Southern Sweethearts: Becoming a Blushing Bride

The day had finally arrived!

I awoke sleep-deprived and very confused because there were some weird noises coming from the bathroom. The other girls woke up to the same noise and we realized my MOH was taking a bath in the enormous tub. We had a good laugh and joked about her sounding like a trapped dolphin splashing around.

Soon after that, my FSIL called to tell us she was on the way to take me to my hair appointment. She had opted to stay at her house the night before and was bringing my dress and shoes when she came to pick me up. But she couldn't find the shoes (which were supposed to be with the dress) and so began the Great Missing Louboutins Saga! And just to start the day off with a little more drama, the only place FSIL could find to do my hair was across town, costing us precious hours off my wedding day timeline. But at least the salon did a fabulous job on my hair!


When we got back to the hotel, I opened the door to chaos.


The room was FULL of people bustling around. The photographers and videographers were there, all the maids, my mom, FMIL, and makeup artist. Thirteen people crammed into the room, eight of whom were trying to get ready for a wedding. It was a bit overwhelming, but so exciting at the same time.


Because the hair salon was so far away, we got a bit of a late start with makeup and photos. I had hoped to be able to use the getting ready time as a chance to relax and take in the day, but all I could do was think about all the things that still needed to be done and the stuff I knew wasn't going to get done. I also wanted to eat lunch and drink my Sofia Mini Blanc de Blancs wine I purchased for the gals while getting ready. No such luck. :(

I didn't get to eat (other than two glazed donuts on the ride to the hair salon) and didn't want to drink on an empty tummy before the wedding. Ladies, no matter what, find time to eat!


We had a hard time with one of the false lashes. It took what seemed like forever to make it stick!


Finally! Makeup was done! And Jules did a fabulous good job as well! I was officially a "blushing bride". :D

I also got a chance to take a few quick sips from my Sofia mini (because I didn't spend $4 a pop on them NOT to get at least a sip!). AND because I'm the Bride, that's WHY! :P


As soon as I was done in the bathroom, the other gals took over and sped to get ready.

One of the few times MOH Amanda sat down during the day. But notice, she has phone in hand, probably getting ready to touch base with the DOC again. She was my lifesaver!

I can't remember much from the getting ready, but the one thing I DO remember is being on the phone with the boys A LOT. I called from all the girls' phones trying to catch the boys off guard and get in contact with my soon-to-be-hubby. But they had a similar "no-phone" policy for Mr. Lab, and I kept getting groomsmen. I tried my best to see how far along they were in getting ready so we could start photos, but I kept getting the run-around.

Turns out, they didn't realize I was being serious about the formal photos because they thought one of our photographers was going to be showing up to take photos of them getting ready first. But that never happened, so they kept putting off getting ready not realizing no one was coming. They didn't finally get dressed until they found out we were on our way to take photos in a nearby park. Ah, drama drama drama. :)


I helped the other girls into their dresses while eying my own. I put on my accessories while the girls made finishing touches to their outfits.


And then it was time to add the ultimate finishing touch to my wedding day attire. The dress:


But you'll have to wait until next time to see me in it. ;)

Okay okay! I won't leaving you hanging completely:


*All photos by Lindsi Jones Photography. Some images have been slightly altered by moi.

Previously on Southern Sweethearts:
Southern Belles Do Tea
A Rude Vendor Interrupts Our Rehearsal
We Have Dinner on the Savannah River
A Spooky Ghost Tour and My Last Fling
Our Wedding Trailer
Next Up: I Shimmy Into My eBay Dress!

The Anchor Do.

Happy New Year everyone!

Oh wait, I missed it?

Yeeeaaah.... it's been a minute. You know, I always wondered why some of the Bees blamed married life for their absence in the recap world. Aren't they busiest DURING the wedding planning?!?

Well, now that I'm on the other side of the fence, I suddenly get it! If you think about it, we usually plan our weddings around other life changing events. My wedding happened to coincide with graduation, a new job, and a move to another city. I'm currently living apart from Mr. Lab (again!) while he finishes his classes and I settle into my new job. A new job that I'm in my 3rd week of and already racked up nearly 15 hours of overtime...

So my point is, believe the Bees when they blame married life for the lapse in posting! (And blame the pro photos taking forever to come in!)

Anyhoo, I'm here to discuss a common topic post-wedding: the CHOP. As in, the post wedding haircut. Yup, I gots me one! But not for the reasons that most new wives do.

I took the plunge for my chosen career path.

As a television reporter, long hair isn't very fun around a microphone clipped to your collar. You constantly have to adjust your hair and still run the risk and it brushing the mic and making funny noises on air. Not to mention, shorter hair just looks more professional on TV (unless you have your own personal stylist which I have not had the luxury of acquiring at this point in my very young career).

So I went from this:




To this:

(Excuse the gross non-made up face. This was EARLY in the morning!)

The best part was that my haircut was FREE! My MIL's boyfriend's daughter Caitlin is in cosmetology school and offered to cut it for me. Yeah, I know that was a HUGE risk, but this girl is one of the most stylish people I know and I had a gut feeling that she just knew what she was doing. I had 1000% faith in her and wanted to give her a chance to hone her skills. Well, my risk paid off!

What Caitlin was working with. My hair is naturally curly and it gets even curlier without the weight of the extra length.

It ended up shorter than I originally wanted but she did such a good job that I wasn't cringing at all with the result. The worst part was the first snip:

R.I.P. Hair

And although I did it for the "anchor do", I was ready for a change. It's been 5 years since I've had anything other than a trim. I'm loving the new cut!


And if I ever long for the long hair again, I'll just break out my GaGa wig. ;)


Are you planning to get a PWC (post-wedding chop)? Will it be for a change or for a job?

My Very Own Big Arse Hair Flower

Okay, so mine isn't as big as Mrs. Perfume's, but I still love it! Especially since it's semi-homemade!

I purchased my peony fascinator from Etsy Seller EnchantedlyYours for only $16.50 shipped, but I wasn't really feeling the rhinestone center when it arrived.


So I decided to do something about it. I found some cheap (like $2!) crafting beads at Michael's that included white, ivory, and light pink pearls in a variety of sizes. I chose the variety pack because I didn't know which color or size I would end up liking.


First, I carefully removed the rhinestone center using a spoon to pry it from its hot glue setting.


After I had removed the rhinestone, I played around with different bead coloring and sizes to see what combo I liked the most. I used the now empty center to arrange them before committing to the glue gun. I ended up choosing the white pearls because the light pink didn't look like what I had pictured in my head. Good thing I went with the variety pack!


Once I was happy with an arrangement, I made a pool of glue in the center.



I had to work quickly to set the pearls in place. I used tweezers to place the beads in a position where their holes (for threading) wouldn't show.



I didn't like the simple 6 pearl setting, so I added some of the smaller beads until I had something I liked.


All done! I used 6 big pearls as the base, then built on it using another layer of medium pearls (5), then one small pearl at the center on top.


And because I did this right after a workout, there was no way I was going to take a picture of my semi-DIY fascinator in my nasty hair. Luckily, my yellow Labrador, Dixie, was sitting nearby. She became my reluctant model.


But she's camera shy and quickly ran off to hide under the coffee table...


I love my big arse hair flower! And I saved about $45 to comparable hair pieces like the one below!

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