I Got My Dream Dress (Sort of)!

I haven't written the post about how amazing my MOH is, but it's coming...

Umm-- behind my back, he had the re-creation of my Marchesa dress made!!!!

(source)

I was still on the hunt for my reception dress, but the search ended when I flew down to LA to hang out while Mr. Barrettes had his bachelor weekend in Tahoe. I walked into the guest room and my beauty was hanging on the closet door!

It fit me like a glove and needed no alteration. When I walk, the full skirt totally floats and flutters around me-- I love it! My wedding dress dreams totally came true. Mom's dress is altered so well for the ceremony, and my reception dress is perfect for barrel-room boogie-ing! Happy wife, happy life!

Do you love your reception dress as much as your ceremony dress?

Wine Box Card Box?

While we were doing a tasting (with our photographer--fun!) I spotted wine boxes for sale. Instantly, my brain went into DIY mode and I thought of our non-existent card box. This could do the trick!

Mr. Barrettes said he could cut a hole in the "top" of the box and screw it shut so the panel didn't slide open. He'd also have to put some sort of bracket on the bottom so it could stand upright safely.

 I like it laying down with the panel sliding towards me, but the cards would either have to go in the "back" of it, or be bent/pushed through a slot on top to lay flat. You feel me?

Which way would you prefer to see it presented if you were giving me a card?

A Walk-Through of Our Wedding at V. Sattui

OMG, I thought I was in love with our venue before--- now I'm head over feet! We are in Napa, meeting with our vendors and making sure all of our details are buttoned up. Today we met with our Day-of-Coordinator, chose our wines for the cocktail hour and reception, and finalized our catering menu. V. Sattui rocks my world!

We saw V. Sattui Winery from the road and my heart started racing!!!

We met with our DOC and went through every possible detail of the big day. I love that we are all on the same page and that she is providing all the major players with timelines. Organization is something that I will not have to worry about. Priceless.

Hi! I'm a ham-- have had this fountain as my desktop wallpaper for months. The weather was beautiful and I'm living for how beautiful this day is!

Ok, so we walked through the 'plan'-- the fountain will be the staging area for the wedding party once the guests and groom are in place. Guests will enter from either staircase leading to the courtyard.

I will enter from one of the rooms on the top floor. I will walk around that upper level, down to the fountain, and down the stairs to my dad. He will walk me down the remaining level, down the main aisle, to the groom.

The string trio will be on the mezzanine, just above where the guests are seated. I love this detail. They were the last minute addition to our ceremony and I'm obsessed with them.

...and we marry here. I needed just to stand here together to feel it out... it's perfect :)

♥

This is the VIP tasting room, where we will be having our cocktail hour, immediately following the ceremony. Three wines we chose will be available, as well as cheese and fruit. It's rather large and is perfect for mingling before entering the barrel room.

Omigod. I die. Walking into the barrel room is awesome. So much larger than the last time we were here. They had done a small renovation on the room and it totally opens up the space.

Our sweetheart table will be against the left wall, facing out towards our 12ish round tables.

Dancing will take place in between the lit beams. The DJ will be set up to the left, near the dining tables, and the cake will be set up to the right. The signage and posters will be removed.

The courtyard will be broken down from the ceremony and will hold small bistro tables for guests to congregate outside. We will also have a cool 'photobooth' stand that Mr. Barrettes is constructing for me. (Post on that at a later date!) The rest of the grounds are also open for our guests, but we imagine everyone will stay around the party.

V. Sattui is more than a dream come true and we can't wait to see it through the rose-colored glasses of our wedding day! Taking a walk-through with our coordinator was perfect, and gave us a good idea of how the day is going to proceed. We even hashed out our 'getaway' details and I can't wait until you see the final trick we have up our sleeve!

Did you do a walk-through of your wedding timeline? Did it help ease your nerves for the big day?

Tear-Jerker Shower Gift

 In my last post I wrote that my new SIL gifted me with a really sweet gift that made me laugh and cry. She was gifted a similar basket at her bridal shower and was thoughtful enough to share it with me.

It is a basket of different colored candles, with a poem instructing the bride-to-be when to burn them throughout her married life.

I held it together until I read about burning the red candles to celebrate promotions. Mr. Barrettes works so hard and I appreciate all the time and effort he puts into his career and our future. Followed by burning the purple ones on the birth of our baby?! Ugly-face tears, I tell you!!!

See! Not cute! But I'm sharing with you ladies because I want to to know what I'm dealing with here! The frequency with which I've been crying is directly related to the amount of time we have left until our wedding. All these emotions! I'm usually more composed! Not quite sure how I'm going to react on the actual day. Waterproof mascara will be my friend.

Did you receive a tear-jerker shower gift?

New York Bridal Shower

This weekend was my bridal shower in the Big Apple! Our friends and family (some of whom cannot attend the wedding) in the New York area gathered to shower me with love and smiles.

We started with a wine tasting downtown, followed by dinner and games at Giorgio's of Gramercy. I'll let the photos tell the story!

We hopped on the subway to the WTC site, where we hoofed it the rest of the way to California Wine Merchant for our tasting.

Yours truly ain't no fool. I know better--I switched into my heels right at the front door.

My two cousins, who are bridesmaids, met us there and we all tried about 4 different wines before it was time to head back uptown to dinner.

I said goodbye to Mr. Barrettes at the tasting and he headed off into the city with my uncle for the evening. The shower was for ladies and gay men only!

I hopped in a car with my Mom and Aunties and we all made it uptown.

Once we were seated, Bridesmaid Melissa gave instructions for our 'icebreaker' introduction and adorned  the bridal party with sashes. John loves his bright pink "Maid of Honor" sash!

Our lovely family of ladies!

Seriously, the food KEPT coming. Each platter bigger and better than the last.

After I was embarrassed by everyone's "favorite" memory of me, it was time to open gifts!

My last gift was from my newly minted Sister-in-law, and it started the waterworks. I will do a separate post on it because it's such a great idea to share!

I laughed...

...then I cried.

I was also gifted my attire for the wedding rehearsal.

So happy to be reunited with my cousins after too many years! They are both recently married and would like me to be first with the 'baby-thing'.

How could I forget this one-- our party was split into 3 teams and had to dress my 3 attendants in toilet paper, while I picked the winner. Loved it.

At the end of the evening, Mr. Barrettes came back to say hello, and to meet some of my family members who are unable to attend our wedding.

He was digging my "Bride-to-be" sash. Can you even believe it matched so perfectly with my dress? Not planned!

We took a few more photos, I threw my ribbon bouquet (which Mom caught), and waved goodbye...

...jumped into cabs, and drove off into the New York night.

Making Mom's Dress Mine: Third Fitting

Yes, you read that right, it was the third fitting. You didn't miss much for the second fitting-- just lengthening the hem.

But I just have to preface this by saying, I almost fainted. Literally. I'm not quite sure what happened but I had been standing there, still as a mannequin for my seamstress, for about 8-10 minutes. I started to feel weird so I just took some deep breaths, and about 30 seconds later I felt sweat break out on my forehead. I didn't want to bother her so I tried to ignore it and pull myself together. Then the stars came. If I didn't speak up, I was going to end up on the floor!

"Omigod, Halina, I have to sit down, I think I'm going to pass out", I practically whispered.

"Hold on, hold on, just one more pin!" She finished that pin, zipped me out and I melted on to her sofa in my underwear.

And then it passed. Just like that. I quickly dressed myself and apologized. She said that it was no big deal, she had a girl fall on top of her one time. She blamed it on nerves, hormones, maybe not eating. But I assured her that I had just eaten breakfast so it wasn't that. I do feel like I'm going to get my "friend" in a few days, so maybe it had something to do with the bloodflow to my brain. I don't know, but I didn't like it!

Remember on SATC when Carrie breaks out in hives while trying on pouffy wedding dresses? Was I having a reaction?

Anyway, the dress is looking great. About a week away from completion. Here is the half-finished neckline:

Obviously the right side is more complete. She wanted to check the cleavage on me before she really got into that. The lace will be symmetrical on both sides. Let me pan away a little so you can see my wonky face...

I can't even eek out a real smile. I'm trying to hard to not pass out. "I'm fine! Really!" Not.

The back isn't too different from when you last saw it, except she secured the lace to the back. The other side will look the same. 

See that weird bunching in the back? That's going to be fixed. The dress was an A-line, but I wanted it to be more fitted so she took the sides in, which caused the bunching.

Hopefully I will have a finished dress next week to show you! I'll do my best to eat a bigger breakfast and remember some bright lipstick!

Forgot what it looked like before? Click here.

D.I.Y Personalized Wine Charms? Check!

We finally finished our wine charm project! In part, thanks to the postponement of the Men's Tennis Final. I can't craft and pay attention to tennis at the same time. Also in part to Baby Barrettes-- look how helpful he tried to be!

Thank you to those of you who gave me suggestions for writing on the ribbon. In the end, the tag ended up being the best solution for us. Amanda shared this link with me and I thought, "Huh, why didn't I think of that in the first place?" I had already tied the bows so I didn't want to start from scratch, but an idea worth sharing!

So I did a wine charm for the ladies:

And a charm for the men:

I ended up printing the name of the guest on thick textured cardstock from Michael's, punching a 1/8" hole in the corner and hanging it from a 5mm jump ring. I found the heart charms at Michael's also and thought they added that finishing touch.

I also enlisted Mr. Barrettes in singeing the ends of the bows so the satin didn't frey.

We love crafts!

As for bending the wire, I found this link quite helpful : DIY wine charm

Cute right?! We will be presenting these charms on the wedding favor (more about that soon), since I've heard that if you place it on the glass, the guests will likely think they can take the glass home.

My first DIY project? Success!