Stumptown Bride

Pictures! Literarily Different

2008-02-13T06:36:00.000-08:00

I know that have been woefully absent. So absent that I might not even be remembered. It seems that I have a way of underestimating things, for example I underestimated the problems one might have with internet in Mexico. For whatever reason the internet connection we have here in lovely Zacatecas hates the site upon which I blog. Hates it to the degree that crashing and losing of half-typed entries drove me to give up for almost two months. But here are more pictures at last.

So our photos were taken largely in Powell's City of Books, which bills itself as the world's largest independent bookstore. I was so grateful that they would let us in there on their busiest night of the week to take pictures. And let me be clear that even though we did our best, we were definitely in the way. But if you really have an idea that you think represents you as a couple, go for it, because the pictures came out awesome!

The boys browsing a bit while they waited for me to show up to do the reveal. But where were me and the girls at?

Right! Goofing around with parasols outside. But we showed up eventually....
And we got to meet for the first time on our wedding day beneath the stacks.

Then on to the Rare Book Room for the group shots.

And some I didn't even know they were taking. In the one above I was watching the other photographer take pictures of Mr. Robin, notice the big smile.

There were truly a lot of pictures taken inside Powell's, and I love them all. We goofed around a little and had fun. The only thing I wish we had planned for was more time. We never got to go outside much in the Pearl District and it had great photo opportunities. Give yourself way more time than you think you will need.

Pictures! Part One: Prep

2008-02-09T10:24:00.000-08:00

Sorry that it has been long time, no blog, but believe it or not packing up your whole life and moving to a completely different country is more time consuming than planning a wedding. I know, I didn't think that was possible either!

But here I am with eight hours to kill in Mazatlan before our bus leaves for Zacatecas, and therefore I thought I would post up some of the pictures that we got from our amazing photographers, who not only got us the pictures super quick, but busted out some custom Thank You cards in only five days! I love those guys.It is important to start the morning of your wedding off right. Step one should be coffee, especially if you have to venture out sans makeup. Step Two...Pedicures! Seriously though, it was about 36 degrees out in this shot and our feet are freezing.

At the Armory, which is a theater, we received the larger dressing room behind the stage, which was great to do make-up and hair.
I love the above photo because the photographer captured everyone but my sister in one cascade.
My beautiful 'maid did my hair and make-up a la femme fatal. Since we were having a night wedding I wanted to have a dramatic look.
Prepped and ready, there is nothing to do but linger in the stairwell waiting for the groom and his attendents to leave the ceremony area.

Post Script: Well obviously I did not get this posted three days ago when we were in Mazatlan. I just couldn't get the website to upload photos, which was the whole point of this post. So greetings from my new apartment in Zacatecas, Mexico.

PhotoBooth Fun!!!

2008-01-23T17:21:00.000-08:00

The first photos that Mr. Robin and I have from our wedding are from our photobooth. Our photographers set up a backdrop in the cocktail area and throughout the reception an attendant snapped photos of our guests. I love this because it looks like everyone had fun being goofy!

Mr. Robin with his sister!

Mr. Robin's 92-year old grandfather (who came all the way from Georgia) and his daughters (one of which is Mr. Robin's mom)

Our wonderful (and silly) friends!

My lovely sister, who was my MOH and my close friend and bridesmaid kicking it during the cocktail hour.

I love these pics because it seemed like the reception flew by, but this booth was open for the whole night and everyone could use it. There are pics of groups that we might not have gotten pictures of without it. Not to mention tons of hilarious pics of our 2 and 3 year old nephews jumping into pictures with random people.

Speedy Surname Switching

2008-01-20T20:47:00.000-08:00

So we are home... well our home until the first week of February when we fly out to start our trip.

There is exactly one month between our wedding day and the day that we fly out. This posed an interesting dilemma for my name. I just couldn't see spending six months and not taking Mr. Robin's name. It is really important to me for us to have the same name, we are one, we are a family. I know that people have many different feelings about this subject and I think all of them have valid points. But for me personally it was priority.

So instead of waiting six months... marathon name change session! We are due to leave on the honeymoon in the evening the Monday after the wedding, so I have several hours. I grabbed an expanding file with all identifying documents and papers and room for more. This will be a day that you collect paper.

1. Marriage License – 10:30AM

This is the key to name changing. You need a certified copy to show the DMV, Social Security, bank, etc, and another copy that you can send the passport office.

While getting marriage license, find out how fast you can get a certified copy after the ceremony. For example, in the state of Oregon usually the officiant of your ceremony usually mails the license in after the wedding,. Well, we couldn't wait for the US Postal Service, so my maid of honor took it and placed it into my bags and then we drove to the license office on Monday morning (before taking off on the honeymoon) and turned it in ourselves.

Also, before the wedding I found the layout of the government offices in Portland that were near the County marriage office. Then, after we got copies of the marriage license with its seal of approval we didn't have to go far in between stops.

2. Social Security – 11 AM

I decided to do the offices in order of most likely horrible and get easier. So Social Security first. I don't want to insult anyone at the office, they were polite, helpful and efficient. But it was still about an hour and a half before I walked out Mrs. Robin in the eyes of Social Security. 85 minutes in a plastic chair trying to read, and less than five minutes at the window.

3. DMV - 12:45 PM

The weak point of my plan, if I had planned better I would know that the DMV I chose, while close to the other offices, was in fact closed on Mondays. Grr.

4.Passport – 1:45 PM

To prepare for this I had filled out the renewal forms online and printed them out. This is wise, so there will be no misspellings or mistakes due to my poor handwriting.

Walgreen's in the Northwest takes passport photos and will have them for you in about fifteen minutes. So I get the obligatory unflattering pics and head over to the Main Eastside Post Office (fyi, they also take pics there) and I wait in line. The woman who works here is super-helpful. Since I need my passport fast, we overnight the forms and I expedite the forms.

5. Bank – 3:30 PM
The second place that the plan breaks down... The line goes out the door and around the corner. Mr. Robin (who has been patiently shadowing me for moral support) tells me that his dad wants to see us at 5:30 before he flies out. Sigh. I am not going to make it to another DMV.

So I finished up the day we got back from the honeymoon, with that final piece. I have no credit cards to change, so now, fourteen days after the wedding there is only Mrs. Robin!

The Robin's Are Mini-Mooning

2008-01-12T08:11:00.000-08:00

But sadly, they are getting to the end of their mini-moon. We decided to take seven days after the wedding away from home, to relax and be married! And now we are on our way back, where we will have to prepare at super speed for our six month honeymoon.

But I also can't wait to post all the details. We had such a fun night!

Unique Locations

2007-12-27T12:15:00.000-08:00

If I tell the truth, I wanted to hold the ceremony in this place. But there was just no way that we could cut the guest list down to the fifty or so that might be allowed. I have spent so much of my life in this particular place that it would have suited me perfectly. But I am not the only one getting married, and Mr. Robin has a lot of amazing people in his life that deserve to be a part of our big day. But I still wanted to spend some time there on the big day.

What place am I talking about exactly?

Powell’s City of Books. The largest independent bookstore in the world. Which happens to be right across the street from the Portland Armory, where our wedding is taking place.

Don't get me wrong, I love our location with all my heart now, but this was my first impulse. I didn't even mention it to Mr. Robin because it was so off-the-wall, but I am a big fan of weddings in personal places. I really like this wedding from Offbeat Bride that took place in a library. The aisle is so sweet.

But if like me you can’t fit that unique location into the reality of your plans, don’t give up entirely. I wrote the following somewhat begging-toned letter to the Public Relations department at Powell’s asking them to let me include the store in my wedding in some way:

Hello to whomever it may concern:

I would like to inquire (beg, really if we are being honest) whether it would be possible to take some photos inside of the Powell’s City of Books location.

Some background perhaps: I am getting married on Sat. January X, 2008 at the Portland Armory. Being somewhat obsessed with books I spend quite a lot of time in the Powell’s location on Burnside over the years. It is where I used to go on my birthday (woohoo birthday loot to spend), after school once I got my license, late at night when I lived alone and needed people, on days off to browse during my first job, and was the first stop every time I drove home from college. I love to walk the stacks, and guess what I found myself a man that likes to browse and sip coffee as well. Though, he is down in that strange and foreign rose room I have heard rumors about (blue room, red room myself).

So long story short, I would like to have a few pictures taken inside of Powell’s City of Books on my wedding day. If need be it can simply be myself, my groom and one photographer so as to cause as little disturbance as possible. It is a place we spend time together in our real lives, and I would like to have it in our photos. I understand this may not be possible for myriad of reasons, but if it is even remotely possibly, I would be willing to jump through some hoops to make it happen.

Thanks for considering my silly wedding photo dream.

All the Best,
Miss Robin

And they have agreed! So the Robins' pre-ceremony photo session will be taking place in Powell's, the reveal (where Mr. Robin will see me for the first time) as well as other silly photos. This way I get to include a place that means a lot to me, even if I can’t have the wedding there.

Anyone including a non-traditional site that is personal to you in some way?

Powell's photos from the New York Times.

Taking the Cake...

2007-12-24T13:55:00.001-08:00

I had a whole cake plan. Well it was more of a desert plan.

See I don't really love cake. I mean plain birthday/wedding cake type cake with frosting and such. In fact, I border on dislike with a few exceptions. But I love dessert. I love baking and Mr Robin's mom has made wedding cake and other family members have baking talent. So I thought that we would lay out an amazing dessert spread of a small wedding cake, cheesecake, cookies, tres leches cake, and pie. Something like this:

(From Josiah's Catering, a crazy beautiful caterer from Manila)

I still think it is a grand idea, and if it had been any other time of year it would have worked out.
But we put our families in a pinch, we know, by getting married only eleven days after Christmas. There just isn't enough time to do everything that we want.

So, about two weeks before Christmas, we all began to realize that there is a certain love expressed in buying dessert. Love for our families. Though it would be meaningful to have a course supplied by family, it is also meaningful to just let everyone relax and enjoy.

So we turned to Saint Cupcake. Fellow Portlanders will be familiar with Saint Cupcake's amazingly delicious cupcakes, but what they might not know is that the sweet little bakery does full size cakes in the same flavors of their cupcakes, and they will even put together a sweet little arrangement like this:
A small little cake on the top for the two of you to cut and custom dyed cupcakes all around. And since I am slightly obsessed with the Toasted Coconut Cream cupcakes, guess what our little personal cake shall be...

Once again not exactly what I wanted to happen, but I think it turned out for the best.

Getting Down

2007-12-24T13:13:00.000-08:00

We need to have control of the music. That was decided from the beginning. I have just heard too many stories from couples who made detailed lists, provided songs, and then heard none or little of what they wanted.

Add to that the fact that a great many of our dates were to concerts and shows and we needed to rock the iPod wedding. So a friend of Mr. Robin will provide ceremony music with her guitar, and then when the reception rolls around we will have an iPod full of all the songs we love.

However, we have an issue... What song are we going to dance to for the first dance?! We have it down to two, which you can listen to thanks to YouTube:
First Day of My Life by Bright Eyes - this is a really sweet video
Why We Like It: This declaration of love and commitment because it is so real. It talks about how amazing love is, but also that it is scary and full of hard work. So awesome.
My Favorite Lyric: "Yours is the first face that I saw/ I swear I was blind before I met you"

I Wasn't Prepared by Eisley
Why We Like It: Because for us it is true. We didn't think when we met that this would be love, we were not prepared at all, and, also we went through a period of separation while we reflected on making this commitment. I think this song really speaks to that. Also we LOVE Eisley.
My Favorite Lyric: "Oh, I wasn't prepared for this..."

So which one should we dance to?

Of course we plan to play this song also, because "Love is like a Roll of Tape" just speaks to everyone, right?? Oh and we are goofs who are obsessed with Flight of the Concords.

Merry Christmas WeddingBee!

2007-12-24T12:26:00.001-08:00

Merry Crafty Christmas!

Like many of you, I am sure, I spent the last few days cooking and wrapping but I wanted to stop and wish everyone the merriest Christmas. Happy wrapping and unwrapping, and joy in the lovely season that surrounds us!

Oh and say TWO WEEKS!! until I am Mrs. Robin.

Our Only E-Pic

2007-12-20T15:07:00.000-08:00

We have had extreme luck in vendors for our wedding. Our caterer/event manager is a family friend of Mr. Robin’s and my make-up/hair artist is my good friend and bridesmaid. As for our photographers, well I spent a long time searching the internet looking at different types of photos.

Then one day I was cruising Offbeat Bride and saw this photo:

I was in love with it. And then I saw the name of the company that did it, FS Weddings. And I thought to myself where have I seen that name before? Hmmm.

Oh right, every third Sunday when I serve at church and my leader e-mails me, that is the end part of his email address. Because he took that photo! Jackpot! I wasted no time in talking with him about the photography.

However, we didn’t really have time for an e-pic session. We kept trying to fit it in somewhere in the schedule, but with only 16 weeks we couldn’t make it fit anywhere, and then it was only 5 weeks to the wedding and it seemed too late.

Luckily for me Ryan and Joelle Flood (the lovely pair behind FS Weddings) are always doing photography for our churches various missional communities and so captured the Robin’s serving at a REACH benefit.

It isn’t a whole session, but I love the look on our faces, especially Mr. Robin. He’s such a goof.

Off the Map

2007-12-13T22:30:00.000-08:00

I dread the question. Everyone asks it!

"Where are you guys going to live?"

Here in Portland, what part of the city you live in says a lot about you. Before you ask newly met people what they do for a living, you ask them what part of the city they live in? I live in Alberta currently (crafts oriented, arty, coffee-fueled, funky) and Mr. Robin lives in Sellwood (community-oriented, good food, supports local merchants).

So the fact that we have no idea where we are living is a source of great concern to everyone who asks the question. They don't know where to place us. I have to say it bothers me a little too. I love certain parts of the city, but I don't know if we will be able to afford them right away.

But the truth is, we can't focus there right now. We have this huge trip coming up and we still are waiting in some ways for some direction on what that trip will be about. How can we think of an apartment that we won't occupy for another eight months.

I can tell them where our storage unit is going to be. What questions does everyone ask you about getting married that you just dread?

Glassware Extraordinaire

2007-12-13T22:15:00.000-08:00

So I am just not a flowery girl. I will admit something to you all... I don't really get excited about flowers.

That isn't completely accurate. I think flowers are pretty and lovely. But I am only really attracted to strange looking ones. I love lime green flowers like Bells of Ireland. I like it when Mr. Robin gets those for me because I know he really thought about what I love.

But the truth is, for the wedding I just can't see paying hundred of dollars for them. I am mostly ambivalent about my bouquet and the other floral elements.

That is why I didn't think that I could do flowers for the centerpieces during the reception. It just wouldn't be me. But one thing I do love is early and mid-century glassware, so my idea was a mix of glassware in blues, greens and browns. Then, I began to worry I wouldn't have time to gather that much glassware so I bought 33 clear vases from Ikea with the intent to fill them will colored water and floating candles.

Well, they are going back! I just couldn't seem to ignore all the amazing finds out there lurking in discount shops and thrift stores. I love the idea of hundreds and hundreds of candles shining through colored glass.

So my MFIL has been helping me gather tons of vintage pitchers and decanters and cordial glasses! So now the only decision is shall all the glass on each table be the same color, or should each table be a mixture of colors?

All one color

The Blues, Greens, Ambers all together

What do you think?

Maid to Order

2007-12-08T21:52:00.000-08:00

I had written in the past of my obsession and desire for custom Lynn Lugo dresses for my bridesmaids. And also I had written of the complete impossibility of getting them given my time constraints. So I gave up that ideas and hunted through hundreds of websites looking for something else I liked ready-made.

The reason that I really wanted the Lynn Lugo dresses is because I could not make up my mind when it came to bridesmaids dresses. I went back and forth between blue to green, back to blue and then to the brown dress below from Nordstom's (because it was the safe choice). But I wasn't really happy with that choice.

So I decided what I really wanted were dresses that reflected all my 'maids personalities, and I wanted to work in all the colors that I love. I decided that I wanted to have a dress in each color. Green for my roommate who loves that color, peacock blue for my close friend who loves color just like me, and brown-gold for my amazing MOH, my sister. So we were back to custom dresses. And to the internet research.

I have had to admit that I have been guilty of not thinking locally. Which is strange because normally I am a huge proponent of supporting local merchants and it is something that Mr. Robin is really passionate about. Luckily I have some bridesmaids who weren't so shortsighted. Strolling along a strip of popular stores on 23^rd Avenue they found Cocoon.

(my mom checking out the bridesmaids dresses)

At Cocoon Silk there are racks and racks of lovely dresses to choose from. However, that isn't the best part. Any of the dresses that you see can be made in any of a wide range of different colored silks. So I was able to set my dearest women loose in the store to choose any style they fancied. My only conditions were that the dresses be knee or just below the knee length. And after they chose and were measured, we got to sift through these amazing silk swatches and choose each woman's color and accents.

It was such a great experience because the store seemed to care so much about each woman in my party. The owner made suggestions and was willing to alter the details, such as length and straps, on any one of his designs, and was willing to work with my insane one and a half month deadline. And I got exactly what I wanted.

So here they are the first fitting:

I think that because I spend so much time and energy planning and writing about my wedding on the internet that sometimes I forget there are great finds in my own Portland.

What is your greatest wedding find in your city?

Rehearsing Casual

2007-12-08T18:25:00.000-08:00

Our wedding is fairly elaborate for a being in the planning stages for only three months. And I will admit to being stressed (that is code word for going slightly crazy). However, I knew this was coming. From the moment we decided that our absolute maximum engagement length was four months, I knew by the end I would be tired.

Which is why I have been standing my ground on my rehearsal dinner plan. I knew exactly what I wanted from day one... Actually before that, I knew before Mr. Robin ever proposed.

Here is a vision of my perfect rehearsal dinner:

(center image from Banana Republic)

Red wine. Spicy pepperoni pizza. My favorite jeans. All our friends.

This is the last time I will see Mr. Robin until we are all suited up and ready. I want to relax. I want to chat. I want not to think about the details. I got the idea from my sister, who just wanted margaritas and Mexican food for her rehearsal dinner. But she didn't get it, she graciously gave way to family demands for a very fancy, formal rehearsal dinner. But I have been saving her idea for about seven years now. And I am determined to get my way.

Which is why I have rented out Portland's most haunted building, Old Town Pizza. They have a large upstairs room which can accommodate the wedding party, and out-of-town travelers, so that we can all eat some amazing pizza and just be together.

A Total Bust(le)

2007-12-03T22:45:00.000-08:00

**Sorry Mr. Robin, skip this one too**

I had originally thought to have my aunt, who does costumes for theater, make the alterations and bustle on my dress. I began to have second thoughts when faced with my time crunch however. It is a beautiful thing to have friends and family do things for your wedding and they can save you tons of money. In fact, we have personal relationships with our caterer, photographer, invitation designer and my hairstylist, but since I needed the alterations done quickly, having a business relationship only sounded nice. I am so much more comfortable being picky (and lets face it, demanding) with someone who views me only as their client.

And when I saw this picture in the David's Bridal Bustle Guide, I was sold on having them do it:

That is my dress! And I love the way it is bustled with a brooch, mimicking the draping above. I decided the minute I saw it that I wanted it.

There is one small problem however. I went for my first fitting last week and the seamstress stared at me blankly when I mentioned the style. When I mentioned the Bustle Guide she cocked her head and said she didn't know what I was talking about. Of course, thinking since they had created the guide and would therefore have it in the store, I hadn't printed the page off the internet and couldn't show it to her. But finally she found an employee who knew to what I was referring. It was then that I was informed, that though the guide is put out by David's Bridal, not all styles are available in all areas. They don't carry the brooch to do that style in little ole Portland, Oregon.

Well, I still love it and I have my heart set. So I am having her put in a bustle with pearl button and ribbon ties to create the draping effect and now am going to find a brooch and just pin it over. Now the only question is what color and what style? Here's what I am thinking.

a lovely vintage faux pearl brooch from Agataga.

I like the idea of a light blue, like this cameo from Ebon Swan.

Too bad this one is sold. It was on Vintage Costume Jewelry and is the perfect colors with two lovebirds painted on it.

Other suggestions?

One Sick & Tired Bird

2007-11-30T13:22:00.000-08:00

I am very sorry to have been absent from writing all week. There were two very different reasons for this.

One was that I have been feeling the pressure. With only a little more than a month left to go I have had to really think about what it possible and what is probable, in terms of projects. I have a million ideas for programs, guest book, centerpieces, etc. But I have had to face the hard truth that they may not all happen. But now that I have sorted what I think I can get done, the projects will be coming fast and furious now.

The other reason is that I fell prey to something that I think is probably pretty common among women as busy as we are. I was burning the candle not only at both ends, but sometimes in the middle. I went to work, planned for the wedding, wrote a lot, taught jewelry making for Advent Conspiracy at my church, failed at reading a new book, tried to hang out with friends, and spend meaningful time with Mr. Robin, then bake for Thanksgiving and on, and on. I was averaging about 4-5 hours of sleep per night, and eating terrible because I had no time to cook.

So I got sick. And not like little sick. Like my boss sent me home from work because I was so ill, and then it only got worse. I was a miserable Miss Robin for a few days.

Planning a wedding, while also trying to keep up with the commitments of the holiday season can take a toll the healthiest person so, please learn from my mistake and do not try and do too much. Take care of yourselves also, during this season when it is so sad to be ill, but so easy to become so.

And, if tragically, you should succumb, here is a great Ginger Tea recipe that really helps me when I can’t breathe and my throat hurts. It is unbelievably good. This tea and lots of spicy Tom Yum soup pulled me through.

Ginger Tea

1 inch fresh ginger root, sliced thin or grated
1/2 a fresh lemon, sliced (peel & all)
1 clove garlic, mashed
2 cups of water
tablespoon or two of honey

Place everything but the honey into a saucepan and then bring to boil, then turn down heat and simmer gently for 20 min. Strain and add lots of honey. The garlic, honey and ginger in this tea are both very good for cold symptoms, such as sore throat, upset stomach, chills, etc. Caution though if you let it sit it will get stronger! (adapted from a recipe by Kim Goddard)

You can also make a simpler version by grating ginger into a mug then pour hot water over it along with a peppermint, green or black tea bag.

Post Holiday Wine Down

2007-11-24T10:13:00.000-08:00

Having decided that we were not participating in the usual Black Friday craziness this year, Mr. Robin and I instead launched ourselves into a road trip down the breathtaking Columbia Gorge under the guise of running some errands for the wedding. First drinks, both wine and beer, and then gathering intelligence for possible mini-moon places for the week after the wedding.

(the Gorge, Portland Ground)

Of course let's talk wine first.

We have decided to go through our caterer for the wine at the reception. The selection is very good and it is much more practical in that they assume all the risks associated with Oregon Liquor Control licensing (which is very very strict). However, wine for us is very personal. You know we like you when we invite you to our weekly wine tasting location.

I would really encourage the use of wine that has been personally selected or that has special meaning or even that is grown close geographically for the wedding and accompanying events. The wine becomes a part of your memories that can be uncorked and relived for years. We have two cases of the rioja reserva that we drank right before Mr. Robin proposed labeled “Engagement Wine” in his cellar. That is 24 times that I will get to smile over a glass at him and remember that day in the taste of smooth tempranillo grapes.

Finding a wine that is personal to you as a couple is still very doable even if you aren't very wine savvy. If you live near a wine producing region, make an adventure out of it! It is a great way to escape from the daily pressures of wedding tasks, with the excuse that you are accomplishing a wedding task.

(Grapes growing at Cathedral Ridge Winery)

Tips for Touring and Finding the Wedding Wine (and having a rocking time!!)

Have a general idea of your objectives for this trip. This can be as general as you would like two reds and a white at the end of the day. Or you would like to get all the wine from a single vineyard. Or that you would like one from this valley and another from another, across the state (in most states this will take two trips, score!).
Bring the following: maps (can be picked up at the tourist office), camera, and notebook. Use this notebook to take notes on wineries, directions, release dates, shipping information. Otherwise, I know from experience, you will either forget the details or write them on brochures, only half of which will make it home with you. Use the camera to take silly pictures of each other.
Go to a bigger, more well-known winery first and get pours. It may be more expensive and crowded but it will give you a jumping off point you can find. If you were in Portland, doing the Columbia Gorge like us, I would recommend Maryhill Winery. This winery is perched on the cliffs high above the river offering amazing views as you sip their award winning Zinfindel.
(deck overlooking the Columbia River at Maryhill Winery)
Going to a big winery like this first lets you become comfortable with the rituals of wine tasting, and they usually have a larger staff and more professional promotional materials that will allow you to learn more of the region's wine history, and grape varieties. Also sometimes live music!
While at the large winery ask your wine server what their favorite wineries in the region are (besides the one they work at). Then ask them if they could only go to one, which would it be? And why?

These people will usually know the region very well and are often eager to offer their opinions. They also may have taken note of the things you liked at their winery and can steer you toward wineries that have strengths in those areas/varietals.
Compare their recommendations to your list of stated objectives. If you wanted everything from one vineyard, head to their number one pick. About a year ago, Mr. Robin and I found an amazing winery this way. Marshal's Winery is a kick, and the antithesis of every stuffy winery you've ever been to. The owner is a retired welder, who now vints amazing syrahs, cabernet francs, and a great $10 blend that is just right for dinner at home. On holidays, like Friday, you will find heaping plates of free food, generous pours. And they serve Cheetos to clear your palate. Classic!

If your wants are more variety, tour several your server listed and any other that catches your fancy along the way. We have stopped for no other reason than a winery had an outdoor Bocce court, and I wanted to play and sip. Or that Pheasant Valley has this great fireplace. You might taste some mediocre wine, but you will have fun picking at random.
Talk to people! Tell them what you liked about the wine and what you didn't prefer. In the smaller wineries the person behind the counter might even be the vintner themselves, and they will definitely know how to find you a wine you will love.
Don't buy it if you aren't convinced. Remember that while the wineries often discount cases and wave tasting fee for those who buy, returns usually aren't an option. Therefore, it is better to wait than make a costly mistake.
One of the wines should be something you love. Not all your guests will have similar tastes, so you will have to buy a variety of different varietals, but there should be one that you can drink for years to come. This is all about making the day about the two of you and having a memory sitting in the bottle, ready to drink.

If you can't go to a wine region, often the wine shops in your town will either have regular tastings or will be happy to set up a tasting for you. Grab some friends (or your bridal party) and make finding the wine it's own memory.

Gown-istically Challanged

2007-11-20T00:22:00.000-08:00

I admit it, I was a gown novice.

It was soon after I started looking online that I realized I was a little out of my league. Which was an odd feeling for someone who usually considers herself stylish. I didn't even know what the names of the styles referred to. When someone started discussing “girls with pick-ups,” I knew that the mental picture I had of a woman in a Ford F150 probably wasn't right. I was going to need help, and fast.

*** Mr. Robin stop reading right here****

My first real impression of what wedding gowns could be was when I lived in Spain. Down the street was a small wedding store, and every week they turned their front window into the very picture of style. Sweet, sassy, modern, vintage. Through the months that I walked to class past that window, and every Monday was new mood, a new study in outrageous Spanish wedding finery.

(a gorgeous Pronovias gown)

I loved those dresses, and actually thought of them occasionally as the years past. But when my actually engagement arrived I realized that their elegant couture was not only out of my price range, unfeasible in my time line and out of my budget, but also they weren't really me. And I didn't know what was...

This is when a bridal megastore like David's Bridal becomes a great solution. They have a lot of styles. From formal to casual, yards of lace to ultra simple, just about everything was covered. And since I had decided to bust open the budget right away on booking the venue, the dresses at David's fit nicely into my price range.

One thing that I am glad that I did was bring so many people.. This is odd because normally I shop alone. I love shopping, but for me often it is just not a team sport, so usually having four other women with me would not be ideal. In this case, having so many companions was important for several reasons beyond their opinions and advice. First, apparently it is very normal for each dresser/salesperson to have more than one client at a time, so it was nice to have my mom and friend take over the fetching of veils and lacing aspects so that I didn't have to wait.

Also,I was able to let them loose within the store with the instructions to bring me anything and everything that they liked. This was great for someone who didn't know anything about what I wanted in a gown because they brought me things that normally I would not try on. Like this all lace number I love the sweetheart neckline.

I also was in love with the lace detailing on this Oleg Cassini gown below. In the end though, I could not do strapless. I kept folding my hands below my chest like I had to hold the dresses up. There was no way they were going anywhere as these things are well reinforced, it was all mental, but whenever I stopped thinking about there my hands would go. Not attractive.

I don't remember who picked out my dress. But I remember being doubtful upon seeing it. I have both a chest and hips and was concerned that it looked so slim. But it had a feeling to it, just a smidge of vintage sweetness.. And it was divine on. The halter makes me feel more secure and the back has a deep V which makes my arms and back look slimmer. These aren't the best pictures, being from the website, but I have my fitting next week and should have some more by then.

Another great thing about shopping at a large chain when planning a wedding quickly, I got to walk away with the dress that day. No worrying that it won't be here in time. And with all these tight deadlines, knowing the dress is hanging in the closet at my mother's has been such a relief.

Invitation to Disaster, Part 2 - Design & Assembly

2007-11-16T00:18:00.000-08:00

Well this part had a lot more actual invitations, and a lot more challenge if not disaster.

We were on a very tight time constraint for invitations, due to the fact that there was simply not very much time between beginning planning and the actual wedding date. Also, my roommate donated her time and talent to make these, and I did not really want her to lose sleep or become a crazy shut-in because she felt she had to meet some sort of extreme deadline. Therefore the invites took several weeks to complete, and finally last week they were proofed, checked and ready to print.
Someone was kind enough to let me use their very expensive printers free of charge to print out each of the three inserts and then the title sheet as well, saving me tons in printing costs. But this is also where my only bridal fit-throwing thus far comes in. I ordered, foolishly, the paper inserts already cut into 5x7 inch pieces, not knowing that it would have been far easier and cheaper from a production standpoint to get full sheets and have them cut later. As it turned out the green paper (my favorite, to be used for our postcard-style response cards) was far thicker than the other two colors and when the printer grabbed it, smears, shadows, sadness.

It might have made a difference if I could have done two inserts per full size sheet because then the printer would have been grabbing in a different, less inky section, but as I mentioned, they were sadly precut. So after much threating of the printer, and slamming down of Diet Coke cans, I had to walk away. I had to give up on the design, even though I loved it. It wasn't going to work, and the biggest tantrum in the world wasn't going to change it.

So, after talking to my roommate and Mr Robin via cell, it was on to plan B. I ran to the paper store, bought two more packages of the cream paper (luckily the only one they carry in store) while my roommate tweaked the design, so that the green was all ink. It would fool anyone into thinking that paper is green unless they were looking hard, since we printed both sides fully green and then just printed brown text on top. Problem solved. I still like the first design better, but this at least got the invitations out the door.

(the least troublesome piece, good ole parking. Also weirdly the piece that made me cry because I thought it was beautiful)

Waiting at my house was a “Forced Labor Party.” We gathered up the nearest and dearest (those that can't say “no”) my mom, my future MIL, my sister, and the bridesmaids. And made them help Mr Robin and I put it all together.

(my dedicated mother, hard at work)

Actually, I highly recommend doing it this way. It is a very special memory for me to have had these women around us all working together and laughing as we put together the invitations to an event that touches all our lives and makes us all a family together. It was originally done because of budget constraints, we could not spend very much on invitations at all, but I am glad that we did it this way because having it have been a community project was so much more touching for me.

The entire package

This project taught me more good lessons though:

Plan B is often just as good as Plan A, because nothing will be perfect. Which feeds right into
Walk away if you are becoming upset. Very few things will ruin the day that you marry the person you were meant for and remembering that is more than half the battle.
Pounding on the hand letterpress kit will relieve much stress and makes lovely envelope seals.
I am definitely marrying the right man, mid- printer beating, he calms me on the phone, asks if he can do anything, and then shows up with Bellagios pizza. That's a man who knows me.

Invitation to Disaster - Part 1 - Paper

2007-11-11T19:22:00.000-08:00

It is amazing to me how quickly things can spiral out of control. The invitation creation process has easily been the most stressful part of wedding planning so far, and that is silly because I would have sworn that invitations was a piece of planning that I wasn't really interested in. We started with a simple concept for invitations, a brightly colored one sheet announcement with the all information, and RSVP by phone or email, drawing inspiration from the fabulous invites of Unless Designs. Her designs have a cheerful poster-like feeling to them which I love. Like you could frame your invitation afterward and hang it in the dining room.

(a cute Unless Designs piece)

But then my fabulous roommate/bridesmaid began to brainstorm designs and her work is so lovely, I wanted more instead of less. Then, I went paper shopping and our simple project is now not so simple. It is absolutely gorgeous don’t get me wrong, these are the invites of my dreams, but let me tell you that the stress level ratcheted up with every piece of enclosure that I added.

The place I went wrong was walking into the paper store. It was just something I ought not to have done. Because once in there, surrounded by all the pretty papers, I went into some sort of impulse buying fog. The new colors for Envelopements were there and they just happened to be my wedding colors. I can't resist those colors, it is a sickness.

So I ordered them. Without any real direction because I hadn't counted the invites we needed to make, hadn't discussed this type of design with my graphic designer roommate, hadn't really done any research. Then the employee tells me that these pieces of paper will take 2-3 weeks to arrive! At which point, another cashier pipes up and says "Oh, sometimes it takes as long as 4 weeks." OH MY GOSH!

Stupid impulse buying! I couldn't wait that long. We are getting married in January! We need to get this show on the road.

So, the next day, I came back down from the freak out, and battened down to do what I do best. Find things on the internet. Within two hours I had found Paper by Joy who could promise me shipment of my order, in the colors and sizes I needed, within 10 business days for no extra charge. And for a fraction (40% less) of the cost of my local paper store. Super bonus? They arrived much sooner, four days after I ordered with free ground shipping.

But the moral of this story is to have a plan. I shouldn't have plunked down the debit card without a clear idea of where I was going with these papers no matter how lovely, and definately not without putting in some time to research whether this was a fair price. I could have made a costly mistake if I had not been able to cancel the original order.

Giving and Recieving

2007-11-11T18:45:00.000-08:00

Sometime, during the endless rounds of conversation about where we should register and for what, Mr. Robin came up with the idea of asking our guests to consider gifting to several charities that we either donate to, or are involved with. I loved the idea of giving more through our wedding, and so we wrote the following note one afternoon after church to accompany our invitations:

I know that it breaks the rule about mentioning registries, but we didn’t think that anyone would mind that much.

Now, that the invitation designs are complete, and we go to assemble them I am having these uncomfortable feelings about it. You know, this little voice whispering in my head, “But I like presents” and “You know this means you could get NO presents, right?” I guess I didn’t know how much I actually had internalized the cultural idea that getting married = getting presents. It is very disturbing, because I guess I thought that I was more generous and less acquisitive than this. Also more practical, because storing all those things would be a pain while we travel!

One thing that I am thankful for is that I have great supportive friends and family, even though some may think we are crazy. I really want to have this chance to give more, and know that I will look back on this and be grateful I made the choice I did. Perhaps even more grateful because it wasn't easy, and sometimes the hard choices in life are the ones God uses change us.

Art Deco Meets Umbrellas

2007-11-11T18:04:00.000-08:00

The Story of a Practical Theme

You may of heard a little something about Portland, Oregon… it rains. According to our reputation almost incessantly. It is my opinion that generally the city gets a bad rap, because the rain is fairly seasonal and the natural beauty it creates is breathtaking. But I digress. Suffice to say that, like any stereotype, there is a part to this one which is true. And that part is that every winter there comes upon the city a rainstorm that begins in early December and keeps on going pretty much until the end of January. Our wedding date is smack in the middle of that.

The part of town where the venue is located is amazing in terms of architecture and city history. Up until fifteen years ago it was an industrial district housing two breweries, and various warehouses and loading docks. Now shops line those loading docks and lofts occupy former brewery space. It is neat. And I want to go out and take pictures in it.

Rain or shine! Before the ceremony! My sister is aghast. I can feel some of you shuddering right now.

But wait, I have a solution. Umbrellas, cute ones too. I ordered Chinese oiled paper umbrellas for us to use to get from location to location if it is raining. And if it isn’t… well, they look pretty cool too.
Around the time of this decision, my roommate and I had been rooting around in Powell's Art Section for ideas on invitations. While there we kept running across these amazing Art Deco posters, with stylized graphic shapes and amazing fonts. I wanted a way to evoke this era and style in our invitations and other paper, then I suddenly thought, "Why not Art Deco Umbrellas everywhere?"

They are a quirky fun nod to Portland and its reputation of rainy-ness, and is still in keeping with our vintage modern style. I love it when practical details turn into great inspiration.

Crippled by the Modern Age

2007-11-09T14:34:00.000-08:00

I am serious. I didn’t realize it before now, but I don’t know many of my friends’ addresses. I know their personal e-mail addresses, their work e-mail addresses, and their cell phone numbers. I am their myspace friend, and their facebook friend (but I refuse to join friendster). I read their blogs, watch their videos online, and have long instant message conversations.

I have been to many if not all of their houses, but I don’t remember such things, I just plug the address in Google maps and go. Or know that they live four houses to the left of Hot Lips Pizza.
It is amazing in this world of instant, accessible communication, that you can be friends with someone and never know their precise location to mail them something as simple as a letter.

Mr. Robin has been on the phone for two days gathering addresses from friends and family alike! The guest list however, is finally almost done. Hooray!

Shades of Robin

2007-11-09T12:25:00.000-08:00

Why pick only two wedding colors, when you could have three. And why stick to only three, when you could have three different colors and two shades of each of those.

At least that is my motto. I am a big fan of color, as anyone in my life would tell you. My shoe collection is such a rainbow that the other day I was bemoaning the fact I couldn’t find a pair of neutral (black or brown) flats to wear.

And if something is so much a part of your personality, then I say work it into your wedding day. So, as I stood in the Dutch Boy paint aisle of a local Fred Meyer’s I was torn. There were two different greens and two different blues that I was in love with, and I couldn’t choose. So I didn’t.

And here is the color palette in all its glory:

The only one that isn't showing up well is the darker blue, it is much less turquoise than it appears.

Literally I live my life in these colors, if you open my sweater drawer or my closet these are the colors that greet you. My favorite bag is the darker blue, my favorite knee high socks the darker green, and my couch is the Barley brown, the walls of my bedroom the light blue.

Also it is fun to play with so many colors; it has given us a lot of flexibility in making design and accent choices. I also highly recommend getting paint swatches to carry that are your wedding colors. They are small and easy to keep in your purse and you will know in a second if a color is slightly different than what you were envisioning.

Additionally, when the wedding is all done, and we are back from traveling I think it will be great to paint a room with a combo of two of the colors, just to remind us of this meaningful day.

Current Random Obsession

2007-11-08T12:05:00.000-08:00

Chalkboard Spray Paint.

I like to play with things. I admit it. I will buy paint, art supplies, and vintage furniture with no real idea to what purpose I will use them. I just like the idea of some things. And this is how I came to have a can of chalkboard spray paint.

I desperately want to find some element in the reception to which I could apply this chalkboard spray paint to. There has to be something at the reception upon which the ability to draw would bring great joy to the guests. What I have no idea, because our wedding is very modern glam (with Asian influences), and I am not sure that the whole chalkboard thing would fit.

But here are some ideas I came up with:

1) A sandwich board at the door painted at the door welcoming everyone. If I buy a permit (and it isn’t raining) I could even put it outside for those guests who might be confused by the whole wedding in a theater concept.

2) Chalk Board Chargers or discs at the tables with cups of cool colored chalk. Like these coasters that Beau Coup used to carry:

Any other ideas on chalkboard crafts that would be fun at a wedding?

Diamond Dilemma

2007-11-06T10:08:00.001-08:00

I wish that I could say that the beginning of my desire for a ring without a diamond was due to a higher sort of emotion, concern for the growing problem with conflict diamonds, and the ways in which the trade of these diamonds lead to violence, war and death for the peoples of the African Continent. Or from the desire to say no to consumerism in a culture that urges us to have too many things and too little compassion or even to say “No” to a jewelry industry where I have observed retailer make men feel like they have to have insurance for their loves to say yes ( Every Kiss Begin with… right.).

These things are definitely a part of my feelings about diamonds and are some of the reason I told Mr. Robin pre-proposal that I would want to help choose the ring together. But the truth is it is that it was plain affinity that had me passing on the diamond ring. I have just never been awed by the sparkle of a diamond like I have for the way light refracts through emeralds, or dances across sapphires. I love color! This is not my ring, as mine is set in a band than is thinner and a little more feminine, but the stone setting is the same. Five amazing blue sapphires set together in a rectangle. I wish I could show you, but my digital camera is insisting that it is broken:

Ring by Divinti

And I don’t want to insult those brides who are rocking their rocks. I just think that those us sporting the alternatives could use some support. The pressure to sport a huge diamond is enormous. I picked up the InStyle Wedding for this month, and the Choose Your Perfect Ring spread had seven lovely pages of rings. And not one ring that wasn’t a diamond. Also, I personally have had girls squeal “Let me see the ring!” and then when I extend my hand with its art deco sapphires their faces fall. I have even had a few express the sentiment, “Well I am sure that when you are more established, then he will get you one.”

Now it doesn’t bother me so much, because the women in my life who know me, every time shout “It is so you!” However, I know women who weren’t into diamonds, who felt they had to get one because everyone was expecting it. There are plenty of good reasons to choose your ring with care. Women choose a ring they will wear forever based on history, culture, affinity, moral feelings, sentimentality, the list goes on. I just think that there is room in the industry for rings beyond diamonds, and we all should have a hand in supporting every bride’s right to wear the ring that symbolizes love in her opinion, whatever stone that might be.

Our Moment in Mexico

2007-11-05T11:14:00.000-08:00

I sort of knew the proposal was coming. The minute Mr. Robin told me that we would spend the rest of our lives together on the phone, I knew. We had been very careful to make no statements of commitment that we could not back up out of respect for each other. This is mostly because last February we took four months apart while Mr. Robin lived in Mexico to figure out our relationship, as after a year we had reached the point of either committing to marriage or not dating any longer. We were not together as a couple during these months (though after about a month we began talking over Skype at least once a week for several hours). So, sometimes when I am feeling silly, and people ask “how long have you been dating?’ I answer: “Three months.”

So for him to say something about “forever” was Major (with a capital M)! And then he started saying things like “After we are married…” or “In a few years…” Ummm, did I miss the proposal? But no, little did I know that Mr. Robin had sneaked off to my parent’s house, in far away Sherwood, and asked their permission to marry me. However, the question plagued him about where to do the formal question popping. Setting is as important to him as it is to me, so it had to be someplace special. Meanwhile, we had been planning a last minute trip to Mexico for a few weeks, to visit his good friends, and so we could attend la Feria in Zacatecas. So he thought, well it has to be special because this moment only comes once, so why not wait until Mexico? THREE weeks away. I was dying of anticipation and my poor mother, who knew it was coming with certainty, was forced to tell one other person each day to keep her sanity. (Thanks all those people for keeping the secret!)

I, who was tingling with anticipation every day, was starting to get a bit irritated and scared after three and a half weeks of sans engagement by the time we reached Zacatecas. But the city is gorgeous. The most amazing colonial city tucked away in the mountains, with almost no American tourists. I had really wanted to eat at La Quinta Rea l, a former bullfighting ring turned luxury hotel, and so our second night in town Mr. Robin and I strolled beneath the colonial aqueduct, around fountains and over the cobblestones to La Quinta (everyone but me would realize where this was going) and ate a fabulous meal of sopa tortilla, steak and fine wine at their restaurant. This is the view from our table out into what used to be the floor of the bullring.

As we are walking back to the lobby through the glassed in walkway atop the bullring, Mr. Robin suddenly walks up to one of the doors out onto the former seats, and casually lifts the lever that locks the door and pulls on my hand. “Let’s go out here.” It is obvious that this is not a public area, as some seats are still crumbling and if there is something to know about Mr. Robin and I, it is that I am the rule follower, and he is the rule breaker. Which means that I immediately start babbling something like this, “I don’t think we can be out here… I mean, I don’t think that this is a public… They are going to kick us out...”

At this point Mr. Robin turns on the steps to look at me and says with a smile, “You think they will kick us out?” To which I nod vigorously. “Do you think they will kick us out soon?” More desperate nodding and a pull on his hand to get back to the safety of the hallway (I also have a thing with heights). “Well then I better do this quick” and with that he dropped to one knee, and I forgot about where we were, and the height, and everything. He began to say amazing things about thinking long and hard about this, about wanting me as his wife, about following God, and how I could and should take time and think about my answer.

It was at this point that I, crying, dropped to my knees and said “YES!” Though I said it into his shoulder because I was hugging him so hard, he had to peel me off and get me to say it again, intelligibly this time. And then we took this series of photos.

The Robins, newly engaged

The spot where it happened

After that we, grinning hugely, walked downstairs to the hotel bar. This bar is amazing, as it is where they used to keep the bulls before fights and so is warren of arches and private cubby holes. We took the most private cubby and ordered a fat Cuban cigar and Banderas to celebrate. A Bandera is a sipping drink that is composed of a shot glass of lime juice, a shot glass of tequila, and a shot glass of sangrita (a sweet, spicy tomato juice). And there we sat and discussed all manner of things for hours as dusk fell into night, the hotel lit up around us, and the cigar became just a stub.

In the end I am glad that Mr. Robin waited until we could have this amazing memory of getting engaged. Before I thought I was ready to throttle him because I didn’t know why he was determined to have it be a special moment, because that question will make any moment special. But we will forever have this magic night, and I am glad that he planned it out in detail.

Be Speedy, Not Hasty

2007-11-03T15:11:00.000-07:00

Getting this event together in only a few months means that there is are few things that I have realized that I have to keep in mind as I proceed.

First, priority. Decide which things are important to you. For Mr. Robin and myself this is setting and food. With only a little over three months after we arrived back from Mexico, a venue was actually the first thing that needed attention. I would definitely recommend making the decision quickly as possible because wedding venues tend to fill up sometimes as much as 18 months in advance. If you only have a handful of weeks like me, don't lose hope, think outside the norm. I was looking at barns, warehouses, empty retail space downtown, if you could pack 140 people in it and have it look pretty cool, I looked at it. What I ended up with is the lobby of a theater. You would be surprised at what you can find, a family friend got married underneath the Broadway Bridge. And space like these are often available much closer to the wedding date.

After we nailed down a setting, we then contacted the caterer because it was the next priority. We actually know someone who works for one of the only four caterers that are allowed for the Armory. The Vibrant Table does amazing food and events. They are not really just a caterer, they will help you plan out the mood and theme of your event, help you keep the details of the schedule for the day and even find other vendors for you.They are definitely not the cheapest caterer in town, but the premium is definitely worth it for me, and not really for the event planning aspect, but the food, oh the food! If you are going to have a short engagement then finding a vendor that can fil more than one role will save you some headaches, but maybe not money.

Second, Flexibility. With a short planning time like this you cannot fall too much in love with anything. It may turn out that it is just not possible in such a short amount of time, without incurring considerable extra cost. One thing that seriously lusted for were Lynn Lugo bridesmaids dresses. However, upon visiting the site there were several barriers to this becoming reality. One, there are only two shops that carry her line and neither is very convenient for my maids. However, the larger barrier was the ordering notice on the site "This means that you should order your dresses at least 18 weeks from your actual wedding date to allow for shipping time and alterations."I didn't even have 18 weeks between my engagement and wedding! So I let them go, because it is important to be flexible. My advice, is that if it won't ruin your day not to have it then forget it because it is just not worth it.

Lastly, do your homework. Everything will take longer if you don't walk into a meeting having a good idea of what you want. Vendors will try to help you, but often they don't have a clear pictures of your style or some will try to take advantage of your lack of preparedness to try and upsell you to higher priced packages (it is their job after all). So bring examples of things you like, with an idea of what you want to spend, paint swatches of wedding colors, or even magazine spreads that evoke the color or theme that you need. I have brought this one before:I think it captures the vintage modern style I am looking for, and is the exact color scheme. A picture is worth a thousand word when you are trying to describe your theme. I was actually really excited to see the inspiration board blog Snippet & Ink that Mrs. Bee posted a few day ago. I can't wait to make one.

Hammering out the basic details of vendors so quickly, and without confusion, will allow me to do some of the DIY projects that I would like to do in the last two months. This includes having a friend who is a graphic designer help me do my invites, creating the centerpieces with my mother, doing the ceremony programs by hand, and I am sure I will think of others. Way too many others.

Any one else have short-term planning tips?

We’re Going to the Theater…

2007-11-02T11:48:00.000-07:00

And We're Going Get Married!!

Mr. Robin and I went to see a Cabaret (with Storm Large!) production on last Thursday and it was so fun to see our location space filled with so people. It really helped me imagine that a few short months from now this space shall be filled with all my closest friends and family. We sat in front of the red glass wall where we will say our vows and smiled big huge grins at each other.

(the red wall, picture by PCS)

The Portland Armory is actually the theater for Portland Center Stage. This has some great benefits, like the fact the lobby is open until 6pm for ticket sales on Saturdays so we don’t have to start paying until then, but they will let all of our vendors start setting up at 4pm. They also are really easy going about the fact we want the reception to continue on until 11pm. And the fact it is so insanely amazing looking that I almost don’t have to decorate a thing.

The building sat empty for years, across the street from Powell’s City of Books (the world’s largest independent bookstore) and the Henry Weinhard’s Brewery. But when the Brewery was turned into condos, shops and restaurants a few years ago The Armory was too amazing of a building to sit lonely for long. It was remodeled by the theater company into a building that is both one of the oldest in all downtown and the greenest.

Seriously, rainwater flushes the toilets. Classic.

I really lucked out getting this venue. I am a planner, and since the setting of our wedding was the most important thing to me, I actually booked it from Mexico as we were traveling. I knew that I wanted to have something memorable. A place that would reflect Mr. Robin and I, would reflect how much we love Portland, and a place that was elegant. I also wanted to have the wedding by candlelight. So evening and the ability to burn things was kind of a must for that element. I had my mom communicate with the different locations while I peppered her and them with emails from internet cafes around Mexico.

I truly wanted a church, a beautiful amazing church. Something like Old Laurelhurst Church, where the sanctuary drips with stained glass. Our church used to meet there before we outgrew it, and I could see myself meeting Mr. Robin at the end of that aisle. There is one thing I did not count on however, and that is church reception rooms. They looked like a school cafeteria. Not exactly what I had pictured. And the rules!! No candles, no chair rentals, NO BEER (that will just not fly for microbrew loving Portlanders like us!). I knew that it would take a lot of time, effort and research to transform that space into the reception that I had been envisioning. More than I probably had with my time/budget restraints. So the search was on.

I found the Armory on the Blum Floral website completely by accident. I never thought that I could get it, there were only four or five Saturdays in all of 2008 when the Armory didn’t have a show run, and only two in the space of time that fell within our 4 month limit. I happened to beg the event coordinator on just the right day, the day a bride changed her mind. I snapped up the cancellation without ever having set foot in the building. From this picture alone:

(picture by Sidewalk Studios)

If you are going to plan a wedding in three months, I think that it is worth it find a location with some impact to it. Trust me, you will save some sanity if you don't have to make a hundred decor decisions to transform a location into something beautiful and dream worthy. And you might even save some budget, because rentals can get spendy!

Mucho Gusto!

2007-11-01T14:28:00.001-07:00

Hello to all bees and readers! I am so amazingly excited to be a part of WeddingBee! See the thing is, I had never really thought about getting married. I mean, I thought about the actually being married part and sharing my life with someone, but the planning aspect was never something I gave too much thought to. Which is strange, because I love style, color, planning... and pretty dresses. But then one day, I figured out that Mr. Robin was going to propose, and it struck me how little I knew. Which freaked out planning little me, and so to the internet I went, and found the most fun, informative, helpful site - WeddingBee. And now that I am a part of this wonderful site I can't wait to inflict my crazy ideas upon you all!

I guess the first thing for you all to know is that Mr. Robin and I are tying the knot with a little more speed than your average American couple. From proposal to alter there are exactly four months. However, we only have three months to plan, because Mr. Robin asked me to marry him at the beginning of a three week trip where we were visiting friends in Mexico. This makes the planning and plotting of this once in a lifetime day just a bit more complicated. We have to make sure that we make the right decision the first time, every time (or almost every time, mistakes will happen). Why get married so fast? Well, we are just done not being married to each other now that we have made the commitment to do so. We are done not living together, not sharing our lives, not following God together.

We live in Portland, Oregon an awesome city if you love indie crafts, food, music, and nature (all of which we do love). We can't wait to have the chance to live together in this beautiful city, but it won't be for long. That's because, God willing, we hope to travel around Mexico, Central and South America in the first year of our marriage. We love travel, wine, and meeting new people in other cultures. We are planning, tentatively at this point, to travel to see friends in Buenos Aires, explore Chile, climb Manchu Picchu, lie on the beaches and explore the rain forests of Costa Rica, then wander through the amazing natural beauty and lovely culture of Mexico until we hit Zacatecas, the city where Mr. Robin popped the question (more on that later) and there we will settle for several months. It will be quite an adventure and a great way to learn how to be as one in our first year together. And after Zacatecas? Who knows.

Looking over the names, I knew I had to be Miss Robin, I have a current obsession with bird-shaped things (earrings mostly) and I find robins kind of goofy, so there is definitely a resemblance between me and them. And not just the red/brown hair.

Announcing....

2007-10-31T20:39:00.000-07:00

This is just a short post to let my lovely friends and family who were perhaps unaware that I applied to be a blogger at WeddingBee.

So I shall now refer to myself as Miss Robin, and M as Mr. Robin. There is really a reason, I am not just crazy. And I may post about some things again. Thanks for the patience.

see the resemblance?

Going to Seed...

2007-10-29T17:35:00.000-07:00

Flowers mystify me. Seriously.

Mostly this is because I am allergic to a wide variety of them (among other things). So it isn't like i really keep many around the house, or garden extensively. I am in love with green flowers. Perhaps because they are so strange, everyone always thinks the chartreuse spider mums that I have on the kitchen table are spray painted that color, but they are vivid and lovely green all on their own.

But I have been trying to decide what will go in my bouquet, and keeping with that we had the first meeting with our florist yesterday. Which is when I discovered that unlike almost every other area in the wedding I have no strong immediate feelings toward the flowers. As I rambled on and pointed out various things I liked in the magazine, I could tell there was no cohesive vision coming together.

There were blue flower, green flowers, foliage, chocolate cosmos, and on and on. And I was just getting confused.

Thank God that M is more involved than any groom I have ever known and that we are so good at communicating now. We got in the car and he almost immediately said to me "I think that there are too many colors in your bouquet. I liked how simple the cream and green would be." And I definately agreed. I am sure I would hate the fussy tri-colored bouquet that would include all those blooms.

So I am limiting it to two colors. So what do you think?

Cream & Chartreuse

Chartreuse chrysanthemums (photographer:Stephanie Pieruccini)

Chocolate Cosmos and Green Flowers

(Imagine bright green instead of the light pink)
From Jupiter Images

Cream and Chocolate

Chocolate Cosmos and Star of Bethlehem.
I couldn't find a bouquet with these together.

Green and more Green

From my florist

Oh My Goodness Gracious

2007-10-26T23:04:00.000-07:00

I came home from the REACH benefit tonight and what was waiting for me? My Envelopments order!!!

That was as fast as the website promised. I mean, I know that the site said 2-5 business days, but I was thinking that perhaps it would be about two weeks. It has been five days! When you think about the fact that I ordered on a Sunday and the transaction probably didn't got through until Monday. Impressive.

So as soon as my roommate finalizes the designs we can begin to assemble!

The step by step DIY to follow, I just wanted to say that Paper by Joy is the place to order Envelopment from. Fast , fast, fast and everything is perfect .

The Wedding Show Sponsor is Stalking Me

2007-10-25T23:37:00.000-07:00

It seemed innocent enough. Go to wedding show last weekend, enter contests, see if you win, and while you do that search for florist or at least floral ideas. Right?

Apparently not.

Not even four hours after departing the wedding show I get a call from Celebrity China (terrible name, I know) the show sponsor saying that I have won some toasting glasses and a hotel stay for two nights. Well Hooray... Oh wait.

Because then the kind lady says that to get these "prizes" M and I will have to show up at a cooking demonstration at this particular time (Monday night) and in this particular place (all the way across town). And the longer she talks the more it sounds like a timeshare presntation. Not that I am knocking those.

When M and I were in Mazatlan pre-engagement we went to an awesome timeshare presentation for a resort and recieved $150 in restaurant credit (to amazing gourment places) and $100 cash. Plus French Toast!

But I decided that I didn't want to go to one for wedding stuff. I knew they would just try to sell us stuff we didn't need, and M and I are so trying to make this a celebration of the people we love. Of our circle coming together to watch us commit before God to living our lives as one, and then having an amazing night to party in honor of that. Not a time to buy a deluxe, limited edition, lifetime guaranteed china set. We would rather take the $$ and go to Argentina and work on a vineyard for crush for a honeymoon. We are weird like that.

But they won't leave me alone!! We didn't show up Monday, so the lady called and left a message Tuesday morning about coming on Tuesday night. Well obviously we didn't show up... and I have received two more messages since, one sad, and one starting to sound annoyed. But both persistant

We aren't coming, take the hint. Sorry.

Envelopments... or Why Did I Want to Make Invites

2007-10-20T21:13:00.000-07:00

Short Engagement. DIY Invites. These things should not necessarily go together my fellow brides. This is the only thing in my whole wedding planning so far that is giving me those little hyperventilating feelings. I have no invites out, and am not doing Save the Date cards, today is October 19th. (I am breathing into paper bag, hang on)

Okay...that's better. I wanted to do my own invites for several reasons, which are:

1. My roommate and bridesmaid is an awesome graphic designer
2. I have specific color/design ideas
3. It seemed fun
4. I like to make things
5. Invites are freakishly expensive

So my mom and I trundled off to Paperzone yesterday to be overwhelmed by paper choices and colors. While there I did fall in love with Envelopments.

An example of what some people have done with envelopments. This is my brown, but the blue I picked is much more teal.

This is a line of paper products that includes cardstock, pocket folds, side envelopes, etc. They have amazing new colors and I love the customization, but they are a little pricey. But seriously it is too late. I was in full on impulse purchase mode (this is not a mode that I recommend for wedding planning BTW) and so immediately placed an order for 70 of each of the 5x7 chocolate portrait pocketfold envelopes, 3 colors(blue, green and cream) of 5x7 card stock, small seals, and all of this came to about $300. Which is my whole budget for invites. And we haven't printed a thing yet. Also, I should mention at this point that the guest list hasn't been totally finalized and 70 is probably not enough invitations.

Then the Paperzone employee tells me that these pieces of paper will take 2-3 weeks to arrive! At which point, another cashier pipes up and says "Oh, sometimes it takes as long as 4 weeks." OH MY GOSH!

Stupid impulse mode! I can't wait that long. We are getting married in January!

So today, I come down from the buying high and start to freak for a minute, and then I batten down and do what I do best. Find things on the internet. Within two hours I had found online retailers who could promise me shipment of my order, in the colors and sizes I needed, within 5 business days for no extra charge. And Guess What! I ordered 90 of each piece through Paper by Joy online for only $212. Now lets just hope and pray that they live up to the delivery promise.

Meanwhile, Paperzone I feel a return coming on! Lackluster service and huge delivery time, plus the MOST expensive Envelopments retailer of all the ones I looked at. Avoid them!

Now I just have to draft some slave labor to assemble these invitations.

Teal.. Blue or Green?

2007-10-18T13:45:00.000-07:00

This is only a burning question because I am wondering if these could be my "something blue." Or do they only count as my something bluegreen?

These are not the exact sandals I have chosen but the color and feel is the same. The style I purchase is a little more vintage styling, but I can't seem to find a picture and my digital camera is lost forever in Mexico.

They are Chie Mivaras. Let me pause and sigh dreamily. I always knew going into this that I wanted colored shoes, especially after I decided to go white on the dress, and I also knew that budget allowing I would like to buy dream shoes. The type of shoes that I drool and sigh over, but can never justify purchasing. Shoes made of real leather, hand-dyed, and wonderfully designer.

Don't look up how much Chie Mivara's are... please. My practical bargain hunter soul is still a little bit in denial. But I could never let them go once I saw them.

My only concern is a little embarrassing. Matt and I are only a few inches apart in height. I am tall for a woman and he is of Japanese descent. I don't want to be taller, I know it isn't modern or feminist, but its the truth .

You Can't Have You Cake and Eat It Too...

2007-10-16T15:36:00.000-07:00

Especially when you don't really like cake. And I want to qaulify that statement so that everyone understands, especially people who have seen me eat cake. I like cake only occasionaly. But mostly the flavors and combos I like are not part of the wedding cake baker's selection. Like I am obsessed with Mexican Tres Leches Cake. But when a cake has to feed the masses it have to appeal to almost everyone...

So to have cake or not to have cake, that is the question.

M is lobbying cupcakes. This will drive my sister insane, she hates cupcakes at weddings. So this plan has two good points. The con to that plan is that I kind of want to cut something. To have that moment. So perhaps a small cake to cut and then cupcakes. I have been looking at these from a local eastside place Bakery Bar:

Way adorable, no?

The other issue that I want other dessert. While I am not a great lover of cake, I am a great lover of sugar in general. I love cheesecakes, tarts, creme brulees and cookies. And I would like to have something sweet from one of those categories... So I was thinking about have a spread of different desserts. I am just imagining a table piled high with jewel colored tarts, creamy cheesecake slices, and some lovely fruit. yum.

Hard decsions.

Ways to Stay Warm

2007-10-12T22:51:00.000-07:00

I saw this picture on Sonya Naumann's website Thousand Dollar Dress and loved it. From a cultural standpoint, I really like what she is doing in these photos of women and what they think they should do in her thousand dollar dress. I love this girl, who you can tell from following photos is a librarian, sitting alone infront of the card catalog looking tired and a little surly.

But I must confess I am a little obsessed by the cardigan over the wedding dress. I have been thinking that it can be awfully cold in Portland in January and a nice warm cardigan might be nice. Also it could be so cool in a retro funky way to wear over my glam 30s style dress.

Perhaps some cardigan like this, what do you think?:

Rainy Days Are Here Again...

2007-10-09T12:37:00.000-07:00

Or icy, Or windy, Or some combo of all three.

January in the City of Roses is not exactly predictable. I am very aware of this and hold little, little hope for a crystalline clear cold day. Instead, I am betting on rain and temps hovering in the high thirties. I am just being real. Hey, worst case scenario there will be inch thick ice over all the roads (like three years ago in Jan) and M and I and our parents will be the only ones at the wedding.

Here is the dilemma. I love the Pearl District and the Brewey Blocks. They are full of great architecture and some of my favorite spots. I want to go outside and take pictures. But since it will be January and getting dark before the ceremony, we will have to take pictures beforehand, so I don't want to mess up my dress too much. Rain,,, yikes.

Then Amy and I were doing some research for our wedding invites (more on this later) and since we want it to have a vintage feel, I love Art Nouveau but often it is fussy, and so we were looking at old Art Deco posters and I saw these things.

(I love this invite so much, a great mix of deco and nouveau. I want to see if we can use some of the elements, and deco them up more)

But what do some of those things look like graphically, hmmmm...? Perhaps they might look like this:

And look at those colors from Luna Bazaar.
The Chinese parasols are oiled paper so they will keep of the rain for a limited amount of time. So I ordered eight total. Chartreuse, brown, sapphire and several off-white and even some with hand painted designs on them. Ladies and Gentlemen we have a graphic theme AND a way to keep the rain off my dress pre-ceremony. Lovejoy Columns, here we come!

Ths manages to combine all the things I love: vintage sweetness, bright colors, Asian influences (wrong country, sorry M, couldn't find Japanese umbrellas), bold graphic design, and I think that the visual unifying element of the parasols/umbrellas top-down will work well in many areas. Now all I need are blue and green cocktail umbrellas for cake toppers.

The hunt is on!

My Friends Are Grown People...

2007-10-07T17:30:00.000-07:00

This is why it is so weird to tell them what to wear. I am having lots of trouble with bridesmaids dresses. The issues are manifold. First there is the cost. I have rarely if ever spent more than one hundred dollars on an item of clothing. The only time that springs to mind is senior prom (seriously that dress was cool.) and now I am asking the women who are unfortunate enough to be my closest girlfriends to shell out well over that for a dress they don't even get to choose.

Which brings us to problem number two. Why, please tell me, does the wedding industry so insist on making bridesmaids dresses look like bridesmaids dresses. Lets face it, if you pick it off the rack at David's Bridal the chances that your lovely friends can wear it to a cocktail party and feel beautiful later are slim. I want dresses that make my friends feel hot, sexy and most of all... themselves. I mean, that's why I love them right? I do not want clones of the perfect 'maid at my wedding, I want my sister (who I have always looked up to and argued with), my roommate (the only girl I have ever successfully lived with, you rock honey!), and my closest friend ( she digs the dirt out of me).

Now is problem three, because there are any number of brides who throw caution to the wind and let their friends choose whatever dress rocks them the most. I, I am afraid, can't do this. I just can't. I have tried to convince myself, that I could, but lets all face it when it comes to design I am a control freak. I have a vision in my head, and it may still be fuzzy and undefined, but it is mine. I have to have some control.

All of which makes me wish that I could afford to inflict upon the 'maids, Lynn Lugo. Her dresses (check the pics) are beautiful silk, and highly customizable. And best of all, many styles look like bridesmaids when you're holding a bouquet and look like sweet dresses when you're not.

Oh Lynn, I wish I could make you mine.... But I shall continue the search, now knowing what I am looking for.

Off Color Behavior

2007-10-06T13:27:00.000-07:00

I alway knew that there would have to be color. I am not an all white kind of girl. In fact, before deciding to get a white dress my mother and I had a series of e-mail conversations about it. I was all ready to order Chrissy Wai-Ching's green dress. I loved it, loved the modern styling (oh how the modern and vintage parts of my style confuse even me), I love the color, I love the embriodery, but...

My mother, while being the most supportive woman on the planet, made excellent points. 1) I am not the only one who has been dreaming about this day. M is not a guy that is doing this on the spur of the moment, he truly thought and dreamed through our life together before asking me to be his wife and is very involved in all the planning (which I love), and perhaps part of his dream might be seeing me in a white dress at the end of the aisle. 2. My mom didn't want me to regret not wearing it. She knows me, and knows that for all my love of color and style, new restraunt and crazy trends, that there is a large part of my heart that is deeply traditional, spirtually, emotionally, ect.

So the white dress won, and now that I have picked it out I have no regrets with that decision. My dress is rocking hot white dress.

HOWEVER. There must be color.

So I am on the hunt for colored shoes, shawls, accessories. And since I don't get to have a colored dress there is fallout. I have not two wedding colors, not three. But six.

Truly there are three colors, Green, Blue, Brown, but there are two shades of each. I literally went to the paint store and picked out Dutch boy paint chips. It is awesome. I have a set to carry to match stuff with and gave a set to my roommate who is designing invites.

I am crazy, but at least I know it.

Wedded Bliss - Five Minutes No Waiting

2007-10-06T10:22:00.000-07:00

While we were wandering around in our oh so lovely space imagining it on our wedding day (it takes some imagining when the lobby is filled with ticket buyers, and coffee shop sitters) Heather, the event coordinator, kept telling us about different places people have gotten married in the less than dozen ceremonies held there.

The running theme throughout these seemed to be how quickly they could accomplish the ceremony, "get it over with" and get on to the party. And that was the first time that it had occurred to me that we are not the typical couple to rent this space. Granted there have been very few before us. But getting the ceremony "over with" is not the goal of the day. The ceremony is the day to me, everything else is icing. One couple she mentioned as an idea, had all the guests lean against the rail of the mezzanine, cocktails in hand, and watch the five minute ceremony in the corner near the windows. Not exactly my vision.

We are not getting married in a church, I grant. That is for a few reasons which I have mentioned briefly before. Our church does not have building. This happened a few years ago when we outgrew the one where we were and we have chosen to not get another because the money can be better used elsewhere. So every Sunday we meet in a high school. So M and I would have to rent a church anyhow, and I wanted this night to have an amazing setting. And the churches in town that are amazing settings are amazingly booked, and M and I want an amazingly short engagement.

But the ceremony is something that needs a series of posts all its own. M and I are both Christians and pledging to follow and trust God all our lives as we become one is the essence of this day's celebration for us. Who is going to marry us, what shall be sung, read, ect is something that we have to sit down and give real thought and prayer, and discussion with other important people who we look to for leadership.

I just think that it is strange that people look at us, at the kind of modern fun wedding we are thinking off, and they automatically write off any possibility that we are spirtual at all. The assumption becomes that the ceremony is the least part of the day.

And I am not trying to be harsh to Heather, she is not the only vendor who mentioned it. Just some random thoughts.

My Dress, My Dress

2007-10-05T23:30:00.000-07:00

I wish that I had a more dramatic story to tell. A long hard search, scouring many stores desperate and searching for the most perfect dress. But...

It didn't happen that way. We had decided over the several weeks that we were in Mexico post-question popping that we wanted to be married sooner than later. That we were not waiting months and months. In fact the four months that was necessitated by Christmas (we didn't want to try to get everyone together then) was a bit too much.

So the fact that upon return stateside there was only a little more than three months to the wedding meant that I had to choose a dress... and pretty quick.

Luckily, I kind of had ideas. With our dramatic venue (which yes I booked from Mexico pretty much) I wanted something glam, but something that didn't cost and arm and a leg. This is a dress I will wear for only one day in my life, so perspective. So we went to David's Bridal. I thought we would just stop there for ideas and then move to more modern glam boutiques but to my surprise I found the perfect dress. Weird.

It has all the vintage Veronica-Lake-esq glam I wanted and really flatters my figure. I don't think that I want to post the dress here, but I can give you the finalists that didn't make it.

About as far from the dress I chose as you can get, but I loved the lace and sweetheart bodice. Unfortunately I can't do the strapless. I kept putting my hands below the bustline like I had to hold the dress up.

The same goes for this one, though I liked the slimmer cut.

First Things First

2007-10-01T22:30:00.000-07:00

You know what they say... Location, Location, Location.

We went to a benefit for a local charity called Belmont Foundation at which Don Miller was speaking about his new book. The book is all about the structure of story, and so he was giving examples about how screenwriters place conversations in strange places so they are memorable. That then they become moments, pictures.

I knew that I wanted to have something memorable. A place that would reflect Matt and I, would reflect how much we love Portland, a place that was elegant. I also wanted to have the wedding by candlelight. So evening was kind of a must for that element.

Weirdly enough that eliminated my first thought, Old Laurelhurst Church. The sanctuary, breathtaking, and I could see myself walking down that aisle with iron lanterns reflecting on the stained glass. But.... we didn't want to have two separate locations for ceremony and reception and Old Laurelhurst charged double per hour after 9pm for their reception room, and quadruple(!)after 10pm. And strangely I wanted a reception longer than 2 hours. Oh and they don't allow beer.

That's right you heard me... NO beer. Decision made.

But then I found this:

Oh, baby I love you. Where is this space of my dreams? Where might we find the wonderland of exposed brick, cement floors, girdered ceilings, and scattered light chandeliers. The Portland Armory, of course. M and I are getting married in the lobby of the new home of Portland Center Stage, the Armory, a building dating back to 1888 that was recently re-imagined and remodeled into a theater. Well, fitting, cause the show (or reception) must go on. On into the night!

The outside, the building has won quite a few awards for green architecture since opening last year. The toilets even flush with rain water! Not your typical wedding venue selling point, but still cool.