Girl Meets Girl (& Other Peculiar Love Songs)

Thanks Everyone

2009-12-18T17:26:00.001-08:00

And so, this chapter of our story comes to an end. I don't think K and I will be continuing to keep this blog up very much- I won't say never, but rarely for sure, as neither of us is a particularly dedicated blogger, but if you'd like to keep following us, feel free to find me on deviantART.

Thanks for sticking with us through this ride!

The Last Dance

2009-12-18T17:14:00.001-08:00

The Last dance was by far my favorite moment of the day. We danced to Coldplay's Yellow and about halfway through the dance, everyone started to gather around us and form a circle, swaying to the song, and K and I could just feel so much love in the room. This is why we didn't just elope. We are so lucky to have such a wonderful, loving community of friends and family. Really, look at it. That's a family if ever I've seen one. K and I were crying by the end of it, and laughing and just so overwhelmed with how much joy there was in that tent. So K called out, "Okay everyone. Group hug!"

I don't think she expected it to happen.

But it did.

And I don't think either of us thought that moment could have gotten any better.

But it totally did.

Our wonderful photographer was Kevin Jacobus of NHimages.

The Break Dancing

2009-12-18T17:11:00.001-08:00

Regan was the life of the party, I'll tell ya. She started, at one point, to "break dance" (mostly, just rolling around on our dance floor rug in the most adorable fashion possible), so naturally, we formed a circle and clapped her on.

Then she ran around the circle giving everyone high-fives.

But it gets better. THEN she ran around the circle and gave everyone a hug. It was awesome.

Our wonderful photographer was Kevin Jacobus of NHimages.

The Bouquet Toss

2009-12-18T17:09:00.000-08:00

Cake Cutting

2009-12-18T17:05:00.000-08:00

Now watch closely. There's a story here.

The knife broke.

But we were determined!

The lesson here is that rice crispy treat wedding cakes put up a fight, and there may be some casualties, but at least you don't have to smash it in each other's faces.

Our wonderful photographer was Kevin Jacobus of NHimages.

<3

2009-12-18T17:02:00.000-08:00

These are, very possibly, my favorite photos from the whole thing. I remember looking over and seeing them trying to get my attention with this scene. I didn't realize it got caught on camera. Am I lucky or am I lucky?

Our wonderful photographer was Kevin Jacobus of NHimages.

The Party! Part the Third

2009-12-18T17:00:00.001-08:00

Our wonderful photographer was Kevin Jacobus of NHimages.

The Party! Part the Second

2009-12-18T16:55:00.000-08:00

Our DJ (above and below) is clearly the sexiest b*tch ever. It's obvious. She's a great friend of ours who not only can spin some great tunes, but can also make art like no one's business.

Our wonderful photographer was Kevin Jacobus of NHimages.

The Party! Part the First

2009-12-18T16:46:00.000-08:00

Our wonderful photographer was Kevin Jacobus of NHimages.

Some Details

2009-12-18T16:36:00.000-08:00

I worked my butt off making decorations and stationary and stuff. K and I made the ring book (above) together, altering (altar-ring? GET IT? GET IT?) an old novel about airships that we found at the flea market. I spent days and days working on designing signs and programs and little books because hey! It's an excuse to have a good time, to me. I did it not because That's What You Do but because I love making stuff like that. I had a blast with it. But yes, I'm totally devoting a post to this. Eventually, I'll get around to uploading the image files from all that stuff to my deviantART page. But for now, here's some of what the photographer captured.

Our wonderful photographer was Kevin Jacobus of NHimages.

The First Dance

2009-12-18T16:30:00.000-08:00

Our first dance was to Aerosmith's Avant Garden.

I had a friend who spoke of fate and he
knew of another place in space in time.
He told of how me and my lady could look but we would never find,
Said if you please, I beg your pardon,
sometimes the things you see, they just ain't so.
Your life can be an avant garden,
cause loves what makes your garden grow.

The sun leads the way. The moon lights the sky.
I see you and I lying in my Avant Garden.
I dream of the day when our worlds collide.
We won't be denied here inside our Avant Garden.

Our wonderful photographer was Kevin Jacobus of NHimages.

Formals

2009-12-18T13:04:00.001-08:00

The Wedding Party:

(from left: Best Man, Matron of Honor, Bride the First, Bride the Second, Maid of Honor, Officiant)

K's family:

M's Family:

Our wonderful photographer was Kevin Jacobus of NHimages.

The Ceremony

2009-12-18T12:23:00.001-08:00

It ended up being too cold to have the ceremony outside, so the whole thing happened in what I now like to affectionately call the Love Tent. :) When our Officiant, Ben, walked in, one of the kids shouted "WHAT IS THAT?!" which was one of the highlights of the day. Ben later told us that, "Gasmasks hide laughter very well."

Something happened in between here (above) and there (below) where, just as K was reading her vows to me, my shawl slipped off my shoulders. She laughed in the middle of saying "With this ring..." and finished with a quick "...I make you drop your shawl."

Sometimes it's just good to laugh.

Our wonderful photographer was Kevin Jacobus of NHimages.

Anticipation

2009-12-18T12:20:00.001-08:00

Some photos from just before the ceremony started, in the wedding tent:

And meanwhile, back at the ranch (AKA the green room):

Our wonderful photographer was Kevin Jacobus of NHimages.

Let the Photo Rumpus Begin!

2009-12-18T12:11:00.001-08:00

I'm finally getting a chance to go through and re-size the photos for the web, so Yay! This means you get to start seeing them!

So here's the first batch. I'm going to be posting these in installments over the next week or so, so keep an eye out!

The tent in which K and I got ready was total chaos, and it was FREEZING that morning. I even ended up wearing two pairs of socks when the plan was to go bare. We were shivering, trying not to let the wind blow down the tent, and laughing the whole time.

Our wonderful photographer was Kevin Jacobus of NHimages.

:D

2009-12-01T19:26:00.000-08:00

The wedding photos are done. We got the email about an hour ago, saw them online, and hee! They came out beautifully. Tomorrow, K's going to call the photographer to find out what we have to do next. You can order them online, but I know we bought a package with the photographer that gives us credit towards prints, and we get a CD with the high-res images, so we want to make sure we know what we're doing and how to obtain the prints.

At any rate, expect some dumpage of wedding photos and anecdotes in the near future-ish, once we figure out how to obtain them. I'm in the middle of sending out MFA applications, and have deadlines breathing down my neck, and also have a pile of submissions to the journal for which I edit that need reading, so it might take a while, but hang in there! I'm really looking forward to sharing these.

Hee!

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T21:39:00.001-07:00

Hope it was a good one for all of you! (And yes, those ARE my wedding goggles. I'm SO going to wear those every chance I get.)

Just To Tide You Over

2009-10-29T12:42:00.000-07:00

Basically it goes like this: K and I are still in recuperation mode, I'm taking my GRE's in two days, and then we're giving the honeymoon another try next week, since the first time around, I was so sick that neither of us actually honeymooned. So. The recaps are going to have to wait a little longer, and I'd kind of like to wait until we have the professional photos back for the recaps to start anyway.

But really, look at this guy. He was our officiant. Very solemn fellow.

So, in the meantime, I thought I'd post some teasers. These are some photos our friend Judy snapped at the wedding, so you can get a taste. (Thanks, Judy!!)

Home

2009-10-26T14:18:00.000-07:00

KNOCK KNOCK!
(Who's there? You ask.)
K and M!
(K and M who? You say.)
K and M WHO ARE MARRIED NOW WOOP WOOP!

First of all, let me just say that the wedding was fantastic, better than anything I could have hoped for. We had fun, we danced, we laughed and cried, we were surrounded by friends and family, people dressed up in awesome costumes, and there was so much love I still kinda tear up thinking about it. We got married. We got married!!

I promise to update with details and pics later. But for now, I'm tired.

K and I have actually been back from the honeymoon for a couple of days now, even though we weren't supposed to be home until today. Because, you guessed it! I got hella sick. *laughing* The first day of the honeymoon, I woke up with the worst sore throat I've ever had, and by day three, we decided we had to come home early because I couldn't even swallow and it hurt to breathe. Turns out I have some kind of infection in my throat- similar to strep. I'm on antibiotics now, and just starting to feel better. So the plan is to try and have honeymoon mark 2 in a week or so. I have my GREs a week from yesterday, and then after that, we'll try it again, and maybe this time we'll get a real vacation, since we didn't actually get to do anything or leave the hotel room, and not even in the fun newly-wed way. *laughing*

Anyway, once I'm feeling better, I'll update with photos and stories and such, promise!

In the meantime, our engagement photos were featured over on So You're EnGAYged! Pretty cool!

2009-10-16T06:30:00.001-07:00

YOU GUYS IT'S TOMORROW ASFKLAS;GHDKL;AGHDKLGHFDKSFGHSAJKDFSA

yesterday: the epic adventure of getting the tent up. lots of baking.
today: rehearsal dinner and running around like chickens without heads.
tomorrow: marriage. :)

I can't wait.

2009-10-09T09:19:00.000-07:00

With the wedding about a week away, life is getting really crazy. I've got constant butterflies in my belly, my emotions have been all over the place, from stressed to giddy to nervous to sad (between the fact that my dad won't be there and that the one year (!!) anniversary of his death is only about a month away).

Yesterday, and tonight, and possibly more tomorrow, are going to be spent finishing up the dresses. In case you're just now tuning in, our good friend, Leah, who is one of the Best People (we're sharing three of 'em between the two of us, rather than having a traditional wedding party- it's a long story) was kind enough to make our dresses/ outfits for us as a gift. I still can't get over the generosity of this gesture.

So now we're scrambling to finish them up (K and I are sous chefs to her Morimoto of the sewing world) and last night was an adventure (about 12 hours of sewing time, ending at approximately 2 AM). The adventure was particularly thrilling and lulzy when Leah was in the middle of using the sewing machine and I was ironing and then the entirety of Nashua blacked out. We panicked. Then we gathered flashlights and candles. Then we started hand-cranking the sewing machine- Leah guiding the fabric, K turning the wheel, me holding three or four flashlights to light the sewing table. Then we laughed. A lot.

After about 20 minutes ish, I'm guessing, the lights came back on, so it worked out okay, but that was a nice adventure to add to the books. We tried to take pictures, but then we realized the flash from the camera lit the room nicely enough that it just kinda looked like we were goofing around with flashlights for no reason. *laughing* Anyway, we're working more on them tonight, and again tomorrow if need be. I can't wait to see them all done, and I think they're going to look stunning. It's worth the work and the wait and cutting it this close because really, even only mostly done- it's beautiful work. And I know she keeps saying she's worried we'll be mad at her that we're cutting it this close, and I wish I could come up with just the right thing to say to put her mind at ease. I just feel so lucky that she offered to do all this work for us, and so lucky that these garments will have so much meaning and so many memories attached to them even beyond the wedding.

Finally Some Photos

2009-10-07T19:50:00.001-07:00

Last time Leah came over to do a fitting for K's jacket, I finally remembered to take some photos. And Leah even happened to be wearing the Best Man shirt I made for her that day, so double points!

The jacket was still in the assembly stage, so you can't tell too much about what it will look like, but I assure you, it's awesome. And the fabric is inside-out in these, but rest assured, it's also awesome- a beautiful gold and brown brocade.

Tomorrow, Leah's coming over with the finished products, and we can't wait to see them all done!

Also, while I'm at it, I guess I can post the other T-shirt designs now that everyone's received theirs. (And yes. The t-shirts are all gender-switched.)

Shower Weekend!

2009-10-03T10:32:00.000-07:00

Things have been a little crazy what with all the writing of big scary checks to vendors and being swept off to a surprise bachelorettes party, and we haven't gotten a chance to post about last week's epic Shower Weekend!

It started out on Saturday when M and I went off to do some errands and came back to find a slew of cars parked in front of the house. Inside, the first floor had been redecorated by our Rockin' Best Man Leah and our lovely friends. The only lights were strung up lanterns and blue string lights that made everything white glow--including Baby, our guinea pig. There on the floor was the area rug from Romania that we plan to use as our wedding dance floor and there were pillows all over the floor and gypsy music playing. And of course, a bunch of our awesome friends all standing around waiting for us. We listened to good music and ate great food and had great conversations. It was fantastic! My face hurt from smiling so much.

The next morning we were off to Pickity Place with my side of the family for an incredibly delicious lunch all made with fresh herbs and local ingredients. Pickity is this cute little place hidden up a dirt road in Mason, NH so getting there can be a real adventure. We got to sit around and chat with the fam' and have a great time. After everything that has been so high energy, it was nice to have some time to just sit around and catch up with people we love.

I know there were pictures taken at both showers, but we haven't seen them yet. If they pop up, we'll probably add them on here, and if not that will be okay too. Just imagine us with huge grins surrounded by people who love us.

Suprise Bachelorette Party Goodness

2009-10-03T09:40:00.000-07:00

So last night. LAST NIGHT. *laughing*

K and I thought we were going to dinner with her brother, Shawn, and sister-in-law, Lauren. We thought it was a little weird when we got to the restaurant and we didn't stop at the hostess station, but some guy told us he had a room reserved. We thought it was super weird that as soon as we walked into the room, someone was aiming a camera at us, and is that MO'Brien?

And it was! The result? A fantastic bachelorette party that didn't require us to party separately, some fantastic food and wine, even BETTER company, 3 embarrassing moments that could have been worse and were actually a lot of fun, the revelation that I don't know K's favorite movie, but that's okay, because she didn't know mine either, scrabble, fondue, a whole lot of chewing gum, blinking light-up "bride" sashes (both of which ended up on K by the end of the night), and a whole lot of hugs.

(Photos are courtesy of Jenn - Thanks!!)

Embarrassing moment number 2. There was a slide show. Of embarrassing baby and teen!years photos. What more could you ask for?

Shawn quizzing K about how well she knows me. Neither of us did very well on this exam, but both of us were about 3 glasses of wine in, to be fair.

The aforementioned great company.

It was SO awesome. So thanks, you guys. We had such a great time.

Deep Breath

2009-10-02T09:56:00.000-07:00

Just paid the remaining balance for the venue and tent-rental fees, the photographer's paid off, all that's left is the food bill, and even taking what's left to be paid into account, our budget's looking good. And the best part is? We'll never have to pay that money ever again.

And that is a goooood feeling.

ETA: Also, it has come to K's and my attention that October 17th is supposed to be the day for peak foliage prettiness in NH. My, what good timing! SO COOL.

Lookin' for that chill pill

2009-10-01T11:48:00.001-07:00

As K and I come up on the two week mark (!!), I find myself freaking out more and more, not about whether we're making the right decision, but about how we're going to pull everything off, there's so much to do, oh god what if this happens or doesn't happen or that falls through or or or...

But you know what? Two weeks.

TWO WEEKS

THAT'S CRAZY.

*panics and flails*

I'm so glad K has a good head on her shoulders and can get me breathing again every so often. Now! Off to make some programs!

In Sum

2009-09-24T21:50:00.000-07:00

The dresses? They're gonna kick some srs butt.

Leah just left from our fitting/ visit time, it's 1:00 AM, and I can say with confidence that K and I are gonna look HOT. They should be done by Monday, at which time we will have them in our hot little hands, and at which time I will commence with the "beading" by which I mean, I will commence sewing clock bits onto my dress.

I'm glee-ing out right now. She's so talented.

(Ugh aheheheh I totally forgot to take pictures again.)

Centerpieces

2009-09-24T11:45:00.000-07:00

As I was working on printing our programs and waiting for our printer to get its stuff together (some of the pages of some of the programs are going to be pink or purple or blue or crazy rainbows because the black and white ink decided to drop some acid before printing some of these, I don't even know, but eff it, they'll look cool), I finally got around to taking some pictures of the centerpieces Cassie helped K and I make a few weeks ago. The photos aren't great, but I'm sure the photographer will get some pics of them once they're like, on the official tables on the official day and stuff, but. Here's a peak at some of them:

Later today: Dress fitting! (And Leah Time!!)
This Weekend: Wedding Shower Weekend!

Engagement Photos Are A GO!

2009-09-21T18:11:00.000-07:00

K and I just got back from meeting with our fantastic photographer, NH Images, and though we walked away poorer a whole bunch'a dollahs, we also came home richer a disk full of 80-something high-res images to with what we wish, so long as we don't turn a profit. SO! I thought I'd post a handful of photos from our Engagement Photo Session! (Though, it feels weird to call it that, since our engagement was such a long one. It's more of a Hey Yippy We're Getting Hitched Photo Session, really.)

2009-09-20T08:41:00.000-07:00

On Monday (That's tomorrow, actually. Huh.), a few things of note will be occurring. First, Leah is coming to do another fitting for the dresses (the third to last, I believe? There will be three of them next week and the dresses are scheduled to be done by the 26th or the end of the month at the latest. We are so lucky), and I can't wait to see what they're looking like. Not to mention I, oh, I dunno, miss her like woah. So. That's an awesome day right there as it is! I'll try to remember to take some pictures this time. We'll see how that goes.

But wait! It gets better! K and I are also going to be meeting with our photographer to pick up our engagement session photos and discuss which photos we want them to make sure to take day of. I'm pretty psyched to see the pictures. So keep your eyes peeled for some highlights of those soon, as well. I'm looking forward to finding out if K and I (not normally very photogenic) actually look decent in photos in the hands of a very talented professional. *laughing*

Also, I don't know how many of you out there are actually reading this, and I don't know how many of you are also LGBTQ engaged couples, but there's an awesome give-away going on over here. So if you're an LGBTQ couple lookin' to get married/ who just got married, you should check it out.

So yeah. This is the boring "heads-up" post. Hopefully the next couple of posts will be a bit more interesting.

Five Years

2009-09-11T11:02:00.000-07:00

As of today, K and I have been together for five whole years.

And next month, we get to start being together for the Rest Of Our Lives.

I can't wait.

If I were a better blogger, I'd write about how after five years, it still seems like we're just starting out, and it seems like we've been together forever. I'd write about how easy it is to have entire conversations in only exchanged glances, never a word spoken, but it's easy to read the muscle tension in her shoulders or the set of her eyebrows. I'd write about that wonderful sixth sense that comes with knowing someone so well that it's like they're an extension of yourself. I'd write about how love is work, and even though there are fights and hard times, the work seems effortless when that first kiss seals the deal on making up, especially when you were never really afraid you would split due to the argument (maybe a little afraid it would just result in some couch time for the night, but that's not so scary come morning).

I had something like three more paragraphs about this stuff, but it was cheesy and dumb and it doesn't even begin to encompass what I'm feeling and how thankful I am.

So instead, this: I love that I fall in love with her at least once a day, and I love that we have so many wonderful friends and family who believe in us and support our relationship like they would any other. That means the world to me.

Let There Be Cake!

2009-09-10T09:45:00.000-07:00

We ordered our super secret stealth wedding cakes today! We're getting them from this fantastic place in Amherst called the Dutch Epicure and goodness do they bake tasty things. These are stealth wedding cakes because the bakery has not been let in on the information that they are going to be consumed at a wedding, since the use of the W-word tends to lead to unnecessary price jacking.

So we ordered awesome cakes for a "theme party." The theme being steampunk which they had, of course, not heard of. We were originally going to go with some marzipan steampunk decorations, but apparently marzipan requires special care so it won't melt before our awesome party--and we both figure that around the day-before-the-wedding point we might be just a wee bit too stressed to care about the state of marizpan. Marzipan nixed, we're falling back on Plan B: super awesome tasy cakes and DIY.

Have I mentioned that I cant wait? :)

2009-08-20T19:28:00.000-07:00

K and I wanted those cheesy "BRIDE! YAY!" t-shirts too, only we didn't want to pay a bajillion bucks for them and we didn't want them bedazzled to hell. Therefore, the obvious solution was to buy some cheap t-shirts from A.C.Moore, and I'd paint them.

So today, I broke out the fabric paint and the fabric markers and had some fun painting! I'm super proud of the results.

This one's K's:

And here's mine:

I tried to make 'em steampunky, so I figured you can't go wrong with robots and clock towers, right? :)

The War of the Flower Beings

2009-08-19T20:41:00.000-07:00

One of the benefits of having gone with silk flowers (besides that they're very eco-friendly, re-usable, and mucho cheaper than real ones) is that we get to play with them as far ahead of time as we want.

And we wanted to play with them yesterday. Because it is fun. So there.

Our wonderful friend (and from hence-forth, she shall be referred to as The Bitchin' Bloom Wonder Warrior), Cassie, came over and graciously offered her help to us in this matter for the small price of a few daiquiris. It was well worth it and a lot of fun, but little did we know that the stems of these fake flowers were made of wire clearly forged on the planet Krypton. And, while we didn't have any Kryptonite with which to conquor these beasts (otherwise we would have had multi-foot long stems on everything), we did have a saw.

Below, you will find, for the sake of Historic Record Keeping and also the lulz, a photo-story illustrating the Fierce Battle of the Blooms:

(Also, hey, did you notice my cool use of Poladroid? It's that neat-o thing that probably everyone and their grandmother knows about, but in case you haven't played with it yet, click the above link. It's cool. I promise.)

Wedding Shoes Have Been Acquired

2009-08-15T12:45:00.000-07:00

I found my shoes today! And what's more, they kick ass. I mean this in the way that they're totally not shoes that will only be worn once. I'll likely wear them every single day from my wedding on until they disintegrate from use because they are So. Darn. Comfy.

I'm such a hippie yuppie kid. Yeah. They're Birkenstock Clogs. And they'll be perfect and I guarantee I'll have the comfiest feet around. And now I don't have to feel cruddy for buying shoes I'll only wear once and feeling like that was a waste of money! Especially since I couldn't find a pair that both fit and matched my fabric for under $20, like K did*. And frankly, if I'm going to pay more than $20 for shoes, they'd better last me years. I'm super psyched.

*Also, in case you were wondering, here's a nifty swifty photo of K's shoes. Well, one of them anyway:

Some Thoughts on Wedding Uniqueness and the Speshul-Indie-Super-Cool-Kid Image

2009-08-13T20:31:00.000-07:00

There's a lot of pressure out there, it seems, to be a Super Speshul Indie Original Politically Conscious Bride.

And I like to think I'm doing all that just fine, but sometimes we need to step back and kind of evaluate things a bit.

I've been thinking about this a lot lately, and then I came across this post over at To Each Her Own, and it made me think.

For instance, Kris and I both have strong political beliefs and a strong aversion to the diamond industry as a whole, so when we decided to buy our rings, we both set out to get Indie Super Cool Cheap Non-Diamond Unique Rings That Say We Are Very Sensible And Green.

Well. I'm here to admit, officially, in a public forum, we both walked away with diamonds. Granted, they're really more like diamond chips, so the cheap part worked out well. And we bought them from a seller (a mainstream one, yes, I'll admit it) that only sells Green diamonds. Guaranteed not to be soaked in the blood of, well, anyone. But there's still this feeling of guilt and a need to explain or defend our choice of diamonds. See? Even now, I'm explaining.

But the rings are beautiful and they make us feel beautiful and they really feel like the perfect symbols of our commitment, you know? And that's really what they are. So who cares?

Why should I feel the need to defend myself? Where is this guilt coming from?

Sometimes that Indie Super Conscious Unique Image needs to be re-evaluated to make sure you're not being unique for the sake of being edgy alone.

It's about so much more than that; it's about being true to yourself and feeling PERFECT and knowing that the beautiful you feel is about so much more than just pretty. So sometimes, traditional and cheap and expected holds something special and unexpected and priceless, and it's good to step back and be brave enough to look past the knee-jerk reaction of Wedding-Industry-Rebellion.

Good News, Everyone!

2009-08-11T17:19:00.001-07:00

I've just had a brilliant plan!

(And no one can stop me from making bad Futurama jokes, apparently.)

There is a reason K likes to keep me away from my blogroll full of DIY crafting blogs.

What if. JUST WHAT IF. I learned to master Sculpy (Hint: probably not). And then I'd be able to make ALL KINDS OF WILD THINGS. Like menu holders for the buffet! And the seating chart! And they could be shaped like ROBOTS!

Guys?

Guys?

Where are you all going?

Musings

2009-08-11T08:37:00.000-07:00

The other night, I was sitting in the living room watching K on the deck just on the other side of the sliding glass door. She was saying something to my mom about the garden she's been working so hard on, the one she lets me help with sometimes, even though I have an awful black thumb. There are vegetable sprouts coming up now for a late harvest, and she was explaining something about it that I couldn't hear from inside.

I guess it sounds a little cheesy, but I just kept thinking, I hope this is what's in store for the rest of our lives. She was laughing, and I couldn't hear it, but I could see it in her body even though her back was turned to me. And I couldn't stop smiling like an idiot.

Lately, too, we've been told on a couple of occasions how strange and funny it is to watch the two of us together, that we read each other so easily and silently; people can see whole conversations happen between us through exchanged looks alone. I guess I've never really thought about it, but once it was pointed out to me, I've been more conscious of it. And you know what? That's what I love about being in love. There's so much understanding and not really a need to constantly fill gaps of space with sound because you're just comfortable and you just understand.

You guys, I can't wait to be married to her.

Take a Picture

2009-08-02T09:34:00.000-07:00

K and I just got back from our Hey-We're-Getting-Married-Soon Photo Session, which was a lot more fun than I thought it was going to be.

We made funny faces. We hid behind trees and kissed in public (which is weird for us- totally not used to PDA).

Our photographer, Kevin, from NHimages, has been great so far- very comfortable to be around. He gave us good direction, but not so much that we felt like it wasn't us anymore, and he was really good about K's limitations with walking. We went to Mine Falls Park for the session, and he seemed to have just the right amount of "Do you think you can manage this walk to X distance away?" as opposed to just totally ignoring the fact that she was on a cane and assuming she can just keep up whatever, or worse, totally ignoring the fact that she can walk short distances and is capable of, in fact, setting her own pace. It was nice not to have to stop and explain things to him. He took it right in stride, very professionally.

He was also very friendly and easy to chat with, which made it easy to relax enough that the photos won't come out too stiff and nervous looking (I hope). I don't think we were too nervous. I guess we'll find out when we see the photos, which should be ready for us within the month, I think.

It was also pretty cool that he seemed reasonably psyched about the fact that our wedding is going to be fairly non-traditional. I was happy to hear that he enjoys shooting weddings that are out of the norm, because, while we won't be having mud-wrestling or rocket-launching, it certainly won't be typical, either. He even said something about how, as we described what our plans are, that this might be the kind of wedding that he could get the photos published in some kind of magazine or publication or something, which I, for one, think would be pretty kick ass. I guess we'll have to see after everything is done, but for now, I'm really happy knowing that our photographer is easy to work with and easy to get along with. And it was a nice morning, overall (After the initial "Oh shit we have to get up and get our pictures taken oh shit oh shit oh shit aaarhg pfffffft" moments were concluded. We tried to keep them brief.)

Oh Look!

2009-07-31T20:43:00.000-07:00

I think those might just be going in the mail tomorrow or something. :B

I'm pretty proud of how those came out. I had fun making them!

Catering

2009-07-31T20:03:00.000-07:00

Whelp, Kris and I went and booked the catering today. I'm feeling good about it. It's going to end up costing us like, $300 less than we thought, even though we're getting more in the pickles and chips department, which is brilliant. Everyone loves pickles and chips, right? And there'll be stuff for meat-eaters and veggies and gluten-free-peeps alike.

Kris and I have started working on writing the ceremony, too, which is harder than I thought it would be. But it's coming together in a good way I think. It's nice and floofy-new-age-y and it talks about Love. You know, like you do. I have a confession to make. We are floofy-new-age people. You'll see. Kris more than me, but I can't plead innocent. Don't worry though. We're trying to keep the kitsch to a minimum.

In other news, the invitations go out tomorrow! So be on the look out for them you guys!

Let's get some SHOES

2009-07-28T19:03:00.000-07:00

I am the luckiest woman in the world for many reasons, most of which have to do with Kris.

This is reason number 6,432:

She found her wedding shoes today. They are steamy, punky, adorable flats. Silvery-taupe with brown buckle-y things and they will look amazing with her skirt. And she found them. In the children's shoes section. Because her feet are Just. That. Tiny.

Yes. The first pair she tried on? Was a kid's size 6. And they were. too. big.

I'll let that sink in.

It's making me type in fragments.

That is all.

[End transmission.]

Noms

2009-07-24T19:40:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow: Catering.

Hopefully, it'll work out beautifully. We're headed to The Seedling Cafe tomorrow to see about them providing us with organic lunch catering, hopefully complete with options for both omnivore and vegetarian- and celiac-friendly fare. Their wraps are delicious, so I'm really hopeful that we can swing it- their prices seem do-able and it should be relatively easy to make a buffet out of their nom-worthy good eats. But that's what tomorrow's for: answering those questions.

In the meantime, Kris and I have been sporadically making goofy faces at each other and asking, "So, should I make this face when we have our photo session?" (It's a week from Sunday.)

Yeah. We're classy broads.

ETA (7/25): Hahaha so yeah, they were closed today. This place is pretty hard to get a hold of, I'm finding. Must be part of the whole mom and pop thing, which is worth dealing with as long as everything gets taken care of in the end. Oh well. I guess you'll all just have to wait to hear about catering until sometime next week, when they will (hopefully) be holding their regular business hours. :B

Counting Down

2009-07-17T10:06:00.000-07:00

Exactly three months to go! And just a couple of weeks until the engagement photo session. Although, it feels kind of weird to call it that, since we've been engaged for about four years. So. The hey-we're-in-love-and-gettin'-hitched-lookit-us photo session is coming up sooooooon. To be honest, I'm a little nervous about it, if only because I generally dislike being in photos, but I know how happy and excited for it Kris is, and that makes me happy. And it'll be nice to have some good photos of us together.

Also, speaking of photos... Yesterday, my holga camera came in the mail. I'm super excited to try it out. Neat-o-nifty-swifty honeymoon pictures ahoy!

Piture Time!

2009-07-06T12:29:00.000-07:00

Here, have some pictures of some of our flea market treasures and Kris taking apart some clocks.

In fact, have a neato-cool bee's knees video of Kris fiddling with the clockwork bits!

Onward! To Adventure!

2009-07-04T19:39:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow: To the Flea Market! In Search of Vintage Things That Are Both Decorative and Cheap!

Film at Eleven.

ETA: SUCCESS! \o/ (There may or may not be, tucked somewhere in one of the 19th century books we acquired, a chapter on phrenology and its how-to's. I feel like this might lead to some kind of very interesting Pin-the-Tail-on-the-Donkey games. Or something. I shall try to be good.)

Flowers!

2009-06-30T19:33:00.000-07:00

Kris and I just got back from buying our flowers for the wedding. We're using silk flowers since (a) they're eco-friendlier than cut flowers, (b) they'll last longer, and (c) I, unfortunately, have a black thumb and would surely kill any real flowers we bought. Also (d) cut flowers of the real variety are also of the out-of-our-budget variety (mucho dollahs).

Anyway, there's this great little place off 101 in Bedford called the Grenon Trading Company (I wish they had a website, or I'd post it) that has the most realistic silk flowers I've ever seen. and it's a little mom and pop place (we've been trying our best to stay away from big corporate vendors), and most importantly, they were having a 50% off sale, which is why I wanted to get them now.

This means we just bought our centerpiece flowers, my bouquet flowers, our female best-person's bouquet flowers (we have three best-persons shared among Kris and I - two male [my brother Robert and her brother Shawn] and one female [our friend Leah, who is also making our dresses]), flowers for boutonnieres and hair-twinings, and some flowers that will get worked into the book Kris wants to hold in lieu of a bouquet. Also the bubbles and a nice pen for the guest book, ribbon and floral tape and pins for wrapping bouquets, and some little lady bugs for the centerpieces.

All for $100.

True story.

I'm so thrilled. The flowers themselves are gorgeous - black-eyed susans, dasies, red garden anemones, lilly of the valley, little blue and purple flowers that I don't know the name of (did I mention my black thumb?), these green poofy things... They're lovely and I really can't get over how real they look. And seriously? I've seen bridal bouquets alone go for more than a hundred bucks, so I'm feeling great about this. Wildflowers.

I am a happy happy girl right now.

The Freeze and Its Melt

2009-06-25T13:55:00.000-07:00

Things have been super busy around here: My mom and sister, Kris and I have all moved into a new house together, which is wonderful, but insanely hectic. The place is gorgeous and so much more comfortable than where we were. So a lot of our time has been spent packing and unpacking and settling and Putting Things Away.

The thing that I have been coming up against, though, is that now that things are settling and I have the ability to buy the things we need for the wedding and everything is finally Okay To Go, I feel a little frozen. It's a little terrifying to actually go out and buy all these things that we've been brainstorming and bargain-hunting and day-dreaming and planning about. Part of me keeps thinking, "But this is so frivolous," and then there's the other part saying, "But this is your WEDDING. It's okay."

And I often wrestle with which one to listen to.

This freeze feeling has been giving me nightmares: Kris and I wake up to see that it's October 17th and we still haven't done anything further! I have ruined things by putting it off too much- the Freeze has ruined it and it's all my fault! We still haven't gotten the catering lined up! We arrive and our guests demand cake and we just don't have it! Oh the drama! The damage that Lack Of Cake causes!

But then I wake up and see her sleeping next to me, and I think of all the people we love who will be there, and I remember that it doesn't really matter. (What the heck, sleep-brain? Get over it.)

I think what it comes down to is that this is maybe frivolous because it's not the bare essentials, but the things Kris and I are looking at and, well, attempting to get up the guts to buy, will make us happy, and hopefully, make our guests (read: family, read: friends, read: love) happy, too. It's not like we're looking at lavish chandeliers and caviar and $80/bottle wine. (Not that there's anything wrong with that if it's what you want and it's in your budget and it's right for you- it's just not US.) But I've gotten so used to being terribly thrifty that it feels odd, not to mention scary, to actually click that "check out" button on Etsy for a fascinator (I did, by the way, and now Kris has the most gorgeous cluster of feathers for her hair. It was worth it, by far, and it feels good to know we're supporting a fellow artist with the purchase) or to bring those centerpiece details to the check out counter (I started that too, after much hemming and hawing and anxiety and now we have a lovely [if tiny thus far- baby steps, after all] pile of decorations started in the corner of our room, and I don't regret it one bit- they're perfect).

In the meantime, I've been trying to re-see the stuff we already have, and that's been helping a lot too. I mean, the stuff we have to buy new we've been trying to buy from small businesses and independent artsists, and from as organic and green vendors as possible within our budget. And that's great. But it's even nicer to realize that we have things that just need a little altering to make them go from great to perfect. And that's a great feeling.

For instance, when we were unpacking into the new house, my mom found a couple of beautiful old area rugs from Romania (they were my father's) that, with a little cleaning, would make a perfect dance floor. I had toyed with the idea of throw rugs on the grass as an interesting image, especially with the steampunk theme and the Victorian atmosphere, but rugs are so expensive that I chalked it up to a nice idea and just that. But it was such a great feeling to realize it was right under my nose, once I got my nose out of the Wedding Industry and back into my Life.

I think there's so much hype around the wedding industry to BUY BUY BUY and everything has to be NEW NEW NEW and BLING and Perfect with a capital P. And, never having planned something like this before, it's easy to get convinced and sucked in and that's where I start to feel all icky and uncomfortable. It stops feeling like us, and starts feeling like what they want us to be. But then things like finding that rug happen. And it feels good to know that we're re-using and re-seeing and re-inventing, and when we can't, Kris and I are supporting other independent artists like us.

And the most important thing, in the end, is the woman I'll be standing there with, and the people and the community we'll be surrounded by and the love that'll infuse the whole event. So, in the end, if those centerpieces aren't Perfect, well then. That's okay.

Here come the bride(s)?

2009-06-12T18:23:00.000-07:00

Hello all! This is the local other half of that lovely lady who has been keeping up this blog. I figure it's about time I weigh in on here. So here I go.

Although we have been engaged for over 4 years now, it never really crossed my mind until we set the date that I was going to be a bride. I am told it is normal to have a bit of an identity shock--being a bride is that culturally loaded.

I knew that were I set to the task of coordinating linens with our matching wedding colors, or rather the task of discerning whether or not our colors matched at all, I would fail. If left to my own devices, I would walk out to greet the day wearing fuchsia stripes and chartreuse polka dots--not out of any avant garde fashion statement, just general and sincere inability to see what exactly the difference is between matching and clashing. So help me, if one of two articles of clothing covers your top half and the second covers the bottom, that should constitute a matching outfit! Though I have been many times over informed that this is not so. But I digress.

When it comes down to it, I don't consider myself a bride. I just don't fit into that role in my head and don't feel a need to fit into it. Did that, in turn, make me a groom? If either of us is the groom, it's certainly me. I considered this for a while and even picked up a wedding planner for grooms while M poured over a stack of tomes for bridal success. By the time I had bypassed the section on pre-nups and got to the chapter on bachelor party strippers, I decided I was by no means a groom. Anyway that didn't make sense for us as a couple. We're a little too nontraditional to have a bride and a groom combo. And I don't really think I'm politically correct enough to be a "partner."

I was musing on this for a while when I remembered being a little kid and hearing the term "bridegroom." Or bride/groom as I heard it. The first thing that had come to my mind then was that a bridegroom was someone who wasn't a bride or a groom, but was something in the middle. Someone who was both.

So that's what we've settled on as our designations. We're a bride and a bride/groom. And that seems to work out perfectly for us.

2009-06-10T09:16:00.000-07:00

Kris and I have been busy with moving (we're living in the land of boxes right now, but soon we shall leave our cardboard kingdom for a house of siding and real walls.) so I haven't gotten a chance to really update all the progress we've made. There's been a lot, and it's super exciting, and since we've pretty much packed everything we can for now that doesn't include stuff like toothbrushes and clothing, I think I'll take the chance.

We booked the Audubon Center's back field, which is absolutely gorgeous. I feel all giddy every time we go and see it- the scenery is beautiful and the place itself, the people, everything about it is just so perfect. We also booked the tent rental and (surprise!) there are orange linens involved.

Not that I'm addicted to the color or anything.

Oh come on! It's in October! It's seasonally appropriate.

Okay fine. They probably would have been orange even if it were in June. I can't help it.

I should probably find myself a twelve-step program for this or something.

Also, we recently went and bought the fabric for our dresses with the beautiful and gracious Miss Leah, who's been so generous as to volunteer to custom make them for us. I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am about this. The colors of the fabrics are gorgeous- rich chocolate browns and ivories and traces of gold and copper here and there, brocade and shantung and... incidentally, about the shantung; I wonder which side is supposed to be the "front" - the textured side or the shiny side. Because I think it's supposed to be the shiny side, but Gods, I fell so in love with the textured side, so that's the one we're using. >3> Haha! And Kris is going to have a brocade coat with tails! How cool is that? And I have to go shopping online for some bags o' clockwork pieces or something, if I can find them. My goal is to use the clockwork bits as embellishment instead of beading for my dress.

Anyway, we also booked a photographer! His work is absolutely stunning- the grasp of light and motion and timing and composition in his portfolio makes me so excited that he'll be shooting the event. We've got an engagement session booked for early August, and Kris is really excited about it, which was a nice surprise. She usually hates having her picture taken, but this time she's really looking forward to it.

And the best part about all this? I'm very optimistic about staying within our tight budget. And that is a nice feeling indeed.

Celebration

2009-06-09T14:50:00.000-07:00

I haven't had a lot of time on my hands lately, but I wanted to take a moment to finally post a big, fat, happy HOORAY for NH legalizing gay marriage!

I have never felt so happy, so elated, as when I heard the news that our state had made the decision to change Kris' and my status as second class citizens. What a good way to kick of LGBT Pride Month, right? :D

Kris and I hugged and cried the biggest tears of joy when we heard the news. I felt happy and proud and overwhelmed.

The law won't be in effect in time for our ceremony, but that's okay. It'll make a great one year anniversary gift to ourselves to march over and sign those papers. Or, if we play our cards right, if one of us gets ourselves settled in a situation that we have insurance, maybe it'll even make a nice New Year's celebration. That'd be awesome, wouldn't it? At any rate- it's nice to know that the option is there, finally. It's nice to know that we're on the way to getting our lives into a place where we can face that possibility with a smile and a wink and know that it's real; the possibility is real.

Save the Dates!

2009-05-30T13:52:00.000-07:00

Steampunk: A Note

2009-05-19T20:34:00.000-07:00

What exactly is Steampunk?

To put it simply, Steampunk is a subcultural trend, a descendant of fantasy and sci-fi, whose aesthetic is a blend of science and magic, and it’s based on the daydream: When the people of 19th century Victorian England imagined the future, what did they see?

Just like we picture Star Trek and space colonies, sleek steel and tiny computers, they might have pictured steam-powered information-gathering and organizing devices, dirigibles and airships that actually work. Steampunk combines today’s technology with the technology of the Industrial Revolution, the sense of adventure that came with the height of Orientalism, and the constant sense of discovery that infused culture in the 19th century.

And then submerse it in sepia tones and make it run on steam and clockwork and maybe a little bit of magic.

Think of Jules Verne and Mary Shelly. Think of the World’s Fair. Think of Adventure and Innovation, Exploration and Invention.

Some Links for the Curious:

I think madbrewlabs.com puts is very succinctly, and really gets at what Kris and I love about it:

"Airships, clockwork contraptions, steam engines, gears, cogs, Victorian fashion, gaslights, and of course, goggles. All of these trappings hold the flavor of Steampunk… I usually think of Steampunk as 19th century earth but with anachronistic technology, or rather, modern devices created with 19th century technology. Usually steam-powered, hence steampunk. It is what would have happened if the Industrial Revolution went wild. So we have determined the first root of the word steampunk, but what about the other part? I tend to believe that the punk is derived from the rebellious, swashbuckling element of the genre. Adventure. Defiance. Many stories of the genre defy established social mores, religious dogma, and government philosophies. Punk also embodies the do-it-yourself anthem of the Steampunk culture."

So now that you have a grasp of the basics, on to fashion. If you’re worried about what to wear, don’t. Easy as that. We want you to be comfortable and have fun. But if you want to dress up, feel free! Go wild with some Victorian costuming! Combine an underbust corset with your favorite pair of corduroy pants! It could be as complex as a whole costume with bustle and corset or vest and bowler hat, pocket watch and coattails, or as simple as a necklace made of clockwork pieces from an old watch or a pair of aviator goggles thrown on with your dress. The point is to have fun above all else, so if you don’t feel comfortable dressing up in costume, don’t worry about it! We love you.

Also, I just want to take this chance to note- since the wedding will be out-doors, you might want to make sure you're wearing comfortable, sturdy shoes, rather than those sexy spiked heels I know each and every one of you keeps in the back of the closet for those unexpected special luncheons with the president.

Some Links for the Fashion-Conscious:

(Now, just to be clear, neither Kris nor I mean for these links to encourage you to BUY BUY BUY. Not at all. Rather, these links bring you to some awesome resources of inspiration and idea-gathering. Steampunk fashion is very easy to DIY if you are so inclined, and if you aren't inclined to dress up like this at all, it's absolutely NO BIG DEAL.)

That said, the wikipedia article on steampunk had a really great description of steampunk fashion:

“'Steampunk fashion' has no set guidelines, but tends to synthesize modern styles as filtered through the Victorian era. This may include gowns, corsets, petticoats and bustles; gentlemen's suits with vests, coats and spats; or even military-inspired garments. Often, steampunk outfits will be accented with a mixture of technological and period accessories: timepieces, parasols, goggles and ray guns.”

Also, just because I can't resist the opportunity to reccommend some good books or movies or cartoons and what-have-you, here's a list of some steampunk media, just to give you an idea:

Disney's Treasure Planet or Atlantis (although, Atlantis as a movie was kind of terrible.)
Jules Verne, Mary Shelly, H.G. Wells
The Movies Howl's Moving Castle and Castle in the Sky
The graphic novel The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
The webcomic FreakAngels ( http://www.freakangels.com/ )
The anime Last Exile

There. I hope that was helpful, rather than daunting. And if it was daunting, you know what? Don't sweat it. Don't worry. Come to a Party about Love that happens to be decorated kinda weird. Wear something you'll be comfortable in. Enjoy laughing at all those weird kids. Shake your head at how we'll look back at this one day and wonder what got into us. And have FUN.

Venue?

2009-05-19T12:23:00.001-07:00

SO! Kris and I may or may not have found our venue! Eee!

We went to visit the Massabesic Audubon Center in Auburn today, and it's gorgeous and they rent it for weddings and it's super affordable and the money would go to a GOOD CAUSE and it's outdoors and there's a handy dandy bathroom facility for guests to use so there wouldn't have to be port-a-potties and it's not too far away or hard to get to and and and it's absolutely lovely.

The whole thing feels quite serendipitous, actually. Seems like serendipity has been a theme in this whole wedding planning. There's an apple tree right in the field where we'd be set up, too, which felt like a sign or something. (If you know Kris, you know how important apples are to her- they're a symbol of life and healing [which is important to her because of all her health problems] and knowledge [which both of us value so much].)

The only thing is that you have to rent and coordinate all your own tents and tables and chairs and basically everything but the space. Which I think we can do, but it's a little daunting. I mean, those costs could be covered by what we save on the venue rental itself, and the space is nice enough that we won't need a lot in the way of decorations, so that's money saved too. I think it's definitely more than do-able.

So! My next task is to figure out exactly HOW to coordinate all that other stuff. Because I think the Audubon Center might be as close to perfect as it gets. The space is absolutely stunning- the trails are gorgeous and I imagine it'll be even more stunning in fall, when all the leaves are changing.

2009-05-18T15:29:00.000-07:00

As I was working on coming up with designs for our wedding invites, I came across this awesome stock image site. It's full of high-res images and scans of and from old books dating mostly from the 18th and 19th century, as well as some early 20th century. It's very very cool, and free, not to mention all the images are in the public domain. I thought someone out there might also find it inspiring. *grin* You can find it HERE. Hope you enjoy it!

Oh hi! I guess this is my wedding blog.

2009-04-25T11:48:00.000-07:00

So. I've been doing a lot of wedding research and reading and it's probably too much for my own good, but damn it, I'm excited to get hitched! Part of what I've been reading about is these new fangled wedding blogs and "wedsites" and how handy-dandy they are when it comes to keeping your friends and family informed and up-to-date with your plans. And, well, as much as I keep thinking, "Marie. Seriously. What makes you think people want to read about this?" I also find myself addicted to surfing the internets and reading other people's wedding blogs. Not to mention, it just looks fun.

So here it is. Kris and Marie's wedding blog.

We're still in the very early stages of finally fully researching venues and things, so there's no definite date, but we're aiming to tie the knot sometime this coming October (2009), which means it's going to be a quick planning schedule, but that's fine.

This is what we know thus far:

It's going to be weird and funky, just like us. That's somewhat expected, I should hope.
I can't get enough of the color orange, so that'll probably be there to burn people's retinas with love and vibrancy.
There'll be lots of books. (Yay!)
It's going to be a steampunk-ish, fantastic-imagination-land, RPG-influenced, adventure-and-kisses-themed literary bash. Think movies like Treasure Planet and Howl's Moving Castle or the work of Jules Verne. Think about what it would be like if the future happened in the past- what did people in Victorian England envision the future would look like?
There will be black-eyed Susans and daisies, or at least silk ones.
And The New Pornographers (which is an awesome musical band, for those of you not in the know.)
Our friend Ben is going to officiate for us.
We're trying to keep it as green and eco-friendly as we can afford.
It'll be tons of fun on a small budget, but we're artists and we'll make it fabulous.
While I often refer to it as a wedding, it's really a commitment ceremony, in that it's not going to be a legal affair. After long and hard consideration on our part, Kris and I feel that we really just want to spiritually bind ourselves together, and have a big celebration to announce and rejoice in our commitment to each other. The legal stuff will come later, for sure, just... when it feels right, when the state legalizes it, when things in our lives line up enough that it makes sense to sign those papers. But this is the real wedding, the real ceremony, the real commitment, the real thing, just like it's real Love. Some people don't go to town hall to sign those papers until the day after their ceremony. We'll be doing the same thing, only instead of the day after, it might be the month after, or the year or the years. Who knows. The important thing is that we'll be together, and that's what we're celebrating.

Anyway, as we go through the adventure of planning and having a same-sex commitment ceremony, we'll be posting our ups and downs, our excitements and finds; we'll be posting things as we come up with them, as they get set in stone, as they get planned and fabricated.

So come on! Hugs, everyone! That's right. I said it. *hugs*