Dress? Check. Pastor? Check.

I must be the luckiest girl alive. Collin has an older sister named Caitlin who lives in L.A. with her husband and recently graduated from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. Furthermore, she currently works for Saks Fifth Avenue Bridal in Beverly Hills as a bridal consultant, and will soon begin working as a consultant for Vera Wang. Her dream is to open her own bridal line, and guess who her first client will be? :)

Yes, that's right, I'm going to be wearing a custom-made wedding dress! How exciting is that?? Every girl dreams of her perfect wedding gown, and now my dream will be possible thanks to Caitlin. I can't wait to get started!! At this point, I need to start figuring out my preferred style, fabrics, and silhouette. I already have some ideas, but I need to start trying dresses on to see what works well on me.

The concern with custom-made, of course, is cost. I don't yet know my budget for my dress, or even for my wedding, so it may prove to be very challenging. The most expensive area may be the sewing - should professional seamstresses have to step in - or the fabric, depending on how intricate the dress is and what fabrics I choose. But Caitlin has assured me that we will discuss ways to make my dress work within whatever budget I have, and thankfully we won't have to pay the mark-up prices you see at retailers. So who knows how this project will go... but I trust Caitlin to make a beautiful dress, and I am very excited to work with her on it.

So, dress.... check! (Well, sort-of)

Another wonderful connection Collin has in his enormous family is pastors - he comes from a long line of them! Collin had always wanted his grandfather to officiate at his wedding, but when it came time to ask, he was so nervous! He called him on our way to the airport, and his grandfather told him it would be an honor and a joy. Hooray! Collin was beside himself with happiness, and I shared in it. After all, this is going to be my family, too. :)

Pastor... check!

So far things are coming together quite nicely. That's all for official news at this point, but be assured that I'm doing daily research on all areas! ;)

C & A