The most awesome email ever

This lovely message hit my inbox yesterday:

I just wanted to let you know that your order is ready. The ring is beautiful! Please let me know when you would like to stop in to pick it up. Our hours are Monday through Friday from 9 am to 6 pm.

Woo-hoo! That was fast--we ordered it on 8/2 and we got the email on 8/11. We're going tomorrow morning to pick up my ring. I'll try to take a decent photo and post it this week.

So exciting!

Rock the Reception

TLC is not quite as good at making addictive reality shows as Bravo, but they are pretty close. I furtively watched the last season of Say Yes to The Dress, and now they're back with another wedding related show: Rock the Reception.

This time, they're capitalizing on two of my interests: weddings and dancing! Couples who want to choreograph an unusual first dance apply to be on the show, and professional choreographers Tabitha and Napoleon work with them on their chosen song. It culminates in video footage of the piece at the wedding, where they surprise all their guests with a choreographed "first dance"! On the episode I saw, some of the bridesmaids/groomsmen also joined in.

Tabitha and Napoleon were featured on this season of So You Think You Can Dance (another fave), and so it's nice to see them again, although the level of dance is somewhat...diminished. They do a good job of working with the folks they've got, but jeez, some people can't even clap on beat. I'm serious. I don't know why I'm shocked about that, but I am.

Anyway, Mr. T is of the opinion that this show won't last ("No one wants to see regular people dance," he opined), so I don't know if we can apply to be on the show; instead, I'm trying to sweet-talk one of our friends into applying so we can meet Tabitha and Napoleon. That would be awesome.

Research

Mr. T and I attended his business partner's wedding this Saturday. Not only was it fun, but we got to make mental notes for our own wedding! They got married in lovely Half Moon Bay, which is about 45 minutes away (more with traffic, as we discovered on Saturday), a lovely coastal town. Many of the guests spent the night in the B&B where the wedding was held, but because we are frugal and also procrastinators, we opted to drive down and back both nights.

Friday night the couple had a meet and greet in a pub. I liked the casual atmosphere. We are planning on doing something similarly relaxed for our "rehearsal dinner"--probably a pizza party with pumpkin carving. I liked the idea of opening up the rehearsal dinner to more of the wedding guests. Depending on the venue, we may think about doing that...plus, it means fewer pumpkins that I have to carve myself! ;-)

Saturday we drove down in the afternoon. I was late getting ready, as usual, and Mr. T was going to get dressed at the B&B after we got there, so I'm afraid I stressed him out. I have to remember to leave myself extra time on our wedding day. Mr. T got dressed in one of his coworker's rooms and we got ourselves out to the B&B garden and found seats in time for the ceremony. It was a little chilly outside, but not too bad, and the garden was beautiful. The bride and groom walked in together to Iron & Wine. I like the idea of walking together, but I think my dad probably wants to "give me away". It's something to think about, though.

I was pretty restrained and didn't cry too much, but as usual, I did have a coughing fit in the middle of the ceremony. I always pack cough drops for this reason. I have a contrary throat. I liked that the bride and groom wrote a poem for their friends and family. I don't know if Mr. T and I are up to poetry. Perhaps he can do some drumming and I'll do an interpretive dance to tell folks how happy we are that they're at the wedding. On second thought...no.

One thing I noticed was that although I could hear their officiant fine (he had a mic), I couldn't hear any of the bride or groom's vows, because the mic was not handed over to them. That was a bummer. Note to self: Need mic for all speakers at the ceremony.

After the ceremony we mingled and had appetizers and drinks. They weren't serving hard alcohol, but luckily the B&B had a bar, so I went and bought myself a drink...or rather, one of Mr. T's business partners bought me a drink! I would really like to make sure there's hard alcohol at our wedding, if for me alone. Some folks just don't like beer or wine. So, even if we have to go cash bar for the liquor, we've gotta do it.

The mingling was fun but perhaps a touch too long. I was pretty hungry by the time dinner came (most of the appetizers had dairy in them, so being a lactard, I didn't eat much). Note to self: provide some nondairy appetizers. Not that I expected that at someone else's wedding, but at mine, I'm gonna eat something! ;-) The other thing that happened during this time is that folks started claiming tables (there was no seating chart). I didn't notice until almost too late; luckily, we were able to score a table together with Mr. T's work crew. Dennise, you told me that a seating chart was the way to go, but I didn't quite believe you. Now, I think you may have been right all along!

The bride designed, wrote, and illustrated a cookbook for the wedding favors. I forget where she got them printed, but it was relatively inexpensive. The groom wrote an album for the bride, so that CD was the other half of the wedding favor. I really loved the favors. The cookbook in particular is so handy! And it's funny and contains blurbs about what and how they cook together. Very fun idea.

Dinner was buffet style, which is what we're planning on doing. The line did get long for a minute, but it wasn't too bad. The food was great and had different options for meats, but only one vegetarian option, and no vegan options. At our wedding, even though I don't think any of our guests will be vegan, I'm definitely going vegan for one dish. We do know more than one lactard, so I think it's important for us.

During dinner there were a couple of toasts (avec champagne), which we couldn't really hear. I think that was because we were outside...the sound just floated away. We won't have that particular issue. The same for the music after dinner--it never really got loud enough for dancing. I don't think that was their focus, though. Before the wedding I had asked the bride if there would be dancing, and she shrugged and said "Maybe!"

The bride and groom did do their own sweet first dance, and even though we couldn't hear what they were dancing to, we all cheered.

After dinner it started to get really chilly, so we were happy to go inside for cake--carrot cake! It's funny, Mr. T and I were just discussing carrot cake, b/c he loves it, but didn't think it would be a popular enough flavor, so we opted not to serve it at the engagement party. Based on how quickly that thing disappeared, I don't think he needed to worry! I think we'll probably over-order on the cupcakes to make sure everyone gets one or two...dessert is really the best part, after all.

The bride and groom were happy and also very dazed. Now that all the planning was over, they didn't know what to do with themselves. The groom told me, "I feel like there's something I should be doing, but I guess I'm done!" I thought that was interesting and that probably happens all the time at weddings. I hope that we are able to enjoy the moment without worrying about what's left to do, or what didn't go right. I in particular am a worrier. I hope I can be in the moment!

The merriment went pretty late--the ceremony started at 2 and there were still folks there at 10, when we left--but I think that was in part because folks were staying at the Bed and Breakfast. It was nice, though; folks changed into comfy clothes and settled into the bar. I hope we have a good crew who stays with us till the end! Who am I kidding, I know we will!

All in all, a very satisfying kickoff to the wedding season.

Shopping Adventures

I was in Walgreens this morning picking up your usual drugstore stuff plus a card for Mr. T's business partner's wedding this Saturday (this is the first wedding to happen out of the 8 or 9 engaged couples that we know--Mr. T and I keep telling each other, "Research!").

I noticed two "same sex couples" cards in the wedding section. Wow, even at a chain like Walgreens, they adapt quickly. I bet those cards aren't available outside of CA or Massachusetts, though. It's funny how the opportunity to make money will override any homophobic feelings. It's oddly encouraging to see the capitalism at work here--true equality! I also recently heard a jewelry company advertising wedding bands to all different types of couples--they really had to talk fast to squeeze it all into that 60-second advertising spot: girl-girl, guy-guy, AND guy-girl were marketed to. "We don't care who you are, we want your money!" It feels like the future has arrived.

Speaking of shopping, I was at Michael's this weekend and noticed they have the Halloween stuff out (two months early!). They have "treat sacks" available for 29 cents each--perfect for our candy favors. Based on my sketchy and incomplete research, that seemed like a good price to me, but I haven't bought them yet. It just felt too soon. I might go back though. If I wait until the post-Halloween sales, I'm worried they won't have enough.

More dresses

More dresses found in online wanderings. The red below is courtesy of the lovely Bekabee:


I adore the red color and of course I love the Halloween-appropriate graveyard photoshoot. But, I find it odd that the lacings are on the front of the corset. I just love the look of the lacings up the back. I do like the black touches on the dress, but I think I wouldn't like this skirt on me....too bunchy.




I like that this dress is more streamlined but still has character. However, the view from behind wasn't great. This one also laces up the front.



It looks like this company's corsets lace up the front AND the back? I find that odd. I like the front (except for the peasant blouse under the corset...a little too Renn Faire for me), but the skirt looks bad in the back.


I actually saved these photos because of the tuxedo cat, who reminds me of my own cutie tuxedo kitty. I also like that the cat matches the dress! I like the black buttons up the back of the dress and I like the black birdcage veil too. The gloves are a little 1980s Madonna for my taste.


I sorta like the asymmetrical thing on this dress, and that it's got some character without being too foofy. Still, it's not quite right.


I can't remember why I saved this one, actually! I think it's pretty (for a Cinderella-themed wedding) but the girl literally looks like a beached mermaid--like she would just be flopping that heavy bottom half of the dress around. Maybe this was supposed to be part of my "waify models hunching over in expensive white poofy dresses" collection.


Look at this, a white dress I don't hate! I actually quite like this but I have a feeling it would look crappy on me. It looks nice on the model's flat stomach and slender hips, but I sense that the cut and fabric would be unforgiving on a buxom curvy girl. Ah, well. A girl can look...

someecards

I found someecards after a coworker sent me a funny card during a particularly troublesome project. These are hilarious! There are tons of funny wedding ones; above are a small selection.

The website tagline is "When you care enough to hit send."

Got ring?

Or rather, the title of this post should be GOT RING!, because yes, my friends, we were successful in our quest for the one ring to rule them all...or at least, the one ring to rock my left hand.

We went to Brilliant Earth in downtown SF on Saturday morning. We were undercaffeinated but very excited. Mr. T cautioned me against getting my hopes up too high (probably a holdover from when we tried to get iPhones a couple of weeks ago and couldn't, and Mr. T was crushed. We've since gotten the phones, but that's another story...) Anyway, I had done my homework and looked at all their sapphire rings, and I decided that even if I didn't like any of them in person, we'd place a custom order, so I printed out a bunch of inspiration pix too.

Brilliant Earth is an awesome company that uses only ethically mined gems and metals, and they don't overcharge for their products. They also donate 5% of their profits to African communities. Sales associate Beth Leinonen met us at the door and escorted us to the elevator. The building is a fun old SF building that's tall and narrow, and when the elevator's doors opened and we stepped out into the hall, I noticed that all the doors had frosted glass windows with stenciled-on business names...it felt like we were going to visit a private detective in a Chandler novel. Beth laughed when we brought up the noir feel and mentioned she wanted to get a ceiling fan for their office so that you could see it circling through the frosted glass.

We walked into the BE office--small and simple, containing a table, three chairs, and a bunch of rings set up underneath a high-tech lamp. The display rings were mostly diamonds, although a couple did have sapphires set in them. We sat down and I started trying things on like crazy. To review, here were the rings I was considering:




This was the "Heirloom Sapphire Ring". I liked this on my hand okay, but it was priced a little higher than our budget. Mr. T wouldn't have split hairs over a few hundred dollars, but I didn't love it enough to want to go over budget, and there were a ton of gorgeous rings in our price range.

On to ring choice #2:


The Delicate Antique Scroll ring. This was actually both Mr. T's and my favorite ring when we looked online. However, when I got it on my hand, it was not quite right...I don't know if it was that the band was too narrow or that the lovely details were lost unless you were close to the ring...but it just wasn't the one. I tried it on with wedding bands to see if the "too narrow" problem would go away, and it was better, but I was still unsure.

Ring #3:


I really liked the Art Deco Filigree ring on my hand. The band was wider, the stone was not too "sticky uppy" as I told Mr. T, and the side was lovely...in fact, when I had it on my hand and turned it to view the side of the band, Mr. T and I simultaneously said, "That's very Lord of the Rings!" which made me laugh. The thing was, I really didn't like the diamonds. I thought I would be okay with diamond side stones, but once I saw them I just didn't like them at all. Actually, the ring I tried on had a diamond center stone, too, and it was just bizarre to have a diamond ring on my hand. It looked wrong.

I tried on a few others that I hadn't picked out previously, as well:

The Halo style was pretty, but didn't feel like me. Ditto for the next one:

The Pave Split Shank ring was pretty on my hand, but stuck up too far, and felt very traditional, especially with all those diamonds on the band.

The design of the Flower Bud ring was really sweet:


I loved the carved band, and the sweet "hidden" pink sapphire was fun. However, it stuck up too far on my hand and I just knew it would get caught on everything.

At some point I asked about swapping in pink sapphires, which you know I've been thinking about for awhile, and Beth brought out a tray of lovely hot pink sapphires, which she said had just come in--they'd been waiting months for them (so it was meant to be!!). I was super nervous to be handed a tray of gems. I'm not always the most graceful girl--what if I knocked the side of the tray and it went flying? We'd be on our hands and knees picking sapphires out of the carpet for hours! I noticed that Mr. T stayed well away from the tray, with hands in his lap. I guess we were both nervous! I picked out my favorite and held it up to the rings. Then I asked about smaller colored sapphires for side stones. I looked at the pink center stone with blue, green, and pink sapphire side stones, and eventually chose four darker pink stones that were close to the color of the center stone. Mr. T said, "Wait, did we just choose a band?" and I realized, that yes, indeed we had. Without further ado, I present my ring:


This is actually a Photoshop mock-up that Mr. T did. The real pink sapphires are a bit darker and richer--they were so gorgeous in person, I fell in love right away. Even Mr. T, who was doubtful on the pink sapphire thing, took one look at them and said, "Oh, that makes sense."

We found out a couple of interesting things: first, the sapphires are found in nature in many colors. I thought they started blue and were heat-treated to change the color, but it turns out they're found in all colors, and the heat treatment is just to remove a milky film on the surface of the stone...some stones don't need the heat treatment because they're near a thermal vent (I was torn about one super sparkley lavender sapphire that hadn't needed the heat treatment for that reason...it was lovely. But pink had to win, let's face it). Beth also said that the "heat treatment" just meant that the stones were thrown in a coffee can and heated over a fire for 15 minutes.

Second, I found out that my ring size is 6, which is smaller than I thought! My knuckles are bigger, so I thought my band size was bigger, but once she got the professional metal sizer out, I was indeed a size 6. Mr. T also got his finger sized and I think he was either 8.5 or 8.75. It was a warm day, and since Mr. T wants a titanium ring, which can't be re-sized, Beth suggested we take his ring measurement a few more times in different weather to be sure. Mr. T also found a ring he liked, but he doesn't really want white gold or platinum, so we're going to look for a similar style in titanium.

My ring should be ready in about 2 weeks, just in time for the engagement party, providing all goes well. I'm super excited to pick it up!!!! Hooray!