Picture Me Meme

Thank you Lisa for tagging me for the "Picture Me" Meme.

According to Kate at Our Red House.....the Picture Me Meme rules are thus: post a picture of yourself on your blog. Post the picture, tell us the story behind it, copy the logo, and tag three others (without forgetting to tell them that they have been tagged!).

So, here goes. This is a photo of me on my wedding day. I apologise for the quality of the photo. It's a scanned photo and I can't seem to get the quality any higher. It's not one of our "official" photo's (unfortunately) as they're all glued into an album. So this is a snapshot of me on the day, taken at my parents home before the wedding.

What I mostly want to talk about is my wedding dress. Trying on wedding dresses was a LOT of fun but it quickly became apparent that we weren't going to find a ready-made dress that would suit my shape. I am short-waisted (have long legs for my height) and with a slightly swayed back, ready-made dresses hung off me in ways they weren't designed to do.


So my mum decided perhaps she would MAKE my wedding dress. Now my mum is the kind of person who can do ANYTHING she puts her mind to. Problem is, she is also notorious for not quite finishing things. So it kind of disturbed me a little that she wanted to make my wedding dress. I had images of the night before the wedding and a dress that was half finished. Thankfully that didn't happen. :-)

Aside from the issue of finding a dress that fitted my shape, I had another problem with finding a wedding dress. When I was 18 I was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and at this stage I was still struggling with lack of energy as well as struggling with a lack of strength in my muscles from not being able to use them as much. So the sheer weight of a wedding dress with all that fabric was too much for me to bear.

At the time my Aunty was head designer for a lingerie firm and she suggested we make the dress with lingerie satin which is a whole light lighter than regular satin. She was also able to source this for us at Wholesale prices - gotta love a bargain!

I also desperately wanted to have a train but again, the weight issue (of all the extra fabric) was a problem. So mum made me a long veil instead of a train. We decorated it with several pieces of lace (which I hand beaded myself, as well as the piece of lace on the front of my dress). The beauty of this was that we removed the veil before the reception and I wasn't encumbered by all that length of fabric for the whole day.

My wedding day still stands out to me as the best day of my life. I'm the kind of person who stresses out easily and yet somehow I managed to make the decision to relax and enjoy the day "come what may" and I really did. Even when a few spots of rain fell just as I was entering the church (knowing that we had an outdoor reception).

All of my life I had wanted to have an "Anne of Green Gables" style wedding. When her friend Diana (I think that was the name - it's been a while) got married they had the most beautiful reception outdoors with white tablecloths, fingerfoods etc. That's the kind of wedding reception I wanted. Casual yet elegant. Kind of an English "high tea" type finger foods. Because of the casual setting, we didn't have place names. We just set out tables and chairs for people to use and had a number of food tables dotted around. Like most brides, I didn't get to eat much though which was a pity because I was STARVING. LOL.

We got a lot of comments about what a nice atmosphere it was on the day. There were still speeches and all the usual formalities. It just wasn't a sit-down meal. Interestingly, according to our caterers, it was a more expensive option than having a sit-down meal because of the types of food you serve with finger foods as opposed to having say a roast with meat and vegies. Not that that mattered as it wasn't a cost consideration that made me choose that style of reception (not that my parents had a lot of money either).

So there you have it. Me in my wedding dress on my wedding day. I have no idea of the hours of love that were poured into that dress. I know it took me literally hundreds of hours to do all the beadwork.

Ooh, I couldn't stop at just 1 photo. Had to add this one that shows some of the lace and beadwork on the back of my veil. Not sure how clear it will be but it gives you an idea of what I'm talking about. Oh, and of course, this one has my very handsome hubby too! He looks like he's just left school doesn't he? LOL.

It's funny isn't it, how 21 can seem so OLD when you're there but over a decade later it seems so young. :-)

And now I need to *tag* 3 others to take part in this meme. I always find this the hardest part because well, who do you pick? Nevertheless, this time I'm going to tag:

1. Susan at Simply Living . Do you think this will encourage her to get back to blogging again? And no, this doesn't mean you have to post the pic I sent to you!

2. Kelley at magnetoboldtoo cos we all want to see pics of her SHOES!!!! And not just the desktop pic (which reminds me, I haven't forgotten that desktop thingy Kelley, I just need to revisit when I think I can follow the instructions - sooooo technical for me lol). P.S. You don't *have* to post pics of your shoes. You get to choose for this meme. Perhaps I should start a "my favourite shoes" meme. LOL.

3. Rachelle at Seek First His Kingdom . Rachelle I have only recently had the pleasure of meeting through the Nablopomo pages. It's nice to meet new bloggers from around the world isn't it? :-)

Have fun everyone!!! :-)