Honeymoon! Update

Well, we are finally leaving for our honeymoon in 2 days. (See previous post.) We have a weekend of packing ahead of us.

My new backpack. We decided to go with backpacks instead of suitcases. We'll be getting on and off a lot of busses and trains, and I'm not good at running for trains dragging a wheeled suitcase. Also, in some cities we'll only have a couple hours to explore and backpacks are easier to shove in a locker at the bus station than a big suitcase. Both our backpacks come with detachable day packs, so we have convenient smaller packs for our hiking days.

Clothes. Backpacks plus a 50-pound weight limit for luggage make for some creative packing. (Although if my backpack weighs anywhere near 50 pounds I won't be able to carry it.) Which shoes do I wear and which do I pack? Do I really need all these toiletries or can I buy some along the way? I am not a light packer and this is becoming quite a puzzle for me. We had to decide on the style of clothing we'd be wearing ahead of time, even before I bought my backpack, since dressy clothes need more space than casual clothes. (Comfortable walking clothes plus one or two decent outfits for the occasional nice dinner. Nothing that requires a garment bag.) We are one of those couples that matches, albeit unintentionally. It's disgusting, I know, but bound to happen when your casual wardrobes consist of jeans, cargo shorts, and the same spectrum of t-shirt colors.

Books. We have guidebooks for 5 different countries. Plus we need books for regular reading on all those planes and trains. Yes, we can buy some along the way but we'll each need at least one for the first 11-hour plane ride. My book of choice is Altared, a paperback long enough to read for a couple days but not so big it won't fit comfortably in my carry-on.

Passports. We planned an entire European vacation without valid passports in hand during this passport drought. We figured the expedited fee into our travel budget, and once we got around to applying for them (mine was lost, Mike's needed to be renewed) we had them within 4 days. It's still taking several months to get a passport in the regular way, and in October you'll need them for flying from Mexico and Canada. If you're planning an international trip next year, apply for your passport today!

Snacks. I have a food allergy so I'm bringing my own hot cereal and breakfast bars. Lunch and dinner is usually easier than breakfast, and I have little cards printed out in German and Polish that explain the food allergy to waiters. I showed the Polish card to my Polish cousin (we're staying with him in Zakopane!) and he said it's an excellent translation that makes the problem very clear. I was relieved to hear that. He gave me the words for some foods I can definitely eat and some I definitely cannot. But he also said bringing my own cereal is a good idea for breakfast.

Gifts for my cousins in Poland! Dropping everything to make houseguests feel welcome is a big tradition in the town they live. But it's also expected that those houseguests bring gifts in return for the hospitality. (Just in case they read this I don't want to mention what the gifts are!)

That's a lot to cram into a backpack that I'll be lugging around for 3 weeks. Luckily the Polish cousins are the first stop on the trip, so we can unload the gifts to make room for souvenirs.

Vicky's going on vacation too at the end of August, so it will get quiet around here. But I'll be taking notes on anything wedding related I see. Keep planning!

Auf wiedersehen!

Wedding Pictures!

The moment many have been waiting for... I can finally share my wedding pictures! The full album is here on flickr.

Some highlights:

Mike running in late with his shirt


Us


Family portrait


Ceremony


My dress


Kids are cute


My bouquet -- not bad for $10!


Clicking on any of the photos will take you to the full set on flickr. All photography by gumgirl. She and her assistant were a joy to have at the wedding with us. They blended into the background when they needed to but also got up and did their job when they needed to. All the guests loved having them around, they made everyone feel at ease about having their pictures taken. I fully recommend them to any brides in the San Francisco/Bay Area.

Honeymoon!

Every couple deserves one, whether it's a quiet long weekend at an inn in Vermont or lounging around on a tropical beach for a week. You need some relaxing time alone together after all the wedding planning stress is behind you and all the family members have gone home.

You may have noticed that Mike and I didn't take off for ours right away. That is because as much as we talked to each other about what we want to do, we didn't actually get around to talking to a travel agent about it until after the wedding. Many people will tell you this is a big mistake. I'd say it is if you are on an extremely tight budget and are trying to take a trip you really can't afford. But if you are procrastinators like we are who have decent-to-good travel luck, it's not so bad. Yes, the prices are a bit higher since it's short notice during a busy travel season. But we have a limited amount of vacation time and this is what we really want to do. (And we were realistic with our estimates so the prices haven't been a surprise.)

For 3 weeks in August we'll be dirty backpackers in Europe! Not completely traveling off the cuff like real dirty backpackers should, since at this time of year planes and trains need to be booked in advance or else you get stranded. I like to know each night where my bed will be. (That's not too much to ask, is it?) We gave a travel agent a somewhat wonky itinerary ranging from Zakopane, Poland, to Salzburg to Edinburgh and she's working her magic. We're staying at a guest house in Zakopane, where we'll hike in the Carpathian Mountains. We're taking an overnight train ride, in a sleeper car, from Krakow to Vienna. Bussing through Bavaria. Sleeping at a hostel in Edinburgh. We like hiking in mountains and seeing old buildings, and we'll get to do a lot of it.

Hmmm, I see some travel tips posts in our future... :)

Recap--Cake and Dancing

Our photos still aren't ready for public viewing. So, more text here. Briefly, after dinner, people did some toasts and Mike got up and thanked everyone for coming. Then cake time! It was very low-key. We didn't play a song, there was no smashing of the cake in each others' faces (I hate that so much.). We had a flourless chocolate cake that we decorated with some flowers. We also served glasses of milk with the cake. We cut the cake, gave each other a bite, then poured goblets of milk and "cheered" each other. It made for some cute photos.

A few minutes later, when we noticed people were finished with their cake and starting to get antsy, we put on the dance playlist. (We did all ipod playlists with one friend in charge of queueing them up.) With no special announcements, Mike and I went onto the dancefloor, our friend started the first song on the list, and we danced. Our first song was Bruce Springsteen's "Thunder Road." We had told some people that we didn't want to dance the whole song by ourselves, so when it started to rock out in the middle, my maid of honor got a bunch of guests out on the floor to join us. And then we just put the playlist on shuffle and let people rock on for the rest of the night!

I had worked hard on our dance playlist and was very happy with everyone's reaction and the amount of dancing that went on. It's not full of particularly weddingy/romantic songs. Just really good party songs. Some highlights:

Take On Me, a-ha
Dancing Queen, ABBA
Mamma Mia, ABBA
Private Idaho, The B-52's
Here, There and Everywhere, The Beatles
Stayin' Alive, Bee Gees
You & Me & The Bottle Makes 3 Tonight, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
Heart of Glass, Blondie
Just Like Heaven, The Cure
Young Americans, David Bowie
You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Loves You, Dean Martin
Crocodile Rock, Elton John
Oh L'Amour, Erasure
Chains Of Love, Erasure
Slow Ride, Foghat
Sweet Child O' Mine, Guns N' Roses
Don't You Want Me, The Human League
Love Will Tear Us Apart, Joy Division
Groove Me, King Floyd
Bizarre Love Triangle, New Order
If You Leave, OMD
Walkin' After Midnight, Patsy Cline
Always on My Mind, Pet Shop Boys
In Your Eyes, Peter Gabriel
Such Great Heights, The Postal Service
Don't You (Forget About Me), Simple Minds
Ball and Chain, Social Distortion
Hell, Squirrel Nut Zippers
My Best Friend, Weezer

Recap--Ceremony and Dinner

I haven't wanted to share too many details of the rest of the wedding until I have wonderful photographs to illustrated them with. We have the photos. But they are not ready for public viewing yet. (We've been loving looking at them though!) So, there's lots of fodder for future posts, once those photos are ready. For the time being...

The ceremony. We had four little girls present and gave them each bouquets and the option to sit with their parents or walk down the aisle with us. Two of my younger cousins decided to walk down the aisle. So we sent them down, then my cousin and Mike's brother, who were the maid of honor and best man. Then Mike and I walked down hand in hand! (We walked down the aisle to the first 30 seconds or so of Loquasto International Film Festival, by Mark Mothersbaugh from the Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou soundtrack.) Our officiant was a friend that Mike's known since college and I've known for almost as long as I've known Mike. He said some very nice things about us and how we met (including how it's all Vicky's husband's doing). Then Mike and I read our vows to each other. We exchanged rings. We kissed. The end. Maybe took 20 minutes!

I think it was after the ceremony that the photographer took some portraits of us with our families. They were pretty casual. And we did them on the grass right next to the ceremony site so other guests could take pictures, or just watch with their drinks and appetizers in hand. We weren't sequestered away for any length of time.

Finally it was dinner time! I realized suddenly I was starving. People had been putting glasses of water in my hand all evening long, but no one brought me any of the yummy-looking appetizers I had so painstakingly selected. Tiny twice-baked potatoes with sour cream and mini apple-chicken sausages with crushed peanuts. I arrived at our table to find the servers had left a plate of them just for us! I will rave about our caterer, Serves You Right, fully at a later time. But the food was amazing! And serving went smoothly. Since we only had about 50 guests, no one had to wait too long for their turn at the buffet. Full guests equal happy guests. Mike and I had a sweetheart table. I hate that name, but loved the concept. It allowed us to have some quiet time to actually eat and enjoy our food. We were first in line for the buffet! And servers took care of us well, bringing glasses of lemonade and champagne and water. (I drank so much water! And only half a glass of champagne the whole night!)

I think that's all I've got in me right now. Reliving the night is exhausting!

Recap--Getting Dressed

Well, I didn't mean for that dramatic pause to last for so long. But you know how life is. Have a wedding. Then have your debit card stolen, and your tub drain get clogged, and your husband go away on a business trip then come home and start puking.

So, Mike realized he forgot his tux shirt! I was in the bathroom. He made a snap decision to just drive back all the way home himself rather than have a guest bring another shirt, send someone back to our house, stop at a mall and buy a new shirt, etc. The drive generally takes an hour one-way at that time of day. It was a Monday, remember, and at 5 pm there is killer rush hour traffic.

As soon as Mike announced the missing shirt I felt strangely calm. That was it. That's what we forgot. We might start late, but if that's the worst that happens, that's not so bad. I was thinking, well, there will just be a little less time for dancing. We had already arranged for appetizers and the bar to be available before the ceremony, so guests would have plenty of food and drink to keep them busy.

I decided not to get dressed right away, since I suddenly had some more time. I went out to greet some guests who had arrived early, friends of Mike's from work who enjoyed hearing about him zooming home to get the shirt. (They take aggressive driving training for their jobs and were certain Mike was using his skills to speed and weave throughout traffic.)

Finally it was time for me to get dressed. Since hair and makeup was all done, all I had to do really was step into the dress. My mom helped me. Then the photographer came in while I freshened up my hair a bit and added my tiara. She had a lot of time to photograph me without Mike and she loved the stone wall finish in the salon, so spent a lot of time there. I felt so princessy. And it was fun. I enjoyed being the center of attention more than I thought I would.

Since we had planned on being dressed and greeting our guests together (i.e., I wasn't going to stayed sequestered away in secret until the ceremony), I went out to face everyone while waiting for Mike. It was so amazing! Everyone's reaction to the dress and me in it. Again, I felt princessy and was surprised by how much I enjoyed it.

At 5:55 pm, about 5 minutes before the official start of the wedding (the time the bar opens), I noticed the shuttle bus arriving with the majority of guests. Then I felt a whoosh and saw a blur. It was Mike with his shirt! He had pulled in right behind the bus and was running to the bathroom to get changed. (The photographer got a great shot of this blur of Mike running through the door.) Mike made the trip in 55 minutes, round trip! He was all dressed and ready just as the shuttle bus folks were approaching the front door of the venue, so very few people even knew there had been a problem. It was amazing. We could greet everyone and be smiling and happy and laughing with everyone.

Recap--Getting Ready

I think I'm finally ready to talk about it a little. We still don't have a lot of pictures to share. This is a photo of one of the centerpieces that I sent to the caterer a couple months ago to give her an idea of the "feel" of the event. (Clicking on the pic will take you to a larger image on our flickr page.)

Everyone says the day was a whirlwind, don't they? I didn't really feel that way until the event was actually starting. We both woke up early to put the finishing touches on our vows. Then we showered, had cereal, regular low-key morning things. At noon I picked up my mom at the hotel, then we made the very last trip to Target before picking up the cake. Back home with the cake, we found we had absolutely no room in the refrigerator for it, so we cranked the AC to about 50 degrees and left the cake on the kitchen counter. Still nothing to worry about yet.

My mom steamed our clothes, then went back to the hotel to get herself ready. My MOH arrived to help me with hair and makeup, and my aunt, uncle, and cousin arrived to let us load some stuff into their car. My uncle filmed the wedding for us and he got the whole hair and makeup part. I made sure to wear a button-front shirt during hair and makeup so it was easy to change into the dress later without ruining everything by lifting a shirt over my head.

Finally, all that was left to do was finish loading up the car and drive over to the Brazilian Room. That's when I started feeling nauseaus. Despite checking everything in our car, everything in my aunt and uncle's car, and everything in the two cars of friends, who were all arriving early with us, I had a nagging feeling something was forgotten. And that's a common feeling for me, because we usually do forget something whenever we leave the house for something important.

We arrived at the Brazilian Room right on schedule. Some friends were already there. They had brought the stereo equipment and the bar drinks and were getting all that stuff set up. We unloaded our car and I put out the centerpieces and Mike put out the napkins and favors. (I had a specific way I wanted them, even though it appeared random, so the caterer let me do that instead of her workers. They had plenty to do, though.)

Then it was time to give up my control and let the professional party people and the friends and family members who arrived early to help us to do their work. And time for me to put my dress on! A bunch of people (my mom, my young cousin, my uncle filming, the photographer) followed me into the dressing room, but I really had to use the bathroom that was connected to it, so I asked the entourage to back off and please give me a minute alone. As I was in the bathroom I heard Mike's voice in the hall: "I forgot my shirt!"

Is it time to worry yet?

The First Pic

Via a friend's phone, emailed to us last night:


Details to follow. We are tired, but happy.

CONGRATULATIONS!!

Yesterday was Stephanie and Mike's 'Big Day'. YEAH!!!

Did Stephanie make it through the day without going all Bridezilla on someone's ass? Time will only tell. We wait with baited breath and MUCH CONGRATULATIONS!!! Wish we could have been there to taste the dark chocolate cake and see the beautfiul napkins and dress all done by hand. Truly an amazing feat!

Send Steph and Mike a congrats today and wish them well!





*** That leaves us with only Ashley and her bridal journey. We have an open spot! Write to us and tell Stephanie and I why you would make a great 'Flaming Tulle' Featured bride.***

tomorrow!

In a few minutes we'll be heading out to farmers' market to buy flowers for tomorrow and snacks for this afternoon's open house at our place.

Yesterday had Mike and me escaping the family to spend a few minute alone... shopping at Macy's for a wrap for me, then meeting up with our officiant friend for coffee and pants-renting. He unpacked his tux and the pants are missing. So we found a place that rents tuxes, but they need a week in advance. Luckily someone had just returned a tux in his size, and the woman in charge of rentals let him just take the pants, with nothing more than a promise to return them on Tuesday. We then went to Mike's cousin's house to pick up the wedding wine and on to the airport to pick up my grandmother.

Last night was girls' night out. We were all a little tired, so a low-key evening of drinking wine and eating chocolatey desserts was just perfect.

Time to go buy my flowers!

2 Days

I was bored yesterday afternoon. I had nothing to do. My mom was working on my dress. Mike was getting his mom from the airport. I puttered around the house. By the time Mike came home, we had about 20 minutes to get changed and catch the train to the city for our dinner with parents, brothers, and officiant. It was a really good dinner. But I was up late and I'm too tired now to post too much about it.

One thing I did yesterday afternoon was laugh over the Exclusively Weddings catalog that arrived in the mail. It's too late for me, but you can order custom soaps, creepy mother-daughter keepsake figurines, and personalized photos of the beach:


Okay, I kinda get that this might be a cool thing to do if you're at the beach taking photos yourselves. But paying someone else to go to the beach, write your name, and then take the picture... Something doesn't feel right. It doesn't seem like unique artwork to me. It seems like one more piece of customized crap. (Which really isn't fair to the beach. That's why it erases your name so quickly.)

3 Days

What day is today? Friday? It's hard to keep track of time when you're not at work. (I hesitate to say "when you're on vacation" because I haven't spent enough time relaxing for this to be a real vacation.)

Yesterday my mom came over and we did a dress fitting. She just has to do some minor adjustments. She worked on it yesterday afternoon and will work on it again this afternoon.

I finished the music playlists yesterday.

Today I have some errands to run. There's another trip to Target in my future and I have to bring more guest bags to the hotel.

Tonight we're going out to eat with our parents, brothers, and friend who's the officiant. We're not calling it the rehearsal dinner, since we're not having a rehearsal and one member of the bridal party is missing--my maid of honor. (She gets into town tomorrow.) But if the people at the restaurant want to give us complimentary champagne or something because it looks like a rehearsal dinner, we'll graciously accept it.

Trying to drink water, eat vegetables, and take naps in my down time. And "Just say no" to the majority of alcoholic drinks that are tempting me. I don't have time this weekend to be hungover. I want to be a happy, healthy bride on Monday.

4 Days

Yesterday was a busy one. Tuesday night I worked on napkins and just couldn't finish them, but did so as soon as I woke up yesterday morning. Napkins are all done.

I dropped off some guest bags at the hotel. It has a small office and the manager asked that I bring them by a day or two at a time. No problem really, since it's close to my house and my parents are there so I have other reasons to stop by.

I went to Whole Foods. We want to have lots of fruits and vegetables on hand for snacking since we'll be eating dinner at restaurants a lot over the next few days. We want to stay healthy.

I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned the apartment.

Then my parents showed up for dinner, and the wedding festivities have officially begun!

Today's big event: Dress fitting with my mom! (She needs to hem it.)

6 Days

I'm looking forward to a week from today, when we won't be worrying about this party anymore.

Yesterday I worked on guest bags. I have to finish them today, since guests start checking into the hotel tomorrow.

Yesterday Mike confirmed with his friends who will arrive early with the beverages for the bar. He also brought home the sound system we're borrowing from another friend so we can make sure we know how to set it up.

Last night we finalized the ceremony, except for writing our vows. We're suffering from a little bit of writer's block. I found this quote, "I cannot woo in festival terms," from Much Ado About Nothing, that sums up my problem. It's easy to feel all the feelings, but hard to write them down and say them in front of everybody.

Today is my last day of work for a week! Besides working, I have to finish the guest bags, do a few more napkins, and wash the bathroom and kitchen floors. Parents start arriving tomorrow, and who knows, after traveling 3,000 miles they may want to pop-in to their kids' apartment for a visit.

7 Days

I woke up around 2 a.m. this morning worrying about the logistics of wedding day. I have to get over it. Some things, like traffic, I can't control. Other things, like the photos taking longer than scheduled and blowing the whole timeline, are the kinds of things the caterer deals with on a regular basis and will handle it. We'll have vows, food, drink, and cake, no matter what.

Yesterday afternoon Mike cleaned the porch and I cleaned in the living room, including tackling the bookcases. As long as no one goes into our uber-messy bedroom, we can allow family to pop in and see that we are competent adults living in a nice apartment.

Today we need to confirm with a few people who will be helping us out on game day. The to-do list is getting shorter.

8 Days

One week from tomorrow! Wait, does that make today 9 days? Have I been miscounting? It really doesn't matter too much, because I'm looking at the calendar every day, watching the date creep closer and closer.

Yesterday afternoon, after my post, I worked on some napkins. 47 down, 11 to go. I'm working with 2 yards of fabric at a time, which makes 9 napkins. It takes over an hour to make those 9 napkins and it gets tedious ironing and sewing all those edges. But I'm close to the finish line.

This morning I went to farmers' market and my flower guy assured me the'll have plenty of purple dahlias next week. (At $5 a bunch, my bouquet will cost $10 to $15, depending on how many I decide to use. You can't beat that. And we're buying some for decorating the buffet tables and to give all the little girls their own mini-bouquets. 'Cause little girls like that kind of thing.)

We also went to Home Depot and bought two tall bougainvilla vines to serve as a divider for the ceremony area.

For the rest of the day: Mike will clean the porch so there's a place for the bougainvilla vines to live for the next week. I will organize and dust the book cases in the living room to make them "company ready." They really are a mess.

(Dahlias photo from Lynn Slight at WebDahlias.)

9 Days

Not much happened yesterday in regards to the to-do list. All I did was get my hair trimmed and write names on the out-of-town guest bags. Despite hardly getting any sleep last night (was it the heat? the drunken midnight phone call from our friend who's also the officiant? the cats? PMS? hallucinagenic cheese enchiladas? I don't know. I just know I didn't sleep at all.), I've gotten a lot accomplished today.

I colored my hair as soon as the first cup of coffee kicked in.

With the help of one of my trusty assistants I finished the last 10 favors:



While I was finishing the placecards that same trusty assistant sat on the black ink pad. I managed to save them all, but Grendel will have to live with a stained butt for a while. So, yeah, placecards are finished and Mike made the table numbers today. Everyone will have a place to sit! (They won't all have napkins yet. Still working on those.)

10 Days

I'll admit, not much happened yesterday. Mike was out of town for a few days and when he got home yesterday afternoon I decided I was tired of wedding crafts. We finalized the seating assignments and I showed him the insect pictures I printed out to use as table numbers.

I went to Michaels yesterday and found the ribbon and gift bags I need.

It's going to be a long, busy weekend. (And hot! It topped 100 yesterday and will do the same today. Even with the AC on, the heat somehow drains our energy and motivation.)

11 Days

Today, for the first time, I noticed that it looks like a wedding is invading the house. The spare room has a huge pile of boxes containing guest books, Polaroid cameras and film, paper plates and napkins, bags of ribbon, and cases of beer and wine. In one corner of the living room cases of soda are stacked up. The dining room table is covered with the fabric for making the rest of the napkins and various bags and boxes that we're saving for transporting some of this stuff to the venue. Tucked into the bookcase is a shoebox full of favors. Eight dried flower centerpieces are stowed on every high shelf (as the cats look up at them longingly).

Yesterday I hit Target and The Container Store. I got some makeup, binder clips (for the out of town guest info packets), and a garment bag for my dress. I also skulked around town pilfering 20 of the free Walnut Creek Magazines from various establishments so I can mark our house on the map in the back and include them with the info packets.

My work at home was somewhat sporadic. I cleaned out enough room in the closet for my giant dress-filled garment bag. I ironed and folded some more napkins. I worked on guest info packets.

Also yesterday my Arbonne makeup arrived from Vicky! My arsenal is complete now.

Today I need to go to Michaels to buy more ribbon.

Countdown to the Wedding -- 12 days

It's the Final Countdown! (Only click that link if you want to hear the song... Do you think we could walk down the aisle to that?) Parents start arriving one week from today and the wedding is in 11 days. And we have a lot to do.

My dress arrived on Monday, so that was one major stress-maker I could cross off my list. Now it's lots of little, needling details that are requiring multiple trips to Target and Michaels. (Do we have enough plastic cups? Do we have enough ribbon for the centerpieces? etc.)

Over the next week we have to make 10 more favors and finish folding napkins (actually, I have to sew a handful of those napkins before they can be folded). We did a favor-making marathon over the weekend while watching Four Weddings and a Funeral (Mike finds that film mildly amusing!), but I miscounted so we are still short by 10. Then I decided I didn't like the way some of the napkins were folded so I'm in the process of re-ironing and refolding them.

We also have to clean the house. Because we're having people over for a party. Plus we live close to the hotel where everyone's staying so we expect some pop-ins.

Things to do by Friday:
Finish sewing those napkins and get at least half of them folded.
Make those last 10 favors.
Get my hair trimmed and colored.

Things to do over the weekend:
House-cleaning
Write the vows
Finalize music playlists

To do Monday through Wednesday:
Do final counts of everything and take care of those last trips to Target. We want to try and relax with our friends and family members once they get here. (Right.)

Thursday:
Maybe sneak in a day of sight-seeing with parents?

Friday:
Rehearsal dinner with our parents and brothers

Saturday:
Girls night out!
I don't think Mike has anything planned yet.

Sunday:
Open House at our place

Monday:
The Wedding!

I'm going to strive for daily updates here, even the minutea, in hopes that others will learn they shouldn't wait until the last minute for so much stuff, like we have.