Our Rainy-Day Wedding: Getting Ready

When I left you last, our rehearsal dinner guests were heading out the door.  But the night wasn't quite over yet!  The Dude and I decided not to spend the night apart, so we curled up in bed and got excited for tomorrow:  our wedding day.  But first, we decided to do a practice run of our first dance--we had literally done nothing up to this point besides pick out a song.  So with "our song" playing quietly out of the Dude's computer, we practiced our dance on the carpet of our bedroom.  It didn't go so well (the tempo was a bit slower than we realized), and I started to get nervous for the next day--but the Dude assured me it would be OK, so we decided to just go with it. 

Here we are the next morning, before I headed off for my appointment at the salon. The Dude is playing with a Transformer he received as a wedding gift!

When I arrived, Lauren was almost finished with my mom's hair and make-up.  My mom was worried her eyes were too dramatic, but I reassured her that she looked great.

It was my turn to go next.  Here's the requisite Blackberry shot.

My make-up was starting to come together while the hot rollers cooled.  (Please excuse the toilet tissue!)  This time, Lauren used a different eyeshadow on me--MAC's Amber Lights.  I loved it so much that I went out an bought it after the honeymoon.

At this point in the day, I was starting to worry about my dress.  I had tried it on (with MOH Deniz's help) that morning (or maybe it was the night before--it's kind of a blur to me now!), and the last-minute alterations were perfect.  But I was still a little worried about the dress staying put all night.  My mom and Deniz offered to head out and find some fashion tape, while I finished getting ready.

After my hair and make-up were done, I played paparazzi with everyone else who was still in the salon.

I caught bridesmaid Kelli putting on mascara.

And flower girl Christina getting her hair done while her nails dried.

Pretty soon, I was done, my mom and my MOH were back, and it was time to head home to put on my dress and shoes.  I made sure that MOH Deniz got some shots of the dress first.  (Unfortunately, you can see the lining in the bodice that was inserted last-minute by my alterations lady.  Maybe it can be fixed with Photoshop?)

While we waited for my mom to arrive, I put on my jewelry . . .

.

. . . and slipped into my shoes.

 As soon as my mom got to the house, she helped me tie the pearl belt that came with my dress.

Then she handed me the ring that belonged to my great grandmother:  my "something borrowed."

With that, I was ready to head out the door and drive myself to my wedding!  (Although MOH Deniz is an incredibly talented human being, driving is unfortunately not in her repertoire. ;))  She did ride with me and keep me entertained, however.  We jammed some MIA, while she filmed my excited rambles--for some reason I like to spout off "fun facts" whenever there is a camera on me.  Nervous habit, I guess?

In retrospect, the morning was pretty chaotic.  I wish all of my bridesmaids had been with me as I got ready.  It also would have been nice to relax with some champagne, but I had so much nervous energy that I didn't want anything to drink! I also regret not getting any photos of the guys getting ready.  I sent the Dude off with a Flip video camera, so I might try include some footage of the guys getting dressed in the next post.

Despite the chaos, at the moment all I cared about was that I was a bride!

All photos in this post by MOH Deniz.

Previously, on Our Rainy-Day Wedding:

The Rehearsal

Bridal Party Gifts