always a bridesmaid.

who's done re-hashing my wedding? not me. spoiler alert: these next 46 blog posts will probably be about my wedding. starting with m'ladies-in-waiting. my bridesmaids outfits were pretty. effing. awesome. it didn't hurt that my b-maidz are all knockouts to start out with... but their striped dresses were B-O-M-B. i mentioned at one point that i was on the hunt for striped dresses, but i don't know if i ever got around to following up with some inspiration shots, which are here:{images 1-4: louis vuitton (leighton meester!), image 4: no idea, image 6: dace, image 7: urban outfitters, image 8: no idea, image 9: j. crew, image 10: jessica stam in her undies}

i never found exactly what i was looking for, so we had these made by jenny kim here in houston. i should mention that going this route is not less expensive than, say, buying your dresses from anthropologie, but i don't think the cost was unreasonable. to keep the bridesmaids' costs lower and to keep myself from feeling like a total jerk, i paid for the fabric and the belts. on the other hand, part of the construction costs were inflated by the fact that i wanted them to be striped, and not solid or a pattern, because sewing stripes is more difficult due to matching the stripes perfectly at the seams. i also let the girls choose how they wanted their dresses to be cut (mainly the top area) but in the end, they all had them made the same way. and did i mention how pretty my friends are?? stunning. sadly, male readers of WWNC, they is all up and married (or about to be).along with my mom's entire outfit, most of the clothes i wore during the wedding weekend, my day-of jewelry and audrey's day-of jewelry, belts were from ann taylor. specifically, the collar studded belt by ann taylor. if they are out of 'em at your local AT, i highly recommend the practically identical exotic collar studded belt. or anything that is being sold at ann taylor. i love that store. le meow.


{photos of our wedding by stella alesi photography; dresses (bride and bridesmaids) by jenny kim couture}

here comes the bride.

for those of you who did not get a good look during the 12-minute ceremony prior to me joining the all-night dance party (previously detailed here), this is an online diary entry regarding my wedding ensemble. my plan was always to rock an extremely simple dress and in contrast, get loco with the jewelry. so here's the dress inspiration. please note the pockets. my actual dress had some, and those pockets were the best thing, ever. i had a compact, a lipstick, a lip gloss, bobby pins and my handkerchief all up in there, all night.
naturally, it didn't suit me to just go buy this dress. for starters, that would be too easy. also, jcrew SOLD OUT of the genevieve silk radzimir gown a long time ago. third (and mainly), i've got a healthy bosom, and as all ladylike gentlewomen with manners (such as myself) know, surplus cleavage and side boob is inappropriate (not that my actual dress did much to hide my milkers. those two were Out And A-bout All Night, if you know what i mean, or if you have eyes. so sorry about that.). here is my actual dress:as a general rule, i like go overboard on accessories. it's my classy kansas upbringing, no doubt. the recent trend of Jewelry Overload is right up my alley, so the accessories line-up included two necklaces, three bracelets and some tiny stud earrings, all from the magical wonderland called ANN TAYLOR. i like that the color of this particular stone is the shade called GRAPEFRUIT, since that's pretty much all i ate during the months of september and october 2010. i also wore a tiny, vintage watch that my sister gave me. (two of the stone bracelet, above)

KICKS: my shoes were the first thing i purchased. i love them. FRYE is one of my favorite shoemakers (cobblers?) and i wish i could get these in every single color. i realize that heels make your legs look super and all, but for our outdoor wedding, heels weren't really an option due to walking in grass and my clumsiness. plus, flats are comfy and excellent for dancing the night away. and they are even better in real life:{actual wedding photos by stella alesi photography}

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we got hitched, y'all.

so b-rad and i got married. i have been holding off from mentioning it until i got some legit photos from our wonderful photographer, and she posted a few today on her blog. the wedding was pretty awesome, ifidosaysom'self. i got all my craft projects done on time and managed to keep the tears at bay during the ceremony, so let's hear it for xanax! everyone looked stunning, our florist was outstanding, the food was delightful, and our dj pretty much set the place on fire. it was really a nuptial dance sensation. here are THE FIRST OF MANY photos by the tremendously talented duo of stella and leon alesi over at stella alesi photography.something i realized a long time ago was that, although i have a pretty giant bag of tricks, there are many, many things i could not have done without for this party of a lifetime, so here are a few WEDDING SHOUT-OUTS.

obviously, brad, his family and my family were fantastic. i don't think we could function on a day-to-day basis without our families, but they really brought their A-game to town for the weekend, which was not surprising, and yet, really a terrific surprise, all at the same time. samesies for the wedding party. what a delightful group of people.

florist: petal pushers, located just outside of austin in dripping springs. these folks out-did themselves and were A DREAM to work with. stacey hogge, you are a magician.

venue, catering, cakes, planning, peacocks et. al: green pastures, located in the heart of south congress in austin. a wonderful experience, all around. tanya, jessica and jill, way to go. green pastures is a wedding MACHINE.

photography: stella alesi photography, aka stella and leon alesi, based in austin. these two are some of the nicest, most laid-back and creative people i've ever met. if you are planning a wedding of any sort, do yourself a favor and book 'em. they took our save the date photos, too.

music, part one: will taylor and strings attached, based in austin. extremely talented, extremely patient and extremely kind. i emailed over an off-the-wall idea and they MADE IT HAPPEN, exactly how i wanted. for those of you who missed the golden gift of audrey's vocal performance, which was accompanied by WT&SA, my condolences. it was an honor to witness. i will regret forever that we didn't have someone filming.

music, part two: michael antonia, aka the flashdance, aka the human jukebox, out of los angeles, california. i don't know if i can put into words how STUPENDOUS this guy is, but i will try. he hopped on a plane, rented a car, set up a MASSIVE AMOUNT of sound equipment, brought all the wacky songs i'd requested last minute, mike'd the officiant, mike'd the band, dj'ed the ceremony, dj'ed the cocktail hour, emcee'd the first dances and then DROPPED A MUSICAL BOMB on an unsuspecting crowd. he brought vinyl records, forcryingoutloud. i have never ever ever seen a dance floor with so many sweaty, out of control people before. it was a glowstick disco fairytale, and twelve hours later, he was gone. i don't think there was one person in attendance who didn't say, at some point during the night, "MAN, THIS GUY IS AMAZING." he is, and he was, and you are a crazy cracksmoker if you don't hire him immmmmmmediately.

we had other vendors that outdid themselves as well, going out of their way to help me with all the tiny details. i'm talking 'bout mark at soundcheck austin; ann at premiere party central, katie at katie & co. of houston; jenny kim at jenny kim couture in houston; HENRIETTA at quiltworks in cypress (which is a houston 'burb); stacy matthews, the cutest make-up artist on the planet but specifically austin; and carol king at duralee in the houston decorative showroom. i have plans to go through more of the details and the DIY-ing, where i can talk more about how great this crew is, but feel free to let me know of any questions you have in the meantime.

i also used a handful of etsy vendors: melabo for the hilarious interspecies cake topper, titanium knights for BOTH of brad's wedding bands and abusymother for (FINALLY) a reasonably priced veil.

thanks a bazillion also, to the giant amount of people that attended. that was incredible. more later, homies.
xo-
kristina kdub babyface wilson (luebe)

reason #9,028 why i can NEVER quit my job.

b-rad said i can quit my job anytime i want, but we would have to dramatically decrease our spending around the casa. as in, no more housekeeper or DRYCLEANING. the drycleaning bit i totally ignore... after all, that's just crazy talk (because nobody on this planet could survive without drycleaning). the part that terrifies me though, and keeps me on the nine to five, is that he might be serious when it comes to the housekeeper. i suuuuuuuuuure would miss Miss Lidia. not only does she keep it tidy around here, but when the language barrier proves too much, miss lidia just writes WE NEED on the empty package. it really cracks me up.