florist is booked!

that's right. another vendor booked! after a recommendation from a fellow huntsville bride from theknot.com message boards, danny and i met with millie & ms. anderson (this is not her real name, but if you went to chs, just picture ms. sharon anderson b/c this woman looked exactly like her...freaky) from huntsville florist a few weeks ago at a cute little coffee shop called stearns.

we chatted about the wedding, our colors, our vision while they took notes. i brought pictures of bouquets i liked, and they made suggestions. millie even gave us a discount, so that the pricing would be more likely to fit into our budget. after this meeting, there was a bit of a mishap with the mailing of our quote from them...tax season & then lack of postage. we got it eventually & took the plunge by sending them our deposit check this week!

this what i imagine my bouquet will look like except for the colors. my bouquet is going to be made up of orange roses, black magic roses, orange mini calla lillies, and little berries.

the maids' bouquets will be all orange. roses & mini calla lillies. something like this.
theknot.com

danny's bout will look pretty much like this, and the groomsmen's bouts will be the same minus the berries.
theknot.com

then we have bouquets for the moms, corsages for the grandmas, bouts for the dads, grandpa, users, and officiant. it all looks very pretty in my mind. :)

the overturning of gay marriage ban

i can't go any longer without posting about the california supreme court's decision last week. i am THRILLED! if you haven't heard, the california supreme court has ruled that a law banning same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, stating that everyone has a fundamental right to marry.

the court's opinion said that any law that discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation will from this point on be constitutionally suspect in california in the same way as laws that discriminate by race or gender, making the state's high court the first in the nation to adopt such a stringent standard.

"Our state now recognizes that an individual's capacity to establish a loving and long-term committed relationship with another person and responsibly to care for and raise children does not depend upon the individual's sexual orientation," Chief Justice Ronald M. George wrote for the majority. "An individual's sexual orientation -- like a person's race or gender -- does not constitute a legitimate basis upon which to deny or withhold legal rights."

thank you! this seems like such an obvious thing to me. your race or gender does not affect your ability to love or parent. are heterosexual couples really more suited for marriage? why should britney spears or pamela anderson be allowed to marry when a couple who has been together for 30 years is not? it doesn't make sense! let people be happy!


this photo just makes me cry. this is del martin, 83, and phyllis lyon, 79. in 2004, when san francisco issued marriage licenses to same-sex couples (they were later revoked), they were the first couple to be married. they had been together for 51-years. can you imagine waiting 51 years to marry the person that you loved? it breaks my heart. it's simply not right.

so i am so thrilled that the california supreme court made the statements that they did & made the decision that they did. i really really hope that this decision stands and that other state will follow suit. it's overdue.

in related news, ellen degeneres announced that she will be marrying her long-time girlfriend portia de rossi. congratulations, ellen!

the best idea!

so, if you know anything about weddings, you know that traditionally the bride and groom have a set of special champagne toasting flutes that they use during the wedding toasts and then put away in their china cabinet for the next 50 years or lose or break during a move (jeri).

here are some um...lovely...examples (by lovely i mean my worst nightmare). well, i had some images, but they seem to have disappeared. sorry about that.

now, i'm not badmouthing the tradition if you like it. it's just that danny & i aren't really champagne and toasting flute kind of people. we have already decided that we aren't going to bother with serving champagne and will toast with whatever we happen to be drinking.

the other night something just clicked & i had the best idea! in lieu of champagne toasting flutes, danny and i will get some really pretty beer glasses to toast with! danny & i are very much beer people (danny's a beer snob, at this point), so it is so fitting for us to toast with special beer glasses. AND beer glasses are something we use almost everyday, so no worries about them gathering dust on a shelf somewhere.

i think this might be a purchase that i pass on to danny. it's one (newly) wedding related area he knows more about than i do. if you want to read up on the different options when it comes to beer glasses, check out beer advocate.

hair adornment devices

i really like the way it looks when a bride has something in her hair...flowers, pins, etc. i've been cruising etsy for options and discovered beadifulthings's shop. all of the hair adornments below are from her shop, and they're all beautiful....just have to pick one at some point...

a flower without dealing with a real flower...and it's orange flower so it pulls in our wedding colors.


this set is made of creamy pearls gathered with fine gauge wire. very pretty.


fine gauge wire wrapped into a blossoming with white swarovski pearls. this is actually very similar to what's being worn in the hairstyle that i like.


vintage hair pins with brass filigree flowers blooming with plump swarovski pearls in light cream rose. love the vintage feel of these.

natasha

natasha (aka nat)

natasha was born in russia & moved to the united states with her family in elementary school. i met nat (she hates when i call her that) in 7th grade. i will openly admit that i thought she was a tad bit strange b/c she and another girl in our classes were constantly doing sign language. bit odd. we have been best friends ever since; going on 12 years. we have grown up together with many hours spent at the kitchen table at the shutovs and with lots of time dedicated to sex and the city, friends, mrs. shutov's meat & potatoes, and talking for hours about everything. no, i'm not exaggerating; i literally mean everything. seriously.

natasha graduated from roosevelt university in chicago with a degree in international relations, and now works for an online marketing company in chicago. she has traveled all over the world: france, italy, mexico, russia. she is incredibly caring and sincere and is my resident expert on makeup, obscure russian music, movies, and every television show - past and present.

wedded nerd

i can't wait to be able to wear this button. :D

from buttonempire

good news tidbit

as i mentioned previously, my best friend & maid of honor, amanda, is going to design & print our wedding invitations. the other day, she asked her print professor if it would be alright if we came in over the summer to use the print shop. he said it was fine! not a problem! so, come june, i will become amanda's printing apprentice, and then come july, you can start looking for your invitation!

stealing an idea from mrs. tulip (possibly)

so, mrs. tulip just posted about her wedding day details. one of the details was an aisle runner made of a sari from india!


what a wonderful idea! even with an indian best friend, that idea had never crossed my mind. saris are gorgeous & come in a billion different colors and designs.




i just found one on ebay that's close to 20 feet of material for about $30. i don't know if i want an aisle runner or not, but if i do decide to have one, the sari route is the way i'm going.

dr. rao

yamini (aka yam, yamu)
technically, yam and i first met in 6th grade when we were both cheerleaders (that's right, cheerleaders) for opposing elementary schools, but we don't actually remember meeting each other, so i guess it doesn't really count. we became friends in 7th grade and have been best friends ever since, and it has been a while. i guess i should mention that me, yam, and nat were pretty much inseperable beginning in 7th grade up until we all left for college (we were known at one point as the trinity). many many weekends were spent at the rao house, & many of the rao family trips included me.

yam graduated from dartmouth in 2006 and is now attending vanderbilt medical school in nashville. she has volunteered throughout the world: india, peru, argentina. she inspires me everyday to strive and do something worthwhile. she is my resident valadictorian, cheapskate, and expert on medical things. she is always looking for adventure, cheap clothes, and ways to avoid fixing her hair.

she is currently on her way to argentina for the summer. hope she doesn't break too many hearts while she's south of the equator...

how fabulous is this?

at the wedding, we are going to have a bar area with wine and beer galore. we're not having a bar tender b/c that seems silly with just wine and beer. cheryl had suggested that a sort of bucket filled with ice would be good to put the white wine in & would look great on the table. let me also add the lodge is full of orangey copper accents. so, look what i found...



it's like someone was listening to my thoughts! it's about $30 so not too bad. i haven't bought it yet, but i do keep visiting it online to say hello...we'll see how long i last.

love this

can i just say that i am madly in love with this dress?



it's from priscilla of boston & miss candy corn is using it for her bridesmaids. if my colors were blue and brown & i had a million dollars, i would be all over this dress. if i owned it, i'm pretty sure i would wear it everyday. love it.

a job change for danny

danny gave work his two week notice last week, and so on the 19th, he's going to be starting a new job. how is this wedding related you might be wondering? well, now, danny actually has enough vacation to go on our honeymoon! thank you new job!

wedding party spotlighting

i thought i should mention a very important aspect of our wedding that i've only mentioned briefly so far: the wedding party. first, i should mention that we do not have a strictly traditional wedding party. i have three maids of honor, and danny has three best men. we didn't see how we could rank one friend above another. the people who make up this party are all equally our best friends, and we're happy that they agreed to stand up with us and support us.

periodically i'll post about a different party member, so you can know a little bit about them & why we love them. today, i'll start with manda pants (danny's favorite nickname for her).

amanda (aka manda)
amanda and i met in college. it feels as though we have been friends for even longer than we actually have. first of all b/c that's how close our friendship is & second b/c i had been hearing all kinds of wonderful things about her long before i got to finally meet her in person. my senior year of school we decided to be roommates. i can't tell you how happy i am that we did; it was an awesome year (even though we had some bad times) that brought us even closer with lots of time dedicated to eating, dancing, tv watching, talking, and trips to the dog park.

amanda is graduating from the university of tennessee on the 16th (yay!) with a degree in media arts. her first painting sale was a sale to danny and me which is something we're really proud of (it hangs above our fireplace). not only is she incredibly creative & a my favorite artist, she is also an amazing person...loyal, forgiving, and kind. she is my resident artist, runner, and dancing partner. she's also going to do our wedding invitations which i'm super excited about.