better late than never- the ceremony

So, as I might have mentioned, I bawled through the entire ceremony. I was a basketcase. My sister was a basketcase. My husband was...crying. As far as I can tell, everyone cried. For better or worse, it was that kind of wedding. (I like to think it was because it was the most heartfelt, touching wedding anybody has ever attended, but who knows. Crying's a bit contagious, as it turns out.)

This is me, coming down the aisle. I promise that I am pleased about being led down the aisle and do not think I am instead being led to a firing squad.




But I was happy, promise.




Because the tent flaps were up and it was a blustery, rainy day turned into a lovely evening, the wind was blowing quite a bit. I think, on the whole, that was good--it prevented a lot of the sweating that was otherwise inevitable from the bridal party. It made my veil whip around quite a bit, though, which at the time I found sort of hilariously annoying, but in photographs is quite dramatic.




All in all, the ceremony was everything I wanted it to be: short but not too short, sweet, heartfelt, non-religious, and meaningful (at least to us).

better late than never- part II

So the idea was that the hubs and I would do photos separately before the ceremony with our respective halves of the bridal party and our families, so that during the cocktail hour we'd do photos with the two of us and whomever else. (As I said before, we went real old school and didn't see each other before the ceremony.) Anyway, I was thinking we'd do photos in the main square of our hometown and outside the museum where we got married (which has lovely grounds). Unfortunately, it started raining that afternoon and this is one of about 4 photos we got outside before the skies opened up:


(That's my bridesman, Phil, on the end there. Plus, my sister and the other bridesmaid, Liz, that you've seen already.)

And this is us, about 30 seconds later, running out of the rain:




Luckily, my photographer is super creative and took the opportunity to take some sweet dramatic shots in an nearby alley with some cover. Unluckily, where it also reeked of urine.


Luckily again, however, it stopped raining by ceremony time, meaning that the sides of the tent where we were married could be opened up a bit to show some of the beautiful green gardens that were the whole reason I chose the location in the first place. Ceremony photos soon to follow...

(Again, photos courtesy Amanda Egan. You can click to see a larger version.)

better late than never- part I

We started the day with mimosas. What?


Mimosas and make up. Luckily, I guess, the make up artist wasn't drinking. She was, however, under the influence of some serious pain meds. (The lovely and talented Heidi fell the night before The Big Day and jacked up her knee. She was determined enough to come do up our faces anyway and her husband drove her and carried her not insubstantial stash of face paints up to our hotel room.) Anyway, regardless of what sorts of substances she may or may not have been on, she did a great job.


The hubs and I agreed to exchange cards on the day of the wedding, rather than gifts or anything, in part because we weren't going to see each other before the ceremony.

We bought each other the same card. Seriously. From two different stores. It's not even a wedding card! (Outside text: YOU ARE AWESOME. Inside: And by "awesome," I mean "totally awesome.") If that's not a damn omen, I don't know what is.



This is my sister. Isn't she irritatingly pretty? Anyway, you can see behind her there my other bridesmaid and Julie the Wedding Planner attempting to zip her into her dress. It was a little touch and go there for a minute, but I can assure you she got in and stayed in and along the way someone pronounced her breasts "totally perfect."

Throughout this portion of the day, I was getting pretty antsy. I mean, I was having fun and enjoying the company of my friends and photographers and planners and whatnot, but there's a lot of "let's get this show on the road" in me that I just can't break. So anyway, I was excited to get in the dress.



I post this photo mostly because I think the looks on my bridesmaids' faces are hilarious. Like my dress has sprouted three heads or something.


These are my momma's hands, getting me all zipped up.



And this...this is more or less the final look.


More to come, honest.

(All photos courtesy of the incomparable Amanda Egan.)

I haven't forgotten you

Honest! All the photos just got posted to my photog's website this week, and I'm waiting on my (unwatermarked) CD full of 'em, at which point I'll start posting again with full on recaps. But looking through all the photos again has made me remember how seriously AWESOME the wedding was.

mmm

This is how I feel when I think back on the wedding day.

with this ring...

This is one of only three pro photos I have currently...more coming, I promise. I'd like to do a photo story with my impressions of the day, so I'm going to hold off for those photos.

We're just back from our "mini-moon" and today's D-Day where we have to rejoin the real world: I start bar classes, and he goes back to work. I also plan to blog a little bit about totally non-wedding-related topics, so if you'd like to follow me after I finish up here, you can at Kate Gets A Life.

liked it, put ring on it

I'm back. I'm exhausted, but otherwise unscathed. I have to say, I'm a lucky girl in that I not only have a fantastic husband-elect, but I also have some fantastic friends. Fantastic friends (and a sister) who will travel across a few states and into the arctic tundra that was Chicago this weekend, and whose idea of "flair ware" includes a tiara and awesomely cartoonish light-up "diamond" ring and tiara, but not a penis necklace or cake in sight. (Plus, those broads use the term "flair ware." Seriously.)

And because MMC is not only a star RSVP-er, but also a fantastic photographer, I can bring you these:

The ring:



The "groom" of these totally hilarious/amazing bottle costumes. Unfortunately, I don't have a great shot of the "bride"--complete with veil, but suffice it to say I nearly lost my shit at the dinner table when the wine bottles were outfitted.



Frankly, nothing too crazy happened. I don't know if that makes mine the best bachelorette party ever or the lamest. I'm going with best.

SO HAPPY TO BE GETTING MARRIED

I mean, just look at us. We're jumping for joy.

Edited to add: so our photographer posted some of our engagement photos on her blog. I am pleased.

Engagement Photos

So, the Mister and I aren't the most photogenic people you've ever met. I mean, we're lovely and all, but somehow you put a camera in our face and it looks a little bit like we might be related to Sloth from The Goonies. It ain't cute. HEEEY YOUUUU GUUUUYS!

Anyway, so one of the things I decided I wanted out of all this wedding nonsense was some nice engagement photos. Just some decent pictures of us. Maybe even a couple artsy ones. We're fun people. And someday we're going to get old and decrepit and I'd like to remember the way we looked back in the day.

Here's the thing, though: engagement photos are cheesy. I mean not absolutely all of them, I guess, but when you look at as many as I do (which, let me tell you, is kind of a lot), the more you realize...wow, this is silly. I mean, just google them. Seriously. You'll laugh. Then (if you know us) picture mine and the Mister's heads on those bodies: you'll laugh again.

Luckiest Girl Ever

I'm a law student, and this semester I'm working in a clinic that deals with child protective proceedings. My biggest case is representing a mom who's had her kid taken away because the dad was abusive to the mom in front of the kid. The mom since moved out, is in counseling, and is basically trying to put the pieces of her life back together--and get her daughter back. It's kind of a long story, but basically, the caseworker for the state hates my client and will stop at nothing to keep this kid in her foster home. It makes my stomach hurt to think about.

Anyway, after a long day of dealing with this shit, I come home and get in my warm and comfy bed, curled up with my laptop and O the Oprah Magazine (always a good way to feel better about the world). After a while, the Mister calls to say he's on his way home, and offers to stop at Chipotle to bring me a delicious dinner. Sometimes I forget that I really am the luckiest girl in the world. It's sad that it takes dealing with some of the unluckiest people for me to recognize it.

And because this post was depressing, and I've broken the seal on photos, I leave you with this:

Wait, why?

One of the things I'm trying super-hard to do throughout this process is to ask myself why I want certain things. For instance, until last month I was growing my hair out because I believed brides had long hair. Check out any wedding website, and you will see lots of brides growing out their hair for the big day.



Carrie Underwood here is sort of the holy grail of wedding hair. And I'll admit, it's lovely. So lovely that I, too, began growing my hair out.

Here's the thing, though. My hair looks bad long. I mean, not BAD-bad, but like, it just looks much better short. I like it better short. The Mister even likes it better short (and, from what I understand, dudes typically like longer hair).

So here I am, growing my hair out because I think it's what I'm supposed to do despite the fact that the dude I'm marrying and I both think I look better when it's not that way. Isn't that about the most absurd thing you've ever heard?

It happens to me all the time with this wedding planning nonsense. The most recent example is cake. I don't particularly like cake. I mean, it's fine, and a good cake is great, but a mediocre cake (which most wedding cakes are, frankly--and certainly all of the ones we could afford are) is just not worth getting excited about. The Mister, however, loves cheesecake. I like it a lot more than regular cake. And there's a bakery in Cincinnati, where we're getting married, that does nothing but cheesecake. And they even do cheesecakes that look pretty much just like regular cakes. And yet, I still had this feeling like I should do a regular cake instead. WHY?! WHY DO I FEEL LIKE THIS?!

I am trying to train myself to recognize this feeling and fight it. It's MY wedding, right? It should be what I want, what I care about? Not just what I'm supposed to do? Right? In this spirit, I cut my hair. I am getting the damn cheesecake. And I'm not going to even think about getting extensions, Carrie Underwood!

p.s. photos!

photos?

So all the other bride blogs have photos. For "inspiration." And then they have links to where you can purchase the things which have inspired you. How convenient, Wedding Industrial Complex! Why thank you, bloggers of the bridalsphere, I DO need to peruse $700 shoes! Why yes, I WOULD like to imagine what it would be like to spend $4000 on a cake!

So I'm debating whether to put photos on here. On the one hand, weddings are pretty. And this is likely to be the only time in their lives most people have a professional photographer follow them around for a day, so the photos are extra-pretty too. But on the other hand, I think the purpose of this blog (for the moment anyway) is for me to put into words how I feel about all this wedding planning nonsense and that doesn't need photos.

Probably pretty will win.