Jenn & Mike

Speaking of strong women who aren't afraid to be different...
Jenn and Mike got married on Good Friday, and good it was! Everything was hot, hot couple, hot style, hot sleeves, hot pink. There were meaningful touches everywhere but the flowers were enough to throw anyone over the sentimental edge. Amazing. They were hand made by the bride and her girls and embellished with generational keepsakes and endless significance.  I could go on for days talking about this wedding but I'm going to go order their proofs instead! Congratulations and thank you, Jenn, Mike, Haley, Michael and all your family and friends. You were an absolute joy to work with and I couldn't ask for a better start to the wedding season!

Queen Victoria

Talk about a trendsetter!
Queen Victoria completely blows my mind. For thousands of years, brides wore colors. From their deep jeweled royal family colors to yellows and pastels. Less wealthy brides wore their best dress and fancied it up with ribbons and bows. Middle class brides purchased new dresses that could be worn again and again after the wedding day.  Royal weddings  have been the inspiration for brides of every class for centuries. The problem was, velvets and gold trim and the garb worn at royal weddings wasn't accessible to the ordinary bride.
ENTER QUEEN VICTORIA!!!
In 1840, at just 18 years old, Victoria was ready to be wed. She was already a queen for 3 years, not a princess and my no means ordinary. She decided to wear white. WHITE! Only a few years after the industrial revolution when fabric was machine made and easy to come by. Her decision to wear white was a political statement. She wasn't trying to portray her wealth or allure, but portray her obligation as the leader of her country instead.
Because of the industrial revolution, skilled artisans of handmade lace industries, were hit hard. Queen Victoria chose handmade lace to support these artisans. Her decision to wear white had nothing to do with purity or joy. She was just a solid patriot.
The industrial revolution still happened though, with or without support from the Queen. Lace and fabric were inexpensive and accessible and the ability to emulate royal attire became a possibility for the very first time. no matter what the income.
It just stuck.
That's the coolest part! Over 170 years ago, a strong independent woman made a revolutionary decision that is still favored around the world!
Way to be there Vicky!

And what about these shoes!?!  I'd wear these today. That's what you call classic, timeless style!

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it's cake

I freaking LOVE cake.
We had a chocolate chip pound cake at our wedding. It was really good. We saved the top and wrapped it like bomb shelter tight and 6 months after our wedding we cut it and ate half. We saved the other half for our 1 year anniversary. I heard it used to be saved for either the anniversary or Christening of the first born baby, whichever came first. In the 19th century, people cranked out babies before the cake had a chance to get stale though right? Hah! and what about this? Romans used to bake little wheat cakes and sprinkle them over the bride's head to symbolize prosperity and fertility. How that evolved into 7 tiered elegance is among my research topics!
Anyway, my mom did an awesome job wrapping our cake top so it was almost as good as the year before. People will tell you it isn't possible but I'm willing to argue.
I'm writing about cake because I just got home from Shop Rite at close to 12am and can't think of much else but cake and that commercial where the guy yells "you can eat cake". Was that for Entenmann's? There's another word I can never spell without google, Entenmanns,  just like restaurant. Sorry, back to cake.
I see a lot of cake smashing and, whatever, if that's what you want to do, do it. I don't like it much especially since a woman looked at one of my photos of a smashfest and said "Don't they know? It's all about trust." Not sure if that's really where feeding each other originated but this woman told me that feeding one another cake was a test to see how well the other can be trusted. So, in my personal opinion, a little on the nose, keep 'em on his toes, like it?
Hold on, more interesting cake talk. Did you ever hear of the tradition that if a single person puts a piece of wedding cake under their pillow they will dream of the person they are going to marry? I love fortune telling stuff. Try it! Please tell me if it works. I think it's ok to wrap it in paper or a box or something because if not, that's gross.
Maybe that's where the little printed wax papers came from but I still don't understand spending all that money on a cake and then packing it up in a doggy bag.
I like this too, the order of service. Cutting the cake is supposed to be symbolic of the willingness to share a household. The groom feeds the bride, the bride feeds the groom and then they cut pieces for their parents and serve them. I think that's nice, respectful. I like honoring the parents as much as possible. The waitstaff takes care of everyone else.
If you have cake stories, share!!!

going stag

Bachelor, or stag parties, I love this, used to be when a man was getting married, all of his friends would take him out drinking. They would get a pouch and all the attendants would put money in it so that once the groom got married, and his wife handled all the finances, he would still have money to go out drinking with his buddies. I think that's sweet in a jerky guy kind of way. Way to be there boys!

why do we do what we do in the wild world of weddings? part 1

I am captivated.
I remember being a kid and looking at my parent's wedding album which was a 5x5 slip in with 24 images inside. They also had a few binder pages of slides that were fun to look at, blurry and red but fun to look at. My mom looked gorgeous, young and calm and untroubled. My dad looked so dapper with his platform shoes and full head of dark wavy hair. I remember wishing I could have been there, at the small town restaurant reception, with my parents in their carefree days.
I love weddings and always have even before I ever attended one. The ceremonies, the meanings, the traditions, all fascinate me.  My interest has grown significantly over the years and now I have begun a new chapter this life of mine that revolves around weddings and the hard core investigation has begun. I want to know more. Why do we do what we do? Who decided it should be that way and when? What does it take to become a trendsetter? What does it mean to be modern?
When Bob and I got married, over 8 years ago, we were challenged by the woman who performed our ceremony. She made us dig deep and really understand what our union meant to us. We had to design it start to finish and say what we really needed to say. We incorporated (cue Dar Williams music) Christian AND Pagan traditions, Native American ceremonies, poetry, writings by amazing wordsmiths and truth. It all had significance to us and everyone who attended was involved. That was the last time I really researched matrimony and now I begin again.
I want to share what I learn with others who love weddings. This is another challenge for myself because as I've said before, I am terrible at blogging and sticktoitness... and cleaning my house.
SO... in no particular order of importance or appropriate sequence I am going to write about all the things I find interesting, like hope chests.
As a kid I always heard my grandmom talk about putting things in the hope chest. Today I found out more about what a hope chest really is. We all know that marriages used to be arranged and evolved into something all about love, which is funny to me. The less money people had, the better their chances were for marrying someone they really wanted to be with. The rich folks had to marry whoever their Poppa said they had to marry and hoped it was someone they could stand.
Once women were able to marry for love, they still had to bring something to the table so to speak. Starting at birth, girls would collect pots, towels, dishes, sheets and household items to bring into her marriage. If a girl wanted to marry a man that her father didn't approve of he could withhold her hope chest. Isn't that sad?
This afternoon I read that once a girl wanted to marry a man she absolutely adored. Her father didn't approve so he did not give his blessing and withheld his daughter's hope chest. Her friends protested his disapproval by bringing household items that the bride could use for her new home with her wretched husband. Her dad was so moved that his daughter loved so deeply and that her friends supported her so much that he said "Aw, go ahead and have your damn dowry, good luck to ya" or something like that. HENCE THE BRIDAL SHOWER!!! Thanks girls, way to be there. More tomorrow... I hope.