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In some cultures, pearls are said to represent tears. As such, brides are cautioned against wearing them on their wedding days so that they do not begin their new lives with sorrow. Interestingly enough, there is also a counter superstition: pearls take the place of a bride’s real tears, thus eliminating any sadness and leading to a joyful marriage.
If the latter superstition is true, I am going to be one happy wife. (We won’t talk about the implications of the former!) I absolutely love pearls, and I am going to be wearing them on my wedding day. In fact, I am going to be wearing a lot of pearls.
Remember those Kate Spade shoes that the hive helped me decide to wear? They have pearl details on them.
Pearls on the toes
My mother is also going to be giving me for my birthday a pair of crystal and pearl earrings. They were the perfect find, especially since they match my dress’s belt!
Like other blogger bees who have had destination weddings, we are going to have a hometown celebration for the people who can’t make it to celebrate with us in Vegas. The first question to ask, though, was which “hometown” was it going to be in? Mr. Mole grew up in the Chicago suburbs, and I grew up in southeastern Wisconsin. We eventually decided on Milwaukee because it is an easy drive for our friends in Chicago, it is convenient for my relatives throughout Wisconsin, and it is close to my mom. Milwaukee was also our home together for the ten months before moving to Los Angeles!
Plus Alice Cooper loves the city / Video via YouTube / Clip from Wayne’s World
So now that we had the general location, it was time to talk specifics. We are thinking of this event like a party, not necessarily like a second wedding reception. We aren’t going to be cutting a cake or dancing or throwing a bouquet or anything like that. We just want to gather all of our loved ones together for a fun celebration with fantastic food and drinks. Keeping this in mind, we quickly zeroed in on our favorite Milwaukee restaurants. In all, we contacted three of them.
One of my favorite things about planning our wedding is all of the fun mail that we receive. This week alone, we received a roll of baker’s twine, our invitations and RSVP cards, and Mr. Mole’s new suit. (More on some of those items later!) The last item was undoubtedly the most exciting for me. After all, I love a man in a nice suit—especially if the man wearing that nice suit is going to be my husband!
Early on in the planning process, we decided that Mr. Mole should buy a new suit for our wedding. It only seemed fair. If I were going to spend hundreds of dollars (or more) on a dress that I could wear only once or twice, he should get to spend an equal amount on a suit that he can wear several times per year.
We toyed with the idea of getting a suit custom made, like some of his friends in Chicago have done, but we ultimately purchased it at J.Crew. We found that the suits there are nice quality—and I get a 15% teacher discount for shopping there. Sold! J.Crew doesn’t carry the specific style that Mr. Mole wanted in store, so we placed an order through their red phone. (Red phone orders = free shipping!)
This package came about a week later!
It’s a banner day in the Mole household: Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 was just released. Perhaps you have this box lying around your house as well? You very well might: analysts predict that this game might sell as many as 18 million copies by January 1st.
Image via Amazon / Cover of PS3 Call of Duty MW3
Featured on Weddingbee
Unique Wedding Favors
“Add a memorable touch to your wedding with unique favors that match your theme.”
My wedding dress was discontinued shortly before I started my wedding-dress search. I was lucky enough to stumble upon a sample of this lovely gown at a bridal salon in Los Angeles. Furthermore, because the dress could no longer be ordered, the salon was selling the dress at a deep discount: 67% off. The only catch to this sweet price? I had to accept that particular dress on that particular day. I couldn’t get the dress in a different color. I couldn’t get it with a different hem length. And, most importantly, I couldn’t get it in a different size. It was going to be size 10 or bust (out of the seams).
The dress fit perfectly. Yet realizing this gave me serious pause: a size 10 is both a smaller size and a bigger size than I ever imagined being on my wedding day. Say what? Let me explain.
Growing up, I struggled with my weight. By struggled with my weight, I really mean that I struggled with being overweight. I was fairly active in sports, but I was always the heaviest one on the softball or swim team. I grew to be a junior size 9 before I even graduated into junior high. I bounced between a 10 and a 14 in high school. In college, I maintained a size 14–16. I lacked confidence, so I hid my body behind oversized cardigans and baggy sweatshirts. I also wore a lot of black, clinging to the idea that it was “slimming.” At my highest, I probably weighed 230 pounds.
Trying to blend into the background
So if anyone had told a younger version of me that someday I would walk down the aisle in a size 10 wedding gown, strapless no less, I would have been shocked.
Last Friday was a pretty good mail day here: voting ballot, Room and Board catalog, Time magazine, wedding invitation. The last piece of mail was particularly exciting. Mr. Mole’s good friends—and fellow greyhound owners—are getting married after dating for years and years. While the news of their marriage wasn’t particularly surprising, the details of their wedding were. They are getting married the weekend before Thanksgiving—in West Palm Beach, Florida.
West Palm Beach / Image via Wikipedia
Mr. Mole and I are also having a destination wedding. However, I have to be honest that my first thoughts about their wedding were something eloquent like, “Ack! How much are plane tickets going to be? How much will the hotel room be? Are we going to have to rent a car? How long is that flight going to be? What are we going to do about the dog? Can we take off enough time from work to make this cross-country trip worthwhile?
Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
So you know how I was wondering about growing my hair long(er) for our upcoming wedding? Everyone who commented (thanks, by the way!) gave me such good advice on the importance of feeling and looking like myself on that day. So, on Thursday, I made a hair appointment at a local salon, and I walked out with this:
The basket at the top of the bookshelf is Halloween candy I am avoiding.
I love this haircut. It feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders, both literally and metaphorically. I made two follow-up haircut appointments between now and the wedding, so that settles any debate!
Anyway, I looked through all of the links and websites that the hive gave me. I found some great hairstyle ideas. I also stumbled across three more sources of inspiration here on Weddingbee, so I am going to pay things back.
Underwear! Yes, this is a post about underwear. Woo? Woo! After I made a decision about my dress, I was then faced with the question of what I was going to wear under my dress. Luckily for me, I had the dress at home in my closet. This meant that I was able not only to have impromptu fashion shows (and mirror photo shoots) but also to try out a variety of undergarments in preparation for alterations.
A reminder of my dress, an example of said mirror photo shoots
My dress is strapless, so I knew that I had a few options: wearing a strapless bra, sewing in built-in cups, or going braless. I wasn’t at all excited about the third option. I wear a 34/36C, and I always feel a little awkward (read: jiggly) going braless. I was also a little worried about the second option. The consultant at the store warned me that sewing cups into this specific dress might not give me much support. My wedding day is one time that I don’t want to worry about adjusting or fixing or smooshing things back into place. So option one it was!
Most brides take steps before their weddings to ensure that they look their most beautiful on that special day. They increase the frequency or intensity of their workouts or hire personal trainers. They try new facial cleansers and products. They rub in self-tanning lotion. They buy new hair products. They keep their fingers and toes nicely manicured. They affix teeth whitening strips. Some—especially if they are featured on reality television shows—even get plastic surgery.
Image via Remote Patrolled / Screen shot of E!’s Bridalplasty
Last weekend, Mr. Mole and I went shopping at Ikea in order to find the materials for our candle centerpieces. This might be the closest that I get to being a DIY’er, folks. Anyway, it was a successful shopping trip that lead to a successful mock-up on our dining room table (incidentally, also from Ikea).
The source of a large amount of our possessions: Ikea in Carson, California
Like all Ikea stores, this one is designed to be a labyrinth that takes you through every department before you can find the checkout. This gave Mr. Mole the chance to pick up and pose with a variety of ridiculous things.
For someone who never wears jewelry, Mr. Mole had a pretty definite idea of what he wanted in a wedding ring. He wanted something lightweight, durable, and inexpensive. Now, the last quality is not necessarily something people typically search out in a piece of jewelry that is supposed to signify forever: “Nah, babe, just get me the cheapest ring possible. Whatevs.” However, Mr. Mole, who grew up hearing the story about how his father lost his wedding band within a few weeks of owning it, wanted something that could be replaced if necessary.
We debated tungsten for a while before ultimately deciding on titanium. Like Mr. Pashima, Mr. Mole was excited about wearing a metal that is used in space shuttles. We went into some traditional jewelry stores, only to get the runaround. The sales clerks kept steering us toward white gold or platinum. They told us that titanium couldn’t be made in Mr. Mole’s quarter-size (not true). They even told us that titanium could cause Mr. Mole’s fingers to have to be amputated in an accident (really not true, but this was probably my favorite wedding-related sales tactic). So we walked away from brick-and-mortar stores and turned to Etsy.
Titanium rings!
On Etsy, we found the shop Titanium Knights. Mr. Mole fell in love with a satin-finish ring that had an inlay of white gold. He explained that he wanted our rings to match in some way. I was sold. We ordered it in his quarter-size and everything.
College courses often come along with prerequisites: certain classes or subjects that students have to master (or at least pass with a C) before they can move on to more difficult material. I think that healthy relationships should also have prerequisites. A willingness to share and listen. A generous heart. A well-developed sense of self. A confident spirit. Etc.
I think that the viewing of the following video by Dan Savage (love him!) is also one that should be assigned to everyone who is about to take that plunge into Relationshipville. This video should be watched often; a couple times a year in good times, a few times a week in tougher ones.
Warning, though: NSFW, some language.
Our apartment is beginning to fill with items for our wedding. Now don’t worry; we aren’t at Hoarders level yet. I am in no danger of getting crushed by a falling stack of programs in the living room or swallowed by a sea of washi tape hidden behind the pantry door. However, there are favor cards in the desk. There are invitation samples on the bookshelf. There is a sparkly hair clip in the medicine cabinet. And there are three new shoe boxes in my closet. That’s right. I have purchased three pairs of shoes for one occasion.
(And I almost bought another pair today. PSA: Nordstrom Rack at the Howard Hughes Center in Los Angeles has two pairs of white satin Jimmy Choo pumps for $49.99. Size 38.5/8.5 and 41/11.)
The shoe hoard
Let’s open these babies up for a closer look.
The average cost of a wedding is nearing $25,000. My mind was blown when I first heard this figure—especially since my average yearly income for the first six years after I graduated from college was considerably lower than this number. (Womp womp, graduate-school stipends.) I had no idea that weddings could cost that much. And, given that cost, I certainly had no idea how I was going to be able to afford one! As I talk to more people and read more posts on the Boards, I realize how common these feelings are.
Yesterday, I read an article online entitled “Three Ways to Fund a Wedding.” The author, Cathie Gandel, describes the three ways in which different people funded their weddings: selling old clothes and possessions, tapping into retirement savings***, and working extra shifts. That last way really resonated with me. In order to help fund our wedding, I have been keeping myself busy by taking additional hours at work.
Teacher stare-down (a joke photo, but I bet I have made this face in class)
In a previous post, I explained some of the reasons we decided to get married in Vegas. I left one off of the list: one of our favorite restaurants is in Vegas. We are having our dinner reception in Bouchon Bistro, which is located in the Venetian. Go there next time you are in Las Vegas (or Yountville or Beverly Hills). It’s amazing!
Image via What Las Vegas
Mr. Mole and I first went there last winter when we were visiting his family for the holidays. The whole trip was full of food: noodles at Beijing Noodle No. 9, steaks and monkey bread at Craftsteak, dim sum in Chinatown, and lobsters at home on Christmas. We saved the best for last. On our final night in Vegas, we went to Bouchon. This dinner was one of the best dinners that I have had in my life, not merely because of the food but also because of the warm atmosphere in the room.
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Mrs. Mole, Los Angeles/Las Vegas Age and Occupation: 29, Test Prep Instructor Fiance's Age and Occupation: 31, User Experience Architect Engagement Date: April 2011 Wedding Date: January 2012 Venue: Wynn Las Vegas/Bouchon Bistro About Me: I’m a Wisconsinite-turned-Angeleno who is planning a destination wedding in Las Vegas. I am passionate about education: I spent 23 (!) consecutive years in school, and now I work to help other people get into graduate programs. I love running on the treadmill, buying bath products from Lush, learning new moves in step aerobics, and exploring my neighborhood on foot. I am sometimes snobby about food, but I am rarely snobby about books. I read everything from Geoffrey Chaucer to Iris Murdoch to Chuck Klosterman to Candace Bushnell. My fiance and I are getting married on our third anniversary!
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