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Here's an entirely random assortment of inspiration pix I've been saving.
First, more pumpkins!
This is a sweet pumpkin pattern I found called "Wedding".
This is from a bride and groom who got married close to Halloween, so they added some Halloween touches...she had a toned-down Bride of Frankenstein costume on. Can't remember how I found them, maybe the Offbeat Bride photo group?
I actually found a tool online that will do this to pumpkins (or fruit, or what have you) so you can put tea lights in them. I love these little votive holders! I totally want to use this idea.
I can't remember where I found these, but here are some cute pumpkin patterns that are more abstract:
One couple used a pumpkin as their guest book. I'm torn on this one--it's super cute, and am I really going to look at the guest book in the future? But then again, if I wanted to, I couldn't with this guest book, since it will rot eventually!
This is a really cute idea for table numbers, if we decide to go that route:
More table inspiration:
I love all these candles. It looks so pretty:
More candle ideas:
From the wedding with the pumpkin guestbook, courtesy of Offbeat Bride, here are some cute favor bags:
And prizes for best costume! I've thought about a costume contest for our wedding, but as Mr. T pointed out, who would be the judge?
That same couple had an awesome cupcake stand, and creepy Halloween cupcakes! They are a couple after my own heart (check out the toasting flutes too, I totally want to steal that idea):
Not Halloween-related, but fun, and also by way of Offbeat Bride, a whole wedding party in Chuck Taylors (even the bride!):
More unusual bridal footwear (and appropriate for Halloween!):
Another Halloween wedding. I think this photographer is local to me. I like her work, so I'm going to chat her up when the time comes...This minister looks like Otho (from Beetlejuice) to me, and I love the coffin backdrop (again, note the groom's footwear):
Mr. T didn't like the idea of black suits with black shirts and orange ties for his guys (he said they'd look like waiters), but I just think this looks very cute and seasonal. Sorry about the thing in the middle, I did this as a screen capture and apparently my mouse was in the wrong place, bringing up bizarre messages about settings and such:
I found a leopard print wedding dress! So cute! I don't love this particular print, but I am a huge fan of the faux leopard. Hm....
I found this dress as a possible alternative silhouette. It's like the best of both worlds: I could dance in it, but could have a bit of a train (I think...it's hard to tell). Imagine this as a red corset dress and sans the odd diagonal line down the front and tell me what you think:
So, I finally finished this book.
I do admit that I went into it a little defensive. I mean, I'm about to get married, so reading a book that appears to be condemning the modern practices of weddings set me off a little bit.
Mr. T assured me that he thought the author's opinions were an unbiased look at the wedding industry, so I took the plunge.
It turns out, I totally disagreed with Mr. T on that one. I think she judged every person she came across and every wedding she attended. There was bias oozing out of every word. It didn't help that the author is British, so it really came across as a "you Americans" kind of book.
I don't deny that there are a lot of horrifying things about the wedding industry. I knew it before I read the book, but reading about her interviews with industry professionals and attendance at conferences where the bride is described as an "easy mark" or a "drunken sailor" was difficult. It made me angry, as I suspect it was intended to.
However, I also got the feeling that the author completely agreed with these professionals. That she thought American brides were pathetic, aimless creatures who were looking for anyone and anything to give their weddings (and therefore their lives) meaning and validation. I had a hard time with that. One of her main arguments seemed to be that the brides she interviewed had a hard time telling her what a wedding was for, exactly, and that the wedding "traditions" practiced in this country have dubious origins, like the "Apache prayer" that came straight from a Hollywood movie portrayal of Native Americans, or any number of "mongrel" ceremonies with elements of the "traditionalesque" that are "both overwrought and yet impoverished". (These are her words, seriously. Unbiased, not so much!)
In her epilogue she admitted that she'd gotten married while writing the book and had a small civil ceremony in a judge's chambers and a small no-frills get together at a family member's house. Which is fine, if that's what she wanted. But why condemn the choices of all her fellow brides in the process? She also admitted that she felt that since she was not a religious person, she couldn't get married in a church, but she felt disappointed that there were not more real traditions she could have used in her wedding.
Mr. T and I were talking about wedding "traditions" and cultures that have held onto their traditions in general. His opinion was that as a "white dude" in America, he just didn't have a lot of traditions in his culture, and that was sad. My counter-argument is that that's what I like about this country; that cultures who have clung to traditions have also perhaps clung to less-desirable traditions, like traditional class systems or gender roles. I differ with the author of the book in that I embrace creating new traditions that mean something more to me, rather than clinging to old ones that don't have relevance in my life.
Anyway, as a capper, I thought the language was overly formal, clunky, and complicated. So, it wasn't even an easy read. She should've taken some notes from The Tipping Point.
Next up: at home, I'm re-reading the last Harry Potter book. I'm enjoying it much more now that I'm not rushing through it to find out what happens! It's also just way too huge to lug around with me everywhere, so at work and on the train I'm reading In The Company of the Courtesan, which I borrowed from a friend. I haven't bought a book in months!
It turns out that the date we'd set for the engagement party is not going to work after all. We're looking for a new date again.
If this is how hard it's going to be, I'm beginning to dread planning this wedding. At least we know what date we want to do that, however!
Sigh.
On Saturday I had a typical crazy day--haircut in the morning, then dance rehearsal, then the MOH and I went to the Annie Leibowitz exhibition at the Legion of Honor, and finally I took my ladies out to see Made of Honor as sort of a wedding kick-off. Oh, then dinner later--you know, the usual overstuffed day. I'm not happy unless I've got 20 things to do!
The exhibition at the Legion of Honor was great. I hadn't ever been there, so it was a surprise how gorgeous it is. It's set right on the Bay and would be a great place to take photos; in fact, we saw TWO wedding parties there taking pictures. Both sets of bridesmaids were in hideous dresses. I'm just amazed that still happens in this day and age. One set was in a hot pink, ruffled mini dress, and the other set was in burgundy (better color than that pink, but...), matronly floor-length coat-dress. Crazy. The MOH and I were amazed. My ladies will be wearing black dresses and black shoes of their own choosing; I can't fathom asking anyone to buy a hideous dress they'd never wear again. What a waste of money!
After a half-hour power tour through the exhibition (some of the photos made us weepy; she's such an amazing photographer), we zoomed over to the Metreon for what we all anticipated would be a terrible but fun movie. We each got a $1 massage in one of the automatic massage chairs. That was bizarre--we were giggling and yelping. Then we all crammed in and took photos in a photobooth. After that, my bridesmaid attempted to win me a stuffed animal from one of those coin operated claw machines. We were totally robbed--she had that panda all lined up with the claw, but the thing just wouldn't grip it. Robbed!
Finally we got upstairs and saw the movie. It was a bit better than all of us expected. Patrick Dempsey's much cuter than he was in his Loverboy days, that's for sure! It was entertaining fluff and we all had a good time.
After the movie we rushed to the mall to try to get to Out the Door before it closed, but to no avail. We ended up eating mediocre thai food and then yummy gelato to finish it off--no girl outing is complete without sweets, right?
It was a really fun day with my ladies. Hooray!
(Sydney Pollack plays Patrick's dad in the movie, so it was startling to read that he died yesterday. Weird to think we probably just watched the very last project he completed.)
The Wedding Singer was on TV last night. As we watched the scene where Adam Sandler, heart newly broken, sings "Love Stinks," to baffled wedding guests (getting the "losers" at the reception to chime in on the chorus), I laughed and told Mr. T I would think that was hilarious if it happened at our wedding. Then, after the bride's dad punched Adam Sandler out and caused a huge brawl, I took it back. I definitely wouldn't want a brawl.
Still, I love that movie. We're not having a wedding singer, though, unless Adam Sandler's free and would like to come sing at my wedding pro bono.
I have been dragging this past couple of weeks, thanks to being out of town and then getting sick (bleah), but I'm here! I couldn't stay away for too long.
The wedding stuff all feels very far away sometimes. I get disheartened; like, why even try to plan when there's no way we can make a decision? And we've had no luck thus far trying to find a non-football impacted venue to even look at. Le sigh.
However, we actually did make a decision yesterday (I think!). We picked a date for our engagement party. This party has been pushed out time and again because of how long it took us to get our guest list together, and then everyone was too busy to discuss dates, and then, and then, and then...but we did it. We picked a date in July, which hopefully gives people time to purchase airfare if they'd like to fly in. Hoorah! I'm just waiting for the MOH, my bridesmaid, and one of our friends to send out the Evite/invites now.
It feels good to get something on the calendar. We're having it at the MOH's house and I believe it's going to be a Halloween in July-themed party...she has tons of decorations she can put up. I don't think we're making people dress up, though, but as you all know, I love a theme.
I'm really excited to get all our friends (and hopefully family, if they can make it) together to pre-celebrate an event that will be 12 years in the making! It lifts my heart.
I can truly attest that Fiberwig is sweatproof. I spent 5 days in 100-degree weather (no air-conditioning!) at a belly dance festival, taking 7 workshops (some of them involved jumping, and ALL of them involved squats) and performing, and the mascara didn't budge. That makes it a true find in my book.
Also a find, but I knew this before, is MAC's waterproof eyeliner. The only way to remove that is cold cream...or a chisel.
You will all be proud of me; despite 5 days of absolute temptation in the form of rooms and rooms of vendor booths, I stuck to my guns and bought one thing. ONE. This is monumental. On Day 5 I was getting weak, though...the feathered hair barrettes were SO cute. So, it's good I wasn't there any longer. I might have broken.
I'm not actually sure I have a lot to say about this one (aside from yes, the title sucks). Kim Harrison's books are fun, trashy, supernatural fiction. There isn't a lot of literary value to be gleaned, but her books do keep me up until 2 a.m., because I have to know what happens next.
Her books are set in an alternate reality where humans coexist with witches, vampires, werewolves, elves, pixies, fairies, and demons. This book introduced a new character, Bis the gargoyle, who I liked--he was very endearing. He didn't really do much, though, so I suspect his role in this book was just a set up for the next, where he might play a larger part.
The main character, Rachel Morgan, is a witch who is self-employed as a bounty hunter/private detective, along with her partners Ivy (a vampire) and Jenks (a pixy). She's also on the run from several demons who want her for a variety of reasons. As with most heroines in this genre, Rachel is a badass with a big mouth and a bigger heart. She wears leather, drives a red sports car, and generally flirts with danger every chance she gets.
In this latest installment in the series, Rachel is mourning the loss of her vampire boyfriend Kisten, trying to figure out who killed him so that she and Ivy can track him down, learning new ways to defend herself from the demons that are after her, dealing with family secrets, and working hand in hand with a drug lord that she can't stand in order to save herself and his race (the elves).
Like I said, it's not Anna Karenina (I certainly wouldn't be staying up late to finish that one!), but it's plenty entertaining and good summer reading for those who enjoy paranormal fantasy.
Next up: I'm finally reading the wedding industry book! Mr. T has moved onto Rock On, but we can't renew it b/c it's apparently a popular book in the library system and there are requests for it. So, Todd is scrambling to read it before the due date! I didn't realize the library did that. It makes sense, and if I were waiting for a book I'd be bummed if each person before me kept renewing it multiple times, but in this scenario, it would've been nice to keep it for a few more days. Perhaps Mr. T needs his own library card?
This weekend Mr. T and I finally used some gift cards that have been sitting around since Christmas! It was like a sanctioned spree, which felt really good after trying to be so careful with our cash lately.
First up was Sephora (Mr. T didn't make this part of the trip with me...I met up with him later). I bought the Fiberwig mascara I blogged about in my makeup post. While I do like it, I agree that it in no way compares to wearing false lashes, which is what the packaging claims. Or maybe I'm doing it wrong. Still, if it's really waterproof, that makes it a perfect wedding mascara.
I also bought Benetint, as part of my blush experiment. I like it! I wish it weren't rose-scented (it is supposed to be a lip and cheek tint...who wants rose scent in their mouth?). But anyway, it's nice and subtle. I'll try it out a few times and take pictures before I pass my final judgment.
Finally, I bought a tester of that photo finish primer I blogged about. That stuff is not cheap, let me tell you, which is why I bought the tester. I haven't tried it out yet, though. Again, I figure photos will tell the real story. At this point I was over my gift card amount, but oh, well. ;-)
After Sephora we trekked up to Macy's--first to the men's department to buy Mr. T shoes (this was his bday gift from me). He found two pairs he liked, and one was so heavily discounted that we got him both pairs! We felt like super bargain hunters. Next we went to the housewares section and bought a set of sheets and a set of new towels. I wanted the sheets to be a deep red, but when we got them home we discovered they're more brick-red, or rust-red. Oh, well. They were on sale. They also have a "Dobby stripe"--we weren't sure what that meant, but took it as a sign since one of our cats is named Dobby. The towels are green and ultra fluffy. And we only ended up paying $8 to cover the tax!
When we handed our gift cards to the woman behind the counter, one of them wouldn't scan in, and she just handed it back and said, "this one's not going to work." I kept handing it back to her and asking why, exactly, it wasn't going to work. Frankly, if she hadn't finally made it work (she had to swipe it rather than scanning it), I was ready to walk out. What crappy customer service--she really couldn't have cared less about us or our transaction. We will not be registering at Macy's!
Last night, to continue the theme, I made a pasta salad from a recipe out of a cookbook that I got for Christmas that I hadn't even looked through before. It was yummy. We watched Hot Fuzz and The Darjeeling Limited. Both were great. It was a nice little weekend together with my future hubby. Sometimes I get so busy with dance and seeing friends and going to the gym and other obligations that I forget the little domestic things that keep me happy, too. It's always nice to have some downtime with my kitties and Mr. T.
Mr. T and I were watching the Gene Simmons reality show on the DVR last night. It was the episode where Nick goes to Magic Mountain with his girlfriend. Mr. T turned to me and said, "Have we ever been to a theme park together?" I had to think about it, but I realized that no, we have never been to a theme park together, in all of our 10.5 years of dating!
One year we planned to go to Disneyland, but it didn't work out. So we set a tentative date to try and do that this year at Christmas. Mr. T grew up near Disneyland and loves it. He asked me, "What's your favorite ride,?" To which I had to reply "Space Mountain". I mean, is there any other answer? Of course it's his favorite ride too. See, we were meant to be! ;-)
The MOH is in China right now. I told her to bring me back a Hello Kitty Mah Jongg set. ;-)
For those of you who want to make your Hello Kitty wedding dreams come true (don't worry Mr. T, this is not on my list of wedding wishes), at the Hankyu Hotel in Japan, you can have a full-on HK wedding, including the dress:
The ring pillow disguised as an HK slipper:
Floral arrangements:
The cake:
And of course, HK herself as a guest at your wedding:
I also found this lovely Bridesmaid dress thanks to WeddingBee (see how easy you've got it, ladies? This could have been your fate...):
And thanks to Hello Kitty Hell (which is hilarious), I found these wedding rings (the groom's engraved HK face is on the inside, at least they have a little sense):
And this alternate wedding cake:
And of course this HK wedding certificate:
HK fanaticism knows no bounds! Truthfully, if I went to a wedding like this, I would think it was kind of awesome.
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