US meets UK

Hey hive!

Just buzzing by to try out the randomizer series! When I look at our photos I’m struck by how much has changed, and how much has stayed the same. For starters, I’ve been rocking blonde hair for over a year now…it’s strange to see myself as a redhead! We’re still lucky to be surrounded by our wonderful friends and family, even if we’re further down I-95 and living in Capitol Hill instead of Baltimore now.

I don’t know if I ever mentioned just HOW many photos there are of Mr.D and I making out kissing. So many, that when my dad wanted to look at the photos in a slideshow I almost died of embarrassment. Word to  the wise, save the kissing for your post-reception festivities. So it’s inappropriate that the first photo is…kissing.

In all fairness—our photographer told us to kiss for this shot…

(more…)

Mr. D and I did not do a first look. Instead I wanted the suspense to build all day until I walked down the aisle. This caused a more hectic schedule than was necessary (not helped by my late arrival to the venue). We had to shoot the guys and the girls separately and we ran out of time to get the entire bridal party together. Mr.D and I missed cocktail hour to take portraits. I hid from what I thought was Mr.D – which turned out to be the groomsmen doing a run through at the ceremony site.

(source: Evan Bishop)

Lamesauce. I wish I had done a first look. In fact, it ranks relatively high on my “minor regrets about the wedding” list. Because really, I loved marrying Mr.D so much that very few things could have ruined the day, so I chalk them up to minor regrets and ignore them.

I think this video is the perfect highlight of why I would have loved to do a first look. It occurs around the 2:50-3:00 mark.

Meredith and Tommy from Monachetti on Vimeo. (More of this wedding can be seen @ KristenMarie)

Look how happy and sweet they are! Plus, despite the presence of the videographer and a photographer – it appears pretty intimate. They are so giddy and happy, they make me want to send them a box full of cotton candy and lollipops. They look relaxed and it seems like a great way to take a pause with the one you love before the day/night gets underway.

Are you doing a first look, or waiting till you say “I do ” to see each other? Why or why not?

Between moving to DC, and Mr.D being in England – I really dropped the ball on setting up a portrait session during cherry blossom season. I had also hoped that my dear friend of Jenna Cole Photography would be able to do the shoot, but alas she was busy… birthing a baby!

So I held off and considered 2011, but that puts us almost a year and half after our wedding! The vast majority of our portraits involve us kissing or about to kiss… what can I say, we were really happy to be married!

My thought process was that I’d swing by Whole Foods, make a decently looking bouquet that only needed to last a few hours at most. Then we’d take photos a bit like these (except, in a wedding dress) and Mr.D and I not kissing!

(via my darling new neighbor and Leo Patrone)

or

(egomedia)

or

(Jay Premack)

Huzzah!

But then… well. I saw these… from our photographer! Mr.D and I will be in San Diego in August – maybe we do a shoot like this instead!

(via BridePop)

I guess we could do both, but I know that I will be incapable of NOT trashing my dress. I’ll be all “you know what would be awesome? Me cliff diving in my dress… weeee!” Right. Like I won’t end up 10 kinds of dirty when we finish.

What would you do?

Oh. Wow. How do current brides attend shows like these? I would die of inspiration overload. The St. Pucchi show was bursting at the seams with romance and drama. Are you inspired by Marie Antoinette? Get thee to St. Pucchi and try a few of their beautiful ball gowns (especially #9368!). While Mrs. Star and I sipped mimosas, and sneaked peaks at the likes of Darcy Miller and Carley Roney, gorgeous dresses paraded in front of our eyes.

While you can be sure to expect intensely gorgeous, “wow” dresses from St.Pucchi, these dresses took it to a whole new level. Repeating themes we noticed were embroidered ribbon detailing:

Credit:Patrick Ryan Photography

Corsets (many with sheer panels)

Credit:Patrick Ryan Photography

and serious drop waists with lingerie inspiration.

Our only concern with a few of these beautiful dresses was the practicality factor. I wondered about several of the drop waist-ed gowns, how would they fit a woman above a size 4? or 6? How would they fit a woman with any discernible “pouch” ? For heavily beaded dresses, how buff will you have to be to hold the dress up for several hours? As for the sheer panels in the corset, I’m not sure if my grandmother’s voice is the one inflicting that prejudiced, because I just can’t imagine strolling into a church wearing sheer paneling!

In the sheer panel’s defense, I met several lovely gay men in line for the bus back to DC who vehemently disagreed with me. They felt that the sheer paneling was simply fairytale-esque, especially when combined with beaded detail.

Are you in the pro-sheer panel crowd?

ps. I’ll be updating this post later tonight when I can upload a few personal pics from the show.

After our sleepover Mrs. Avocado graciously offered to wake up early go with me to get my manicure. I’m dangerous with my nails, which is why I waited till the morning of the wedding to have them done. I was starving and I desperately wanted a Bagel Bin Bagel and thank goodness for Avo, because otherwise I would have skipped breakfast saying I needed something healthy and there wasn’t enough time to make it. Avocado said it was okay to have a bagel, and so I did. So between the carb flood and the manicure I was beginning to calm down ever so slightly.

Why was I so on edge? I was already hyped from the night before, and on top of that the weather report called for rain. RAIN. I was in panic mode. In fact, I couldn’t stop getting upset about the weather. My reaction to stress is to cry and on your wedding day, it’s just a really bad idea to cry so much. I also felt sick.  Tears and nausea are not the best way to start the best day of your life.

All the guys met up with Mr.D to play 9 holes the morning of the wedding. The ladies? We all met at my mother’s house to hang out and be beautified by Mindy (hair) and Lori (make up). We ordered lunch, prayed for sunny skies, and BM Rachel and I rain out to get a larger pot for the cactus. Jenna woke up (she took a nap ’cause she’s preggggers!) after the British ladies had headed back to their hotel to finish getting ready. It was so nice to have all the women from both sides of the family there to get ready together. Enough talk though, here are some photos!

Mindy worked on my hair

Before the veil went on.

My make up is alllllmost finished

Hey Jenna! I seeee youuuuu

OZ MOH Beth

BM Rachel

and MD-MOH MB and my sister BM Regan

(All photos in this post from Jenna Cole/That Wife/Avocado)

Who will you have with you when you get ready?

Well, there would be so many wedding related things I would change.  I was scoping out a wb reader’s blog and she posted about this beauty.  I would have definitely gotten a matching pair of these rings from metalsmitten for our wedding bands!

(source)

Maybe I’ll still get one and wear it as a right hand ring, or a pendant.  Either way, I’m in <3

Where did you find your wedding bands?

to encourage you with what could be a new years resolution! Do you remember this post? Probably not – but it made a huge difference in my life!

This is what i looked like when I began training with Robert. In fact, that’s a week or two in, so imagine me larger than that. In fact, imagine me 20-30 pounds heavier like I was in England – but I’m not showing that picture.

Then, after two months of 3x weekly sweat sessions with Robert and my cousin Rachel, plus a pretty clean, mostly vegetarian diet (okay, I admit it, it wasn’t that clean- I stress ate way too often), and extra running/jillian michaels sessions I came to look like this:

(Evan Bishop)

In case you’re  a numbers person that  looks a bit like this:

7/2/09                                                                      8/27/09

157 lbs                                                                147 lbs

Chest 36″                                                             Chest 35.5″

Upper Arm 13″                                                     Upper Arm 12″ (an inch)

Stomach 36.25″                                                    Stomach 30″ (minus 6.25 inches!)

Hips 42.39″                                                          Hips 39″ (minus 3.39 inches)

Thigh 21.50″                                                        Thigh 18.5″ (minus 3 inches)

some of my caliper measurements

7/2/09                                                                       8/3/09

(I was running a tight schedule the day before the wedding and ran out of time to do them on 8/27)

Upper Back 30mm                                               Upper Back 25mm

Above the hip 26mm                                           Above the hip 23mm

Bicep 16mm                                                         Bicep 13mm

Tricep 29mm                                                        Tricep 25mm

Finding a personal trainer was one of the best things I did for the wedding. In fact, I’d say it was the best.  I had gained A LOT of weight in the past few years and didn’t really feel like myself.  Working out with Robert and my cousin Rachel allowed me to win back my strength and that was such an amazing mental and physical gift that I can’t imagine not having on my wedding day.  I literally cried on my last day because I was so thankful for the experience.

I’m sure I could have worked harder, and my result would have been even more impressive.  But I did what I could at the time within the time frame and I’m pleased enough with the result.  I *may* have backslide a bit and gained a few newlywed/newly-tied-to-a-desk pounds but I’ll be starting with Robert once a week to keep me accountable to my personal goals. I’ll let you know how my war with the newlywed weight proceeds.

So, if fitness is a new years resolution for you, I can’t recommend finding a personal trainer fast enough.  Find one you really enjoy spending time with, one that will make you laugh, but also push you till you cry (sometimes).

Is improving your fitness a resolution of yours?

It may take a village to raise a child, but I’m pretty sure it took a village to make our wedding happen. The assistance and donations of dear friends warms my heart to this day.

The Gift of Joy: Mrs. Tulip kindly sent me a package of hankies from her wedding, along with a very sweet card.  I used these as she did, displaying them at the ceremony for people to take.  There were so many I was able to select the blue/purple ones to fit the color scheme. I’ll include the final product in my details post.

The Gift of Beauty: Remember my hair-tastrophy? My generous friend Holly (and her husband Mike) picked up a gift card to a great salon as a wedding gift.  Which took me from Superhero to Saucy

(courtesy of Evan Bishop)

The Gift of Sight: A lovely eye doctor friend sent me a package of contacts (for free!) right before the wedding.  I had been unemployed since the December I moved to England, and hadn’t started a new job yet so I really couldn’t afford new contacts.  I can easily recall the feeling of elation when I opened the envelope.  Anyone in the hive that wears contacts, you know when you’ve worn a pair for twice as long as you’re supposed to – but then you put a fresh pair in! It’s like jumping into a pool, or skiing fresh powder, simply beyond refreshing.

The Gift of Calm: Oh gosh, who gave me this? My bridesmaids kept me calm fo sho, but my mother also surprised me with a pedicure the day before the wedding. It was so amazing to take the time out of the day, to stop running errands, to not be in my non air conditioned car in the heat of August and just relax.

The Gift of Shelter: An ultra-nice Weddingbee reader (BucknellBride) messaged me to offer her white golf umbrellas for the day.  This solved the issue oh cover from the house to the tent where dinner was held.  The umbrellas gave me great peace of mind, and she assured me that they were lucky.  Every wedding she had lent them to was rain-free!

The Gift of Giggles: Avo-freaking-cado. Mrs. Avocado and I began our friendship over gchat while I was in England.  She was at home working on her classes, and I was in England blogging.  Since we were both home during the day we now had someone to chat to. So imagine my delight when she said she could attend our wedding! She arrived at my parent’s house the night before the wedding and we stayed up way too late giggling like children.  There was even a point where my mother knocked on the door and told us it was time to go to bed.  I almost checked the clock, but Avo stopped me. She didn’t want me to end up like Chandler, with a countdown till I had to wake up.  So we decided we went to bed at 10pm, even though she arrived at my house at 9:30pm.  I have to say, not knowing what time I went to bed was one of the best decisions I made.

Did your wedding take a village, or did you have it all under control?

Do you know what today is? It’s my Weddingbee One Year Anniversary! It’s true!

On this day, 365 days ago I began to blog along with the hive.  I was engaged 5 months and had moved to England 15 days earlier.  Looking at back at my first post I couldn’t stop laughing, if only I had known! I joked about folding a million paper flowers, and cutting wine bottles, and creating place holder corks; all projects that would become miniature labors of love. Not to mention all the invitation related projects that I can’t believe I added in along the way!

Looking back from that first post I had so much to learn and share about immigration, name changes, and ultimately deciding what country we’ll reside in (still working on a few all of those). A year ago I had no idea I’d be celebrating our union without my Grandmother, or the profound effect her passing would have on me. Who could have imagined I’d “meet” such wonderful women to invite to our wedding?

I’d also like to confess that it wasn’t for lack of pro pics that I’m starting my recaps now.  Our photographer sent a disk of photos within a month. I hadn’t started because I just wasn’t ready, it’s the same reason I put off watching the Glee finale on Hulu. Once I finish, my tenure will be over, but unlike Glee our wedding won’t magically restart in April and I won’t get to keep blogging consistently with you all. I needed to savor it all just little bit longer, please consider this my apology for not being ready to recap juuuuust yet.

So, to kick off my recaps I’ll begin with a bang.  Here is my favorite photo from our wedding, it captures all the joy of our wedding in a single frame.  If I’m ever feeling low, I just glance over at the framed photo and it buoys my spirits.

Is there a photo you enjoy the most from your wedding, or was it a tough choice?

When I first imagined what my bachelorette party would be, I assumed it’d be a low-key, pajama and game night with a scavenger hunt.  But my friends had other plans, and they were brilliant!

A friend of my MD-MOH let us use her house in federal hill for the night, so anyone who wanted to sleepover could. We went to dinner around the corner and then, my OZ-MOH organized a fantastic scavenger hunt complete with props – who doesn’t love props?

She also complied scrapbooking materials and each girl made a page with personal joke references and sweet comments.  Several people were on picture duty so I’d be left with tons of photos for the scrapbook(and general remembrance). OZ-MOH also had name tags for everyone (I have a diverse group of friends who had only met at the shower) and acquired pink/purple necklaces for each so we all matched.

We hung out for a bit, scrapbooking and socializing till we were ready to go on the hunt.  This is probably my favorite photo that resulted form the scavenger hunt.  There is a bar in Fed Hill called “Mad River” and the clue was “take a photo of an angry body of water”, so the girls made angry faces by a puddle.

The losers (who were already slated to lose since they created the hunt) were my MOHs, so they rocked these ridiculous wigs.

The next morning we trudged over to Little Havanas for their brunch with endless mimosas and bloody marys.  No one was really in the mood for more alcohol though, so we mostly had a lot of water, with alot of emergen-c. Our favorite quote of the night/day came from our waiter “Are you guys okay with your pitchers of water and vitamin packets…or would you like to order actual food”?

It was a fantastic night/morning and I’m grateful I have such wonderful friends. Although it wasn’t what I expected, I had the time of my life. It was a very similar feeling to the bridal shower, in that I was overwhelmed by the heartwarming friendships I share with such amazing women.

A final word of advice, strangers are going to offer you way too many free shots, so you should practice saying “oh thank you, but I just can’t” now.

Was your bachelorette what you expected?