hairy state of mind

now that i have the dress, it's time to start to completing my wedding day look. i'm normally not hair obsessed whatsoever. in fact, i think my blow drier gets pulled out maybe three times a year - and usually for weddings! i do realize however, i need to put in a bit of effort if i want to not look like i just rolled out of bed while walking down the aisle. 

my goal: an effortlessly stylish, yet romantically pretty look. is this even possible?

to start... the veil. the quintessential bridal accessory. 

though i think veils look absolutely beautiful on everyone else, i somehow fear i will look like i'm trapped in a spiderweb... 

in all fairness, i've really only tried one on - but it made me look hideous and somehow i felt like it was my first communion 

after doing a bit more veil research - i've learned there's a lot more to veils than just throwing a piece of cloth over your head. varying lengths and patterns, there's a whole other veil world out there!

i know for sure - i DO NOT want a blusher... dave's seen me before, for many years. no sense hiding my face now... 

i do think the bird cage (the stylish blusher) is super fun, and have joked many times about sporting one down the aisle. but, it's perhaps a little too stylish for me...

 

no, i think i'll keep my face free of fabric for the big day...  

i do however think veils blowing in the breeze is gorgeous. perhaps i'll consider just bringing a piece of cloth and simulating the look for a few pics... 

back to effortlessly stylish, yet romantically pretty... this brings more decisions i just can't make. hair up, hair down? curly, straight...? i LOVE all of these looks:

or

of the course the indecisive me, will probably settle on something somewhere in between up and down, curly and straight

i definitely plan on trying out a few different styles throughout the summer (to ensure i have the heat and humidity factor just like in jamaica).  if only i could find an ocean breeze close by... 

fold, fold, fold, f*ck!

this diy bride has taken a step back in time.. to her six year old days of paper crafting with white glue and popsicle sticks.

the vision: easy to put together paper crafts to make the resort/beach wedding feel a little more our own...

after looking at various wedding decorations and accessories, i set my sights on beautiful rounded fans for our guests to cool themselves during our afternoon beach ceremony.

just as i was about to place an order for 60 of these gorgeous fans... i figured i'd try my luck at seeing if i could make them first.

so, we gathered in the backyard with a few of of our lovely wedding party members to start of our fandemonium. we had our paper, our glue, our paper punches, our scissors, our popsicle sticks, and of course, our fancy drinks.

the reality: our first few, okay the first many prototypes were disasters. from ripped paper, unsticking glue, uneven folding - you name it. i am sure a six year old could have done better. i'm not sure how many tries martha stewart has before recording, but... after an afternoon of fold fold fold f*ck, i realized there would be a lot more to these easy diy crafts than i originally thought.

refusing to believe i am not the next martha stewart i spent the next week working and reworking my fan prototypes. many nights were spent folding, punching, glueing and swearing. i finally took pictures of our most recent failures, but these really don't capture just how bad our first attempts really were...

and then. finally. after waiting for my glue to dry on what could be my 100th fan, i folded it open to find. it worked! it worked! i wanted to shout from my rooftop that i am the fan-master!!!

however,  i only have another 56 to make...

thank goodness for friends that are willing to fold, fold, fold, glue with us... hopefully with fewer four letter words.

of course, shortly after my first successful fan - my fancy paper punch jammed up. leading to whole other vocabulary of four letter words.

paper punches breaking and curse words aside, we are well on our way to keeping our guests cool with our very own handmade fans.

here's to hoping our next diy project is a little more user friendly...