Love at The Ranch: Too Soon?

It's only been three months since our rustic, ranch affair, but I think I might be ready to say goodbye. No, not to you, Hive, and certainly not to Mr. Cowboy Boot, but to Julianna, my beloved, floating pool of ivory tulle. She originally came into my life in the Beverly Hills Saks Fifth Avenue and made me tingle, flit, and giggle like a school girl.

I love her and adore her, but alas, she hangs there so lonesome and without any future plans in sight. In fact, I don't really want to wear her again for fear of shaking off the significance of her debut.

It's hard to write this and face letting go of The Most Beautiful Dress I've Ever Owned. I feel like a little girl releasing her mother's hand on the first day of Kindergarten--the separation anxiety is tangible.

The reality is that my dress, by Christos, has been documented in the most meaningful way on my wedding day and nothing can change that. Not only has it been photographed with me in it as a blushing bride, but Mr. Cowboy Boot has painted me in it on a three-times life-size canvas which I promise to share with you upon its completion.

It would make me happy to see another bride have her own blissful day in this ballerina-like dress and I would also find some peace of mind to know that I'd be lessening the impact on the planet (even if it's just one dress). Not to mention my credit card will smile.

To be honest, I'm scared. I'm nervous to watch her float out of my grasp, like a balloon slipped from its string. But, I'm also scared of the financial debt she's incurred (even if it's minimal over a lifetime). I tripled my dress budget when I found her, agreeing to pay the extra myself, but I never did. I never had that extra cash flow.

So, hive, tell me: would you sell your dress to make up for a few grand or would you keep it for a sentimental twirl down the road?

Love at The Ranch: Bouts and Bouquets (Budget Breakdown)

Before I get on with the portraits Mr. CB and I took after our First Look, I thought I'd fill you in on my bouquet, my bridesmaids' bouquets, and the guys' boutonnieres. After the post on the guys getting ready, I had some requests for close-ups of the bouts and since my bouquet debuts during our portraits, I figured now was the best time for the first flower post!

My bouquet:

The bouts:

And, the bridesmaids' bouquets:

If you remember, I had very strong opinions about how I wanted my flowers to look. I wrote about inspiration here, here, here, and here. That said, I didn't have the biggest budget in the world for flowers. A total of $1000 to be exact. Compared to estimates for what I wanted, that wasn't very much and had to include a $200 travel fee from Denver as well.

The morning of the wedding, Erin Hornstein, owner of Plum Sage flowers, which specializes in organic flowers, showed up around 11 AM. She readied the flowers on the porch and since the temperatures outside were in the 40s and 50s, she had no worries about refrigeration to keep them fresh. The year before, Erin had gotten ready for her own wedding in the same cabin so there was something bittersweet about her preparing the flowers there.

Erin of Plum Sage, cutting raffia for the bridesmaids bouquets

Photo by Amanda Wilson

Originally, my bouquet was to have white dahlias mixed in but when I came outside to look at the flowers, I wasn't keen on them. Even though the dahlias were white, they were green toward the center (as it's hard to get a pure white flower) and I, personally, don't love the peach-and-green color combo. It took away from the romantic ruffles I was hoping for. So, with no hesitation, Erin agreed to take them out of my bouquet and put them into my bridesmaids' bouquets. In return, I stole their garden roses. Bridezilla, I know.

So, my bouquet ended up a concoction of peach juliet garden roses, peach stock, white ranunculus, chamomile, and dark green Israeli ruscus tips.

The bouts were a spin on Mrs. Cherry Pie's use of wheat sprigs, which I adored. The groomsmen got a mix of wheat and chamomile while the dads, grandfathers, uncles, etc, got simple wheat sprigs. The chamomile was a bit fragile and wilted sort of quickly from hugs and whatnot.

Photo by Erin Hornstein from Plum Sage

The bridesmaids bouquets were a reflection of mine but contained more white to compliment the girls' dresses. And, to save a few dollars, we used light peach carnations instead of garden roses. They have a similarly ruffly effect but are a quarter of the price. So, the girls' bouquets contained: light peach carnations, white lisianthus, white dahlias, butter stock, white ranunculus, and candor pompom mums.

Budget Breakdown (for bouquets and bouts):

• Bridal Bouquet (8-9", with garden roses, ranunculus, chamomile, stock, and Israeli ruscus tips): $110
• Groom and Groomsmen Bouts (with wheat sprigs, chamomile, and ribbon): $8 x 6 = $48
• Bouts for Grandfather/Dads/Uncle (wheat sprigs only): $7 x 4 = $28
• Bridesmaids' Bouquets (6-7", with carnations, lisianthus, dahlias, stock, ranunculus, and candor pompom mums): $33.80 x 5 = $169
• Total (with 7.72% tax): $382.41*

*Note: Because this is flower post part 1, I will finish the budget and include the travel fee ($200) into part two (which will include flower girl petals, centerpiece decor, and corsages).

My favorite flower photo (and a signature Tec photo):

How did we get here?

First, Mr. CB and I road-tripped it to Boulder, CO.

Then, I spent a peaceful morning with my bridesmaids and maids-of-honor.
Followed by a rowdy bachelorette party that night.
The next morning, two days before the wedding, we fought.
Then, we made up.

On Saturday, Mr. CB recuperated from his bachelor party while I hiked with friends.

Until evening, when we celebrated our rehearsal dinner.

Sunday Morning: The girls got ready.
And the guys got ready too.

Mr. CB and I had our First Look.

**All images above by the ridiculously talented and awesome Tec Petaja, unless otherwise noted. Head to his blog for some serious eye candy.**

Love at The Ranch: The Girls Get Ready

The day started off as golden as I wrote to all of you, with sunlight striping the pines in front of our cabin. I woke up around 8 am with Mr. CB beside me. I slipped out of bed, took a quick bath, and then pulled on my merino wool sweats and my "Soon to Be Mrs..." tank I'd received for my shower.

Luckily, my bridesmaids were in the cabin right next door so I didn't have far to go. The make-up artist, Liz from Bobbi Brown, and the hair stylist, Candace from Denver's Hot Head's Salon arrived at 9 am and started getting some of the girls going. I got to their cabin at 9:30 to find coffee and bagels waiting. I was ready to start the day.

My hair was set in curlers to give it body. While I waited for those curls to set, Liz did my make-up.

Meanwhile, my bridesmaids were all getting ready in one of the bedrooms in the cabin.

Somewhere in the mix, my maid-of-honor and I were mirror images of each other.

Photo by Amanda Wilson

After my make-up was finished, it was right back to Candace's chair to finish my hair. During my trial, we decided one side of my hair was too plain with the side bun so Candace added these two little braids to spice it up a bit.

The bridesmaid dresses all hung in the window next to mine.

The obligatory dress shot...

Finally, it was time to put her on.

And add the J. Crew belt I thought would make a good addition.

Bridesmaid AC helped me put my shoes on.

I wavered between the pearl studs and the long, pearl dangles.

With my dress, shoes, and accessories on. My hair and make-up done. I was finally feeling bridal.

And ready to head outside for our First Look...

How did we get here?

First, Mr. CB and I road-tripped it to Boulder, CO.

Then, I spent a peaceful morning with my bridesmaids and maids-of-honor.
Followed by a rowdy bachelorette party that night.
The next morning, two days before the wedding, we fought.
Then, we made up.

On Saturday, Mr. CB recuperated from his bachelor party while I hiked with friends.

Until evening, when we celebrated our rehearsal dinner.

**All images above by the ridiculously talented and awesome Tec Petaja, unless otherwise noted. Head to his blog for some serious eye candy.**

The Bridesmaids' Dresses That Were.

A while back, I gave my five bridesmaids the choice to buy any dress* they wanted. (*Stipulations included 1. picking from J. Crew's silk chiffon options in Light Shell or Deep Rose; 2. Choosing a custom Sarah Seven dress in a coordinating color; or 3. Finding a different dress altogether but getting my OK before buying it).

Two of the girls opted for J. Crew's Juliette dress in Deep Rose, below.

(source)

The other three decided to try out the custom route and order dresses from Sarah Seven. Luckily, Sarah is very generous and will give you discounts if you buy more than one dress. Her prices became fairly reasonable (~$200) and the girls placed their orders: 2 flock dresses (1 in peachy-pink and 1 in dusty rose) and 1 tulip dress (in peachy-pink). Measurements were made, payments were sent, and the wait began.

Sarah's dresses understandably take quite a bit of time to make. And with a very recent boom in her business, it didn't come as a surprise when it took, well, longer than expected (about two weeks longer, putting us about two weeks from the wedding. Eek!).

And, unlike Ms. Mouse who had a very good result arrive at her doorstep, my girls were, um, not as happy. The peachy-pink color came out very close to J. Crew's Light Shell, but the fit wasn't quite working. Bridesmaid Georgia models hers below--you can see how the fabric hung lower than the corset, showing BG's under garments.


In the next picture, you can see how the corset pushed away from her chest and sagged along the side.


Her dog, Bronco, seems to like it though! MOH A, modeling hers below (along with Jackson Puggle), liked hers a bit more ("with some alteration") but the color, which is supposed to be the same as J Crew's Deep Rose (at top) is quite a bit more coral-y.

I apologize for the tiny pic. iPhones don't make for great blogging photos.

At first, I got nervous. Sarah's site says no returns (no exceptions!) and I knew alterations would cost my girls an arm and a leg more. I immediately e-mailed Sarah and she responded quickly--readily offering a refund or even to pay for alterations(!).

I gave my bridesmaids their options and they all decided to return the Sarah Seven dresses and (quickly) order J. Crew dresses.

Which did they pick? We'll see! They get them this week. Fun surprises two weeks before the wedding.

How did your bridesmaid dress hunt go? Successfully or did it take a few tries?

Dear Bridesmaids: Here Are Your Dress Options

Hive, I've finally made a decision on bridesmaid dresses. Thank you for voting and giving me your opinions! They were so helpful. What I've come up with is a collaboration of all of my thoughts so far.

After filling you in on my idea to use various J. Crew dresses (thanks to their many color-coordinated dresses right now), I hoofed it over to the store. I was a little worried that some of the dresses would be too casual and, boy, was I right. They didn't have the dresses I was interested in there (regardless of the fact that some weren't b-maid dresses), but they had other items in the same fabric so I was able to nix anything that wasn't dressy enough. (And thanks to reader Slicey19 for telling me that linen wrinkles easily).

After my little research trip to J. Crew, I wrote an e-mail to my bridesmaids to present them with their options. I really wanted to make them adorable hand-written letters with printed pictures and swatches but I was too worried that one of the dresses would sell out. And anxious to share my thoughts with them and get theirs.

So here you go. My bridesmaid dress choices. Finally. The girls will be able to pick from these:

Option 1: Embossed Cotton Printed Lorelei Dress. Color: Papaya. $118.


Option 2: Any of J. Crew's silk chiffon knee-length styles in Light Shell. $165-$180.


Option 3: Any of J. Crew's silk chiffon knee-length styles in Deep Rose . Again $165-$180. This color becomes available in August.

Thanks Ashley from J. Crew for sending me images of fall's selections

And, for all you Sarah Seven lovers out there, this is still an option. For the girls who liked these custom dresses, they can choose one of four styles from her and get them in a coordinating color. Here are their four options:

The Tulip Dress

Raspberry Perfection Dress

Peachy Keen Dress

Flock Dress

The last option is for the girls to find dresses elsewhere, but to run them by me before they buy anything. I don't want to be a bridezilla but I've put so much work into making it look coordinated, too. It's so hard to balance all of that.

Next, I'll be getting a few swatches in the mail as well as the printed Lorelei dress to try on. Hopefully, these swatches will confirm my final decision. If not, well, you're in for another round of bridesmaid dress drama.

So far, two out of five bridesmaids are opting for silk chiffon J. Crew dresses while another wants a Sarah Seven dress. I haven't heard from the final two yet. Can't wait to see what they pick.

Did you have trouble balancing bridezilla-ness and letting go completely? I'm hoping I've found a good balance.

The Silk Taffeta Trial

Well, hive. After getting my 'lil heart set on J. Crew's barely peach fall color, I ordered in a couple of their silk taffeta styles to try them on. My favorites were the Lorelei and the strapless Sangle, so I just picked whichever colors weren't back-ordered and went for it. If I loved these dresses, I realized I'd be even more confused than I was before I posted about my three final bridesmaid dress options. If I hated them, well, then at least I could nix number one.

J. Crew's new silk taffeta color for fall

Here were the results.


The Sangle dress was adorable from the front. This champagne color would actually make a good, short wedding dress option. The pockets made it really comfortable and the detail on the neckline was cute too.


Can we say mushroom butt? I mean, the high waist makes it look like your arse starts really high and bulges out. Hmmm....


I feel like I'm wearing a modern version of a big, 19th century French dress with the bum that sticks up and out really high.


Then onto the Lorelei. Again, cute from the front. Although, it doesn't have a layer of netting under the silk taffeta like the Sangle so it lies a little flatter (less mushroom butt!). But, I'm not really a fan of how shiny the silk taffeta photographs.


If you have your hands in your pockets, you get this little bubble above your bum where the pleats are.


See? Even my dog Rio thinks my butt looks weird!

I guess that means silk taffeta is nixed. Which, is already the case if I decide to go with the different dress option since the fabric is so different from my other options. Thanks for listening to my J. Crew woes.

Were you disappointed about the fit of a bridesmaid dress you liked on the internet?

We're Kindred Spirits!

Yes, Mr. Cowboy Boot and I are kindred spirits, but I was actually referring to J. Crew. It seems they've embraced my color scheme in their summer collection. Or...maybe I subconsciously started seeing these colors around, gravitating towards them, and selecting them. You're right, J. Crew's summer colors were probably just a coincidence. Either way (hehe), head to their home page and you'll see elements of peach, dusty rose, gold, cream, and pinks.

It got me thinking...Maybe I should look beyond their traditional bridesmaids dresses and take it down a notch? Would a gander through their more casual, seasonal collection hurt?

Score! I found numerous dresses in coordinating colors. Albeit, a few of them were too casual, but at least four could work well together. I'm seeing this as a collaboration of numero uno, numero dos, and numero tres! It's not too stringent and also allows me to not let go of the reins completely. The girls could pick from these dresses and, if they found one similar elsewhere, they could run it by me. Or, if they were still stuck on Sarah Seven, they could order a custom dress through her in a coordinating color.

Pique V-Neck Ruffle Dress ($78), cotton pique, in Tea Rose

My only worries with this one: 1) Is it too casual? I'd need to see it in person although it looks like it could get dressed up. 2) The Tea Rose looks so bright on the bridesmaid dresses. Is it the fabric or the internet that's making it more palletable here?

Embossed Cotton Printed Lorelei Dress ($170), textured cotton, in Papaya

This is my favorite of the bunch. I liked the printed Whitney when I tried it. This just happens to be more in my color scheme.

Silk Chiffon Twist Tank Dress ($170), silk chiffon, in Light Shell

This is one of their bridesmaid dresses, yes, but I think it's a nice, lighter color for girls who don't want something so salmon-y and bright. Plus, there are three styles to choose from.

Metallic Linen Strapless Dress ($148), metallic linen, in Rhubarb

Linen, like the pique cotton, might be too casual. This is another must-see-in-person dress. Looks like I'll be making a trip to J. Crew tomorrow which means there's something in store for you too! Pictures of these dresses in person. Sort of.

Hopefully, this idea pans out. It's getting a little overwhelming not finding something I'm psyched about. I would be psyched, however, to have the girls find a dress they really like. Oh, and I would've included the silk taffeta dresses here (the new papaya is cute and the barely peach would be perfect) but those dresses didn't quite fit right (more on that to come) and the fabric felt like the odd one out in this line-up.

Did you let your girls choose but put certain criteria on their choices? What were those criterion?