Shared: I got married, y'all!

Sorry for the sudden disappearance!  Things got so hectic before the wedding, especially since I was also putting together a family reunion and holiday celebration for that same weekend. 

But everything went off without any major glitches, a fun weekend was had by all (well, most LOL), and the end result was a marriage.  I call it successful. :)

I have more of a post planned but it will likely be after the first of the year.

In the meantime, here a few sneak peek snapshots others took the day of the wedding.  We should get our professional pics sometime next month.

Hope everyone had a great holiday and have a fabulous New Year!

My sister and nephew helping set up - she did an AWESOME job!

My mom snapped this while the photographer was working her magic

I never know what to do with my face in pictures

Seriously, I always look surprised (my co-worker/friend was copying me) LOL

End of the night.  My flask is filled with Nerds candies and that's a Pepsi Max in the can.
I was exhausted yet hyper all day.  :)

Shared: Wedding - Comic Book Table Runners

44 days to the wedding!  I can't believe it is almost here.  Fortunately, now that I have the table runners done, there's not too much left to do before hand except put together the loot bags (in lieu of favors) and get Andy's suit fitted when it comes in.  He got a custom made suit in dark charcoal grey.  It's really nice!

There's a ton to do for the wedding weekend with our families but that's mostly food related and can't be done until right before we check into the rental house.

I am really happy with the way our runners turned out!  Because our apartment is tiny and we don't have a lot of floor or table space, I came into work last Saturday and used one of the conference rooms to make these.

First, I cut some cheap contact paper to size.  The design was not important because this is going to be on the back so I just got the cheapest I could find on Amazon.  The paper is 18" wide so I cut in half then cut it into 35" lengths.  I need each runner to be a bit over 36" to allow for overlap on the tables.  (Some of the tables are 6' long but 3' runners are easier to manage!)

Once those were cut, I removed the backing from each strip, laid it sticky side up, then arranged the comic book pages in a planned-random pattern.  I wanted it to look random but I also needed them to be within the right width and I kept on eye on color placement, which way the text was pointing, and splitting up like characters.  I know those are details that only I would notice but since I would notice it, I wanted to prevent it. :)

After the contact paper was covered, I used double-sided tape to add a few pages to the top as well as stick down any loose corners.

Once I had one done to my liking, I used it as a sort of template to keep the dimensions close on the rest of them that I made.  For the comic book pages, I used The Flash and Flashpoint (his favorites) plus Invader Zim and I Hate Fairyland (my favorites).  It was really sad cutting apart those books!

Because I had already cut up the books during a previous weekend, it took me less than 4 hours to make all 13 runners.  I still need to figure out how to safely transport these from the apartment to the rental house to the wedding venue without folding them.  Right now, they are stacked on top of one another and draped over the backs of a couple chairs that are also holding other wedding items.

I have a few ideas but would love suggestions! :)

Shared: Wedding - Our Rings

We finally got our wedding rings!!!  Yay!!!  I am especially excited because they took 8 weeks to get here from the time we ordered them, but that's because they were custom made from Brent & Jess.  And they turned out better than I had imagined!

Puffy fingers are puffy!

My ring is on the left.  It has his fingerprint to the left of the heart and mine on the right.  His ring has my fingerprint, too, but it's hidden.

I ended up stumbling across the perfect trinket box on Amazon for us to use to hold our rings during the ceremony, too!

He loves steampunk things and I love anatomical things plus we both have a thing for decorative boxes so this worked out to be a perfect blend.  Kind of like us.  (Awwwww....!!!)

I stuck a piece of fake black fur inside just to keep the rings from clanging around.

The fur is actually from a purse that I accidentally ordered from Wish.  I have no idea how it ended up in my cart ; thankfully it was just a $2 mistake.  But I'm glad I held on to it because I was able to put it good use in the end. :)

After we get married, I am going to retire the ring I always wear on my right ring finger and move the engagement ring over to that hand.

Shared: Wedding - Invitations

Just 75 days until the wedding... it's coming up so fast!  Fortunately, I don't have much left to do, especially since I finally finished my invitations.

Yep, our invitation is a taco!  LOL  If you take a peek back at our Save the Date card, there was a taco hint there, too. :)

I designed/drew these myself, had the pieces professionally printed on cardstock, then cut out all the moving parts.  That last part was kind of a bitch but thankfully we are only inviting about 40 people and only needed 19 invitations total.

I am so, so, so happy with the way the pieces fit together!  I was so scared that they wouldn't once they were printed.

The RSVP card is separate and we included the stamp separately with the words "Want a free stamp?" because we also have an online RSVP form as well.  Here's a screenshot of the RSVP card:

It's hard to to tell in the pics but the RSVP card is actually the same color and textured-design as the the "taco shell" of the invitation.  The "wild bears" are also an in-joke because we are using my Bearly Dreadfuls as centerpieces. :)  I doubt anyone will get it but it made me giggle.

The seals for the envelopes have the same textured-design as well.

I can't/shouldn't mail these out until the end of the month but I'm just happy that they are finally finished!

A very flattering shot  LOL

As you may have guessed, we are having tacos for our wedding dinner.  :)  We are having them catered by one of our favorite Mexican restaurants, Cielo Blue.

Shared: Wedding - My Dress

I had an MRI yesterday for my knee and, honestly, I am regretting it today.  The MRI itself wasn't bad but I had to lay on my back with my leg in a very uncomfortable position for over an hour.  I couldn't move it at all and I was reduced to tears more than once due to the pain and my whole body hurts today because of it.  Right now, my knee is hovering at about 7 on the pain scale.

My appointment with an orthopedist isn't until the end of the month so I have to deal with this pain for another 4 weeks.

(*sigh*)

So, instead of wallowing in my misery, I want to share my wedding dress.  Yay!  :D

When Andy and I first talked about getting married, I told him I wanted a black corset with a black floor length tutu that had enough tulle to knock over a small child.  He said he wasn't a fan of his bride wearing all black to the wedding and, while that is my typical color palette, I could respect that.  So I changed it to a dark red corset. :)

Because of my size and shape, I knew from experience that I'd likely have to get one custom made so I started pricing them.  Unfortunately, the corset alone was turning out to be more than my $400 budget (I'm a frugal bargain hunter LOL) unless I wanted a leather one (which I didn't).  So after A LOT of online browsing finally settled on this:

from Kiyonna

The fit on me is a little different with the bottom of the dress being less fitted.  I got it at 40% off so the dress was only $113.  I liked the dress okay and tried as I might to love it, I just didn't.  It wasn't what I wanted and it felt so matronly to me.  But I was going to make it work.

Andy was trying to convince me that I should just get what I wanted since it's our wedding day but I just couldn't justify in my mind spending that kind of money on something that I will probably wear up to 3 times in my life.

Then the Wedding Dress Gods smiled upon me.  During lunch one day, I did a Google search for plus size goth clothes so I could do some window shopping and was directed to a post on The Everyday Goth which is a blog I've lurked followed for quite a while.  But since I wasn't in the market for clothes at that time, I forgot she had made this post.

One of the stores she listed was Corset Story.  I didn't have high hopes based on experience with other corset shops online but I found this:

from Corset Story

Not only did it claim to be in a size to fit me, it was also surprisingly inexpensive at just $159 plus $6.50 for shipping.  After checking out their return policy, I decided it was worth a shot and gave it an order.  I tried very hard to not get my hopes up.  I tired and I tried and I tried.  When I got it... it fit perfectly!  Thankfully, Andy knows how to lace up a corset. :)

Then a few days later, I lucked out again during some normal window shopping and found this skirt on Amazon Prime for just $42. :)

from Amazon (comes in a lot of different colors and sizes)

It's not enough tulle to knock over a small child but with the natural padding on my hips and butt, you can't tell.

Since the corset leaves me feeling a bit exposed, I picked up a lace body suit from Torrid for about $36 to wear under it:

from Torrid

I'm not going to count the shipping fee from Torrid because I ordered a few other things from there as well.  Even if you include the dress from Kiyonna that I'm NOT wearing for the wedding, I only spent $356 which is still under my initial $400 budget. :) I will likely change into the "backup dress" during the reception or later in the night when I can't handle being bound up in the corset anymore.

Oh, the shoes!  I don't have them yet but I am going to get these from Hot Chocolate Designs.  I know the red doesn't match the corset but they will be mostly hidden anyway.  Plus, it's a good excuse to add them to my small footwear rotation. ;)

from Hot Chocolate Designs on Amazon

For jewelry and accessories, I am not 100% sure what I will be wearing yet.  I like to have options since my mood changes from one to the next so I have about 3 headpieces, 3 necklaces, and 2 pairs of earrings that I will decide between the day of the wedding.  I already own most of them and only picked up 2 of the head pieces and 1 of the necklaces to add to the option list.  All 3 are from Wish so I only spent about $10 with shipping.  I also have 3 pairs of fancy black lace long fingerless gloves coming from Wish as well.  So maybe $20 total spent on accessories.

All in all, I think I did pretty well with my choices and was able to get what I really wanted.  Yay! :D

Wore: Fancy Dancing Lady

Some days, in my head, I am a fancy lady.  I'm really not and the pics prove it but I like it when I feel fancy.  This dress does that for me.

Dress: SWAK Designs
Bracelet: Wish
Necklace: made by me

It's floor length, hugs the boobages nicely, and flows nicely over the rest of me.  It doesn't cling, either.  The downside is that the fabric doesn't breathe well which kinda sucks in this Atlanta heat.  I'm an indoor kitty that just moves from A/C to A/C anyway, though, so I make do.

I kinda needed the pick-me-up this week.  My right knee started hurting and has been getting worse so I went to urgent care after it kept me up all night; the doctor there just told me it's an arthritis flare up.  I was told in my mid-20's that I had arthritis in my knees and ankles (due to so many injuries from being clumsy) but it's never been this bad.  So I am icing it and taking over the counter pain killers and avoiding foods that cause inflammation.  It's a little better but I still can't walk well without a noticeable limp.

The worst part of the whole thing, though, was the doctor's attitude.  She seemed SO BORED while talking with me, like I was wasting her time.  Her "exam" consisted of poking my knee twice with her index finger then sending me for x-rays.

After her diagnosis she said,  "You are also so..." then puffs out her cheeks and puts her arms & hands out from her sides about a foot "...you have a lot of excess weight which will make your knees worse."

Yep, the doctor mimed to me how fat I am.

I laughed.  Hard.  I have no idea what she said after that.

It's no secret to anyone that I am a big girl.  I don't attempt to hide it and I don't apologize for it.  I love me no matter what size I am and don't let the scale dictate how happy I am.  Sure, I could stand to lose a bunch of weight for health reasons but I am who I am.  I just thought that was extremely unprofessional, though, and the old me from 10+ years ago would have been devastated.

So, topic change: my necklace.  :)  This is one of my fancy lady necklaces that I only wear on special occasions.

I made it myself to wear when I was the matron of honor at my sister's wedding in 2011.  I made it to coordinate with the one I made for HER:

I don't have a picture of it but I also made our mom one that she wore that was a straight strand of beads with just the skully cameo.  I wish I had a picture of my sister's dress on my phone that I could share.  It was a strapless white dress with a black sash tied around the waist and she wore a long sleeve black shrug over it.  It was a good combo of the traditional white that she wanted to wear with her gothy/punky aesthetic.

I am 7 years older than her and when I was 18, I went off to college so she was more-or-less an only child from age 11 and on.  I didn't start embracing my darker side until later in life and it's funny how she and I have turned out to have A LOT of the same tastes.  Unfortunately for me, she is still in Minnesota where we grew up so I don't get to see her (or the rest of family) nearly often enough.

We also ended up going through our separations and subsequent divorces at around the same time which we both thought was interesting.

Do you wear anything specific if you need a mood booster?

Shared: Wedding - Save The Date Cards

Today our Save The Date cards are going out in the mail.  Yay!  I'm so excited!  I designed and drew this myself to fit with the comic book aspect of our wedding.

Designed and drawn by ME! :D

Because we are getting married close to Yule/Christmas, we wanted to give people a head's up so they can plan accordingly.  We would have preferred to get married on 12/21 (the solstice) but that's in the middle of the week and too close to Christmas.

We don't have any specific theme for our shindig so it's incorporating stuff we both like: comic books, rainbows, my Bearly Dreadfuls (a few of them were posted here), and tacos.  Yes, tacos and not just for the food. More about all that in a later post!

I guess we unofficially decided our "theme" was just going to be stuff we liked and I wanted our Save The Date to give a little sneak preview. :)

Made: Bearly Dreadfuls for the wedding

For Halloween 2016, I dressed up as a dolly that I named Little Sally Smiles-A-Lot and carried around a frankenbear that I made named Mortimer.

People thought I was creepy (which is what I was going for) but Mortimer got all sorts of attention!  After that, Andy asked me to make him a bear which he brought to work and several of our coworkers have since purchased others from me.  I decided to call them Bearly Dreadfuls and will be opening up an Etsy shop in about 6 months at the latest.

The reason I am waiting to open up a shop is because I have been busy making a bunch of them for the wedding.

Wait... what?  Making creepy bears for a wedding?!?

Yep!  They are acting as our centerpieces, complete with paper roses that I also made.  Each one for the wedding is also decked out in a rainbow bow tie or hair bow since rainbows are an underlying theme for our shindig.  One,  I love all the colors and B) gay marriage rights are very important to us even though we, technically, are a hetero couple.

Here's a little sneak peak of a few that I finished over the weekend.

I have so much fun making these!  There's just something cathartic about cutting apart stuffed animals and sewing them back together again.

I never use brand new bears when making my Bearly Dreadfuls.  I either thrift them or take donations from people.  Even the yarn I used is reused/recycled.  I'm currently using strands from a grey sweater I picked up in a thrift shop quite a while ago.  I usually end up buying 20-30 at a time so I often wonder what the cashiers think when I come up to the counter.  In my mind, they are thinking that I am making some kids really, really happy.  Little do they know!  <insert evil laughter here>

The buttons I use for their eyes are new, though.  Mainly because it's impossible to find cheap bulk buttons in the thrift shops around me.  But I think the bears deserve something new and shiny before kiss them on the nose when they are done.

Yep, I kiss each and everyone on the nose when I am finished.  That's the magic that brings them back to life.  ;)

I only name the ones I am going to keep.  It's easier for me to let them go that way because I get way too attached.  LOL

In the Midwest where I grew up, it's common for people to take wedding centerpieces home at the end of the reception.  Apparently, that's not a thing here in Georgia so we're going to make sure we let people know that they can adopt one of the 16 wedding bears that will be there.

Bought: Bride of Frankie necklace and more!

Horror movies have always been a huge part of my life.  Mom jokes that I've been watching them since before I was born because she's been a horror buff most of her life, too.  When I was really little and we still lived in Duluth, MN, Mom would take me to see double features at the drive in (which was sadly demolished many years ago).

Skyline Drive-In Theater, Duluth, MN

There was usually a family friendly movie followed by a horror flick, the thought being most kids will fall asleep during the kid movie anyway (since the movies started after sun down in the summer).  I've never been a sleeper, though, and Mom would let me stay up in the back seat to watch the horror movie.  Even as a child with an extremely over-active imagination, I was never prone to nightmares from the monsters, blood, etc.

So when I saw this Bride of Frankie necklace over on Cats Like Us, I knew she had to be mine!

Bride of Frankie by Jubly Umph at catslikeus.com

This has been one of the few necklaces that I haven't needed to put on a new cord due to length.  It hits me exactly where I like it!

While on the site, I also picked up this cute little bat brooch which now lives on my wall at work.  He's guarding my wedding countdown sheet and likes to talk to my mini self-portrait.

Very Eerie Black Bat Pin by Lumpy Buttons at catslikeus.com

It may be hard to see in the pic but only 155 days until the wedding!  Don't worry, there WILL be wedding posts coming soon.  LOL

Of course, I had to get something for Andy since they actually carry shirts in his size.  I love retro and vintage fashion but most plus size shops don't go quite large enough for my celestial shape.  ;)  Andy loves the look of work shirts and rockabilly shirts so I made sure to get him one that was not work appropriate!  He hasn't worn it yet but here's the pic from the site.

Bettie Page Card Suit Shirt by Steady Clothing at catslikeus.com

I mean, who doesn't like Bettie Page?  Hitler.  Hitler doesn't like Bettie Page.  This was also fitting for Andy because he used to be a professional poker player.  I can't wait to see it on him!

Just in case you are curious about us, here's a picture of us from a few years ago.  We both look the same although my short hairstyle and glasses have changed shape but not color.  This is also a very rare shot of me in the sun without my parasol up!  I took it down just long enough for the picture and the sun immediately started to nom on me.  Stupid day star.

Have a wonderful weekend and stay cool!