Enter Bridezilla

I know it’s been a while since my last post, and, I apologize. But I’m here now to tell some of the story of the last few weeks up to my wedding. (before I forget)

I was hoping to have all of my last minute planning done before my family arrived on June 5th, but, there’s a reason they call it ’last minute’. I told everyone I wasn’t going to be a bridezilla and that everything would run smooth as silk. Shya! That lasted about .6 seconds when I realized I had to schedule a nail appointment, full body waxing, clean my house from top to bottom, grocery shop for 6 people, and trot my family and friends around Ireland as a tour guide. Not to mention the fact that the guest toilet stopped flushing, the hot water tank only heats water in this house when the heat is on (heat on in June, not going to happen) so the guest shower was out of the question, and the fridge was on the fritz. I don’t own a coffee pot and Americans just don’t do instant, so begrudgingly my family choked down as much as they could before letting me know it just wasn’t kosher. Luckily I have a coffee press so that did in a pinch. I was asked about the currency conversion so many times that I have a formula memorized to calculate any amount. And if I heard one more complaint about how much it rains here or the fact that clothing, that I told them not to bring a lot of, couldn’t be worn because it’s too cold, I was going to lose it. And people wonder why I had a nervous breakdown.

Deep breath…

Now for the good news. We did have a few days of wonderful weather and luckily the rain held out long enough for me to get my hair done and then run over to the spa for makeup. But before I get into that I’m going to back up and tell you a few things I did to plan my wedding day before my family arrived.

Shoes…

Trying to find shoes in Ireland was a trip. I went to every store in Ennis, Galway, and Limerick only to end up buying them on the internet. Apparently you can’t buy a decent pair of shoes in this country under €95. The one bridal store I ventured into in Ennis had a cute pair of strappy rhinestone shoes. But when I put them on my feet swam in them. My feet were too narrow for these shoes! Then under some good lighting I noticed they weren’t even white. They were almond, or eggshell, or whatever people call it these days. I asked the woman working there if they came in white. She then informed me, now hang on to your hat for this one, that I had to get a piece of my dress and mail it, and the shoes, to Belfast for them to be dyed the right color. Dyed? What do you mean dyed? How do you dye a shoe white? Bleach maybe, but how many shades of white are there? It screamed of scam and when I told my dress alter-er the tale she looked at me like I was crazy. She had never heard of dying shoes white either. Oh and the best part is it would cost me another €35 to get them “dyed” plus shipping. Hey I’m the frugal bride, remember? 

So bottom line is I got my shoes online at My Glass Slipper and had them shipped to my Mom in Florida. It’s an American website and they don’t ship overseas. Athough if you know one of the 300 million Americans with an address, maybe you can ship it to them and have them post it to you.  

 

These are my babies. They were only $48 plus $10 in shipping. With the conversion rate my shoes cost a whopping total of €36. Now that’s a bargain.

Veil…

The veil was easy. Although it took months of searching and debating about what style, length, and place to buy it from. I finally settled on having one made by my alter-er. Now I don’t always recommend this as the price could become ridiculous, especially for what you’re getting. Mine was very simple and elegant, but hugely overpriced. It was a mid waist length piece of material that was sewn to a comb. Nothing fancy, no jewels, embroidery, or even an edging and it cost me €75. Thankfully the shoes were such a bargain that it made up of for the staggering price of the veil. Although it’s now something I can’t brag about getting for a steal. Should’ve bought it from David’s Bridal in the States and had it brought over with Mom. Ah bygones.

All Other Accessories…

The ring pillow, garter, and other bits and bobs were brought over by my family as well. One accessory that wasn’t incidental but most important was my wedding ring set. As I mentioned in a previous post my Mother bequeathed my Grandmothers set to me. It’s a gorgeous round stone with 3 channel set diamond on each side set in white gold with a delicate matching band. The set is almost 70 years old and it looks amazing. I was very pleased to find that they fit perfectly and didn’t need sizing at all.  We purchased Anton’s ring in Galway and he wouldn’t allow me to spend loads on it so we compromised and spent what we felt was fair.