BBC: Hoppin’ to my Hair-do (18 days)

*sings*
It's just a jump to the left, and then a step to the riiiiiight ... Let's do the time warp again!

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(Only 18 days left in the Bunny Bridal Countdown, but don't worry. That doesn't mean 18 posts. We'll get to the good stuff soon, I promise!)

Hair was also one of the items on my bridal to do list that I put off until the last minute (OK, the last month).

Fortunately, I'd made some plans in advance -- plans to get my wedding day hair done for free!

Thanks to Mrs. Joey, I decided to turn to the wondrous site known as Craigslist to find a hairstylist who would be willing to work with my budget of ... nothing.

Well, not exactly nothing. I posted an ad in the "Barter" section of the site, offering my services as a photographer (not pro, just skilled amateur) in exchange for a sweet wedding day do!

The woman who responded to my ad told me she had experience doing hair, even wedding hair, but that she's a florist. We agreed that I'd take pictures of some bouquets and she would do my hair.

Of course, I wasn't ready to trust her without a trial, and I didn't expect her to trust me either. A hair/photo trial was definitely in order.

I knew I wanted a low bun, but something a little more intricate than I could do on my own. With those vague directions, my new friend went to work.


Bingo! Lovely and secure. I think she used a whole paper full of bobby pins and a whole can of hairspray, but it was pretty stable. Miraculous, if you ask me. My hair is notorious for it's ability to weasel out of whatever constraints I put on it.

The bangs, I decided, needed some help. But I would work on that later.

Then it was time for me to prove my worth. We did the hair trial in the florist's store front, so I snapped a few quick pics of her (fake) display bouquets.



She seemed satisfied, so we shook on it and agreed that she'd come to my parents' house on my wedding day to style my hair.

Thank you, Craigslist! Anyone else been inspired by the budget-saving powers of Craig?

Previously, on the BBC:
Bunny Bridal Countdown: The Showers (30+ days)
Bunny Bridal Countdown: Dress disaster (28 days)
Bunny Bridal Countdown: Dress decision (25 days)
Bunny Bridal Countdown: Bunny goes Playboy (23 days)
Bunny Bridal Countdown: Cake-speriments, Part I (23 days)
Bunny Bridal Countdown: Cake-speriments, Part II

Dealing with an univited relative

A few days before our wedding, I found out there'd be an unexpected guest. Oh yes, ladies, you know who I mean.

Good ole' Aunt Flo decided to show up two or three days out. Lovely.

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For those of you on birth control, you've probably thought ahead. Lucky you! You can plan your monthly visits ahead of time and control when Flo shows up. Pretty sure you're not planning on inviting her to the wedding, are ya?

For various reasons which are hardly relevant to this discussion, I was not on BC at the time (though I am now). Thus, I was forced to deal with Flo's unwelcome presence at our nuptuals.

I'm not sure about the rest of you, but I have this unfortuate issue with leaks. NO FUN. No matter what kind of protection I wear during Flo's visit, it always seems to fail me one way or another. Pads shift around, leaving swaths of panty unprotected. Tampons leak, forcing me to wear a backup pad. What's the point of a tampon if you have to wear a pad, too?! Ugh.

For years, I've dealt with the hassels brought on by my monthly visitor -- soaking my undies in water to remove stains, pitching the ones that weren't salvageable.

But to chance it on my wedding day? When I'm wearing my pristine white dress? I DON'T THINK SO. There was no way in heck that I was going to deal with Flo's messiness while wearing my wedding dress.

Enter the Diva Cup.

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*cue angel choir*

I'd been reading about this cute little silicone cup for over a year. The idea of inserting a cup *up there* initially skeeved me out, the more I read about it (just Google it!), the more I liked the idea.

Listen to me close, peeps. When positioned properly (which isn't too difficult), the Diva Cup keeps you 100 percent leak free. That's right. NO LEAKS. NONE.

Additionally, you only have to empty that sucker every 8 to 12 hours. No more having to change your tampon or pad in a public restroom. You can wait til you're back in your own home to deal with your private stuff.

Plus it's less expensive than buying pads and 'pons for the rest of your life. One purchase of about $20 covers you for years!

My main concern was for comfort. I was worried I'd walk around all day in pain and discomfort. But I took a quick jaunt to Whole Foods the day before our nuptuals to pick up a cup, thinking I'd at least try it for the rehearsal dinner to test how it felt once positioned.

It took a few tries, but following the directions provided in the box yielded a fantastic fit. It was no less comfortable than a tampon, for sure. And though I wore a pad just in case on the day of the rehearsal dinner, I felt free enough to go without on our wedding day. *Happy dance!*

The little cup did it's duty for several days of our honeymoon, too. All my new honeymoon clothing and lingere was safe from Flo! Thank you, Diva Cup. Thankyouthankyouthankyou. I will never go back!

(Also I swear Diva Cup has not given me anything for this glowing review. I just love mine THAT MUCH.)

How are you dealing with the potential for Aunt Flo to show up at your wedding? Are you messing with your monthly schedule or taking extra precautions to guard against leaks?

Bunny Bridal Countdown: Cake-speriments, Part II

Oy, the Bunny Bridal Countdown has been languishing as of late. We'd best get a move on or it'll be my first anniversary before I finish recapping that shindig!

After polishing off the too-small experimental Pepperidge Farm coconut cake, I was back to square one with no cake ideas.

All the cakes I saw online were too fancy or too complicated. I wanted something simple, rustic, and cheap! A wedding featured on Style Me Pretty in early June caught my attention with this beauty:

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Simple and lovely, and just the right size for a cutting cake!

Around that same time, I fortuitously recieved an e-mail from Mr. Bunny's sister, offering the services of her mother-in-law, who bakes and decorates cakes for friends and family. A few e-mails later, and ba-da-boom, our cake was taken care of, right?


Well, not quite.

Mama Bunny was insistent that we provide cake to our guests, even though I had planned on a cookie bar instead. We decided that we'd turn to those trusty bakers at Costco to feed our guest list of 170. It's cheap ($16 per half sheet cake), and comes in some great flavors: Chocolate or vanilla cake; vanilla butter cream, chocolate or creamcheese icing; and vanilla cheesecake, chocolate mousse, or strawberry filling.

Neither of us had cake from Costco before, though. What better excuse to order a sheet cake or two than my little bro's high school graduation party?!

We ordered two cakes, each with a different combination of cake and icing flavors.


This did have Brother Bunny's name on it (and my cousin's, since it was a joint graduation party), but I 'shopped them out for privacy.

How did it taste? Magnificent! Our guests raved about the cake, and it was better than any other grocery store cake I've tried.

This kid liked the cake. I did, too.

Congrats, Brother Bunny! You're a cutie pie, and your graduation cake tasted awesome. Thanks for being our cake guinea pig!

Anyone else like Costco cake?

Previously ...
Bunny Bridal Countdown: The Showers (30+ days)
Bunny Bridal Countdown: Dress disaster (28 days)
Bunny Bridal Countdown: Dress decision (25 days)
Bunny Bridal Countdown: Bunny goes Playboy (23 days)
Bunny Bridal Countdown: Cake-speriments, Part I (23 days)

Bunny Bridal Countdown: Cake-speriments, Part I (23 days)

Don't forget to hop in your time machine for the Bunny Bridal Countdown!

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Previously ...
Bunny Bridal Countdown: The Showers (30+ days)
Bunny Bridal Countdown: Dress disaster (28 days)
Bunny Bridal Countdown: Dress decision (25 days)
Bunny Bridal Countdown: Bunny goes Playboy (23 days)

Can you believe that in all my days of planning, I was still without a plan for a wedding cake with less than a month to go?

Neither Mr. Bunny nor I have ever been too keen on cake, so we planned on having a homemade cookie bar instead. Mama Bunny, however, insisted we at least have a cake to cut. My original idea was to buy one of those tasty frozen Pepperidge Farm coconut cakes. They're beautiful, romantic-looking and SUPER tasty!

MMM ... I really want a bite of this right now!

The main requirement for our cake, though, was that it fit on the antique cake stand my grandmother gave me.


Pretty, no?

Unfortuately, I failed to take into account two important facts. First, the cake plate is round. The Pepperidge Farm cake is square. Second, the Pepperidge Farm cake is much smaller than my cake plate. It looked a little silly.

So pretty ... and yet, so awkward. Like a little kid trying on her mom's high heels. "Aww, sweetie! You're just a leeeetle too small for those shoes!"

But soooo delicious! I got to eat the cake, so this experiment wasn't a total failure. ;)

For a brief moment, I considered looking up the recipe and making a coconut cutting cake myself. Then I realized how in-freaking-sane that idea was. You ladies who make your own cakes get my utmost respect, because I knew I would be in no shape to be baking a cake a few days out from the wedding.

Instead, I started to look for an alternative ...

Next up, I search for a cake design, a cake baker, and cake to feed our guests at our wedding, which is now three weeks away. Sheesh. Procrastinate much, Bunny?

Can she do it? Stay tuned to find out!