Wedding jealousy

One of my friends from high school got engaged a few weeks after I did. We haven't talked in a while, actually--we sort of drifted apart since we went to different colleges, and haven't made that much effort to keep in touch. We have very different lives and very different relationships. She and her now-fiance have been dating for over four years, since our senior year of high school, and she's been planning their wedding for almost as long. I've always known they were going to get married, and figured that she would do so before me.

But now that she's engaged, and I'm engaged, I'm feeling this incredible urge to get married earlier, and better, than she does. She posts something wedding-related on Facebook, and I'm just filled with jealousy. I judge every one of her wedding pins on Pinterest to see if it's as pretty, or as unique, or as fun, as what I've pinned that day. I take a LOT of comfort in the fact that her fiance is two years younger, so that even though Dave doesn't have a full time job, at least he's not still a student.

It's appalling, really. I'm embarrassed even to admit how jealous I am. But a couple weeks ago, this friend posted on Facebook about talking to her mom about wedding dresses and bridesmaids dresses, and I was so jealous. Why wasn't I talking to MY mom about wedding dresses and bridesmaids dresses? Well, because I already have my dress figured out, and because I'll probably only have the one bridesmaid (maid of honor), and because I don't need my mom's input on every little decision. I can do this on my own--and I plan to.

Last week, my friend posted something hinting that they've set a wedding date--for a day in July next year. My first though? Oh, I hope we get married in May, then.

Over the weekend, my friend posted some pictures of her and fiance that look like engagement pictures--and one has them holding a bit of bunting with what must be their wedding date (and I was right, it is in July next year). I'm blaming this on low blood sugar, but I actually felt a bit of nausea mixed in with my grumpy jealousy.

What is wrong with me? I'm a normal human and have been envious of other people before--but this is completely out of character for me. Is this a normal part of being a bride-to-be? Anyone else having big Wedding Jealousy thoughts?

Fancying up

Because I've been reading wedding blogs for *cough* a while now, I didn't really "plunge" into wedding planning like I think some people do. I've sort of been wading in the shallow end of the wedding pool, while some people get engaged and just cannonball off the diving board. So I'm doing wedding things by stages. One of these stages is picking a dress. And I think I have!

First, backstory. I LOVE vintage styles. I sewed my high school graduation dress from a vintage Vogue pattern, and over the years I've had a few very cute, vintage-y pieces. But since I've always been on a high school or college budget (i.e., no budget), I haven't been able to buy the vintage dresses, tops, and skirts that I love.

Vintage dress on Etsy via Pinterest

Retro-style shoes on Modcloth via Pinterest

What does this mean, wedding-wise? It means I wanted this:

Grace Kelly's wedding dress, 1956

And could afford, well, maybe this:

Vintage-style dress from UniqueVintage.com

What's a low-budget bride to do? Try to find a used dress for cheap, of course. And did I ever!

This is my mother's wedding dress and veil, which she wore in 1981. The dress hasn't been out of the box since she got it cleaned when my oldest brother was born in 1985. (We had an uh-oh moment when I pointed out that if the cleaners had sent her a box with something else in it, we'd be stuck with it--but that was just me worrying, and everything was fine!)

It fits! Perfectly! Do you see how perfectly it fits? The sleeves aren't too long, or too short, or too tight! The skirt touches the floor but doesn't drag! The bodice--okay, the bodice is a little tight, but I can go braless--problem solved.

Is this my ideal wedding dress? No. But I've been thinking, and I have the rest of my life to buy a dress like this.

I don't have the rest of my life to wear my mother's wedding dress. If I wear my mother's dress, I'll be connected to her in a way I never expected, which is pretty awesome. I'm always touched by stories of brides wearing their mothers' or even grandmothers' dresses, and I am really excited to be one of those girls.

Plus, free, vintage Alfred Angelo dresses don't just fall into your lap every day.

If you had the chance to wear your mother's dress, would you? (Or, for the dudelier types, are there any family-heirloom-things that you would wear?)