It's February...Time to Vote!

I have narrowed the selection down to the 3 dresses shown to the right. I have left off No. 327 since it had a train, and I decided against the others for one reason or another. Remember, you will be dancing! First of all, I should point out that No. 335 is the dress I wore in Shelby's wedding, but every bridesmaid wore a different gown in her wedding. It is a lovely dress and I think it would look so beautiful on everyone. Am I allowed to do this, Shelby? I think it is breathtaking! I think it also complements my dress. But, I really want to know what you think. I really like the style of No.411, especially with the fuscia color. It is the type of dress you might possibly wear again. However, everyone will need to wear the same shoes. On the other hand, I love the sleek style of 451. The only store that I have found to have all of these dresses in stock is Karl’s Tuxedos & Bridal in Speingfield. They are all chiffon, again. This will be the easiest fabric to handle traveling. So now, I need everyone's assistance. You don't have to try on any dresses if you don't want, but it might help you decide whether a dress actually looks good or not. Please let me know if at least some of you can go on an outing together to check them out. But I am not demanding! Please vote on a dress through the comments section!!

Bridesmaid Dresses

I have posted pictures of Morilee Bridesmaid Collection dresses to the side with style numbers and prices. You can see them with more detail at www.morilee.com . The color I am seriously considering is the pink (‘’rose’’) shown in No. 367. The dresses are made out of Chiffon. All of these dresses are in stock at Lant’s Garden in Seneca except for No. 327. Other retailers that carry Morilee dresses are: Bentonville-Simply Elegant (479) 464 7200, Fayetville-The Briar Patch (501) 521 7631, Springfield – McDaniel Bridal & Formal (417) 869 7331 and Karl’s Tuxedos & Bridal (417) 883 7774. I would like to know which ones you like, or definitely don’t like, after trying them. Let me know if you have any comments or suggestions. NOTE: Although we are not about to buy dresses yet, I want you to know that I will be able to pay for half the price of the dresses - but I will need you to make the down payment first and then I will take care of the second half. Let me know if that's okay or if you need to work out something else.

Mexican Wedding Traditions

In Mexican weddings, Padrinos and Madrinas contribute financially to various expenses. For example, Victor chose his godparents to be padrinos de velación – they will help us pay for a portion of the church where we will be married. In the same way, there are padrinos for our wedding rings, flowers, photography, music, and invitations. While they may not pay the entire cost, they will help us with what they can. In addition, there are several items used during the wedding ceremony for which we will also choose padrinos. They are my bouquet, a lasso (which will be wrapped around us during the ceremony), a rosary, and a set of gold coins (and I’m missing something else here).Traditionally, the padrinos of the items used in the wedding ceremony (including padrinos of the church fee and the rings) will stand up front with the bride and groom at some point during the ceremony.

Bridesmaids and Groomsmen are not traditionally part of Mexican weddings. I have been asking a lot of people if they have been to weddings with bridesmaids and I only know of one person who has. A coworker told me that once she went to a wedding with bridesmaids, but instead of carrying flowers, the bridesmaids each carried one of the items I mentioned above and instead of standing with the bride and groom, the bridesmaids sat during the ceremony. Also, there weren’t any groomsmen. It is common to have junior brides in a wedding, and a ring bearer. There aren’t flower girls since in most churches, flower petals can’t be thrown on the floor. However, flower petals can be thrown on the bride and groom as they leave the church.

Another difference is that in many weddings there is not a procession down the aisle of parents, attendants, etc. In most instances, everyone waits outside for the bride and then follows her into the church.

The church offers an organ. However, we plan on hiring a string quartet to accompany the ceremony.

Finally, I can't decorate the church. Only white flowers allowed...THEIR white flowers. My madrina, Rocio, is going to see if we can get around that, so we'll see.

I will incorporate some American traditions into my Mexican wedding but I wanted you to be aware of some of the ceremonial differences, first!