You and Me: Putting The Dress On

With the boys on their way to the church and with the girls' hair and make-up done, there was only one thing left for me to do. It was time to get the dress on.

The girls had already changed into their beautiful grey bridesmaid dresses while my hair was being finished off. They looked stunning, seriously.

I snuck into the bathroom to get my sassy sucky-inny-undergarments on. When I returned, it was just my mum and my girls waiting in the room, ready to help me slide into my wedding gown. As soon as she saw me, my mum took it upon herself to get teary and come give me a hug. I not-so-gently replied to her cuddle with a 'GET OFF THE DRESS' outburst, which caused us to get the giggles while I attempted to keep the unbuttoned dress from falling off.

 Image via Amy Nelson-Blaine Wedding Cinematography

It was time to do me up, buttercup. I was so, so nervous about the dress fitting me.

I've never sucked in my guts as much or held in my breath for as long as I did during those few minutes. As soon as I knew the dress was going to zip up and close after all, I relaxed.

Image via Amy Nelson-Blaine Wedding Cinematography

We borrowed an old silver button-hook from my grandmother to help us with the tiny buttons down the back of the gown.

My dad hadn't seen the dress before - I loved seeing his reaction for the first time.

Next up, the most awkward part of the dressing stage - shimmying into my lace bolero! Some of the expressions I pulled wiggling in to this thing were priceless. (Seriously: watch the wedding video.)

Images via Amy Nelson-Blaine Wedding Cinematography

It was on! It fit! My boobs were snug! Huzzah! With me done, I helped my dad pin on his simple flower corsage. (When I say helped, I really mean 'fumbled stupidly thanks to my long nails', but you get the idea.)

After all of my indecisiveness, I decided on just one pair of wedding day shoes after all - the ivory ones! My Maid of Honour helped me into them while I hoisted the lower layers of my dress up out of the way.

A little wedding day perfume was sprayed on - not without more face pulling, of course. I chose j'adore: it's feminine, light and will forever remind me of our wedding day.

We were just about ready to walk out the door, but wait... what about the gorgeous veil I had borrowed from Mrs. French Fries to wear for the ceremony?

Well, in the heat of the moment, I completely forgot about it. As in, hadn't even given it one single thought. And.. uh oh, our make-up and hair stylists had already left - with all the hair pins. Yikes! The girls improvised to get it wedged into my hair style, MacGuyvering it up with pins from their own hairstyles to keep it firmly in place.

With the veil wedged in as good as we were going to get it, it was really time to go!

All photographs by the team at Follan Photography unless otherwise noted.

Let's start at the very beginning - it's a very good place to start.

Our wedding rehearsal went by in a flash.

We finished off our last minute projects at home.

I had some girly time the day before the wedding.

I checked into the bridal suite and spent the evening alone.

A prank call woke me up... to my wedding day!

The girls had their hair and make-up done.

The boys relaxed and took it easy playing pool.

It was finally my turn to get beautified!