Polyvore wedding madness. This helps, really. My ideas have been so scattered! And yes, I know that you’re supposed to make pretty overlapping collage type things in Polyvore but I like it all spread out. I don’t know why.
What’s left? We ordered a suit on eBay, fingers crossed it fits. I need to start my dress, still. I’m having a hard time because I’d wanted to lose the weight I put on post surgery before I made my dress, and I can’t seem to. I know it’s terribly gauche to talk about weight, but damn. It IS hard to look at wedding blogs of skinny ladies and think about my meaty arms. Long sleeves for sure. I also totally regret all the tattoos I got 15 years ago, so I’m trying to cover them up. Yikes!
Browsing wedding blogs often gives me that happy nervous fluttery feeling, but then something else just sneaks in under your skin, that insecurity. You don’t even notice at first, then you start looking at your belly in the mirror and thinking about how you’ve been steadily gaining weight since your 20s and 10 pounds of that has been since surgery in December and you aren’t a young sassy fresh bride like those ladies in the photos. Hello, I’m an aging midget dumpling frizzhead, not a willowy golden thing.
Anyway. Enough of that nonsense. I will buy some silk, it will inspire me to start. Continue the yoga/climbing/biking I’ve been doing the last 2 weeks, which is making me ache but in a good way. Keep up with the no-sugar. Lessen the bread as much as possible.
Speaking of food and how frickin’ delicious it is, it’s time, I think, to put together a real wedding menu.
I searched for vintage picnic menus, but I don’t think I’ll find much help there! Things like: “A joint of cold roast beef, a joint of cold boiled beef, 2 ribs of lamb, 2 shoulders of lamb, 4 roast fowls, 2 roast ducks, 1 ham, 1 tongue, 2 veal and ham pies, 2 pigeon pies, 6 medium lobsters, 1 piece of collard calf’s head, 18 lettuces, 6 baskets of salad, and 6 cucumbers. Stewed fruit well sweetened, and put into glass bottles well corked, 3 or 4 dozen plain pastry biscuits to eat with the stewed fruit, 2 dozen fruit turnovers, 4 dozen cheesecakes, 2 cold cabinet puddings in moulds, 2 blancmanges in moulds, a few jam puffs, a tin of mixed biscuits and ½lb of tea.”
& that’s for a picnic of 40 people. Um, mmm? Anyway, finger food recipes welcome! I don’t want picnic-kers to have to scoop out potato salad on to plates. Think dainty! Light! Mid-day cocktail menu!
I’m still having no trouble at all fantasizing about that honeymoon. Ireland ahoy!
Here’s a Polyvore set of extreme delusion. As heartbreaking as pretend shopping can be, the results are pleasing and a good “shopping list” for thrifts. I want to find a trench I can tailor, and am looking forward to finding tweedy classics. I really hope Ireland in October is foggy and misting!
Seriously. Grey rubber riding boots for mucking around Irish cliffs!! Sigh. I ordered black ones ages ago for $9 from eBay but the calves were toooo skinny for me.
What else do I need to be thinking about? I still have to figure out dresses for my ladies, and I went into a panic tonight because local hotels are COMPLETELY booked and everyone I know is SLOW with booking. Sigh. Angel will be here in September and we’ll figure out the ceremony and rings. I’m hoping the invite materials arrive tomorrow so we can finish them this weekend, but it doesn’t look promising. (Ooops, just checked, arriving Monday.) A million things to do once we get home to Vermont. The land & cabin is being worked on by my family but something really crap just happened today so that’s been halted. I have shoes. He has shoes. Cake flavors are picked out. We have plates. I don’t even know anymore. I’ll just get to Vermont and do it in 8 days, because I can’t even think.
58 days until I’m married. Holy cow.
Um, hi. NEED that grey and cream dress. Details please.
If you are very rich! Details are all on Polyvore, click the link!
Oh, you are a terrible dress tease.
Ha! You’d be the most stylish person in the whole of Ireland if you dressed like that for a trip in Sligo! I love your wedding inspiration. And I think you’ll be a more beautiful bride than any of those models.
I’m making up for my teenage trek done entirely in cut off jean shorts, thigh high wool socks, oversized tank tops, and doc martens.
Jeez, kids really ARE dressing 90s these days.
Watercress soup or sandwiches would be pretty/themelike and tasty! Goat cheese and chive sandwiches are another good finger food.
Mint juleps! Cantalope!
MMm, goat cheese & chive!
Wedding MADNESS! Eek! Well, sounds like you’ve got the most important part down – cake flavors are critical! Just kidding, I meant the partnership with the fella you are spending the rest of your life with
Love the misty, dreamy palette you’ve chosen for the honeymoon! That scarf is utterly gorgeous…it’s those little details that make all the difference…
Haha. Hmmm. Lifetime of love vs rose geranium & vanilla bourbon? It’s a hard call…
I am completely with you re the meaty arms. I insisted on a long dress even though I really wanted a more casual feel because I don’t want my chubby knees showing. I bought a wrap for my arms, and I’m trying to figure out how I could clip or tie to make it sleeve-like. Oh, if only I would get off the sofa and use that Wii Fit I bought…
smoked salmon sandwiches, ricotta and fig preserves sandwiches, melon wrapped with prosciutto, Chicken liver pate or some really rustic pate, meatballs on sticks, deviled eggs, and punch or spiked lemonade.
bittman has the best simple appetizers list:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/19/dining/19mini.html
and you’ll probably have luck looking up bridal shower menus.
i’ll pass on the 2 pigeon pies. ha!
I found this site last night: http://www.allechantevt.com/
I’ll go snag baked things from them. I will say it’s for a picnic. I will not mention the wedding word.
There’s a couple other local places that are good and I figure for only 40-ish people we can cobble together a pretty dang fancy spread. I will also make a RUSTIC SIGN that says DANG FANCY SPREAD to put over the table.
Vivi’s got the right idea with that menu! I want to eat it all right now!
Also, little cucumber sandwiches with lavender + white pepper cream cheese. I has that mint green pitcher! Want me to bring it? Soon, soon, soon! It’s going to be so fun! I still say wear the jumpsuit!
you do? yes! bring it!
snacks snacks snacks. i need to eat before i think about food, i only got to page 1 of the 101 appetizers before i started to gnaw my hand.
Hi. New here. I am super jealous of your wedding and can’t wait to see pictures! It’s the wedding I wanted. Instead we got married in Texas and had barbeque. But other than ordering food (or making a dress. I started one but ran out of time), we did everything ourselves. I made the cakes and cake toppers, invitations, flowers, hair and makeup, etc.
I was thinking, will you have music of any kind? We had an ipod for music since we couldn’t afford a band or dj or anything and didn’t necessarily want one anyway. Also, alcohol. It was a real hidden cost for us.
We’re thinking we’ll try to find some sort of battery operated ipod speaker as background for the picnic reception? There’s no electricity, so I’m not sure. My sister-in-laws father is a fiddler, so we might try to get him to do some aisle-walking music? Though I keep joking I’m going to make my dad play accordion.
Alcohol, oh alcohol. It’s a noon wedding, so I’m hoping people wont go too crazy. But we’re going to get champagne, St Germain, gin, and bourbon – I need to figure out who is manning the bar – so many weird things to think of! Ack!
They shouldn’t, but your pretty, entirely unaffordable boards calm me down. Because they’re pretty and not falling all over each other. I have room to admire and breathe. And dream about a trip to Ireland, where I haven’t been in 15 years. 15 years!
Also, it sounds like you got ton done this week, even with setbacks. I am slightly jealous of your sure-to-be magical woodsy wedding. I can see it’s magical from here. And I would suggest looking up high tea menus. It doesn’t need to be stuffy, but I feel like little finger sandwiches could be perfect. And whoever said goat cheese made my afternoon. I think with goat cheese and champagne and cake you already have a real party.
tea sandwiches for sure! i know the basics but am looking around for some fancy town menu items / recipes. i need a nap, for a week.
ALSO. it has been EXACTLY 15 years since I was in ireland – aug to oct 1995. WHOO.
Your inspirational Polyvore boards are very inspirational. It’s good to hear things are getting checked off the list. I know there’s still a lot and your having difficulty with your weight. But I have complete confidence in you to get things done even in the short time. If you are anything like me, your able to turn things around on a dime and work best under the toughest pressure. And hey, maybe the pressure might help take off a pound or two.
I’m sure the ipod will work. And fiddle music for down the aisle would be wonderful!
It has also been exactly 15 years since I’VE been in Ireland. *strange*
I’m graduating with my PhD in literature next May and my husband spontaneously suggested that we take a trip to Ireland for my graduation present. OKAY!!
Oh my gosh, these are all so beautiful and inspirational. Have you been looking at wedding photos on, like, The Knot? Or places like Offbeat Bride? I think you should definitely flaunt what you’ve got, even if it’s not mainstream. Especially if it’s not mainstream! Anyway, good luck with the wedding planning. I’m sure it’ll all turn out just fine!
No, like 100 Layer Cake or Once Wed – I follow a lot of paper-people on twitter and whenever anyone says “LOOK AT THIS WEDDING” it’s like a compulsion to look.
Your Polyvore boards are very inspirational and look great! Good luck with it all
Yay, how exciting!
I wouldn’t worry about fat arms. Mine are much bigger than yours (yours aren’t big at all, puh-leeze) but there was no way I’d swelter in sleeves at my August wedding. I rocked the arms (and the rest of my fat self) and I felt great: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alizarinekitten/3851114875/in/set-72157622130866810/
As for food, I agree about tea sandwiches. There are so many different ones you can do! Deviled eggs are also timeless. You could do roulades with cream cheese or mascarpone and thinly sliced, roasted veggies. Puff pastry tartlets with herb mascarpone and heirloom tomatoes. stuffed cherry tomatoes or baby squash. Crab dip, smoked salmon mousse, artichoke dip, any pesto, tapenade, etc. on toast points/ crostini or sliced English cucumber. How about a cheese ball? People love them in spite of their 1970’s- ness. Or because of it…
You look gorgeous!! I’ve been debating adding black accents to my dress, it’s so lovely. I actually do have a problem getting sleeves to fit, though,(they’re often way too tight if the rest of a dress or jacket fits) and since I want long sleeves, I just need to pay attention to that.
My mouth totally started watering reading that list — mmm. There’s a place here that does a tomato ricotta galette I think I might copy!
that second polyvore set is the stuff dreams are made of
you did not just describe yourself as ‘an aging midget dumpling frizzhead’, i mean did you?!! whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat the fuck? completely nutso bonkers.
puff pastry pinwheels? rolled up with good things inside like spinach and goat cheese or anchovy paste, or melty onions. small and delicious as an aperitif with that first glass of cold fizz. basil vodka tomatoes. teeny crab tarts with smoked paprika ( i might have said that one before, it’s a firm fave), green olives stuffed with almonds. dang fancy.
oh it’ll be wonderful, it will, it will. and YOU will have made it so.
Here’s a thought: When I got married (at age 36 btw) I banished pasta, cheese and sweets, and worked out every other day, for a month beforehand. I was nearly Madonna-esque. Fabulous. Oh, the arms! Now, at 42 and with 2 kids, I have wedding pictures showing a body I will likely never again inhabit. I get to look at that body in the photos and lament, “God be with the days.” So don’t sweat it. You may well look back at your pictures in 10 years and say, “Damn, I look so much better now than I did then!”
Easy peasy finger food: cucumber slices, topped with cream cheese and smoked salmon/shrimp and dill/chives. So simple and yummy.
I love your blog and your polyvore sets are lovely! But stop being so hard on yourself. Nobody will notice your arms on your wedding day, maybe not even you. You’ll be a bit preoccupied
The onlookers won’t be exclaiming ‘my god! her arms!’ they will be saying ‘she looks so happy/beautiful/stunning’ etc. And, not all brides are thin and lithe golden creatures. You may want to take a look at REAL brides and not just fashion photos. Try offbeat bride, indiebride, etc.
Your beloved picked you as you are. You absolutely should feel great about yourself, but don’t be cranky and sad because you haven’t had bread or sugar in 2 months! Food is nourishment, too. Good luck!
I will be much, much more cranky & sad if I eat wheat and sugar! I have been tested for celiac and have a pretty severe wheat sensitivity, but I keep eating it – which makes me REALLY gassy (awesome) and my throat swell. And yet I continue to eat it. I also have pretty serious blood sugar issues and everyone in my family is diabetic. Also awesome. YAY addictions. I need to give those things up for my long term health and sanity, it’s pretty crazy that not even wanting to feel good for my wedding can be the impetus to do it. That is a whole other story!!!
I love it — all of it! Best of luck on the dress, you will look amazing no matter what. You called yourself aging, but can you imagine being a 21 year old bride? It certainly would have been a bad thing for me, that’s for sure!
I get married in 200+ days. I have a dress, a venue, a band, we have met caterers and are waiting on proposals now. I have designed the save the dates and sketched a layout for the invites.
I am very excited and very scared. But mostly excited.
My (little!) brother was married at 21 (he’s 33 now) and they do wish they’d been older – they were bossed around a LOT and basically had the wedding everyone told them to have. So yes, huge relief. & it’s more the chubbiness/hard to lose weight/not as pretty part that I feel crazy vain about. Then again, the dress I would have made at 21 would really have been TERRIBLE.
200+ days! You have so much done! Congrats!!
Ooohh Ireland for your honeymoon!! I love your Polyvores. Much better than bridal mags!!
I feel your self-love pain. You are stunning. The whole internet knows it, and many of us would love love love to have your post surgery body – but it doesn’t matter, it’s what you see in the mirror and how you feel. I get it. Whatever happens in your weight war – make sure when you see yourself in the dress you feel beautiful and not like you are wearing that dress to hide what you see as your imperfections.
Best wishes in your exercise endeavors – they will make you feel great I’m sure!
In the world of being a celiac, you can sub almond flour for wheat flour in most any recipe and you’ll lose the adverse effects of gluten while remaining with the yumminess of baking and what not. Check out : http://www.elanaspantry.com and http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/p/how-to-go-g-free.html
Both sites have some amazing foods that have really helped me in preparing meals for my celiac friends and students without making them feel “special” if ya know what I mean.
http://tigerbeatdown.com/2010/08/11/summer-of-body-image-problems/
Well, I mean. I can bitch all I want about gaining weight since the surgery, but the reality is I don’t ACTUALLY care enough to stop eating cheeseburgers and chocolate mousse every day, or enough to exercise. So there you go. Just enough to whine. Good times.
Yeah, just thought that article was interesting in terms of the unintentional emphasis even those of us with the best intentions put on the physical appearance of the bride…but framed in mainstream “beauty” terms. Which is crazy cuz I think happy people are inherently beautiful, shiny, radiant, what have you…
It will be awesome!
Yeah, I’ve yet to see a wedding where people werent all glowy.
A picnic wedding menu sounds wonderful by the way. I recommend cold items, they are easy to do ahead and not have to worry about heating. My two all time favorites are deviled eggs- people never admit to loving them but they always disappear first from any party/picnic/bbq I have ever been to, and smoked salmon.
I became sick a month before my wedding, gained 8 pounds and barely fit into my beautiful dress. I spent a year hating the way I looked in my wedding pictures before realizing that I had to get over it. For fun at our next next anniversary we will probably take new portraits in our wedding attire and have a blast tromping around in our wedding clothes and feel all sentimental. Who knows maybe my dress will fit better and if not oh well.
p.s I love your inspiration boards.