after work.

I was so beyond excited at this point that I actually went to Victoria's Secret prior to the appointment to pick up a special low back bra to wear with the dress. I was pumped, I was ready to show the dress to Mama Ticket and have her fall as much in love with it as I was. When 4:30 PM rolled around and it was time to try on the dress Mama Ticket came armed with my wedding heels and all the accessories I had already purchased (yet without a camera can you believe it?!) so I would get a really good idea of exactly how the dress would look. I tried on the dress again, this time with my beautiful heels and walked out onto the little platform. Mama Ticket looked me up and down and smiled. I needed verbal confirmation on this one. So I asked as straightforward as possible, "Do you like this one more or less than the original dress?" she replied, "I like this one better." HOORAY!

So with that we decided to exchange the dress (for the FINAL time), they even let me return my WAY too big for me corset (which my original sales lady had given me too large a size for at the time and was now atrociously large on me) since I couldn't wear their corset with the dress anyway due to its low backed nature. They also exchanged my slip for a new one in the right size. In the end the new dress ended up costing me only $50 more than my original dress had cost and it was everything I wanted. A floor length ivory lace beauty. I couldn't be more excited with it. And the best part of all, it FIT. It fit and I have gotten a much better gauge of my weight loss after a few more months of working on it and I'm quite confident that I will not lose enough weight to make the dress unalterable. So we are in the clear!

Want to see what dress I picked? =)

 Both images from Personal Screen Shots Taken from David's Bridal Website

When your wedding dress journey ended did you breathe a HUGE sigh of relief too? Am I the only woman alive that had this much dress drama?

Dress Size Surprise

In case you missed The Arrival...

Another four weeks or so down the line when my IVORY dress had arrived we had a new challenge ahead of us. I had some problems with my health and my doctor informed me I had to lose weight ASAP. So I went on a hardcore diet of Jenny Craig and working out and I started losing weight (FYI I am well on the road to healthy again and my doctor is pleased). In fact when I went in for my dress fitting I found the dress was already a bit lose on me.

Image via growthexpertblog

It was still 7 months from the wedding and the dress was loose on me! How much can they take in a dress? How much weight was I going to lose? I needed answers and I needed them STAT! The extremely kind and patient seamstress informed me that they could take a dress in or out approximately 2 sizes but no more or else the dress would lose it's basic shape and it wouldn't look the same.

Queue Bridal Freak Out

Image via Quad Cities Fall Bridal Fair

What if I lost too much weight (so not a thought that had ever gone through my head before)?! What if the dress couldn't be sized down enough? Sensing my inner turmoil (i.e. 100 mph incoherent speech I was giving Mama Ticket about dress sizes) the David's Bridal employees kindly offered to let me exchange my dress again but this time for a smaller size. Seriously these guys are absolute life savers. <3 You David's Bridal!!!

Now to figure out what size to order... We started out with a 16W which I was told is the equivalent of an 18 regular (which they don't actually sell). So given the rate at which I was losing weight we anticipated I would need to get a dress around a size 12 (that's 3 sizes smaller) and the dress could be altered smaller or larger safely.

May I now tell you how deeply stressed this decision made me. I had only just started my weight loss journey and already we were banking on me losing 30-40 pounds to fit into this dress!? I was scared. Scared that my beautiful dress wasn't going to fit. But we went ahead and placed the order and waited (you guessed it) another 4-5 weeks till the size 12 came in. We knew it wouldn't fit yet since I still had a little over 5 months to continue losing weight. And so I decided to wait until after I had finished my first month of Boot Camp (totally inspired by Mrs. Penguin) before I would try on my dress.

Did you have a surprise weight loss throughout your wedding planning journey? How did it affect your wedding dress situation?

The Arrival

In case you missed The First Reveal...

When I got the call that my dress had arrived (2 months early) I was so excited I couldn't wait to go pick it up. When I got to the store they handed me the dress in a bag and sent me to try it on. I was finally going to get to see MY dress in white. As I carefully removed the dress from the bag I could feel tears welling up in my eyes and I fought to hold them back. I hated it! I did NOT like this dress in white. It had lost all of its vintage appeal and it did not look good on me. I stepped out of the dressing room fighting back tears and Mama Ticket excitedly exclaimed, "It's beautiful!". The seamstress noted that I appeared to fit fine in the dress and needed nothing altered and with that I stepped back into the dressing room and changed.

As we were walking out of the store with my dress I lost it. I had tried so hard to hold it in but the tears were starting to fall and Mama Ticket became very alarmed and desperately asked what was wrong. I informed her how much I disliked the dress in white and that it didn't feel like the same dress at all, but that we had already bought it and it was too late to change it so I was just going to go cool off for a while and hope I changed my mind.

Mama Ticket being the fantastical woman that she is decided not to give up so easily. She called back David's Bridal and asked if it were possible to dye the dress ivory (gotta love Mama Ticket willing to do just about anything to keep me happy), they informed her that it wasn't likely to turn out well but that they could simply exchange the dress for the ivory version of it. HOORAY! Excitement reigned free again. I was elated to find that I was getting the dress I had fallen in love with after all.

Moral of the story: Pick the dress you love for you. Don't pick a dress for someone else no matter how good your intentions it will not end well.

Mama Ticket felt horrible once she realized I had only picked a white dress for her, she didn't realize how pressured I had felt to pick something that she really wanted me to have. She assured me that the dress I picked was perfect for me and she was happy because I was happy. I love you Mama Ticket.

Did you make your dress purchase based on someone else's desires? Did you ever come to regret the decision or did you grow to love the dress?

The First Reveal

In case you missed confessions...

The final dress for my appointment was a tea length dress. Which really wasn't something I pictured myself in, I had always wanted a floor length white dress. But it was pretty and I hadn't loved anything else I had tried on so I figured I would give it a shot.

I loved it! The look on my face made that quite clear, it was by far my favorite of ALL the dresses I had tried on that day. It was comfortable and light, it had a vintage appeal to it, I just loved it. As I was reveling in the glory of it's prettiness I could hear Mama Ticket comment, "Well it's a very pretty dress just not for a wedding." Sorry Mama Ticket... hate to disappoint but this was it. This was the dress I was going home with. She quickly tried to hop on board once she saw how much I loved it and she supported my decision to buy it. In an effort to appease Mama Ticket I ordered the dress in white, I figured if I was getting a short dress which I knew she was unhappy with the least I could do was wear white (which she had been absolutely adamant about). And with that we were off.

I'm sure you've guessed by now that isn't the end of the dress story.

*All Personal Photos Courtesy BM CJ

Do you have a dress story you have mixed feelings about sharing?

Confessions

So I've actually be avoiding telling you all about my wedding dress for a while now. Don't get me wrong I'm absolutely in LOVE with my dress (as we speak it's hanging in my closet and it tortures me that I have to wait 2 months to wear it). But the story leading up to my dress is what I'm not to keen on sharing (it's a little embarrassing). I sort of wish I could just sweep it under the rug and just show you my current dress. However I think the whole point of sharing with you bee's is to be honest and share all the ups and downs of wedding planning. So with that in mind let's start from the beginning. But first...

 (Personal Photo)

Mr. Ticket and I got engaged on November 14, 2010. I waited about a month before making an appointment to go dress shopping and that appointment was for late January 2011 (I felt this was more than enough time to get a dress and yet people kept asking me why I was waiting SO long to go dress shopping). The appointment was with David's Bridal and it was during their big dress sale event (which honestly feels like it lasts all year long to me but maybe I'm just crazy). I was in no rush to go dress shopping.

That was because I weighed roughly 205 pounds at 5'7" and I knew I would be wearing a plus size wedding gown. Now don't get me wrong, I do not think there is ANYTHING wrong with plus size gowns! But I knew they would be more expensive and a few of the dresses I had been eyeing online didn't come in plus sizes. So while I wanted to go dress shopping, I was a bit nervous. At the time I hated clothes shopping in general and I had for years. I was uncomfortable in my own body and I never enjoyed trying things on that didn't fit (which was pretty often for me as plus sizes were generally too big and normal sizes were too small).

With all that in mind I picked out a few dresses I figured I could try on in the store and went in for my appointment with my posse (Mama Ticket, Sister Ticket, Flower Baby, Bridesmaid CJ, Usher H and Aunt Ticket). I tried to go in with an open mind, I agreed to try on dresses as the sales associates brought them to me with suggestions and helpful hints. I tried on... well why don't I just show you.

Very first dress I tried on, I actually thought it was very pretty but upon wearing the dress for approximately 60 seconds, I found that the shoulder straps were giving me a rash... not cool. Off with this dress!

Second dress, still pretty but not quite what I was looking for. Wasn't really digging the chiffon. Off with the dress!

Third dress didn't have a train which I really liked, and while I was going for simple it seemed just a touch too plain for my taste and so... Off with the dress!

It is only out of deep love for you bees that I even dare to post this picture for the whole wide internet world to see. I felt wildly uncomfortable in dress number 4, it was simply not the style for me. OFF with the dress!

I loved dress number 5 on the hanger but found it did absolutely nothing for my figure while I wore it. So sadly... off with the dress.

Dress 6 is obviously VERY different from the rest I tried on. In fact this was the dress that I had always dreamed of wearing when I was younger, a big froofy princess dress. So I vowed to at least try it on despite the fact that I was pretty darn sure I wouldn't end up with it. In the end I'm really glad I at least got it out of my system. Definite no on the froofy dress for me! Off with the dress!

Dress number 7 was a different story entirely. I knew from the hanger that I did not like the dress but tried it on anyways (I hated the beige embroidery). Before I even got to see myself in the dress I heard gasps of oohs and ahhhs from my posse. They LOVED it (Sister Ticket was sprouting tears). When I finally stepped outside and saw myself in the mirror I concluded much the same that I had from the hanger. I did not like it. While I admit the shape was quite flattering for me I really didn't like the color of the embroidery. I asked if they had any other similar dresses in all white but they did not. Here's a picture of the dress from the back.

I seriously contemplated getting this dress from the sheer response of my posse. They loved it so much, I was torn. Maybe I just wasn't a wedding dress kind of girl? What if this was the best I would find? Off with the dress?

By the end of the appointment I felt like I had tried on every dress in the store (I had no idea trying on dresses would be so tiring!) Something deep down insisted I at least try on one more dress, I could always come back to number 6 later. So I decided to try on one I had seen online and really liked, even though it had one major difference from all the rest...

Did you find yourself trying on all sorts of dresses without finding anything you liked? Did you get discouraged?

In case you hadn't noticed throughout this post I've been in the mood to watch Alice in Wonderland.

Video via Youtube / Posted by Lucassssssss7BACKUP / From the movie Alice in Wonderland

*All Personal Pictures

Growing Up

Today I'm going to share with you something that's a little difficult for me to admit. But I think it's time to put it out there.

I don't handle change well. I never have. As a kid the smallest of changes would send my world spiraling. Something as simple as my parents replacing the dining room table was known to bring me to tears (ridiculous I know). But with this in mind I have to admit that while I'm no longer crying over furniture, I still find change difficult. Particularly BIG change. Like an upcoming marriage and moving out of my parents house. That's like monumental change in my book.

Now don't get me wrong, I absolutely can't wait to become Mrs. Ticket. I am so in love with Mr. Ticket that I would move to the moon with him if he asked me. But that doesn't make the change any less real and while my bride brain is often in happy/giddy fiancee mode or crazy busy planning mode, occasionally that little voice of nervous energy pops up in the back of my mind.

Before Mr. Ticket moved to California I had the nervous energy. I was BEYOND excited that he was moving to be closer to me, but that scared little girl inside of me that has issues with change just wouldn't let me be. In the weeks leading up to Mr. Ticket's move I felt incredible guilt over his moving, I feared he would come to resent me for having to move, I even feared that he would grow tired of me and want to move back to Pittsburgh (a little crazy but it's incredible what that fear of change can do to my normally rational brain). I was so nervous getting on a plane to Pittsburgh to help him move you would have thought it was ME moving! Then low and behold, as soon as he arrived all nerves vanished. I was in a perfect state of bliss. The change had been good after all! Not just good, but fantastic! All that worry and fear for nothing.

So this is pretty much where I'm at right now. No fears of marrying Mr. Ticket I assure you (though I have some lingering concerns of whether or not I'll be a good wife). But I can feel that little nervous energy welling up inside me. Particularly when I think about packing up my bedroom and moving out. Especially when I realize I have roughly 2 months to pack up the last 13 years of my life (the number of years I've lived in my current house) and figure out how to fit it into our new little apartment (fingers crossed we sent in our application yesterday) all while continuing to plan the wedding and dealing about a million other things that just keep piling up. While most of me is genuinely excited for this change and totally ready to start this new chapter of my life, that nervous little ball of energy has been weighing down hard on me this week. Here's to hoping the memories of my last big change will calm my fears and allow me to fully enjoy this wonderful time in my life. Because truly I don't think I've ever been this happy before, and I don't want anything to damper it. Not even my own issues with change.

Do you have issues with change or did you welcome change with open arms? Any suggestions on how to deal with my little issue?