Weddingbee Blog

Gonna get married??

After leaving dinner with our families Monday evening, Mr. Bear Cub and I got the opportunity to spend some time alone, strolling the streets of downtown Portland. This was such a welcomed breath of fresh air! We talked for a little while about the days to come - last minute plans, tactics for avoiding stress - and then Mr. BC asked me the question.

“Let’s get married!”

“Umm… OK dude. Sounds fantastic. How does Sunday work for you?”

“No, let’s get married tomorrow.”

We had planned to go to the courthouse the following morning (Tuesday) to get our marriage license. My dear fiancé was suggesting we get the license and sign it at the same time!

This caught me a little off guard.
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Less than a week before the wedding, our parents had yet to meet! This, I think, is among the strangest things about adulthood - the stark realization that your parents have yet to even meet those who will become deeply entwined with your future. Your fiancé’s parents - they will be your parents. And your parents, the people who have guided you, molded you, counseled you, bathed you - they will be his. For me, this truly solidifies the notion that you and your fiancé are really, and finally, becoming a family.

So naturally, I was a little anxious about the first meeting. I mean, our parents made us, and we like each other - so they must like each other, right? (Sorry, Juliet.) Even though Mr. Bear Cub and I are astronomers, we’re lucky not to be so star-crossed.

Amidst the mayhem of preparations, my parents (Momma Bear & Papa Bear) and siblings (Sis Bear Cub & Bro Bear Cub) flew into Portland from Oklahoma Monday afternoon. Mr. Bear Cub’s mom and two sisters also flew in from Wyoming that day. And then Mr. BC’s step-grandma (his step-mom’s mom, and also our officiant) trained in.

We decided that a good common ground would be dinner at a restaurant - this was such a good idea. We made reservations at a nice sushi place in the Pearl District (agadashi tofu OMNOM), and everyone trickled in around the same time.

And you know what?
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As you noticed in my last post, we had just a couple of things to take care of the week before the wedding! We had so many things we wanted to do, let alone the things we needed to take care of.

For example, we really really missed being in the States and doing normal US-things. So, on our list of “funbligations” (obligations that are just too dang fun to pass up!) were things like run in Forest Park, have coffee at St. Honoré Bakery, eat breakfast at the Screen Door (OMG you need to go there - soul food heaven!), and take a stroll through REI for old time’s sake. I know this might sound lame. It’s amazing the little things you miss about your home country!

Anyways, we had a tight schedule in which our Portland gallivanting could also count as wedding prep - my family was flying into town on Tuesday, and that’s when the prep would kick into overdrive.

Saturday morning was a dream. The first thing we did was run 5 miles in Forest Park. Those were the easiest 5 miles I’ve ever run in my life - everything was so beautiful! (Maybe the euphoria over getting married was kicking in?)
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Incidentally, while I was getting ready to leave Chile for our month in the states of wedding bliss, I was also in the middle of reading Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point. This is a fascinating book, very light-hearted yet genuine (perfect for the week before the wedding!). Mr. Gladwell posits that there is a “moment of critical mass, the threshold, the boiling point” in which little things that previously seemed insignificant prove to make a big difference (as states the byline).

source: wiki

Mr. Gladwell’s first example has to do with the curious rise in popularity of Hush Puppies (holy cow are they popular in Chile). As I was sitting in the La Serena airport, packed and ready to board my plane to weddingland, it became evident that I, too, was approaching a tipping point in our voyage.

Our flight was canceled.

CANCELED.
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Hmm… over three months since my last post. I haven’t really been on my blogging game, have I? I’ve wanted so dearly to share with you our wedding. I’ve composed entire recap posts in my head - the good, the quirky, the unmatched love. But every time I spin the story in my mind’s eye, I find myself saddened by the handful of ways in which our wedding embodied anything but love. The painful memories burn in spite of the overwhelming adoration.

But I have to be real. I could gloss over our wedding with just the pictures, but then where would the soul be? Even the best wedding pictures can only aspire to capture the ecstatic and schizophrenic thoughts coursing through the minds of the bride and groom on the day of their wedding.

To wit: I cried on the morning of our wedding day. Not because I was overcome by the sight of my gown. Not because my groom sent me words of love. I cried on the morning of our wedding day because the previously misplaced decorative lighting had just been found. LIGHTING. I had wanted to create a perfect mood for our wedding dinner, but in its place I had fostered a sour mood over misplaced light bulbs. I cried because I was so immensely grateful that someone came to my rescue, that someone understood my need for… light bulbs.

I am very embarrassed that I let myself care so much about something so insignificant.
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I haven’t really told you much at all about our photographers thus far. That’s a shame - they’re first friends, second fabulous photographers.

Mr. Bear Cub and I asked my friends from college to photograph our wedding. I know this doesn’t work for everyone (they aren’t exactly “Uncle Bob” with a new DSLR & kit lens), but for us it worked out just right.

In college (at USC) I was a member of the climbing club. Los Angeles is a great place for rock climbing! There’s Point Dume (on the beach!), Malibu Creek State Park (Planet of the Apes, anyone?), Echo Cliffs, & so many more awesome places it’d be silly for me to list them all. Long story short, I had a blast with my fellow climbers! One of my friends in the climbing club, Susánica Tam, was getting serious about photojournalism - she took her camera everywhere! Susánica especially liked to capture action shots of us climbing in ridiculously gorgeous places, like Owens River Gorge and Joshua Tree. After graduation, she became a sports photographer, especially for rock climbing.

Did I tell you I nearly completed a double major in French in college?
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Hi! Let me introduce myself. My name is Mrs. Bear Cub, and once upon a time, I blogged (relatively) consistently for this super-rad wedding site called Weddingbee.

No me recuerdes??

It’s OK, I’ll catch you up! I live in Chile (Ms. Poodle’s home country!) with Mr. Bear Cub. We met in New Mexico, got engaged in Thailand, and decided to marry in Mr. Bear Cub’s home state of Oregon, at a summer camp. I had some crazy DIY plans along the way. And an even crazier plan to run a marathon with Mr. Bear Cub a week after our wedding!

How did it all pan out? It was crazy, wild, emotional, torrentuous, healing, but most importantly, perfect in every way for us. And although our wedding day was certainly and undeniably one of the happiest moments of my life, I’m very glad it’s over. It’s just a day, and now we get to cherish our memories, while building our future together.

Before I jump into the recaps, I have a little slideshow to show you that one of our wedding photographers made for us. I almost (almost) don’t need any other token from our wedding; this selection of images completely encompasses the feeling of our wedding weekend - community.
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One month ago, today (eek, sorry for the delay!), Mr. Bear Cub and I stood on a cliff overlooking the ocean, surrounded by our loving family and friends, and solidified our love in marriage.

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By the time you’re reading this, I’ll probably be on a plane… TO WEDDING LAND!!!

So as I leave my adoptive country for my month-o-bliss, I’d like to give special thanks to my friends in La Serena - the ones Mr. Bear Cub and I live with (in a fishbowl of expats!), the ones we work with (in the same fishbowl…), and the ones who care about us enough to throw us a surprise wedding shower!!!

Reelie?? I can haz party??

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Hi Hive!

Meet Miss Bear Cub: Professional Amateur Meteorologist!

The forecast for the Pacific Northwest US over the next few weeks is:

…

I don’t know.

But I do have a few tricks up my sleeve! Enter the Four Three Horsemen of precipitation and cold fronts:

Accuweather
As the name suggests, this must be the “accurate” weather forecast! I’ve been checking accuweather for their long-range (15 day!) predictions.

accuweather

So far, so good - sunny and clear! For coastal Oregon, this is a near miracle. But the forecast could change tomorrow!

That’s why there’s…
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Bear Cubs are a bit shy - this little Bear Cub doesn’t know the first thing about lingerie!

source

It doesn’t help that certain other Bear Cubs also don’t know a thing about lingerie - a Ms Bear Cub, in particular, needs to find “sexay” bum-cover-uppers STAT!

Luckily, in this forest of Oregon called “Stumptown” (the trees became stumps? Oh bother. At least there’s good coffee honey.) there seems to be a preponderance of cutesy lingerie stores!
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Remember way back when? When I had lofty plans for re-creating Lauren Alane’s cutie-patootie felted birds cake topper?

Consider this project DONE, suckah!

Please forgive the crappy photography! I just discovered photobooth - and no tengo tiempo!

It took me a couple of tries, but I finally finished a pair of birdies I was happy with!
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Wow, that was stupid.

Mr. Bear Cub and I were out on our weekly super-long Saturday marathon training run (you don’t want to know how many miles), and Mr. Sunshine (not to be confused with Mr. Sunbeam!) decided to peek his little head out of the clouds.

Ladies, we have two weeks until our wedding. I now look like a raccoon.

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Our invites were sent out almost a full month ago, but I only got to see them in real life for the first time a little over a week ago! While I was in California for my MOH’s wedding, I had my mom mail me my own copy of our wedding invite. Ladies, it’s a wonderful thing to hold your wedding invitation in your hands.

I had dreamed up the idea for our invitations almost 6 months ago! I knew I wanted the prevailing theme to be fields of lavender and poppies (you could say I have a thing for France), I wanted real pressed lavender, I wanted seed paper, and I wanted it to all be bound up nice & sweet in a little book.

Because I was a bit… particular in what I wanted, I knew the process was going to take a little bit of time, especially long-distance from Chile. Truthfully, making the invitations myself had been one of the things I desperately wanted to do. I wanted to press the flowers myself, I wanted to learn how to screen-print, and I wanted to try my hand at design. At some point I came to the realization that that wouldn’t be possible from South America - I couldn’t get the supplies in time, I didn’t have the equipment (or the resources) to learn new skills, and both US and Chilean customs are a little iffy on importing biological products.

With all this on my mind, I turned to a designer in Eugene, OR who’s still fairly new in the invitation making & letterpress business.
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Um… I’m the worst decision-maker ever. I still don’t know what necklace I’m going to wear with my wedding dress!

Remember my wedding dress? Good.

I know this is obviously not the most important part of the wedding. Why am I not spending more of my time on silly things like venue insurance and lighting? But you ladies like jewelry & style, right? Can’t go wrong with the hive!

Here’s the dish: I have a rather particular look I’m going for. Call it grandma-boho-chic, flapper-tastic, or waterfalls of pearls dripping from my nape. Call it whatever you want, but it looks kind of like this:

photo credit: Ashley Garmon, via OnceWed

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