... whatever did happen with my wedding shoes?

After what can best be described as a hectic couple of weeks, I think it is time I finished up the saga of my wedding shoes as I have had requests from a number of people eager to find out whether I am going bare foot or not (they could have just been being polite and humouring me, but let's just pretend for the sake of argument they were intrigued by my tale)... However, before I get to the conclusion of the shoe saga, I must first talk about one of the more exciting elements of being a bride... getting fitted for your wedding dress.

EVERYONE knows that my search for the "perfect" wedding dress was rather "endless", which means it shouldn't be much of a surprise that I would be stressed passing my dress over to someone to cut and "mangle" into a different shape.  It is so perplexing that one buys a dress and then passes it over to someone else to re-shape the dress into something different.  While I am not really changing my dress the fact that it will still be carefully "pruned" amazes me... and makes me feel slightly nauseous with worry.

I think the key to avoiding the stress is to choose a tailor you trust... and I think I have accomplished this task, as I feel "relatively" relaxed about my choice or as relaxed as I get... we all know that is not necessarily very far).

I have now been twice to the tailors to have my dress "tweaked"... my opinion is that it gets better, and better and I cannot wait to see the final product.

Okay... I am done stalling, and now I think it is time to finish the shoe saga...

So I went to re-order my shoes... and as I mentioned previously I had received a coupon from Zappos and wanted to use it (obviously).  However, when I went to order the shoes the field for the coupon code never showed up on the screen, which meant I had to once more call Zappos and ask what the heck? (it was especially urgent as I already had given them my credit card information and didn't want to loose the coupon - I had earned it - they sent me used shoes!).

Calling worked out extremely well as ended up chatting to a lovely fellow stationed in no man's land California (as he described) who offered me an additional discount just because of the "trauma" (his words, not mine) I had experienced receiving used shoes... The order eventually was processed and the wait was then on and my anticipation was building to see what my shoes would be like... would they be new? would they be gently used? would they be neon pink? at this point I wouldn't be surprised if they were flip flops...

In less than three the shoes arrived and with rather nervous hands I slowly lifted the lid of the black and pick shoebox and carefully removed the pink tissue paper to discover... brand new shoes (thank God) - not a toe print in sight!  The shoes were exactly what I wanted (and ordered) and I am now eagerly working on breaking them in so that they (and I!) last for the whole wedding day.
 
Speaking of which the wedding is 26 days away... are you loosing sleep with excitement, or is it just me?

Are you kidding me? The shoes arrived...

Yikes! The last few weeks have been busy; what with Jack and Jills, shoes arriving, dress fittings, photographers to meet, wedding cake to prepare, rehearsal dinners to be double booked, and colds to nurse (never mind a little thing called work!); time has been zipping by. However, in my usual fashion I am going to start at the beginning and describe what happened with my wedding shoes (I can’t work out of chronological order).

Now when we last left off (our adventurous crew was stranded on the island and the Skipper and Ginger and just come up with idea number 456 to get them rescued – open a Rogers store and sell iPhones (people will come apparently - you were right Shoeless Joe Jackson))... okay sorry got distracted, let me try again...

Now when we last left off, I was eagerly awaiting the arrival of two things, the first being my dear friend from Alabama (Mary), and the second being my wedding shoes. Both were scheduled to arrive together on July 14th. In a surprising turn of events the first “item” (Mary) managed to arrive in the country without being tied up in customs for three decades, the plane filling with smoke, or nearly inciting an international incident (love you Mary!). Granted she did get stranded on the tarmac and it took a little while for her to meet up with my parents, but eventually she did, so all and all a successful flight. Plus her arrival kicked off the start of "Jack and Jill" week! However, today's post is going to focus on the arrival of my beautiful wedding shoes... so I am going to try not get distracted by fun topics like how great the Jack and Jill for Brandon and I was...

Focus Marie! Shoes!

While I am not like Cinderella and have a fetish for glass slippers I was looking for something comfortable that would allow me to dance (and walk!) into the wee hours of the morning without my feet turning into pumpkins (could you imagine?), hence my search and discovery of a great pair of shoes from Zappos. I had them shipped to Mary and she delivered them to my excited hands. Therefore when I returned from work and once hugs (etc...) were exchanged the shoe box was immediately presented and I opened the lid to discover a pair of shoes that were FANTASTIC... I was thrilled! They were exactly what I had ordered and exactly what I had wanted. However, like all best laid plans… as I was turning them over and examining them, I proceeded to remove the stuffing filling the shoe and looked inside, and what to my wondering eyes should appear but a worn-out heel and five black toe prints. Ummm... did I order used shoes?

My shoes looked brand new on the outside, but on the inside looked like they had been through a battle zone... aka another bride's wedding... hmpf (what is it they say about inner beauty?). I pointed the DARK BLACK DIRTY toe prints out to my crew of onlookers (man how these people put up with me is another topic) and they too looked on with shock. Considering I paid full price for NEW shoes one would assume that is what I would receive – silly me! 

Blah! So typical... I am beginning to think that my life is a little like a 1/2 hour sitcom (with the occasional insertion of hour long drama to mix things up). Hence the title for this blog: Off Kilter.

The weird thing about the shoes was that the bottom of the shoe looked brand new, however I have since been informed by my former model friend Elizabeth that a trick of the fashion industry is to put duck tape on the bottom of the shoe to protect it and ensure it keeps a sparkly new look... grief.

Therefore I had to call and ask Zappos "what the heck?". I did manage to get someone that only somewhat sounded frustrated with my call and after MUCH discussion and debate the value of the shoes is being refunded (Mary had to mail them back when she returned to Alabama - Mary have I mentioned how great you are?) and I am getting a credit, which is great as I am Scottish (READ: Cheap). I have been sworn to up and down, and from every other direction that the "great shoe-tastrophe" will not happen again and that the next pair I receive will be brand new... we'll see... I am now REALLY anxious about the situation, however time is a ticking, the shoes were bang on (minus the toe prints…), and what else do I have to loose? (oh right, personal hygiene if the shoes are used again when I receive the next pair, hmpf!).

So that is where I am on the shoe front... I will keep everyone posted, but at this stage I am thinking of cobbling my own pair; it might just be easier! 50 days everyone! GULP!

"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night"... delayed my veil arriving!

WOW - My veil arrived yesterday! Is anyone else impressed? Frankly I was shocked, I figured it would take at least two weeks for it to arrive, but low and behold when I arrived home yesterday there it was, ta da!

It was such a nerve wracking moment... yes, yes, yes, I know, opening a box with a veil inside probably doesn't even make the top 1000 stressful moments in one's life, but I have to say I was quite anxious about the whole online ordering process, as ordering from the website required me to put my trust into an unknown entity... and, as I am sure you can tell from reading the blog, things don't always go 100% smoothly when I am involved. Therefore, the actual purchasing of the veil online was concerning (to say the least).

That is why when I returned home to greet the brown shipping box on the counter all I could do was hold my breath and hope! I opened it slowly and was greeted by millions and millions of Styrofoam packing pieces. I had to laugh as they were coloured pink... once I dug down through the Styrofoam I encountered reams and reams of bright pink tissue paper (apparently pink was the colour of the day!)... then, finally, I reached my veil, so neatly folded in a plastic bag - it looked so small! I held my breath pulled the veil out of the bag and voila! It was beautiful!

I immediately had to fashion it off for my mom and dad (who were waiting with baited breath - due to fear of my reaction, not excitement - LOL) and everyone was thrilled (or at least they pretended they were).

The tiara was also contained in the same shipping box and it too was EXACTLY what I was hoping for. The whole experience was like opening a present (that I paid for, cough, cough) and really made me feel excited and forced me to sit back and think yikes the wedding is just around the corner!

On the shoe front...

My shoes arrived in Birmingham yesterday! Again I am impressed with the postal delivery service! To my understanding my shoes are currently heading to the airport with the one, the only Mary Luck (Mary is flying north of the 49th Parallel to attend our Jack and Jill - Friday, July 16). I am still a little anxious about the shoe situation, but after the success of the veil/tiara am feeling much more reassured about the end product.

Therefore... I am almost done! My shoes will arrive today at approximately 1430 hrs (EST) and will be in my arms.... errr... on my feet shortly thereafter. The next stop is to start the dress alterations tomorrow and from there I guess it will be all down hill - or up hill (which sounds more positive???).

Invitations...

I haven't really spoken that much about invitations as seriously I have been trying to block out the whole invitation experience. Not that I didn't love putting them together with my four fabulous Unit members, and of course my awesome Mom, but it was a little how you say WORK INTENSIVE (LOL)! Seriously I loved the whole process of putting something together for my friends and family, but the cutting of the glue squares in half in order to get them to stick on the ribbon and then having to do it all over again because it still wasn't sticking on the ribbon (among other obstacles, i.e. tracking down addresses!), demonstrated to me the value of e-mail invitations... just think, you save a tree, a stamp, and most importantly your sanity!

However, to be honest... I don't think an e-vite would have given me the same joy I felt when I looked at my final product and thought - wow! I am thrilled with how they turned out (hunter green with MacGregor ribbon, and a Celtic knot) with my very favourite part of the invitation however was the inclusion of a Scottish Gaelic phrase at the top - "Mo Ghradh Bithbhuan" (My Love Forever).

I also love receiving the RSVPs back, especially the ones with a little message to Brandon and I written on them – it excites me to no end and I read them over and over.

Wrapping Up...

The wedding is almost here and things are coming together... I think this weekend's Jack and Jill will really make that feeling come that much more alive. If anyone is interested in tickets, $10 each, please contact my sister at - meganwjc@hotmail.com, or buy them at the door.

Thanks for reading y’all (practicing for Mary to get here from Alabama)... I think the best is yet to come!

(PS I still have to fill everyone in on our big move on Sunday... for now I will say that we made it AND that Brandon loved driving the truck; I guess boys will be boys!).

From my head to my toes I am almost ready to go...

What a day! Okay, okay, I have previously managed to "complain" about the Internet and all the "negatives" it can bring to the average bride... predominately the availability of a never ending supply of ideas that are somewhat unobtainable, but tonight I am going to take a different approach, I am going to applaud the Internet.


So here's the deal... I have had difficulty deciding on a number of items that are kind of critical for the whole getting married process... predominately the item or items that will go on my head and the items that will go on my feet on the 18th day of September (AKA W Day).

Practicing to be a bride... Toronto Bridal Show 2009 

I have been indecisive for a number of reasons, the first being that 4 and a 1/2 inch heels are the fashion of the day and frankly if I am going to be wearing them for somewhere in the neighbourhood of one million hours I don't think it would be a good idea to have stilts on.  The second reason for my indecisiveness is that I am Scottish (read: cheap), and don't feel it is reasonable to pay 1 trillion dollars for a piece of tulle and sequins... Therefore, the search has been on, and in true Marie-ish fashion I have been searching and driving my family, my friends, and my fiancé, a "triple F moment" if there has ever been one, insane.


Therefore I am thrilled to say that as of this moment my shoes and my "head gear" are currently winging their way (driving, sailing, being carried by a messenger pigeon...) to my waiting arms. The ridiculous thing is I am not normally this "wacked" about choosing shoes (etc...), in fact I am typically quite chill about this topic (or at least I like to think so...), but I really struggled finding something that worked.

You like???

Therefore, I scoured a number of bridal stores and then turned to the Internet. I have to thank my Unit member Lorraine for being such a great source of advice, and encouraging me to look online. At first I was really nervous about ordering what I consider pretty important items from virtually unknown entities, but now I am 100% in support. My shoes I ordered off www.zappos.com and I have to say the service was absolutely amazing. I called both the Canada 1-800 number and the USA 1-800 number with questions and the service was awesome from both.


So tonight when I got home I was $/"&*%? bent on getting my shoes ordered; I was no longer willing to mess around.  I signed onto the Internet did some Googling and made my decision. However, because of the fact that I needed the shoes ASAP to have my dress altered (Thursday!) I was in a bit of a bind to get them here on time. Therefore I ordered them from Zappos USA tonight and I am impressed to say that they will arrive in Alabama Monday morning.... I am sure you are asking, why Alabama? From there Mary (who lives in Alabama, and is also one of my favourite people) will bring them with her when she travels north of the 49th Parallel on Wednesday and I will have them by Wednesday night (yeah!).

Still practicing... too princess-like?

My veil was another piece of discussion as I really found it hard to look for it before I retrieved my dress from Pennsylvania. Not that I couldn't remember what the dress looked like, but it seemed so far off I couldn't mentally absorb both ideas without them being in the same country. However, waiting till the dress arrived in Canada was problematic as it gave me a limited amount of time to get the whole "look" together. And despite traversing a number of bridal stores (thanks Mom, Megs, and Mallory) to trawling through umpteen gazillion websites (thanks Lorraine) it was difficult for me to imagine what the whole "look" would be. The turning point was when I found a website that sent free samples to locales in the USA (thanks again Mary for being my carrier pigeon ;-). The samples I received allowed me to compare them to my dress and make the best choice (I think!) possible.


I cannot wait for everything to arrive... getting mail is always fun, but let's face it this will be better than ever! 2 months people - 2 months!