Weddingbee Blog

Usually, if you’re an international couple and you’d like to stay together after you get married, you have to file for an AOS. This stands for “Adjustment of Status”. We need to adjust Mr. D’s status from fiance to spouse! But wait, you say, “I thought you guys were married, I’ve seen the photos!” But for the US government, a marriage certificate from a municipality just isn’t enough.

You’ve been with the D’orsays through the K1 Fiance Visa Process and I’m happy that the hive will be along with us as we continue attempting to stay together despite the governmental roadblocks.

First, we made another ginormo packet of personal info. As for what goes into the packet? That info can be found here. Mr. D realized that he needed his previous vaccination form transcribed by a civil surgeon on the I-693 form to be included in this packet so he searched high and low to find a doctor who could do that. Prices ranged from $25 to $100! So, be sure to shop around if you to do this. Some doctors also told us that Mr. D needed another full medical exam. In our case, this was FALSE, and in our opinion, the offices were either misinformed or attempting to make more money off of us. Mr. D could have had his vaccines done at the doctor approved by the US government in London, but it would have cost even more money! So, he had them done free on the NHS, only to find he had to pay for a doctor to transcribe the form here.

We sent off a wedding gift of $1,010 (*gasp…choke choke*) to the government (on 10/1) and waited. We received the usual “we got it” receipt (on 10/6) from the government and waited some more. We sent the package off in late September, and on October 16th were sent a letter letting Mr. D know where and when to go for his biometrics (fingerprinting) appointment (rescheduled for 11/20). A week or two after we received that letter, we received another letting us know our case had been sent to California (10/26).

Having our case in California means there is a slight chance that we get to skip the interview portion of the AOS and skip straight to the swimsuit competition.
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Remember the first name post? or the second? or the third!? Or how I wrote about how poor I am at decision making? Well, combine that all into a “I’m 25-and-I-can’t-name-myself” sandwich.

I know… I know I said that we played rock paper scissors and I lost, and I said that I was fine with that. It’s just that the issue of a name change kept arising. Everywhere I turned people were asking me to make a decision about it. It wasn’t just about the wedding; sure, there were the questions of what we should be announced as when we headed down the aisle, as we headed into the reception, etc. The occasions just went so far beyond that.

I started a new job and had interviewed under my birth name, but I lost at rock, paper, scissors, so I asked them to use my new last name on my first day. I had to change my computer log in, database log in, phone, my email… on and on! Then they asked about my business cards, and the sign for my office, and I caved. I went for the double barrel because I just couldn’t imagine hiding my birth name in my middle name any longer. It just didn’t feel like me to say “first name completely different last name” to introduce myself. In fact, I’ve found myself channeling Madonna and Cher. When I meet someone new, even if it’s for work, I only use my first name. It’s my safety blanket, the one name I feel completely comfortable with at the moment.
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For my bridesmaids gifts I purchased reusable water bottles and had their names engraved on them. Then I purchased plain canvas tote bags and “silkscreened” the bird image we’ve used throughout the wedding. I wanted something that was leaning toward being eco-friendly and that would remind them of the our wedding. I say “silkscreen” because I didn’t use photo emulsion or screen blocker, I really used a stencil. If you’re only doing a few items with a simple image, then a stencil is perfect. Here is how I did it, D’orsay style. Acquire a Speedball silk screening kit (do a Google search), the fabric ink in the color you’d like (available online and at Jo-Ann’s) and choose your image.

Print your image, then trace it to freezer paper.

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As you know, I missed my bangs. A week or two after the wedding I went off and had them chopped back in. So, I took a photo that I looked silly in, just so you could see it.

P.S.- here’s a tip, don’t wear puffy sleeves if you have a large chest - it’s not a good look.

Before:

After:
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I mean, not my wedding. But the one we thought about having, with the original color scheme and the non-lace dress I was searching for. I was in Huntington Beach, CA for work and I saw girls in dark purple bridesmaid’s dresses, with the bouquets (cymbidium orchids, purple lisianthus, eggplant calla lilies, other structured flowers, etc.) floating through the hotel. I went to check out the ballroom while they were setting up and they even had similar centerpieces!

I wanted to take photos of it all, the bouquets, the bouts, the dresses! But I didn’t because I was a little too embarrassed to be taking photos of a couple details. So I tried to slyly snap a photo as I walked by…but it didn’t turn out too well. But, you can still sorta see the gorgeous bride with her bridesmaids and their lovely flowers!

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I know I know, you want pictures. I need to wait for online reviewing to end first, then the recaps shall begin!

A few weeks ago our DJ, Evan, emailed me asking if I’d be willing to write a review for them, because he’d like it to be their 150^th review on WeddingWire. I said, “sure!” Because not only do I love reading reviews, I enjoy writing them too!

It’s important to note however, that Evan didn’t ask me explicitly to write a positive review, because we all know how I feel about that. After checking out Evan’s blog post about WeddingWire/150^th review, I learned a bit about the vendor perspective of reviews. The post however, had me start thinking of my own relationship to reviews.

It reached an almost neurotic level when it came to crafting our registry. I would search through hundreds of product reviews on Amazon. I’d go through the 5 star ones and the 1 star reviews, attempting to get an accurate picture. I did this for every single item on our registry. Every single one. I had this entire “you try before I buy” mentality about the whole thing. Anything I wasn’t 100% sure about I put on the BBB registry because of their return policy.

If I’m that way about a blender… imagine how far off the deep end I went with vendor reviews.
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Why, you say? Because we’re waiting on more pro pics, I just started a new job, and I’m adjusting to not blogging about the gazillionth DIY project I planned for our wedding. While wedding planning, I kept thinking, ‘I can’t wait ’til I can blog about real life!’ But the reality is that for 12 crazy topsy-turvy, country moving months… that was my real life. So, I think at the moment, I’m simply adjusting to my real life. My new real life, that is. The kind that involves an amazing husband (yaaay), Meineke attempting to rip us off (more on that later), and… wait for it… our honeymoon!

We leave in a few hours (okay… 7ish) and we’re super excited. Okay… I’m excited and Mr. D is asleep. He’s excited in his sleep; I can just tell these things. The forecast calls for rain the entire time, but if that happens we’ll make the best of it. We always do.

‘Til then… I’ll leave you with this photo from Evan Bishop.
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So… I know. I said I was back… and then I was gone again. The truth is, while you’re waiting for your pro pics, it’s hard to feel like you have anything to say! I just started a new job, and I admit that I’ve lost some serious blog time. Miss Cowboy Boot’s recent post about Mr. CB’s ring reminded me that I needed to fill you all in on Mr. D’s ring saga. Yes. Saga.

So, here is a tip: purchase your wedding bands in advance. That means ALL of them. We kept holding off on Mr. D’s wedding band in the hopes I’d be hired with a paycheck in hand to purchase his ring. I really just did not want to put the charge on my credit card, but in holding off, the window of time for a ring to arrive on time was getting smaller and smaller.

I tweeted to see if anyone had any advice on where to buy Mr. D’s ring, since he was only searching for a simple white gold, 4mm band. Mrs. Tiramisu recommended I check out IWeddingband.com, which oddly enough, has very similar font to Weddingbee! It was a sign!

(source)

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Well sorta… I’m (obviously - it’s been less than a week!) waiting on our pro pics to begin my recaps, but I just wanted to buzz by and say hi. And that our wedding was awesome.

It really was. In lieu of providing you with recaps, I’ll start by providing you with several posts I started and stopped writing in the weeks right before the wedding. For you immigration gals, I’ll be detailing our experience in applying for the AOS (Adjustment of Status) so we can actually, you know, stay together once we’re married.
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It’s time. After 8 months of blogging with you, my day is here. People have been asking me all week if I’m nervous, and I can’t figure out what they mean. Nervous about my marriage? Nope. Nervous that the centerpieces won’t be just right? Yes.

Such is life, though. Friends and family keep saying what’s important will be done, and what isn’t—isn’t important. HELLOOOOO? Don’t they know it’s ALL important. It’s been an interesting week of combining cultures, explaining customs, crafting, and hoping for the best. But you know what? The best is yet to come, because later today, Mr. D and I are getting married!

I keep waiting for the nerves to come and I wonder if I’ll get them right before I head down the aisle, like when I danced all the time and suddenly had to pee right before I went on stage. Let’s hope I’m not thinking about the restroom during the ceremony.
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For the past month and half I can honestly say I’ve spent a fair amount of time wishing for all the planning to just be over, and for us to be married. Which in retrospect, is a complete shame. Yes, planning has been stressful, but I won’t ever plan our wedding again, so wouldn’t it be better to remain present and enjoy this stage of our lives?

I always see a fair amount of talk regarding “staying present” in the moment on the actual wedding day. I’m beginning to feel that it’s just as important to remain present for your planning. Here we are, in an in-between stage of life, a stage filled with excitement, hope, and promises and for almost 60 days I’ve just been wishing it were over.

Which isn’t to say because I wanted our relationship to be over, it’s more of the, “OMG there is so much left to do!!!!!” feeling that gets me down. Which, in reality, stems from the fact that I put too many crazy projects on my plate and should have finished them a month ago. Yet, I still find myself adding more projects even though we’re coming into our final week.

Both my and Mr. D’s stress levels have reached an all-time high. The other day we were in the car and he turned to me and said the things I’d been thinking for quite a while.
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Do you follow your vendors? I do! I recently joined Twitter, and since Twitter pulls your email address to help you find people you know, it naturally pulled my vendors who tweet. Instantly, I was following along with our DJ, Photog and Officiant. I already followed some of their blogs (and Laura and I go to TaeBo together), but this new social media makes me feel more connected than ever.

I enjoy hearing about the other weddings they’re doing, seeing new blog posts, and getting to know more about them on other levels. I also think it helps them get to know me and my style in different and more in-depth ways. For example, when I accidentally made myself look like a superhero, my DJ joked that he could play superhero music for my entrance, and my photographer gave me the contact info for his hairstylist friend!
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Yeah… so the story goes like this. While in PaperSource, Mr. D hears a song he wants for the mother/son dance. Yay, finally! So, we’re listening to the song at home and ask my dad for his thoughts. His thoughts? “Isn’t this the song from Midnight Cowboy?” Then, my dad proceeds to fill us in on the movie, which is one about broken dreams, heartbreak, and the sex trade, and this song that apparently plays at the end when his friend dies. Hmmm, not the mental images we were going for. If you’d like a laugh… here’s the video. Mr. D and I like his smooth moves, especially the hand twirl and the “skipping over the ocean” part.

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Any clue as to what I’m referring to? It’s my ears, and in particular, how I plan on decorating them on the wedding day. Or really, how I planned, then couldn’t decide, then lost one pair of earrings and am back at square one with two weeks to go to the wedding. hmmm.

At first, I considered wearing smaller pearls and a cameo necklace. But that much jewelry seemed distracting and I eventually decided it was best to only decorate my ears. Then the question became posts or drop/dangle earrings? They need to be large enough to show up in photos, but light enough that I don’t get a headache.

I found this pair that I loved, but waited to long and they disappeared… le sigh.

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Alaska… no, not that proposal!

The proposal involving this!

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