A long time ago, in a land far far away (well for some of you) Ok, so only six years ago, in Washington, Ben and I got hitched. Ok so that is old news seeing as how I posted that a few weeks ago.
But what you don't know is that the day before my wedding - or maybe it was two days, I was standing in a friend of my parents home and she was attempting very diligently I might add, to create a french bustle for my dress.
Side vent for a moment: There is NOTHING and I repeat NOTHING that I hate more, than to see the train of a brides dress HOOKED to the last button on her back with that little satin ribbon under her dress. LADIES, LADIES, LADIES, that is NOT what that little satin ribbon is for under your dress at the end of your train. THAT is for hanging your dress. PLEASE do a bustle!
Back to the story...
So anyway, Pat Conrad was on the phone talking to a friend of hers who was a professional seamstress and had done a million bustles. This friend, gave Pat the instructions and away she went. As I'm standing there, with my backside showing so she could do the bustle, she tells me that her friend recommended that I or any other bride NOT get my dress dry cleaned afterwards but to do it myself. She said, that she tells her bridal clients all the time that for an additional charge, after the wedding she'll clean the dress for them. Most clients take her up on this offer and so she shared her secret with us.
Ready? She said, all she ever does is take the dress, turn it inside out toss it in her WASHING MACHINE and the wash it on gentle cycle. Then after it's finished, she hangs it up to dry and then steams the dress once dried. She said in all her years of doing it, she had never once ruined a dress - but then again she knows what she's doing - I don't.
So Pat passed that tidbit onto me and I've kept it with me all these years.
For our wedding we had three - yes three - receptions. One in Vancouver, WA, one in St. Cloud, MN and one in Jacksonville, FL. I wore my dress to all three - plus the temple ceremony. The dress stayed clean for all of them except for the Jacksonville one. I accidently dropped my mascara brush down the front of my dress! (note to future brides, do your mascara BEFORE you get dressed!!
So anyway, I've been waiting all these years in hopes of one day getting a brand NEW washing machine that I could wash my dress in, but seeing as how I am busting out of EVERY closet we own - stupid winter coats, why do they have to be so big? - I decided that it was time to wash the dress, and then store it in one of those space bags for a few years. In addition to my wedding dress, I'll also be storing my Mothers & the other wedding dress I bought but didn't use. (long story). These three dresses will now give me quite a bit of extra room. The winter coats are next seeing as how we wont be using them this year.
So in saying all of that, there are really duel purposes for washing the dress - Ok, maybe 3
1. To get it clean finally - and yes the "waterproof" mascara DID come out, along with every shoe print that made it to my train.
2. To finally store it in a waterproof, mothproof, humidity proof way. Yea for space bags!
3. So that when we decide to have kids, the dress will be ready for phase 2 of it's life.
You see, I'm a frugle kind of girl...and so I had other plans for the dress. Perhaps some of you have done this or have the same plan for your dress but if not, consider this:
My mother kept her dress all these years. Perhaps it was in hopes that one of her daughters would wear it (doubt it) or maybe it was because, like all brides, you just can't give it up. But for all these years, it sat in the closet and then for my wedding was passed onto me incase I wanted to use any of the material from it to make my own. (love the idea, but didn't happen).
So what I plan to do with Mine AND Hers is to one day, make my children's blessing gowns out of them. My dress has plenty of fabric to make a good 5 or 6 outfits - whether they be dresses for girls or pants & and vest for boys doesn't matter. But I want my children to have a little piece of me with them and my mothers dress will help add accents to the outfits. Then perhaps, they will one day bless their children in that outfit and add a bit of their own mother's dress to it. And if my Mother in Law wants to add a piece of hers to the outfits, I'd love to do that too, but that is her call as she has her own daughter who might want to do this for her children.
Anyway, I have loved the idea since before my wedding and hope that one day, I'll be able to fulfil my dream of passing a little bit of my dress to each of my children.
Did you do anything special with your wedding dress? If so, I'd love to hear about it.
Ben attempting to push me over a cement wall that I didn't know existed. 
Sarah, Emily & Matthew chillin' at the waters edge. This springs was a big "chilly" but that could be due to the fact that is was fairly overcast that day. 
Woo-wee...What is that albino fish doing in the water? (the sad part is that that is a ROCKIN' TAN for me!)
John, testing out the snorkel gear....
Next we went to an old favorite - Blue Springs where snorkeling is off limits due to it being Manatee Season - which was AWESOME! We saw - I don't know - 10+ manatee's. It was really great and highly recommended for any Floridian to take advantage of while it's Manatee seasons. 
The Actual Springs are the "dark" patch behind Sarah - A Poor Family Photo.
Ben and I - being ourselves.
Where was this "olive skin" tan earlier in the water? At least here I look like I'm the same color as Ben!
More Manatees!
