The E-Pic Saga (See What I Did There?): Part 1

After we booked our photographer, the amazing Jennifer Shaffer, we put an engagement session (aka e-pics, if you didn't get the pun in the title) on the books. I wanted to take the pictures before it got cold, since I hate being cold and I didn't want to have to wear a coat in the pictures. I also wanted to take them as soon as possible, since we'd already been engaged for 3 months by the time we booked Jenn. So we decided on the end of July.

With the engagement session looming, I realized I had to get my butt in gear and prepare for the shoot. I wanted to buy a dress, shoes, and a hair accessory that would match our wedding color scheme (yellow with gray and white polka dots) because you can bet your life I was going to use the pics in our Save the Dates. I love all the cute engagement pic save the dates I've seen on Weddingbee and other wedding blogs, like these:

Image via Mrs. Hyena on Weddingbee

Image via Miss Skunk on Weddingbee

(I love these so much!)

Image via Mrs. Cherry Pie on Weddingbee

I'll write about our Save the Date process later (They look amazing!) but this post is about the engagement session, remember? Focus, self.

Since I wanted our engagement pics to "match" the wedding, I got the idea to wear a gray and white polka dot dress and accessorize with pops of yellow. I had a very specific idea in mind for each part of the ensemble, and naturally everything became a wild goose chase. 

The Dress:

I wanted a retro-ish dress with a fitted bodice and a full skirt, in gray and white polka dots. I would have settled for just the full skirt if I couldn't find any retro dresses. Actually, there came a point where I was ready to settle on any gray and white polka dot dress. I would have spent more than I usually would too! Alas, I couldn't find a single gray and white polka dot dress (seriously, what is the dillio with that?). 

I ended up doing what any crafty girl/Bridezeeeela would have done: I made my own dress. (Allow me to complain for one sentence about how difficult it was to even find gray and white polka dot fabric. It was hella difficult.) I won't go into detail about how I made it because I pretty much just cobbled together a bunch of different techniques and it ended up working. Sort of. I know I sewed the zipper in wrong and my bust darts are more like pleats, but I'm still very proud of it!

Photo by Jennifer Shaffer Photography, heavily cropped and dismembered by me.

I cut out everything else because this was a pretty bad pic. It was the end of the day and I looked like a wreck by this point. But here's the dress!

If you're interested, the dress featured a halter sweetheart neckline (I traced two salad plates to get the curve--I don't think that's the right way to do it though), a "fitted" bodice, a zipper in the back, and a gathered skirt. I didn't learn the magic of circle skirts until after the dress was done, but I definitely would have done that instead of the gathered waist if I could go back in time. My skirt was tragically not full enough for my liking!

The Shoes:

I also had a very clear idea in my mind of what I wanted my shoes to look like. I wanted yellow t-strap heels with a ruffle down the top. Like these, in fact:

Image via No Big Dill

Would you believe I searched the innanet for hours without finding a single pair of shoes like this? I found shoes like this in different colors (in fact, I own a gray pair) and I found lots of flat sandals and baby shoes like this, but no yellow heels. You probably think I'm just bad at the internet or something, but I assure you I'm not. I considered "making" my shoes too, either by spray painting a different pair yellow or adding a ruffle to a pair of t-strap shoes that lacked the ruffle. In the end, I found a pair of yellow t-strap wedges with a ruffle from Shiekh Shoes, and I called it a day. 

Photo by Jennifer Shaffer Photography, heavily cropped and dismembered by me.

This is a very unflattering angle for both the shoes and my feet. Sorry, shoes! And yes, I forgot to paint my toes.

The Hair Doodad:

My inspiration for the hair accessory was actually from this photo:

Image via Hostess with the Mostess / Photo by Ashley Rose Photography / Hairpiece by Jesi Haack Design

I loved how big and in-yo'-face it was! I couldn't find this picture when I actually got around to making my own, and I only had a vague memory of what it looked like, so mine actually doesn't look very similar at all. To be honest, I ended up not making something brand new for my hair. I took apart a necklace that I'd made earlier from this necklace tutorial:

Photo via I Heart Jenny's Art

...and attached it to a headband:

 

Photo by Jennifer Shaffer Photography, heavily cropped and dismembered by me.

Here's a pic of the headband and me and Mr. Unicycle smooching. Ewww sick!

Photo by Jennifer Shaffer Photography, heavily cropped and dismembered by me.

I am actually pleased with the headband, even though it started as a failed necklace. I've worn it several times since the engagement shoot too, and it always garners several comments from people who are jealous of me. 

I promise I'll share some actual, uncropped engagement pics soon!

Did anyone else have as tough of a time as I did finding things to fit their wedding theme??