We did it!

We got married on Sunday! The weather was perfect--warm but not hot, overcast so no glaring sun or squinting. It rained later in the afternoon after we were at the reception. The ceremony was lovely and pretty emotional for me. :)

When I saw my dress this summer for the first viewing, I was underwhelmed and a little disappointed. I didn't love it. The fitting made it better for sure, and then my mom and I found some perfect earrings and necklace set to match the dress and sparkly headpiece. Then I liked the dress a lot more, and while I'm still not sure I can say I loved the dress, I did love wearing it!

Our favors were little wooden fans (pretty and useful in case of heat) and bubbles. The guests bubbled us as we 'proceeded' out of the ceremony area and then later back in. What fun! We want to be bubbled everywhere we go now. :)

Walking through the park in a wedding dress was a really fun experience--lots of people smiled, congratulated us, took pictures. Our photographer was fantastic. She posted a few photos on facebook the same day and they are gorgeous! I can't wait to see more! Most of my friends were armed with their cameras too and have kindly posted them to a group so we can see them all in one place.

The reception was very low-key and kind of quiet. We made a crossword puzzle about us to give people something to do. It didn't get handed out until we got there, which then made it feel like I had just given everyone a Do Now. :) People were excited to finish and some had questions, but got hints from us or others. It was kind of fun, and some of them learned things about the two of us. :)



The food was pretty good, and our cake was delicious. I hadn't eaten anything all morning just to be extra sure that the dress would zip, and so by the time we got to the restaurant at 2.30, I was starving! We did a brunch buffet and my choice was the belgian waffles, so I had a couple of those, a bit of fruit, and a delicious Bellini. Then I was stuffed and could only take a couple bites of cake. Later we wanted more but dutifully saved the top tier and wrapped it in clingfilm and foil when we got home.

Overall, it was a wonderful, lovely day. I was so thrilled and grateful to share it with family and friends, and everyone was so kind and warm. It was very, very surreal, and even now we keep saying to each other, "We got married? We had a wedding? We're married now?" It feels strange. Just the words, I guess, since we've lived together for two years already. Married friends--did you feel that way? How long til it feels 'normal' to be a wife and have a husband?

!!

The wedding is this weekend!

It still hasn't quite hit me yet that this is all real. :) It's getting closer though because my family and friends have descended upon NYC for fun and wedding stuff. Love seeing people here for the first time!

Oh, here's some exciting news--I upgraded my camera! When I bought the D80 on a semi-whim in December 2008, I told myself I needed to keep it for two years. (I had only gotten the D40x six months before.) It's been a year and a half, and it was one of my goals for this year. I successfully saved up enough for a D300s, and in less than six months! I decided to use my money a little differently, a little smarter. I bought a used D300 and a used lens (85mm f/1.8) for about the cost of a new D300s body only. Squee! It is so clicky and comfortingly heavy. I love it. And even though it hasn't been quite two years that I promised myself, I think I've learned a lot and can use the new camera as an investment with more paid photography.

Earlier this summer I was able to second-shoot a wedding, and I rented the D300 and two lenses. I kept my D80 out too, and both lenses on that body were so slow and the shots were not very good.

One reason I bought it so quickly this month is that I got a portrait gig and wanted to use the good camera! It went really well and if it wasn't the wedding month I would be already done editing and processing. :) I love taking portraits and really want to get more bookings!

I hope to take some interesting city shots after the wedding madness dies down and will try to post some here. And maybe I will find some faceless wedding photos to post too! Earlier this summer I said to someone that I will have to really fight the urge to pick up the camera on the day itself...but now I think I want to take some, at least a few when I can. I'm so excited to have our awesome pro photographer capturing everything and everyone, but I don't think I want to miss the opportunity to capture my own details. We'll see how it goes. :)

Holy cow

It's August!
The wedding is less than two weeks away!

I continue to love not teaching. Unfortunately I continue to have schoolmares occasionally. This past month has been busy with traveling and wedding plans and also trying to have some fun. :) We did get a second air conditioner, which has made life so much more bearable. Our reorganizing/redecorating scheme is progressing--I want it finished by this weekend. I'm really excited about it--we're working on making our place a little more sophisticated and not so cluttered with crap. (Really, that part is all me--I have a lot of crap. It makes me all anxious when I look around and see how much there is--how in the world am I supposed to eliminate or organize it all? Deep breath, one thing at a time.)

This month will also be very busy with friends, wedding events, and more travel. In theory I should have so much to write about, but a)my brain is pretty much mush and b)the wedding stuff is pretty personal. Oh, and we won't be taking a honeymoon--doing this wedding thing in only five months means there's no money or time to travel. So we figure we'll take one next year (I'm hoping for spring), once we decide on a destination and start budgeting.

Speaking of budget, we're doing the wedding for as little as possible. Photography and food are the biggest portions of the money. Other things have been a little more than we thought or a little less. We'd already eliminated or pared down some of the traditional and expensive elements (video, DJ, fancy flowers, expensive linens, limo). We still hope that the low-key wedding will be pretty and interesting.