A Magical Royal Wedding

I'm a bit obsessed with the upcoming royal nuptials of Prince William and Kate. I've always been a fan of the royals since I couldn't sleep one night in 1986 and caught the Prince Andrew - Fergie wedding. I was six years old.

Image from Frugal Cafe

And then, you know, I practically grew up with Princes William and Harry. I mean, yeah, they live way across the pond and all, but Prince William and I are about the same age and we both went to University. He volunteers, I volunteer. I mean, it could be me marrying him. Except I was already engaged to Mr. Magic, so he had to settle for Kate. She's pretty, I guess.

Just kidding! I think they are soooooooo cute together and of course she is gorgeous! I'm really hoping they can keep their somewhat down to Earth attitude and relationship and really be a cool, happy, Royal and rich couple!

So here's how I imagine the Royal Wedding, Magic Style!

Wills was given a new "appointment" [read: got a promotion] back in January, which calls for a new, different uniform. He'll either be wearing a blue jacket or a red one...but I'm gonna say he's going to wear the red, since that is the uniform for the new honorary gig which the Queen herself approved.

Hat Not Included / Image via UKate

Sooooo, I predict the bridal party members will be in a royal blue, similar to the color of Kate's engagement dress and engagement ring.

Image via Music Rooms

Crazily enough, I read several places that Kate might not wear a tiara and instead might wear flowers in her hair. That, frankly, is the dumbest thing I have ever heard of. I am wearing a flower in my hair. She is going to be a Princess, or a Duchess, and has access to actual, legitimate tiaras...specifically these tiaras. [Note: She might not be able (by law or tradition or something) to wear a tiara into the church, since she is just a lowly commoner. But she definitely will wear one on the way out!]

Image from People

Apparently, there is also speculation and even bets placed that she might wear the Queen's own tiara, shown here at Princess Anne's wedding in 1973!

 

Image via History is Elementary

But I wouldn't count on it...the Queen Mum looks pretty attached to it here!

 

Image from Colored Diamond

I think for sure Kate will wear her hair down, or at least half down, and will wear one of the smaller, daintier tiaras...nothing too tall. I like the middle one in the previous image the best!

As for the cake, we know from obsessively reading royal wedding blogs that they will have two cakes - one a traditional multi-leveled fruit cake (gross...maybe a "fruit cake" means something different in their language?) and one a cookie cake, requested specifically by Wills. I think the main cake will have five tiers and the cookie cake will resemble this!

 Image from Mrs. Fields

The ceremony will be seventy minutes long, and she will walk down the aisle to something orchestral that I am not familiar with. I think her bouquet will be made of roses with classic touches from both Britain and Wales (although I have no idea what those individualized classic touches are...myrtle? heather?).

And finally, Kate's dress. I predict she is going to wear a dress that shows off her figure, especially her tiny waist, but still has a full skirt. Her dress will have sleeves but I can't decide between 3/4 length sleeves or full sleeves. Her designer will be Sophie Cranston at Libelula...I read that several places, including here, and I like it that she goes with a relative unknown. She'll have a ten foot long train and cathedral veil of the same length.

 

Gown sketch by Monique Lhuillier via Shine

Gown Sketch by Alberta Feretti via Marquis of Fashion

And even though I have heard that Wills and Kate want Beyonce and Jay-Z to perform at their rockin'night reception, I think there is a snowball's chance in hell of that actually being true...or happening.

What do you think of my Magical Royal Wedding?

First World Problems

My first world problem? Making wedding decisions. I know. Poor me.

There are a lot of decisions that go into wedding planning, and I am generally an inconsistent decision maker. I either make my decisions impulsively and split-secondy, or...well, I don't make them at all. This is actually why I don't eat cereal, because the damn cereal aisle in the grocery store is so freaking overwhelming and anxiety producing and has too many choices. Plus, I don't like cereal.

Image form Farm Aid

I have had a lot of unsolicited well-meaning advice given to me about making wedding decisions and frankly, I have found none of it helpful.

One person told me the rule is to spend no more than five minutes on any wedding decision. What the hell, yo! FIVE MINUTES??? How about five days/weeks/months??? It takes me fifteen minutes just to pick out what shade of polish to have the manicurist paint on my nails!

Someone else suggested I choose the aspects of the wedding that are most important to me. That makes sense for someone who has priorities, I guess, but everything is important to me.

Oprah Magazine recently suggested, in Seven Steps to Making Better Decisions by Catherine Price, that I stop trying to find The Best of whatever it is I am looking for. But what the hell does Oprah know, anyway? (Just kidding, Oprah, I love you!) I mean, it is ingrained in my heart and soul to hunt for the best, the greatest deal, the most original, the highest quality. And, of course, the entire wedding industry perpetuates this idea to have The Best. I mean, you only get married once, right? [Ok, well, that's true for maybe 50% of us anyway!] And isn't that one day, deemed The Big Day, supposed to also be The Best Day of Our Lives? So wouldn't it follow that to make that day TBDOOL, we will need to have it look like a styled non-real wedding wedding shoot from Style Me Pretty, be ridiculously in love with OOAO (Our One and Only), and look ABAWWEB (As Beautiful As We Will Ever Be)?

There's a lot of decisions that go into making all those acronyms come true, y'all.

Recently I was seriously paralyzed with indecision about napkins. Yes, napkins...you know, the cloth or paper squares that one uses to wipe food bits from one's hands and mouth. I didn't like any of the colors the napkins came in at our rental place, and then I thought about sewing them myself (despite the advice of many, many bees before me - told you, I don't listen), but then I wasn't sure what fabric to use. A print, a solid, one fabric or multiple fabrics? I internally went back and forth and back and forth for days. And while I was going back and forth, and mentally rearranging napkins and centerpieces in my mind, I realized that I was being sorta ridiculous.

Who cares about napkins, really? I mean, especially when there are real problems in the world. Like, earthquakes, tsunamis, and tornadoes...hunger, disease, and poverty. And not just in far away places. Just last week, at least 28 tornadoes hit North Carolina, leaving a wake of destruction and killing 24 people.

Image from Property Casualty 360˚

Should I be worrying about making the prefect decisions to have the most perfect napkins while in the county over, peoples' homes have been destroyed?

The problem is, on the one hand, I really do care about napkins and other seemingly small details - I enjoy creating such things, and really want our wedding to feel individualized and fun. On the other hand, I [sometimes] think it is ridiculous that I bother with such small details and [often] feel guilty for spending mental time and actual time worrying about these trivial notions and decisions, when I could be focusing on actual problems.

 

Image from Josh Dilworth

Miss Prairie Dog talked about bridal guilt as well, but I'm just wondering...do you experience bridal guilt because of your first world problems, and if so, how do you cope with it?

Frickin' Hair Y'all

 

It's Free and You Can't Put Your Hair in a Ponytail if You Don't by nataliedee

My hair is frickin' making me bananas, y'all. B - A - N - A - N - A - S. I get bored with my hair pretty easily. It used to be really short...

As a super cool freshman in 1998.

Then it was long and blonde, which is my default...

Pre-braces y'all, be kind.

Then I ran out of money and started box dyeing it brown. Having brown hair is super fun! I typically get bored every three or four years and dye it brown again for about six months.

 

It's amazing that Mini Magic and Magic Smizz look so young, and I look exactly the same as I look now!

But now...I am growing it out and have been growing it out since December 1, 2009...you know, when we got engaged. Oh sure, I get it trimmed every now and then, but it is frickin' long y'all, and all I want to do every day is pile it on top of my head and wrap the good kind of rubber band around it.

Anyways, I recently went in to get my four inch roots taken care of (no, my hair does not naturally grow out of my head blondey blonde blonde...I wish!), get a trim, and have a wedding hair trial. I had really low expectations of the hair trial. Even though I like my hair stylist, I have had too many bad experiences as a bridesmaid gettin' my hair did to have much confidence in this trial.

Oh wait, hang on....

 Image of Professor Albus Dumbledore by Murray Close via NY Times / text added by Miss Magic

There may or may not be pics of me with my hair did and in a dress and veil, so go away if you are my future husband or if you otherwise wish to be surprised about my wedding day look.

I very originally chose a side swept side pony tail...I have no original thoughts, as previously written about here and here. I know the side pony is really popular in wedding land right now, but I swear I invented it, back in 1986. I can't find any pics, but trust me, I rocked the side ponytail with a baggy t-shirt clipped to the side and my jeans tight rolled.

Image from Napoleon Dynamite via Mom's On the Roof Again!

I want a side swept bang, a curled and full side ponytail, a teased crown for some fullness (hey, I'm Southern, I can pull it off!), and I want the hair to cover my ears on both sides. While I am embracing my unique ears, I don't wanna showcase 'em, you know what I mean? So this is what I was going for...

 Image via VisualFXSalon

Jessica Simpson from Eye Kande

And this is what I got!

 Oooh, pretty!

From the back...I think it could be a bit more undone.

Does my nose for real look like this from the side? Or is this picture just...whack?

Since I had just had my hair colored and washed, it was not holding curls at all. But, I still think it looks pretty darn good! I couldn't believe that my hair is long enough to do this style with...and I still have like six more months to grow! Which is a good thing for the hairstyle, but I might be insane by then. I mean, I am already ready to chop it all off.

A couple of hours later I tried it on with the dress and veil. I'd asked her not to hairspray it, because I wanted to be able to brush it out and not bother washing it again. I haven't revealed my actual dress but you can see part of it in this photo. And a veil post is forthcoming, don't you even worry your pretty little head over it!

No curls, but cute. She teased it some on the crown and it looked awesome...but I think we can go bigger! By the day of my wedding, I think my hair is gonna look awesome...but I might be kinda insane by then, from the sheer amount of hair growing time I have had to endure.

Crazy Fabulous by nataliedee

Any pointers on my wedding day hair? And is your hair making you into a raving lunatic? Maybe we can form a support group....