My 1920-something wedding fashion show

I decided to post some pictures of my beautiful wedding dress, as well as a 1920s flapper gown I intend to wear on my honeymoon. These dresses are thanks to a wonderful woman named Sasha, who owns La Belle Vintage, a really fabulous vintage clothing boutique. If you like this kind of stuff, I seriously suggest you visit her eBay store!

First of all, here is the wedding gown. Although it's 1920s-short in the front, the skirt is very full, with a slight "train" in the back that will just barely skim the ground when I'm wearing heels.







Although the flapper gown lacks many of the beads and tassles that was characteristic of the style, I rather like it better - it's simpler and more elegant, more my style. Plus, the embroidery is absolutely beautiful.





I haven't yet decided on my veil or the shoes I'll be wearing with these two dresses, but I hope these pictures can at least give you an idea of the theme of the wedding!

Do children belong at a wedding?

The question of the day (or perhaps of the week) is whether or not to have kids at our wedding.

Michael's brother's kids are one thing. They come with the package. Anyway, the eldest is very well behaved and the youngest is too young to make trouble. No, my concern is with other people's kids.

We have, I think, three guests (or couples) that have children - nine children total, between the three of them. Because we are trying to keep the wedding small - and, actually, because the wedding is going to be at a winery - we're thinking of excluding the children. But, how do we go about asking this of our guests? A note in the invitation? Ask them in person? I have absolutely no idea how to handle this.

If anyone has any ideas of how to handle this - either from personal experience or common sense that I somehow don't have - please feel free to comment or contact me. I would love to hear your input!

A venue and other considerations

Labor Day weekend saw a good deal of progress on the plans for the wedding. My sister came out with Michael and I to visit his family, and while there we did some looking around for a venue. I say, "some," because in truth Michael suggestion - and the first place we looked - turned out to be exactly what I wanted.

It's a small venue, which is perfect because it's a small wedding, too - and I didn't want a venue that would dwarf my informal dress or the nontraditional wedding. It's a vineyard located in an old church, with an adorable courtyard outside that is hung with grape vines. We'll have the ceremony itself outside in the courtyard, with little in the way of decoration (trust me, the grape vines are enough), and the reception will be held in the "tasting room," which is the main part of the old church building.

It's pretty much perfect for a small, informal wedding - the words cozy and quiant come to mind. We were especially thrilled when we asked them about price, and they said they would "work something out." They said it wouldn't be expensive - just enough to compensate for keeping the winery open and keeping staff there. We still need to negotiate an exact price with them.

Naturally, one of the best parts about having the wedding there is that they can supply the wine. Their wine and mead is fabulous, so I'm really excited about that. It'll be kind of like having a speakeasy - what the illegal bars were called during Prohibition - at my wedding! I wonder if I could get them to play along with the 1920s theme?

We still need to figure out the smaller details, such as invitations (which I'm making), catering, wedding cake, decorations, music (I'm hoping for 1920s music and dancing), and accommodations for my family and friends who are coming in from out of town, but I feel much better having at least settled on a venue.