Getting there

I have something that looks like a dress. A few minor details are yet to be done - like some of the hemming at the bottom, but if, for some reason, I suddenly needed it done by tomorrow, I wouldn't even have to lose any sleep over it, I'd be comfortably finished by bedtime. With 40 days to go. That's pretty shocking, you know, being me. I AM the Queen of Procrastination. Ah, well. I'm sure I'll be back on form again soon enough.

Pigs will fly

Hold on to your hats, gentlemen (and ladies): I have actually started cutting the material for the dress.

I went round to Linda's today and borrowed her floor (you can't stretch 7 meters of silk on a square foot of floor, after all, and a square foot is pretty much all I have clear at home at the moment due to packing crates all over the place). So now all the "visible" material is cut - I still need to cut lining and such, but I don't need such a lot of floor space for that (I don't need to be quite so stingy with the material, for one, so I don't need to lay all the pattern pieces out at once, I can do them one at a time).

Looking forward to starting the "putting it all together" bit, but doubt I'll have time before the 10th (which is when the movers come to pick up the main bulk of our stuff) - must remember to keep the sewing machine out of storage.

Sigh

What is it with women and shoes? I normally don't fawn much over them myself, but sometimes I get these attacks. Like when I found this picture just now:

I nearly melted with desire. I mean, I literally flopped on the chair (and I'm not fond of pink and flowery, as a rule). I don't actually want them, either - viz. I don't want them to wear, certainly not on my wedding day. I do want to own them though. Perhaps I could get them framed? At USD 315, I think perhaps not.

*Sigh*

Now, if I could find something like this:

at a reasonable price (NOT at suggested retail price of USD 180...) and in my size, I'd be very happy. Happier than if I could own the ones above. I think.

Is it just me?

Practically all wedding gowns I look at in magazines and on the net are just horrendously awful. Actually, I know it's not just me, because Linda agrees, but perhaps it's just us? People on various wedding forums keep saying "Look here, I found my dream gown!" and I click the link and think "I wouldn't be seen dead in that!" or "Cripes!" or "Urgh!"

For example: This dress, which looks a bit like the top skirt got stuck in the escalator and was torn off, or perhaps the designer just ran out of material? (Not to mention it being strapless, which I simply don't like. But strapless is all the rage.)

Another thing which is frightfully 'in' is this sort of wrap-around-style, like this or this or any variation thereof. Awful, is what I think.

So it is just me, then?

Well, it doesn't much matter. I'll get exactly what I want by doing it myself, and what the rest of the world wears matters not one iota to me. I'm just a bit - well - bemused. But that's nothing new.

Dressing him up

We bought Martin a morning suit today. Now all he needs is the top hat and a new pair of socks, and he'll be all set...

I found it quite amusing that when it came to chosing the waistcoat the saleslady addressed herself exclusively to me, even after I'd pointed out that it was really up to him to chose. She actually managed to get the sentence "Så snart mor nå får valgt et stoff til vesten..." ("As soon as mother choses the material for the waistcoat..." - does one even use "mother" in this context in English, i.e. referring to the female in the relationship? It's not entirely uncommon in Norwegian, though I find it very odd myself) out of her mouth, at which point I nearly cracked (up), but instead repeated "Well, he's just said he wants it to be gray," and we somehow got on from there.

Another thing I've been finding quite amusing is the reactions I've had when asking in various wedding forums for tips on where to get a good deal on a morning suit. The general opinion has been "But why would you buy it? When is he ever going to wear it again?" This from women who have all paid upwards of 8000 nok for a wedding gown. I tend to ask when they expect to use their gown again. I mean, there's surely more chance of Martin needing a morning suit at some point - we could decide we wanted to experience Ascot, after all - than me needing to wear a white gown with train again. Even if you're the pessimistic sort, expecting the marriage to break up, surely you wouldn't wear the same gown to wedding number two? (Hence my plan to alter and colour mine - that amount of silk shouldn't go to waste or be stuck in a closet - it deserves to be worn.)

Anyhoo, the studio had a sale on, so we got the whole shebang for about the same price as we'd had quoted for just the coat the other places we've checked, which has to be a Good Thing. His outfit is still going to be at least twice the price of mine, though...

And how did he look, you say? Well, dashing, of course (but then he always does).

London

So, I think I have all the fabric I need for the dress now. Soho Silks certainly yielded some lovely devoree velvet, now all I need to do is figure out exactly how to incorporate it in the design... Oh, and I need to find a way to colour my lining fabric, as it's all white cotton and it needs to be ivory in case some of it shows... Easy-peasy, I'm sure... Uh-oh. Well, I'll figure it out.

In other news, our guest list is getting close to completion, I think. I had a sudden flash of "oh, dear, we've forgotten..." the other week, but I think we've remembered practically everyone now. Good thing too, as I need to start planning for the Christmas card cum Save the Dates. I'm kind of planning on making my own paper, I just need to find the time (not to mention dig out the book press from the basement to squeeze the water out). And I need to find a webshop that sells paper cord, or find an alternative. Don't worry, I've got it all in hand. I think.

Feeling like a princess yet?

I went to try a few gowns Saturday. No, I haven't changed my mind about sewing the gown myself, but you know, trying wedding gowns is fun and you can only really do it when you're planning to get married (I don't have a problem supressing the fact that I have no intention of buying a gown, but I would have a problem conjuring up a fiance and wedding date if there were no such things in excistence - I'm a middling-to-bad liar and that would be quite beyond me....), and I was also rather keen to try a gown in the general shape I'm planning on to confirm that it looked ok on me before I started cutting any of the precious material.

Seeing yourself in a wedding gown is weird. If you've never tried, trust me, it's weird with a capital W. Weird in a good way though (it got those butterflies going, anyway) - you start to believe that this is really happening on a whole other level than you've ever believed it before.

Anyway, the gowns were great (though none of them were perfect, which is just as well, really, or I might have been tempted to order one after all) and as I'd just been down the road and ordered a pattern for that general shape from the sewing shop, that suited me fine.

So that's: pattern for wedding gown - tick. One less thing to shop for.

After the bridal studio we (I was dragging Linda S along, which I forgot to mention) went to the shop around the block which sells expensive but very nice lingerie. So: corsetty-type-thing - tick and stockings - tick, and so far the underwear has cost more than the material for the gown... But I've been wanting to buy a proper corset for years and decided this was a good excuse - it has more of a reuse-value than a standard wedding gown, after all.

Now to actually get the ordered pattern (some time around the weekend) and to figure out how much extra material I need to get when I go shopping in Soho in September (I'm wanting "contrasting" material for the design I'm picturing).

Shoes

I know I have a whole year and a bit to search for shoes, but this is possibly the only detail that's worrying me ever so slightly.

a) I need flat shoes, certainly for the reception (and I'd prefer not to have to get two pairs of ivory-coloured shoes, they're not exactly the most versatile sort)

b) My feet are big - as in one or two sizes (depending on sizing and shape) over the standard maximum size for women's shoes. This is a problem.

c) I tend to get blisters from new shoes - something like 90% of the pairs I've ever had have given me blisters to start with.

The ideal thing, really, would be some sort of "ballet slipper" style. These are kind of cool - though I'm not sure I wouldn't prefer something more neutral - and they're too small in any case. If anyone knows of a place where I could get something in that general shape that might fit me without having to pay thousands of kroner, I'd be very grateful.