Mothers be good to your daughters

This weekend we had the wonderful opportunity to get the two mothers and my Gramma, the matron of honor, together to go wedding dress shopping and do other wedding errands with Branson's mom, Mittie, in town. It was absolutely wonderful and such a great memory-making experience. I am very blessed to have these women in my life and by all the patience they show me in this process. Friday morning we got up and got going to the first of three boutiques we had set up appointments with--Weddings by Debbie in Katy, Texas. I was very impressed.

I don't know if you can tell from this picture, but the interior of this facility was luxuriously extravagant and it made the whole experience more luxurious as a result. This is not a dress I tried on...they just had me in a petticoat and wouldn't let me drink in any of the dresses so I had to walk back to the refreshments area in this lovely robe. This was probably a wise choice on their part. While I decided not to post any of the dresses I tried on so as to keep that side of things a complete surprise, there were plenty of other fun images to share.

Two of these are pictures of my favorite veil options that I will use as inspiration for my home-stitched veil. I liked the simple detail along the edges since I think it needed something without it being too much, because the dress is elaborate. The other picture is holding my engagement ring up to one of the dresses I tried on that I thought really captured the antique idea that inspired the ring. Miraculously enough, I tried on no more than four dresses before I found the perfect princess bride dress. They say you often go back to one of the firsts and I can see why that's true because the first dress you try on with you mom (s) and gramma there is just something very special. I actually really liked the first dress I tried on, which was very simple in that it was all a matte satin with the only beading being on a simple belt that tied around the high waist above a very full skirt. It was one of the dresses I had picked as a favorite before going into the store. My gramma had the gumption to say that my bridesmaids would outshine me if I wore it though, so we moved on, while keeping that one in mind. I think my dad would've loved that dress since it was an incredible price. My gramma picked out the second dress, which was actually a perfect dress for my personality--matte satin mermaid skirt with fun and unique rosettes in different places over the dress in the same color. All three of them actually gasped when I came out and I think it was unanimous that they liked it more than the first. It was very different and form flattering which was fun. I didn't really feel the second dress as flattering as it was- the same mermaid skirt look. Then I tried on the fourth dress and knew right away that I felt like a princess and could suddenly imagine myself walking down the aisle. It was magical, there were tears from the mothers, we hugged and were done. We bought the dress then and there to get a discount and the rest of our weekend was effectively freed up for everything else we wanted and needed to do. So after a treat of a lunch with Richie and baby Kanyen, we headed over to a scrapbooking store to get some invitation materials and then to Men's Wearhouse to look at ideas for the guys.

We are looking at putting Branson in a nice light gray suit with the standard white button up and a skinny black silk tie and his groomsmen in basic black tuxedos with the same white shirt and black tie--a sort of entourage look. Of course, we do have to see what the boys think about it. All in all it was a wonderful day and a wonderful weekend of looking at rehearsal dinner locations, making hostess gifts, and other bonding activities. I have a very good feeling about our support system for this wedding.

Love,

Kate