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.)

apologies

I really apologize for my lack of posting. I hate it when my blogs I read do that, and here I've gone and done it to you. This is for a number of reasons:

1. Classes started. The beginning of any new semester is sort of insane, and this one in particular because I'm taking a condensed class that meets for 3 hours every evening for the next week and a half. Once it's over, I expect to have a lot more time on my hands.

2. I was out of town this weekend for my brother's bar mitzvah. When I tell this to people who know me and not my crazy family situation, the immediate reaction is always "wait...are you Jewish?" This reaction is not surprising, given that I look pretty Irish and have a sort of generically British sounding last name. The answer is that no, I am not Jewish. To be fully accurate, he's my half-brother, and his mother is Jewish. It was my first bar mitzvah, and I got to stand up on the bima? Bimah? Beemah? Someone help a goy out. Anyway, it was a good time and made me very, very glad to no longer be 13. I'm awkward enough over 10 years later.

On a quasi-related wedding-related note, is it weird to have a chuppah if you're not Jewish? Because I think they're lovely. And the symbolism (your new home/life together) is not too shabby either.

Also, I sort of love Ketubahs. Maybe I should just convert (Side note: serious debate between The Mister and myself this weekend--can you convert from no religion to a religion? Or is "convert" not the right word there?). But seriously--look at a few of these. So lovely, and I like the idea of the marriage being a contract.





3. I've been swept up in Obama fever. Did you watch? Were you riveted? If you haven't already, you must watch Beyonce singing "At Last" for the Obamas' first dance. I am not always a huge Beyonce fan ("Single Ladies" and some of the early Destiny's Child like "Jumpin', Jumpin'" or "Bills, Bills, Bills" notwithstanding) but this was some of her best work. And the Obamas are, of course, fantastic. Mister, if you're out there: this is what a slow dance should look like. I'm having trouble finding the video right now (it was just on about an hour or two ago) but it should be widely available soon.

I promise a new post about wedding stuff. And soon!

here comes the bride...ALONE!

So, as I mentioned, I've decided to walk down the aisle alone despite the fact that I love and am pretty close to both my parents. People seem to be very emotional about this choice, which is a little funny to me. One of the reasons I didn't really think I would get married is sort of what the whole institution used to mean, and the relics of that that continue into today. I knew I didn't want anyone "giving me away" because, you know, I'm not a cow, I don't belong to my father (or my mother) and I'm not theirs to give. I am my own woman, and I am giving myself to the Mister just as he's giving himself to me. What better way to symbolize that I am independent, and that I am coming into this of my own choice, with my own mind, my own heart? What better way to symbolize that, at its root, this is about ME and HIM?

I knew I needed to talk to my dad about this before we got too close to the wedding day because I really didn't want to hurt him. Like I said, this is about me, and not about my relationship with him. So I was at lunch with my dad and my sister (and maid of honor) and I mentioned my feelings on the matter, and my dad was totally cool about it. "Yeah, that makes sense. That's a lot more YOU." (Which is accurate.) My sister, however, FLIPPED HER SHIT. She thinks it makes it look like I don't get along with dad, or that I don't have family. She thinks it's a slap in the face to him. To which I can only say: um...no?

I certainly don't mean to say that it's anti-feminist to be walked down the aisle by your dad. If that's what the bride wants, more power to her. But for me, with my already having some icky feelings about weddings, this was a nice compromise. And my dad will still get a sweet boutineer and a hug. What more could a guy want, right?