Welcome back to wedding week here at Bower Power – and nothing says Bower Bridal Power like the name Maggie Sottero.
I love me some Maggie. We go way back. Back to my first ever bridal show. I wore a Maggie gown that night…and it was love at first fitting. It was plumb amazing. The workmanship of a gown…the feel of the fabric…the way that this woman designs bridal dresses…well, let’s just say it is enough to make my blood boil over. So I knew that when it came time to say ‘I do’ – I wanted Maggie to be there with me holding my love handles. Enter the Shannon dress. It was everything I wanted. Sweetheart neckline WITH STRAPS, a corset back with no tail, a little sparkle up top and some interest in the back. My seamstress added the french bustle to really make Shannon shine.
Next came the hair and veil. Hair was going to be up. I had learned long ago that curls fall flat in Georgia heat…even in October. So I knew that my best bet to beat the humidity was to pin-er-up and spray the heck outta her. My lovely hairdresser fixed it the morning of the wedding with lots of lift in my bangs area and lots of curls in the back. The curls were perfect for hiding the place where the extra-long veil pinned in. I actually borrowed my veil from a local bridal shop (where I had done some modeling) and the owner was gracious enough to allow me the entire week with the princess-like sweep of fabric.
The shoes were actually free too because I already had owned them. They were my favorite pair for bridal shows and they were perfectly broken in. The 3.5″ heel was oh-so-comfy and I didn’t have a single blister – even after dancing the night away.
As a bouquet, I decided to carry my grandmother’s family bible. Since I am not a really flowery type of girl – especially since blooms cost an arm and a leg in October – the Bible was actually the perfect representation of who I am…low maintanence, grounded, and totally in-tuned with morality. Stop laughing Jeremy. In actuality I am not those things. I am, however, incredibily in love with Jesus. And that was enough to convince me that the thing I wanted most to carry down that aisle to my future was the word of love.
And love would suit me just fine – especially since you get jewelry on the day you celebrate it. Our rings are white gold and we were able to find the perfect fits for our busy (but oh-so-chic-renovating) lifestyle 🙂 My ring is really really thin with diamonds half-way around. And Jeremy’s is one of the narrowest we could find but with a little detail encircling the top and bottom.
Finally – one of the cheapest things that I had on that day was the paper parasol that we got to take lots of photos with. I love the southern charm of a parasol, don’t you? And mine were super affordable since I ordered a dozen off of Oriental Trading and doled out others to the bridal party gals.
So there you have it – a complete rundown of the things that made me feel like a fairy princess on my big day.
Anything surprise ya? Did you see that Bible bouquet coming? Or maybe you just thought that I played it safe on my big day when you did something truly outrageous. Spill those blissful day beans!
beautiful wedding!
Beautiful! We took pictures with parasols too. They are some of my favorite pictures from the day.
LOVE that you carried the Bible. You were carrying something that was and is truly alive.
Am LOVING these wedding posts!
Outrageous? Not a word anyone would attach to me, but a couple of things stand out in my memory…
Purple is my favorite color. Bar none. Has been my favorite color forever.
So one might think that my bridesmaids’ dresses would be in some lovely shade of lavender or amethyst.
Nope.
I HATE green. Have always hated green.
Their gowns were a lovely pale shade of celery. (Never saw that one comin’, did you?! And btw, two walls in my house are painted a lovely sage green!)
Surely I’d put my all-time favorite flower, irises (purple ones, of course!) in my flower arrangements, mine and the girls’? And on the tables?
Nope.
(Although we did include white irises.)I didn’t like the contrast between colored flowers and the pale green dresses, so my florist suggested white flowers for the girls, too. I thought, “What?” But we went with white flowers for the girls and white flower arrangements on the tables at the reception.
And I LOVED it!
My gown?
I fell in love with a beautiful poofy antique ivory colored Jessica McClintock wedding gown when I saw it in a magazine years before I even met my husband! When we got engaged and it was time to search for a wedding gown, I was determined to try on a number of different gowns, just so I’d be sure when I bought “the one.” The first one I tried on was a halter styled gown, A-line, and white white – nothing like I’d ever choose! I tried on princess gowns, plain and elegant gowns, mermaid gowns, gowns with plunging necklines, sweetheart necklines, sleeves and no sleeves….
I went to the Jessica McClintock store and tried on “my” gown, ready to plunk down the $400.
IT.LOOKED.AWFUL.ON.ME. I almost cried in the dressing room!
Went back to the bridal store, tried on tons more samples, and bought the halter-style first gown I tried on!
And I LOVED IT!!!
So my wedding was the first time in my life I found myself stepping out of the box. Along with this cut-gym-class-for-two-years kind of girl marrying a gym teacher!!! That was a major stepping out of the box move, too!
I LOVE how you carried the family bible! So much more meaning them some flowers that would die by the end of the night.
Ok, I’m finally going to comment. 🙂 I happily subscribe to your blog but rarely comment because of using google reader. I love diy projects, am a nesting newlywed and constantly looking for budget savvy ideas (particularly apartment friendly ideas in this season) with a healthy dose of creativity…not to mention that I am quite in love with Jesus myself. I love that you chose to carry a Bible instead of a bouquet (wish I’d thought of that myself for our July wedding)…I get to feeling a bit stalkerish at times, but mostly am just grateful to know there are kindred spirits spread across the country!
*gasp* I can’t believe you were a Maggie Sottero gown!!! *I’m* wearing a Maggie Sottero gown for my wedding, which is THIS SUNDAY!! I’m wearing the “Camden” 🙂
I rarely see Maggie in wedding mags, and I’m always looking, SO COOL that you wore Maggie.
Wonderful dress, gorgeous veil, and I love the bouquet that meant so much to you!
Hmm, I’d say our blissful day was full of the “un-ordinary”. Like no flowers anywhere, bridesmaids carrying glass vases with candles, me carrying a bouquet of feathers, going barefoot…inside, grooms-women and brides-men, walking down the aisle by myself to acoustic guitar and drums, decorating dead tree limbs with mirrors and crystals inside the church….yeah, all pretty not normal. Oh wait, you were there!
The bible idea was BRILLIANT!! I made my own bouquet, my bridmaids had a single rose, and my maid of honor dropped the flower petals. I love this series Katie.
Your dress was gorgeous!!!! I love that you weren’t afraid to break the rules and carry a Bible down the aisle. That is what a wedding is about really, so I love that you did that.
Bible bouquet – YES, YES, YES!
Mrs. Bower you are a bridal inspiration!
that is the prettiest wedding dress I have ever seen (prettier than mine!) 🙂
My dress was a Maggie, too, and I absolutely loved it! I went for the Jessica: (http://www.maggiesottero.com/dress.aspx?style=J170).
Love the details and hope you two are enjoying your 2 year anniversary!
Beautiful! Your dress is almost exactly like mine…only I had the Nola…which was the same dress only strapless. I love the Bible idea!!!!
I wore a Maggie gown too!! Love me some waist-cinching-corset-back goodness.
so beautiful!
Love the Bible bouquet! Didn’t see that one coming, but love it!! So creative and meaningful…on so many levels! I love Jesus too 🙂
On the 11th of October, it will be our 19th anniversary! After all this time, I still think my dress is gorgeous!
Wow, what a gorgeous dress. Love the Bible idea, too. My mom carried a Bible in her wedding, but I think it was somehow incorporated into a bouquet. Now I’m gonna have to dig up pictures…
Mine was Maggie, too! I had pulled out one of her pictures way before I was engaged (shame on me), but I actually ended up choosing a different style (though similar). I got it at a trunk show, too, so it was 20% off! Your photos are all gorgeous. 🙂
Holy freaking crap! I wore a Maggie dress to my wedding! Mine was the “Madeleine” and it was so gorgeous you would cry if you saw it. Not really, but it was impossible for me not to stare at myself in the mirror when I had it on (I’m vain, so sue me). Your dress was beautiful, by the way! Maggie Sottero sure knows what she’s doin’ 🙂
Um…wow. I just read someone’s comment about the Bible and said out loud “wait…what?” and had to re-read your post.. Apparently, I was so mesmerized by the fact that we both wore Maggie dresses that I completely missed the Bible bouquet and everything it symbolized. What an incredible way to start out your lives together. You are even cooler than I thought 🙂
I love the Bible idea! I too had to spray the heck out of my hair…I got married in August in Houston. At the time, I thought it piled high in a sexy, vampy sort of way. Now I think it was more conehead than vampy…but either way. I was just glad when we got to go back to our honeymoon suite and I had to find a way to extract 473 bobby pins from my hair in as seductive a way as possible…
I gotta say – LOVE that you did straps. I did straps at my wedding too (also in 2007) and so many people looked at me like a monkey doin’ a math problem – why not go strapless? I’ve seen one too many brides yankin’ their dresses up to their pits during dancing and the like that I was convinced I wanted nothing to do with it! SOOO glad I went with straps!! and your dress is gorgeous, too! Though I don’t think I coulda pulled it off – something about short people and big skirts – looks weird! But it’s just PERFECT on you!
So – beautiful dress! and the hair – so pretty- but what I don’t get, and please don’t take this as a mean comment, I truly don’t mean it to be, is when you say you are so moral and in love with Jesus, but yet, if I understand correctly, and maybe I misread somewhere, you were living with your fiance before marriage. For nine months, while you renovated your house. Did I get it right? I hope not. Because maybe pre-marital sex isn’t really a sin – just not approved of . . . I’m not that versed in the Bible, just trying to understand morality, love of Jesus and living with someone before you are married.
Hi Tami,
No worries…I am not offended at all. Actually I was wonderin when someone would ask about this. Here’s the lowdown. Technically Jeremy & I bought a house together shortly after we were engaged. However we did not live in it till after we got married. Our first night together was also our first night in our new home. We utilized that time by having the house act as Jeremy’s office during the day and tackling renovations that would really inconvenience us later (like the kitchen and drywall). You were also right about something else though…we did ‘live together’…in order to save money we both moved in with my parents…I had my room in the basement and his room was right next door to mom&dad. It helped tremendously financially and having my ‘rents right there helped keep our hormones in check. AS for your question about pre-marital sex…I think that the main point in the bible is not necessarily just about intercourse…it’s about purity. It’s uber-popular to test those waters (to see if you connect that way, to express your love, because it’s time) but we felt like our perfect time to express our love and connect would be as husband and wife.
xo – kb
p.s. Just to clear one other thing up…I am in love with Jesus (He was a prince & perfect you know?!) but I never claim to be moral. I just claim to try. and fail alot 🙂
Thanks for the clarification. It really does make a big difference to understand you were true to your morals and values. Hats off to you!!
Tammi – you asked a tough question, in a lovely way . . .
When did brides stop carrying Bibles….can’t seem to find a bridal Bible.