I recently ordered my garter, and I can’t wait for it to come in so that I can ogle it. If you remember, I was set on doing a garter toss, and found some beautiful garters that didn’t make me gag. In the end, I chose none of those garters that I drooled over, but a different (set!) entirely.
JP, if you’re reading now, which I doubt you are, stop. You’ll get to see this soon enough!
Everybody else may continue reading after the jump…
Remember how I’m in love with I Like You? Remember how I wanted to have part of it read at our wedding ceremony? Well, das not gonna happen.
Yesterday, we planned out our ceremony with our minister, and we just couldn’t find a spot for it. Even after shortening, it still never found a good place as not to break up the flow of the whole ceremony. So, like the take-action bride that I now have [sort of?] become, I Like You has landed on the cutting room floor. Never fear, we still have two other lovely readings, one of which was non-negotiables in my original plan, and another that we chose from the Bible. We are getting married in a church, after all.
Our first reading, to be read by our minister, is Song of Solomon 8:6-7. JP and I had several SoS and Ecclesiastes readings picked out, but this was the one we agreed to be the best and most appropriate for us.
Song of Solomon 8:6-7
Place me like a seal over your heart,
like a seal on your arm;
for love is as strong as death,
its jealously unyielding as the grave.
It burns like a blazing fire,
like a mighty flame.
Many waters cannot quench love;
rivers cannot wash it away.
If one were to give
all the wealth of his house for love,
it would be utterly scorned.
It’s romantic, but not floo-floo romantic. It’s just serious and pretty dang awesome. High-fives all around.
Our second reading, to be read by a reader, is one of our love poems. You may have heard me throw it around before. A cookie goes to anybody that split-second guesses it before you see it typed below.
i love you much(most beautiful darling)
i love you much(most beautiful darling)
more than anyone on the earth and i
like you better than everything in the sky
-sunlight and singing welcome your coming
although winter may be everywhere
with such a silence and such a darkness
noone can quite begin to guess
(except my life)the true time of year-
and if what calls itself a world should have
the luck to hear such singing(or glimpse such
sunlight as will leap higher than high
through gayer than gayest someone’s heart at your each
nearness)everyone certainly would(my
most beautiful darling)believe in nothing but love
Of course we’re using this. How could we not throw in e.e. cummings? (Besides the whole “i love you much” deal we have going on up in here!)
Part of me feels a little guilty for cutting I Like You, but the other part, the logical part that knows that readings don’t have feelings for me to hurt and that we don’t want a ceremony that lasts two billion hours, knows that it was a good and sound decision.
Did you cut out previously-planned readings from your ceremony? Did you feel weird about it, or am I just a strange bird?
{ Mr. Bond }
As I’ve discussed before, I love a classic black tux with all of the trimmings– black bow-tie, black satin cummerbund, crisp pleated white shirt, black cuff-links, black patent shoes, etc. At first, JP wasn’t totally sure about the whole bow-tie-tux thing, but was willing to try it for me. Also, I mean, c’mon, it’s Bond’s ensemble of choice, and what man doesn’t want to look like James Bond.
With an open mind and a non-pushy spirit, I went with JP to go look at tuxes. I wanted him to be comfortable and happy with his wedding day duds, so I wasn’t out to push my agenda. He tried on different combinations, but lo and behold, the planets aligned, and JP happily chose a classic Bond combo. It looks like a whole bunch o’ sexy on JP, and I’m so glad that he’s happy. No whiny-beggy-pleady bride in sight. (We also got a big fat discount as well, which didn’t hurt.)
He, and his groomsmen, will be wearing…
All of that that goodness, including alterations and a 5-day rental, cost each fella $65. We give that lots of thumbs up.
One of the best parts of the experience for me was overhearing the happy phone call JP made to his best man right after he made the big decision…
Yes, yes they do.
What is your groom wearing? Did you let him choose the entire outfit, steer him in a certain direction, or choose it all for him?
…and bought completely different rings.
Right before we were about to order our pretty rings from Whiteflash and Blue Nile, we remembered that JP didn’t know his ring size. There was one private jeweler that we hadn’t visited in Hotlanta, and we figured it was as good of a time as any to go look at their rings, aka pretend to buy one and get JP sized.
In walked fate, and on the 17th floor of a shiny high-rise in Buckhead, before we knew it, JP and I had purchased our rings from this jeweler we’d previously ignored. His ring was less expensive than Blue Nile, and mine was the same as Whiteflash. Oh yeah, and my ring? Specially made por moi and to fit underneath my engagement ring. Everything to my crazy-picky list of things I wanted and needed.
Yesterday, we picked up the rings, and ZOMG are we happy.
Local family-owned jeweler for the win. Custom ring for the win.
How many times did you change your mind about rings? Who else went the custom route via a local jeweler? How was your experience?
So remember how I was going to make my veil? Well, it’s a month before the wedding, so I’d have a snowball’s chance in hell to be able to gain the veil-making skills, time, or energy needed to make my own veil. So buying it is.
The week before last, at dress fitting numero dos, I played with veils. Remember my original veil inspiration?
{ Our Labor of Love, We Met in a Bar }
The long veils were wonderful, and a bunch of fun to play with, but I also fell for a pure silk, fingertip length, pointed-bottom, pencil-edged waterfall veil. Oh boy, was it ever beautiful. It hung so delicately– it was transparent, light, and dreamy. The veil-lady at the shop said that if I didn’t buy a pure silk veil, it would end up looking crunchy, not hang right, and basically kill my whole dress look. Wikiwhat? Dress killing? Equipped with this new paranoia, we asked for the price.
That’s the price without a blusher and without tax. Oh yeah, and without shipping. Pardon my french, but f that shit. No. Way. Not gonna happen. I resisted the urge to drop my jaw to the floor, and calmly said that “We’d be in touch.” Touch my ass. Back to the drawing board.
I searched the internet, went all crazy trying to figure out what veil I wanted, and wasted a whole bunch of time. Based on my height, ordering a non-super-long veil is pretty tricky. A fingertip veil might cut me at the waist, and a waltz length veil might hit at my fingertips. Also, veil-lady’s crunchy comments circled in my mind. Too much obsessing, as per usual. Were her comments just made to sell a crazy-expensive veil? Was she right? Even if she were right, did it really matter? With a long veil, the weight pulled it into flowy mode. I decided to squash her used-car-salesman comments and continue about my bidness.
Thankfully, last night while floofling through the interwebs, I found a veil that swept me off of my feet.
{ Heknowsmyname on Etsy }
Lovely, full, dramatic, and a bunch of fun. Seventy-nine dollars. Sold. Veil decision? Made.
Oh yes, and the lovely seller is adjusting the proportions to fit my 6’3″ frame for no extra charge. So full of win.
Was anybody else quoted a ridiculous price at your bridal salon, or was I just extra lucky? How did you find and decide on your veil?
When Mom picked up the Love Flats, she also surprised me with a pair of Valentino slides. (Yes, I’ll call them slides, thongs, sandals, but not flip-flops. Leave me alone.) They’re hot pink, made of some magical plastic or rubber or something, and I never thought I’d wear them. I mean, c’mon, where was I going to wear Valentino flip-flops (err, slides) in the middle of February? The pretties sat in their box, awaiting spring and whatever life might hold for them.
Fast forward to, well, now. I realized a bit ago that my lovely Love Flats are also pretty delicate. I do not want to butcher the red soles, get mud in the cork, or tromp through fields in those puppies. (Yes, I am fully aware that they will be worn and non-perfect by the end of the night, but work with me here.) I knew I needed a pair of shoes to stand in for the Love Flats while we do what I assume will be an awesome ninja photoshoot. I don’t imagine I’ll be traipsing through mud, but just in case, I wanted something rubber and hose-off-able. Or cheap.
I piddled around on the interwebs, considered the rubber TB Revas, but they seemed like a sweaty blister magnet, not like a comfy pair of beaters. Fail to the boat. While said piddling was going on, dear Mother walked into my room.
“Lauren, I am going to take back those Valentino flip-flops if you’re never going to wear them.”
“NO WAIT.”
Duh, stupid me. Who passes up adorable, hot pink, hose-off-able, bow-topped, awesome-sauce Valentinos? Almost me, that’s who.
Also, for those who have been following along, aka read my last post, our first dance song has “Valentino” in it. CLEARLY THE UNIVERSE WAS TELLING ME THINGS.
Ahem. Yes. That is the story of how my stand-ins came to be. Great one. I should tell it at parties. These guys will also be super cute paired with a not-yet-purchased-white-honeymoon-bikini. (Yes, I know, danger danger, white swimsuit, but damnit, I’m a bride.)
Are you having a pair of stand-ins to help protect your main wedding shoes? Were they ones you already had, or ones bought specially for the job?
*Shoe pixxx jacked from Valentino and prettified by moi.
We changed our first dance song.
Yes, yes we did. Oh, didn’t you know that it was good to make big changes a month before the wedding? Well it is.
If you remember, our original first dance song choice was Ingrid’s “The Way I Am.”
It is no less sweet, no less perfect, and no less of an amazing song. We just realized we had a better choice right under our noses. “ORLY?” you ask? “LET ME SEE!” you say? Hokay.
The song that bumped Ingrid from the top spot is “Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy” by Queen.
Why this change?
There’s a great beginning…
I can dim the lights and sing you songs full of sad things
We can do the tango just for two
I can serenade and gently play on your heart strings
Be your Valentino just for youOoh love- ooh lover boy
What’re you doin’ tonight, hey boy?
Set my alarm, turn on my charm
That’s because I’m a good old-fashioned lover boy
Or how about a mushy middle…
When I’m not with you
I think of you always
(I miss those long hot summer nights)
I miss you
When I’m not with you
Think of me always
Love you- love you
And a strong end…
Ooh love
(There he goes again just like a good old-fashioned lover boy)
Ooh lover boy
What’re you doin’ tonight, hey boy?
Everything’s all right
Just hold on tight
That’s because I’m a good old-fashioned fashioned lover boy
Wonderful.
Thankfully MOH Laura is a rock-star dancer, and will teach us how not to fall all over ourselves trying to boogie to this. It’s not exactly a stand-there-and-sway song, so wezagunnahaffta practice. We’re lucky that it’s a fairly short song.
Did you change your first dance song, or were you solid from the beginning? Those who are doing “faster” songs, how are you handling the dance routine?
Remember how I had all of those really adorable cake toppers picked out? And I was having trouble deciding between them all? Spirit animals and all that?
True to form, I scrapped them all, and we’re doing something different. Two cranes. Cranes will be our wedding spirit animals– God knows we have about eleventy billion of them. Maybe a heart in there too. Cheap, easy, and works with our stuff.
Initially, I thought about having them sit directly on the top of the cake, but feared that the dye from paper would run into the icing. Big messy ew. Scrappity scrap scrap that. I’ve made the executive decisions that they will “float” with the help of some rods stuck up the center. If that’s not romantic, I don’t know what is.
Without further ado and blah-blah, here are some mock-ups. First up is the set of forward-facing cranes. Colleen thinks that they look judgmental, and I see American Gothic. Weird birds.
with a little heart
with a big heart!
colored paper, sans heart
Next up are set-ups with the cranes facing each other. They’re a little more cuddley this way.
crossing sans heart
crossing with a big heart
with a big heart
with a little heart
colored paper, sans heart
I lean towards either of the big heart ones, but I could change my mind 40 times before the wedding, and it wouldn’t make a difference. Oh, the beauty of having a topper in separate parts!
Which ones are your favorites? Is this an awesome cake topper idea, or one destined to be totally boring?
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