It's here!

Correction! My dress arrived today, one day after my Mom and Dad sent it to me. I don't think the necklace I bought is going to go with it after all -- I'll need another opinion on that to be sure, but I think a gold necklace will look better with the "rum" colour than the silver does.

Dress nightmare

Last night I dreamt that my dress arrived, but instead of being rum pink (pale), it was hunter green (dark) and when you looked at it from certain angles it changed to a silver-green. Also, the shawl was about 20 cm wide, and just barely long enough to wrap around my shoulders -- not even long enough to wear normally, so it had to be fastened to the dress with hooks to make it stay on.

The real dress is in the mail and should be arriving tomorrow or the next day.

My teeth

When I was a kid, my left eye tooth came in at the wrong spot -- in front of my baby tooth instead of pushing it out. My dentist at the time said the baby tooth would eventually fall out because it didn't have much of a root. At some point between then and now I asked about having the adult tooth pulled instead of the baby tooth, but the dentist (whichever one that was) discouraged that for the same reason - baby tooth will fall out one day on its own.

I'm 28 years old. It never did fall out. I never worried about it too much -- I've had it for something like 15 years and I'm pretty used to it. This year, when my boyfriend proposed to me, all of a sudden it mattered. I want to have it look nice for my wedding photos! My current dentist had mentioned before that he thought it could be fixed with a retainer (which cost around $300) and I wouldn't need braces (which cost around $3,000) so the next time I was in for a checkup after I got engaged, I asked him about it.

He took an impression of my teeth, and told me it could, in fact, be done. I went back in to have another impression taken to have the retainer made from, and he pulled my baby tooth that day -- June 2, 2005.

Let me tell you, that tooth had plenty of root, thank you very much. Bleh. I never want to have a tooth pulled again -- and now he's talking about removing my wisdom teeth. I will be unconsious for that if I have anything to say about it.

Anyway, it has now been four months since the day I got my retainer, and my tooth is now in front of the gap left by the removal of the baby tooth -- phase one is nearly complete. The tooth just has to stabilize in this position (right now, if I take the retainer off for several hours, the tooth will slide back a couple of mm's) and then my retainer will be rewired to push it back into line with the others.

Here are some pictures of the progress.

June 2 - the day the baby tooth was pulled. I got the retainer two weeks later on June 15.

1 month

2 months

3 months

4 months

You can see that as of 3 months, the tooth beside it (the "lateral") started going crooked and is now overlapping my front tooth a little bit. That will be easy to fix in the next phase by kinking the wire across the front a little bit to my left. It's been kinked to the right to move my right lateral into place, and it was too tight and messed up the left one. Oops.

Front view - original.

Front view - 4 months.

I've got my dress! (Almost)

I'm so excited I think I'm going to be sick. I finally decided on Wednesday night last week which dress I want. On Thursday and Friday I called around to pretty much every store that carries this line in BC and a couple in Alberta, and found out that I could get it for $175 off in Kelowna. On Saturday I asked the store here if they could match it, and they could not.

I also found the store in Salmon Arm that has this dress in stock, but it was "rum" and I wasn't sure what the colour that was, and she actually said it was "rum pink" and I wasn't clear if that meant "rum with pink embroidery" or "a colour called rum-pink with multicoloured embroidery." I decided I wouldn't like the sample one, and didn't get my hopes up. Last night the lady from the store emailed me photos of the dress, and it is "a colour called rum-pink with multicoloured embroidery" which is what I'd been hoping for but not expecting.

Got the size chart today, went and got measured at a store here (not the one that carries Sincerity... don't think they'd want to help me NOT get their business!) and it will fit, or at least be close enough that alterations are reasonable.

So, in 7 days I went from deciding, to having it nearly in hand. They've put the (MY!) dress in the back room so no one else can come in and steal it, and my parents are going to go in on Saturday and inspect it and make sure it's in good shape (or if it isn't, that whatever is wrong with it can be fixed) and then I will BUY MY DRESS!

I can't wait... I'm SO excited it's got my stomach in knots.

Pictures:

Update on the 7-month list, one day later

Apparently I posted my list too soon when I did it yesterday afternoon. Things have changed:

• Guest list - sent to all three Moms; one (mine) has responded and said it looks fine, no changes.
• Dress - decided upon. (!!!)
• Photographer - worrisome clause not a problem, she changed it to suit me.
• Musicians - asked my choir conductor about musicians, jazz trio in particular; he's going to think about it and "hook me up" with someone

So that's pretty good for less than a day and a half!

Dress!

I've decided! I'm going to get the Sincerity. (You knew that already, didn't you?) :)

The one that belongs to the girl in Winnipeg is too small, so that's out. Last night I posted notes all over the internet in about 7 different wedding-related forums to see if anyone has it second-hand, but thought I'd try phoning around and see if I can find it somewhere new for cheaper than $825, which is what it is here. Then I can take that price to the store here & see if they'd match it or not. And if not, I'll order it from that cheaper store.

So far, I've had quotes from three stores in BC and one in Alberta. The AB one is $750, so when you account for the difference in tax, a BC store would actually have to be $700 to match that in the final with-tax price. There's a store in Kelowna that sells it for $750, but for the next two weeks they have a sale that if you buy a dress there, you get either $150 in-store credit, or $100 off the dress. So that works out to $650. So that's $175 off the price, plus saving $25 in tax on the $175.

I've still got two stores in BC and one in AB that are going to phone me back, and six in BC and sixteen in AB that I haven't even phoned, so it's possible it could get cheaper yet, but I'm pretty happy at saving $200 already!

My To-Do List (7 months)

Here's an update to the status of my to-do list I last posted on September 11. The wedding is currently 7 months away.

To do 12-18 Months Before

• Assemble your guest list, remembering to consult both families. Have given the guest list to two of the three Moms for their input.
• Choose attendants. DONE!

To do 8-10 Months Before

• Shop for your wedding dress and accessories. I have purchased a necklace and earring set. Currently waiting (anxiously) to hear from someone that may sell me her dress second-hand. If not, I'll make a decision and buy within the next couple of weeks.
• Shop for bridesmaids' dresses. As before, still to decide after my dress is selected.
• Select photographer and videographer. Noticed a worrisome clause in selected photographer's letter of agreement. Have sent a note (just yesterday) asking for clarification.
• Select florist. Not started, although I'm collecting a list of places to investigate.
• Select musicians or DJ for ceremony. Still considering live music for the ceremony, haven't done anything to investigate that.
• Pick a Honeymoon destination. Check if any inoculations are required. Not any further along. Still "Earth, somewhere."

To do 6 - 8 Months Before

• Order formal wear for groomsmen. Will do that right after the girls' clothes are figured out.
• Order Invitations. Still haven't tried making a sample. Will probably buy pre-made ones from the store and just print them at home. Haven't checked the cost of having them done professionally, but I'm sure it's more expensive than the kits at Staples.
• Select table favours. No change.

He did it!

Brooke did, indeed, ask his second attendant on the weekend, and he said yes, too, so now we have our full wedding party set!

Now I'm waiting with fingers crossed to hear from the lady with the dress I want to buy, to see if she wants to sell it or not. It's a bit nerve-wracking!

Another two things done!

I've been pestering Brooke to ask his Best Man, and he finally did on Tuesday! Yay! (And he said yes, which is great.) Now he just needs to ask his other groomsman, and that's done. I have high hopes that he'll ask him this weekend. We shall see if I'm right in that.

That same day, the necklace and earring set I ordered arrived. I bought them second-hand from a girl on a wedding forum I am addicted to.

Another girl on that forum wore one of my two favourite dresses (the floral one) and I emailed her to ask if she's decided yet if she will sell it or not. She hadn't decided, but said she'll think about it this week and let me know. If she says yes, then I will check with a seamstress and see if it is the right size to alter to put in a corset back (I think it should be) and then buy it from her. And if she says no, I think I might go with my other favourite dress... but I am not sure, so I hope she says yes.