Our Wedding

images from www.coast2coastimages.com

I'm happy to report wedding day success!

All the planning, organizing, and countless hours on Craigslist and Ebay paid off in what amounted to a marriage celebration that truly felt like a reflection of "us." It was real, it was cute, it was natural, it was with our closet friends and family who have been with us for many years. There were no catastrophes, no major meltdowns, and on top of that, it was a beautifully warm and sunny day! New England weather finally came through! Since we planned the bulk of this wedding ourselves, I totally think we earned that.

The gardens were absolutely beautiful. Tommie's Dad took some fantastic shots (as exhibited in this blog), and our second shooter was very creative and patient as she followed me around the garden making me pose all over the place for pictures. ..ok, so maybe the truth is she had to basically ask me to stop posing.

Even Maya (the dog of honor) and all the kids were attentive and well-behaved. I was very proud. The reception that followed went smoothly with the help of our awesome day-of planner. We got to eat our favorite east coast Mexican food, catch up with old friends, and dance (though Tommie could use some new dance moves). There was fun, there was laughter, and of course, a lot of pictures to remember it all.

I'll post more details about our vendors soon for anyone considering a wedding in New Hampshire or the surrounding area.

Breathe

You can tell, based on my lack of posting, that I have been preoccupied. Planning my wedding, a trip to Turkey, and deciding to pursue a new job in the middle of all this has got my head spinning! As I approach the final week before the big day, I know I need to make a very conscious effort to slow down and enjoy this time.

I need to appreciate all the pieces coming together as they have. One year ago, I said that I wasn't stressing over the planning process; that I wanted everything to come together organically. In the middle of the process, it was hard to see how that would ever happen, but now at the end I see it--the garden, the inn, the local food, the custom cupcakes, the decor I've gathered and made, my knock-off gown, our non-denominational ceremony, and all my random helpers from Craigslist--I see them all connected now in a weird, contrasting, interesting, different, and beautiful way that screams "us," and that is how I know it worked out the way it was supposed to. Now it's time watch as it all plays out in front of us and enjoy that it's a celebration of who we are, what we like, and what we have together.

Stay tuned for a recap of how it all came to be with photos galore!

Pie In A Blender

For our wedding present my parents got us (or should I say, got Tommie) a Ninja Kitchen System. Let me start off by saying that sometimes Tommie finds himself captivated by infomercials...particularly food-related clips. Once he heard that this gadget can serve as a blender, a food processor and more (neither of which we have), he had me add it to the registry. And when it arrived, what was the first thing he wanted to make with it? Pie.
See, it comes with this handy little recipe book complete with some mouth-watering images, including one of key lime pie, which happens to be one of his favs. I'll admit I was skeptical about the whole pie in a blender thing. Plus, I've never made pie of any sort before (...in that case, maybe making it in a blender was a good way to start). The ingredients were simple: sweetened condensed milk, eggs, and lime juice. We poured them in, hit a couple different blending settings (this thing sounds like a lawnmower when turned on), poured the mixture in a graham cracker crust, baked, chilled, and voila!
Tommie claims it falls into his "top three best key lime pies"--yes, he rates food in his head all the time. It was easy and quick to make; a good balance or tart/sweet and had a very smooth and airy consistency. I think we should be on the next infomercial.

Quick Trip To North Carolina

(The beautiful Duke Gardens--gator free...we think)

Tommie is taking a class in Durham, North Carolina this week and I followed him there over the weekend because it was a good excuse to take a break from work, weddings, and worrying. We both like North Carolina and I'm not completely sure why...maybe because it's warmer, it's cheaper, and we're usually there on vacation which puts us in a good mood. Tommie's theory is simpler: he claims he falls in love with any city that makes really good gelato. Sugarland in Chapel Hill makes gelato that's on par with San Diego's (our favorite) and it is right next to UNC's campus in Chapel Hill which has brick walkways, weeping trees, and reminds us of a bigger Wheaton (our alma mater in Massachusetts)...only they can grow apricot trees on their campus (so jealous)! We also took a day trip to Asheville (about 3.5 hours from Durham) because we were curious to see this hip, artsy community in the mountains. They have a bustling downtown with lots of interesting restaurants and shops and based on all the adorable mutts walking around and eating with their owners, it's a very dog friendly place. We were also going to check out the Biltmore Estate (former home of the Vanderbilts) in Asheville until we noticed that a day pass cost $70 (too rich for our blood!), so we took the free "self-guided tour" of the restroom in the visitor center and took a picture of a picture of the estate. Good enough for us!

The New Rainy State

States in the Pacific Northwest, like Oregon and Washington, have always intrigued me but I hear they get a lot of rain and that's depressing. Lately I have been wondering if living on the East Coast is any better. I check the weather every day and all throughout May it has been the same prediction: clouds, rain, and unseasonably cold temps. It's just insult to injury after we endured an exceptionally bad winter. Tommie and I recall the last time we had nice weather (for more than a few fluke hours) was in October on Columbus Day weekend of last year. That was over seven months ago.
My mom thinks we should get "sun lamps" to improve our moods, but I think it's beyond improving about this matter. The sun made an appearance this Saturday and I wasn't even happy to see it; I was mad at it...I knew it would be gone the next day, and it was. I'm indignant. I'm not joking when I say my goal for next year is to gain flexibility so that during the winter and spring stints of perpetual gloom, I can just leave...fly/drive/walk if I have to, until I hit sunshine...I don't care what direction or how far I have to go. I'll just use my usual guidelines: To avoid getting lost, stay between Mexico and Canada. There has to be sunshine somewhere in between.

Dress Success

I am happy to report that the wedding gown I ordered online from overseas arrived safely a few days ago and it's not bad! I was surprised to find it on my front porch inside a small plastic DHL shipping envelope (no idea how they got it in there!). Needless to say it has some wrinkles but with some breathing time and a few simple fixes it will make the perfect, slightly off-beat wedding dress.

For other people thinking about ordering online from a place like MaryAnnBridal.com my advice would be to know from the get-go that you are still going to have to bring it to a tailor for alterations. I knew that even when you provide your measurements online, there is nothing like being there in person to see if it really fits. I dropped my dress off today at a local tailor who got great reviews on Yelp.com. She's going to hem it up, fix a funny pleat, and will even make some straps for it (at my request) using the excess ribbon from the lace-up back.

There may be parts you don't like. As with the “real” version of the dress, I'm not impressed with the flowers on it. Even if I had purchased the $1,000 version of the dress I’d seen in the store, I had planned to replace the flowers with better quality handmade ones from Etsy.com and that is still the plan.

I also noticed that because the makers of these dresses are basing the style and color on a photograph of a designer dress, there will be differences, particularly in color. In my case it worked out serendipitously. The designer dress I liked in the store was ivory and champagne/coffee color, but in the picture online and in the dress I received, the dress is white with a yellow/gold bottom. For me, these colors are actually better since yellow goes with the dresses we got for the bridesmaids and fits my summer wedding. However, if I had had my heart set on ivory and champagne, I would have been disappointed.

If you are flexible and willing to accept/make some changes to a dress, this is a great route to go and an alternative to bridal boutique shopping. It saved me a lot of money (in the end I anticipate saving 50-60%), it was faster than going through any bridal shop (took 6 weeks), and the money I saved by not buying the expensive dress can go in part towards making some customized changes to it (straps, flowers, etc.) that will make it truly unique.