My Glass Slippers

(Photo Courtesy of Yahoo!Movies)

Cinderella made it look so easy, she just slipped on the glass slipper and knew it was perfect. I on the other hand, am having no such luck. I've started looking for Wedding shoes and sometimes feel as though I'm searching in vain. There are days when I look, and it seems like nothing is right, but there other days when I see half a dozen pairs that I think are adorable.

I have some criteria for what I want, but I'm even wishy-washy on those too! I'm almost as tall as my FI, but he has a good 3 inches on me, so I think I'd prefer a lower heel for comfort and to not be too tall. But, at the same time being taller than him on the Wedding day doesn't really bother me or him. Low or High Heels? Open-toed or Closed-toed? White/Ivory or Metallic? All are good questions... that I don't have answers to! At some point I've flip-flopped (hmmm... flip flops, yet another choice?) between them all!

I didn't really think about shoes for the wedding until I was perusing the Real Weddings section of The Knot and came across these fab shoes. I thought that the bow was a bit over the top, but also really adorable... and then when I found out that they were Kate Spade, my heart sank. Because although Kate Spade makes adorable shoes, they ain't cheap! Especially at about $250, yikes! I am quite the shoe addict, but I don't need them that bad.




But, I kept looking... and ended up finding them on ebay (glorious, glorious ebay!), as well as another pair of Kate Spade Shoes that I loved, and they were both much cheaper than the retail price. The ones above are the Kate Spade Nuptial Shoes, and these ones below are the Kate Spade Monarch Shoes.


I think both are adorable, but I'm not sure if I want close-toed shoes like the Nuptial ones, and the Monarch ones are a bit high... I would probably prefer a lower heel.

In addition to Kate Spade, J.Crew's shoes have also stolen my heart. There's a few different styles that I absolutely love, which isn't surprising because J.Crew shoes are normally either what I'm pining after, or my latest case of buyer's remorse.

This first pair is similar to the Kate Spade Nuptial Shoes. Its closed toe, lower heel, with a big bow (not quite as big)... this is also another one that can be found on ebay if you look at the right time. This image below is from The Knot.



I don't now if I'm sold on these next shoes for the entire day, they're cute satin ballet flats that I would maybe switch into for the reception if I end up going with high heels for the Ceremony, and are also from J.Crew.


And finally... I've saved the best for last. When I first started looking for shoes, I looked only at white satin... but I was perusing J.Crew (again, I'm obsessed) and thought, why not metallic? These ones are definitely the front runner. I love that they're metallic gold, its a bit different. I have considered some bold or bright color, but I must confess I might be too chicken to wear something bright. So without further ado, here's my favorite...


And now... I'm waiting. I'm hoping that they will either go down a bit more in price, or that I'll get a J.Crew gift card for Christmas, or that my wildest dreams would come true, and BOTH would happen. But we'll see, there may be some other shiny things that catch my eye...

The Day That Wasn't

"The day that wasn't", that's what my FI likes to call the first time he tried to propose to me, and I stood him up. In my defense, I didn't know!

Its a beautiful, sentimental story... almost. I work as a Campus Minister for the college that we both did our undergraduate work at. When we were students last Spring, he tried to propose to me on a Friday afternoon in March, but his beautiful plans were squashed by my flightiness, or rather a random appointment I scheduled with my academic adviser...

My FI was planning on incorporating one of my favorite prayer practices into our engagement, its also a very symbolic one, and one that I realized is perfectly suited for a marriage proposal. Its called a Labyrinth which is a meandering, but purposeful path that winds in toward the center, and then out again. Walking the Labyrinth is supposed to help quiet the mind and move the soul toward healing. "Its not a maze (there aren't any tricks or dead ends)".

The Labyrinth's pathway is located in the center of the Church under the altar. Here is a picture of our Labyrinth about 10 years ago when the Church was built, it looks way different now. (There are tapestries, and other artwork that have been added)

The experience is different for each person, but often times incorporates three different parts/processes.

Letting Go

The Labyrinth represents a "letting go" of all the daily concerns that frustrate or consume us. "It is releasing, emptying, quieting" of the soul. Its also a way of letting ourselves "drift out of conscious focus". For me this is crucial, I have a hard time doing this daily, I'm always go go go, and when I have a hard time doing this on my own, my FI challenges me to s l o w d o w n, and realize that so many of the things I worry about aren't as dramatic as I tend believe.

Illumination

"Such a long winding path is so illogical. We do not know that we have arrived at the center until we actually arrive". This is true so many times of life. Often times its surprising (at least I know it is for me), but when we come with an open heart and quieted mind, we find the truest answer. With our relationship, it was kind of the same way... I didn't know that I was falling in love with him until I already had (so sappy, but so true).

Integration/Union

This is typically the third part of the Labyrinth prayer experience. It is "a time of meditation and empowerment... and incorporating insights gained." At this point you have typically reached the physical center of the labyrinth, "... each (person) is invited, empowered, even pushed to be more authentic and take the risks needed to manifest our gifts for the world." How beautiful, right? I feel that this is not only true of an individual person's pathway, but that invitation to live more authentically, to take risks is crucial to relationships.

The Labyrinth is a feature not normally heard of in Church architecture and structure. The one at the church I work at is modeled after the one of the famous cathedrals, in Chartres (one of the most beautiful Gothic-style cathedrals in the world). And is identical to the Labyrinth inside the Riverside Church (also a gorgeous church) in New York.

(These two above are of the breathtaking Chartres Cathedral)

(These two are from Riverside, which is an interdenominational church in NY)

For the proposal, he had planned on waiting for me to come to the Church, there are certain days that are designated as "Labyrinth Days", where the play instrumental music, and people can come in and walk/pray the Labyrinth all day long, and wisely anticipating I would go there my FI waited for me to call to let him know I was going to go, so that he knew when to meet me for lunch afterwards. Instead of meeting me for lunch, he was going to go and stand in the center of the Labyrinth, while I walked (well, I would probably have run this time!) the winding path. But I stood him up. Bummer. Soon I'll post on the real proposal...


(The information for this post is courtesy of Veriditas, and if you want to learn more about the Labyrinth Prayer Experience I definitely recommend checking out their website.)

Takin' Care of Business

I have the day off!

What a rare thing, since I normally work 7 days a week! I'm planning on working on my grad school applications today, cleaning, and of course trying to get some serious planning done. But first, I took a personality test on Personal DNA ... apparently I am a "Benevolent Creator", that has a nice ring to it, eh?

Hot Mama!

I must say, I absolutely love Ann Taylor and their fabulous Celebrations Collection. Not only did I score my 'maids dresses there, but my mom's too. Without much (any) hassle, which surprised me. It was almost too simple! Especially since I know this can be almost as tough as picking out the wedding dress. But without further ado, here is what my mom will be sportin' on the big day:


Its simple, elegant and comfortable. Three things that I know my mom will appreciate for such a long day. Its also way long on her, she's only about 5 foot tall, so there will be some hemming involved. The only critics of the dress were my sisters, they were hoping for something shorter, because my mom does have some rockin' gams for a middle-aged woman, but I think she'd prefer a longer dress.

And while this dress was pretty easy to pick, the mother attire is far from over. I still have to see what my FMIL and F(step)MIL come up with. But they're pretty fashion savvy, so I'm not too worried.

STDs... The Good Kind!

Only in the Wedding World would a sweet little girl like me proudly proclaim that yes, I finally have my STDs! For those who haven't been sucked into the Wedding World, and its bountiful supply of acronyms STDs= Save The Dates.


We ordered them from VistaPrint in November. I have to admit, I was a bit nervy a few weeks ago when I read the Weddingbee boards about some sketchy reviews of the company. But I must say, ours turned out wonderful, especially at such an inexpensive cost. Below, I've included pictures of the actual STDs and the price breakdown as well.



Yes I know that the "filmstrip" idea is a bit cliche, but its cliche for a reason right?! Because its so darn cute! We want to incorporate pictures into our big day as much as possible, on the guestbook table, dessert table, and as a part of our table numbers. We (and by "we" I really mean I) would love to have a photo booth at our wedding, but its at least $1000 and that's a lot of ca$hmoney for our budget. But I can still lust after this local photo booth company that I found on The Knot In Your Area, right?

Anyways... enough babbling and down to the $$$. The postcards themselves normally cost $7.95 for 100, but we were able to get them for "free". I put that in quotes, because they charged us $5 per picture we uploaded, so they really cost us $20, plus shipping & taxes, which came out to about $28. Since we had them done as postcards they will only be 26 cents, and will end up costing us only $54 (54 cents each). Which isn't a bad deal if I do say so myself!