a shoe that tells the story

initially, i wanted a red chucks as my wedding shoes with an embroidered date of our wedding but i changed my mind as soon as i saw a post from a forum, that i forgot which one now.... the post was about custom-painted shoes..... it's called figgieshoes by deborah thompson......

the shoe that made me decide i'm getting a figgie shoes

so i went to that artist's website and i was so impressed! i wasn't sure though if i really want a custom-painted shoes because when i emailed them to ask for quote i find it really expensive (base price is CAD$250) so i just put that idea at the back of my head..... but i kept coming back to that artist's website just to check her new creations....

a year later, while i was stalking figgieshoes'  facebook site i saw this one pair of shoes that i can very much relate to and it's like it speaks to me....i don't know, i sound crazy but there's just something about that pair of shoes...... so after that i just emailed them right away and told them I'd like to order one and that i would need it for a May 2012 wedding.... that was some time in january 2012 (note that i got engaged on january 2011 and started planning the church wedding right away).

so they sent me a form that i needed to fill up and i had to list down all the personal items i want added on my shoes....i filled that up..... sent my payment thru paypal.com..... bought a white flat shoes from amazon and then shipped the shoes to them..... they're located in canada, by the way, but they ship internationally.....


below is my actual instructions:

PERSONALIZED ITEMS for M.C.

1. Image of the Eiffel Tower - my fiancé proposed to me in Paris, in front of the Eiffel Tower on New Year’s eve of 2011. If you can do a Paris theme that would be great! In fact, I really like the Pink Paris Damask you did for your other client.
2. May 12, 2012 – Please include that date on the right shoe (left side). We are going to have two weddings, civil and church. May 12, 2012 is our civil wedding and is going to be a beach wedding.
3. January 19, 2013 – Please include that date on the right shoe (right side). That is our church wedding date which is going to be in the Philippines.
4. Mcccccc and Rxzzzzxx – Please include our names on the left shoe
5. I really like what you did with some of the other shoes I saw on your site where the date is printed on one of the shoes and the names of the couple on the other shoe and they are each enclosed in half hearts that when you put the shoes together it would form a heart with the names and the date inside. I can't find that photo anymore but here's something similar but uses circle.
   
   I would like to request to put “Marlin and Robert” on the left shoe. Then have the “May 12, 2012” and “January 19, 2013” on my right shoe but please have those two dates printed on two different sides (ie:, May 12 on the “left” part of the right shoe and January 19 on the “right” part of right shoe) so that we can easily take a photo of the shoes with “Marlin and Robert” “May 12, 2012” enclosed in a heart and then just flip the right right shoe to show the January 19 and we can read the “Marlin and Robert” “January 19, 2013” enclosed in a heart. The reason for this is because I am planning to wear my Figgie shoes on both weddings and would love for our photographers to take a picture of the shoes on both weddings bearing our names and current wedding date.
   
6. My vows – please include a snippet of my vows. The vow is enclosed in System.out.println(“ <vows here> “); we're both programmers and this is something that identifies what we do for a living. Please print the vows on the left shoe. The same place where “Marlin and Robert” is printed.
   
   

System.out.println(“

Bob, with you i laugh, i smile, i dream. With you i'm full, i'm whole and i'm alive. Thank you for being the perfect partner. For trusting me w/ your heart and for believing in our future. Thank you for finding me. In return i promise to cherish you, encourage you. To laugh with u, comfort you. I'll always have your back like you have mine. I want to spend my lifetime loving you”);

7. – 8. An image of some luggage and a DSLR camera – we’re both avid travelers and both a photography hobbyist

9. An image of a keyboard and/or mouse – we’re both software engineers and we met at work

10. “I DO” – I like how you add these on the back of the shoes. “I” on the left shoe and “Do “ on the right. But instead of the heart that you used on the left photo, is it possible to have the damask heart from the photo on the right?

11. an image of a Philippine and American flag overlapping each other – that's our nationalities.
12. I also like how you design the edges on shoes like the photos below..i specially like the lace one (left photo)

Thank you so much!


P.S.
Our wedding motif for the church wedding is peach and yellow. Peach is the main color and yellow is the accent color. Turquoise/aqua blue for the civil beach wedding.

and here's the finished product, my bridal shoes

here you can see the flags, the name and date enclosed in a heart, the vows, the "i do"

the shoes i bought already has those floral accents in front but the artist made it more interesting

here you can see the eiffel tower, the dslr and luggages....the keyboard and mouse...
i like how the artist added another mouse and looped the wires into a heart, very very nice touch...
the artist also added a picture of an engagement ring and the "NYE 2011" next to the eiffel tower
to stress out the proposal date....another nice touch...

i'm so glad i made that decision.... i never thought i would get so emotional over a pair of shoes but i literally cried when i saw my pair of figgie shoes for the first time...... my bridal shoes has an effect on my friends and anyone who sees my bridal shoes too and they kept telling me they've never seen anything like it.....even the hubby loves it and he would show pix of it to his female friends/family members who weren't able to make it to our civil wedding.

the shoes is a splurge and i kept telling my friends (or whoever cared to listen, lol) that i have thought about it for a year before finally plunging into that decision and they were all telling me how you can easily spend a thousand bucks for a pair of shoes in new york and my bridal shoes is still cheap compared to those, so i feel better now, lol....


i have something similar for my church wedding shoes and you can find it here: http://2sqrtof3.blogspot.com/2013/03/not-your-ordinary-wedding-shoes.html


(photos all courtesy of figgieshoes.com...like them onfacebook/figgieshoes ):