Rosie and Kane 09/26/2008

[RosieAngel]

Kane surprised me with a cute proposal on the sand dunes after a long day of cleaning the house for the Thanksgiving holiday. We saw this ring, a rare Padparadscha Sapphire, while I was learning about sapphires for a gem show we were supposed to be attending on Black Friday. Kane and I were both stunned by the fire and the beauty of the stone and the simple setting, but we agreed that it would be too big for me, and besides, he wanted to have a custom ring made for me, thus, the gem show.

First thing Wednesday morning, there was a knock at the door, and I thought it was strange, but Kane, who could sleep through earthquakes and alien invasions, BOLTED out of bed. "Is it your Dad?" I asked Kane.

"No," he replied. "It was the mailman. I got some DVD's from Amazon.com that I needed to sign for."

In retrospect, I can't believe I fell for that one.

All day, Kane was saying that the weather was too nice not to go outside once we were finished tidying up. As soon as the condo was acceptable and we ate a late lunch, Kane asked me if I still wanted to go out to the beach to unwind.

"The local one or someplace else?" I asked.

He insisted on the local one, but we stopped at the sand dunes across the street from our condo instead. We then walked in circles for a long time while Kane searched for the best spot to sit in. Kane is usually not that picky about where to sit, but again, I didn't notice.

While we were on the sandy cliffs overlooking the ocean, Kane hugged me from behind and told me how much he loved me, and he apologized that the last couple of years "weren't exactly fun and stress-free."

I told him that it was alright, and that I thought it was just life. Life is stressful!

"But it was easier with you there. You were the highlight of those years!" And then, out of nowhere, he pulled this ring out of his pocket and proposed!

Of course after that, he told me that he didn't get any DVDs; our relationship was based on a lie! Haha, it wasn't the first.

The Ring:
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/J325_1.jpg

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/J325_2.jpg

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/IMG_0350.jpg

[sweetvenus]

What a sweet proposal story and such a gorgeous ring!!

[RosieAngel]

My Dad is someone who loves to talk, but he doesn't do a very good job of listening, mostly because he's hard of hearing. When Dad called to tell me when he'd be arriving for Thanksgiving, he told me all about his brother's kitchen remodel, his brother's wife's amazing mashed potatoes, and how awful the weather in the Bay Area was. I couldn't get a word in edgewise in.

Dad:BLAH BLAH BLAH KITCHEN BL--
Me: Hey Dad?
Dad: --AH BLAH BLAH GAS STOVE BLAH--
Me: Hey Dad, I have some news for you.
Dad: BLAH BLAH OVEN IS GREAT--
Me: DAD! WILL YOU LISTEN TO ME?
Dad: AND SHE MADE THESE GREAT MASHED POTATOES. BLAH
Me: *sigh* Mashed potatoes, huh?
Dad: YEAH, WITH BUTTERMILK! WILL YOU PUT BUTTERMILK IN YOUR MASHED POTATOES?
Me: Nope, but I'm using baby reds, they're naturally creamier than the russets that Auntie uses. Oh, and Kane--
Dad: YOU SHOULD USE BUTTERMILK LIKE AUNTIE.
Me: --proposed...
Dad: BLAH BLAH BUTTERMILK.

When Dad arrived for Thanksgiving, he looked at the ring, he got all upset that I didn't tell him about the proposal. "I tried to, Dad, but you didn't let me get a word in edgewise!"

The other announcements went a lot more smoothly, but the general reaction was "About freaking time." We had been living together for four years and were already registered domestic partners in the state of California. I'm a little disappointed that the only people who were really excited were a couple of friends, but it's all good.

---

I don't have any siblings or close female cousins (my family seemed to be blessed with an overabundance of male children), so I chose my three best friends - my best childhood friend, my best art school friend (who introduced Kane and I) and my best California friend and the only one who has any planning skills whatsoever - to be my BMs. Because my California friend is the obsessive one out of my girls and she's brutally honest ("That dress makes you look pregnant"), she was the only one I felt I could trust to be my MOH.

I figured that Kane could choose three male friends to be in the wedding, but he told me that he can only think of two and started to panic. I told him to calm down, what's wrong with having an uneven wedding party? The best man could walk my MOH down the isle, and the GM could walk with a BM on each arm. Good times, good times.

[WBandMe]

Aww, what a great story! It sounds like you live in a beautiful place.

[RosieAngel]

Thanks! Oh yeah! I forgot to say that we live right on the ocean, practically!

I never took any photos of the view, specifically, but here's one of my cat that includes the view from my living room:

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/lifesapitch01.jpg

[mandaj10]

Wow! Very gorgeous and unique ring, beautiful engagement story, and absolutely wonderful view of the ocean! And your Dad on the phone- hilarious! I know that that will be my mom when David and I are finally engaged- talking about her dog or the weather or my sister, and I won't be able to tell her the news, lol. Congratulations!

[RosieAngel]

Okay, so I totally thought I knew what kind of wedding dress I wanted. I knew I wanted something from the David's down the road from my house, since the people there are really nice and they helped my friend pick out a wedding dress for a stage costume as if she was a real bride! Awesome people there. My dream dress, like my friend's costume, was simple and smooth, without a whole lot of beading.

Something like these:
http://davidsbridal.com/bridal_gowns_detail.jsp?stid=2340&prodgroup=127
http://davidsbridal.com/bridal_gowns_detail.jsp?stid=1242&prodgroup=127

Kane, however, wanted me to have something fancy fancy fancy. I told him to pick out a dress for me to try on. He chose this one:
http://davidsbridal.com/bridal_gowns_detail.jsp?stid=2827&prodgroup=127

I took my brutally honest maid of honor with me to try these on.

The first one we tried on was Kane's choice.

"AHAHA! You look two feet tall in that!" She pointed and laughed. I am, for those not in the know, 4'10" tall. I am beyond petite.

My choices weren't much better. They both looked like they were eating me. I wasn't quite sure what to choose. My bridal consultant, a short, round Latina with the cutest accent, suggested I try a mermaid shape gown. The first one I tried on was this one:
http://davidsbridal.com/bridal_gowns_detail.jsp?stid=2999&prodgroup=127
I liked the shape, but the beading was too much. So she gave me another:
http://davidsbridal.com/bridal_gowns_detail.jsp?stid=3344&prodgroup=127

I looked pretty awesome in it. My body, which I'd normally describe as "tanklike," since I'm not overweight but I am pretty curvy and I have a thick waist, looked hourglassy and sexy. But I didn't want to look sexy on my wedding day! I wanted to look soft and innocent! Like an angel!

Still, I had a lot of fun in this dress. I wobbled around, trying to walk in it and tripped all over myself, made jokes about being drunk, slouched back in a chair and pretended to drink a few beers... we were laughing and having a good time. I was quietly resigning myself to being a sexy bride. It wasn't like I was a virgin anymore. And how many other brides could pull off that shape?

While I was checking myself out in the sexy bride dress for the umpteenth time, my MOH arrived with a dress. It was a plus-sized dress, with little pink flowers on it. "She wears stuff like this all the time." MOH explained. "I bet she would look good in it. Do you have this in standard sizes?"

I put it on, and it was simply THE DRESS.

http://davidsbridal.com/bridal_gowns_detail.jsp?stid=2294&prodgroup=127

It was really flattering. My skin seemed to glow in it. And it looked like it could be dressed up or down, depending on the venue. Thanks, my lovely MOH!

[sweetvenus]

That's a really beautiful dress! It's both simple and fancy. :D

My FH pointed out that same dress that yours did. I tried it on, but wasn't too fond of it either.

[FFC]

I love your dress!!!

[RosieAngel]

SweetVenus: I think it's a hubby thing, liking that particular dress. :P

FFC: Thanks! :)

[RosieAngel]

So, my dress ended up looking nothing like the one I had envisioned. But once I got the dress, the accessories came easy! First off, I had tried on a bunch of overpriced veils at David's, so I knew that I wanted a pencil edge, fingertip-length, single tier veil. I'm not sure if I can find pictures, since I didn't buy it online, but it's a simple veil, not too much pouf or crazy stuff to draw attention away from my face.

Next, I picked out a tiara from a highly recommended site from my friends, http://www.princessbridetiaras.com/. I also recommend them. They will help you pick out your most flattering tiara if you send pics of yourself to them!

My Tiara:
http://www.princessbridetiaras.com/newsite/pbt_products/NoN011.shtml

I'm all about the pearls. Although my favorites are white Akoya pearls, I never actually owned any. FH has given me many pearls over the years, most were freshwater. Seven freshwater heart-shaped coin pearls on a silver chain, lavender baguette freshwater pearls with silver hippie beads, and a gorgeous black Tahitian pearl pendant, 9mm. None went with my dress.

So, time to go pearl shopping!

Since I never bought precious jewelry for myself before, I had plans to buy myself an Akoya pearl necklace. And then I saw the price tag. :purplex: Kane suggested that I look online to try to find better prices, and admonished me to buy only AAA-grade pearls from a retailer with a good return policy. So I did.

http://www.premiumpearl.com/akoya-pearl-pendants-2050.html
http://www.premiumpearl.com/akoya-pearl-earrings-2550.html

I have no self-control, so I've worn these a lot already. They're really pretty, with an almost mirrorlike luster.

My MOH and I found silver shoes that matched the leaf embroidery on my dress on sale for $40 (50% off!) that looked a lot like this with an ankle strap:
http://shop.nordstrom.com/S/2954769/0~2376778~2372808~2376689~2377052?mediumthumbnail= Y&origin=category&searchtype=&pbo=2377052&P=6

I was sooooo glad to be done with it! Sometimes, when FH isn't home and I am, I'll play around with the veil and tiara. :D

[RosieAngel]

I was a BM 6 times. Yep, you read it right, 6. I was also a flower girl at my Uncle and Auntie's wedding. I was freaking cute. But that isn't the point of this entry.

I refuse to post pictures of myself in my hideous BM dresses, but I discovered, while browsing online for BM dresses, that the ones I hated wearing the most STILL EXIST:
http://www.alfredangelo.com/Collections/ProductDisplay.aspx?productID=0672289f-e2b9-4a5e-a57e-a9827fbea620&categoryID=bfff30be-a493-4315-880c-45a86ae342b8&pg=5
Imagine this dress in BUTTER YELLOW, and you know my pain. This dress made me feel like a fat pregnant cow... and I weighed around 95 lbs at the time! There has to be a special place in hell reserved for people who design these.

Ugh, Ugh, UGH. This looks adorable on Miss Size 0 here, making her little mosquito bites look like juicy juicy melons!
http://marysbridal.com/modernmaids/m1859.htm
Already in possession of juicy juicy melons, I was in big big trouble. This dress made me look like I had a pair of giant comets threatening to crash into the bride and blow her to bits. The bride picked out the dress based on what looked good on her size 2 MOH. Thanks for thinking of everyone else.

Anyways, I also had a poop brown dress that thankfully doesn't exist anymore, a bright green one that looked cute on the African-American MOH but made me look like I had a skin disease, another lavender dress that made me look pregnant, and a rather cute coffee and cream two piecer that I couldn't freaking get on and off without my Dad's help (EWW).

---

I have a lot of friends, and I've been to many, many weddings. I've seen miserable cookie-cutter bridesmaids with matching plastic hairstyles. I've seen happy matching bridesmaids with awesome dresses, but they were all the same body type, which my girls are not (Compare them to fruits, and I've got an apple, a pear, and a pineapple). I've also seen mismatched wedding parties who wore different dresses in a coordinating color, and even one wedding where the BM's wore whatever nice dress they found in their closets and went to the wedding like that. One wore purple, one wore green, and one wore brown, and somehow, it worked out with the orange fall flowers.

So, what to have my girls wear? I discussed it with my MOH, and she commented that black dresses flatter everyone, and we could doll them up with coordinating accessories like ribbons, organza wraps, and jewelry. So that's what I decided to do. I told everyone to buy or, in the case of MOH, who is an awesome seamstress, make the perfect black dress from anywhere, with any fabric as long as it was black.

My pineapple-shaped BM mentioned that she was a black bridesmaid at a previous wedding, so I told her she could rewear her dress. The dress is floor length and the MOH's dress will be tea-length with a fitted bodice and a super-gathered skirt, but I don't mind. Why should she spend money on another dress? The last BM is dieting so she doesn't have a dress, and I imagine she'll run to Anne Taylor last minute to grab something, because she's like that. :sweatdrop:

Anyways, MOH and I are making the girls pretty organza wraps from fabric we bought at the local Joanne's, and she is making herself a bolero out of matching pink satin.

Unknown to her, I bought everyone, including the FG's (who are a little old to be FG's, at ages 10 and 11, but they WANTED to be FG's, NOT JB's, and my little princesses will be whatever they want to be) these necklaces from Eve's Addiction:
http://www.evesaddiction.com/detail_NLP10016__299__Single_Pink_Pearl_Necklace_i n_Sterling_Silver.html

Cute, huh? :heart: I'd love to have something like this if I was a BM. :)

[Nekochanpurr]

Holy cow, i love how you write. Just to let you know, i was cracking up through your journal. :D I love the conversation with your dad.. Sounds like the one i have with my grandma a lot!! LOL
Your dress is beautiful!!

[RosieAngel]

Thanks, NekoChan! Whenever I take an English class, all of the profs. try to convince me to change my major to English. Too bad I hate writing about the classics! I just like language for communications sake and grammar.

Haha, I think everyone has at least one nutty relative like that!

[RosieAngel]

FH and I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, CA, where everything is super-expensive. Dad, in his awesomeness, offered $15K for me for my budget. WOO-HOO! I was totally rich! Or so I thought.

The first venue I tried to book at was a cute English pub near the famous Muir Woods. FH and I spent our second anniversary there, and the buffet was top-notch. Moist, delicious meat, yummy veggies, mashed potatoes to die for. And, since FH is VERY English (He's 1st generation American, his mother has a fabulous accent) and I've always been a bit of an Anglophile, we thought it would be fun to have a super-English wedding. How expensive could a pub be? AHAHAHA, they wanted $10,000 for 4 hours, and no, that didn't include a dance floor, corkage, or cake cutting fees. Okay, scratch that.

The second venue we called was the fabulous Cliffhouse Restaurant in San Francisco. If you have the time and the money while visiting San Francisco, I highly recommend going there. We ate there at a discount because his extended family is in the restaurant business. The only thing more spectacular than the amazing, panoramic ocean view there is the amazingly presented gourmet food. Unlike most places, which jack up their prices for weddings, the Cliffhouse could feed everyone a three-course gourmet meal for around $47 a head. Woo-hoo! But, ever the nonconformist, FH whined that prime rib and salmon were boring, and not at all what he wanted for his wedding. He whined that he wanted the pub. I told him that, if he could help pay for everything else in the wedding, my money could just about cover the pub.

Well, FH felt that, while the rings, which would last a lifetime, were a worthy investment, a wedding ceremony and a one-day party weren't worth any of his money. So I told him that if he wasn't going to contribute, we couldn't afford to get married at the pub. Since he really didn't like the Cliffhouse, we then nixed that.

The next venue he came up with was Stinson Beach Community Center. It's GORGEOUS, but the road there is so winding that even my MOH, who never gets motion sickness, was puking her guts out on the way there. I was a mess by the time we reached there. "Honey, do you really want our first kiss as a married couple to taste like vomit?" Uhm, how about no. Great, now we were essentially reduced to nothing in our price range.

So, we couldn't afford to get married in our area. Soon we were discussing my hometown, despite the fact that the weather sucks 10 months out of the year, all of my friends from there had moved away, and the only family member who still lived there was my Dad. We went through the same drill with his mother's place. Life officially sucked.

Then one day, he looked up some popular destination wedding locations. He had fallen in love with Catalina Island. As long as our wedding was kept small, as in 30 guests small, we could afford to go there. He had called a few venues there, and the ideal one was in the Catalina Island Visitor's Country Club. I called a few event coordinators, and really liked one named Cathy. She kind of reminded me of my Grandma, and she really knew the area well. She told me that we could get super discounts if we had our wedding in September or November through February and don't have our wedding on a Saturday. Well, FH and I are really big into flowers, so we chose a Friday night in late September.

We paid our deposits for the Country Club and Cathy, made our super-easy guest list in about 30 minutes (including my immediate family members, his immediate family members, the bridal party and their families, and a few very special friends of ours), and made our Save the Dates with hotel info.

The hardest part was over - or so we thought!

[RosieAngel]

So, FMIL, who loves me, excitedly told her family in England that we were engaged. Immediately, calls started coming in, asking if we had sent a date and when they could be expecting invites. We told them that the wedding would be very, very small - well, of course they understood that THEY would be invited, since THEY were family (and they're from the rich side so a trip to America to see their precious nephew/cousin get married was no biggie for them)! So, we worked them into the guest list.

FMIL immediately flipped out, demanding that we uninvite them or cancel the wedding altogether and elope. "Don't you realize that Uncle _____ is a multi-millionaire?! He got married a few years ago in a French chateau, every guest had a luxurious gift basket with fresh fruits, imported cheeses and champagne! They will be disappointed!" After a long discussion ending with her wailing about how she couldn't possibly bless our union if we caused her such embarrassment, and besides, couldn't we postpone the wedding to 2009 when her nasty divorce #3 was over, I wrote a perky little letter to the family introducing myself and telling them exactly what to expect - a carefree, casual, fun wedding with good eats and good times to be had, a casual picnic on the beach afterwards, and, as an added bonus, the best man's mom throwing us an American-style blue-collar keggar after that (her awesome idea).

FMIL was horrified that first of all, the Best Man's mom would throw such an undignified party without consulting us first, and second, that FH and I didn't change the date, elope, and/or uninvite all of her family like she suggested. She was also upset that we had the nerve to tell them that we were on a different socioeconomic level from them. Well, if they had a problem, they didn't have to come. I have a 200-person B-list. Trust me, filling seats will not be difficult. Besides, FMIL seemed to be the only one who cared.

Speaking of guests not coming, my uncles and aunts called to tell me that the idea of a destination wedding was stupid and they couldn't afford to take time off work and go. Although I was disappointed in their response, it was understandable. So I offered to throw them a little house party at my place a month or two after the wedding. I'd cook them a tasty dinner, show them around the condo, let them ogle my wedding pics, and change into my wedding dress to twirl around the living room afterwards. Unsurprisingly, they liked that idea. Whew, at least they're easy to please!

[EarlyBird]

the never ending drama of trying to please EVERYONE continues :) sucks doesnt it? Im going through that right now :)

I love evrything in your journal. so glad you started one! cant wait to read more. Any pictures of the venue?!

[RosieAngel]

Ugh, sorry you're in the same boat! It's such a pain.

I forgot to post my venue, silly me!

http://www.visitcatalinaisland.com/photoGalleries/countryClub/

We won't have full run of the whole place, but we will be getting married on the outdoor terrace, have cocktail hour in the bar, and move into the formal dining room for the reception. :)

[sweetvenus]

Very pretty! I love the fireplace!

[RosieAngel]

FYI: My colors are pink, black, and white. Pink is my favorite color and is the easiest way to make sure none of the colors clash without micromanaging everyone, since all shades of pink look great together!

My ring bearer pillow (Ivory was the only one pictured, but I got white):
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/pillow1.jpg

My garter (something blue)
http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/advantagebridal_1993_37826056

My "guestbook" (I'm "borrowing" Diamend's lovely idea for everyone to sign river rocks and stick them in a vase as she suggested here: http://forums.onewed.com/showthread.php?t=14769&page=3)
http://www.personalizationmall.com/cat_image/8311-XL.jpg
http://www.michaels.com/online/images/product/large/fl0057d1.jpg

[RosieAngel]

Thanks, sweetvenus! I love the fireplace, too! I'll totally be hanging out there when I'm sick of dancing and the night chill starts to set in. It was part of the contract I signed that the venue was not to blame if I ignited my dress, though! :sweatdrop:

[RosieAngel]

On April 19th, we're going to meet up with our vendors to book things. Cathy suggested we collect inspiration pics to show what we want.

My favorite flowers are gerbera daisies, and I would like the bouquets to feature them. I especially like them paired with roses, like these:
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/5-28-06BridalBouquet.jpg
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/pinkbouquet.jpg
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/large_image-4.jpg

They are also lovely when paired with hydrangea, like this (though I will definitely want different colors):
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/hydrangeagerbera-1.jpg

[RosieAngel]

We couldn't find any in the colors we were looking for, but FH and I both preferred the idea to small, unobtrusive centerpieces, especially in low, round-shaped bowls (FH hates anything angular for some reason), perhaps with floating candles.

Examples:
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/gerberafloatwithcandle.jpg

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/Gerbera.jpg

As far as a cake goes, something white with pink piping will be just the thing! Like this:
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/large_image-8.jpg

I'm not digging the cake topper here. I'm not sure what to do about a cake topper, since FH can't stand those little bride and groom figurines, especially since, in his words: "All of the brides look like my mother." Maybe a monogram topper or cake flowers?

[RosieAngel]

Two of my BMs have favorite flowers. One loves carnations, another loves roses. The third's idea of romance is still in the schoolyard phase of kicking her romantic interest in the balls and pulling his hair, so unsurprisingly, she said "Why would I have a favorite flower?" I see her with a pink hydrangea ball bouquet, since it's full and not fussy.

Think the florist would make three unique bouquets in similar colors featuring each BM's favorite flower?

I want to get the FGs matching pomanders. I think they're a little old for flower girl baskets, and besides, they can have fun clobbering the naughty ring bearer with their pomanders after the ceremony. In turn, he can beat the snot out of them with the ring bearer pillow. Everyone wins!

[august8bride]

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/5-28-06BridalBouquet.jpg

I have this same inspiration pic in my journal. I love how the gerber daisies and roses look together its quite bueatiful.

[RosieAngel]

Hee, we're bouquet twins! :D It's nice to see others with such great taste!

[Brad's Bride in 08]

I LOVE your inspiration flowers!!!!

[Diamend]

I hadn't read your journal before!!! Everything sounds great!! I want to see you in that dress when you get pics!! And I love that you are going with the river rocks idea!!! You'll definitely love it!

[RosieAngel]

Brad's Bride - Thanks!

Diamend - It was a great idea! Thank you for sharing it with me in my guestbook thread! FH and I went over all of the suggestions in the thread, which I loved all of, since I'm like that, and he pointed to your idea and said he liked it best!

[FFC]

I LOVE THIS!!!! Talk about contrast! That's fantastic!

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/hydrangeagerbera-1.jpg

[RosieAngel]

FFC - Thanks! It really stood out to me while browsing theknot.com's galleries. :)

[RosieAngel]

Kane and I have been looking at invites for awhile. I think, surprisingly enough, that this has been the most difficult part of wedding planning. We've been to stationers who try to get us to spend way too much, and to sites that didn't necessarily have what we are looking for. I think part of it is that our pink, black, and white color scheme looks really formal on invites, and we're having a laid-back, casual wedding. Kane also has these preconceived notions of what a wedding invite must look like, and they're all super-formal, the sort of thing that would be awesome for a black-tie affair.

After looking at a bagillion different sites, we decided that weddingpaperdivas.com had the nicest selection. Kane and I each picked out ten designs that we liked, and then we discussed them. These were the two that overlapped:

http://www.weddingpaperdivas.com/products/ProductView_128.htm?c=4

http://www.weddingpaperdivas.com/products/ProductView_758.htm?c=3

One design is in our colors, but might be a little too formal. The other captures the mood of our wedding, but isn't in our colors. Decisions, decisions...

Once we take our trip to the island to meet up with the event coordinator and book all of our vendors, we will have another discussion of pros and cons and choose between these two.

I know that it must sound silly that Kane and I are discussing the fine details of wedding invites, but Kane is the sort of person who has an opinion about everything. I think it's because his sweet and stylish but indecisive mother raised him to competently help her pick out which shoes and purses to wear with her outfits.

I'm the opposite of FMIL when it comes to shoes... I own one pair of black shoes, one pair of brown shoes, a pair of black boots, a pair of brown boots, a pair of white snakers for the gym, and a pair of black Chinese Mary Jane flats for dress up. I own a black purse and a brown purse, to match my shoes. Though sometimes I need help picking out jewelry... I'm pretty inept at accessorizing.

[sweetvenus]

Rosie - On the weddingpaperdivas.com website, I noticed this:
"If you are searching for a specific color to match the colors of your event, we can match most colors for an additional $15 charge. If you would like to customize your invitation with one of our most-requested custom colors, please place an order for the Custom Color Options Card (http://www.weddingpaperdivas.com/custom-color-options-card.php). Please do not select a color by viewing the card on your computer monitor or printed on a non-commercial printer."

So if you don't mind paying an extra $15, I think you should be able to get the second one in any of those color options in that link.

[RosieAngel]

Haha, of course, I didn't notice that! I swear, I have the attention span of a gnat sometimes. Thanks so much for pointing that out!

[mindi_lynn]

One design is in our colors, but might be a little too formal. The other captures the mood of our wedding, but isn't in our colors. Decisions, decisions...

I know that it must sound silly that Kane and I are discussing the fine details of wedding invites, but Kane is the sort of person who has an opinion about everything. I think it's because his sweet and stylish but indecisive mother raised him to competently help her pick out which shoes and purses to wear with her outfits.




I am not sure if there is a local printer that you can go to but you could try and get a sample of the invite that you like (even if they don't have your color scheme) and see what they can do for you. We did this and it ended up being cheaper than ordering them from the website we found the sample.

Picking out the invites was probably the hardest thing for us also. That is one thing FH had an opinion about. We finally got everything decided on and printed in a little less than a month. I love the way they turned out and we have gotten so many compliments on them from our guests. (they are in my journal).

[RosieAngel]

Most of the pictures I have of Kane and I are cosplay ones. But we can never be an in-character couple, because he's a man who looks like he's in his late 20's/early 30's, and most people think I'm jailbait or something. When I start looking older, I would like to make us Miz and Fujisawa costumes from an older anime called El Hazard. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. It's one of my favorite all-time shounen series.

Anyways!

Rei and Gendou from Neon Genesis Evangelion!
http://www.cosspace.com/file/pic/gallery/36352.jpg
http://www.cosspace.com/file/pic/gallery/36351.jpg

Lantis and Asuka from Magic Knight Rayearth!
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/askalantis-1.jpg

Clow and Sakura from Card Captor Sakura!
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/sakuraclow-1.jpg

[Nekochanpurr]

OMG, your cosplay is so cute!!! :D Your FH makes a GREAT gendo!

[RosieAngel]

I can't help but laugh at this. It turns out FH wasn't entirely satisfied with the pink and white cake designs I showed him, so he halfheartedly picked out the one in the inspiration picture as the best choice. He whined that round cakes with only two tiers looked like "hats" to him, so we'll probably have to ask for a three-tier cake, even if there aren't enough people to feed it to. Maybe we can ask for 3 narrow, tall tiers? I don't know.

Last night, though, he took matters into his own hands and scoured EVERY SINGLE PAGE of theknot.com's galleries, our One Wed galleries, and he even went to freaking brides.com (what kind of a guy goes to brides.com, LOL?) to find a cake he thought would be elegant, delicious (read: no fondant), and somewhat affordable (no complex decorations).

Here's what he came up with that we both agreed would be awesome, a chocolate coconut cake-- YUM!
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/large_image-4-1.jpg

Kane and I are also looking at cake toppers. Here are a couple of our ideas.

Some arrangement of monogram letters, just metal with no crystals:
http://www.weddingcuts.com/monogram-cake-toppers.asp#o

Kissing swan glass sculpture:
http://www.stellarglass.com/swankissingctop.JPG

We haven't been able to find much else that we both can agree on, since I think hearts and fairy tale romance/princess stuff doesn't really fit with our relationship or our wedding and Kane has a bizarre aversion to bride/groom cake toppers. Oh well.

Any opinions on what you would think would look best on the coconut cake?

[FFC]

Wow that cake is deffinitely unique and beautiful!!!

I think a topper would detract from the beauty of the cake. I'd say if you really have to have a topper I'd do something like the swans - or even a wooden looking topper that can accent the coconut (that is coconut right?)

[RosieAngel]

Oh, okay! I'm glad you think so! Maybe we won't have a topper, then. We're not that big on cake toppers to begin with and we're having a destination wedding, so the less we have to haul over to the venue via the ferry, the better!

[RosieAngel]

Eeek, this Thursday, after class, we leave for our Catalina Country Club tasting, our florist meeting, and our cake baker! We were thinking of doing a luau themed meal, since Kane is so against the traditional wedding fare of prime rib, chicken, and salmon...

I'm also starting to freak out and wonder if we shouldn't hire a ceremony musician for just the processional and recessional, like a violinist or a harpist. That might be too expensive for us, though. :/

[LoLo62808]

Let me just start off by saying everything you've picked out for your ideas/inspiration so far are truly stunning! I love the bouquets. Not to mention I love the date of the wedding you picked, my FHs birthday! heh

[RosieAngel]

So, this weekend, smack in the middle of exams, was our trip to Catalina to book... just about everything. Here are some photos FH took during our trip:

The venue:
http://web.mac.com/kanedijkman/Catalina/Catalina_Photos/Pages/Catalina_Country_Club_for_Wedding.html

The island itself:
http://web.mac.com/kanedijkman/Catalina/Catalina_Photos/Pages/Catalina_General_Shots.html

The hotel where we will be staying at for the duration of our mini-honeymoon:
http://web.mac.com/kanedijkman/Catalina/Catalina_Photos/Pages/Catalina_Portofino_Hotel.html

I look like hell in these pictures, please pay no attention to the ones that I appear in. I really am cute in real life, I swear!

---

So, basically we had one day on the very charming island to get everything done. We didn't get to enjoy the locale too much, because we were running around trying to hook up with everyone on foot!

Our ferry left at 8:50am, got us there at 10:00am, and we had an hour to explore the island and gawk at the amazing Spanish tiles and fountains near the Avalon port before going to our tasting at the country club. There, we met our wedding planner, a loud Italian lady a couple inches taller than I who instantly recognized me as a girl of partial Italian descent and gave me a hug.

The food, by the way, was AMAZING. Kane and I were too busy going YUM at everything to think about what was going to fit best with our menu and our budget! Because of this, I think that picking out our menu was the hardest part!

Here's what we decided on:

Our Buffet Menu:

Beverages:
Well Bar

Hors D'oeuvres:
Bacon Wrapped Scallops with Plum Sauce
Arugula Gorgonzola Crostini
Prosciutto Wrapped Melon
Milk Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

Elegant Fruit and Frommage Display

Salad:
Mixed Green Salad with Two Dressings
Cucumber Bay Shrimp Salad

Entrees:
Gorgonzola Crusted Filet Mignon
Mahi-Mahi with Macadamia Nut Crust and Mango Beurre Blanc

Side:
Goat Cheese and Fresh Herb Stuffed Potatoes

Vegtable:
Fresh Asparagus and Baby Carrots

For the Kids:
Chicken Strips/Fries for 3

---

After this, we had to deal with the cake baker, who our wedding planner warned us that, although she was the best cake baker on the island, this lady had a "difficult" personality. This woman wordlessly gave us her two most popular sample cakes to try, which were delicious! The first one was a white cake with strawberry champagne filling, and the other was this chocolate cake with mousse filling... Yummy!

But Kane, who is pretty picky about his cakes because he bakes us cake quite often, asked if she could make a different flavor wedding cake than these. She looked at him as if he had asked for permission to burn down the bakery. "These are the most popular cake flavors I use for my wedding cakes." She said defensively, glaring at him. "Everybody likes these flavors."

Kane mentioned that, although he could tell these were high-quality cakes made with fine ingredients, he doesn't like chocolate cake or white cake, really. After staring at Kane like he was some kind of abomination for an awkward two minutes that felt like two hours, the cake lady responded with, "Well, I guess I can make a lemon cake with raspberry filling, but I'll have to charge you extra for the fresh raspberries." Lemon cake just happens to be my favorite, and raspberry is Kane's favorite fruit, so I piped in that it was exactly what we wanted. She sighed and rolled her eyes heavenward, as if asking God what grave sin she had committed to deserve this.

She then showed pictures of cakes that she had made... All of them followed one of four basic designs... Plain with ribbon, dimple dots with seashell piping between the tiers, separate tiers with chocolate syrup drizzled over the top, and this one with these awful raised squiggles that looked like intestines to me. I thought the dimple dot one was the cutest, but I told her that I'd have to get back to her after I saw the florist. She heaved another sigh and gave me her card.

---

Next, we headed to the hair lady, who I mostly booked because my MOH has butt-length hair. My other two BM's and I are probably wasting our money at the stylist, since we all have short to shoulder-length hair, but oh well, it'll be fun.

---

We then came back to the country club to talk to a ceremony musician. We wanted a live player, but we didn't want anyone super-expensive. This little old man, who plays classical guitar, FMIL's favorite instrument, was just the ticket. Kane took a photo of his playlist, because he was so addlebrained that, although he could remember how to play pretty music, he really couldn't remember the names of half of his repertoire. Good times. We've got quite a crazy crew going on here!

---

Finally, we got to meet with our florist, a brassy lady who was convinced that she had made the exact bouquets in my inspiration pics, even though theknot.com brides in the pics were from the other side of the country. She was the first vendor besides the planner who was really nice and didn't give us any grief. Working with her was pleasant and fast.

She even showed us her beautiful cake flowers with gerbera daisies featuring the crazy cake lady's dimple dot cake. So now I can get back to the cake nazi!

---

Just as we finished with the florist, we had to run to catch our 6:45pm ferry! We grabbed chili cheese dogs from a little Coney Island type place on the way there. So much for enjoying Catalina! Oh well, we'll have to save that for the wedding, I guess.

[Nekochanpurr]

Wow, sounds like you had a mini adventure!

[Danielle9608]

I have no idea how I missed your journal before, but I just read it the whole way through. Your wedding is going to be amazing! I love all your inspiration photos, your venue is breath taking and your menu sounds delicious!

[sunflowersummer]

What a gorgeous place, it looks amazing. I can't wait to see the after pictures! Good luck on those exams!

[RosieAngel]

Apparently, gerber daisies, pink roses, and assorted greenery tied up in white satin ribbon (stems exposed, because I like the look of that better) are really cheap. We came in at $118 UNDER budget! I'm still surprised about it!

Besides the greenery, these are the flowers that will be featured:

Venice Gerbera (my bouquet, aisle decor)
http://www.thesunvalleygroup.com/thesunvalleygroup/images/ShowRoom/Gerbera/Venice.jpg

Titanic Rose (my bouquet, groom's boutonniere, mothers' corsages)
http://www.galapagosflowers.com/images-roses-ecuador/Titanic.jpg
Note: It looks a little brassy in this picture, but in real life, it's closer to the grizzly gerb in color.

Pink Grizzly Gerbera (BM/FG bouquets, cake, entry table, mini variety for GM boutonniere, mothers' corsages)
http://www.thesunvalleygroup.com/thesunvalleygroup/images/ShowRoom/Gerbera/Pink_Grizzly.jpg

For the centerpieces, Kane, who really doesn't like floral centerpieces AND DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING ABOUT IT UNTIL WE WERE AT THE FLORIST, THANKS A LOT HUN, ;) asked me if candles with some pink rose petals strewn around them would be okay instead. I said toss some in for the cake table, and we'd have a deal. I'm all for that! It saves tons of money and it makes him happy. So that's what we'll do. Now, to start looking at pictures of candle-only centerpieces...

[RosieAngel]

I have no idea how I missed your journal before, but I just read it the whole way through. Your wedding is going to be amazing! I love all your inspiration photos, your venue is breath taking and your menu sounds delicious!

Thanks! I always thought the same about yours, especially your menu. Yum! :bun:

[august8bride]

Your menu sounds delicious.

[mandaj10]

I haven't had the time to sit down and really OneWed it a lot recently, so I just sat down and caught up on all I missed! Despite the cake nazi, everything seems like it is coming together quite perfectly! It sounds like a gorgeous affair, and I LOVE your venue!

[RosieAngel]

I haven't had the time to sit down and really OneWed it a lot recently, so I just sat down and caught up on all I missed! Despite the cake nazi, everything seems like it is coming together quite perfectly! It sounds like a gorgeous affair, and I LOVE your venue!

Thanks! I've been on here pretty much whenever I have a spare moment, since I'm a onewed addict now, but I kep forgetting to check the journals section, including mine!

[RosieAngel]

OMG OMG OMG I wasn't expecting to have a honeymoon... we can hardly afford the wedding! But one of Kane's coworkers owns two timeshares in Hawaii, and she offered to let us stay there for a week at a fraction of the original cost! So we're going to the beautiful island of Kauai during my spring break, 2009!

Yeah, I know it's belated, but a lot of couples save their honeymoon for when they have the money to afford it, and our trip will begin on the 6th anniversary of the day we first met. :heart: So it works, I think!

I need to focus on the WEDDING. Looking at cute overpriced swimsuits for a trip that isn't happening until next year is not helping! But it's so much fuuuuun!!!! :jphappy:

[sweetvenus]

Yay, congrats on the honeymoon!!

[Nekochanpurr]

Thats really awesome! Yay for the cool coworker!

[RosieAngel]

I tried to grow my hair out for the wedding, but long hair really doesn't flatter me, so much so that Kane was bugging me to cut it. I don't know how this will end up working for the wedding, especially considering the floofiness of my wedding gown, but it's CUTE right now!

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/newhair3.jpg

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/newhair4.jpg

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/Photo14.jpg

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/Photo15.jpg

[RosieAngel]

Let this be a post testifying that Kane and I are caught in an eternal role-reversal. As I said previously, I was a bridesmaid and unholy number of times, and I've been to a lot more weddings than that! I come from a large family and I have a lot of friends, so whenever anyone got married, I was there! I must have been to at least... let me think now... I think 19 weddings now? Maybe it's more, but I'm pretty sure it's 19.

Here are the things I've remembered about the weddings I've :

1. The food - I always remember what food was served, and how many courses there were, and if it was a buffet or a seated dinner, and what quality the food was. This is why I made food my number 1 priority.

2. The ceremony - Kane claimed that this was not important, but I always remember whether the wedding was traditional Christian, unconventional, or some other faith or culture. I remember readings and unusual customs. I remember vows, both recited and personalized.

3. The bride - I remember her dress, how her hair was done, how her makeup was done, if she looked like a whole new person or the same...

4. The DJ - Sucky DJ's make baby angels and sweet little old ladies cry. And most of the DJ's I've seen suck. Sorry.

5. The overall mood of the guests and the couple! This determines my mood for the evening, which is why, at a recent fairytale wedding of a friend of mine and the man she found out was cheating on her a few weeks before the wedding, I was bawling my eyes out and miserable, but at another friend's wedding who was marrying a long-time boyfriend that was quite possibly the sweetest guy I ever met in my life and had NOTHING, no decorations, a borrowed dress that didn't quite fit, a supermarket cake that her brother plopped action figures on for the topper... made me absolutely overjoyed!

Things I can't remember that everyone says are oh-so-important:

1. The decor. I know how much this stuff costs, so I was trying REALLY hard to remember just one memorable centerpiece during the planning process. Nope. Nothing. I don't remember how much tulle was used, how many flowers were everywhere, and whether they were real or fake, whether there were those cool Christmas-light drapery things or not... I seriously don't know.

2. The personal flowers. I only remembered when something went horribly awry, like when my friend's cascading rose bouquet fell apart during the recessional, for example. Precious roses littered the aisle. :bbcry:

Kane, who, of course, has been to two weddings his entire life, originally wanted to spend a fortune on triple-wick beeswax candles with scattered cymbidiums everywhere, unlike my original idea of those tiny gerbera daisy arrangements. He also wanted everyone's personal flowers to feature orchids, because those are his favorite flowers. Uhm, sweetie, do you KNOW how much those cost? Yeah, bet you didn't.

I quickly vetoed the orchids on the basis of cost, but I did like the triple-wick candle idea... if we could get something less expensive than beeswax. His selection ($26 apiece - ouch!):

http://www.honeyflowfarm.com/qs30/images/fullsize/small3wicklarge.jpg

My selection, after a few days of searching ($7.50 apiece):

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/assets/product_images/380/6377414105077P.JPG

My choice were mild, vanilla-scented candles. They wouldn't clash with the food like some florals might, and they weren't overpowering like those Yankee candles.

"But beeswax smells better than any other kind of candle!" Kane protested.

I proceeded to point out that:

1. These candles are cheaper.

2. These candles are bigger, too.

3. Nobody will remember if the candles are beeswax or not.

I then suggested that we go down to Bed Bath and Beyond just to look at them. "We don't have to buy them. Let's just take a look, smell them, and see if we like them. If we don't, there's always the beeswax."

15 minutes later, we were walking out of the store with 7 vanilla-scented candles - at Kane's suggestion! He loved them!

Haha, I love it when I'm right.

I think I'll buy him beeswax candles as a gift sometime. For his birthday, which is coming up, or maybe an anniversary present.

[Danielle9608]

LOL I'm glad to hear that you got your way. BTW I love the hair cut :)

[uptowngirl]

Soooo funny about the candles! I love how so often we have these great ideas but they get instantly vetoed...until FH comes up with the same exact solution two day later! :laugh:

Your hair is super cute! I bet you could come up with some fun styles - I am picturing a cool finger wave flapper girl look - that could look so pretty on you! Something like this:

http://media.redgaloshes.com/content/005482/hero_2.jpg


ETA - Woah! Sorry that picture showed up so huge!

[RosieAngel]

LOL I'm glad to hear that you got your way. BTW I love the hair cut :)

Thanks, Danielle! :D

[RosieAngel]

So, we recently did a wedding account check... we already booked all of our costs, but we spent every penny now! :sob: :sob: :sob:

So now, I need to use my own money from my crappy campus job to get my dress fitted and bustled, our invitations made (I was planning to order them, but now we have to DIY them - time to look at the mostly unvisited DIY forum!), and our favors purchased! Maybe I can convince FH to put some money down on the favors...

Fun times. Why do these things cost so much?

[bichonlvr]

Everything looks great! I used gerbers for mine and they looked great!

I think your new hair do is cute!

[Jenna5366]

Hi! What a wonderful proposal story, and I LOVE the view you have at your house! I haven't read much in here yet (damn work!!) but I wanted to jump in and say hi! I'll read back throughout the day. :P

[Jenna5366]

Ok, I have read through the entire journal. :D Ok, so I love the idea of letting your BMs wear whatever they want to. ONE person who agrees with me, at least! I want comfortable, happy ladies standing up beside me, rather than miserable, matching ladies. :) No one seems to understand that, but that’s the way it is.

And I LOVE LOVE LOVE the venue! It is fricking gorgeous!!!

[Danielle9608]

I am sorry to hear about the money troubles. If you keep the invites and favors simple maybe you can get out of it for a couple hundred. I don't if you have a Christmas tree shop in your area but I got my favors there for 1.29 each and I am doing couple favors only so it wasn't that bad.

[Jenna5366]

I am not sure how fancy you are looking for for invites... I am not looking for anything too fancy, and am going to be using www.vistaprint.com (http://www.vistaprint.com) They always have good sales on, and when you register, they normally send you an e-coupon. I've used them for other things, and have never had an issue with them.

[RosieAngel]

bichonlvr - Thanks! :D

Danielle - Thanks so much for the favor tips! Everything except my dress for this wedding is casual, so keeping things simple should work!

Jenny - Yay, thanks for the invite advice and the compliments! I'll talk to FH about getting them made from here once things settle down.

And yeah, actually, in one of the nicest weddings I've been to, the bride told her girls that they could wear any cut, any color they wanted, with one warning - her flowers would be orange. They all looked fabulous! I'm slightly more picky than that, but it's proof that anything can work!

[RosieAngel]

Geez... we have so much food that we have to ROLL guests home, yet the country club just contacted us to tell us that we're nearly $1000 under our food and beverage minimums! Oh dear.

I asked for a dessert station and a bar upgrade to the nicest stuff possible! Hopefully, that'll cover it...

[RosieAngel]

I just scheduled my fittings with the David's near me:

1st fitting: Thursday, August 14th, 1:00
2nd fitting and pickup: Friday, September 12th - 3:30

Say what you will about David's, but mine has nice people and awesome customer service. A couple of my now-married friends recommended this particular one to me. I think I'll have a good experience there!

[RosieAngel]

A little bit of background on my Dad: He is a redneck (who also loves motorcycles), and he's not embarrassed about showing that off! I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with that, I'm just stating this as a fact. My Dad's typical attire is as follows: Plaid flannel shirt picked up at the local Bi-mart, unbuttoned just enough for his faded white Fruit of the Loom undershirt to show, Levis or Wrangler jeans, usually with holes in them, brown cowboy boots, matching leather cowboy hat, and a belt with a big metal belt buckle on it. His favorite features a pair of galloping horses. When my Indonesian international student friend met him, she squealed delightedly, chirped, "Your Dad look like cowboy!", and took pictures to send home to her family.

So, I expected a long conversation with him urging him to purchase a suit, assuming the one he bought for my Auntie's wedding eight years ago no longer fit. He lost quite a bit of weight (20 lbs!) since his quintuple bypass surgery three years ago, so I imagined he would need to go shopping.

When I called to ask him about what he planned to wear to the wedding, he said, "I have one of those fancy-schmancy name brand suits from about 20 years ago. It's gray with white things [pinstripes?] and... I dunno. Fancy. I went into this shop and told them I don't know about clothes so pick me out a really nice suit and some shoes and I'll buy it. They got me this suit, two or three shirts, socks, and shoes."

"Does it still fit?" I asked.

"Gimme a sec, I'll try it on..." Dad switched the phone to speaker. I could hear the rustling of a garment bag. "Hmm... yeah, feels good! Shirts have seen better days, though. The white one has a spaghetti stain now"

"That's great, Dad! You can buy a new shirt. I don't think it'll cost too much."

"Not from there, though... I don't want to tell you, but I think I got gypped. I don't like the shoes, I think I sent them to Goodwill. They were girly. I think they gave me women's shoes."

I seriously doubted that a formalwear store would give him women's shoes. He probably didn't like them because he's used to cowboy boots. "What was wrong with them? Did they have pointy toes or something?" I asked.

"Nah, they had stupid frou-frou on the front. I swear, they gave me women's shoes. Maybe I put them up in the attic." With a beep, he took me off speaker phone.

"Frou-frou? Like... maybe tassels?" I asked, trying to visualize the shoes.

"Yeah, those. I think they were for show. They were stupid-looking. And they came down real low to show off my socks. Why would any man want to show off his socks?"

"I don't know, Dad, but Kane says socks are important. Do you like the suit at least?"

"Yeah, people told me what a nice suit it is a lot."

"Really? What brand is it?"

"Dunno. Let me look." Dad said. There was a bit of a pause while he took the coat off. "Armani?"

My redneck Dad has an Armani suit?! And he could pronounce the name correctly?!! I couldn't believe my ears!!! "You're joking, Dad."

"Why? Is Armani famous or something?"

"Yeah, it is! Remember that Doc Hollywood movie you like so much? He wears Armani! How much did you spend on it?"

"With the shoes, it was $1,000... now, keep in mind, that was 20 years ago. I think I got gypped."

I just about fainted, haha!

[Nekochanpurr]

LOL!!!! XD omg, thats great! Your dad better wear that to EVERY formal event to get his money's worth!! Haha!

[RosieAngel]

LOL!!!! XD omg, thats great! Your dad better wear that to EVERY formal event to get his money's worth!! Haha!

Yeah, he'd better! I wonder why he didn't wear it to Auntie's wedding... maybe because he was chubby before his surgery? Well, now he has an excuse to wear it!

[Danielle9608]

OMG Rosie that story with your dad was so funny! :)

[RosieAngel]

Eeek, we're at the under 3 months mark already!

We recently met up with our photographer, Vanessa Stump, who I highly recommend if you're in the Southern California area. She's a very sweet lady who took a TON of pictures of us in Golden Gate park, to make up for the fact that she couldn't shoot us when we were in her area!

The weather was awful. It was one of those days where the fog is so thick that it mists up all over the windshield, so my hair, which I had woken up early to style, went completely berserk! Kane's hair looked weird too... we called it the wonder-mullet. XD Despite the bad hair day, I think we got some good shots out of it.

I don't think I said this earlier, but Kane's Dad, who is not a professional, took pictures of us in Sausalito, CA. There are some of those pictures at the very beginning and very end of the gallery. In Vanessa's pics, Kane and I were actually dressed up!

Kane uploaded the pictures his Dad, his Dad's GF, and Vanessa took here:

http://gallery.mac.com/kanedijkman#100025/DSC_0078&bgcolor=black

Take a look!

[RosieAngel]

Last weekend, I...


Designed invites that FH said looked tacky. He's going out to buy a proper wedding invite kit after work, hopefully.
Ate WAY too many chocolates while FH and I toured every independent chocolaterie in San Francisco. We have made our decision regarding the chocolate truffle favors, but erggh, I don't want to see another chocolate until after this wedding is over!
Ordered our w-rings. His will be a mokume gane ring, 22k yellow gold and 14k palladium white gold, in a loose woodgrain pattern. Mine is a thin, full eternity (with tiny round-cut diamonds), 18K gold ring.
Left my e-ring behind to be sized properly and appraised, since it is one full size too big. Can you believe I wear a ring size 4 1/4?! I was sure that I was a 5! I'll see my ring again in about two weeks.

[RosieAngel]

Ooops, the URL I posted earlier was wrong. Here's the right one!

http://gallery.mac.com/kanedijkman#100025&view=null&bgcolor=black&sel=0

[Nekochanpurr]

I LOVE your pics!! <3 You looked so pretty!

[mandaj10]

Your engagement pics are so cute! You can tell that you two are really in love!
And I can't believe that someone could EVER get sick of chocolate :winktongue:

[RosieAngel]

Stacy - Thanks! I thought I looked like a goof in all of them, haha!

Amanda - Thank you!
Haha, FH is saying he wants to go back to the chocolate shop we decided on and buy more chocolates to eat! :buck:

[Danielle9608]

Your engagement pictures are awesome - you can't tell from them that is was not a nice day. Sorry to hear that Kane didn't like your invites. Jon and I had a squabble over our invites too. LOL

[RosieAngel]

Your engagement pictures are awesome - you can't tell from them that is was not a nice day. Sorry to hear that Kane didn't like your invites. Jon and I had a squabble over our invites too. LOL

Haha, at least I'm not the only one with an invite divo! I'm going to try again, and if that doesn't work, he gets to design them.

[Cilantro]

Haha, at least I'm not the only one with an invite divo! I'm going to try again, and if that doesn't work, he gets to design them.
I like that idea! :laugh:

[RosieAngel]

My invites are done! I made the decision not to block out last names because our first two names are distinctive enough that anyone who sees this will know who we are, anyways. Same goes for my Dad's name.

We made this invites with one of those kits sold at Office Depot... Or was it Office Max? One of those places. They came out to costing about $1 per invite, and that included RSVP cards and stuff. We added some card stock for additional information pages and a printed out engagement photo.

http://i308.photobucket.com/albums/kk321/atelier_rosie/wedding%20stuff/onewed-invite-1.jpg

http://i308.photobucket.com/albums/kk321/atelier_rosie/wedding%20stuff/onewed-invite-2.jpg

[Danielle9608]

Aww Rosie these look soooo awesome!!! And is FH happy with them too??

[RosieAngel]

Thanks, Danielle! Yes, he is happy with this set! :D

I'm so relieved!

[RosieAngel]

So, Dad asked what he should say at the ceremony. I told him tha he should say nothing, because we're not having any readings, but he can toast at the ceremony. My Dad didn't know what a toast was, so I spent the last 15 minutes reading him the Wikipedia entry on "Toast" (honor).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toast_%28honor%29

Dad is now fantasizing about us toasting with silver flagons filled with mead. He doesn't know what mead is (I tried to tell him what it was, , but he thinks it must somehow reflect on the traditions of the toast. "There should be a keg of poison mead and discard it in front of everyone, so we know that the toast is necessary... And an antidote, just in case."

"Nothing spells 'romance' like a death at a reception." I said. :rofl:

[Danielle9608]

LOL your Dad is definitely a character :)

[RosieAngel]

Three people have complained about the black ribbon on the invites so far! I just can't win... :bbcry:

[Kirby]

Your invites look great! What is wrong with black ribbon??? I think it's elegant. I'm using black ribbon on my favors.

[Danielle9608]

Three people have complained about the black ribbon on the invites so far! I just can't win... :bbcry:

WHAT!?!? What is wrong with it? I think it looks great!

[Cilantro]

Yeah, they look fine! You do what you want to do. It's your wedding!!

[RosieAngel]

Thanks for the support, everyone! Apparently, a few guests felt that the black ribbon was inappropriate, since black is a funeral color. But it was just used as an accent, sheesh! And, as Kirby said, I think black is an elegant accent at a wedding!

As I already said on the main forum, Kane's startup went belly-up last Tuesday. I've been putting on a brave face and helping him update his resume, because, while I am not an English major, I have strong language skills, while he has more strong technological skills.

I've also been baking my own bread to save money...

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/kitchenprincess1.jpg

If you're wondering what's up with the duck, I always take pictures of my ducky measuring cups next to my baked goods. The ducks make me happy. :grinhappy:

[Danielle9608]

Will he at least be able to collect unemployment in the meantime?

[brendalin]

PEOPLE ARE CRAZY! Your invites look great!

BTW your bread looks delicious!!! Love the measuring cups! So cute!

[RosieAngel]

Will he at least be able to collect unemployment in the meantime?

I don't think he's going to. The last time he filed for unemployment, he found a job before the first check rolled in and got accused of making a fraudulent claim when he tried to explain the situation. It was a big, stressful mess.

I have the feeling he'll find work in a week or two. He already used his connections as a programmer to get four independent job leads and hook up with two excellent recruiters, who will doubtless find him many more jobs.

I just don't want to tempt fate and spend any money that isn't necessary until he's employed again, so wedding plans, besides wrapping bridal party and parent gifts, are pretty much at a standstill. But that's okay. I need to wrap those, and my usual idea of gift-giving usually involves just handing people shopping bags, haha!

PEOPLE ARE CRAZY! Your invites look great!

BTW your bread looks delicious!!! Love the measuring cups! So cute!

Thanks! :heart: I'm learning that my family and friends are a bunch of nutters the closer I get to the wedding, haha!

Glad you like the duckies, too! I saw them awhile back, and kept walking by the store over and over and over and over again, telling myself that I didn't need ceramic measuring cups when I already had two sets of normal measuring cups... When they were still there seven months later, I decided it was fate and I snagged them! :grinhappy:

[RosieAngel]

Because FFIL dad is leaving to visit his girlfriend in Switzerland, he left me to plan the 14-16 person (depending on if said girlfriend and the best man's girlfriend help herd the kidlets in the wedding party). He will be covering the tab, though. What a guy! ;)

Because there are kids involved and I really didn't want to have to worry about what to wear, I chose Antonio's Pizzaria and Cabaret: http://catalinahotspots.com/antonios_cabaret/index.asp. If FFIL complains that it's not fancy enough (which he might, because he loves to spend lots of money on gourmet food), I'll tell him that he should have taken the time to plan it himself. Because I'm told that the pizza there is excellent and the kids and I want pizza! :-P~

[RosieAngel]

Since I'm looking at bridal hairstyle pics right now, I thought I would share my hairstyle retrospective.

I had short hair most of my life. I only grew it long once, because I wanted to fit in with the other girls at my high school and attract boys instead of girls, since I love all of my lesbian friends but not in that way. ;)

Here is a rare picture of me with long hair. I was 15 in this picture. So long ago...
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/why_my_hair_is_short.jpg

I cut it to this length two weeks after this photo was taken, since I didn't like how I looked with short hair. This is one of my high school senior photos. I was 17 here.
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/seniorpic01.jpg

I had the style changed a bit while I was in art school. It required a lot of styling, but I was happy with the look! I am 19 years old here. Disclaimer: This is a friend's dorm room, not mine. I like Inuyasha, but not that much!
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/theas.jpg

[RosieAngel]

To make my pixie cuts look more feminine, I used to put clips in them. I'm in my early 20's here, but I'm not quite sure when. After a certain age, I stopped keeping track of how old I was in pics.
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/heritagepinkstripe.jpg

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/mishchieftree_sm.jpg

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/gardenprofileburgundy_sm.jpg

I miss wearing my hair like this, sometimes. Other times, I'm glad I went through the annoyance of growing it out this time. People say that hair grows back, and it's no big deal to lop it all off, and, I think if you go from a chin length bob to something longer, that's true. But going from a pixie to a bob took me to years of frustration, as it's impossible not to look like a total doofus while you're growing it out.

Growing it out: (I'm at the Best Man's mom's house, trying to see if I can help with cooking or something, only to be told to "Stand there and look cute.")
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/B69F99B9-CD0C-4EA9-BEA9-6393136AE3E.jpg

[RosieAngel]

So Now it's a bob. For awhile, it was blunt-cut. I called this the Korean schoolgirl bob, since I had a friend from Korea who arrived with this bob, grew her hair out during her year here, and had to cut her hair back into the bob when she went home. Apparently, not only do they have uniforms in Korea, but strict hairstyle requirements, too. Anyways! These are from my friend Lydia's wedding, taken with disposable cameras. Not only do they record my hairstyle, they kind of give everyone an object lesson on why disposable cameras are only a good idea if your guests have photographic talent. Everyone felt really bad when we saw how bad all of these turned out. We tried our best, really!

With the bride:
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/00830006.jpg

My "date" took this shot of me while I was laughing. I look stupid, but you can see my hair here:
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/00830004.jpg

Hugging my sexy "date":
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/00830005.jpg

---

I decided to have the bob layered as it got longer. I took this pic with my webcam:
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/Photo13.jpg

[RosieAngel]

Because I know I can't be the only bride who has short hair and doesn't want to grow it out or create the illusion of longer hair, I started collecting pictures of brides with short hair and putting them here. So far, I've collected 40 pictures from wedding sites and hairstylist sites! A couple are different angles of the same style, but I'm pretty happy with my collection so far. Here's hoping it gets bigger!

http://s308.photobucket.com/albums/kk321/atelier_rosie/wedding%20stuff/wedding%20hairstyles%20for%20short%20hair/

I'm also getting geared up to wrap all of my attendant gifts. I'm using biodegradable wrapping paper and organic cotton ribbon! I'll add cards for each of them to tell them how much I love them. Now, I only need to find cute cards!

[Danielle9608]

OO I like this one :)

http://i308.photobucket.com/albums/kk321/atelier_rosie/wedding%20stuff/wedding%20hairstyles%20for%20short%20hair/Picture7.png

[RosieAngel]

I think that one is beautiful, too! I love the floral touches. :)

[mandaj10]

My favorite:
http://i308.photobucket.com/albums/kk321/atelier_rosie/wedding%20stuff/wedding%20hairstyles%20for%20short%20hair/Picture3.png It's got that 1920's feel to it!
I was thinking that I would have to grow my hair out for the wedding eventually, because I just recently cut it off to about this:
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l313/thinspiration_pro_ana/Victoria%20Beckham%20Icons/o9qqvr.png http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l313/thinspiration_pro_ana/Victoria%20Beckham%20Icons/347ekbk.pngBut I LOVE my short hair, and I'm glad you posted pictures of styles with shorter hair!
And, I loved your hairstyle time line! It is so interesting to see how people's styles will change over the years!

[RosieAngel]

OMG, I love Victoria Beckham's style! If I wasn't a bangs girl (I look like a conehead without bangs, haha!) I would totally have that same hairstyle!

I like your pick a lot, too! If only I didn't find that just last week, I'd have grown the back of my hair out for it! But alas, I didn't, and my wedding is in less than two months now so growing it out isn't going to happen. My hair is an A-line bob that is super-short in the back, so I'm pretty sure that my options are limited to:

http://i308.photobucket.com/albums/kk321/atelier_rosie/wedding%20stuff/wedding%20hairstyles%20for%20short%20hair/004_primary.jpg

http://i308.photobucket.com/albums/kk321/atelier_rosie/wedding%20stuff/wedding%20hairstyles%20for%20short%20hair/bobwithbangs.jpg

http://i308.photobucket.com/albums/kk321/atelier_rosie/wedding%20stuff/wedding%20hairstyles%20for%20short%20hair/003_primary.jpg

[sunflowersummer]

How about flipping it out? Search Diane Keaton, she has medium length but even with short hair you can flip it out (I use to do it all the time when I had short hair!)

Just a suggestion :)

http://www.mylifetime.com/files/imagecache/photo_gallery_featured/files/images/diane-keaton-395x298-celebrityadoptionsgallery.jpg

[mandaj10]

OMG, I love Victoria Beckham's style! If I wasn't a bangs girl (I look like a conehead without bangs, haha!) I would totally have that same hairstyle!

I like your pick a lot, too! If only I didn't find that just last week, I'd have grown the back of my hair out for it! But alas, I didn't, and my wedding is in less than two months now so growing it out isn't going to happen. My hair is an A-line bob that is super-short in the back, so I'm pretty sure that my options are limited to:




In that case, my pick would be this one:
http://i308.photobucket.com/albums/kk321/atelier_rosie/wedding%20stuff/wedding%20hairstyles%20for%20short%20hair/004_primary.jpg
I'm particularly fond of the barrette detail... and hair accessories were in your time line! My only question is where would the veil go, I wonder? Would it go at the top of your head behind the barrette or tiara?

[Nekochanpurr]

I agree.. That hair style is adorable!

[RosieAngel]

Jennifer - Thanks for the tip! I tried flipping it, but the back was too short to flip! :purplex: The front looked absolutely adorable, though! I think I'll grow out the back in the near future for more flippy fun!

Amanda - You know, I might just keep my tiara and forego the $30 veil I had made for me. :/ It was super-important to my family that I have a veil, so I picked one up ASAP, but as the day draws closer, we're discarding more and more of what's expected of us for what fits our personalities.

Stacy - Thanks! That is the style I'm leaning the most towards.

[RosieAngel]

So, Kane and I got full physicals and blood tests while anticipating getting a marriage license. I am awesomely healthy and a full inch taller than I thought I was - 4'11"! They told Kane his height, which he didn't know... and then promptly forgot when I asked him about it. His response was, "Tall enough."

He is about 20 lbs overweight and has high cholesterol, which is weird, because we have the same, low-fat diet based mainly in legumes, vegetables, and whole grains, though I will admit that my guilty pleasure, and resulting triglycerides (which are still in the healthy range, but pushing it, so I have to cut back :sob:), is French bread - OM NOM NOM. Maybe he's sneaking stuff behind my back? It's a possibility worth investigating.

Anyways, he's been hitting the gym on an almost daily basis ever since, which is good! He's basically been inactive since he broke his hand in his martial arts class... it's the first time he got injured, and it really shook him up.

He was regularly doing breaks like this...
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/firebreak_resaved.jpg

...so I really don't know what he was expecting. Invincibility?

This one isn't dangerous at all. I just thought it looked cool.
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/fastbreak.jpg

Okay, onto the subject at hand! So, after all this time and expense from doctor's appointments and blood tests, we applied for our marriage license, only to discover that blood tests are no longer needed in the state of California! So yeah, we should have researched it in advance.

I'm getting my stupid eyes checked on Friday, since I just realized that I'm having trouble reading street signs. Uhm... yay?

It was really cool, though! I met a future bride who was working as a receptionist at the LensCrafters... I think her name was Jill? I'll have to get a peek at her name tag again and recommend OneWed to her when I see her on Friday!

She immediately zeroed in on my ring, because apparently, she and her FH have the natural Padparadscha for her e-ring, though they haven't set it yet! Natural Padparadschas are so prized and rare that she had to go to England to find hers! :bbeek: So we squealed and talked for 45 minutes while the others all rolled their eyes at us and ignored us. It was fabulous.

In other engagement news, one of my old coworkers came in to show off her engagement ring! She got a huge, 2-carat diamond, either princess or asscher cut (I forgot to ask, but it was square and sparkly)! We giggled and talked about his really cute proposal - he had the ring put in an edible chocolate basket for this really nice restaurant's dessert! Apparently, he called in advance to say he was proposing, so they gave him the best seats in the house! Part of me wants to do fake proposals in nice restaurants all over the country, just to get the best tables with views! And wouldn't that be the best anniversary date idea ever? Who wouldn't want another proposal for an anniversary gift? It's cheap and romantic!

[RosieAngel]

I decided to play with my tiara after work, because I was depressed about needing new glasses and sparklies always cheer me up! :heart: I put on some pink Rimmel lip gloss, too. Lip gloss (usually clear but sometimes pink) is the only makeup I wear...

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/tiara01.jpg

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/tiara02.jpg

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/tiara03.jpg

[Danielle9608]

I love the tiara! It looks so cute with your short hair cut too :D Just curious, why are you so down about needing new glasses?

[Nekochanpurr]

Aww, your tiara looks super cute in your hair! I agree.. Why so down about glasses?

[RosieAngel]

I love the tiara! It looks so cute with your short hair cut too :D Just curious, why are you so down about needing new glasses?

Aww, your tiara looks super cute in your hair! I agree.. Why so down about glasses?

Because I'm going blind! :urgh: I actually wear glasses all the time, since I have astigmatism, and hard contacts are PAINFUL! I just go blind for pics, haha! Well, whenever I can! There are rare candid photos of me with them on.

Okay, this is going to sound crazy, but of all my senses, I love sight the most. I remember how clearly I saw the world without the aid of glasses, just nine years ago, with textures in particular. The world has so many beautiful textures to observe... Skin is probably my favorite, with pores and creases and freckles and all of those other things girls are always trying to cover up with makeup! Even the colors seemed brighter. Now, all objects have the same, soft but grainy texture, and they bleed into one another like watered down paint, dulling their colors. Glasses only create a framed window in which I can see things clearly. I always notice the outline of the frame, and the smooth, colorless mass beyond. It makes me feel like I've lost something important that I can't get back.

But I did gain the tiara, and a load of other shiny things, as I lose my sight. And the wonderful thing about shiny things is they look even shinier as you go blind. I think that's why old ladies like to wear loads of big, heavy jewelry.

Ha! Now I'm really sounding random.

Thank you both for the compliments! :)

[Nekochanpurr]

I can understand about going blind part.. I started with getting reading glasses at about 2nd grade, and its just gotten worse from there. I'm about at a -9 or something.. my sis is -10/-11 o.o;

[Danielle9608]

I can completely understand being frustrated with your lack of sight. I have been wear glasses or some type of eye aid since I was 7. I am also a graphic designer so I need my eyes! I also have a astigmatism. There really have been major advancements in toric lenses though. Yes they are a bit larger and a tiny bit thicker, but I find mine very comfortable. Well I know you will be gorgeous glasses or no glasses!

[mandaj10]

I love your tiara! Just too cute with your short hair! I can't wait to see it with your hair all done up, too!

[RosieAngel]

Eeek, six weeks to go!

We're not using the ceremony musician we were planning to use. Instead, we are having the Best Man's super-talented sister, who is a guitarist, and his father, who has played the most amazing blues harmonica at many festivals and fairs, doing the music for the ceremony.

Now, the entire family is involved:
Best Man's Mom: Officiant
Best Man's Dad: Music: Entry of the Bride
Best Man's Sister: Music: Bridal party music and music during the Saturday Brunch
Best Man's Son: Ring Bearer
Best Man's Daughter: Flower Girl

I like this setup, because the Best Man and his family have been more like a family to me than my blood relatives (Dad excepted! I couldn't ask for a better father).

[Thalia_themuse]

Because I'm going blind! :urgh: I actually wear glasses all the time, since I have astigmatism, and hard contacts are PAINFUL! I just go blind for pics, haha! Well, whenever I can! There are rare candid photos of me with them on.

I am in a similar boat - wear glasses all the time and have an astigmatism in one eye. Have you tried the disposable contacts? You may not be able to see perfectly but I use them for special events and they are my salvation!! :winktongue: They are flexible and soft, and they allow you to see much better than without. They won't correct the astigmatism but I haven't had any major issues with that.

[RosieAngel]

I am in a similar boat - wear glasses all the time and have an astigmatism in one eye. Have you tried the disposable contacts? You may not be able to see perfectly but I use them for special events and they are my salvation!! :winktongue: They are flexible and soft, and they allow you to see much better than without. They won't correct the astigmatism but I haven't had any major issues with that.

That's so cool, thanks for sharing! I'll ask about them.

[RosieAngel]

So, I went to the David's Bridal today in Colma, CA. If you're in the area, I'm going to recommend the seamstress there. She is nice, she knows her stuff, and English is her first language, which is definitely a plus!

Unfortunately...

I was not overweight to begin with, and I had no intention of dieting for this wedding. However, I lost 10 lbs, which at my height, is like one of you average height folks losing 15 or 20, for the following reasons:

1. FH and I live together, and, while my vital stats were awesome, FH needed to lose some weight. So I put the house on a strict vegetarian diet. No meat or eggs and only fat-free milk and yogurt equates to a lot less calories.

2. I have a weak stomach when stressed. TMI, I know, but I have stress-vomited in the past, so I have a decreased appetite when stressed, and I avoid rich foods. More calories lost!

3. One of the only ways that I can stop crying for stupid reasons is to go on a speed walk on the beach. This burns the calories I'm not eating like crazy.

4. I don't really care that I'm thinner. I actually feel good at 110. I was 105 in high school, and I ate like a piggy, because my parents taught me that if I didn't eat like a piggy, I wouldn't grow tall. A heck of a lot of good that did me, let me tell you! If I was 105 when I reached my full height of 4'11", there is nothing dangerous about being 110.

The only bad thing about losing massive poundage is clothes not fitting. I went down a little under two dress sizes since buying the wedding dress, and my MoH WOULD NOT SHUT UP about it.

"Why didn't you listen to me?! Didn't I tell you to eat pizza and ice cream at work everyday?" To the seamstress: "I've been telling her to do that!"

"Look at how much you have to spend to get this fixed!"

"This is half Kane's fault. I'm going to give him a piece of my mind! He owes you an extra $75 for this!"

I was half-tempted to shoot back a nasty comment about her being jealous, but I just smiled apologetically and showed what a classy dame I am. MoH has been an awesome friend for many years, and I wasn't letting this dress drama get in the way of our years together.

Of course, being a petite classy dame in a dress made for a 5'9" lady added extra complications. I am wearing killer 4-inch heels with ankle straps under my dress, which makes me 5'2". This helped a little with the hemming, but bustling the dress was a butt-groping nightmare that took our lovely seamstress nearly a full hour of adjusting. The more elaborate bustle that I needed to keep the dress off the floor added a lot more to the price than expected.

The final bill? $300!!! I'm still reeling. That's almost as much as the dress cost! But I love my dress. It's the only one for me!

Thank goodness Kane has so many job leads! He's been interviewing constantly this week. Everything is going to be okay! Money is just going to be tight for a bit.

---

On a somewhat related note, I saw a tall, hourglassy-looking bride-to-be trying on dresses with one fierce-looking pout on her pretty face. Apparently, she was to be fitted before me, but she was a stress-eater, poor girl! She gained 5 INCHES, so her DISCONTINUED gown no longer fit! So, it could be worse.

I hope she found a substitute gown that she liked...

[RosieAngel]

So, D.E.W., my best childhood friend, just bought her dress! She was worried that I wouldn't like it, because, as she's said, "It's very Sex and the City." But she looked great in it, from the pics she sent me!

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/102_0895sm.jpg

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/102_0897sm.jpg

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/102_0899sm.jpg

She has a great smile in these pics. This is why I wanted the girls to choose their own black dresses: I want to see sexy dresses and excited smiles!

I also love the shoes she chose - they look so comfy! I'm a little envious of those!

The only logistical problem with this dress is that the necklaces I bought the girls won't work with this cut. I guess I'll just keep the one I bought her and get her a bracelet instead!

I wanted one of those necklaces for myself, anyways! :whoohoo:

[Thalia_themuse]

So, D.E.W., my best childhood friend, just bought her dress! She was worried that I wouldn't like it, because, as she's said, "It's very Sex and the City." But she looked great in it, from the pics she sent me!

She has a great smile in these pics. This is why I wanted the girls to choose their own black dresses: I want to see sexy dresses and excited smiles!

I also love the shoes she chose - they look so comfy! I'm a little envious of those!

The only logistical problem with this dress is that the necklaces I bought the girls won't work with this cut. I guess I'll just keep the one I bought her and get her a bracelet instead!

I wanted one of those necklaces for myself, anyways! :whoohoo:

Aww that's great - she looks wonderful and does look very happy!

Also, congrats on getting to keep a necklace :winktongue:

[Danielle9608]

Your friend is too cute in her dress! LOVE IT

[RosieAngel]

I like lingerie, but FH thinks that negligees and other skimpy things for bedroom play are tacky and get in the way of things (though oddly enough, he likes terry bath robes). With his tastes in mind, I decided to pick up a few cute matching bras and panties for our wedding night/weekend. I got got a black set and a white set of these:

http://www.herroom.com/Felina-4219-Daniella-Demi-Contour-Bra.shtml
http://www.herroom.com/Felina-219P-Daniella-Bikini-Panties.shtml

And this in the fawn color, so the embroidery scrollwork will look more subtle than in the picture:

http://www.herroom.com/Felina-7838-Marissa-Full-Busted-Unlined-Bra.shtml
http://www.herroom.com/Felina-238P-Marissa-Bikini-Panties.shtml

Being a small girl with disproportionately large breasts, I like the Felina brand and have always had good luck with it.

I was thinking about pulling a neebelung and trying on sexy shoes just to wear with these, since FH apparently likes it when I wear heels. Jury's still out on whether thigh-highs will be good, too. He didn't seem too interested in the idea of stockings.

Anyways, just thought I'd share!

[RosieAngel]

That's what my MoH called it, because the few wedding guests that I will be having are scattered across the globe, and it would be too hard to have a traditional bridal shower where everyone attends. Still, she wants to throw me a dinner party at her house, so I am getting a Not-Bridal-Shower Dinner Party Thing instead. It makes me feel loved, especially since all I asked her to do was help me try on dresses, buy herself a cute dress, and show up to sign the wedding documents. I'll tell you all how it goes.

The final head-count is pretty much in. we are having 27 people besides ourselves coming for sure, with the slight possibility of three last-minute add-ons, from the following places:

California
Oregon
Washington
Pennsylvania
New Hampshire
England
France
Switzerland

Good times!

Oh yeah, for those of you that are wondering, FH did get a better job than his last one about two weeks ago! I forgot to update you all when he got hired again, silly me!

[Nekochanpurr]

Yay for your party thing! And FH getting a BETTER job?! Thats awesome!

[bichonlvr]

I love that brand too!!!!

You are getting close..less then a month! WOO HOO!!!

[RosieAngel]

These pics were taken by the MoH's Mom and Brother.

When I arrived, KT, my MoH, greeted me with a hug and pinned a pretty, sweet-smelling corsage of pink roses and white carnations on me that made my thin, already low-cut mesh blouse ride down all night! If I had known I would have heavy flowers pinned to my top, I would have chosen something more substantial to wear.
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/DSCF0229.jpg

They then herded us into the dining room for a couples picture!
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/DSCF0231.jpg

They decorated the table with a pink flower arrangement to match! Similar arrangements could be found throughout the house.
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/DSCF0227.jpg

After we chatted a bit, we were ushered into their gorgeous backyard for cocktails, homemade lemonade, and appetizers. All of them were made by the lovely MoH's family! I want to steal their spinach dip recipe. It was the best!
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/IMG_0004.jpg

[RosieAngel]

Everyone enjoyed the snacks! J.W.- the blonde on the right, is a groomsman, and T.G., who's next to him, is his partner. I'm really happy that they could make it! They really got on well with KT's parents.
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/DSCF0235.jpg

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/DSCF0238.jpg http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/DSCF0237.jpg

J.P. and W.H., the other couple KT invited will be celebrating their 10th anniversary soon! And yes, they do have different last names.

I noticed, during the eating of the goodies, that MoH's Mom and Brother were taking pics of me EATING. So I hid behind FH! I still didn't escape the cameras, though.
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/IMG_0010.jpg

[RosieAngel]

MoH says it's time for dinner!
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/DSCF0239.jpg

OM NOM NOM:
Prime Rib with Mushrooms
Chicken in Spicy Tomato Sauce
Mashed Potatoes
Green Beans Amandine
Broccoli Salad
Green Salad
Garlic Bread
Cheese Bread!
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/IMG_0016.jpg

Dinner was fun! We talked about a lot of things, including weird 80's music videos. Kane looked them up on the iphone, and we passed it around and laughed.
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/IMG_0017.jpg

For dessert, KT and her mother made us beautiful cakes! This one is the bride's cake, a lemon cake! Lemon cake is my favorite, and theirs, featuring homemade lemon curd filling and homemade buttercream frosting! Yummm.
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/DSCF0225.jpg

[bichonlvr]

Looks like you had a blast!!!

[RosieAngel]

The Groom's cake is chocolate, with actual chocolate in the frosting!
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/DSCF0226.jpg

We cut the cakes and served them to our eagerly waiting guests...
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/DSCF0242.jpg http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/IMG_0029.jpg

I had never served cake in such a setting before! Note my clumsiness!
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/IMG_0030.jpg

[RosieAngel]

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/IMG_0032.jpg

I think pictures of opening presents are pretty boring, so I'm just going to list all of the awesome things I got:

Baby Blue Bamboo Blanket
Silicone Spatula
Flour Sifter
Measuring cups and spoons
Fancy Dipping Olive Oils with Rack
Glassware set
Calphalon Saute Pan
Henckles Knife Set with Block (!!!)

Afterwards, I wrapped myself up in the ribbons.
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/DSCF0244.jpg

J.W. played MoH's Mom's piano. He was really good! MoH's Mom also played a duet with him, but there are no pics of that.
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/DSCF0246.jpg

All in all, it was a fun night!

[RosieAngel]

Looks like you had a blast!!!

Thanks, we really did! I was so glad that everyone liked each other! :grinhappy:

[Danielle9608]

What a fun party! And the food looks so yummy :D

[Goin2thechapel]

That looked like a really fun time!!! I want cake now :)

[Brian's Bride]

OM NOM NOM!! Cake! I loved that little chocolate butterfly on your cake!

[Nekochanpurr]

Everything looked fun... AND YUMMY! :D

[RosieAngel]

Thanks! Everything was fun and delicious... and we still have the piece of cake with the butterfly on it!

We really should eat it, but it's so pretty...

[sweetvenus]

Wow, looks like you had a ton of fun!

[brendalin]

I haven't checked in on you in so long! YOua re really getting close! Looks like you had a fun time at the party! I LOVE LOVE LOVE the picture of you all wrapped up in the bows! Too cute!

[mandaj10]

It looks like your get together was a good time with lots of delicious food!
I just realized that you have less than a month! How exciting! :D

[RosieAngel]

Eee, 20 days to go!

Just got in my final guest count (30 on the nose)! I still have 3 people who actually called me to RSVP "Maybe", and I figure that, if they show up, we can do a last-minute seating shuffle. I'm not going to worry about it before then, though!

Lord knows I have enough to worry about as is.

Here is what I need to do, still (in no particular order):
1. Order favors. We're getting them from teuscher's, and they won't let us get favors without first stopping by to make sure the colors are right. I find this annoying, since this really doesn't matter to me. "Close enough" is the name of my game!

2. Find out what I owe the cake nazi, who hasn't gotten back to me since I paid the deposit. Pay the cake nazi.

3. Final Wedding Dress fitting! Pay for it all and make my wallet make a sad face.

4. Make iTunes playlist for the wedding.

5. Try to teach my FH, who is as graceful as an elephant on roller skates with four left feet, how to waltz.

6. Finalize vows.

7. Mail out everything that needs to go to the country club there!

7. Pick up rings.

8. New shirt and shoes for FH.

9. Pedicure! I think I'm on my own here.

10. Haircut. I need one.

11. Along those lines, figure out what I'm doing with my hair and if I'm wearing a veil or not.

12. Wrap presents for bridal party. I've been putting it off for too long!

13. Oh yeah, and buy D.E.W. that bracelet.

ARGH, THERE IS TOO MUCH TO DO.

I also have a big research paper due the day before the wedding, so I have to find the time to finish it early. Sucks to be me. :sob:

[bichonlvr]

Um soooo get on it girl!!!!! :)

[RosieAngel]

FH and I ordered the favors today. Everyone was very nice, except they kept asking whose wedding these were for, as if there was no way Kane and I could be getting married. I know we're kind of mismatched as far as appearances go, and I do look underaged sometimes, but SERIOUSLY. How many times do you have to say, "Are you two REALLY getting married? :bbeek:"

Yes, we're getting married, thank you very much. Oh, and I'm 25 and not getting any younger. :snide:

Okay, onto the next task!

[RosieAngel]

I wrapped most of the presents (except those for K., my second FG, and N., her mother)! I'll post a pic when they're all done, since I love showing off the contrast stripe wrapping that I learned to do many moons ago while working retail during the holidays! It was a very popular design at our boutique, and the one that I did best! :grinhappy: But I want them all finished, first!

Speaking of presents, I just finished writing the shower Thank You cards. Having my Thank Yous sent out before the wedding makes me feel so relieved!

I also put the final check to the wedding planner in the mail.

Kane and I are about to work out the music playlist. Wish us luck!

[RosieAngel]

I know that something always goes wrong during the wedding, but finding out my cake baker is quitting because of a fight over her unprofessionalism with my wedding planner is making me stress out! I'm supposed to be working on homework, not stressing over finding a new cake baker!

While my wedding planner was kind enough to refer me to a new place, she cannot mediate because she just went in for emergency surgery, poor thing! I hope that she is going to be okay. She said that she would have an assistant present for my wedding, worst case.

I've been especially clumsy recently, getting bumps and bruises all over and breaking nails left and right. This morning, I broke a perfume bottle all over my schoolbooks! While Eau de 4 Reines is a gorgeous scent, an entire bottle at once is too much of a good thing!

The stone in my engagement ring is loose. I hear it rattling sometimes. I need to go get it fixed, but when will there be time for that? I'm getting married in two weeks, and it will probably take too long to fit!

I am a total mess.

My final wedding dress fitting is on Friday! That had better go well! I think I will spontaneously combust from the stress if it doesn't.

[FFC]

You poor thing!! Like you said, everything all at once.

Just look at the baker situation as a blessing. Who knows, maybe the baker's milk is sour or the cake wouldn't have turned out how you want it. You'll end up with a perfect and delicious cake in the end.

That's a bummer bout your planner. I hope she gets better soon!

Any headaches from the perfume? I know it would wreak me a headache fierce!

Hang in there!! In 2 weeks you'll be able to relax!!!

[RosieAngel]

You poor thing!! Like you said, everything all at once.

Just look at the baker situation as a blessing. Who knows, maybe the baker's milk is sour or the cake wouldn't have turned out how you want it. You'll end up with a perfect and delicious cake in the end.

That's a bummer bout your planner. I hope she gets better soon!

Any headaches from the perfume? I know it would wreak me a headache fierce!

Hang in there!! In 2 weeks you'll be able to relax!!!

Yeah, we still don't have a cake, but at least it's not a bad cake. I didn't really like the Cake Nazi anyways.

I hope Cathy gets better soon! She claims that she's going to be fine, but when she called me, nurses at the hospital were screaming at her to get some rest!

Believe it or not, no headaches, though I think my coworkers wanted to KILL ME WITH FIRE by the end of the day! My classmates were none too thrilled, either. I think (hope?) that they're airing out.

[RosieAngel]

We picked up my wedding band today and we dropped off my e-ring for repairs. I was told that the problem was due to the fact that the ring setting was cheaply made. Joy.

So we dropped it off to get it reset! Supposedly, it will be ready for pickup next Saturday. In the meantime, I am wearing my wedding band as a placeholder. FH's Dad says it's bad luck, but my sexy self only gets left alone by the guys in my college classes when I have a ring on my left hand! I'm stressed enough without having to deal with idiot boys asking for my number, so I will tempt fate for a week.

The wedding ring is a tiny, feather light and very comfortable eternity band! I have a feeling I'll be wearing it all the time, and taking the e-ring off a lot. I love my e-ring, don't get me wrong! But that thing is a CLUNKER.

Oh! I should post pics of my dress fitting. They're not very good, because I was having the worst hair day ever and the dress was sitting on me a little lower than it should have, so the waist was bagging a bit (the seamstress fixed it after the pics), and in the first one, that little side loop thingy wasn't tucked all the way in, but it'll give you a general idea!

Unbustled
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/IMG_2887.jpg

Bustled - Front
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/IMG_2888.jpg

Bustled - Back
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/IMG_2889.jpg

I don't have too much more to do:

1. Wrap the last two presents for the girls.

2. iTunes playlists.

3. Beauty stuff - teeth whitening kit, pedicure, haircut.

4. Pick up ring on and favors on Saturday.

5. Pack.

6. Try my darndest to get in all of my assignments due on the wedding week early. This is what Sunday and Monday will be devoted to doing!

7. ***MAYBE*** Find a way to tell FH that the suit he had custom made looks AWFUL on him and convince him to come with me to the Men's Warehouse to find a new one. I'm wondering if it's worth the drama (and there WILL be drama), or I should just let him look half his height and twice his weight on our wedding day.

[RebelChick]

***MAYBE*** Find a way to tell FH that the suit he had custom made looks AWFUL on him and convince him to come with me to the Men's Warehouse to find a new one. I'm wondering if it's worth the drama (and there WILL be drama), or I should just let him look half his height and twice his weight on our wedding day.

you made me chuckle with that one!! heh... id say its def not worth the drama, and youll see his gleaming face and wont care that his suit looks like he took it from a sumo wrestlers closet ;).

[RosieAngel]

you made me chuckle with that one!! heh... id say its def not worth the drama, and youll see his gleaming face and wont care that his suit looks like he took it from a sumo wrestlers closet ;).

Yeah, I'm definitely leaning toward that, too. He seems so happy with it, even though it makes me cringe and my MoH leave the room to laugh at him. And we're cutting it short for the Men' Warehouse thing, anyways, especially considering that FH needs an executive-cut suit for his stocky Dutch body type, which is hard to find.

I'm just trying to resign myself to the fact that he will look his worst on the big day. There's still the same guy I love underneath! And it'll be three times as much fun undressing him afterwards.

I wonder if I can pay someone at the hotel to steal it and burn it...? :bbtwisted:

[Nekochanpurr]

You look so pretty in your dress. *^^*

[Danielle9608]

Just popping in to see how you are doing. You look like you were made for that dress. Stunning.

[RosieAngel]

Just popping in to see how you are doing. You look like you were made for that dress. Stunning.

Hello and CONGRATULATIONS on your wedding, Danielle! :heart:

Thanks for the compliment! :D

[RosieAngel]

Last night, Kane had a nervous breakdown over writing his own vows. I am not kidding. He was curled up in a fetal position, sweating and twitching. Not to mention the histrionics that accompanied things afterwards. I already wrote my awesome vows, because I'm good at writing and public speaking, which he is not.

So I went online and found about nine pre-written vows I like, and I forwarded them onto him in an email to help me narrow down when he's feeling more sane. As soon as he picks one out, I will contact the officiant about the issue.

I found out that one of my BMs is making purses for all of the girls including me! So I don't have to worry about my purse now! My MoH is making wraps for the girls, so they're going to be decked out! Purses, jewelry, and wraps!

I just hope they like pink.

Speaking of girly pastel colors, I finished wrapping all of the BM, FG, and parent gifts today! I bought earth-friendly wrapping paper and paper-based ribbon! Totally biodegradable and cute!

Here's a picture:

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/IMG_2892.jpg

I also found out that FH has no intention of bothering with GM and RB gifts. Should I pick up the slack for him? I'm not sure if there's time. :purplex:

[Danielle9608]

Sorry to hear Kane is having a hard time with his vows. I can totally sympathize. I hate public speaking. I think I was more nervous about my speech at the rehearsal dinner then getting on a plane for the first time. Your gifts look lovely, you did a nice job on the wrapping.

[RosieAngel]

I have to take a bunch of exams and turn in papers early for the week of the wedding! It has been CRAZY, let me tell you!

The psychology test today went... ehh... pretty well, considering I haven't had the time to study a whole lot for it! I think (hope?) I got a B. I need to finish a paper proposal tomorrow for my San Francisco History class, the day after that, a paper for Health, and the day after that, an Art History test!

GAH. This whole finishing work early for the wedding sucks. I have to study less and produce lower-quality work than the usual, because there isn't time to put a great deal of attention into the details. I will simply have to redeem myself later in the term!

In better news, the cake issue has been resolved! We're going to have an Almond Cake with Creme Brulee filling and Marzipan frosting! OM NOM NOM.

The design will have rasied dots over the top 3/4 of the cake and a ribbon on the lower 1/4. I have asked for a pink ribbon! To save time, my wedding planner is buying the cake herself and having me reimburse her.

So that's one less thing to worry about!

[EarlyBird]

Yeah, I'm definitely leaning toward that, too. He seems so happy with it, even though it makes me cringe and my MoH leave the room to laugh at him. And we're cutting it short for the Men' Warehouse thing, anyways, especially considering that FH needs an executive-cut suit for his stocky Dutch body type, which is hard to find.

I'm just trying to resign myself to the fact that he will look his worst on the big day. There's still the same guy I love underneath! And it'll be three times as much fun undressing him afterwards.

I wonder if I can pay someone at the hotel to steal it and burn it...? :bbtwisted:

i gotta say that my fh ordered a tux two days before an event when we went to one b/c he looked like a shrunken little boy in his too big tux - mens warehouse was pretty good about it.. just in case you want to try

[EarlyBird]

also, as far as the rb and gm gifts dont stress how many are there? If not alot, pick up some gift cards at a store for them and get the rb something you think he will like. I dont think its very nice not to get them anything though, so ya, to answer your question, i think it might be a good idea to pick up some slack of his :)

[RosieAngel]

EarlyBird - THANK YOU. This is a huge help! I think I'll run down to... I dunno, some store guys like on Friday.

Also, I'll consider broaching the subject of the offending suit on Friday. It depends on how we both feel. I don't want to stress him out too much... :purplex:

[RosieAngel]

ONE WEEK TO GO.

My mani/pedi lady QUIT on me, and I can't find an appointment before my wedding anywhere!!! I don't even own any nail polish except clear... I guess we need to stop by Target or something for some.

I'm really bad at painting my own nails. :sob: Maybe I can get Devin to do it for me? AUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGH.

I think I'm going to have the wedding stylist give me fake curls for my wedding hair to hide my iffy haircut, if the new stylist I made an appointment with can't fix it. Kane said that he likes the fake curl look. So there's a decision! I also decided to wear the veil with my tiara, picked out my (very simple) makeup, and had a primal screamfest into my pillow. Mmm... I feel better now.

Now to phone-stalk Devin after she gets back from work! I feel so bad to bother her, but I know she has a polish collection... :purplex:

[sunflowersummer]

Awww, sorry to hear she quit on you :(

Worse case scenario, if you have to paint your nails but aren't good at it, make sure you have nail polish remover! I can't paint my right hand (I'm right handed and terribly untalented with my left!) so I make sure the entire nail gets covered, even if that means painting part of my finger. Then, I get some q-tips and wet them with nail polish remover, and get rid of the excess paint. Its not the greatest solution, but in a tight fix, it works!

[RosieAngel]

Tonight, we pick up FH's replacement sport jacket (LONG STORY) and leave for Catalina! I can't believe it. It seems like, just yesterday, I was posting about being engaged!

I did my own toenails last night and decided to take the neat and nude approach to my nails. Maybe, I'll apply some clear polish tonight, but I'm not sold on that.

Hopefully, I'll have more time to post about the great suit saga in the hotel room! Oh, and the office party and professors congratulating me and... other stuff! Otherwise, see you after the wedding! :heart:

[Thalia_themuse]

Tonight, we pick up FH's replacement sport jacket (LONG STORY) and leave for Catalina! I can't believe it. It seems like, just yesterday, I was posting about being engaged!

I did my own toenails last night and decided to take the neat and nude approach to my nails. Maybe, I'll apply some clear polish tonight, but I'm not sold on that.

Hopefully, I'll have more time to post about the great suit saga in the hotel room! Oh, and the office party and professors congratulating me and... other stuff! Otherwise, see you after the wedding! :heart:


Oooh, good luck Rosie!!! Hope everything goes well! :grinhappy::grinhappy::grinhappy:

[sunflowersummer]

Can't wait to hear all the details when you get back :)
Good luck, enjoy your day, hope the sun shines the entire time you're there!!!

[mandaj10]

Good luck Rosie! You deserve nothing but the best on your wedding day and I know you worked very hard to have your dream! So enjoy every last bit of it and be sure to come back with lots of stories and pictures!
:D

[TonyaP]

So, time to go pearl shopping!

Since I never bought precious jewelry for myself before, I had plans to buy myself an Akoya pearl necklace. And then I saw the price tag. :purplex: Kane suggested that I look online to try to find better prices, and admonished me to buy only AAA-grade pearls from a retailer with a good return policy. So I did.

http://www.premiumpearl.com/akoya-pearl-pendants-2050.html
http://www.premiumpearl.com/akoya-pearl-earrings-2550.html

I have no self-control, so I've worn these a lot already. They're really pretty, with an almost mirrorlike luster.

My MOH and I found silver shoes that matched the leaf embroidery on my dress on sale for $40 (50% off!) that looked a lot like this with an ankle strap:
http://shop.nordstrom.com/S/2954769/0~2376778~2372808~2376689~2377052?mediumthumbnail= Y&origin=category&searchtype=&pbo=2377052&P=6

I was sooooo glad to be done with it! Sometimes, when FH isn't home and I am, I'll play around with the veil and tiara. :D[/quote]


Oh my goodness! This is the first time I have read any of your posts. I have never bought pearls before Saturday and I bought the EXACT same necklace you did only in gold. Funny! I LOVE this necklace! I know what you mean about having a hard time not wearing it. I have been tempted myself but I am trying to wait for that once in a lifetime day. I just wanted let you know I think you have great taste. HEE HEE

[EarlyBird]

congratttttts! im soo excited for you. cant wait to see all the pics.

[Danielle9608]

Good luck and congrats! Can't wait to hear all about it!

[brendalin]

GOOD LUCK! Hope tha you have a wonderful time!!!

[caligal85]

You keep mentioning all these great stories that you're going to share and it's driving me nuts! I need to know. Okay I'll exercise some patience. You're big day is sooooooooo close!!!!

[RosieAngel]

Hello, everyone! I'm back from my wedding, which was AMAZING and nearly perfect, by the way, so I will do my best to record the days leading up to it while I still remember them.

So, without further ado, I present to you the GREAT SUIT SAGA.

From Day 1 or even before Day 1, Kane knew exactly what kind of suit he wanted to wear. It was made by a Canadian company specializing in unusual garments, and he fell in love with this wool, ankle-length, single-breasted suit jacket with lots of buttons (I think 9?) that flared at the waist and swished and swirled when the wearer moved. I joked around with him and called it his "wedding dress," as it cost a full $200 more than my wedding dress, and probably had more fabric in it. Well, I thought it was pretty silly of him, but he loved it, and I'm not one to crush his wedding dreams. Most of my wedding planning revolved around incorporating as many of his ideas as possible, as they were often better than mine.

Anyways! The suit jacket arrived the week before the wedding. Kane excitedly pulled it from its box, tried it on, and ran into the living room to show me... And he looked TERRIBLE. Kane is about 5'11" and 185 lbs of mostly muscle, and the flared jacket accentuated his worst features, his thick waist, and the styling, which included too-big shoulder-pads, made his neck and his long arms and legs look stumpy. Seriously, he looked like a Hobbit wearing a Halloween costume of Neo from the Matrix.

I tried to smile, but I could feel the corners of my mouth twitching down. "Let's try it open." I suggested, attacking the buttons. Open, it looked marginally better, like he was wearing a too-big black bathrobe with shoulder pads. "Or... maybe not." I added bemusedly.

Kane stubbornly turned toward the mirror and swished a little in it. "There's nothing wrong with the suit, you're just not used to seeing me in a suit." He said defensively.

"Can you try wearing a normal suit jacket so I can compare?" I asked.

"I don't have one," He replied, "but we can try on one of my Dad's!" His father, who lives on a sailboat, stashes his suits at our place so he doesn't reek of that musty old boat smell in the office. His father is also considerably shorter and fatter than he is, so the suit he tried on didn't remotely fit him. Even with the terrible fit, wearing Daddy's suit looked better than wearing his stupid man-dress.

"I'll sleep on it." He said, realizing that we only had a few days until the wedding. I was too busy rushing to complete other wedding-related tasks to worry much about it. If Kane wanted to wear a ridiculous outfit on our wedding day, I would deal with it. As the lovely RebelChick pointed out, I would only be focused on his face during the ceremony (TRUE STORY) and it wasn't worth the drama.

So, on the weekend, he insisted on taking the horrid thing to a department store to get pants and a shirt to match. We found some lovely wool pants on sale that were a perfect fit, and he found a nice white suit shirt with a texture he liked. He was quite pleased with his purchases...

Until he tried them on with the coat. He suddenly realized that he looked like a short, squat little troll with the coat on, and instead of being a big boy and acting like a mature adult, he curled up in the corner of the dressing room and CRIED. He cried about how he was 35 and he was still a financial failure (Uhm... you make a six-figure salary, sweetie), he lived in a crappy little condo (1500 sq. ft. /w ocean view - what do you want, a mansion?), and was having a crappy little wedding with no budget (OMFG, do not start with me about the budget, it's $15,000, which is way more than most of the girls here on onewed have to put into their gorgeous weddings, and YOU ONLY HAD TO PAY FOR YOUR SUIT AND THE RINGS, YOU SPOILED BRAT), and now he had to spend a bunch of money he couldn't possibly afford on a suit. Instead of voicing all of my frustrations, since he was obviously being irrational, I silently gave him a hug, let him sob into my chest and get his snot all over my shirt, and ushered him over to the suiting sections of Macy's and Nordstrom to get a feel for what was available.

I'll admit, I know very little about menswear. As I was pointing to things that might look good, Kane sniffled, tried not to start crying again, and said that they lacked style, were too formal, were only for office wear, etc. I told him what EarlyBird said about Men's Warehouse, and he stared at me as if I just suggested he attend the ceremony naked. "Men's Warehouse is like the Walmart of formalwear." He grumbled, wiping his eyes.

"What's wrong with Walmart?" I replied. "I got the same Talking Stitch they were selling at the Disney Store for $58 at Walmart for $27..."

"The suit that I'm wearing for the most important day of my life is a little more important than a stuffed animal... Hmm, nice shoes." He stopped and picked up a pair of shoes. "Excuse me, do you have these in a 10?" He asked.

TWO HOURS LATER... We left the store with THREE PAIRS of shoes, totaling around $300. "Do you want shoes too?" The saleslady asked me.

"No." I replied flatly, too worn out to be polite.

Kane talked excitedly about his new shoes all the way home, then took me out for Pho so I wouldn't have to cook after he put me through retail hell. After we ate, he apologized for being so difficult, and later, owning more pairs of shoes than I do. He asked me if I wanted to go out shoe-shopping with him after the wedding. "No thank you, honey, I have all of the shoes I need." I replied, completely uninterested in buying new shoes I probably wouldn't wear to alleviate his guilt.

The next day, I was too busy studying to run the last of the wedding-related errands with him, so I was surprised when he returned, happy as a clam, to announce that he was the proud owner of a $400 cashmere sport coat. He said that he decided to go the sport-coat route so he could keep the pants we bought the day before, and only the cashmere would do. He then told me that it would be ready for pickup at 8:00 Tuesday night. We were supposed to be in Moro Bay then! But it was actually finished around 5:30, so we made it to Moro Bay, the first hotel stop on the way to our Catalina Island wedding, at a reasonable hour.

[EarlyBird]

Hello, everyone! I'm back from my wedding, which was AMAZING and nearly perfect, by the way, so I will do my best to record the days leading up to it while I still remember them.

So, without further ado, I present to you the GREAT SUIT SAGA.

From Day 1 or even before Day 1, Kane knew exactly what kind of suit he wanted to wear. It was made by a Canadian company specializing in unusual garments, and he fell in love with this wool, ankle-length, single-breasted suit jacket with lots of buttons (I think 9?) that flared at the waist and swished and swirled when the wearer moved. I joked around with him and called it his "wedding dress," as it cost a full $200 more than my wedding dress, and probably had more fabric in it. Well, I thought it was pretty silly of him, but he loved it, and I'm not one to crush his wedding dreams. Most of my wedding planning revolved around incorporating as many of his ideas as possible, as they were often better than mine.

Anyways! The suit jacket arrived the week before the wedding. Kane excitedly pulled it from its box, tried it on, and ran into the living room to show me... And he looked TERRIBLE. Kane is about 5'11" and 185 lbs of mostly muscle, and the flared jacket accentuated his worst features, his thick waist, and the styling, which included too-big shoulder-pads, made his neck and his long arms and legs look stumpy. Seriously, he looked like a Hobbit wearing a Halloween costume of Neo from the Matrix.

I tried to smile, but I could feel the corners of my mouth twitching down. "Let's try it open." I suggested, attacking the buttons. Open, it looked marginally better, like he was wearing a too-big black bathrobe with shoulder pads. "Or... maybe not." I added bemusedly.

Kane stubbornly turned toward the mirror and swished a little in it. "There's nothing wrong with the suit, you're just not used to seeing me in a suit." He said defensively.

"Can you try wearing a normal suit jacket so I can compare?" I asked.

"I don't have one," He replied, "but we can try on one of my Dad's!" His father, who lives on a sailboat, stashes his suits at our place so he doesn't reek of that musty old boat smell in the office. His father is also considerably shorter and fatter than he is, so the suit he tried on didn't remotely fit him. Even with the terrible fit, wearing Daddy's suit looked better than wearing his stupid man-dress.

"I'll sleep on it." He said, realizing that we only had a few days until the wedding. I was too busy rushing to complete other wedding-related tasks to worry much about it. If Kane wanted to wear a ridiculous outfit on our wedding day, I would deal with it. As the lovely RebelChick pointed out, I would only be focused on his face during the ceremony (TRUE STORY) and it wasn't worth the drama.

So, on the weekend, he insisted on taking the horrid thing to a department store to get pants and a shirt to match. We found some lovely wool pants on sale that were a perfect fit, and he found a nice white suit shirt with a texture he liked. He was quite pleased with his purchases...

Until he tried them on with the coat. He suddenly realized that he looked like a short, squat little troll with the coat on, and instead of being a big boy and acting like a mature adult, he curled up in the corner of the dressing room and CRIED. He cried about how he was 35 and he was still a financial failure (Uhm... you make a six-figure salary, sweetie), he lived in a crappy little condo (1500 sq. ft. /w ocean view - what do you want, a mansion?), and was having a crappy little wedding with no budget (OMFG, do not start with me about the budget, it's $15,000, which is way more than most of the girls here on onewed have to put into their gorgeous weddings, and YOU ONLY HAD TO PAY FOR YOUR SUIT AND THE RINGS, YOU SPOILED BRAT), and now he had to spend a bunch of money he couldn't possibly afford on a suit. Instead of voicing all of my frustrations, since he was obviously being irrational, I silently gave him a hug, let him sob into my chest and get his snot all over my shirt, and ushered him over to the suiting sections of Macy's and Nordstrom to get a feel for what was available.

I'll admit, I know very little about menswear. As I was pointing to things that might look good, Kane sniffled, tried not to start crying again, and said that they lacked style, were too formal, were only for office wear, etc. I told him what EarlyBird said about Men's Warehouse, and he stared at me as if I just suggested he attend the ceremony naked. "Men's Warehouse is like the Walmart of formalwear." He grumbled, wiping his eyes.

"What's wrong with Walmart?" I replied. "I got the same Talking Stitch they were selling at the Disney Store for $58 at Walmart for $27..."

"The suit that I'm wearing for the most important day of my life is a little more important than a stuffed animal... Hmm, nice shoes." He stopped and picked up a pair of shoes. "Excuse me, do you have these in a 10?" He asked.

TWO HOURS LATER... We left the store with THREE PAIRS of shoes, totaling around $300. "Do you want shoes too?" The saleslady asked me.

"No." I replied flatly, too worn out to be polite.

Kane talked excitedly about his new shoes all the way home, then took me out for Pho so I wouldn't have to cook after he put me through retail hell. After we ate, he apologized for being so difficult, and later, owning more pairs of shoes than I do. He asked me if I wanted to go out shoe-shopping with him after the wedding. "No thank you, honey, I have all of the shoes I need." I replied, completely uninterested in buying new shoes I probably wouldn't wear to alleviate his guilt.

The next day, I was too busy studying to run the last of the wedding-related errands with him, so I was surprised when he returned, happy as a clam, to announce that he was the proud owner of a $400 cashmere sport coat. He said that he decided to go the sport-coat route so he could keep the pants we bought the day before, and only the cashmere would do. He then told me that it would be ready for pickup at 8:00 Tuesday night. We were supposed to be in Moro Bay then! But it was actually finished around 5:30, so we made it to Moro Bay, the first hotel stop on the way to our Catalina Island wedding, at a reasonable hour.



wow.. i cant wait to wear more.. i guess he was entitled to a groomzilla moment. i know my fh is more of a snob then me when it comes to items like clothes etc - maybe its a guy thing ;)

[RosieAngel]

Tuesday: My last day of work and school before the wedding. I was so focused on getting extra work done before leaving that I didn't notice the wedding gift wrapped in pretty white paper with a shiny iridescent bow on top. My boss' boss commented that she couldn't believe I was working so hard - She said she couldn't focus on work at all the week before her wedding!

Everyone threw me a small party - the gift, an inside joke, was one of those 36 packs of Skittles you can pick up at Costco. I'll try to explain: My boss is corpulently obese and has this weird obsession with giving everyone edible gifts/rewards for a job well done. He also thinks I'm way too thin (I'm average build, neither fat nor thin, I think), so he always tries to bring me junk food from the student store to fatten me up. When I first started working there, I refused everything. He said that he made a list of everything I refused: ice cream sandwiches, Hershey's chocolates, Snickers bars, Three Musketeer bars, Lay's chips, Doritos (multiple flavors), Sun Chips... the list went on and on. One day, he offered me Skittles, and I accepted on a whim. I then asked to see the horrific nutrition facts, and my boss refused to show them to me. "Oh well, you only live once!" I said before I shoved a fistful of the candy in my mouth. I think I was chewing on that wad of candy like it was gum. It kept me occupied for at least 20 minutes.

After that, my boss bought me a bag of Skittles at least once a week, and he threatened to throw Skittles at the wedding the way people throw rice. I said that I might need a hard-helmet for that, and then we began making Space Balls Theme wedding jokes. Anyway, he bought me Skittles to throw at the wedding, though we left them at home. We're not quite sure what to do with all that candy. Maybe we will feed it to Flower Girl #1 when she comes over.

In addition to the obscene amount of Skittles, I received a card with well-wishes and $200 that my office-mates had pooled together. I was incredibly touched, as I work at a college with people who make marginally more than I do. We ended up using the money as spending cash in Catalina. I forgot what it all went toward - I remember a 2-hour Adventure Tour of the island with a little old lady driving a bus over a very narrow dirt road through the nature preserves, a really cute white linen cloche that the girls pinned a bit of tulle to as my hen night hat, a candy apple to split with Kane and my bridesmaids, and a mani/pedi the day of the wedding. I'm sure I'm missing something. I still have $20 of the wedding gift left.

In class, my psychology teacher announced that I will be missing class because I am getting married, and he asked for a student volunteer to lend me their notes when I returned. Surprisingly, all of my volunteer note-takers were guys in the class.

Around 3:00, Kane picked me up from school, as we had leant my car to his father, who doesn't have one, and dropped me off for a pre-wedding haircut. I'm still trying to even out my A-line bob into a more blunt one with even layers throughout, since my hair is naturally wavy and the massive amounts of heat-styling required to maintain said A-line was killing my already slow-growing, baby fine hair.

After the haircut, I picked up deli sandwiches from Columbo's Delicatessen (if you are ever in Pacifica, CA, stop by there - the Italian cold-cuts are delicious!) and walked up the hill to the house. I then finished packing for the wedding, finished folding the laundry, did the dishes, and began studying the unit on Ancient Egypt in my Art History class until he arrived home, at 5:30, with the suit jacket in tow.

We packed as much stuff as possible into (or rather, onto the roof-rack of) his stupid little Pontiac Solstice convertible. We drove with the top down all the way to Morro Bay, with girly music like Sarah Brightman and Kylie Monogue blaring.

When we arrived at the hotel we always stay at in Morro Bay, the Blue Sail Inn, Kane began complaining of a sore throat, which I told him was probably due to dehydration, but was actually due to a nasty head cold he would pass onto me the day after our wedding. Thank goodness I didn't get it before!

[brendalin]

Glad to see you are back! Can't wait to hear more!

[Danielle9608]

Wow Rosie I am so sorry about the suit nightmare. Glad it worked out in the end. I could not help chuckling as I read your tale though. You should be a writer! BTW: CONGRATS on becoming a MRS. :ura1:

[Nekochanpurr]

Whoa!! You sounded busy!! I can't wait to hear more about the day of!! :D Congrats lady!

[RosieAngel]

Wednesday: This brings us to Morro Bay, CA. We decided to spend the morning there, exploring the town, which we had discovered a few years ago while being way too tired en route to San Diego Comic con. Morro Bay is known for Morro Rock, the stock of an ancient volcano, which we walked up to, and a nature preserve designed to protect the Snowy Plover. In addition to the galleries that are pretty standard fare in seaside towns, there is a really cool shell shop there, where the owners sell shells they've collected from all over the world. I've been eyeing this really cute pink and orange whelk-shaped shell from Vietnam for the last two years. They are asking $7.50 for it. To be honest, the only reason why I haven't grabbed it is that my shell collection only has shells Kane and I collected ourselves. It would be odd to have a candy-colored shell from the other side of the world in our collection, even though Kane has a few shells from his childhood spent sailing in the Caribbean. But I really like that shell, and I am told that it is rather unusual. Perhaps I will pick it up one of these years.

At about 3:00, we received a call from D.E.W, my best friend who came all the way from PA to be there for the wedding, saying that she had arrived in Long Beach and wanted to visit us at the Hotel Queen Mary, where we were scheduled to spend that night. So after a quick lunch of scallops and chips and grilled oysters over at this cool outdoor fish market where the seagulls harassed us for french fries, we headed into Southern California traffic, which took us forever to get out of.

We arrived at the Hotel Queen Mary, an old British ship that had been used in WWII, used for passenger cruises after the war, and retired in the late sixties, and called D.E.W. D.E.W. had somehow managed to sneak in (most likely by walking like she owned the place), since people are not allowed onboard without a hotel key, and had enjoyed a salad by the time we arrived and decided that we needed salads too. We hugged, caught up, and, after dinner, explored the old ship that had a very Art Deco feel to it. We made fun of the kitschy tourist shops that seemed out-of-place amid the beautifully decorated banisters and warped flooring, reenacted scenes from Titanic on the deck, and generally acted silly. It wasn't until nearly 11:00 that we parted ways and collapsed in the large, luxurious bed taking up 90% of the dark, cramped historic room whose fixtures hadn't been updated. Seriously, there was a TINY shower stall in the bathroom with one sketchy outlet that sparked whenever you removed your hair-dryer from it, and one very dim, WWII-era light and portholes, which could be opened, thank goodness, for light. As far as furniture went, there was a small wooden countertop built into the wall and one stuffed chair was wedged between the bed and the wall, and the floor, which, like every other surface of the ship, slanted toward the head of the bed. There was no closet, so I hung my dress and his suit jacket, still in plastic garment bags, on the shower stall.

We slept with our feet higher than our heads in the plush, downward-slanting bed, with the portholes open, the covers low, and the sea breeze on our shoulders.

[RosieAngel]

Thursday: First thing in the morning, Kane, FFIL, and F-Girlfriend-IL (?) met in front of the Hotel Queen Mary. The entire day, FFIL was being a pain, as usual.

"Whose idea was this trip?" He asked accusingly. I pointed to Kane.

"Who booked my tickets?" He asked.

"I did, is something wrong?"

"You didn't give me the senior rate."

"I'm sorry, I forgot that you were an oldster. Take it as a compliment that you look so young!"

"I want my discount. Can we exchange the tickets at the terminal?"

"I'm sure we can." I assured him.

"Why did you choose a day after summer vacation?" He suddenly changed the subject.

"It was too expensive otherwise." I replied.

"You should be focusing on your education!"

"I am." I replied, deadpanning.

"Did you bring your homework onto the island?"

"No, I did it all in advance."

"You'll fall behind, you know."

I didn't bother continuing the conversation. "Honey, do you need help with that?" I called out to Kane as he loaded even though he obviously didn't.

After a super-fun time exchanging tickets for Senior rates at the ferry terminal, we met up with D.E.W. in line. It was a hot day, unlike our other trip to Catalina, which started out cold and foggy, and none of us except our resident boat-dweller, Bob, had summer hats. So we sat getting our scalps sunburned and our hair blown almost vertical for an hour. The cold, high coastal winds felt refreshing, though!

Kane's English family were waiting for us when we arrived. We shared hugs before dropping our bags off at the hotel, along with D.E.W.'s, since the Best Man's family, who rented out the vacation home that she and the other bridesmaid would be joining in on, wouldn't be arriving until late that evening. We took a shower before meeting everyone at Antonio's Pizzaria, though only one of his cousins ate pizza.

After lunch, we met T.A.T., another bridesmaid, my MoH, and a few other friends at the ferry docks. Here is a picture T.A.T. took of the island:

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u189/piratethiefnami/KR_wedding/KRW_07.jpg

We enjoyed a bit of shade in the Metropole Marketplace while she grabbed some food. Here is D.E.W. and I chilling, also taken by T.A.T.:

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u189/piratethiefnami/KR_wedding/KRW_09.jpg

her bag at my hotel suite and gathered up the BM'd for a meet and greet. They all got along great! Thea gave me an awesome pre-wedding pampering gift from Bath and Body Works:

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u189/piratethiefnami/KR_wedding/KRW_11.jpg

My playing with the tulle inspired all of the girls to drag me out for a bachelorette party! MoH pinned a bit of tulle to my hat to look like a wedding veil, ignored the pointing and snickering of the occasional passer-by who saw me, and dragged me to El Galleon, which had a karaoke night that was canceled due to a football game. BOO!

The restaurant:

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u189/piratethiefnami/KR_wedding/KRW_12.jpg

[Nekochanpurr]

Looks like you had fun.. Sides the senior discount thing! And seriously.. Bring homework with you?!?!?!?!
The hotel though.. Sounds AMAZING!! WANT!! :D i love historic stuff!

[Thalia_themuse]

Sounds pretty amazing thus far, hanging out for the rest... :winktongue:

Sorry you had to go through that massive suit saga so close to the wedding, sometimes I don't understand what goes through the heads of men?? Ah well. Congratulations on being back, and a MRS!!! I'm hoping the wedding itself was lovely!

:grinhappy::grinhappy::grinhappy:

[sunflowersummer]

Can't wait to read about the rest!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!! I'm soooo happy for you!!!

[bichonlvr]

Okay lady....LOVE the stories...but we want more pics :)

Congrats!

[RosieAngel]

Even though there was no karaoke, we made the bachelorette party fun. I think part of the fun was all of the pointing at the crazy decorations and making commentary.

A garden gnome greeted us!
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u189/piratethiefnami/KR_wedding/KRW_13.jpg

Fish!
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u189/piratethiefnami/KR_wedding/KRW_15.jpg

Cocktails and fried food - Yummm!!!
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u189/piratethiefnami/KR_wedding/KRW_19.jpg
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u189/piratethiefnami/KR_wedding/KRW_17.jpg

[RosieAngel]

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u189/piratethiefnami/KR_wedding/KRW_16.jpg

[RosieAngel]

Thanks for the congratulations, everyone! I'm waiting on the professional pics, but I guess I can post the few pictures I received from T.A.T. to the wedding stories forum...

[RosieAngel]

You can see them here: http://forums.onewed.com/showthread.php?t=21133

[RosieAngel]

Here are a couple more pre-wedding travel pics, courtesy D.E.W:

On the deck of the Queen Mary:
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/CatalinaWeddingDW006.jpg

On the deck of the ferry to Catalina Island:
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/intaglio_ink/CatalinaWeddingDW013.jpg

[sunflowersummer]

The Gnome is awesome, haha