The Language of Flowers

For as long as I can remember, I've loved learning about plants and flowers.  Their history, uses, and variety are all fascinating to me.  During college, I wrote research papers about ancient Egyptian herb gardens and medicinal plant use among Chimpanzees, volunteered at the campus Botanical Garden, and almost took enough botany classes to receive a minor in the subject!  One of my favorite parts of living in Helena, Arkansas was the beautiful Garden of Eden in the dilapidated downtown, sustained completely by volunteers.  And working at the Getty Villa, there was nothing nicer that spending my lunch break wandering through the flower-strewn hillside above the Villa, as well as its gardens.  Someday, Todd and I hope to be able to have a garden of our own... but until then, our wedding provides a fun opportunity to learn more about flowers!

I was particularly interested in learning about the meanings of our flowers in the "language of flowers" that lovers used in Victorian times.

Daisy = Innocence, loyal love, purity, gentleness

Tulip = Perfect lover, beautiful eyes

Tulip, yellow = "there's sunshine in your smile"

Fern (used for the boutonnieres) = magic, fascination, confidence, shelter, sincerity

Rose = happy love

Rose, yellow = joy, gladness

Ranunculus (pictured below; also known as Buttercup or Coyote's Eyes) = "I am dazzled by your charms," You are radiant with charms"

Apple (used to hold the reception place-cards) = symbol of perpetual concord

Baby's breath = happiness

Ivy (for wooden letters and garland) = friendship, wedded love, fidelity, affection

All in all, pretty great, wouldn't you say? 

Here are some hilarious flower meanings that make me GLAD we're not using these types of flowers!

Begonia = "Beware! I am fanciful!"

Bindweed (isn't that a hideous name?!) = Coquette, busybody

Zinnia = thoughts of absent friends

Hydrangea (surprisingly!) = vanity, "thank you for understanding," frigidity

And here are a few more flower meanings:

Clove = dignity and restraint

White lily = "My first dream of love"

Marvel-Of-Peru (have NO idea what kind of flower this is!) = flame of love

Nasturtium = patriotism

Pansy = thoughtful recollection

Spearmint = fresh breath? Nope, warmth of sentiment!

Xeranthemum (again, have no clue what this flower looks like but it sounds cool) = eternity and immortality

Although not many people today know (or care) about the language of flowers, it's certainly a fun historical inquiry, and provides much food for thought about the Victorians and their world...

Engageversary at Cafe Orleans

On the morning of February 16, 2008, Todd proposed to me at our brick in front of Disneyland.  We were lucky enough to get to share the moment not just with each other, but with my best friend and her husband, and Todd's parents.  

After the delirious sequence of the actual proposal, we all went into the Park together, just wandering around.  I remember that we spent several minutes with the goats at the farmyard.  I'm pretty sure there was a huge and silly, slightly tearful grin on my face the entire time.

When it got around to lunchtime, we decided to go to Cafe Orleans, in New Orleans Square.  There, we dined on monte cristos, ratatouille, and (in my case) chocolate crepes (what better day to give in to one's sweet tooth at lunch than the day one gets engaged!).  It was a magical meal, full of laughter and excitement for the future.

Fast forward to almost a year later.  It was Sunday, February 15, 2009 and we had a couple of hours to spend at the Park after meeting with our officiant and before heading to the airport.  We raced around, did a couple of rides, and then chose to have lunch at the place where we celebrated our engagement 364 days before: Cafe Orleans.

The exterior:

The cosy, wood-paneled interior.
Pommes frites with the most delicious dipping sauce:
Three-cheese (vegetarian!) Monte Cristo with berry coulis and fresh fruit:
At the end of the meal, our waiter gave us this special pin (since it was only a day after Valentine's!):
Our meal at Cafe Orleans this year was just as happy as the one on the day of our engagement.  But this time, it was calmer.  We were both kind of filled with wonder that a year later, our search for a wedding venue had led right back to Disneyland, a place that already held so many memories for us.  In the year since our engagement, our relationship has become stronger, more deep.  Our marriage - a bond that was a just a hope and a dream when we started dating - is almost ready to begin.  And I, for one, cannot wait.

I've found "The One"...

pair of wedding shoes, that is!  At long last, after searching high and low for the perfect wedding shoe - something with a low heel, a peep toe (to show off the rare occasion of my having painted toenails), made of blue satin, and (most importantly) a classic and mildly preppy looking bow - I found a shoe that absolutely fits the bill!  And it's got the name to match.

May I present the Tribeca Juliet Slip-On by Kenneth Cole, in a lovely frosty blue:

I think it complements the garden feel of our wedding, while still being fancy enough to qualify as appropriately "wedding-y."  I'm just hoping that even with a heel this low, it manages to be comfortable enough to walk around in all day...

According to the Martha Stewart Wedding Countdown Clock, there are exactly 150 days (or five months) until our wedding.  Which means I'll have time to break these beautiful shoes in before I have to walk down the aisle in them... I have a feeling they'll be accompanying us to London and Paris as well...

Hooray, the last wedding attire accessory has been crossed off the list!

Updated Updos

Here are some more realistic (and still gorgeous!) styles for girls without curls.  These inspiration photos are why I'll be yet another "updo bride" - I can actually imagine my hair able to stay in these styles for more than an hour.  And they'll all be much cooler than a down hairstyle in the hot July-in-Southern-California sun!

I love the contrived "loseness" of this style.  It looks slightly messy, soft, and romantic.  I like it much better than the sleek untouchable helmets that some updos resemble!

This updo is simple yet sophisticated, and offers a great opportunity to showcase the dangling pearl earrings Todd bought me:
There is a beauty and grace that is very Jane Austen-ish about the way thin sections are pulled back, twisted, and incorporated into this updo.  It looks classic and sweet.
While not exactly an updo, I included this hairstyle because I think the braid looks gorgeous, and this style would easily accommodate a quite large veil headpiece, like the one my Aunt has generously allowed me to borrow!
This also is not a "true" updo - it's kind of a French twist ponytail.  I love the mix of informality and elegance, and the volume that's given to the hair on top.  Also, this hairstyle really allows the face to stand out:
I'm leaning towards #3 or #5.  They're very different, but both "me."  Maybe when I finally get around to doing the hair trial, I'll ask to see each of them, and decide at that point... or maybe it's time to experiment on my own!

Which hairstyle do you like best?

Dreaming of curls

Some girls are lucky enough to have naturally, beautifully curly hair.  Other girls have hair that, while not naturally curly, still can take and hold curls.  My hair does not curl.  Whatsoever.  The most it does is keep a fairly limp wave when released at the end of the day from a tight ponytail.  

So, unfortunately, I will not be able to have the following drool-worthy wedding hairstyles, which would be perfect for someone who is blessed with curly hair!

I love all the tendrils and ringlets in this style.  And the white floral hairpiece is loverly.

I love the side-parted bangs, and long, loose waves in this style. Perfect for a semi-formal garden wedding...
(Both photos from the hairstyles gallery at http://www.Brides.com)

Sigh... a girl can dream!

Florist Meeting

We also met with our florist, Tricia (of Designs by Tricia), who was wonderful.  We went over every floral element in the wedding in meticulous detail:

yellow rose petal cones

yellow rose petal borders for the aisles

garland of greenery and clusters of daisies for the gazebo

bridal and bridesmaids' bouquets of white ranunculus, daisies, and greenery

boutonnieres of tiny daisies and ferns

small clusters of daisies (in pots or low glass vases) for the pre-reception "high rounds" (tables)

basket of daisies for guestbook/ card box table

reception centerpieces of red, orange, and yellow ranunculus with greenery in tall cylindrical glass vases

And she also showed us a massive portfolio of all the weddings she's done in and around Orange County and Los Angeles.  

One of those weddings just made it into the current issue of Martha Stewart Weddings!  Here's the link:

http://www.marthastewartweddings.com/photogallery/jennifer-and-ray

I am so happy we decided to use someone outside of Disney.  While I'm sure their florist would also have been great, with Tricia I feel like we're getting a great deal on a terrific floral designer.  She seems like a bit of a perfectionist (which is a good thing for most wedding vendors to be) and I can't wait to see what she comes up with for our wedding day!

Cake Tasting!

This was supposed to be a tasting, right?!  We were presented with large plates literally sagging with the weight of four giant slices of cake.  Hooray for cake!

On the left top: Vanilla cake, with vanilla custard filling

Right top: Marble cake, with praline buttercream filling, and an amaretto soak

Left bottom: Chocolate cake, with chocolate buttercream filling

Right bottom: Vanilla cake, with white chocolate and fresh strawberry filling

All the cakes have buttercream icing, since it will work better for our cake's design.
After eating more of each slice than was strictly necessary to reach a decision, we decided on incorporating (almost!) all of them.  My favorite was the strawberry one with the chocolate at a very close second, while Todd's preferences were flip-flopped.  We both like the marble but without the amaretto soak.  And (surprisingly), the vanilla custard didn't wow either of us.  

So we chose:

bottom (biggest) layer of our cake: chocolate

middle layer: strawberry

top layer: marble

anniversary cake (they package up a special individual cake for the bride and groom at the wedding): chocolate

And then, the chef came out and explained that they had baked these cakes specifically for our tasting, and we were taking the whole rest of each cake (aside from the slices we'd eaten) home!

Holy Moly! That's a lot of cake!

So, we checked into our hotel (giving the vanilla custard cake to the hotel employees at the front desk) and the next day, we had ourselves an old-fashioned cake-eating party: 
Of course, it was imperative that two members of the wedding party (groomsman and matron-of-honor, respectively) also weigh in our  cake choices for the wedding.  And they did some excellent research for the cause...
All in all, the menu and cake tastings exceeded our wildest expectations and it's a good thing that we had a few days racing around Disneyland and Los Angeles in which to burn off all of that calorific goodness!

Menu Tasting - Part 2

Our second (main) course was brought out by the chef himself, who explained what each dish was composed of.

The meat entree is meyer lemon roasted chicken with garlic mashed potatoes, and asparagus spears and slices of red pepper (it's on the left).

The vegetarian entree will be an acorn squash filled with a ratatouille of various vegetables, on a bed of parmesan risotto, with broccolini. 

A close-up of the absolutely fabulous ratatouille.  For once, the veggie option looks just as good (if not better) than the meat choice!
So that we could each try everything on its own, the chef presented us with a four-section plate: two sections for each entree, two for each accompaniment:
Then came dessert: Tahitian creme brulee!  Drool...  We got "tasting" size desserts (which were quite large, anyway) but the actual dessert will be about twice as big, in oval shaped dishes.
Me, with Traci (for some reason, with quite a dour expression) in the background.  The coordinators get to do these tastings - which are actually full three-course meals - multiple times per week!
And then, as our stomachs were reveling happily in the delights of the meal, out came the cake.  A lot of cake.

Menu Tasting - Part 1

SPOILER ALERT: If you would rather be surprised by the food selections at our wedding, read no further! :-)

When we arrived at Disneyland about an hour before our tasting, we raced around taking "general lay-out" shots for Sebastian, our photographer.  It was a beautiful, sunny day,  and all the cherry trees were blossoming in front of the pavilion where our reception will be:

Little did we know that when we met Traci and Bernadette, they led us straight to the pavilion for our tasting!  There was one table, superbly laid out, in the center of the room, with the light streaming through the windows from all sides:
First order of business: choosing which napkin fold we wanted for the wedding.  There were swans, accordion fans, birds of paradise, and flat triple-fold designs.  Todd really liked the triple-fold design, so that's what we went with!  There will be birds of paradise ones on the guest book and cake tables...
Next up, trying out the four delicious kinds of bread that will be on each table: ciabatta, rosemary flatbread, multigrain rolls, and rustic white bread rolls.  

Our first course was presented to us just like it will be on the day: a small amount of spiced apples surrounded by a ribbon of balsamic vinaigrette...
with butternut squash soup ladled into each bowl by waiters carrying tureens: 
The soup was wonderfully yummy, so rich and delicious, with a hint of tartness from the balsamic vinaigrette.

Second course and dessert coming up!

Valentine's Day in LA

Starting on Thursday, we have several goals.  First, we're driving to Disneyland and:

#1: going to our menu and cake tasting!

I'm excited to try everything and get our menu and cake selections finalized.  Then I can start creating our DIY menus!

Next, we'll drive about 25 minutes from Disneyland to Alisa Viejo, where we'll:

#2 meet with Tricia of Designs by Tricia to discuss our flowers for the ceremony and reception

Check out some of Tricia's beautiful work here: http://www.designsbytricia.com

After that, we'll check into our hotel, have a nice, relaxing dinner, and head to Disneyland to catch the fireworks at 9:25 pm.

Friday = FUN DAY!  We're planning on spending the day in Disneyland and California Adventure with friends!

Saturday = Los Angeles day.  Also Valentine's Day!  During the day, we'll explore the city and be excruciatingly lovey-dovey ;-) That night, Todd got tickets for us to attend a live radio broadcast of NPR's hilarious wordplay show, Says You, at the Skirball Center.  We'll probably end the day with dinner in LA before heading back to Anaheim.

Sunday, we're finally going to

#3 meet our officiant, Terri Linzmeier, on her boat in Laguna Beach

Next (at a location still to be determined, since we will already be checked out of our hotel), I will be having

#4 my wedding hair and makeup "preview" (trial session) with Jennifer Bullag, of Brides Made Beautiful

I can't wait to have all these wedding items squared away, as it were!  Here's hoping everything goes smoothly...

New Camera - This counts as a wedding expense, right?!

Todd and I both can't wait to go down SoCal this Thursday morning.  We are planning to accomplish tons of wedding-related tasks, and have some fun while we're at it!  And I was all set to capture our vacation with my camera when I discovered, to my dismay, that it had died.  So I trotted over to Ritz, they fiddled around with it... and confirmed that it had, indeed, kicked the bucket.  The search for a new camera (in time for our trip to LA) was on!

I had several requirements:

1) That it be camera-y.  Not too small, thin, or sleek.  I've very good at losing things!

2) That it be from a reliable and reputable brand.

3) That it have good pixel and zoom stats.

4) That it be under $300.

and, finally,

5) That I could imagine carrying it around during our wedding weekend, and on our honeymoon!

We did a lot of online research, and found this beauty:

The Kodak Z1015 IS.  It has 10 megapixels and 15x zoom.  It's also very camera-y, and shockingly simple to use!  And the price at Best Buy?  A cool $237 on sale.
I love the large screen on the back.
For it's capacity, it's really quite compact.  I can't wait to experiment with it this weekend!

Reason #560 why guys are great:

They introduce you to TV shows and books you would never discover otherwise!

For instance, my favorite shows tend to be police procedurals and dramas such as Law & Order and CSI, and comedies like 30 Rock and The Office.  I think trekkies are funny, and I have never watched a science fiction TV series.  Ever.  Enter Battlestar Galactica, via Todd's netflix list:

I'll admit that I was skeptical at first, but the show is spectacular!  The characters are interesting and relatable and there's tons of action and special effects.  Although the plot twists are great, my favorite part of the series is the pathos and the emotional relationships between characters.  Even though the show is set in a place very unlike our own, it's fascinating how so many aspects of the society remain the same as ours.  I love it!

Todd also introduced me to this short story collection, with offering from dozens of hilarious comedians and comedy writers chronicling their real-life stories of being dumped:
Among the many nuggets of love wisdom I've learned from this guy-centric book:

The heart is (sometimes) a choking hazard 

(Stephen Colbert)

You too will get crushed 

(Ben Karlin, creator of the Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report)

A dog is no reason to stay together (Damian Kulash, Jr., singer in the band OK Go)

Always make her feel like she's #1 (Alex Gregory, New Yorker cartoonist)

In addition to being laugh-your-pants-off funny, this book really charmingly explores guys' feelings, and the mistakes and misadventures they've had before (mostly) finding the loves of their lives and settling down.

Has your guy introduced you to anything you never would have discovered on your own?

Snazzing up a basket

So, I don't know yet whether this will be the gift card basket or the program basket.  We found this little tan wicker number at T.J. Maxx for, I think, $4.99.  What a deal!  But it needed some sprucing up...

I had some extra faux English ivy from the wooden letter project, some gold cording, and two small faux daisies from the daisy pens project, so I got to work.

First, the hot glued the gold cording around the front half of the basket.  Then, I carefully affixed ivy leaves one by one underneath the cording.  Finally, the glued the daisies into place on the far right corner of the basket.  It took about 10 minutes total!

The finished product:

Close-up:
Daisies close-up:

Flower Pens

It's amazing how many little details can be improved upon (at least I hope so!) when planning a wedding.  Take, for instance, the pens with which guests sign the guest-book.  Did I want bic pens in a glass, or a white, enamelly-looking standard "wedding guest-book and pen" pen?  No!  I decided to incorporate daisies into yet another aspect of the wedding: Daisy Pens!

So I bought two stalks of faux daisies at Michael's, as well as green floral tape.  I then cut each daisy off its stalk, leaving about four inches of stem remaining.

I decided to use Sharpie pens in assorted colors for a variety of reasons:

1) they're permanent

2) they come in a lot of great colors

3) they don't "bleed" or "run" like many other pens

4) they rarely stop working

and 5) I already have a bunch of them on hand! 

Then I got out my trusty industrial-strength glue gun (no piddly craft store ones for me!) and went to work.  I started by gluing the stem of each flower to the bottom half of the pen, so that the flower was placed flat against the end of the pen.  Once the stem was in place, I glued green floral tape in tight, even layers around the rest of the pen, stopping when all of the pen up to the colored top had been covered.

And voila!  A bouquet of daisy pens in a lovely little thrift store jug.

I hope people will realize that they are, in fact, pens... Maybe a sign would be in order? :-)

License to Marry!

Doesn't it sound dramatic and dangerous when put like that?!  

There are two aspects of a valid legal marriage (as I recently learned in Family Law!): 

license and solemnization

I've been doing some research into the first requirement, now that we've finally squared away our officiant for the wedding.

And I have to say, I'm kind of giddy about going with Todd to the county clerk's office and picking up one of these babies:

It might look like this, right? Well, probably not.  This one's from several decades ago in Bermuda.  But I dig all the theatrical flourishes in the font of 'marriage'!

Since we're getting married at Disneyland, which is in Anaheim, which is in Orange County, we'll need to go to the clerk's office there within 90 days of our wedding date (no earlier than April 26).  

We'll need to bring three things:

1. ourselves

2. valid government-issued IDs (I think I might bring my passport, since we'll be honeymooning shortly after the wedding!)

3. a debit card or check to pay for our license

And we'll have to decide whether we want a Public Marriage License (PML) or a Confidential Marriage License (CML).  The only differences between the two are that, for PMLs, anyone can pick up a copy of one at the county clerk's office, and the couple can get married anywhere in the state.  For CMLs, the couple must get married in the county where it is issued, and no one but the parties to the marriage can get a copy of the license.  We'll be going with a PML...

One nifty thing about the Orange County clerk's office is that they have an online application for a marriage license and appointment system, so a couple can literally walk in, walk up to the counter, pay, and pick up their marriage license.  Genius!  I wonder if that system's already in place for the crowded environs of the Las Vegas clerk's office?

Name Change

I've already blogged about the fact that I'm really excited to be taking on Todd's last name.  I keep expecting to feel like I'm going to be losing a part of my identity when I make the switch, but honestly, my identity's never been bound up that much with my last name to begin with.  If I think of my psyche or myself or whatever as anything, it's Emily. Plain and simple.  And I know that some feminists reject the labels of "Miss" and "Mrs." (after all, there's no functional equivalent for guys!).  But I admit (somewhat guiltily) that I can't wait to be not just me, a woman, but a  married woman.  Label me up!  

So recently, I did some investigating on what changing one's name in the state of California involves.

The first thing I noticed was that there are many, many different kits and websites that promise to "take all the work out of changing your name!"  

But, honestly, in California, there's not that much to it!  Basically, first one has to change one's name with the Social Security Administration, then at the DMV on one's driver's license, and finally on one's passport.  Once these changes are made, all a person has to do is continue to use her new last name consistently.  And that's it!  Easy peasy (as Rachael Ray would say...).

For a great snippet of information on name changing in the U.S. and Europe, go to:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Name_change#Officially_registering_a_name_change

Handmade Ribbon Boutonnieres

Thank goodness for my wonderful mom.  

When I got the Winter 2009 issue of Martha Stewart Weddings, there was a tempting article that detailed how to incorporate bows and ribbon into one's wedding.  One of the projects listed was creating ribbon boutonnieres.  So without giving it too much thought, Todd and I went to Michael's one weekend and picked up six yards of dark blue satin ribbon.  Sitting down with the ribbon and the instructions, I saw several beautiful options for boutonnieres.  

First, there was the Figure Eight style.  Classic, easy, and not too "girly."

Then, there was the medallion style.  This was Todd's favorite.  He liked the shape and how tightly the ribbon was folded.

And finally, the rosette, my absolute favorite!  I love its volume, the thinner ribbon, and the shape.  (Now, if I could only convince Todd to wear a bow tie!  Just kidding. Sort of ;-)

So I thought about the boutonniere designs, and then I began to doubt my competence with a needle and thread.  Suddenly, images of the groomsmen looking like they were wearing a kindergartner's arts-and-crafts project filled my mind.  Then I thought of the handiest person I know, and someone who probably wouldn't mind too much if I asked for help!  So I called mom, and she agreed to do the bouts for the wedding!  I popped the ribbon and instructions into a padded envelope, and asked her to make eight bouts in all, in whatever styles she wanted.  I told her she could do all one style, or mix it up (for instance, have Todd and his dad wear a rosette style, and the groomsmen wear a figure eight style).  Now, I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product.  And I'm so grateful to have someone infinitely more talented than me handling this great DIY wedding project!

Below is a photo of the approximate shade (the real ribbon's a few shades darker) and thickness of ribbon that the actual boutonnieres will be made from: