400 days and counting!
My last progress post was 105 days ago, and we've decided more things so why not? I'm bored and bummed today (oh, California) so let's adventure!
Date: June 30, 2010
Dress for Bride One: Done. She's wearing the dress she made (picture here) with a few alterations. (Length, mostly.)
Dress for Bride Two: Done. I'm wearing a lovely, bright green J.Crew dress I bought in January on a whim. Yay, $50 wedding dress!
Location: Lighthouse Point Park in New Haven, CT. We're depositing on June 30, 2009. (You can only reserve this park 1 year in advance.)
Hotel: We're staying in the Queen Ann room at By the Sea Inn and Spa in Branford, CT, for the week before our shindig.
Officient: We lost our reverend due to some complicated personal things. Right now, we're torn between asking the new school chaplain or looking into a celebrant in the area. I like the celebrant idea more so I think that may be the way to go.
Engagement Rings: We have a set of moissanite and recycled silver rings from McFarland Designs. She wears this one, and I wear this one.
Wedding Rings: McFarland Designs will be doing a custom ring for Aliyah (my lady-friend); it will be the same design as her engagement ring with pink or red gems set around the band instead of the 12 moissanite stones. I'm still deciding between this piece of science and this one! I like science.
Wedding Party: We aren't having one! Problem solved!
Flowers: Whatever the grocery store has that day is what we will be carrying. Not picky. Maybe we'll just carry pipe cleaners and sea shells, although she has requested that we make each other's bouquets. I think that's terribly romantic so I'm all for it.
Shoes: Beach wedding. No shoes.
Reception: It's a BYO dessert potluck. We'll provide a few cases of coke, ice, and lots of table cloths scouted from the Salvie.
Ceremony Music: If Aliyah's father is still speaking to her (because Daddy doesn't quite know that his baby is gay), we're going to ask him to play some calypso guitar. It's his specialty! (He's a really good musician, and I rather like him behind the guitar because that means he's not picking fights with anyone. It's a good solution.)
Last Names: We're probably going to swap names, no hyphen. She can decide how to socially deploy her hum-dinger of a new last name; I will keep my present name (the short and sweet Cole) socially and legally have her name with mine, too.
Photography: We booked with Kelly of Closed Circle Photography, and we could not be more thrilled! I'm so excited, because Kelly manages to make every wedding she shoots look as special as the participants feel.
Honeymoon: HA. HAHAHAHA. Depends. This will, of course, be a last minute booking based on where we're going to grad school. If we go to grad school in the US, we'll probably take an Alaskan cruise. If we go to grad school in Europe, we'll honeymoon in Spain. If we go to grad school in Canada, we'll honeymoon in Vancouver, BC. If we go to grad school in the Caribbean, we'll honeymoon in South America. It's a proximity thing, and most of our ideal destinations don't need to be booked far in advance because we're not ones for all-inclusive resorts or such. (And the cost of booking a cruise in March/April will be off-set by not having to move out of the country.)
Other, random, fun: Because Aliyah is West Indian, bridal mehendi is a cultural tradition. Part of my gift to her will be her bridal mehendi and the mehendi for the all the women in her family who want it. I'm thinking we'll end up at Sangita Beauty Parlor because Aliyah likes their style (modern Indian).
Date: June 30, 2010
Dress for Bride One: Done. She's wearing the dress she made (picture here) with a few alterations. (Length, mostly.)
Dress for Bride Two: Done. I'm wearing a lovely, bright green J.Crew dress I bought in January on a whim. Yay, $50 wedding dress!
Location: Lighthouse Point Park in New Haven, CT. We're depositing on June 30, 2009. (You can only reserve this park 1 year in advance.)
Hotel: We're staying in the Queen Ann room at By the Sea Inn and Spa in Branford, CT, for the week before our shindig.
Officient: We lost our reverend due to some complicated personal things. Right now, we're torn between asking the new school chaplain or looking into a celebrant in the area. I like the celebrant idea more so I think that may be the way to go.
Engagement Rings: We have a set of moissanite and recycled silver rings from McFarland Designs. She wears this one, and I wear this one.
Wedding Rings: McFarland Designs will be doing a custom ring for Aliyah (my lady-friend); it will be the same design as her engagement ring with pink or red gems set around the band instead of the 12 moissanite stones. I'm still deciding between this piece of science and this one! I like science.
Wedding Party: We aren't having one! Problem solved!
Flowers: Whatever the grocery store has that day is what we will be carrying. Not picky. Maybe we'll just carry pipe cleaners and sea shells, although she has requested that we make each other's bouquets. I think that's terribly romantic so I'm all for it.
Shoes: Beach wedding. No shoes.
Reception: It's a BYO dessert potluck. We'll provide a few cases of coke, ice, and lots of table cloths scouted from the Salvie.
Ceremony Music: If Aliyah's father is still speaking to her (because Daddy doesn't quite know that his baby is gay), we're going to ask him to play some calypso guitar. It's his specialty! (He's a really good musician, and I rather like him behind the guitar because that means he's not picking fights with anyone. It's a good solution.)
Last Names: We're probably going to swap names, no hyphen. She can decide how to socially deploy her hum-dinger of a new last name; I will keep my present name (the short and sweet Cole) socially and legally have her name with mine, too.
Photography: We booked with Kelly of Closed Circle Photography, and we could not be more thrilled! I'm so excited, because Kelly manages to make every wedding she shoots look as special as the participants feel.
Honeymoon: HA. HAHAHAHA. Depends. This will, of course, be a last minute booking based on where we're going to grad school. If we go to grad school in the US, we'll probably take an Alaskan cruise. If we go to grad school in Europe, we'll honeymoon in Spain. If we go to grad school in Canada, we'll honeymoon in Vancouver, BC. If we go to grad school in the Caribbean, we'll honeymoon in South America. It's a proximity thing, and most of our ideal destinations don't need to be booked far in advance because we're not ones for all-inclusive resorts or such. (And the cost of booking a cruise in March/April will be off-set by not having to move out of the country.)
Other, random, fun: Because Aliyah is West Indian, bridal mehendi is a cultural tradition. Part of my gift to her will be her bridal mehendi and the mehendi for the all the women in her family who want it. I'm thinking we'll end up at Sangita Beauty Parlor because Aliyah likes their style (modern Indian).