I'll most likely have somethings old, new, borrowed and blue on my wedding day, but right now I want to tell you about my something awesome.
You may remember that I have an non-traditional engagement ring: it doesn't have a solitaire setting, and the small diamonds wrap all the way around to make a branch-like shape. I love my modest ring. It is beautiful and perfectly reflects who and where were are in life, right now. However, I did not choose a modest ring because I am not into diamonds. Au contraire, baby! The more and the better jewelry, the awesomer, I say!
I was super psyched when my parents came up to visit me in May, and my mom brought her jewelry box (excuse me, she brought her travel jewelry box -- shouldn't we all have such a thing?). She explained to me that she had "found" a few diamonds, and would like to have a necklace made for me for my wedding day, which would consist of two diamonds from earrings she no longer wears, and three diamonds from my grandmother's engagement ring. Yes, please! I was so excited, and so touched.
Well.
If I thought I was excited then, it was nothing compared to when I saw my folks last week, and they whipped out a green velvet box at breakfast. The necklace was breathtaking. It hangs as a pendant on a lovely (and sturdy) gold chain. The large diamond from the engagement ring is set below the three smaller diamonds which are in an off-kilter setting that reminds me of twinkling stars. Also, as my mom pointed out, they refer subtly to my engagement ring.
You can bet your boots that I was wearing diamonds at that particular pancake breakfast!
On December 12th, I will be doubling up the diamond necklace, wearing it with an heirloom set of pearls, which were adjusted by my parents' jeweler to hang just so above the diamonds.
(I hate that I can't show you a picture of the necklace yet. Every time I turn my camera on lately, it has been making frantic beeping sounds while blinking all its lights. Hopefully, I'll get that fixed soon!)
Showing posts with label mom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mom. Show all posts
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
my "vision"
I have a vision, several motifs, and no theme. Our wedding is going to be a bit of a rag-tag collection of different ideas, and none of them fit together. I am aware of this, and it is fine with me.
You may remember our venue, the Metropolitan Building has a very Parisian, shabby-chic feel to it.
You may think that "Parisian, shabby-chic" would lead a girl expertly to a cohesive vision worthy of Style Me Pretty. You can just imagine it, right? Lots of elegant, slightly distressed detailing, maybe some lace or linen. Sigh. It practically designs itself, this space. Online I read a description of the Met Building that called it an "Anthropologie photo shoot waiting to happen."
The thing is, none of my disparate elements really fit so neatly with what the Met Building has already given us, and I'm fine with that. Essentially, we just wanted to stick with things we like, and not worry about whether they all fit together. Themes and matching make me feel nervous and confined. I would prefer to have the elements of this wedding a little strange and disparate, but also be able to have the things we like, even if they don't match.
One of the early motifs that emerged began with our STD stamps: the only postcard stamps available on USPS.com were the polar bears. We liked them, and had no other choice!
I did notice, however, that some of the pale green tones in the polar bear stamp match the pale green walls at the Met Building.
Oh, ho ho! Maybe I do like a little matchy-matchy! From there, we used "sno-cone" colored paper from Frenchpaper.com for our STDs.
See what I mean? There is a vision and a method, but I wouldn't say I could name it, or that it's as easily identifiable and consistent as Miss Cowboy Boot's perfectly gorgeous peach and dusty rose Santa Fe wedding. Miss Cowboy Boot's vision is so palpable that I see things all the time where think "Oh, that would be perfect for Miss CB!"
I on the other hand, don't really understand inspiration boards and am not focused enough to use one or make one. (Do you use them or make them? Or both?)
This leads me to our invitations, which feature two polar bears, one of whom is wearing a tophat!
So we have polar bears on the stamps, polar bears on the invitations ... but will you see polar bears anywhere else? No!
...But you will see Sherlock Holmes. One of the things about our wedding that causes my mother's lips to press together are our escort cards, which will be Sherlock Holmes-themed. We're going to have each table named after a Sherlock Holmes story (The Adventure of the Speckled Band, anyone?). We'll have plain, tented escort cards with each guest's name, and the name of one of the cases inside. On the table, we'll have a Holmes silhouette:
Followed by the name of the case. Who wants to be at The Adventure of the Six Napoleons? Surely everyone will!
However, aside from the table names and escort cards, there's not going to be any other Holmes stuff at the wedding. My mom is not into the Holmes idea, I can tell, but is kindly indulging me. We picked this because G. has loved Sherlock Holmes since he was a kid, and knows all of the stories. More importantly, we spent the spring of '08 renting the Jeremy Brett version from Netflix. This was a difficult period for us, plagued by work and graduate school trauma, and Sherlock Holmes was one thing we always looked forward to, and I daresay got us through.
As far as my mom is concerned -- which is pretty far, considering she is creative director of all the flowers and the rest of the decor -- the wedding will have a strong "winter wonderland/Christmas" vibe. We're going to have cut paper snowflakes sprinkled on the tables, red Amaryllis placed on tabletops, and mini Christmas trees. And a lot of wreaths.
As you can see, a lot of these projects have yet to be completed, but they are swimming in my head. I've decided that even though my polar bear-detective-Christmas-snowflake-Parisian-shabby chic wedding doesn't all fit together, I don't care. It has all the stuff that we like, and that is the most important thing.
Do you have a vision? Do you have a theme? Are you all over the place, like me? Do tell!
You may remember our venue, the Metropolitan Building has a very Parisian, shabby-chic feel to it.
You may think that "Parisian, shabby-chic" would lead a girl expertly to a cohesive vision worthy of Style Me Pretty. You can just imagine it, right? Lots of elegant, slightly distressed detailing, maybe some lace or linen. Sigh. It practically designs itself, this space. Online I read a description of the Met Building that called it an "Anthropologie photo shoot waiting to happen."The thing is, none of my disparate elements really fit so neatly with what the Met Building has already given us, and I'm fine with that. Essentially, we just wanted to stick with things we like, and not worry about whether they all fit together. Themes and matching make me feel nervous and confined. I would prefer to have the elements of this wedding a little strange and disparate, but also be able to have the things we like, even if they don't match.
One of the early motifs that emerged began with our STD stamps: the only postcard stamps available on USPS.com were the polar bears. We liked them, and had no other choice!
I did notice, however, that some of the pale green tones in the polar bear stamp match the pale green walls at the Met Building.
Oh, ho ho! Maybe I do like a little matchy-matchy! From there, we used "sno-cone" colored paper from Frenchpaper.com for our STDs.See what I mean? There is a vision and a method, but I wouldn't say I could name it, or that it's as easily identifiable and consistent as Miss Cowboy Boot's perfectly gorgeous peach and dusty rose Santa Fe wedding. Miss Cowboy Boot's vision is so palpable that I see things all the time where think "Oh, that would be perfect for Miss CB!"
I on the other hand, don't really understand inspiration boards and am not focused enough to use one or make one. (Do you use them or make them? Or both?)
This leads me to our invitations, which feature two polar bears, one of whom is wearing a tophat!
So we have polar bears on the stamps, polar bears on the invitations ... but will you see polar bears anywhere else? No!
...But you will see Sherlock Holmes. One of the things about our wedding that causes my mother's lips to press together are our escort cards, which will be Sherlock Holmes-themed. We're going to have each table named after a Sherlock Holmes story (The Adventure of the Speckled Band, anyone?). We'll have plain, tented escort cards with each guest's name, and the name of one of the cases inside. On the table, we'll have a Holmes silhouette:
Followed by the name of the case. Who wants to be at The Adventure of the Six Napoleons? Surely everyone will!However, aside from the table names and escort cards, there's not going to be any other Holmes stuff at the wedding. My mom is not into the Holmes idea, I can tell, but is kindly indulging me. We picked this because G. has loved Sherlock Holmes since he was a kid, and knows all of the stories. More importantly, we spent the spring of '08 renting the Jeremy Brett version from Netflix. This was a difficult period for us, plagued by work and graduate school trauma, and Sherlock Holmes was one thing we always looked forward to, and I daresay got us through.
As far as my mom is concerned -- which is pretty far, considering she is creative director of all the flowers and the rest of the decor -- the wedding will have a strong "winter wonderland/Christmas" vibe. We're going to have cut paper snowflakes sprinkled on the tables, red Amaryllis placed on tabletops, and mini Christmas trees. And a lot of wreaths.
As you can see, a lot of these projects have yet to be completed, but they are swimming in my head. I've decided that even though my polar bear-detective-Christmas-snowflake-Parisian-shabby chic wedding doesn't all fit together, I don't care. It has all the stuff that we like, and that is the most important thing.
Do you have a vision? Do you have a theme? Are you all over the place, like me? Do tell!
Monday, August 31, 2009
Never Tear Us Apart
G. and I decided fairly easily on our first-dance song, which is Never Tear Us Apart by INXS. We made the decision by having me start to think about it long before we were engaged, developing a list, narrowing it down by myself, and finally delivering two options to him after we started planning the wedding. (The other song I considered was "No One" by Alicia Keys.)
We used the following criteria for selecting this particular song:
1) It is totally awesome, and has been so since 1987 when it came out.
2) It is part of the soundtrack of the very romantic movie Donnie Darko, which we both love.
3) It is has a hilarious and totally 80s saxophone solo in the middle. (I dream of performing "air saxophone" during our dance at the wedding!)
At any rate, despite the fact that the song was also played at Michael Hutchence's funeral in 1997, we thought it was a very romantic song, and let's admit it: a crowd pleaser. Everyone our age at the wedding is going to know and love this.
G. and I are not exactly shy, but we're not attention-seekers either. We won't be doing a surprise dance to "Baby Got Back" or anything of that nature. On the other hand, we want to avoid looking like our wedding is a 7th grade mixer, with three and a half minutes of us swaying back and forth.
Therefore, we asked my parents, who have done ballroom dancing for fifteen years, to choreograph a little something for us. Last week, we saw visited them for vacation, and we all had some wine and INXS in the living room. My parents worked out a ballroom medley for us, which mostly consists of a rumba box-step, with a dramatic tango lunge thrown in.
But the best part -- and the only thing that will prevent me from doing an air-sax solo -- is that my folks also included a Dirty Dancing move! I am sure that all women between the ages of 25 and 40 attending my wedding will immediately recognize Baby's fabulous head-roll during the sax solo! (She does it right in the beginning of the "Time of My Life" dance.)
Also like Baby -- when Johnny Castle runs his fingers along her armpit -- I had the giggles when we were practicing. G. was a good student, and neither of us had much trouble learning it, but I was a little embarrassed to do some corny stuff that my parents suggested, like lay my head on his chest during the tango lunge.
Also embarrassing: when my parents were suggesting some dirty tango moves that I was too prudish to seriously attempt in their company.
Hopefully my giggles and hesitancy will evaporate on the big day.
As shy as I am about it, I am exciting to have a choreographed dance that will hopefully be romantic and hold folks' attention. Even more so, I know my parents are super excited to be able to share their experience with us and really be able to contribute to this part of the wedding. Now all we have to do is practice.
We used the following criteria for selecting this particular song:
1) It is totally awesome, and has been so since 1987 when it came out.
2) It is part of the soundtrack of the very romantic movie Donnie Darko, which we both love.
3) It is has a hilarious and totally 80s saxophone solo in the middle. (I dream of performing "air saxophone" during our dance at the wedding!)
At any rate, despite the fact that the song was also played at Michael Hutchence's funeral in 1997, we thought it was a very romantic song, and let's admit it: a crowd pleaser. Everyone our age at the wedding is going to know and love this.
G. and I are not exactly shy, but we're not attention-seekers either. We won't be doing a surprise dance to "Baby Got Back" or anything of that nature. On the other hand, we want to avoid looking like our wedding is a 7th grade mixer, with three and a half minutes of us swaying back and forth.
Therefore, we asked my parents, who have done ballroom dancing for fifteen years, to choreograph a little something for us. Last week, we saw visited them for vacation, and we all had some wine and INXS in the living room. My parents worked out a ballroom medley for us, which mostly consists of a rumba box-step, with a dramatic tango lunge thrown in.
But the best part -- and the only thing that will prevent me from doing an air-sax solo -- is that my folks also included a Dirty Dancing move! I am sure that all women between the ages of 25 and 40 attending my wedding will immediately recognize Baby's fabulous head-roll during the sax solo! (She does it right in the beginning of the "Time of My Life" dance.)
Also like Baby -- when Johnny Castle runs his fingers along her armpit -- I had the giggles when we were practicing. G. was a good student, and neither of us had much trouble learning it, but I was a little embarrassed to do some corny stuff that my parents suggested, like lay my head on his chest during the tango lunge.
Also embarrassing: when my parents were suggesting some dirty tango moves that I was too prudish to seriously attempt in their company.
Hopefully my giggles and hesitancy will evaporate on the big day.
As shy as I am about it, I am exciting to have a choreographed dance that will hopefully be romantic and hold folks' attention. Even more so, I know my parents are super excited to be able to share their experience with us and really be able to contribute to this part of the wedding. Now all we have to do is practice.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
corsage alternative
Hello.
Here is what I need from you: my mom and I were discussing corsages. She was all, "I don't want one, but G.'s mother should definitely have one." I didn't really understand why she said that, but let it go. Several months later I told her that I wanted both mothers to wear a corsage. This is not because I am trying to be controlling or make everyone match (everyone in the wedding gets to choose whatever they want to wear) but because I like how corsages and boutonnieres make the immediate family and wedding party stand out. If people don't know my mom or G.'s mom, they can be like, "Oh, that lady with the corsage!" I think it is a nice honor.
It turns out my mom doesn't want a traditional corsage though, so I realized that at first she was just trying to get out of wearing one. I want her to wear one, but don't want to make her uncomfortable, so I am not sure what to do. I am pretty sure she doesn't want anything on her wrist (a little too homecoming queen).
I bet there is something awesome on Etsy, but I don't know what or how to look. (Searching on Etsy overwhelms me sometimes. I find I have to surf with my wallet across the room so I don't buy everything I click on.) Do you guys have any good ideas for mom corsage alternatives?
Here is what I need from you: my mom and I were discussing corsages. She was all, "I don't want one, but G.'s mother should definitely have one." I didn't really understand why she said that, but let it go. Several months later I told her that I wanted both mothers to wear a corsage. This is not because I am trying to be controlling or make everyone match (everyone in the wedding gets to choose whatever they want to wear) but because I like how corsages and boutonnieres make the immediate family and wedding party stand out. If people don't know my mom or G.'s mom, they can be like, "Oh, that lady with the corsage!" I think it is a nice honor.
It turns out my mom doesn't want a traditional corsage though, so I realized that at first she was just trying to get out of wearing one. I want her to wear one, but don't want to make her uncomfortable, so I am not sure what to do. I am pretty sure she doesn't want anything on her wrist (a little too homecoming queen).
I bet there is something awesome on Etsy, but I don't know what or how to look. (Searching on Etsy overwhelms me sometimes. I find I have to surf with my wallet across the room so I don't buy everything I click on.) Do you guys have any good ideas for mom corsage alternatives?
OMG so excited
People keep asking me if I am "excited" for our wedding. Until today, I wasn't exactly sure how to answer that. Last weekend, we went to the third of four weddings we'll be going to this year. The fourth will be our own! While we were anticipating and attending these other weddings, I really didn't feel like I wanted to talk about mine, because I didn't want to distract from the weddings that were actually happening. People would say things (all the time) like "you're next!" (nudge, nudge!) and I'd be like "yeah, but..." just wanting to concentrate on where we were that day. Not thinking ahead to us. Basically, I didn't want to be all about my wedding while we were celebrating someone else's.
Last night we saw our friends P. and S. (of the wedding with the bus debacle that should never be mentioned again, but surely will, again and again). They just returned from their honeymoon the other day. Now I feel like everyone's married, honeymooned, returned, and our friends are turning their attention to us. It is actually kind of exciting to talk about the wedding and not feel that I am detracting from another bride who's making 600 tissue paper puffballs for next week.
I also feel like it is becoming more real. It seems less and less like some abstract thing that's going to happen in the distant future. Today we took G.'s parents and sister to the Metropolitan Building to check it out, because they had not yet been. G.'s mom wanted us to get married in their family church, and has taken some time to warm up to the idea that we're doing our own thing, so to speak. We spent awhile looking at the space, talking about decorations, and asking Carlos (who really runs the show at the Met Building) all sorts of questions.
Luckily, G.'s mom has very similar taste to me and my mom, so I am happy to incorporate her suggestions. She is a big fan of Michaels, as am I. She has a snowflake-shaped hole punch, so we decided we'll make paper snowflakes to sprinkle on the tables. Awesome.
Then we took a trip to the Ravel Hotel, which is this new and super chic hotel in a quite improbable section of Long Island City. We took a look around there, and were super-psyched about the awesomeness of it, not to mention the (totally great-for-NYC) room rate they gave us.
Now that our friends' 2009 weddings have happened, and all parents have seen the Met Building and started thinking of ways to make it even more awesome, this really seems real.
When did things start to seem real for you? Or did they always?
PS - Thanks to Miss Sunbeam for posting her Etsy loves. Thanks to her, I am afraid I am going to be $300 in the hole for this gorgeous knitted shawl. I don't want to wear a winter coat over my wedding dress, but a girl does need a little something in December, right? (I plan to get dressed at the hotel and drive over to the ceremony.) I haven't decided whether I'll buy this or not, but damn, it's nice!
Last night we saw our friends P. and S. (of the wedding with the bus debacle that should never be mentioned again, but surely will, again and again). They just returned from their honeymoon the other day. Now I feel like everyone's married, honeymooned, returned, and our friends are turning their attention to us. It is actually kind of exciting to talk about the wedding and not feel that I am detracting from another bride who's making 600 tissue paper puffballs for next week.
I also feel like it is becoming more real. It seems less and less like some abstract thing that's going to happen in the distant future. Today we took G.'s parents and sister to the Metropolitan Building to check it out, because they had not yet been. G.'s mom wanted us to get married in their family church, and has taken some time to warm up to the idea that we're doing our own thing, so to speak. We spent awhile looking at the space, talking about decorations, and asking Carlos (who really runs the show at the Met Building) all sorts of questions.
Luckily, G.'s mom has very similar taste to me and my mom, so I am happy to incorporate her suggestions. She is a big fan of Michaels, as am I. She has a snowflake-shaped hole punch, so we decided we'll make paper snowflakes to sprinkle on the tables. Awesome.
Then we took a trip to the Ravel Hotel, which is this new and super chic hotel in a quite improbable section of Long Island City. We took a look around there, and were super-psyched about the awesomeness of it, not to mention the (totally great-for-NYC) room rate they gave us.
Now that our friends' 2009 weddings have happened, and all parents have seen the Met Building and started thinking of ways to make it even more awesome, this really seems real.
When did things start to seem real for you? Or did they always?
PS - Thanks to Miss Sunbeam for posting her Etsy loves. Thanks to her, I am afraid I am going to be $300 in the hole for this gorgeous knitted shawl. I don't want to wear a winter coat over my wedding dress, but a girl does need a little something in December, right? (I plan to get dressed at the hotel and drive over to the ceremony.) I haven't decided whether I'll buy this or not, but damn, it's nice!
Thursday, July 16, 2009
We've been living together for three years now, the jig is up!
I am borrowing my veil from my friend R. I am excited about this for two reasons!
First, although I am not really going to be consciously doing the "something old, new, borrowed, blue," business, I love having something borrowed. I love the idea that with the veil on my head, I'll have R. with me (though she'll be attending the wedding too, of course) and when I look at the pictures later, I'll be able to think "That Rosemary! What a doll she was to lend me her veil!"
Rosemary g
ot married last November in Austin and had a fantastic wedding with a parade of guests who walked from the church to the reception, followed by a mariachi band. Anyhow, her wedding was more formal than mine, so she had a cathedral length veil that she wore for the ceremony. For the reception, she changed into a shorter veil, that I semi-captured in this photograph.
Sorry it's so dark. Anyhow, I like the veil because it's short and cheerful looking, and very sheer. I thought she looked lovely in it and I hope I will too.
The other reason I am excited is because it put the kibbash on an argument my mom and I were having. At first, I didn't want to wear a veil. Then she said it was really important to her, so I was like, fine, I am not picking this battle. So I agreed, and we started looking online.
THEN she said she wanted me to wear a veil with a blusher, and I put my foot down on that. Her argument was that it makes brides look so pretty. I totally agree, it does look pretty. But I'll look pretty anyway, I'm the bride!
My problem with it -- and I want to be very clear that this is only a problem for me and has nothing to do with the choices any of you make -- is kind of political. The blusher just reminds me of the dowry, of the times back when a bride was expected to be a virgin. I just feel that with a blusher I'll be like some present for my man to unwrap, and it just makes me really uncomfortable. I am wearing a white dress, just because I like my dress and it is white, and white wedding dresses are easier to find. (I did consider pink, which is what my mom wore. By the time I was done trying on though, I was too tired to investigate whether my dress came in pink, so white it is.) I just feel like the veil over the face goes to a place I don't want to go.
So borrowing R.'s veil is nice because it is hers, and I love her, but also because it shut down the argument with my mother about the veil over the face. Done and done!
First, although I am not really going to be consciously doing the "something old, new, borrowed, blue," business, I love having something borrowed. I love the idea that with the veil on my head, I'll have R. with me (though she'll be attending the wedding too, of course) and when I look at the pictures later, I'll be able to think "That Rosemary! What a doll she was to lend me her veil!"
Rosemary g
ot married last November in Austin and had a fantastic wedding with a parade of guests who walked from the church to the reception, followed by a mariachi band. Anyhow, her wedding was more formal than mine, so she had a cathedral length veil that she wore for the ceremony. For the reception, she changed into a shorter veil, that I semi-captured in this photograph.Sorry it's so dark. Anyhow, I like the veil because it's short and cheerful looking, and very sheer. I thought she looked lovely in it and I hope I will too.
The other reason I am excited is because it put the kibbash on an argument my mom and I were having. At first, I didn't want to wear a veil. Then she said it was really important to her, so I was like, fine, I am not picking this battle. So I agreed, and we started looking online.
THEN she said she wanted me to wear a veil with a blusher, and I put my foot down on that. Her argument was that it makes brides look so pretty. I totally agree, it does look pretty. But I'll look pretty anyway, I'm the bride!
My problem with it -- and I want to be very clear that this is only a problem for me and has nothing to do with the choices any of you make -- is kind of political. The blusher just reminds me of the dowry, of the times back when a bride was expected to be a virgin. I just feel that with a blusher I'll be like some present for my man to unwrap, and it just makes me really uncomfortable. I am wearing a white dress, just because I like my dress and it is white, and white wedding dresses are easier to find. (I did consider pink, which is what my mom wore. By the time I was done trying on though, I was too tired to investigate whether my dress came in pink, so white it is.) I just feel like the veil over the face goes to a place I don't want to go.
So borrowing R.'s veil is nice because it is hers, and I love her, but also because it shut down the argument with my mother about the veil over the face. Done and done!
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