I know I'm behind the ball, but here's an awesome video to brighten you're bay if you're watching the weather hate on you in Colorado (or anywhere else for that matter).
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
it’s like raaaaaaain [beat] on your wedding day
Yeah, it rained. I was in denial too. It wasn't supposed to! It was supposed to be sunny and cool, like at our walk-though (because you can't rehearse getting married, you only get to do it once).
I got a voice mail from the hotel's coordinator at 7:30 in the morning, it had too many words for me to listen to so I sleepily called her back and asked her to sum up what her voicemail said. Basically, she reminded me that it rained over night (which I hadn't know, I was bottled up in the hotel's hot tub and then a king size bed with my good friend, Andrea) the predictions for the weather were that it would drizzle off and on until 1 PM, and that we could risk setting up the outdoor ceremony, or I could choose to have everything setup indoors. If it was just going to drizzle and that the sky wouldn't open up on us, I wanted to be outside! A big part of the reason we chose the St. Julien was the view of the Flatirons from the lawn; I wasn't about to give that up if I didn't have to!
4 hours later, when I was walking down the isle I kinda regretted my decision, but everything looked so beautiful! It was 50 F outside (according to my frozen feet and Weather Underground), and I was COLD. Like goosebumps and trying not to shiver or chatter my teeth cold. I'm glad that I didn't let my cousin talk me out of wearing my cute little sweater. BTW, said sweater was purchased with the idea that it would be 55-60 and sunny, not 50 and damp.
I got a voice mail from the hotel's coordinator at 7:30 in the morning, it had too many words for me to listen to so I sleepily called her back and asked her to sum up what her voicemail said. Basically, she reminded me that it rained over night (which I hadn't know, I was bottled up in the hotel's hot tub and then a king size bed with my good friend, Andrea) the predictions for the weather were that it would drizzle off and on until 1 PM, and that we could risk setting up the outdoor ceremony, or I could choose to have everything setup indoors. If it was just going to drizzle and that the sky wouldn't open up on us, I wanted to be outside! A big part of the reason we chose the St. Julien was the view of the Flatirons from the lawn; I wasn't about to give that up if I didn't have to!
4 hours later, when I was walking down the isle I kinda regretted my decision, but everything looked so beautiful! It was 50 F outside (according to my frozen feet and Weather Underground), and I was COLD. Like goosebumps and trying not to shiver or chatter my teeth cold. I'm glad that I didn't let my cousin talk me out of wearing my cute little sweater. BTW, said sweater was purchased with the idea that it would be 55-60 and sunny, not 50 and damp.
Monday, November 8, 2010
how I felt about wedding planning
This article is much more eloquently written than my normal blog-voice, http://apracticalwedding.com/2010/10/wedding-graduate-robin-ronnen
My basic idea was that I wanted to have a spiritually meaningful wedding, and an awesome reception that I would be very happy to be a guest at. Basically, we tried to throw what we thought of as the perfect party. No one can say that I didn't have fun at my own wedding, I laughed coming down the aisle!
My basic idea was that I wanted to have a spiritually meaningful wedding, and an awesome reception that I would be very happy to be a guest at. Basically, we tried to throw what we thought of as the perfect party. No one can say that I didn't have fun at my own wedding, I laughed coming down the aisle!
Now, I can't recall if I've blogged about this yet, but let me tell you WHY I was laughing down the aisle:
As soon as I walked out of the hotel with my parents, to walk through the gazebo and down the aisle, I said something like "Wow is it cold out here!" and my mom replied with "Well, be glad it's not snowing, like it was at your graduation!" and every time I tried to put on a more serious face, she would say "Yey, it's not snowing!" or "Be glad you're not wearing a polyester graduation gown!" At some point, near the end of the aisle, I realized I had been giggling and not looking at Ben and I told her to shush (Michael got a picture of that, not my most attractive moment at the wedding).
Yes, it SNOWED at my high school graduation. On May 5th, in Interlochen, Michigan. The good news is the class of 2001 was the first class to graduate without anyone trying to go naked under their gown!
It also snowed on October 9th, 2009.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
practice makes better
[caption id="attachment_1104" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="how the weather was supposed to be, taken by R. Green (on my camera)"]
[/caption]
Rabbi Marc said that we were the first couple who insisted that we have a rehearsal/walk-though of the actual wedding day. Our parents really wanted it and we like to be prepared. I'm glad we did because it cemented the details we wanted to customize in the ceremony and let all of our vendors (the lead trumpet player for the brass quintet, photographers, and wedding coordinator) know what's going on and in what order in a more physical way than just reading the program.
The only time really I went "bridezilla" all weekend was at the rehearsal, Friday morning, when I snapped and told everyone to shut-up; that they could chit-chat later and that this was our time and that they were wasting it on each other. Later that night, at dinner, Rabbi Marc thanked me. He, Ben and I had been standing there, waiting for everyone to quiet down and they just kept taking! He was being too nice, but in the end he was right to let me boil over because he would have come off as mean where as I just came off as stressed out. I snapped at my mom after the rehearsal too, but that was because I needed to not focus on the wedding for a bit and eat lunch. She needed her own time too! She'd been at my house until 11:30 the night before, making Ben's kittle.
Thankfully, my mom understood and when we returned to my house, after lunch, she helped me clean for an hour before getting back to work on Ben's kittle (which, btw, turned out beautifully). I was useless most of the day, helping Sheila (my new mother in law) put together the programs and stuffing more welcome bags. So useless, that everyone was able to get their tasks done without me. I ran away from craft-central (AKA our apartment) to drop off the florists check, and get my legs waxed in the afternoon and hang out with my gramma, aunt Judi, and good friend Becca at the hotel before picking up Ben again and going to kabbalat shabbat services and then dinner at the synagogue with all guests in town already and some select local friends.
I am kinda sad that there are no photos from Friday night and Saturday, but that's the only downfall from taking a true Shabbat (at least until our pizza party at Hillel, which we also have no good photos of). It was amazing to be able to say that if it wasn't done by 6 PM on Friday night, it wasn't going to happen. My mom even finished Ben's kittle by then! She just had to then go back to the hotel and change into non-crafting clothes. Dinner was super yummy, kosher Moroccan food, and it was so nice to unwind and catch up with everyone who came!
The auf-ruf Saturday was amazing, I didn't cry! I totally expected to cry when I looked around and saw everyone smiling, clapping, and singing for us, but all I could do was grin and snuggle Ben!
The kiddish luncheon was tasty too, and everyone hung out so long, it was wonderful! Then, most of the "young people" went to Hillel where Katie and Peter, AKA The Bears, had heated up the oven and set up a mini keg of home-brewed 90 Shilling proxy for us. Huzzah! We sat around chatting, getting on a good buzz and eating pizza (while playing with our new camera, there are a few pictures of just my nose, and of buttons on the couch, and other fun "zoomed in" features of the Hillel house).
Shall I keep going?
Saturday evening, I don't have any photos, but once Andrea and I packed up everything I needed from my apartment, we checked into the bridal suite at the hotel (we had a sleep-over so I wouldn't be alone and/or need to move in the morning), changed, and went to join my family at Sherpa's (our favorite restaurant) for dinner. Yum! Then it was hot tub time with some of my favorite ladies (definitely not photos of this).
Ben had dinner with his family in the evening at Antica Roma (where he proposed to me), and then they all met up for gelato at Two Spoons (the same place we took a bunch of our engagement photos).
After we each had a shower, followed by me texting Ben a whole lot, Andrea and I finally got to sleep in the giant, squishy bed until Sunday morning!
[/caption]Rabbi Marc said that we were the first couple who insisted that we have a rehearsal/walk-though of the actual wedding day. Our parents really wanted it and we like to be prepared. I'm glad we did because it cemented the details we wanted to customize in the ceremony and let all of our vendors (the lead trumpet player for the brass quintet, photographers, and wedding coordinator) know what's going on and in what order in a more physical way than just reading the program.
Speaking of programs, I have about 30 copies left over if anyone would like one. OR: download program
The only time really I went "bridezilla" all weekend was at the rehearsal, Friday morning, when I snapped and told everyone to shut-up; that they could chit-chat later and that this was our time and that they were wasting it on each other. Later that night, at dinner, Rabbi Marc thanked me. He, Ben and I had been standing there, waiting for everyone to quiet down and they just kept taking! He was being too nice, but in the end he was right to let me boil over because he would have come off as mean where as I just came off as stressed out. I snapped at my mom after the rehearsal too, but that was because I needed to not focus on the wedding for a bit and eat lunch. She needed her own time too! She'd been at my house until 11:30 the night before, making Ben's kittle.
Thankfully, my mom understood and when we returned to my house, after lunch, she helped me clean for an hour before getting back to work on Ben's kittle (which, btw, turned out beautifully). I was useless most of the day, helping Sheila (my new mother in law) put together the programs and stuffing more welcome bags. So useless, that everyone was able to get their tasks done without me. I ran away from craft-central (AKA our apartment) to drop off the florists check, and get my legs waxed in the afternoon and hang out with my gramma, aunt Judi, and good friend Becca at the hotel before picking up Ben again and going to kabbalat shabbat services and then dinner at the synagogue with all guests in town already and some select local friends.
I am kinda sad that there are no photos from Friday night and Saturday, but that's the only downfall from taking a true Shabbat (at least until our pizza party at Hillel, which we also have no good photos of). It was amazing to be able to say that if it wasn't done by 6 PM on Friday night, it wasn't going to happen. My mom even finished Ben's kittle by then! She just had to then go back to the hotel and change into non-crafting clothes. Dinner was super yummy, kosher Moroccan food, and it was so nice to unwind and catch up with everyone who came!
The auf-ruf Saturday was amazing, I didn't cry! I totally expected to cry when I looked around and saw everyone smiling, clapping, and singing for us, but all I could do was grin and snuggle Ben!
side note: we only caught 2 pieces of candy on our make-shift chuppah, does that mean we can only have 2 kids? I want 3 if the first 2 are the same gender.....
The kiddish luncheon was tasty too, and everyone hung out so long, it was wonderful! Then, most of the "young people" went to Hillel where Katie and Peter, AKA The Bears, had heated up the oven and set up a mini keg of home-brewed 90 Shilling proxy for us. Huzzah! We sat around chatting, getting on a good buzz and eating pizza (while playing with our new camera, there are a few pictures of just my nose, and of buttons on the couch, and other fun "zoomed in" features of the Hillel house).
Shall I keep going?
Saturday evening, I don't have any photos, but once Andrea and I packed up everything I needed from my apartment, we checked into the bridal suite at the hotel (we had a sleep-over so I wouldn't be alone and/or need to move in the morning), changed, and went to join my family at Sherpa's (our favorite restaurant) for dinner. Yum! Then it was hot tub time with some of my favorite ladies (definitely not photos of this).
Ben had dinner with his family in the evening at Antica Roma (where he proposed to me), and then they all met up for gelato at Two Spoons (the same place we took a bunch of our engagement photos).
After we each had a shower, followed by me texting Ben a whole lot, Andrea and I finally got to sleep in the giant, squishy bed until Sunday morning!
Saturday, November 6, 2010
iRave may be dead, and the professional photos are in!
Remember how I signed up with a free photo hosting service that I thought was awesome? That you only pay to download photos that you didn't upload, and there was no limit to how many photos could be uploaded, or how many users there were per account? Well, that awesome website has been down for 4 days now and I'm not I'm not sure if/when it's coming backup. I've received no emails warning of scheduled down time, they just disappeared!
I'm glad that I wasn't using iRave as my primary storage for photos, and that they never had any of my money (since none of you uploaded any photos yourselves). But it's a big bummer because I thought it was going to be the perfect way to share photos, you only pay for what you want! I guess no one wanted anything and that's why they shut down?
Anyway, all of the professional photos are up now: http://pictage.com/795846
Here's a quick sneak peak, from the lovely ladies at Kokoro Photography:
There are also my friend Michael Coblenz's photos, which he's made available to download all at once, or one at a time for you all: http://gallery.me.com/mcoblenz#100129
And my mother is trying to collect everyones' photos and upload them to her personal collection: http://public.fotki.com/everbrite/wedding/
Plus, there are lots of folks who've posted photos of us on Facebook, which anyone who is my "friend" can see.
Does anyone else have photos hidden away from me that I haven't seen yet? May I share them on this blog?
I'm glad that I wasn't using iRave as my primary storage for photos, and that they never had any of my money (since none of you uploaded any photos yourselves). But it's a big bummer because I thought it was going to be the perfect way to share photos, you only pay for what you want! I guess no one wanted anything and that's why they shut down?
Anyway, all of the professional photos are up now: http://pictage.com/795846
Here's a quick sneak peak, from the lovely ladies at Kokoro Photography:
There are also my friend Michael Coblenz's photos, which he's made available to download all at once, or one at a time for you all: http://gallery.me.com/mcoblenz#100129
And my mother is trying to collect everyones' photos and upload them to her personal collection: http://public.fotki.com/everbrite/wedding/
Plus, there are lots of folks who've posted photos of us on Facebook, which anyone who is my "friend" can see.
Does anyone else have photos hidden away from me that I haven't seen yet? May I share them on this blog?
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
wedding timeline
I've been asked to share the timeline of our wedding day. The planned on vs. what really happened:
8 AM wakeup!
8:30 room service (yum!) oatmeal, hard boiled eggs, fruit plate, green tea
9 AM - hairdresser showed up on time, I was fussing with my mom and she got setup without me (I was 10 minutes late)
10 AM - did my own makeup, it took about 25 minutes (oops, I only allotted 15, forgetting that non-every day makeup takes SO much longer than my normal 5 minutes)
10:30 - final potty break, getting dressed time! (we're about 15 minutes behind) At this point, my stockings had a run in them and the strap on my dress was falling off, so my mom stripped and gave me her stockings while she went to get herself another pair and my girlfriends hunted down safety pins (my dress was pinned to my bra!)
10:30 AM was supposed to be our first look, it happened about about 10:50 LOTS OF PHOTOS
11 AM Bedekin (inc. veiling and ketubah signing), reality, 11:15
11:30 AM family photos (didn't happen)
12 noon, send kiddos down the isle
12:10 I walk down the isle
WEDDING & READING
yihud (lasted 30 minutes instead of 10-15), we totally missed cocktails because then we took photos of just us
1-1:45 PM cocktails
2 PM first dance, bless the meal, open buffet
2:45 PM DANCE
3:45 PM toasts and dessert display
4PM serve dessert, more dancing! disappear for family photos for 30-35 minutes
4:45 benching (end of meal prayers) and last dance
MORE PHOTOS
5PM move to bar, MORE PHOTOS, and I finally got to take another potty break!
8:30 done @ bar
Hiring a day of coordinator (DoC) is one of the best decisions we made. It means that my mom got to have fun, and spend time with her friends, instead of having to heard family/cats and make sure things happened on time.
Yeah, that's totally a plug for Danielle, our DoC from Something Classic Events. She was totally fun to work with and made sure everything got done. She was an awesome behind-the-scenes wedding elf, whom I hardly saw on the wedding day which I guess means that she was off getting stuff done and making sure things happened within the timetable.
8 AM wakeup!
8:30 room service (yum!) oatmeal, hard boiled eggs, fruit plate, green tea
9 AM - hairdresser showed up on time, I was fussing with my mom and she got setup without me (I was 10 minutes late)
10 AM - did my own makeup, it took about 25 minutes (oops, I only allotted 15, forgetting that non-every day makeup takes SO much longer than my normal 5 minutes)
10:30 - final potty break, getting dressed time! (we're about 15 minutes behind) At this point, my stockings had a run in them and the strap on my dress was falling off, so my mom stripped and gave me her stockings while she went to get herself another pair and my girlfriends hunted down safety pins (my dress was pinned to my bra!)
10:30 AM was supposed to be our first look, it happened about about 10:50 LOTS OF PHOTOS
11 AM Bedekin (inc. veiling and ketubah signing), reality, 11:15
11:30 AM family photos (didn't happen)
12 noon, send kiddos down the isle
12:10 I walk down the isle
WEDDING & READING
yihud (lasted 30 minutes instead of 10-15), we totally missed cocktails because then we took photos of just us
1-1:45 PM cocktails
2 PM first dance, bless the meal, open buffet
2:45 PM DANCE
3:45 PM toasts and dessert display
4PM serve dessert, more dancing! disappear for family photos for 30-35 minutes
4:45 benching (end of meal prayers) and last dance
MORE PHOTOS
5PM move to bar, MORE PHOTOS, and I finally got to take another potty break!
8:30 done @ bar
Hiring a day of coordinator (DoC) is one of the best decisions we made. It means that my mom got to have fun, and spend time with her friends, instead of having to heard family/cats and make sure things happened on time.
Yeah, that's totally a plug for Danielle, our DoC from Something Classic Events. She was totally fun to work with and made sure everything got done. She was an awesome behind-the-scenes wedding elf, whom I hardly saw on the wedding day which I guess means that she was off getting stuff done and making sure things happened within the timetable.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
have I gotten away with murder?
When Katie toasted (or roasted?) us, she said it should feel like we've gotten away with murder for marrying each other. I'm not sure murder is the right way to describe it. While on our honeymoon in Napa/Sonoma California, Ben and I figured it out: we feel like we smuggled a case of wine. Maybe we stole it, maybe we snuck it through customs, but either way there is a case of very good wine involved and not murder at all.
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