Monthly Archives: February 2010

Feet fit for our fête

Feb. 27, 2010

(I couldn’t resist).

Early on, I fell in love with photos of brides in fabulous shoes next to grooms in ridiculous socks. It has made me a supreme lover of shoe shots. If you remember, I even managed to get some shoe-shot-love out of our engagement shoot.

{ Photo, of course, by Matt Miller }

Since we already have my awesome shoes on lock-down, it’s about time to start looking for some rockin’ socks for JP. An hour-or-so piddling around the internet proved to be quite fruitful, as I found some pretty neat-looking stuff.

First, from Happy Socks…

Perhaps some of these Happy Socks socks might border on being a little effeminate, or so says JP, but I think there are some pretty awesome and possible ones in the bunch. For anyone that’s curious, all of these range from $10-$15.

On Fred Flare, I found this interesting pair for $12…

Ok, so I will be the first to admit that I totally and 100% mocked the mustaches-at-weddings trend, but I have softened. There’s a possibility that I might like it a little bit now. To be perfectly honest, I still don’t understand it, but damned if I don’t like these socks. Wedding world, you’ve taken another victim! Count JP in with that as well, because he likes them and thinks that they’re “funny.”

Sock It To Me had a few cool socks, albeit with annoying-as-hell watermarks over the top of the images.

The first ones have robots on them, which are totally appropriate for JP given that that’s what he do, y’alls. The second pair are supposed to be an homage to Tetris, and the third pair just have some awesome PEW PEW lightning bolts on them. All of these are $7.50.

These socks by Ashidashi were an accidental find while looking for Nintendo socks, and I must say, they are pretty dang cool.

While all of these are ridiculously cool, I think that the last row contain the two most JP-fitting socks. The bottom left pair are of Super Mario tubes, and the other ones have half of a heart on each foot. When you put the two feet together, there is a whole heart! SORT OF HOW MY SHOES SPELL OUT LOVE!

*Ahem* So those might not show up in the shoe shots, but it’s a pretty cool concept, given MY AWESOME SHOES. (I really need to pull myself together).

Well, there you have my way-overboard-and-excessively-comprehensive run-down of possible choices for JP’s (sure to be) awesome-sauce wedding socks. I hope I haven’t broken your internets with the sheer number of socks and huge attack of cheesy-cool.

Any favorites or standouts? Who else is going to go the crazy-sock-route for or with their groom? Stand up, fellow sock-and-shoe-shot lovers!

Posted in Our Wedding Tags: , ,

Let us discuss britches.

Feb. 25, 2010

Because I enjoy procrastinating with respect to making actual important wedding decisions, and I’ve made quite a few of those lately, I’m rewarding myself by researching something frivolous– britches, panties, lady-covers, drawers, underwear, undies, underclothes, delicates, skivvies, undergarments, knickers, what-have-you. All the same jazz– stuff to cover your goonie.

Even though I wore the super-hot Spanx and strapless bra combo for dress-shopping, I do not have to, nay, was told NOT to, wear holdy-in undies or a bra on the big day. I can wear whatever minimal non-granny underwears I want. Holler. (We’ll discuss boob issues later, for now we’re starting with the downstairs).

Floofly options abound when one starts searching for bridal knickers. For instance, I could go super-bridal…

The pony-tail pair on the right, aka the NEW! Bridal bikini from Victoria’s Secret, are cute, but I don’t think they’re made to be worn IRL. And, again, there’s that whole pony-look that I’m not really feeling. The underwear on the right, aka the The Lacie™ bridal thong just looks a little… itchy to me.

Since I’m a sucker for anything in the red-with-hearts genre, these next two pair scream at me a little bit.

The one on the left‘s strange heart padding makes me a little nervous, and I’m sure the undies on the right would slowly slidddeee off my non-existant rear. I don’t have birthin’ hips, so boyshorts don’t tend to agree with my figure. Sad day.

After being generally “meh” over regular bridal or lovey underpants, I started thinking about what I really wanted to wear under that dress. I am a creature of habit, and so I kept coming back to my regular, everyday favorite, the VS Pink cotton v-string.

As strange as it sounds, I think I’ll end up wearing my everyday cotton undies under my glorious dress. Why? For one, they’re cotton. It’s going to be June. I’ll be wearing a whole lot of dress. Let’s just say that I would rather not have hot and slippery undies to deal with. They’re comfortable, and I like them. So there. None of the current colors really “wow” me, so I’ll probably just wait until a more interesting pattern comes out, and buy a brand new “wedding” pair.

Am I totally boring? Is anybody else wearing more everyday underwear under their dress? Does the thought of anything not-cotton under a hot dress make your skin crawl? What underpants are you wearing under your dress?

Posted in Our Wedding

Our ceremony music is going to be ridiculous.

Feb. 22, 2010

Ceremony music is something that I’ve been sort-of dreading for months, because I wasn’t sure what to do. I don’t think I’ve ever shared this, but I’ve been playing the violin since I was six. I played in my first wedding when I was 11. I’ve been around the traditional-wedding-ceremony-music block. I think the music is beautiful, don’t get me wrong, but I’ve just been there done that. I glaze over a little bit. (Said music will remain nameless, to protect the innocent, or people that haven’t beaten it into the ground yet as I have). Our church also has quite a few rules with respect to what can and cannot be played, so that also made me nervous.

Today, we had our first official meeting with Callie, the girl who is heading up our ceremony music. I’ve known her for what feels like forever, and we played violin together for about 100 years. She’s amazing, super talented, and has fantastic taste. Going into our meeting, I had my list ready, and my “Oh God, please don’t let my ideas be crazy” hat on.

She loved my ideas, and, well, I don’t think it could have gone better. I’ll skip the detailed blabbery parts, and get right down to the meat. For the ceremony, we’ll have Callie, a cellist, and a pianist.

Let’s take a look and a listen at our music, shall we? I’m not going to go down the prelude-music-road today, because, well, I’m just not. We’ll save that for another day. All of this is not set in stone, of course, so if something changes, don’t beat me.

We do not have any grandparents attending the wedding, so the only people being walked down the aisle in the processional will be our two mothers and the three bridesmaids. Two separate songs for the both would be too chopped up, so I suggested one for both– the Handel-Halvorsen “Passacaglia.” It’s for cello and violin, and completely amazing.

This will most likely be shortened and fiddled with a bit, given its length. I think it’s just an incredible piece of music.

For the bridal processional, I wanted something that sort of said, “I’M HERE, Y’ALL! PAY ATTENTION! LOOKATMELOOKATMELOOKATME!” I think the piece of music that best does that is Handel’s “Arrival of the Queen of Sheba” from Solomon. (More Handel, look at that!) We will have only violin, cello, and piano, not the full orchestra that is heard in this version.

The tempo will be slowed some, as well. I’m not going to gallop down the aisle.

The song idea for a during-the-ceremony piece is going to sound strange, but just work with me here. When I watched the Time Traveler’s Wife, aka the movie that partially butchered my favorite book, a song that was played at various points throughout was “Es ist ein Ros entsprungen,” or more commonly known in English as “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming.” Yes, it is traditionally a Christmas carol. Pretend this doesn’t have a vocalist in it, and throw in a cello and perhaps piano.

I think it will be lovely, but let’s see what JP says once I run it by him.

Now, for the recessional, I will 100% lose my shit. It will be game over. I will be grinning, crying, and generally flipping the heck out. Remember before how I was worried about being able to have “All I Want is You” played? Well, worries gone, because we have someone to sing it, play the guitar, and play the harmonica. Plus, homeboy sounds like Mr. Polisar. Win win win win win. Just imagine this (again) as we all go back down the aisle.

I can’t think of anything more perfect.

(Okay, maybe I can, but this is just a tiny thing. I’d like to change the “was” parts in the song to “were,” because it should be in the subjunctive, damnit).

So, there you have it! We have our not-quite-as-commonly-used music, along with the ultimate recessional. I am thrilled.

What do you guys think? Did choosing your ceremony music go more easily than you expected? What are you using for your big pieces?

Posted in Music, Our Wedding Tags: ,

Pressing Decisions: Part One

Feb. 21, 2010

We’re doing letterpress invitations, a fact that I’m pretty freaking excited about. I thought letterpress was going to be way out of our price range, but thanks to my beloved Boxcar Press, and the quote they gave Colleen, I found out that letterpress was 100% doable for us. She told me to stop whining, get a quote, and, well, I did.

We’re having…

  • 80 A7 Invites
  • 80 A7 Reception Cards
  • 80 4-bar RSVP Cards
  • 240 Envelopes (Inner, Outer, RSVP)

…pressed in 1-color for around $600. My custom design, which is what I was planning to do in the first place, but again, I thought it was way out of our range.

Now, insert some neuroses. I had a a mini freak-out about the fact that I was going to be designing for the ever-exalted letterpress. That was pretty silly, given that I have such a strong graphic design background, as well as the fact that I have extensive experience with doing intaglio printmaking. I totally psyched myself out. I couldn’t think in 1-color. Everything I kept sketching out was either too elaborate, not suited for letterpress, or just not my design aesthetic. Thankfully, some of my lovely fellow bees calmed me the hell down, and I took a step back. I could do this, right?

I closed and deleted all of my failed attempts, and started with a blank slate, some of my favorite fonts, and a clear head. (Said fonts are Gotham, an old standby, and Carousel, which was referred to me by dear Colleen, who shares my love for fabulous type). I started with the main invitations, and then moved onto the reception cards.

I, of course, wasn’t a total fan at first, but was soon reassured by e’erybody. I think I like them now, which is saying a lot for me.

For our invitation suite, I wanted to use traditional wording, for a few reasons.

  1. I’m going a slightly funkier route as far as the invitation design goes, and given that it’s a more formal wedding, I thought that it would set the correct tone for our wedding.
  2. I’m a sucker for mixing tradition into our wedding.
  3. My sanity. Less decisions to make? Yes, please.

Now, I know you’re probably thinking, “Um, black and white? I thought you loved color?!” Yes, yes I do, but that is a whole ‘nother story, dears. You’ll have to stay tuned to see what wondrous things I have up my sleeve as far as color goes!

How did you decide on your invitation-printing-method? Did you freak out when beginning the design process for your invites? What do you guys think about these puppies?

Posted in Our Wedding Tags: , , , ,

Falling in Like

Feb. 15, 2010

With lines like that, it’s difficult not to fall hard over Big Poppa E‘s poem “Falling in Like.” I’m not quite sure what made me remember this dude, or his poem, but it hit me the other day while thumbing through the pages of I Like You. This poem, while being pretty drastically different in form, given the fact that this is technically “slam poetry,” evokes some of the similar feelings of I Like You. It’s sweet, innocent, and just plain awesome.

Take a little listen and watch… (The poem starts at 2:30, but before that he gives a little background and says some bad words. I like watching the whole dang thing, but skip ahead if you wish).

I love it.

Perhaps I look for wedding inspiration in all the wrong places, or I’m a little off my rocker, but this just speaks to me in a, “USE ME USE ME! I HAVE A GREAT MESSAGE!” sort of way. It’s probably a little late in the game for me to start tacking things on, but I just can’t help myself. Whether or not we find a way to work this into our wedding day, I still think it is worth a thought, listen, or at least a hearty “Awww!”

Do you find wedding inspiration in the strangest of places? Anybody else have a problem with finding more, and more, and more, and more [ ... ] and more things that you’d like to incorporate into your wedding? How do you weed it all out?

Posted in Our Wedding Tags: , , ,

In L-O-V-E with the love flats

Feb. 14, 2010

I am so thrilled to announce that my shoes are here, and they’re more fabulous than I could have ever imagined.

On Thursday evening, while I was hurrying up to Atlanta before the snowstorm hit, my mother was heading back down to LaGrange from a hair appointment with Luke in the ATL.

“Hey Mom. I’m on the way up right now. Just letting you know…”

“OH! I-have-your-Valentine’s-Day-present-let’s-meet-at-an-exit!!!”

“No, we don’t have to do that. I can just wait until Sunday and we’ll do it on-”

“I don’t think you want to wait.”

“…?”

We met in the parking lot of a random daycare right off of the interstate. I was pretty sketched out, given the fact that it was past 8pm and I was hanging out in an empty parking lot. I began to wonder why I agreed to this silly plan when Mom drove up and practically burst out of her car. I got out of my vehicle, locked my car, made sure my cell phone could speed dial 911, and followed her to her trunk. She opened the trunk, pulled out a shiny red shopping bag, and I thought I was going to fall over.

“HOLY SHIT! Holyshitholyshitholyshitholyshit!!! You’re kidding, you’re kidding, you’re kidding, right?”

“See? I thought you wouldn’t want to wait.”

I gently lifted off the lid of the shoe box, lifted the bright red dust bag, and carefully peeled back the tissue to reveal the most amazing shoes I’ve ever had the pleasure of laying eyes on– my wedding shoes. The Christian Louboutin love flats. It was about to start snowing, so I used every ounce of my willpower to keep the shoes in the box and not shove my feet into them.

I thanked her close to 300 times, we parted ways, and I finished my journey to Atlanta in a wonderful state of twitterpated-shoe-ecstasy.

Oh, and later I took some pictures. What would a freaking-out-about-shoes post be without excessive amounts of pictures? That’s what I thought.

Wednesday thought this was the perfect time to ruin a shot.

Take 2

Those battle scars on my feet are from the cat. Blame her.

Wednesday had to do a little quality control.

Like butta.

The carpet matches the shoes. Interesting.

Cannot beat that red sole.

These babies were definitely worth the wait, stress, and effort. I cannot wait to prance down the aisle with love on my toes and red on my soles. Now if only I could decide how to properly protect these from the elements and the cat…

Did you freak out when you finally got your hands on your wedding shoes, or am I just a total spaz? How are you keeping your shoes safe until the big day?

Posted in Our Wedding Tags: , , , , , , , ,

How to draw your fiance.

Feb. 10, 2010

Ok, I lied. This is not a how-to or tutorial. It’s just a process post. Sorry guys.

JP is awesome enough to allow me to draw and paint him. All. The. Time. He models for me like a champ. Last night, I did a new pastel drawing for my life drawing class, and it went a little something like this…

First, I drew outlines. This takes about 100 years, because I’m really neurotic. I do lots of that really dumb looking pencil-measuring-arm-out thing. I mock myself internally.

Next, I had to make sure to take a creepy sorority-smiling picture to skeeve everybody out. Properly scared? Moving on.

So after that, I don’t touch the computer anymore to take pictures, because I’ll be elbow deep in soft pastels. Basically, I just layer layer layer, color color color, finger-paint, finger-paint, finger-paint.

Of course I also had to take a crappy cellphone shot for good measure. There’s no way in heck I’d get the good camera out. Messy dusty icky!

Anyway, woo! JP has skin! And lips! But no eyes, hair, or eyebrowns. Those guys come last… especially the eyebrowns. After this point, I took a a one-hour break to gossip on the internets. Oh, who am I kidding, it was closer to two. I made sure to document this with another creepy picture, this time of my pastel-covered face.

Awesome. Ok, enough blubbering around. I went and gave JP some eyeballs, eyebrowns, and hair. And a shirt.

Well, that’s finished! Hooray for JP drawings! I hope you all weren’t to “WTF is she showing us?!” with regards to this post. I’d like to think that it gives a nice little slice into what I spend my time doing, besides internetting and whining.

Posted in Fine Art Tags:

I am a bad bride with too many STDs.

Feb. 10, 2010

So you know those Save the Date things? The ones that you’re supposed to send out, oh, roughly six months in advance of your wedding?

Holla, homegirl over here never made a decision, and it looks like it’s probably too late, or a moot point… at this point.

You see, I didn’t just not do them. (Double negative, ahoy!) I did a lot of them. Quite a lot, actually. My biggest problem is that I obsess and nitpick over any design work I do for myself. I can churn out stuff for other people– no problem! There is just some sort of roadblock for me when it comes to making decisions about our wedding, and the paper goods have had the biggest roadblock of all.

Let’s just take a look at a few, shall we?

First, the ones we’ve seen before. Looking back on these, I still really love them.

Then I got restless, because I couldn’t find anyone to print them to my liking in the appropriate timeslot, or so I thought. Our engagement pictures came in, and I made this one.

I got neurotic about the text coloring, so I moved on. I found the gorgeous work of MaeMae Paperie, and so I started playing with some vector drawings I had done as mock-ups for a series of etchings I made for my printmaking studio.

Then Bunny pointed out that if someone didn’t know about my crane thing, that, well, it sort of looked like a bagina. (Yes, I am calling it a bagina). I have to agree. Man down.

Anyway, moving along. I decided I was going to get my rear in gear and just order some postcards off of Moo and be done with it. Our stuff on the front, website on the back, kraft envelope, finito.

After a test run of those puppies with my trusty new printer, I decided that they were sort of “meh” when printed out. Just didn’t really do much for me… at all. Then, I printed out these, which were purely a joke.

It was a silly cut-paper scan that I had done from a printed-on-cheap-copy-paper-and-draft-setting of one of our engagement pictures. And it looked fantastic printed out. I loved it, JP loved it, Mom loved it… ok, you get it. It was loved.

I never pulled the trigger. Why? I have no idea. At this point, is it too late? We could have these in, printed, and ready to go in 10 days maximum, but, well, worth it?

So wonderful peeps, I am at a standstill. I do not know what to do. Should I order these last babies and be done with it? Should I scrap it all and just move on to invitations? Is it ridiculously too late? Has anyone else had some major trouble pulling the trigger when designing your own stuff? Did it drive you to the point of “can’t do a damned thing,” or did you man up and get the job done?

*Engagement photos were taken by the awesome Matt Miller, as if you didn’t know! All the rest is by me.

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