The Wedding, Part One

In Which We Systematically Destroy
Every Original Wedding Idea We Had

Becky and Dan, summer 2010, in the happy early days well before considering marriage.

So.  Dan and I got engaged last year.  See the ring?  Opals -- my birthstone.

We originally thought we'd have a fall wedding last year, but it didn't work out that way.  Circumstances, yada yada yada, and after a while it seemed like maybe we'd just be engaged forever.  Then in February everything just dropped into place and the wedding was a go.  I still wanted a fall wedding, but October of this year was a long way from February and we were tired of waiting.  Plus we really wanted to have a real family vacation to start off our new lives together, so we decided to get married at the beginning of the girls' spring break and then take a week's vacation with them.

Here we are a few days after we picked our wedding weekend.  Yeah it's not the most flattering picture of me, but see we're still happy?  :)

Our original plan was to get married in Baltimore and then go to Florida for vacation.  We thought we'd have a small ceremony at the Maryland Zoo.  Did you know that you can have an "animal ambassador" attend your zoo wedding?  Like.... a PENGUIN?

Zoo Penguin Wedding Photo by Sweet Pea Photography -- I am jealous!

How cool is that?  We decided that absolutely we were going to have a penguin at our zoo wedding!  Unfortunately, the zoo was doing renovations on the main wedding venue that would not be finished until May, and they were reluctant to schedule us an outdoor wedding at the end of March without the indoor venue as a backup.

So we sadly scrapped our plans for a zoo wedding and decided the heck with it, we would just get married while we were down in Florida.  On the beach!  At sunset!  Why not!

Now to find a dress.  I had plans for an informal white dress, something flowy, simple, a little bohemian.  I found several online that I considered ordering, but I needed to know my exact size, so Dan and I went to David's Bridal to get me fitted.  Of course they brought out a bunch of dresses they wanted me to try on.  And I did -- because it's kind of fun.  :)

Enh... not really what I had in mind...  Plus the dress lady kept sticking
veils on me even though I said I wasn't going to wear one.

WHEW this is tight.  Makes my back view look shapely though!

Liked the idea of a halter, just not this one.

The dress lady loved this birdcage veil which she said was so
retro and fashionable.  I did not. 

But then I put on THIS dress, that I grabbed off the clearance rack because I loved the fabric -- bright white shantung taffeta, crisp like cotton instead of shiny or floaty like everything else I had put on.  The dress lady zipped me into it.  It fit perfectly, straight off the rack, and I stared at myself and said, "Wow."  She later told me that I said "Wow" seven times, and she knew we had a winner.

I loved the idea of a colorful sash, as I had planned on adding some burst of color to whatever dress I was going to order off the internet.  I liked the blue sash a lot, but green is my favorite color so I asked to try the green one, even though it looked dull on the hanger.  And... It was good.

Look -- even with messy hair and no makeup, this dress made me feel gorgeous.

The shape, the fabric, the brightness, and, oh yes, the clearance price.  It was certainly not the informal, breezy dress I had planned on.  It was a big and poofy ball gown.  And I LOVED IT.

Stay tuned for the The Wedding, Part 2 -- In Which I Go All Martha Stewart On This Wedding's A--