Gettin’ Hitched: The Dress

Before we left Australia I took my Mum into a couple of wedding dress shops to have a looksee. On the whole I wasn’t too impressed, and it took some suggestion for me to try things on. Looking at dresses on the rack really doesn’t give you much of an idea of how it might look when you have it on…there are bows hanging here and beads over there that might look altogether too much when the dress is hanging up, but when you put it on it might be just the right amount of embellishment. Unfortunately for me, white has never really been my colour and shades thereof against my pasty white skin tend to make me look washed out. Some are too large, many too small, and most marked with some size not even close to relating to the reality of the bodies on the inside. It’s no bloody wonder that brides are so often on crash diets before their weddings, as the woman in one of the shops kept bringing me size 18 and 20s when I’m much more accustomed to a 14! One 18 was tight, the next was massive…!

So, while I enjoyed the experience with my Mum, and I did despite the above whinging, I have to say, and I think she’d agree, I’ve never really been able to see myself in a wedding dress, full stop.

With this in mind, I wandered passed a number of wedding dress boutiques in Dublin, peering in their windows and dreading the thought of going in without the company of my Mum to whom I could moan when the saleswoman brings in a sample in no way matching the discription of what I’ve suggested while proceeding to tell me it will look much better when it’s on and in my correct size and tucked here and pinned there if only I place an order this afternoon…!

Venturing online was my solution, as if I was going to have to get a dress in Ireland I might as well plan ahead so as to avoid drowing in the masses of tule and taffeta clouding out the boutique windows. It was online that I first came across Candy Anthony, and fell in love immediately! Specifically, this dress inspired my actions hereafter. Based in London, she’s just a hop accross the water, I thought to myself, as I emailed off and asked for an appointment and estimation of how long a dress might take to make. At the same time I did some sums and worked out what I might have been willing to spend on a dress back home, converted it to Euros, then Stirling and had a small coronary,  before deciding that yes, this might be budget-able.

So below is my dress…sort of. It’s a similar shape, with the strapless bodice and a tule pettyskirt underneath, but mine is dark blue with silvery/ivory flowers instead of the red ones you see here.

Snowed In

Finally! And what a way to send off 2009 and ring in 2010! Hooray for snow! Too many exclamation marks, I know, but I am Australian after all!

Gettin’ Hitched

Okay, so it’s probably one of the worst kept secrets in my life just at the moment. Surprise, surprise, Mister Emmet and Miss Stephanie have decided to get hitched! And we’re doing it in Ireland. At least for part 1. Part 2 we hope will be in Australia for the oldies who can’t make it and the young ones who we’d love to have along but for whom we just can’t afford a Euro price tag, nor would we want to put any pressure on as we are well aware of the price of flying from Aus to Eire and back again. So it’s going to be a small do…very small…but hopefully in keeping with our personalities and maintaining some sense of intimacy and togetherness.

So, given it appears to be a tradition amongst female bloggers out there getting hitched, the next few inclusions here on Mental Dexterity will be wedding-y related. But with a bit of a twist, maybe…as we’re doing this wedding on the cheap. Well, trying to anyway. Anyone from Ireland or who has ever been to an Irish wedding will know that the Irish don’t do much by halves, especially since the alleged ‘boom’ time. While I’ve not been to a wedding here in Ireland I can only imagine the expense and debt people go to for their ‘big’, and the bigger the better, day. The Irish bridal magazines are filled with meringue and lace dresses, big cars or horse-drawn carriages and castles, and of course, lavishly decorated churches.

Our initial research revealed that some hotels won’t even talk to you if your guest list numbers less than 200, 150 for some given the ‘recessionary period’, but even then you leave a 2000 Euro deposit for the pleasure of securing your booking. I for one don’t even want to know what the final price is if 2000 Euro is simply the deposit! Needless to say, as lovely as some of these hotel staff tie bows on seats, it’s not very Emmet and Stephanie. Especially given that it’s 5 Euro per bow tied on seat! I for one could care less about bows on seats, red carpets or champagne receptions (champers for the bride and groom only, mind you, the rest of the guests get ’sparking wine’).

Anyway, enough of that, let’s start at the beginning. On 4 April 2009 Mister Emmet asked me to marry him on our way back from the Pyrmont Good Living Grower’s Market, which had become a staple in our calendars. I had known it was coming as we’d been looking at rings and learning all there was to know (okay, the basics anyway) about shiny, shiny diamonds. Keen students we were and at exam time we chose a beauty! One gorgeous shiny white diamond delivered from the US to Cerrone who set it in a six claw high setting white gold ring made ’specially for me.

The ball, as it were, had started rolling.

Next time….the dress.

Miss Tatiana

In an overwhelming bout of creativity I spent part of my Sunday afternoon photographing the very lovely (and importantly, photogenic) Tatiana. Here are the results!

My New Etsy Store

I’ve discovered a cure for cold nights (and days) indoors…stitching with buttons!

I’ve taken to making button embellished headbands and selling them on Etsy.com, which is an awesome sight bringing the handicrafts marketplace directly to you via the interweb! Below are some of my wares. Please visit my store ButtonsAndCards!