So You're EnGAYged

Last fall I decided to undertake a long distance DIT (do it together) wedding project with my mom. For my mom’s own wedding, she and my grandfather made fabric bouquets, and I wanted to carry on the tradition of bonding over a handmade wedding project. We decided to make paper flower pomanders to hang above the dance floor in the museum’s sculpture barn. I think we will also make some tissue pom poms to fill the space in even more. Last weekend we made our first prototype, and I’ve got pictures to share!

(All images taken by me on my Droid)

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When we looked at traditional wedding cakes, they didn’t feel like us. Pretty, yes, but for our wedding, not so much. Our gut reaction was, cake, yes, cutting a big traditional cake, no. Surprisingly, when I read more about it, I realized that the elaborate, tiered wedding cakes are a relatively new tradition. And in fact, piling different cakes on a table at a wedding is a fairly old custom. Well there you go, I guess we are kinda traditional after all. We are going to have a cake buffet with a bunch of different flavors with simple, homemade style decoration. And to top it off, we are going to have a Ben & Jerry’s cart on hand to serve up scoops of ice cream. Yum!

Image via Zorb’s Photostream

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Ginger’s mom came into town for the weekend and we headed to Wedding Belles, our favorite wedding shop in New Orleans. First, Ginger tried on five dresses that covered everything from long to cocktail length, and new to vintage (she brought in her own non-white, vintage Jenny Packham dress). We had been to this store three times before to try on dresses, so the consultants and owner were all excited to help us make a final decision. They were awesome, and made us feel totally comfortable and special.

Image via Amy Kuschel

The last dress she tried on was a Chantilly lace cocktail dress by Amy Kuschel. We were already leaning toward this dress. But after seeing it compared to the other dresses, it was so clearly perfect for her.  I was unbelievably giddy. I just couldn’t stop smiling. She looked like her kick ass self just amped up a few notches. Ginger was just gorgeous in this dress. It seemed like me, her mom, and the consultants said “Done!” in unison, and just like that the wedding dress search was over. I don’t think any dress could be more her.

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This month, I have been really focused on marriage and what it means. During May, we celebrated my graduation and mourned a death in my family. It’s a lot to be handed in one month. Soon, Ginger will finally meet the last of my extended family, and of course, it kills me that it will not be under better circumstances. This has reminded me that marriage is about supporting each other through life’s joys and hardships. We are really living this right now. When I realized that my new in-laws want to come and be a support through the funeral even though they didn’t know my grandmother, I rediscovered how much it means to me to have this new family.

Marriage is also about supporting each other’s life ambitions.

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I’ve been on the hunt for the right pair of green wedding shoes to go with my tea length dress FOREVER. I’m a little bit obsessed with all things lime green. But it’s not easy to find fancy shoes in this color. Every pair seemed to either have a four inch heel or a sky high price tag. Either way, they were out of my league. Finally, I stumbled upon Nina Shoes, and found a pair of apple green heels that looked cute and comfortable…for about $67 after a coupon. They are back ordered for a couple of months. As soon as they arrive, I’ll try them on and post a picture! In the meantime, if you are looking for a specific color for yourself or your bridal brigade, try their “design your own” feature.

Image via Nina Shoes

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Image of Hamoa Beach Via JHall159

We booked our honeymoon!!! We started saving money for our honeymoon as soon as we got engaged. This is the first time we are going on vacation, just the two of us, for a whole week. I love to plan trips, so I went into planning overdrive for this one. After discussing the pros and cons of the ski-adventure-honeymoon and the urban-touring-honeymoon, we settled on the secluded-beach-front-honeymoon. I suggested Hawaii partly because neither of us have been. Hawaii seems to be pretty gay friendly, and that was obviously really important to us for our honeymoon. I honed in on Maui and the big island, because I have to see a volcano while we’re there. While reading online reviews, I fell in love with a beautiful rental cottage across from the beach in Hana on the east side of Maui. From there, the whole trip fell into place. (more…)

I’ve been thinking alot about the traditions we will be keeping vs. doing away with. Usually, I have a strong opinion one way or the other. But, I really don’t know how I feel about garters. I know I don’t want to do the garter toss. But I do like wearing frilly underthings…and the tradition of wearing a garter seems like a fun and harmless one.

Photo by Jenny GG

From Piper Ewan’s Etsy Shop

Since I’m pretty ambivalent about this, I’m curious what you think? Are you wearing a garter? Skipping it? What was your reasoning? I’d love to hear your wedding garter thoughts!