Wedding Day Shoes and a Shout out to Zappos

I finally found the shoes I want to wear on my wedding day, but it wasn't easy.

I've known for a while I want to dye my shoes plum to match my bridesmaids dresses. But I was having trouble finding dyeable shoes I liked, that also fit. I found plenty of dyeable shoes online, but didn't want to purchase shoes without trying them on, then have to deal with the hassle of paying to ship them back, and try to haggle for a refund.

That's when I turned to Zappos.com - free shipping both ways! I found a pair of shoes that I loved. But reviews wrote that the shoes ran large so I ordered them in a 5.5 - I'm usually a 6, sometimes a 5.5 in heels.

I was thrilled when they arrived and was actually giddy pulling them out the box. They were beautiful!

My excitement quickly faded when I couldn't walk in the shoes without my feet falling out of them.

With thoughts of free return shipping in mind, I went back to Zappos.com requested store credit for my return, printed my shipping label and went off to purchase the same shoes in a smaller size - only to find out they didn't have them in a size 5.

I was so discouraged, thinking I would be starting my shoe search from scratch. I loved these shoes so much, I didn't want to give up hope too quickly. So I decided to give Zappos a call, just to make sure they didn't expect any shipments of over-sized shoes for people with small feet. They did not.

However, the woman I spoke to found them for me through another website, though more expensive than what I'd purchased them for at Zappos. But wait, she told me this website was running a 15% off promotion and with that discount she did the calculations for me and determined that the shoes would be... only a few dollars more than what I'd paid at Zappos.

I was thrilled with the service, and was able to return my too-large 5.5's for a full refund and, thanks to the supremely helpful rep at Zappos, I received my 15% size 5's from a completely different company. I can't sing their praises enough - Thank you Zappos!

If you can believe it, the 5s are still a bit too big! But I'm not going to let that stop me from wearing my dream shoes on my wedding day! I purchased some inserts and viola! Problem solved.

Thank you Zappos for making my dream shoes a reality for the big day! Now I'm off to get them dyed!

Showers, Fittings, and Invitations, oh my!

It's been a busy few weeks as a bride-to-be! With less than two months until our wedding, (how can that be?!) it's been a hectic (but fun) time!

In the past few weeks, my fiance and I were in our friends' beautiful wedding, I attended a near-disastrous bachelorette party/wine tour where not one, but two limos broke down. I had two showers, and my free-time has been filled with thank-you note writing, invitation printing, address writing, ribbon-tying, envelope stuffing, a wedding-day hair trial, a wedding gown fitting, and shoe breaking-in...

Weddings seem to have taken over everything! Which is great, just please forgive me for not having much of anything not wedding or Pinterest related to add to conversations these days!
This is the first chance in weeks I've had time to reflect on it all.

Two weeks ago, at a country club my fiance and I fell in love with while looking for a place for our reception, my bridesmaids threw me a shower for our families in a beautiful room decorated with purple and white paper lanterns (much to the dismay of the manager!) with centerpieces of floating Gerbera daisies, and a beautiful (and delicious!) three-tiered cake.


Guests astounded me with their ingenuity in creating wedding gowns from paper towel, toilet paper and paper clips. They raided their purses for everyday (and not-so-everyday items), and won tickets for Naming that Tune. In the end, we raffled off amazing gift baskets as prizes, created by my clever and creative bridesmaids and other thoughtful guests.

I was overwhelmed with gifts and well-wishes, brought to tears by my mother's memory-box filled with gifts of my Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed and Something Blue, and surprised by my fiance who rushed from work to bring me flowers. Thank you to everyone who was a part of this day and to my bridesmaids who did such a great job putting it all together!

One week later, my co-workers threw me an amazing backyard, pool-side shower with delicious food and even deliciouser (yes I said it!) margaritas. They absolutely blew me away with their kindness.

 I got emotional as I thanked the people there (first at the shower, then again at our office meeting a few days later) who are not just people I work with, they are my family.

I was given with a beautiful framed picture of the church where we will be getting married, made up of puzzle pieces, each piece labeled with names of those who so generously contributed to the cost of our church. What an amazing and thoughtful gift.


While both showers were a whirlwind (especially for a girl not used to being the center of attention!) I am so grateful for the love and support of our family, friends, and co-workers (my KW family.)  The words "Thank you" are really not enough to express our gratitude.