Dressing the Ladies

I’m feeling very relieved this week as the bridesmaids have decided on their dresses!

As I find it difficult enough selecting my own clothes (let alone a wedding dress!) I thought it would be good to let the girls select their own dress. I still think this is  great decision as although I'm buying them, they have to wear, but the mistake I made was not asking one of them to take charge of the process.

I did have one request & that was to try & work in with our soft, earthy, casual feel. My preference would be to avoid harsh bold colours in thick shiny fabrics like taffetas & opt for something softer that was more fun & comfortable vs severe & formal.   

 

The problem was the process was too drawn out. No one wanted to step on anyone’s toes, everyone was so polite, yet could not agree, all this meant that no decisions were made for a long time & decisions that were made were second guessed & changed, which frustrated everyone. What I believed to be a thoughtful & generous approach (as I hadn’t wanted to be “that Bride” that picked the dress they hated!) had somehow been misconstrued as lazy & shirking my wedding planning responsibility.

So some quick & final decisions were in order, we picked a dress that I think everyone seems to like and we have compromised on the colour and gone with a pastel pink. I did love the yellow but pink is fine. We have ordered matching wraps, just in case it’s gets colder in the evening.

The Dress (in pastel pink)

 

I had already purchased the shoes and clutches and I found the earring & hair clips last weekend. The Disney bracelet is a little surprise I got for everyone last year when we were planning to have a larger Disneyland wedding.

the final outfit for the ladies ....

Bridal Party Newsletters

With so much happening and our bridal party spread far & wide, I am writing up a newsletter to keep everyone included & in the loop on plans & deadlines.

 

 We wanted to include the kids as well so we have made them up their own special newsletter, with information only on things that involve them & what will happen on our wedding day, plus games & puzzles.

 

Disney Newsletter Edition 1

The first edition of our Disney newsletter went out today!

It’s jam packed with not only cruise & wedding details but also lots on the trip in general and the week in WDW.

 

I have been including a travel essential in each mail out so that by the time we depart everyone has a cute little collection of travel essentials to take with them.

The first essential went out with the invitation (we skipped the Save the Date as we were still undecided on location at that time) was the latest edition of the Disney Cruise line guide, this time I am including my DIY luggage tags !!

 

Fish Extenders ~ Part 1

Time is getting away from me and with still so much to do I need to get one of the big projects underway, Fish Extenders!!

For those who haven’t heard of this before, several online Disney Forums run a meet up & fish extender exchange on their cruise.

What the heck is a fish extender (FE) and what is a fish extender exchange (FEE) I hear you ask?

It’s a “secret Santa” concept, a gift exchange that occurs during your cruise. The idea behind it is to spread & share magic with your fellow forum members. It’s called a “Fish Extender” because outside of every stateroom there is a fish mounted to the wall with your cabin number. It was put there by Disney as a way to deliver notes & messages to you without entering your room. Now people have taken to use it as a hook & hang their “Fish Extenders” from it.

First thing first… where does one get a Fish Extenders? As we need one per room so I am going to need approx. 8 … Answer is you make them! Now my sewing skills are ok but this is a big project so I am calling in help from my mum & one of her friends.

As this is going to be the second travel gift that is sent with newsletter #2 at this point it’s still a surprise, so everyone won’t have an opportunity for input into their decorations. With that in mind I definitely want to decorate each to reflect their trip & personalities and not make it about the wedding.

I was hoping to do little embroidery pattern on each pocket but I won’t have time, instead I am going with iron on designs & embellishments.

For this project I am going to need:

*8 x pieces of doweling

* Backing material for backing

* Lots of colourful material for the pockets

* The iron on images & embellishments.

* 8 cable ties (for the cruise to secure the FE from the fish) 

This is going to take a while; we have finished the sewing of the first one, now to add the embellishments