Bling Bling Goes the Ring

For my birthday in May I asked Mr. Rucksack for just one thing: to go visit our jeweler in Brooklyn and pick out my wedding band. So the Saturday evening after my birthday we made the long and trafficky drive out to Brooklyn to visit Caroline at Liloveve. Since she had done such an amazing job on my engagement ring, we just knew she'd have to craft my wedding band to go with it.

I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted when I walked in, but much like what happened with my dress, I ended up falling in love with something completely different. This cutie below is what I thought I'd love but I don't think it stood out enough against my unique engagement ring.

Then I spotted a ring to try on "just for fun." It was super sparkly and blingy, not at all my "type." It turns out am a terrible judge of my own taste. As soon as I put the ring on I gasped and then lit up like a Christmas tree. There was just so much sparkle!

Caroline said it was important to love the ring both with and without my engagement ring so I tried it on multiple ways and loved it each time. Unfortunately we found out that it's more than double what we had budgeted for. So I tried on other rings and we thought about ways to bring the price down, but I knew in my heart that this was my ring. Mr. Rucksack looked nauseous at the thought of spending so much money and so after trying to convince him that we could come up with the extra money and trying to convince myself that I didn't need a blingy dream ring, we left empty handed and in silence. It was kinda crummy, guys.

Mr. Rucksack said he needed a drink before he could talk, so we walked 12 blocks in silence until we got to this yummy Brazilian restaurant with super strong fancy drinks. We drank, we ate and we talked and luckily at the end Mr. Rucksack agreed that I should have my dream ring. I explained that we'd be fine with money as long as we're careful for the next few months. I told him all about the wedding budget spreadsheet and promised to show it to him later. We talked about the money we'd save by not using an expensive officiant. I felt (feel) slightly guilty, but I also really believe that if I'm going to have to wear something everyday for the rest of my life I better well be in love with it. So we're going to make it work.

Did you fall in love with a ring out of your budget? Am I selfish for insisting on having it?

Reimagining Wedding Cliches

You know those people that hate wedding cliches like the bouquet toss and the wedding slideshow? They're the ones who also balk at the YMCA and the garter toss and think that cake smashing is tacky.

Well, I have a confession: I always thought I was one of those people.

If you had asked me my opinion on any one of those things a year ago, I would have laughed in your face and said something about "being non-traditional" and throwing a wedding that was "distinctly us." But as it turns out, I've learned that some of those traditional cliches are actually pretty fun and just because we include a few in our wedding, it doesn't mean our wedding is any less us or any less special.

So yes we'll be doing the garter toss, but we'll also make it a little different by adding in Mr. Rucksack's love of football (The Pats to be specific):

Image via A Day to Remember / Photo by Gino Creglia 

There's a chance that the YMCA may sneak onto our playlist or that I may smash a bit of cake on Mr. Rucksack's face. (Although there will be talk of murder if he so much as thinks about messing up my makeup!)

 Image via Snippet and Ink / Photo by Chudleigh Weddings

And yes, we will have a wedding slideshow, but rather than showing it at the wedding reception, we'll play it at our rehearsal dinner. Those are really the people that want to see stinking cute pictures of us anyway.

Like these:

I started off pretty dang cute....

and had a couple of good years before the awkward phase came along....

Then this happened. I think this sums up my personality perfectly.

Also this....fanny pack, boa, tiara, and bifocal glasses....classic Miss Rucksack.

At first I was a little hesitant to include so many ridiculously unflattering photos of myself in our slideshow, but now I'm just rolling with it. The more ridiculous the better. Plus, Mr. Rucksack has some pretty great photos of him as a nerdy kid that I'll have to share later. We were two nerds destined for love.

So are you including any wedding cliches in your wedding? If so, are you going traditional or adding a twist to them?

Under where? (Slightly risque/NSFW)

Before you read any further, here's my little disclaimer that some of the following images may not be safe for work. So unless you feel comfortable looking at sexy ladies in lingerie at the office, you may want to save this read for another time.

After I got the news that my dress was finally in, I set up my fittings with The White Dress by the Shore. They asked that I have shoes (or at least the correct height shoes) and my bridal underthings by the time my first fitting rolled around. For day of undies, they suggested their sister store, Beneath the Gown, which had luckily for me just moved out from The White Dress's attic and into a cute little shop right in my town.

I had no idea what to expect when I called Beneath the Gown for an appointment, but I couldn't have had a better experience. If you've never had a professional bra fitting, I completely suggest it. I'd heard all sorts of stories about girls finding out they'd been wearing the wrong bra size for years so I was actually surprised that I was in the right size all along. What I did learn was that there is a big difference between a $20 Target bra and a high quality bra. I usually rely on straps to hold the ladies up, but it's actually all in the band. It should be grippy and tight so that the straps barely have to do any work at all.

While all of the bras I tried on were really pretty, one stood out in its ability to hold my boobies up high:

Via Natural Figures

I sadly paid way more than what's listed on the site that link takes you to, but since I could only find the bra on UK sites I'll chalk it up to availability and currency inflation. And since each bra I tried on was so different, I definitely needed the appointment in order to make a decision. Also, I don't know what they did in terms of lighting/paint/mirror effects, but I do not look that good naked at home. I seriously threatened to take that magic mirror home with me.

For undies, I chose a simple Hanky Panky thong decorated with a blue rhinestone "Mrs."

Via Beneath the Gown

The owner, Josie, even added a little blue ribbon to the bra so that it matches the undies and counts as my "something blue."

I had my dress fitting the very next day and the undies worked perfectly. It was great being back in my dress again and seeing what the whole shebang is going to look like. I also was really surprised at how much thinner I am now compared to when I bought the dress. I haven't lost any poundage according to the scale, but my dress literally dropped to the floor when we zipped it up! I'm really hippy on the bottom and while I've noticed a tiny change in the way my pants fit, I hadn't previously noticed the change in my arms/back/waist. I guess it's kind of hard to tell when I usually wear t-shirts and button downs!

But yeah, that was a really pleasant surprise. I'm still not sure how Crossfit is going to continue changing my body - inches lost through dropping fat? Inches gained from adding muscle? Where the wheel stops, nobody knows! A coworker suggested I just not working out until the wedding, and while I was slightly tempted by the idea of lounging around for the month the other half of me was like "And give up the abs I actually have for the first time ever? No freaking way!"

How did your fittings go? Did anyone else have a magical moment when trying on fancy underthings for the first time?