Adventure in the Great Wide Somewhere

We decided pretty early on that we wanted to honeymoon in Europe.  Sr Groom has never been to Europe before.  I've made it over there a couple of times, but just to Italy and France.  I wanted to go to Germany.  But Miss Gringa!  That's not romantic!  Shouldn't you honeymoon on a beach or something?!  Hush, naysayers.  Take a gander:

Source

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I love the beach, but we grew up with it.  You know what we didn't grow up with?  Mountains.  Seriously, how BEAUTIFUL are the Alps?  I also like how the towns look like something out of a storybook:

Source

We wanted our honeymoon to consist of good beer, good chocolate, good pastries, and beautiful scenery.  We looked at a map (how sad is that?!), and decided that the best way to tackle West Central Europe was to limit ourselves to just Munich.  We were interested in Berlin and Cologne, but we were more interested in Austria and Switzerland.  If we stayed in southern Germany, it would make sense to hit up Vienna, Munich, and Zurich.  This would also allow for plenty of time out in the countryside...the Black Forest, Neuschwanstein, etc.  It might end up more touristy than relaxing, but we're psyched nonetheless!

Are you planning a more adventurous honeymoon or a more relaxing one?

Girls in Green Dresses

When I went shopping for my dress, I was accompanied by four of my six bridesmaids.  Bmaid Jackie is my FSIL, and she was unable to drive all the way up from South Florida.  Bmaid Jessica is a second year med student in Tampa, so she was super busy.  She was also heartbroken that she was unable to be there.  To make it up to her, I told her she could pick out her dress.

I told my bridesmaids that I wanted them to match and I wanted them to wear a bright green.  Bmaid Sara also added the stipulation that the dresses be cocktail length (she's shorter and didn't think she could pull off tea length...I appreciated her honesty).  Bmaid Jessica couldn't make it to Atlanta to shop together until June, so Bmaid Emily, Sister Lioness, and I did some preliminary research.

The one on the right came in a beautiful green...

...but the one on the left was the favorite!

Bmaid Emily also loved it!

AND it looked cute with my mom's dress!

I was glad that we had a strong candidate for the position of bridesmaid dress, but I would not allow anything to become a final decision until Bmaid Jessica had the opportunity to try on dresses.  I'm a woman of my word, after all.  Bmaid Jessica came into town and decided to try on the leading dress.

The whole package: with a hair flower fascinator (more on that later) and the shoes


{all personal photos}

Her words? "Umm, if it's okay with you, I don't really want to look at any other dresses.  This one is perfect."

How did you choose your bridesmaids' dresses?

The Truth

Right after we got engaged, I moved to Boston for a three-month clinical affiliation.  Though my patients made fun of me for saying "y'all," I felt right at home.  My family is from New England, even though they moved to the South before having me.  Though I've spent most of my life below the Mason-Dixon line, I've been fortunate enough to visit Massachusetts dozens of times.  You see, there's this little beach town on the South Shore where my family has been summering for four generations...pretty much since we've been in this country.  I grew up playing on that beach, fishing off of the North Atlantic rocks, and taking ferry rides into town for a Sox game.  I have lots of extended family who still live in Boston and the surrounding area and every time I see them, it's like revisiting years of wonderful vacations.

My mom has a cousin who lives with her husband in Cambridge, and they were generous enough to let me stay with them during my clinical affiliation.  Their apartment was walking distance to my hospital, and there were about three Dunkin D's along the way.  A temporary transplant couldn't ask for anything more.  Cambridge cousin's sister and her husband live in Arlington, and they were generous enough to let my car live there for those three months.  This made day trips to the Cape possible.  Both of these cousins have an incredible mother, my Great Aunt Dotty.  Dotty is my grandfather's sister and she is one of the most interesting people I've ever known.  Her 85th birthday party happened to fall during my stay in Boston, so I was able to celebrate it with her and the rest of my New England family.

Personal photo: With the birthday girl

Earlier this summer, we found out that Dotty had been diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer, just as her brother had been over a decade ago.  Her oncologist had given her months to live.  I was shocked at how sudden the onset had been, and I was worried about my mom's cousins who had been so wonderful to me so recently.  Dotty decided not to hang on for too long.  She passed away within two weeks, and I took solace in the fact that she was reunited with her brother.

My mom's cousins decided that with family scattered all over the country, it would be silly to have a memorial service with a reunion (our wedding) right around the corner.  I was approached and asked if I was okay with sharing my wedding weekend with Dotty's memory.  Was it okay to have a belated memorial service that same weekend?  In my mind, I was deeply offended.  How could I share MY weekend with a funeral?  If the funeral was before the wedding, people would be sad at my wedding.  If the funeral was after my wedding, people would be sad in anticipation of the upcoming funeral.  I didn't want to share my wedding weekend with sadness!

What's funny though, is that when I opened my mouth to express my concerns about this idea, none of those concerns came out.  I simply said, "I would be honored to share our wedding weekend with Dotty's memory.  I can't wait to celebrate her life with my family, and I look forward to raising a glass to her."  And I meant it.  The truth came out, regardless of what I was thinking.  I really am looking forward to toasting her memory that day.

Have you ever had the truth come out when you least expected it to?

This Little Piggy

I told Mr. Lion early on that I wanted him to lead the way with rehearsal dinner.  My lovely FMIL was generous enough to offer to host it, so I thought it would be nice for them to plan it together.  Unfortunately, my FMIL lives in Miami and the rehearsal dinner will be in Atlanta, so it looks like I'll be helping Mr. Lion with the planning instead of her.  We've kept her in the loop every step of the way, so she's definitely still involved.

Mr. Lion decided that he wanted to do a traditional Cuban pig roast, using a caja china.  A caja china is a box designed for barbecuing a pig.  It looks something like this:

Source: Amerilumber

You slowly smoke an entire pig inside this box for a very long period of time.  Once fully cooked, the entire pig is presented (in an apple-in-its-mouth kind of way) and dinner guests are treated to an absolute feast.  But Miss Lioness, aren't you Jewish?  Yes.  Yes I am.  And so is half of my family.  However, none of our wedding guests keep Kosher.  Most of my family actually really enjoys eating pork.  And most importantly, they love Mr. Lion and respect his culture.

The idea of using caja china did raise a few problems, though.  First of all, where would we put a box big enough to hold a pig that weighs hundreds of pounds?  Our little apartment was not really conducive to this idea.  Secondly, I believed that even the toughest of carnivores may not find the sight of an entire pig carcass all that appetizing.  Wasn't there some way we could serve it carved?  Finally, where would we find a caja china?  It would be one thing to make this idea a reality in South Florida...Atlanta was a different story.  Mr. Lion suggested that we take a little trip to Home Depot to find some lumber, then take a little trip to the Farmer's Market to find some bulk cumin for marinating.  This still didn't change the fact that we needed a pig.

After calling the few Atlanta Cuban restaurants that were deemed autentico (that is, the ones Mr. Lion approved of), we finally found a place that uses caja china for catering.  Not only that, but this restaurant was willing to let us reserve their entire space to accommodate our guests.  I suppose that's the thanks you get when you purchase an entire pig!  They also said that they would keep the actual caja china in the back and just bring out servings.  Phew!  No carcass.  The restaurant is called Coco Loco, and the best part about them is that they're within a mile from our wedding venue.  We've had their food before, and it is simply amazing.  It really made me feel like I was home again, eating maduros and staring off into the Biscayne Bay.

Mr. Lion decided that we should have congris (black beans and rice) to accompany the pork.  After thinking about the spicy reds and Caribbean blues that create a motif throughout the restaurant's artwork, I decided that our additional decor should follow suit.  Here is the inspiration board we came up with:

Sources (clockwise from top-left): Seattle Pig Roast, Folksy, personal invitation, personal photo of Mr. lion in a Cuban shirt (2006), artwork at Coco Loco, personal photo of Mr. Lion with a pork roast (2009), Tracy Matthewman, more artwork from Coco Loco, Dart Fine Art

How did you start brainstorming for your rehearsal dinner?  What elements of your cultures are you incorporating into your wedding weekend?

Mamasita of the Bride

I've mentioned before that my mom is not your typical Mother of the Bride.  After surviving breast cancer and a divorce, it's safe to say that she has a fresh new outlook on life.  Add that to her Latina background, along with living in one of the most dynamic areas in the nation...let's just say she wasn't planning on wearing this to our wedding:

Source: The Bride's Heart

We chatted about it and decided on a few things before she started shopping.  I wanted her dress to be pool blue.  My bridesmaids would be wearing green, so I wanted my mom to be in our other wedding color.  She said she didn't want to look "old."  I said I didn't want her to look too conservative, but I didn't want her to dress too young.  She said she wanted something that would "twirl well while dancing."

Armed with a fair set of rules, we took a little trip to Formally Yours, the salon where I found my wedding dress.  At the sight of dark, dreary colors and oversized boleros, she immediately vetoed the entire Mother of the Bride section.  We decided to take a little detour and check out the bridesmaids' section instead.  Lo and behold, we found a pool blue chiffon dress that was absolutely stunning:

Personal photo: looking age appropriate but sassy...Stacy and Clinton would be proud!

How perfect is that?!  She loved it.  I loved it.  We had a winner.

How did your mom find her dress?  Is anyone else using a bridesmaid dress instead of a Mother of the Bride dress?

Save the Dates Parte Tres: The Love

Hive, I cannot even begin to explain how much positive feedback we got about these Save the Dates!  People got such a kick out of them!  As you may recall, Sister Lioness helped me make them and even she was psyched to get hers!  She and her BF even did a little photo shoot to show their excitement:

{All photos courtesy of Sister Lioness' Apple Photo Booth application.}

Love them.

Save the Dates Parte Dos: The Reveal

As you might recall, I had quite the ambitious idea for our Save the Dates.  The most intimidating factor to me was the actual print-at-home process.  Fortunately, I had lots of practice with that.  The other barrier that stood in my way was finding a company who could print on balloons...affordably.  After lots of googling (and emailing to make sure that some companies were still in business...some weren't), I discovered Extra Twist Custom Balloon Printing.  They were an absolute joy to work with, mostly because of their excellent communication.  I emailed the printer our desired balloon text as a jpeg, and we went back and forth about font choices and so on.  She was very careful to ensure that I created a design that would produce a high-quality print.  I really appreciated that.  After about three weeks, a box of deflated, printed balloons showed up on our doorstep.  Sister Lioness was in town visiting, so I recruited her for help and we got to work.

Materials:
A printer that has the ability to adjust according to paper size (look for an envelope feature)
#10 Open End Luxe Fino Envelopes in Pool - 10 for $5.50 at Paper Source
Custom Stamp - $8.00 from Etsy seller drumchick99
Embossing Powder in Clear - $7.95 at Paper Source
Watermark Inkpad for Embossing - $8.95 at Paper Source
Embossing Heat Tool - $23.75 at Paper Source
#10 Luxe Fino Flat Cards in Cream - 25 for $6.25 at Paper Source
Squeeze Punch - 1/2" Rounded Corner - $11.95 at Paper Source
Custom Printed Balloons in Green -  $70.00 for 11-inch latex balloons at Extra Twist
Green Bakers Twine - $12.00 at Divine Twine
An eyeglasses screwdriver

The first thing I did was print out the envelopes.  My printer was a little temperamental about this.  It only worked if I hand fed each one, one at a time.  Even then, it was problematic at times.

Other times, it was beautiful.

I then printed out the cards.  The front read, "Hello!  Please inflate the balloon."  It then listed our wedding website on the bottom of the card.  The back looked like this:

We used Wedding Chicks' template, added our favorite picture from the proposal (in black and white, except for my ring which is an aquamarine), and circled our date in a matching aquamarine.  With the help of the Weddingbee Boards, I was able to identify these fonts as Monterey BT and EcuyerDAX, both of which are available for free on dafont.  I downloaded these fonts, used them on the front of the card and the envelope, and I plan to use them on our invitations, programs, menus, etc.

Sister Lioness then used the corner punch to round out the edges of the cards.

Then, I embossed a little balloon on each envelope.  Side note: embossing totally intimidated me, but the lady at Paper Source convinced me that it wasn't scary and I'm SO GLAD she did.

While I was embossing, Sister Lioness finished up the cards.  Now while you read this last part, you have to sing it to the tune of a certain SNL Digital Short.  Ready, go!

Step One: Punch some holes in the card.

Two: Thread your twine though that card.

Three: Attach a balloon to that card.

It's a balloon on a card!  Ooooo!  Okay, I'm done singing inappropriate things.  Here is the final product!

{all personal photos}

So were our guests as psyched about these as we were?  Stay tuned to find out!