Saturday, March 19, 2011

betcha can't guess what i wore on my head

tonight i stumbled across the show "say yes to the dress" which, in case you don't know, is a reality show where they film women coming into a bridal shop with their family and friends & trying to find the perfect wedding gown. there's lots of drama and a whole lot of white fluff.

it made me think back to 13 years ago when i was planning my wedding. chris was in school and working as many hours as he could, so we didn't see very much of each other. i'd moved back home to save money, so i was spending a lot of time with my mom as we worked through all the arrangements. i never wanted to have a big wedding. i wasn't a girl who dreamed of it all her life. i'd always sort of thought that i'd run off & elope one day, but i was talked into having a wedding after all.

i did NOT want a big, fluffy dress. i didn't want beads, sequins, sparkles or glitz. i didn't want to go totally hillbilly & get married in denim either. i wanted something simple and smallish that i could afford to pay for myself. my parents paid for the wedding stuff, but i wanted to pay for anything i wore on my body, so it needed to be reasonably priced.

it was hard to find just the right dress in any of the bridal shops because they were all too fancy for me, but i finally found one in a department store. actually, it was in the prom section, but whatever. it was long & white & had a small train, so i can't imagine anyone wearing it for a prom.

once the dress was decided upon, i needed to figure out what to do on my head. hair up or down? veil? tiara? nothing? these are important decisions when you'll be looking at the pictures of that moment for the rest of your life. we looked at a lot of different veils and headpieces, but i wasn't really sure i even wanted one and they cost between $60 and $200 bucks. my mom is very crafty and has done a lot of sewing, so she convinced me that we should consider making our own veil.

we found a portion of veily material at michaels craft store. it was longer than i'd thought i would like, but seemed pretty enough. however, it still needed to be attached to something. we bought a string of fake pearls & took our goodies home to play with them & see if we could make something good enough to wear down the aisle.

we cut a piece of cardboard into a sort of long, ovalish shape, figuring we could hook the veil onto the bottom of it. we cut a piece of lining out of one of my little sisters' dress-up dresses that was white & silky to cover the cardboard. we thought we'd string the little pearls around the outer edge to make it look prettier, but it still needed something to make the cardboard piece thicker & look less like a silk covered slice of cardboard.

we thought about it & tried a few things & then suddenly, there was a light bulb moment. that piece of cardboard was exactly the same size and shape as a maxi-pad! mom ran for the nearest box of pads & while the 2 of us laughed ourselves into pants-piddling hysteria, we wrapped that hunk of cardboard with a couple of pads. it was totally convenient, they were already sticky on the one side, ready to stick right down and stay in place. flexible, with wings! we wrapped them in the strip of chopped out and ironed dress-up silk and then hot glued it all in place. we sewed the pearls around the edge and when it was done, no one would have ever known that i was walking down the aisle to marry my beloved with a couple of maxi-pads stuck on my head.

and i've got to be honest, this is one of the best memories i have of my wedding. i can't even think of it without getting a fresh giggle. 

34 comments:

  1. That is the best! So creative! LOL. You too look adorable by the way.

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  2. I totally meant two not too. I do know the difference.

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  3. That is so funny! Don't think I've ever heard of that before. Whatever works!

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  4. Very creative.

    And on another note my 10 year old son loves that "Say yes to the dress" show. He would kill me if he knew I said that on the internet.

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  5. LOL.. No one could have imagined.. So ingenious.. Those pics are so lovely..

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  6. I'm telling my wife because she's going to pee her pants. You. Are. The. Coolest.

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  7. No one can ever say that you don't think outside of the box.

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  8. Can't say I was expecting that! What a great use of creative talent and maxi pads! Too funny, thanks for sharing!

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  9. Hilarious! And very creative! I made my own veil to (Not with maxi pads though) LOL!

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  10. Ha! Wonderful.. I am laughing so hard. Very creative and you are probably the first to do that one!
    :)

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  11. LOL! ya'll are so resourceful!

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  12. THAT....is awesome. Bonus? If you got all nervous & sweaty? Instantly absorbed!
    You will "always" remember that day ;)

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  13. That takes the (wedding) cake...perhaps some jewel encrusted tampon earrings to complete the ensemble?

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  14. Oh, that is just hilarious! I know you laugh every time you see that picture. As for me, I never would have thought, "Hey, that looks like a feminine hygiene product on the top of Sheriln's head." unless you told us. The back story to pictures often makes for some great memories.
    Maxi Pads-more uses than a roll of duct tape! They can fix everything from a broken heart to the crack of dawn!

    @Melissa: If you kept it "too," that would have probably beenokay. Maybe Sherilin's husband wouldn't like being called 'adorable.' ;-)
    @Oilfield: No worries. Between you and millions of people all over the world, your son's secret is safe!

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  16. Okay, so "millions" may have been a slight exaggeration.
    But, anyway, it's a LOT!

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  17. Sherilin . . . that is hilarious! I had never heard that story. You are sooooooooooo much like me. I am now thinking of all sorts of ways to use those darn items that are no longer needed by me post-op. Hmmmmm. And yes, you did look gorgeous on your special day. I love that show, by the way!!!!!

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  18. Oh my gosh, that is hilarious! And how cool that if it rained you knew your veil was water absorbant;-)

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  19. Ps. you look GORGEOUS in those photos!

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  20. That is so funny! You look beautiful in the photos, and no one would ever guess you had a couple of maxipads on your head!

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  21. Fresh giggle.... too funny. Did you keep it or dispose of it? ;)

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  22. You brightened my day enormously. Such a resourceful mom. Your photos are beautiful, glowing with much love.

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  23. Hilarious, Sherilin. Truly hilarious. Geez, the only ones in my cupboard are so long you'd be able to tie them under your chin as well.

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  24. Talk about resourceful! That's priceless!

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  25. it's funny, i posted a link to this post on facebook & i had several people who know me very well & even one who was in my head who commented that they'd never heard this story. i guess at the time, i wasn't prepared to share it with the world because i wouldn't have wanted people watching me strut my stuff down the aisle to be thinking about the pads on my head. and it's a good thing it didn't rain because they probably would have swollen up & gotten waterlogged & given my dirty little secret away.
    sprite, what did you make yours out of? any random household items?
    and al, i'd like to think there are millions, but i suspect not so much. though, i've gotten a ton of hits on this post already today. way more than normal, so it's likely to make it to my top 10 list.
    amy, i have no idea if i still have it or not. i still have my wedding dress crammed in my closet, but the veil isn't with it. i guess it was disposable in a proper container.

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  26. Besides the fact that you gave me the best laugh today, I have to say my friend, you are so gorgeous, both inside and out darlin! xxoo

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  27. Okay, first of all, beautiful veil, beautiful bride. But that story had me completely cracking up. A very good idea though since it would have also come in handy if you had sustained a head injury tripping as you walked down the aisle! (that particular scenario was running through me head constantly right before my wedding)

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  28. You were beautiful!!
    You are a Hoot! A very Creative Hoot!

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  29. My wedding was so long ago, I've blocked at the arrangements out.

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  30. That is hilarious! Thank you for the laugh today, I needed it :)

    Next time I need to get creative, I'm gonna call you for ideas.

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  31. You still looked absolutely stunning...even if you were packin' pads ;) great story! <3 it.

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  32. You look amazing! I did a lot of crafting for my wedding, and those items turned out to be the items that stuck out the most and got the best compliments. And you couldn't find those things anywhere! Totally unique. Stopping by from the Lady Blogger's Society, and I dig your blog! Keep 'em coming!

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  33. Mother is the necessity inventor! Looks fabulous to me! This cracks me up! On a side note, on our rehearsal dinner day I had to wear a strapless that wouldn't stay up so I decided to stick it to me... With black electrical tape. Yeah....I'm a classy girl.

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don't let me be the only one doing the talking around here. spill your guts!