Brooch I just bought!

[SoonIHope]

This is my first ebay purchase ever! It was so exciting!

Hehehe. But yeah, the reason I got this is that I''m going to be a bridesmaid in a friend''s wedding this June and I am wearing this dress from David''s Bridal, which is 99% nice, but up close the little crystal brooch looks SO FLIMSY and is made of plastic and really poorly constructed, so I had to get something else to wear on the belt instead.

First - the dress:

 

[SoonIHope]

And the brooch!

I think the red will be a SLIGHTLY different color, but I don''t think it will be noticeable unless you''re looking up close...I hope!

 

[SoonIHope]

Hehe because I''m a loser, I tried superimposing the brooch onto the dress! It''s 2 inches long, so I think it''ll actually be smaller than it shows up in this picture though.

 

[MissAva]

Cute! Is the other brooch removable? Does your friend mind the switch? Love the brooch that would be super cute with a twinset or used to attach a scarf to a sheath dress.

 

[SoonIHope]

Thanks!

I''m so ridiculously proud of it!

The original clasp is NOT removable, so I''m going to have to unstitch the fabric where it attaches to it. I am 99% sure that you won''t be able to tell once I put the new brooch on top though. If it looks weird, I can just have a seamstress fix it since I''m going to get the dress altered a little anyway.

My friend (the bride) is totally fine with switching out the clasp since she agreed that the original was UGLY. In fact, one of the other bridesmaids argued passionately against anyone getting the dress I got (we''re all getting the same color/fabric from David''s bridal, but different cuts) because she thought the clasp was so ugly. I was only able to choose this dress on the condition that I found some way to cover up/remove the original clasp.

They were suggesting I take off the belt entirely, but I think the dress is a little TOO plain with no belt, so I''ve been looking around for something NOT sparkly (other bridesmaid hated that idea too

) which would look right with the dress. I hope this is it!!!!

 

[FireGoddess]

Awesome! It will look much better than that odd buckle thing they have on the dress - what a find!

 

[Kaleigh]

I agree, it is very pretty. Good find!!!

 

[SoonIHope]

Thanks FG!

I''m extra excited since I originally LOST the auction, but then got an email a bit later saying I could get it after all! Not sure if there was a problem with the other bidder or if the jeweler just had two of these. It''s from some company in Israel that makes their own jewelry - their store had lots of cute vintage-y stuff, mostly with pearls and colored stones! (Link is here!)

 

[SoonIHope]

Hehe whoops, thanks Kaleigh too! I was writing my last post when you posted, wasn''t meaning to ignore you!

 

[qtiekiki]

How funny that you had to find a replacement for the buckle in order to get the dress. The brooch looks very pretty with the dress.

 

[FireGoddess]

Geez Albi - whose wedding is it anyway - your friend''s or that controlling bridesmaid''s??!?!??!!? Yowza!!

Still, I think that brooch is a killer find, looks like it will be awesome with the dress, so for that aspect her demands worked out, but she sounds like she needs to chill! (Or plan her own wedding!)

 

[selflove]

Oh that looks so great!! So much better than the buckle. I love that you are putting your own flair and style into the dress.

And isn''t ebay FUN!!!! Have you checked out www.bidz.com ?

 

[anchor31]

That''s going to look great! What a nice find!

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Very pretty it reminds me of a bracelet and pendent I have. I love garnets with pearls.

 

[Caribou]

Albi, that''s the dress that my MOH might buy, in cinnamon, the like the dress but I didn''t like that little ''buckle'' thing. You make that look awesome! It goes really well with the dress...you totally just gave me an idea.

THANK!

 

[SoonIHope]

Yay, thanks everyone! I''m so excited! And the seller emailed me this morning saying they''re shipping it out today! Woohoo!

FG - I agree that other bridesmaid was being a bit picky. The bride honestly didn''t really care since the original clasp, while clearly not nice when you look up close, is tiny, so it definitely wouldn''t show up as looking bad in pictures, and there''s a 95% chance no one would notice in person. But since I didn''t like the look of it anyway, I figured it was best to just play along, because that makes it more fun anyway getting to personalize it a bit!

Caribou - that''s so cool! I definitely liked the cut of this dress best out of alllllll the many many David''s Bridal bridesmaid dresses I tried on. I should show you the pictures my fiance took of me in all the others, they did NOT LOOK GOOD. Like a lot of the styles looked nice on other people, but somehow everything was drooping in the wrong places on me, even when they fit "properly". But I thought this dress was super cute! The seller for the brooch was sweetuzer (Jewelry by Yoran & Ines) and since they make it themselves, I feel like there''s a good chance they could have more! Good luck!

 

[SoonIHope]

Hehe one other note about picky bridesmaid...another bridesmaid & I were talking about when the bachelorette party and shower are going to be. Since the 2 of us are not currently living the same place as the bride, we figured we should decide that soon to make sure we can fly in for them, and have them the same weekend so we can hit all three events (shower/bachelorette party/wedding) with only 2 plane trips. Other bridesmaid sent an email out to all the bridesmaids saying that the 2 of us were trying to plan this, so does x weekend work (we had already discussed with the bride and MOH who gave us the go ahead). And picky bridesmaid wrote back this HUGE LONG EMAIL about what exactly we need to plan and EXPLAINING THAT THE SHOWER AND BACHELORETTE PARTY ARE DIFFERENT EVENTS??? Which we obviously knew and was pretty clear in the email, but she still felt the need to be sort of condescending telling us what all of this entails, and basically taking over the planning. So we were just like huh, I don''t know how to tell her to back off.... So anyone have ideas on that while we''re at it?

 

[SoonIHope]

Okay I''m totally hijacking my own thread but PICKY BRIDESMAID IS DRIVING ME INSANE!!!!!

After we told her they were going to be separate parties, just on the same weekend, she wrote this long thing about how they really SHOULDN''T be on the same weekend and the bachelorette party HAS to be the night before the wedding anyway, so blah blah blah. The bride replies that she doesn''t want to do it the night before b/c, you know, she wants to get a good night''s sleep, so says if we are going to do it then, maybe Thursday? So I say I can''t do Thursday and then PB (as I shall now refer to Picky Bridesmaid) writes JUST ME an email explaining how the only fair thing is to split the shower and the bachelorette party so that the MOH can potentially come to one of them (which she has no real reason to believe), and it''s just tough luck if I can''t make it. (Note: I have been very close friends with PB since middle school, and also friends with the bride for several years longer than PB. So there''s really nooooo reason why she should have more say in this than I should, and she''s MY FRIEND so it''s not like it''s just weird tension with some girl I don''t know!) Grrrr, so now we''re all writing these long emails back and forth saying things like "I have actually heard that it''s quite common to have the bachelorette party a month or two before the wedding" and "it is really important to me to get to go to her party" and I''m just FED UP!!!! It is NOT her wedding, she is NOT the maid of honor, and we were NOT asking for planning advice!!!!!!!!

 

[anchor31]

Woah... The girl is one hell of a control freak, and she obviously isn''t the one who''s flying over for the events! And what''s the deal about the bachelorette party being the night before the wedding?? I don''t think that''s done much anymore... Nobody wants to feel/look like they have a hangover on their wedding day!

Maybe you should have a talk with the bride and MOH? I hope this works out!

 

[FireGoddess]

PB needs a punch in her picky mouth! Seriously! What is the big freaking deal about having them on the same weekend so that everyone can come and not buy half a dozen plane tickets? I had my bridal shower the same weekend as the wedding so that out of towners could come and my BM didn't have to fly in twice. Honestly - this girl needs to chill. I'd tell her that unless she's paying for everyone's plane tickets, it's just easier to have them on the same weekend and if the bride doesn't care, then she sure as heck shouldn't. And yes, that no one was asking for her planning advice. What a PITA. So glad I never had to deal with anyone like that! Most of my friends didn't even want a bachelorette party - we did the mani/pedi/spa thing instead. My coworkers took me out for a bachelorette - I can't even recall when it was but it CERTAINLY wasn't the night before the wedding! Get real! There's enough stress to deal with the night before the wedding!

 

[SoonIHope]

Hehe, venting on PS is SO GOOD for managing my anger!

But yeah, the thing that''s really driving me crazy is that she''s doing all this "because the bride will really want her MOH to be there" even though BOTH OF THEM SAID IT WAS FINE TO HAVE IT WHEN MOH WASN''T AROUND!!!! I just wish she would admit that it''s for whatever selfish reason she has that she''s arguing so much, instead of claiming it''s in their best interest!

And regarding the night before the wedding thing: when both me and the bride said there was no way we would ever want ours to be the night before, and I said how at another friend''s party a couple months ago (a week before her wedding) everyone was shocked to hear how soon she was getting married...PB did back off and say that that in and of itself wasn''t a good reason to move it. But it''s still in "the bride & MOH''s best interest". Whatever!!!

ETA: Hehehe, I have to hand it to the bride though, she is totally refusing to get in the middle of it all. She just wrote an email back saying "you guys can throw me as many parties as you want, just let me know when you want to have them!"

 

[SoonIHope]

Update! Yay!

The bride just wrote another email saying that as long as the MOH can come to ONE party then she''s fine with us doing the bachelorette party whenever we want. She is planning to have a bridesmaid luncheon (that MOH could definitely attend) so she told us not to worry about MOH for the bachelorette party! YAY! (Not that this is new information really, but it just came from the bride''s mouth in a definitive tone, and by mentioning the bridesmaid luncheon, there''s now no way for PB to say it''s only MOH''s best interest she cares about)

PB wrote back a second later saying, "That sounds like a great idea! Laura [albi] & K can go ahead and plan the bachelorette party then!"

So relieved!

 

[sunkist]

Hey Albi - Not to hijack your thread once again and take it back in the other direction

, but I wanted to say WHAT A BEAUTIFUL BROOCH!

So are you going to be wearing a different dress than the other BMs? Or did everyone get brooches to match?

 

[SoonIHope]

Haha, I''m not sure you can even call it hijacking if you''re going back to the original topic!

But thanks! I am once again getting excited about the brooch now that all the drama is over!

There are a total of 6 bridesmaids, and 5 of us have already picked our dresses (all different), but the 6th one looks like she is leaning towards getting the same dress as me...I think that for consistency''s sake, she should probably NOT have the same brooch as I do, just so that all the dresses will be different, don''t you think? Plus, who knows if another one will turn up on ebay or not...and hey, she might not even like my brooch! (as crazy as THAT would be!

)

But either way, I''m just glad that I have it! And I''ve never worn brooches as an accessory before, so I''m looking forward to coming up with other uses for it too, post-wedding!

 

[flopkins]

nice brooch! I like.

Glad the drama w/ the PB worked out!!
and for the record, I''m having the shower and bachelorette the same weekend!

 

[sunkist]

I think it''s a great idea that all the bridesmaids are choosing their own style of dress. And yes, if the last girl gets your style I think she should keep the original clasp or at least get a different brooch.

Have fun with your brooch!

 

[SoonIHope]

flopkins - hehe I just think it makes sense in general! ESPECIALLY when a lot of people are coming from out of town! And in no way does it make them "one event"

sunkist - yeah, the bride is really amazingly chill about EVERYTHING. She''s one of those not at all girly girls and I honestly think she couldn''t care less about what dresses we wear, when the parties are, or any of the normal things like that. She bought the first wedding dress she tried on, and is getting married at her fiance''s church even though she''s an atheist (hehe, that''s another funny story, she repeatedly told the pastor, "I am an atheist. I do not believe in God. Do not make me say anything about God" when they were talking about the ceremony, even though she was totally fine with getting married in a church by a pastor and letting HIM talk about God!) So basically, I get the feeling she just wants all of us to quit fussing and just get the whole thing over with.

 

[BrightSpot]

Love the brooch--it looks great with the dress! Very cool that you guys get to pick your own style of dress. Glad the other drama has been resolved.

 

[decodelighted]

I just wanted to say that I wore that same bridesmaid dress to my sister''s a couple years ago and it was the ONLY bridesmaid dress I ever LOVED. It was so "swingy" and "Kate Spade"-ish. Initially my sister was worried about calf-length dresses, and black (which is the color we chose) ...but she knew how picky we were, and saw how awesome & flattering they were on gals of all diff. shapes & sizes & gave in. Now she''s so happy once she saw the pix.

Maybe they changed the buckles to be more plasticy but I remember them as one of the main reasons we picked the dress. I thought it looked Hermes like & "H" is our family initial. Sure, super up close they looked ticky-tacky, but it''s a one day dress & no one''s gonna be eyeball to belly button with you. But if it bothers you, the brooch is a nice alternatvive. (We would''ve needed five!)

Man I loved that dress. From my exp. trying on a ton of shoes with it ....I recommend shoes/sandals that just cup the front part of the foot (no ankle straps) ... for the best leg line.

 

[SoonIHope]

Thanks Brightspot!

Deco - Yeah, I totally fell in love with the dress when I first saw it online! Then when I tried it on, I loved it even more! Especially the look of the little clasp on it....until you looked closely. I dunno, maybe it was just the one they kept in the store had been beat up a lot or something? But it just looked like a little piece of plastic with glitter glued onto it.... I probably would have just ignored it, but PB hated it SO MUCH, and also brought up the sort of good point that since we''re all wearing different dresses and none of the others have any sparkle, it might draw attention to me/my belt instead of just being a nice line of 6 girls in red dresses. Hehe, although I''m probably going to get bored during the ceremony and move my ring around a lot to make it sparkle anyway.

I am so totally not over the staring intently at it in different lights thing yet.