I've been holding off on thinking about many aspects of wedding-planning: I'd wanted to find the venue first, and then I was so busy with teaching and dissertating and enjoying New York that I put off thinking about dresses, colors, bridesmaid attire, flowers, etc. etc. for all of June. But this past weekend, I got to spend some concentrated time on wedding details! And it was fun!
Well, first, the weekend started with a special get-together: D. brought his parents down to my parents' house, where we all visited Longwood Gardens, relaxed at the house, and had a nice dinner together. This was only the second time that they'd met each other.
When I had first suggested to D., in September 2010, that we introduce our parents to each other, I remember not being pleased with his response: "Uhh...introduce our parents? I don't know...I wouldn't want anyone getting the wrong idea!" What wrong idea, D.? I guess at this point, everyone knows that we're more than just friends, so it was okay for all of us to get together.
My mother had made a birthday cake for D.'s dad; after we sang for him and he blew out the candles, we re-lit them and made the cake an engagement cake for us, too! Very practical, Mom.
The following day, Julie and Shuen both drove up from the D.C. area. We hit the mall and looked at so many different things! Cuts and colors of bridesmaids' dresses, veils, hair pieces, wedding gowns, make up, color swatches, and more. I highly recommend these ladies as bridesmaids: they are efficient shoppers, flexible but offer considered opinions, creative in imagining various scenarios, and just thoughtful all around! We looked at bridal magazines together and talked, talked, talked. With everyone living so far apart, I was worried we wouldn't have the opportunity to do any real wedding stuff together, but it worked out really well this weekend. Thanks, Shuen and Julie!
I drive back to Ann Arbor tomorrow morning. For the next month, I'll be focusing more on writing my chapter and less on wedding details (with the probable exception of trying to find a church). Let's see if I can figure out how to balance this right!
Well, first, the weekend started with a special get-together: D. brought his parents down to my parents' house, where we all visited Longwood Gardens, relaxed at the house, and had a nice dinner together. This was only the second time that they'd met each other.
When I had first suggested to D., in September 2010, that we introduce our parents to each other, I remember not being pleased with his response: "Uhh...introduce our parents? I don't know...I wouldn't want anyone getting the wrong idea!" What wrong idea, D.? I guess at this point, everyone knows that we're more than just friends, so it was okay for all of us to get together.
My mother had made a birthday cake for D.'s dad; after we sang for him and he blew out the candles, we re-lit them and made the cake an engagement cake for us, too! Very practical, Mom.
The following day, Julie and Shuen both drove up from the D.C. area. We hit the mall and looked at so many different things! Cuts and colors of bridesmaids' dresses, veils, hair pieces, wedding gowns, make up, color swatches, and more. I highly recommend these ladies as bridesmaids: they are efficient shoppers, flexible but offer considered opinions, creative in imagining various scenarios, and just thoughtful all around! We looked at bridal magazines together and talked, talked, talked. With everyone living so far apart, I was worried we wouldn't have the opportunity to do any real wedding stuff together, but it worked out really well this weekend. Thanks, Shuen and Julie!
I drive back to Ann Arbor tomorrow morning. For the next month, I'll be focusing more on writing my chapter and less on wedding details (with the probable exception of trying to find a church). Let's see if I can figure out how to balance this right!
Yes, it was tons of fun! (plus delicious food.) We even got free hairstyling tips from the makeup artist, courtesy of Julie's strategic line of questioning :)
ReplyDeleteoh yeah! i'd heard of "dry shampoo" before, but never heard anyone talk about it in person. what won't they think of next??
DeleteHaha and she immediately corrected my use of "smoky eye," (sniffling). I refrained from telling her that laypeople can't be expected to have precise professional definitions! I'm sure she doesn't have the "right" definition of "babbling" ;)
Deletewait, what is the precise definition of "babbling"?? please inform the extremely limited readership of this blog's comments!
Deletealso, I didn't have the impression that she was _correcting_ you. I actually thought it was an interesting post-post-modernist moment, in which she acknowledged that everyone has their own meaning, and she just wanted to make sure your personal definitions were in alignment. ;) (in fact, I was wondering quite intensely, "what exactly would a *South Jersey* smoky eye look like?")
A post-post-modernist moment at the MAC counter! Love it!
DeleteI know, I really wanted her to do our makeup in each style she mentioned... like, one "California," one "South Jersey," one "natural and simple"...
Babbling is when the baby is practicing some sounds, like "da" or "wawa". When many sounds are stringed together and sound very "conversational," with intonation and stress, but most of the sounds are not real words yet-- usually people still call that babbling but speech people call it "jargon."
wow, I had no idea that those are the technical definitions of babbling and jargon! I feel so enlightened. =)
Deleteit was a great weekend! Loved your Mom's spare ribs! :)
ReplyDelete1. i cannot wait to meet your mother.
ReplyDelete2. brilliant re-use of the cake. you know what they say, reduce, reuse and recycle!
3. what a cute picture of you & d!!! :-D
4. your shopping trip sounds SO FUN!! i can't wait to catch up now that you're back in a2... woohoohoo!
/list
Do you think you're going to have a wedding website?
ReplyDeleteD. and I haven't talked about it yet...but my first impression is that it's a good idea! I think a website can cut down on clutter in the invitation (I consider myself a fairly well-organized person, and even I misplace the little slips of paper that arrive in the big envelope), and is an ideal place to put up information like accommodations (with online maps) and registry and menu details. I also have a bad habit of forgetting the invitation when I travel to a wedding, but if I can remember the website, then I have all the information I need.
DeleteWhat do you think about wedding websites?
I agree with everything you said! It may seem like a lot of work at first to put it all up (as if you don't have enough to do!), but think of it as cutting down on other kinds of work, like responding to many people contacting you with the saaaaaame basic questions. And you can put up some super cute pictures of you two :) :)
DeleteBefore the wedding I attended in February, of course I lost part of the invitation... including the part with the website info! Off the top of my head I could remember the password, and another guest I contacted (who also lost part of the invitation) could remember the URL, so together we were able to get on. ;) (The groom was very busy and not answering emails!)
ReplyDeleteYes...so I think the trick is to find an intuitive URL! I've seen people set up websites on weddingwire and mywedding.com, and even a wedding "blog" on blogspot. But it's hard to remember which site people use. If I were more competent, I could set up my own independent site, but the likelihood I'm going to learn java between now and the wedding is pretty pretty slim. ;)
Deletewordpress is pretty easy to customize too... so you could be katieandD.wordpress.com or something like that. i think if you go "katie&D.com" kind of thing, you pay... but it's not very much for the year and it will help people remember!
Delete