Our Pawfect Wedding: Departing for Puggy Pictures

After gathering in the lobby, we head off to the picture area, aka Monument Circle, the center of Indianapolis, where we had our engagement pictures taken.

This lady stopped me as I walked out to tell me that one of our pugs reminded her of her pug who recently passed. I showed her how the charm on my bouquet had my pug who went "to the rainbow bridge" (dog term for not with us anymore... I'm so lame) in the picture with my dad, and she had tears in her eyes. I was really glad my wedding gang somehow brightened her day. I love that!

The pug brothers (yep all three of these dudes are my brothers-in-law) A, J, and S were in charge of the pugs. Notice anything?

Yep, only one pug has a leash. The other two have ROPE. Mr Pug called me FRANTIC since they only brought one leash for three pugs. Luckily my photographer and her husband are insanely prepared, like boy/girl scouts or something. They made some rope leashes for us. And Erin told me they put some collars and leashes in their emergency kit for the future!

We drove to the monument (about 5 blocks?) and had a hard time parking. We might've been a little illegal... oh well. My peeps helped me dress the pugs in their dress outfits, which I got from PugPossessed on Etsy (a good friend of mine!)

Harles gets in his suit...*

Sophie in her dress*... passers by were laughing and smiling (in a good, non-awkward way) and shouting sweet comments at us... mostly about the dogs! A few did notice my white dress though. It was a wonderful experience!

The pugs were seriously ready for their close up.

Seriously who can resist a pug in a tie?

The wedding party members were really easy going about the pugs, and were helpful holding their leashes/ropes while pictures were taken.

And yes, as groomsman S shows, it did take some pug wrangling.

So what was next? Pictures of Mr Pug and his dudes! And duh, more pug glamour shots....

(Pictures marked with a * were taken by Erin Hession Photography. The rest are from our pugtastic friends.)

Our Pawfect Wedding: My Dress!!!

Ok peeps it's DRESS TIMEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

I got my dress hanger from my sister for Christmas. She purchased it from LilaFrances on Etsy. Who now has a serious wait list.

Look at those gorgeous details!

My dress was less than $400 bucks and from a random tiny shop in southern Indiana. I would NEVER do it differently. Before the wedding, I wondered. Was it THE dress for me? After wearing it to marry my man, there is NO question. I just adore it.

Look at her!!! Paige the dress! (Read here if you don't know why I just called her Paige.) I had a bolero commissioned on Etsy but ended up not wearing it (I wanted to wear it to church for modesty) since it was HOT in our church.

Remember how I said I looked super-special "diving" into my dress? Here's proof...

I even told Erin that I wasn't sure I wanted these pictures. There are multiple ones of me with a bag over my head to protect my makeup and dress from each other. They will not be shown. I'm not graceful.

My bestie H helping me... isn't she seriously gorge?

These next few black and white pictures are from Bridesmaid A. I was pretty intense.

Sister/MOH R helped as well. And I sipped water.

It's hard work getting into a dress.

Our photographer Erin had to step in and help. My amazing wonderful seamstress begged me to have someone come to a fitting to learn how to lace me up. I didn't have anyone... the only people I wanted to get ready with were my family, best friends, and bridesmaids. Who all live in NJ or similarly far from Indiana. Sooooo I was SOL. Luckily Erin has done like two gazillion weddings and was really helpful.

Once that dress was on, I put on my jewelry...

...while laughing...

(Putting on this bracelet solo is HARD!)

Here's my necklace WITH EXTENDER for my sausageneck!!!!!!

This pic is from A as well... it's us with Crystal. Seriously we all LOVED her!

Back to professional photos... here I am with Bridesmaids L and A. I didn't get the memo as to who was taking the picture.

More paparazzi... my beautiful amazing sister M:

And my fantastic greeter/guestbook gals, AP and Em. Who are both Jewish (I attended both Bat Mitzvahs! Way back when I was EVEN MORE awkward!!!!!) which made me giggle when I asked them to be the smiling faces at the church :)

Guess what happened next? Well first I dealt with a frantic phone call (not photographed, but you'll find out soon...) and then, our first look photos!

Our Pawfect Wedding: Some Details

Before you get to see the pictures of me struggling into my dress like a special person... here are some of the details that helped put together my day, as taken while we were getting ready! All photos are by Erin Hession Photography.

My beautiful, difficult programs. I finished them that morning as people arrived.

Erin did this shot of our rings on our RSVP card!

And here are our rings with the cake toppers I painted!

Mr Pug's ring...

I have such WONDERFUL blog friends... here's a hankie that Dawn from Lydia & Pugs sent me - I didn't even ASK - she was just all generous and thoughtful WITHOUT BEING PROMPTED. I didn't think people like that existed. (She does products with drawings of many dog breeds, check her out!) Also Melissa from Pug Notes sent over the pug buttons for me... they look JUST like the three pugmigos, do they not?

Here is my jewelry from Luxe Deluxe. I'm wrestling with whether or not to sell them. Not super re-wearable but my Mom bought me the bracelet and it's sort of sentimental. So I'm not sure.

I made this locket the night before the wedding. It's my dad and my first pug, both taken from me too soon.

My shoes! Blogger Stephanie wore them (hers were dyed orange) and recommended them... they couldn't have been more perfect! I was going to send them to Laura but timing wouldn't work for cross-country shipping. Now the question- what color could/should I dye them now for future wear?

I love how my bestie BM H decorated this card...

Ok and FLOWERS!

Here are all the bridesmaid bouquets. Hydrangea with some spider mums and hypericum berries shoved in. Maybe something else, who knows. They didn't hold up well (hello, hydrangeas?) but looked great through pictures so that's what matters most.

My flowers. Dramatic. Different. Gorgeous. Anemones, spider mums, ranunculus, hypericum berries, some orchid-y things I do NOT remember asking for (but liked) and some roses I think (or just ugly ranunculus-es) that I did not ask for and did NOT like. But you could barely see them.

It was gorgeous but also not so great on the holding up front. The spider mums probably survived best (except the berries but they don't count) which was surprising since they're fragile- hit them wrong and they could unravel. Mostly my issue was just wilting... summer brides I do not suggest any of these!!!!

But let's be honest. It was perfect for me and I'd never do it any other way.

Up next... I promise you get to see my dress!

And now... the pugs' fittings!

As you guys may have realized, I have a pug blog too. I love my three little puggeroos and they're basically my life. So of course I asked my pug blog friend Punchy (who blogs about her pugs at Pug Possessed) to make their wedding dresses for the pictures we'll take with them. She was so easy to work with and I CANNOT BELIEVE how great their outfits look!!!

I got the pugs one by one and dressed them, then took pictures on the guest bedroom bed. Which in hindsight was maybe not so smart since they was far too excited to be up there (it's too tall for them to get up on their own.) In any case, they look adorable so it's time to share! First up - Sophie!

Here's a top view of the totally pooftastically cute dress...

Sophie is a sassy little girl!

Next up is Dixie (the bugg, aka Boston x Pug) who can be seen doing a "noseguard" in her first picture.

"Hey mommehh wazzup!?"

This one is MY FAVORITE!!! Look at that hint of tulle... it's white and green tulle layers! Punchy outdid herself!!!

Ever classy, the bugg rolled over for a bugg rub when I tried to take the dress off of her.

Last up was Sir Harles (aka Harley) who was THE most excited to be on the bed. So excited, in fact, that I only got one good shot. And I had to pretend I was getting a treat to get this shot!

The coolest part? Punchy sent a full SET of interchangeable ties!

In case you can't read it, the paper says "'Because of Marty' Shirt Sets (pic of Marty)

Seems the boy dogs never have great fashion! Your dog can be a dog for all seasons! White dress shirt & 9 detachable ties! Set includes: St. Patrick's, Easter, Memorial Day/July 4th, Birthday, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Black Silk, Christmas, and Valentine's." Punchy also threw in the black and white tie and the green tie to choose from for the wedding.

Looks like our pugs will be well dressed for a while!

Now if only I could find a "pug wrangler" to babysit them/transport them for wedding events... hmm....

PS if you want doggie items or clothing made, visit Punchy's etsy shop, Pugpossessed!