I’m a casual girl.  I very rarely wear make-up, and if I do, it’s just a touch of mascara.  My hair is just as minimalist.  If it’s not pulled back into a simple braid, it’s down – running wild and free.  So when it came to gussying-up for my wedding, I really couldn’t imagine a whole lot of gussy.  I certainly would not be the kind of bride who had professionals come and make me pretty for my big day.  Or would I?

Make-up was easy.  All I had to recall was a trip to a mall make-up counter in Long Beach with my nieces, Kelli and Jess, several years ago.  I had flown them to California (from Boston) for a day of back-to-school shopping.  Extravagant?  Perhaps it looks that way, but I was also employed at an airline, so it didn’t cost me a dime to get us there and back.  At the end of the shopping spree we hit up a make-up counter in Macy’s for a makeover.  We ended up boarding our plane that night looking like a few girls that were working the strip.  Needless-to-say, I had no desire to allow someone to clown me up for my wedding, let alone pay someone to do such a thing.  I decided that I would only wear taupe eyeliner and brown/black waterproof mascara.  Many folks thought I should wear some foundation or concealer at the very least, as it would even out my complexion for the photographs, but I opted not to and don’t think it really made any difference in my photos.

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No matter how often you tell yourself that you will NOT go bridezilla on your wedding day, there just might be a little disturbance that you are not prepared for… and it can spark something inside that you swore wouldn’t light on fire!! YEP, I had a bridezilla moment! Emotion of the moment?! FRUSTRATION!!

I was soooo frustrated with my husband when, after our moment of bliss during our first look, we started to head outside to get our modeling on! You already know it was raining, but since we had a spent a few minutes inside doing our first look, the weather seemed to have calmed down a bit, but it was still drizzling, and definitely still a bit messy from the early RAIN!! So, I waited patiently outside with an umbrella, while our peeps figured out the vehicles. We knew in advance that we needed 4 wheel drive to access one of the photo-shoot locations, and we (hubs and I) had already decided that we would be driving his truck (convenient right?!). Well, you can imagine my surprise when he informed me that he had left his truck at the hotel, and that we would be taking his best man’s jeep… not that big of a deal right?!

My mom came out to help and make sure I didn’t get dirty…

(I think he knew he was about to get in trouble…)

Well, let’s just say that the Jeep was NOT CLEAN?!?! and… out came bridezilla! I was pissed right off… oh wait, I am using the slightly less dramatic term “frustrated”, but let’s face it ladies, I was pissed! Um, what part of WHITE DRESS did he not understand?!? So, after catching sight of the interior…

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Courtesy F22 Studio

It takes a village to dress a bride? In my case, yes. One of my favorite features of my dress is the cascade of pearl buttons down the back. Sure, there’s a zipper, but the buttons are functional and also impossible to fasten on your own. Plumeria Sisters-In-Law to the rescue! Though I didn’t have traditional bridesmaids, both ladies were invaluable in helping on my wedding day and I can’t thank them enough. Look at what I put them through:

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