A Day of Good & Evil: Part 2

Remember my lovely Part 1 where Sister Stiletto threw me a fabulous bridal shower? Well, once it was over we skedaddled out of there, drove into the city to our suite at the Hard Rock Hotel, changed, and then hopped into a cab for a mysterious destination.

Here we are, on our way...

When we walked into Circuit Night Club, where they have, err, review shows, I was quite hesitant and definitely had not had enough to drink at the point in the day.

See Exhibit A:

The ladies tried to get me in the spirit by bedazzling me with a sparkly tiara (which did not illicit a better reaction):

A bachelorette sash did indeed bring out a little excitement:

Although, I needed help in figuring out how to put it on:


And, of course, don't forget the veil:


Oh, and did I mention I was lucky enough to get my own special straw? That little extra accessory went with me EVERYWHERE that evening:

Here we all are waiting for the show to begin. I was still quite apprehensive and not excited about the fact that my seat was right in front of the stage. Fortunately, there were 4 or 5 other bachelorettes there that evening, so the torture was distributed evenly amongst the soon-to-be-wed ladies.

I learned a lot that evening, so below are my tips and tricks for navigating through situations like these.

#1 For any of you first timers like me, the gentlemen give you instructions on what to do when they come up to you. Notice him guiding my hands. Why, you ask? Because otherwise I would have crawled under the table to get away. When in doubt, act confused and uncomfortable, but also understand that any feeling of personal space will be completely thrown out the window.

#2 Take the term "dollared up" and live it, learn it, love it. In establishments like these, one must be "dollared" or the gentlemen are less gentlemenly and tell you that you need to be dollared up and then walk away in a teeny bit of a huff. Which was fine by me, but my ladies insisted that I be dollared up throughout the evening.

#3 It may look uncomfortable keeping those dollars in place, but don't worry. When the gentlemen come by, they perform magic tricks.

The dollars are going...

going...

gone...!

#4 Surround yourself by all of your best girls and a good time will be had by all.

Here we are by the end of the evening (minus a couple)...in fact, this is the only picture I have of all of my bridesmaids and myself all together!

I had so much fun out with all of my ladies! I'd been concerned that I would drink too much and have a rough night, but I did fabulous and ended up being one of the least hungover out of the group! (Of course, I did pass out by about 1:00am or so, hee) And, once I got used to all of my added "accessories," I was rockin' that veil and tiara like there was no tomorrow.

What new things did you learn at your bachelorette party?

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A-Ten Hut!

Sister Stiletto is throwing me a big weekend of bridal celebrations on Saturday, starting with a bridal shower in the afternoon and followed by my bachelorette that evening out on the town.

As you might remember, I found two great dresses for this weekend, and both fit perfectly! The dress for the shower is even equipped with pockets, people...double bonus, in my book. Jamming both events into one day may seem like a lot, but with 3 of the 5 Stiletto bridesmaids living out of state (San Diego, New York City and Tampa), I couldn't ask the girls to come out twice to celebrate on top of travelling here in September for the wedding.

Needless to say, I've been in "bridal bootcamp" this week to prepare for the festivities...let's see what's been on the agenda:

Any bride-to-be knows that being in good shape is extra important, so I hit the gym extra hard this week.

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I also busted out those pesky whitening trays. Can you believe that if you actually use your teeth whitener more than once in one week, you can see the difference?! My pearly whites may not blind you, but they're on the road to recovery.

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I've decided to nix the "lovely" roots I've been sporting since I got highlights back in February and get my color done tomorrow. Not only will my hair be glossy and beautiful for this weekend, but I can start to determine the perfect shade for the wedding day.

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Bridesmaids A and D will be rolling into town on Friday, so we're going to get mani/pedis - I anticipate showing off my bling in style at the shower!

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I'm so excited to have this weekend to celebrate with everyone! I think this will finally start to make everything feel even more real...the Stiletto nuptials are getting closer and closer. Eeeeh!

How did you prepare for your shower and bachelorette?

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Determined Not to be Frock-less

At the end of July, I will have one very full day/night of celebrating with the ladies! My one and only bridal shower will be taking place in the afternoon, following by my bachelorette party extravaganza in the evening. Why, you might ask, would I jam pack all of this into one day?

As it so happens, 3 of the 5 Stiletto bridesmaids are spread out throughout the country - San Diego, New York City and Tampa to be exact. I didn't feel comfortable asking them to fly in for a separate shower and bachelorette PLUS the wedding in September, and I didn't want to sacrifice the opportunity to celebrate with all of them! So I made the executive decision to lump it all together into one fun weekend. Good thing I'm taking off the Friday before and the Monday after from work to effectively prepare and recover!

While the date has been set for quite sometime, I've been on the prowl for some smashing ensembles to celebrate the day. I was most worried about a shower dress, as I can find any old cute black dress for the bachelorette. I loved this dress from ModCloth, but it's forever out of stock. This cute little retro number from Bettie Page completely stole my heart but was more than I wanted to spend, and I honestly didn't know how many opportunities I'd have to wear it again (other than when I put on my pearls and heels and vacuum the rug, of course). I wanted to love this one from Macy's, but the colors just seemed...off. I swooned over this lovely Nine West dress, but they didn't have my size. On a side note, who knew Nine West had such cute dresses?!

In searching Bluefly's site one more time this morning (as they are, of course, having a dress sale!), I came across this simple and cute blue and white dress:



Source: Blue Fly

I saw it while eating my cereal this morning, but by the time I got off the train and into work, it was sold out. Nooooo! About 20 minutes later, I was sending off the link to one of my bridesmaids to show her the dress I could have had if only I had acted faster, and it was available again! Only one left, and in my size. Score! Click, click, purchased...and under budget at $60, definitely rewearable (it feels kind of beachy to me...could totally go on the honeymoon!).

Sick and tired of the dress search, I moved on to nailing down the perfect bachelorette party dress. I'm sure Bluefly probably had some cute stuff, but I was in such a rush to get that shower dress ordered I didn't take the time to look. Don't worry, everyone and their brother seems to be having a dress sale today, so I trotted on over to Banana Republic.

Last weekend I had tried on this fancy little dress in yellow, but the store didn't have my size. I think it's sassy and fun in either color. But for the big night out, black to me is the best, classic choice.


Source: Banana Republic

It may be a little bit fancier than what I'd planned, but I don't have a classic black dress in my wardrobe, and this would definitely fill that need. I could get something slightly, err, flashier for the party, but I'm not that flashy of a girl and I'm not sure how often I'd be able to wear it again. And in this economy, repurposing in key, ladies!

I was so relieved to have both dresses ordered, and assuming they both fit, it will be smooth sailing from here. With so many other details to take care of, I couldn't spend any more time and energy obsessing over the perfect frock!

Do you buy special occasion dresses that you know can pull "double duty" for other events?

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