Hot Mommas

Previously, on Miss Potion's Blog:

-Our wedding will be casual, but not tooooooo casual
-We're using a fall-themed color palette with accents of grey and silver
-I've got a dress, my bridesmaids have dresses...

 [Standard Mr-Potion-Don't-Click-That-Link Disclaimer applies]

...but two other very important women didn't have dresses- yet.

Part of our Week of Wedding Work involved taking both my mom and Mr. Potion's mom shopping for their dresses while Daddy Potion, Mr. Potion, and my sisters went to play at the lake.  (And got sunburned.  And considered pulling a prank on me to make me think my car had crashed into said lake.)

Before we went shopping, I had three basic requirements for their dresses:

-MOB in red, MOG in grey/silver
-knee- or cocktail-length dresses
-they should NOT look like your traditional MOB/MOG dresses 

The three of us hopped in Potion Mom's car and drove the two hours to Birmingham, the nearest big mall.  (Auburn has a mall, but it's kinda tiny.  Also, it's Auburn.)

First we went to Macy's.  Potion Mom found several options, but there weren't really any grey options for FMIL Potion.  Potion Mom only had to try on two dresses before we found a winner!  I didn't take a picture of Option #1 because it didn't quite fit her right, and we had planned to find a better size if Option #2 didn't work.  But she absolutely loved Option #2- and it's easy to see why!

*all images in this post are personal photos* 

That face is because she's mid-sentence in a discussion about hairstyles.  Also, I'm not hiding as well as I thought I was.

Doesn't she look hot??  The hem falls just below the knee, the ruffles bring a little bit of spice, and the cut narrows in her waist.  I wish I had recorded the little dance she was doing when she came out of the dressing room!  We're going to find her a pair of comfortable shoes with a slight heel so she can pose for pictures and dance all day.  Initially, I figured silver, like the bridesmaids, but this dress would look even hotter with a little black pump, methinks.  And since we were talking about hair when I snapped this picture, I'll go ahead and mention- my mom looks gorgeous with her hair down, like in this shot, so I'm thinking nice full curls pinned back from her face with some sort of jeweled comb or barrette to pump up the volume a little bit.  What do y'all think?

The only real option we found for FMIL Potion was pretty, but not a winner, so we moved on.  I thought it looked great on her though!

Flattering, but almost too formal compared to the MOB dress

So it was off to Belk!

We found a LOT of options at Belk, but we were all pretty picky.

Whoops, out of focus.

This dress had FMIL Potion dancing around but we still have several other dresses to try!

Cute cap sleeves!

We liked this dress, but again, it felt a liiiiittle too formal.  Maybe because of the shiny fabric?

not sure what was so funny here, LOL

I wasn't really a fan of this dress, even on the rack.  The color was a bit more lilac than silver, the vee was a little too deep, and I didn't understand the placement of the buttons.  Next!

We were considering moving on to another store, and FMIL Potion was changing back into the clothes she'd come in.  I was messing with some dresses just outside the dressing rooms- you know, the rack full of clothes that didn't fit people or that they just didn't like, waiting to be put back where they came from- when we found an adorable little grey dress.  Only, that was just the problem- it was little.  FMIL Potion was in love with it, though, and we were determined to find it in her size.  She set off, scouring the racks, and I found a sales consultant.  After complimenting me on my shoes, he told me that this particular dress was being marked down a second- perhaps third- time, and therefore there were few left.  He couldn't tell me exactly where to find it, only motioned vaguely in the direction labeled "dresses" where we were already searching every rack.  "Good luck" was the only advice he could offer.

Disappointed, I carried around the tiny dress, heading towards a cashier, with the hopes that she could scan it and let us know if the size we needed was even in stock.

And then we hit the jackpot.

FMIL Potion practically skipped up the aisle towards me, THE dress in her size in hand. 

"I found it!" she squealed, and we hurried back to the dressing room.

(In the meantime, I'd found another grey dress for her to try on.  Before I had a chance to put it back, Potion Mom snatched it from me and tried it on.  It looked gorgeous on her, so she actually walked away with TWO dresses on this shopping trip- double success!)

So here's the winning dress, Hive:

Winner!

The color is perfect, as is the length.  The ruffles give the dress fun movement, and the crochet waistband is not only slimming, but also brings the dress a step or two back from super-formal.  And most importantly, she felt gorgeous in it!

So what do y'all think, Hive?  Don't these mommas look hot??

What did your mom wear to your wedding?  Your groom's mom?

Picking Flowers

Heh, see what I did there?

No?  Too subtle?

Whatever.

So, flowers.  Flowers are representative of life, growth, and all other sorts of things that happen in a marriage, so of course they feature prominently in traditional wedding day decor.  For weddings in spring and summer, there are a gazillion [the technical term] varieties of flowers to choose from, and why wouldn't you want to bring some of that outdoor beauty inside to the party? 


During medieval times, weddings took place during the summer because that was typically when people took their annual bath and, well, since it was likely the first time the groom would be seeing the bride, she needed to freshen up a bit.  Carrying a bouquet of sweet-smelling flowers would further mask any unpleasant odors picked up during the time between Bath Day and Wedding Day.

However.

We're getting married in November, we've met each other before, and we both take showers every day.

Also, when you look at our priorities for the wedding day, flowers are...at the bottom.  Actually they're not really a priority at all.  To us, flowers seem like a huge waste of money in the Grand Scheme of Wedding Things.


Therefore, we're not having flowers at our wedding!

Err.

Okay I lost that battle.  Apparently it's not a wedding without flowers.  I care so very little about floral arrangements, however, that this doesn't faze me in the slightest, so we are having a minimal amount of flowers at our wedding.

Last week, Mr. Potion and I made the trek down to Alex City for a week of wedding stuff (wedding stuff which will be the subject of many a blog in the coming weeks!  Stay tuned!) and one thing we did was visit a florist.  She was currently prepping for another wedding, however, so we weren't able to have an actual consultation, but we did look at her sample books and talked things over with our moms.  Potion Mom is going back tomorrow for a consultation and hopefully will arrive at a solution to fit our needs.


What are our needs, exactly?


-7 bridesmaid bouquets comprised entirely of baby's breath
-1 small toss bouquet for the reception (don't care what kind of flowers, just something tiny and short-stemmed)
-2 identical arrangements for the sanctuary
-1 small bouquet of red roses to lay at the feet of the statue of Mary (more on that in a later post)



 Notice I didn't say anything about my bouquet...you'll have to stay tuned to find out about that!


I guess I haven't shown you where we're getting married, have I?  Well, here it is: St. John the Apostle Catholic Church in Alexander City.

{personal photo}

Don't worry- I'll be devoting a whole post to this cute little parish sometime soon!


See those two green ferns in that picture?  If it were up to me, I'd remove them and their pedestals completely, and let the decor of the church speak for itself.  However, it's traditional to decorate the church with flowers for the wedding and then leave those flowers as a gift to beautify the church after the wedding.  In this parish, different parishioners donate floral arrangements or plants for 2-week intervals, so our arrangements could be there for up to two weeks after the wedding day.


After talking it over, we've decided to use the pillars those ferns are sitting on, and the urns those ferns are sitting in, for two floral arrangements.  As far as what those arrangements look like...well, I'm going to leave that up to the professionals to decide.


At a time like this, I would normally turn to Mr. Potion and ask his opinion so we could go with that.


Unfortunately Mr. Potion has about as many opinions on the topic of flowers as I do; that is to say, none.


After putting our heads together and poring over the sample photos from the florist, we came up with the following criteria for our arrangements:


-Round.  We want the arrangements to be circular, globe-like...round.  I don't know what the proper term is here.  Basically I'm picturing a dome of flowers filling up the round urns with nothing dangling out of them or sticking up from them.  Compact and round.


-Green and orange.  Green and orange are our secondary colors, and we're looking for places to include them since red and purple are sort of stealing the show in bridesmaid dresses and bow ties.  Mr. Potion and I are no flower experts, so we're not sure what flowers are orange or green, or if these flowers are even in season.  We're thinking maybe green spider mums sprinkled throughout an arrangement consisting mainly of orange carnations, if that's possible/pretty.  We're really looking to the florist to help us decide here, but basically round flowers that come together in a round arrangement would give the effect we're looking for.


I trust that Potion Mom will be able to present our needs to the florist and determine the right solution :)  She's good at these things!


Are flowers important to you for your wedding day decor?  Are you an expert in flower arranging or a total n00b like us?  What flowers would you use in the arrangements I described above for a November wedding?

Just Not Meant to Be

Previously, on Miss Potion's Blog:

-My dress fits PERFECTLY, no alterations needed. [And if Mr. Potion clicks that link he is D-E-D dead.]
-We picked a fall-themed color palette
-My attendants will be wearing purple dresses, my honor attendant will be wearing red, and they'll all be wearing silver shoes of their choosing

Sometimes, when you're planning a wedding, an unpleasant truth becomes painfully obvious.  It's often hard for the parties involved to accept this truth.  I myself was in denial about it for weeks before I accepted that, well, sometimes things just aren't meant to be.  Some relationships are just doomed from the start.

I'm talking, of course, about my relationship with my dream wedding shoes.

I have some very specific criteria for wedding shoes:

-A low-ish heel (1" or less)
-Comfy enough to be worn all day long
-No exposed toe
-Some sort of strap to keep it on my foot  
-In (at least) one of our wedding colors (purple, red, green, or orange)
-SUPER CUTE
-$60 or less, if possible

Armed with these criteria, I hit the interwebs to look for shoes.

So, obviously, the first pair I absolutely fell in love with meets NONE of the requirements.  (Well, except for the SUPER CUTE.)

Latrice by Kate Spade // Screen Capture via Endless

Oh Latrice.  I was in love with her for a very long time before I finally came to terms with the fact that we just weren't meant to be.  First of all, the colors are slightly off- our green is more of a clover, not a lime, and I don't know if you can tell, but the heel is actually pink.  Clearly there is no strap of any kind, and the heel is too high.  If all that weren't enough...these ladies cost more than my dress :(  Even on sale, they're around $300.  My dress cost $299.  I could not live with myself if I spent more money on my shoes than on my dress, even if they are this gorgeous.  Moving on.

Wowie Zowie heel by Irregular Choice // image via ModCloth

These shoes meet NONE of the requirements.  BUT THEY'RE SO AWESOME.  My "something blue" will be a garter (as soon as I get around to making it...) and I really want my shoes to be in our wedding colors.  I'm still infatuated with these shoes, though I pretty quickly came to terms with the fact that these are not The Wedding Shoes.

Chipper by Fergie

These shoes are HOT.  But also way off the mark when it comes to the rules.  But hey, rules are made to be broken, amirite?  No, actually, I'm not right.  :(  Maybe for another occasion...

But then there was another option...These also broke a few rules, but compensated for that by being free.  (Well, already purchased, anyway.  Which means they don't count towards the wedding budget!)

Photo courtesy Emile Frey Photography

Remember these puppies?  I actually bought them for BM MrsL's wedding last fall.  That's right- they're dye-ables from The Devil - David's Bridal!  Insane, right?  Well, hey, even a broken clock is right twice a day...

I had a chance to try my dress back on recently, so I put on these shoes to see how they'd look.  Because I'm so short and my dress fits so perfectly- I mean PERFECTLY- these 3"-ish heels are simply too tall for that dress.  I tried on a lower heel, just for kicks, and even that didn't look right.

Oh, and before you ask- we forgot to take pictures when I tried it back on :(  But I promise you it looks just as gorgeous as the day I first saw it...and it's all clean and floofy now, too :)

So, Hive, it's been decided- I'm gonna have to wear flats.  :/

Not that you can't find cute flats.  But one of the few advantages to being so darn short is that I can wear really, really tall heels and still be shorter than Mr. Potion.  And those red shoes there?  They are actually super comfortable.  I could stand through a whole wedding, dance through a whole reception, and drive halfway to Disney in these shoes!

Buuuut I won't be.  I'll be in flats.  :/

So, it's time to start searching for cute flats that meet all the other requirements.  Any suggestions?

What shoes did you wear on your wedding day?  Would you prefer white shoes or colored shoes?  What are your requirements for The Wedding Shoes?