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Caution, wedding porn ahead. So, here’s the story of the wedding as told through the lenses of friends and family. The gorgeous Owen Carey professional pics are still to come- but this will be a great start for all of you who have been begging for pics.
Where to begin….
How about in the ladies lounge?
Shhhh…. Flora’s taking a nap.
Meanwhile, here’s what the space look liked before we tackled it:
Rehearsing in the field the day before…
Then the preparations began…
There were a few last minute dishes to be done in the stream….
Mocha was worn out before the ceremony even started…
Kira helped get the tables laid out…
Morgan worked on alcohol (his speciality). The bright blue one we found in a cocktail book- it was called Windex, but we called it “Peacocktail.”
Each table was put together to have a mix of styles for glasses and dishes and silverware. It ended up looking like this:
The hurricane glasses of soups made beautiful centerpieces strung out like jewels along the tables. My dad made the tree trunk trivets, and they turned out beautifully!
The ceremony was set up under the tree…
When people first arrived, they got to find their rock from the table…
The rocks were painted by over a dozen of our friends and family. Each one was unique. On the back of the rock were people’s table assignments.
I was in the tent getting ready…
…while the cocktail hour was kicking off up under the trees…
After about an hour, everyone was feely buzzy and we were finally ready to start the ceremony.
our wedding party was busy finding their right places in line…
Morgan’s mom Debi and my son Jack got things started by laying the wedding table. Mocha helped.
We had a little fun with the audience by starting with the traditional wedding march and then scratching over to Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes.” Morgan was a trooper and held the boom box up in true Say Anything style.
We asked each set of parents to come down the aisle and leave something on the wedding table that symbolized their contribution to our relationship. Here’s Jim and Christina (Morgan’s dad and stepmom) just finishing their bit:
Our bride and groomspeople filtered down the aisle, each dropping off something for the table…
and ended up looking something like this:
Groomspeople
Bridefolk.
I tiptoed up behind everyone (but we fooled them by having the bridal party look the other way)…
Then the ceremony began…
It was bright! Thus the parasol…
Look how beautiful my sister and my sister-in-law look!
Owen snapped some pictures…
We took a moment to be with each other
before the ceremony began, while our community was asked to share their own advice and commitments with us on little cards we had scattered on their seats…
Then we made a commitment to Jack…
And to each other…
Then we exchanged rings…
And then, thanks to the powers “invested” in him by “the internet,” Ben pronounced us husband and wife…
There may have been some kissing involved….
Afterwards, there was much rejoicing:
With many beautiful people…
And some beautiful critters…
Flora got started on her painting…
People snuck a peek at what the menu had in store…
We toasted the day with soups…
savored ahi mango avocado stacks…
(with wonton crisps fried in coconut oil)
Then dived into the main course (although without the pig… poor sad piggy)
Later there were some toasts….
And then cupcakes…
And more drinking…
And then these guys….
Got the dancing started…
Tapwater led a little drum line through the crowd…
And little by little people trickled away into the night.
Some folks stayed and joined us beside the campfire…
In the morning was the aftermath…
The peahens snuck down to the ladies lounge to see what all the fuss was about…
A good time was had by all….
Like me, only…peacocky. I think the double crystal ear and nose strands are a particularly elegant touch.
Kidding, Mom. I’m KIDDING. Really. Mom. Mom?????
[no really though, for the burn...AWESOME] Check out a bunch more wildly gothic looks at Germany’s Gothic Wave festival. The offbeat bride in me is totally in love.
This is one of the lanterns that Kira and Chris brought back from Vietnam. So pretty! We’re going to borrow them for decorating the dinner area.
Other Vietnam fun stuff:
Jack’s teeny tiny little suit. Isn’t it adorable?
Here’s Morgan holding the suit so you can get a sense of how little it is.
Also, for those of you getting ready to organize your wedding weekend, here’s the basics you’ll need to know in order to camp at Horning’s with us or get a hotel nearby. We can’t wait to see you!
My mom, Ileah and I did a little shopping for Mother’s Day- I had heard about this great promotion where Pearl District boutiques were giving away flowers- you could go from boutique to boutique collecting flowers and browsing. It turned out to be a beautiful day…wandering the sunny Portland streets, checking out cute boutiques.
We were incredibly surprised at how many really reasonable prices there were, even in the sharply edited little local designer boutiques where I never expect to be able to afford ANYTHING.
And, as a bonus, my favorite recycled jewelry/accessories store, Redux, was having a sidewalk sale so I was able to pick up these perfect earrings for the wedding:
I love that they are peacock eye feathers, but they’re a bit assymetrical and unusual.
We had further luck when my sister and I both found perfect gladiator sandals with peacock colored beading at Shoefly:
Housemate (and groomsman) Jaime’s first reaction to them? “They’re fabulous but…black shoes? For a wedding?” I had to assure him that I was accenting the white dress with black and teal so that it would all work out just fine. Strangely, I’m relieved to know that he’s looking out for my sartorial interests…
My sister also picked up a really cute hat at Bonnet that was a little bit flapper, a little bit boho, and just perfect on her.
Afterwards we camped out at The Camellia Lounge for lunch and rehydration and just kept exclaiming over what a gorgeous and perfect day it was.
The dresses are done and being shipped!!! Here’s how they turned out.
First, my dress (don’t tell Morgan):
I cannot wait to get it back here and try it on!!!!!
Here’s Kira and Chris modeling the finished bridesmaid dress and the finished suit side by side:
Add a little peacock feather fascinator and some strappy sandals (for her, not him) and we’re gonna be good to go.
Phew. What an enormous relief to have that done!
Okay, so the dress I picked out from a picture on the internet did not so much translate into an actually flattering dress when Kira had it made by the Vietnamese tailor and tried it on. I’d show you the picture she sent as proof but she would kill me.
After calling me in a panic at 1 am (it was 10 am where she was) to discuss the situation, she sent me a pic of a dress she thought would fit all my criteria, but be more flattering, more forgiving of the fact that we are all in our 30s and ain’t none of us skinny models anymore, and would just generally work better.
I couldn’t actually look at it when she called (computer at home is not working so well), so I spent a sleepless night tossing and turning in anxiety. Kira couldn’t afford to stick around this little town in Vietnam too much longer, and she was already doing us a HUGE favor by arranging to have the suits made and the dresses made. If I ended up not liking this dress she’d found, we’d probably be back to my looking at department store dresses online, which would be more expensive and not necessarily guarantee a flattering dress.
Morgan had to listen to me wailing, tipsy, at 3 am, about how it was all a disaster and we were never going to find a dress that everyone would like, and…
Well let’s just say its speaks more to his character than to mine that he is still willing to marry me.
So. The picture she sent me turned out to be this dress:
My initial reaction was, “Wow. Simple, summery, elegant, thai silk, wrap dress. Brilliant. Just brilliant. This is like a shorter version of the dress I’ve been drooling over (but can’t afford) for my wedding dress.”
and then, “Now I wish I got to wear a bridesmaid dress so I could get one of my own.”
And then, “Oh CRAP. What if the girls don’t like it?!?!”
I sent it out with an urgent message for people to give me a thumbs up or a thumbs down. Holly and Briana both like this dress MUCH better. Phew. Holly said “YAY! Halter!” and Briana said, “Yay! Thai silk!”
So, then I got to thinking (and this is where its a good thing that Morgan never reads this blog because I’m about to ask you to keep a secret):
Why can’t I just have them make me a longer version of that dress in white with a peacock blue sash to match the girls’ dresses? It will be much cheaper than the dress I keep mooning over in the window at Lena Medeyoff’s on 23rd. And the dress is SO similar… with a few additional details that I think will make it even easier to wear and more figure flattering.
Still. Its a huge leap of faith. I mean, buy a dress sight unseen that will be made on a continent 18 hours away and shipped to me? Am I NUTS?
But. Then this little voice whispered in my ear, “That’s what getting married is. Its a leap of faith. Go for it.”
So. I decided to do it. But it meant that I had to get measured RIGHT AWAY. Fortunately, I work in a theater. So I popped down a flight of stairs to the costume shop where the Paula and Fuschia were able to slip me into a dressing room, take incredibly detailed measurements on this little chart they have, and get it all done in about 5 minutes.
Emailed it off to Kira and felt a huge weight lift. Considering that I have been looking at and thinking about wedding dresses for a year or more, it feels strange to have it be all decided and done. But good too. Like, I can’t back out now.
So. SHHHH. Don’t tell Morgan that Kira’s getting my dress made. It will be out little secret okay? I have no idea what I’ll tell him.
update: Oh DARN IT ALL. She just checked her calendar and she’s out of town that weekend. WAHHHHHH. But just cause she can’t do my wedding doesn’t mean she can’t do yours! Read on.
I just had a fantastic meeting with my friend Katy Sanford that started out as her doing me a favor about some work stuff and turned into a wonderful way we are going to help each other out, wedding wise.
Who’s Katy? Well, she used to be a member of this really fun local girl band called the Jolenes. That’s her below (the hot redhead):
Katy’s other job (besides being groovalicious) was to book events in this space called Beast House. Holly introduced me to her when Katy needed someone to organize a poetry open mic. Over the course of our time together we did that open mic, a playwright slam and a fingerpainting party. It was all creative, community based stuff (and hugely creatively fulfilling to organize).
I have a finger painting from one of those events hanging on my board above my desk.
Katy has just about the best sense of style ever- a combo of rocker edge and sultry Bridget Bardot glamour. She got married last year and did this very seventies “Love Boat” themed rocker wedding…very crafty (they made a bunch of paper poppies to decorate the boat they got married on), very stylish, very much something to aspire to.
We caught up with each other recently because I need somebody with good bar connections to help me get posters for Storm Large’s show into clubs around town. I found out that she’s not doing the band anymore, the Beast House space is no more and she’s feeling pretty uninspired creatively at the moment.
So we were talking, and it turns out that recently she’s been trying to get more work in her other area of expertise, namely makeup for photo shoots, weddings etc. Her work ranges from super arty/glam to rocker to super subtle, and she has a kit stocked with every product known to man. So I told her, “Hey Katy. You’ve given me so much great work, how about I throw you some work your way?”
So now she’s going to be our “stylist” for the wedding and take care of gilding all our lovely lady lilies…generally making all our brides women look absolutely gorgeous. Maybe like this:
…or, you know, maybe not quite so over the top. But you get the idea.
As we kept talking, Katy mentioned that she’d been thinking of creating a side business in planning “rock n’ roll” weddings for people. Which would be perfect for her. Her job sends her in and out of rock venues all the time, she’s got a lot of event planning experience, knows tons of bands, is really familiar with a lot of non-traditional venues, plus she’s got relationships with a really good cross section of local indie designers – the kind of people you’d love to use but you have no idea where to find them – from Elizabeth Dye at the English Department, to screen printers, djs, accessories makers and etc.
And think about it: wouldn’t you rather work with a wedding planner who looks like this:
than like this?
So, if you know someone who’s engaged right now and looking for some help with rocker/pirate/glam wedding makeup, or wants to put together a whole rock n’ roll wedding (and just doesn’t know where to start), have them drop a line to xoxokaty@hotmail.com. She’s got the hook up.
And I can’t wait to see what gorgeous plan she’ll create for the girls to look their best.
After in depth conversations with all involved, trying to balance the advantages of custom with the cost effiiciencies of department store stuff, here’s the new plan (and I apologize for any of you reading this who are completely disinterested in the fine detail of fitting 6 very different women into the one workable dress… there will be more fun posts about music and food later, I swear).
Anyway, everyone likes a dress that basicly looks like this:
Wrap top, sash belt, knee length, a-line, with a chiffon overlay and a silky underlayer that peeks through. My sister would prefer an empire waist, which is totally doable and may work better for Holly and Nina too.
And, if we can get our act together fast enough, the really wonderful news is that Kira can potentially get this dress custom made for us in Vietnam for a very very reasonable price (like, under $100).
Which would be totally and completely awesome, since it would accomodate my general preference for something custom and handmade over department store while still keeping the price down to reasonable levels in these crazy economic times.
Yes, I’m outsourcing. But to a very nice little Vietnamese lady (gentleman? Kira didn’t specify) who will be utterly delighted to do the work. And at the price we’ll pay, if it genuinely doesn’t end up being one of those dresses that people can “definitely wear again,” it won’t matter as much.
The caveat: Kira won’t be staying in the town too much longer so we’ll have to really get a move on getting everyone measured if we want this plan to work out.
Keep your fingers and toes crossed that it does. Its 8 am over there now, and I’m sure that Kira is just waking up to an incredibly long, TMI email from me right now (sorry Kira!).
Here’s to hoping it all comes together!
The price is good, its more stylish, its anthropologie so you know it will be good quality, and its drapey which equals flattering. Thoughts?
