A Muddy Wedding?

It has not rained at our wedding venue on our wedding day for at least four years. I know this to be a fact thanks to the handy dandy Farmer's Almanac weather history. (Type A much?) Not that the information helps much since there are two ways to look at it:

1. It hasn't rained on our wedding day in years and has always been the perfect summer beach temperature of 75 degrees with a breeze. We picked such a beautiful day!

2. It hasn't rained on our wedding day in years and now we are due for a rainstorm! Good luck can't last forever! (Obsessive much?)

I've always believed that if I'm prepared with my raincoat and umbrella, the rain will stay at bay. But the second I walk out the door without it: Bam! Rainstorm while on a lunchtime walk across town, 2 miles from my office! True, right?

Since our ceremony is supposed to be outside, I'm starting to think of other JIC (just in case) options. Truth be told, a tiny bit of rain could be tolerable. Maybe even adorable:

Photos by The Photography Team

Image via Barefoot Beach Wedding / Photo by Comfort Studio

Aren't those brides (and umbrellas) the cutest? I could totally deal with a little sprinkle, especially if it meant a rainbow finale!

A downpour, though? No I do not think I could handle that.

Image via Barefoot Beach Wedding / Photo by Comfort Studio

What an awesome carefree bride! This, my friends, is nothing like me. 

So I guess the only option (besides wishing, hoping and praying that it doesn't rain) would be to move the ceremony inside as well. It certainly wouldn't be ideal,but I think we could make it work in a pinch, like this bride did:

Image via The Knot  / Photo by Shelly Mossman Photography

I love the circular petal aisle they created. And lucky for us, where they have a door as an altar, we actually have a fireplace. 

Obviously, we still don't have a clue what the weather will be like, but I wonder if I buy the umbrellas now - will the Universe stop the rain?

Miss Rucksack Tips for Surviving a Bridal Show

When I was a single Miss Rucksack, I loved me some bridal shows. Fashion shows, giveaways, and free cake? Count me in! In college, friends and I even took turns "playing bride" at bridal shows and used our fabulous improv skills to make up elaborate stories about our fiance's, engagement stories, and our wedding plans. You guys, we took it to the limit.

*For the record, my fake story was: engaged to an investment banker, he proposed while we were moving into our new house (We ordered Chinese food after a hard day of moving and he asked me to open the kitchen wares box. I was annoyed because - hello? who needs forks and plates with Chinese takeout? When I finally opened the kitchen box and pulled away the newspaper, there was a ring box!) and the elaborate wedding weekend would be held at The Inn at Longshore in Westport, CT. Like I said, we were not kidding around.*

Attending a bridal show as a bride is a completely different experience. It's somewhat like being the most popular girl at a dance and having a bunch of horny nerdy guys trying to get you to dance with them. Or like being a piece of bacon surrounded by a group of dogs.

Via FanPop

The point is, everybody wants a piece of you and your precious wedding budget.

While attending our first bridal show as an engaged couple, Mr. Rucksack and I quickly came up with some ground rules, made simpler since we were really just in search of a DJ.

1. Avoid eye contact with vendors. They will suck you in if they catch you looking and they can smell fear, or at least confusion. Mr. Rucksack and I would scout a couple of vendors ahead to check out the offerings and would march right past them if they weren't what we were looking for. No use in wasting everybody's time, now is there?

2. Fill out the raffle tickets since you never know what you might win. But also don't fill out fill out anything that you don't necessarily want because those vendors now have all of your contact information and they will continue to contact you until they go out of business.

3. When it comes to finding a DJ, it is okay to judge a book by its cover. We avoided anyone that was over the age of 60, was dressed terribly, or sported a flock of seagulls haircut.

Via Duksta

I'm sorry, but how is this a thing?

4. Sampling cake is great, but don't go overboard. This was a given for us since we don't eat gluten. We also don't particularly like cake. Still, surrounded by frilly dresses, flowers, and estrogen, I was a little tempted. I'm so glad I didn't partake, because I'm sure the sugar would have just about taken me down with the heat and stress of that bridal maze.

5. Prepare for the marathon ahead of time. This means, a) go in with a game plan of what you need and then stick to it. Otherwise you will be there all day. b) dress for the event. It will be warm, there will be a lot of people, you'll be doing a lot of walking and talking. Leave your coat in the car and don't wear heels. c) fuel yourself. Having a big breakfast before hand really stopped us from splurging on cake and luke-warm appetizers. d) arm yourself with water.You'll be talking to a lot of people and you'll want to stay hydrated.

By following our guidelines we made it out in about an hour and we found our DJ!

Do you have any more tips for surviving bridal shows?

The Rest of the Bridal Party Gets Popped

Mr. Rucksack was a little concerned about sending his groomsmen "Will you be my groomsman?" gifts. While he and his friends are actually pretty adorable and regularly send each other snail mail, everything he had seen in the way of popping the question to a dude was just a little over the top.

We settled on a simple card that I designed based on a picture I found by typing "men drinking champagne" on the interwebs. However, we also have a junior groomsmen who is only 9 and we had to come up with an alternate idea for him. Little Cousin Rucksack, or GM Brobot as I'm sure he would prefer, is seriously too cool for words. He's really excited about our wedding and even though we hadn't asked him to be in the bridal party yet, he was already busy picking out bow ties for the occasion.

Seriously, this kid is 9 and already way cooler than I'll ever be.

I decided that presenting him with his very own bow tie would be the perfect way to ask him to be a groomsman in our wedding, so the search began. Luckily, Peter Blair was having a $10 tie sale when I happened to visit. Super score! The deal was so good that we decided to get bow ties for all the boys. They'll have the option to wear them to the wedding or to wear one of their own.

Your Service as a Groomsman is Required. Hoity toity and hilarious.

Mr. Rucksack chose each tie based on each groomsman's personality. GM Brobot's is the goldfish tie, third from the right.

Last, but certainly far from least, we needed good ideas for our adorable kiddos. Mr. Rucksack's best friend and Best Man has the two cutest children who will be our ring bearer and flower girl.

After much searching, I decided on a jewelry box for Flower Girl Rucksack, complete with a flower girl version of the star bracelet:

And a pirate chest for Ring Bearer Rucksack. The box is by Melissa & Dog and came complete with gold coins, a pirate flag, and an eye patch. We added a cute card that asked - "Will you guard the rings - and be our ring bearer?"

 The kids were psyched. Mostly because they both received cool boxes with treasure (and secret compartments). Ring Bearer Ruckus, who's only three, didn't totally understand the concept of walking down the aisle, but we were assured he could be bribed with pizza. Flower Girl Rucksack is really excited to wear a pink dress!

Gifts for the whole fam of VIPs:

How did you pop the question to your bridal party?

Asking the bridal party. AKA: Thanks a lot, Pinterest.

Do your remember the Pre-Pinterest days when asking someone to be a bridesmaid was as simple as calling a friend and saying "Hey, dude. Do you wanna be a bridesmaid and help me pee with my wedding gown and stuff?"

I feel like with the invention of Pinterest, those days are long gone. Now apparently you have to "pop the question" to your whole bridal party. I thought about skipping the tradition, but then FMIL Rucksack mentioned it. If even FMIL Rucksack was expecting me to craft something awesome, then I knew it had to be done. (In addition to blaming Pinterest on my "must DIY" obsession, I also blame Minnesota. Those Minnesotans are a crafty people.)

Pinterest is a terrible source for competitive Type A people like myself because when I see something cute my thinking goes something like this:

"That's awesome! I could do that!"
"Crap. It's on Pinterest. I wonder who else has seen it."
"If it's too popular, I can't do it."
"I must do it BETTER."

Which is how on a Wednesday evening I came to be opening up a package of darts from an Amazon package.

You heard me right: darts.

Via Amazon

And then I attempted to paint them with pink glitter paint. (I am only now starting to realize just how crazy that plan was.) It was a total failure and it was at that moment that I used my favorite stress-related phrase: eff it.

It's a phrase I first used when stressing out over finding the perfect brown belt to go with my "meet the parents" outfit when Mr. Rucksack flew me out to Minnesota the first time. After searching through stores for over an hour, I realized his parents wouldn't care or know that my outfit would look cuter with a brown belt. And so, "eff it" was born.

Similarly, my bridesmaids never have to know that my initial plan involved them popping a heart shaped balloon with a glitter painted dart to reveal confetti and a fancy banner requesting their bridesmaids services. I know I'm totally giving up the world's best bride award here, but I know my bridesmaids will thank me later when I'm significantly less crazy and twitchy from craft related stress.

And you know, their gifts are still cute and original:

I made the bracelets and the holder based on ones that I saw on Etsy. The little quote works perfectly since I did theater through high school and college and I ended up using starfish as my stars since it fit with our beach theme. The folded cards were purchased from Etsy seller Charm and Fig.

The best part about my simplified gifts is that they could be sent easily in the mail. With one bridesmaid in Minnesota and one in New Hampshire I was going to have to spend money on shipping a big (although very light) balloon holding box.

Of course, we couldn't leave out the groomsmen and kiddos! Up next, the rest of the bridal party gets their goodies!

Dressing the Gents

Now that we've covered my bridal clothing ad nauseum, it's time to share the spotlight with the men.

Mr. Rucksack is quite a dapper dude. He's a lover of all things preppy so his closet is very full of oxford shirts, bow ties, and embroidered pants. Since he's definitely a man who knows what he likes and because he has such great taste, I've left it up to him to choose the attire for the guys side of the bridal party.

Luckily being on the beach, it was an easy decision.

Peppermint Bliss Real Wedding via The Shoreside Bride

Our boys will be all prepped out in Nantucket Reds - an item which I'm pretty sure at least half the boys already own. They'll pair those white button downs, navy blue blazers and a playful patterned bow tie of their choice. We're trying to keep things as simple and inexpensive as possible for our entire bridal party, and that comes with the added bonus that they get to feel comfortable with their choices. Plus, I think it'll be really cool to see a bunch of cute boys with mismatched preppy bow ties.

Mr. Rucksack chose this tie from Country Club Prep

I'm so happy with his choice and I think our boys will look great. I'm also happy that they won't have to spend much money, an issue we may have had if we had gone with tuxes or Mr. Rucksack's second choice: seersucker suits.

What are your guys wearing? Did your man choose his own outfit?

Silk and Organza and Tulle, Oh My! (Part 2 - or the one where I actually do find a dress!)

Day two of shopping felt much more relaxed from the beginning. I had learned a couple of things from my first day of dress shopping. Namely, that I wasn't going to spend $4,500 on a dress. Also, that it didn't really matter what I wore to my appointment because I was going to get naked anyway. This time I nixed the leggings, but opted for full bottom underwear. I also wore a full bra with hopes that the bridal store would provide a long line bra for me. (They did.) Lastly, I did my hair better than the previous day. While I had blown my hair straight the day before, I opted to curl my hair and style it similar to how I'd want to wear it for the wedding - half up with loose curls along the lines of this:

Dianna Agron via Fine Art America

It totally helped me visualize the whole look together, especially once we added accessories and the veil.

We went to The White Dress by the Shore to see one dress in particular: Ivy and Aster's Sweet Pea.

Sweetpea via Ivy and Aster

Sweet, isn't she? Similar to the day prior, I naively assumed I would be done when I tried her one. Nope. Turns out, the style just doesn't work on my figure. I ended up looking less Beach Princess and more Beached Whale. Not exactly what I was going for. We put her aside and tried on a slew of other dresses. Seriously, there were so many perfect dresses that within two minutes we had picked out 10! We were politely told by our Consultant, Ennike, that maybe it was time to start whittling down our choices by trying some on.

After trying all 10 dresses on, we narrowed it down to 3 very unique dresses.

1. Jenny Yoo Riley. This really reminded me of the dress I loved in Westport at a fraction of the cost. It was the first I tried on at The White Dress by the Shore and immediately went into the "yes" pile.

Via Flair Bridesmaid

2. Anne Barge LF161. I loved the preppiness of this dress and the pockets! I also liked that the fullness of the skirt was more what I had envisioned in my gown.

Via Wedding Inspirasi

3. Anne Barge LF214. This dress fit like a glove and had the coolest details. I just loved the ruffles!

Via Fashionable Bride

After trying them on again with accessories, I got even closer to a decision and narrowed it down to two. My mom and aunt were no help at all as they sat there with a smirk saying "We know which one - but you need to decide for yourself."

I asked to be put back into the first dress and came back out with a huge smile. "This is it!" I exclaimed and then quickly turned back to them for approval. "This is the one, right?"

They said they knew right away because every time I put it on I started dancing. Everybody hugged and teared up a little and Ennike went and got us champagne to celebrate. She even let me stay in mt dress while she filled out paperwork so that I could be smiley and happy and champagney in my dress a little longer.

Do you all know which one I picked?

It's..........................Dress Number 1!

Via Flair Bridesmaid

As soon as I put her on the first time I said "I could go home with this dress right now and be happy." Of course, that didn't stop me from making Ennike put me in all 9 other dresses multiple times, something I apologized for as soon as I officially said yes to the dress!

Looking back at pictures from the day, I'm even more sure about my decision. While the other two dresses looked amazing in person, they photographed kind of weird.

All of the lines and ruffles came out strange in pictures and if the lines weren't perfect I ended up looking lopsided. I love the simplicity of my dress and the fact that I can dress it up with accessories! It's modern and timeless at the same time - exactly the look I was going for! It even looks like one of my inspiration pics that Mr. Rucksack and I (sort of) agreed on!

Dakota Trumpet Gown via Nicole Miller

I promised my mom I wouldn't put up a picture of me in the dress, but I never said anything about showing off my excited face!

Oh and I guess a little sneak peek of the top won't hurt either....

The dress is not at all what I originally thought I wanted, so I'm really glad Auntie Rucksack pushed me toward those curve hugging dresses. I'm thrilled with my choice and even happier that I stayed under budget! (Seriously, you guys. The dress ended up being a SAMPLE so when I say under budget, I mean way under budget!)

Did you end up with a dress that was completely different than your original inspiration too?

Silk and Organza and Tulle, Oh my! (Part 1)

To be honest, my first experience with trying on wedding gowns was a total nightmare. I had seen an ad for a sample sale, dragged my mom along to check it out, and had a big fail whale of a moment. In addition to the lack of staff help and the tremendous amounts of tulle and fluff, my mom and I got into a whopper of a fight. The details aren't so important, but my mom was stressed about her upcoming move into her boyfriend's house and I was being a bride, and I'm learning that those sorts of mother-daughter conditions nearly always lead to tears.I ended up trying on itchy scratchy tulle dresses while blotchy and hivey from crying. Not so fun.

Needless to say, I was not looking forward to getting back on that horse. I did plenty of online research and put off dress shopping until the last possible minute. (Apparently that last possible minute is 7 months from your wedding day. It takes a long ass time to order a wedding gown!) Finally, the moment of doom arrived. I really was convinced that dress shopping take two would be horrific and would result in me a) crying b) yelling and/or c) getting drunk.

Armed with Mr. Rucksacks's dos & don'ts list and an iPad full of ideas, I set up two appointments for one weekend and asked Momma Rucksack and Auntie Rucksack to join me. I was almost certain that I would choose one of these beauties:

Theia Style 890022 via Misses Dressy

Sweetpea via Ivy and Aster

Stop one was The Plumed Serpent in Westport, Connecticut. Our appointment was at 9:30am (Alison was a sweetheart and opened early for us!) and since I had read up on dress shopping etiquette, I arrived with no make-up, simple hair, a strapless bra and leggings. I quickly learned that it didn't matter since I was naked within seconds and in a borrowed long-line bra.

In addition to the Theia dress that I "knew" was the one, I allowed my mom and aunt to each pick one dress. Momma Rucksack leaned toward huge princess ballgowns while Auntie Rucksack chose curve hugging dresses.

Well, it turned out that I was very wrong about Theia. It hit my curves in all the wrong places. Insert sad face here. Luckily, I was in a store full of beautiful dresses and with some urging from my aunt I finally tried on her choice:

Romona Keveza A-Line Gown via Kleinfeld

And I fell in love. Unfortunately, that feeling quickly dissipated when we learned that the price was way over my budget!

I left the store feeling extremely conflicted, especially after Momma Rucksack and Auntie Rucksack assured me we could make it work. I just couldn't fathom spending so much money on a dress!

Luckily, we still had one more day of shopping ahead of us.

Did you fall in love with a dress that was way over your budget?