Mrs. Moonbeam, Los Angeles/San AntonioAge and Occupation: 26, Intern ArchitectFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Studio Analyst, aspiring ScreenwriterEngagement Date: May 20, 2009Wedding Date: November 2009Venue: Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church (LaCoste, TX) and Mary Gray Events Center (Castroville, TX)About Me: I was born and raised in Texas, but after college I moved to Seattle for a couple of years and loved it. Then I followed my beau out here to LA and we're getting settled in. I've been making things since I can remember. I was raised by crafters. I love to sew, draw, paint, build, cook, bake (anything with a tangible end result is fair game). In that same spirit, I've been hosting since I was old enough to cook and set a fancy table. I kind of take after my grandmother, who believes that your morning OJ always tastes better out of the good crystal.
I woke up way too early the morning of our wedding day. No one was up and since our reception venue was steps away from the cottage I was staying in with my bridesmaids, I headed over to see it again. Linda and her helpers had put most of the flowers in the venue refrigerator, so I checked out the centerpieces. The tables and linens were being put up, but what I was most excited about was the fact that it was glorious and sunny. It was a welcome change from the buckets of rain from the night before.
So, my ladies and I headed out to a huge breakfast at a local diner. Everything really is bigger in Texas. Then we went back to the cottage, checked out what was going on at the venue and did a little setting up. Lots of family members were there lending helping hands—thanks again, everyone. Then Seattle ’maid tore me away from setting up and forced me to go and shower and start getting ready. I showered, submitted some job applications (I was still unemployed at the time) and started to feel bridal.
Mrs. Moonbeam, Los Angeles/San AntonioAge and Occupation: 26, Intern ArchitectFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Studio Analyst, aspiring ScreenwriterEngagement Date: May 20, 2009Wedding Date: November 2009Venue: Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church (LaCoste, TX) and Mary Gray Events Center (Castroville, TX)About Me: I was born and raised in Texas, but after college I moved to Seattle for a couple of years and loved it. Then I followed my beau out here to LA and we're getting settled in. I've been making things since I can remember. I was raised by crafters. I love to sew, draw, paint, build, cook, bake (anything with a tangible end result is fair game). In that same spirit, I've been hosting since I was old enough to cook and set a fancy table. I kind of take after my grandmother, who believes that your morning OJ always tastes better out of the good crystal.
After the rehearsal dinner, we stopped off at the girls’ cottage so that my bridesmaids and I could choose which flowers we wanted in our bouquets. Momma Moonbeam and I bought about $250 worth of flowers from HEB on Thursday afternoon and we just kept the flowers in buckets of water and left them on the front porch in the evening (it was cool out at night in November).
We laid out garbage bags and just started out trimming all the extra foliage off. There were sunflowers and lots of mums.
Mrs. Moonbeam, Los Angeles/San AntonioAge and Occupation: 26, Intern ArchitectFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Studio Analyst, aspiring ScreenwriterEngagement Date: May 20, 2009Wedding Date: November 2009Venue: Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church (LaCoste, TX) and Mary Gray Events Center (Castroville, TX)About Me: I was born and raised in Texas, but after college I moved to Seattle for a couple of years and loved it. Then I followed my beau out here to LA and we're getting settled in. I've been making things since I can remember. I was raised by crafters. I love to sew, draw, paint, build, cook, bake (anything with a tangible end result is fair game). In that same spirit, I've been hosting since I was old enough to cook and set a fancy table. I kind of take after my grandmother, who believes that your morning OJ always tastes better out of the good crystal.
So, it all happened on a crazy, stormy night in Texas, which left me slightly worried about our outdoor dance floor the next night. But, the only real effect was that I switched my shoes for the night from heels to flats because of the mud (though, let’s be honest, I totally would’ve wussed out on the heels anyway).
I don’t seem to have any pictures of the actual rehearsal, but London ’maid did steal my camera for a sec to get these shots.
Mrs. Moonbeam, Los Angeles/San AntonioAge and Occupation: 26, Intern ArchitectFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Studio Analyst, aspiring ScreenwriterEngagement Date: May 20, 2009Wedding Date: November 2009Venue: Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church (LaCoste, TX) and Mary Gray Events Center (Castroville, TX)About Me: I was born and raised in Texas, but after college I moved to Seattle for a couple of years and loved it. Then I followed my beau out here to LA and we're getting settled in. I've been making things since I can remember. I was raised by crafters. I love to sew, draw, paint, build, cook, bake (anything with a tangible end result is fair game). In that same spirit, I've been hosting since I was old enough to cook and set a fancy table. I kind of take after my grandmother, who believes that your morning OJ always tastes better out of the good crystal.
I went to Texas a little over a week before the wedding to take care of last minute things, visit with family, and give my Mom a chance to work on the dress while seeing it on me.
One of those projects we worked on was our favors. I had a grand scheme of having recipes for all the homemade desserts we’d be serving, but that ended up excluding too many of Mr. Moonbeam’s family recipes. His family had to travel in, which made it harder to bring a dessert, and a lot of his (and my) family favorites were savory dishes. So, we ended up with general family recipe favors and a lot of homemade desserts. They weren’t totally coordinated, but there was some crossover.
Like other bees before me (Apple Cider, Cowboy Boot), I got my hands on some muslin bags and stamped them with our custom stamp. If you do this too, make sure to use fabric ink for the stamping (I believe it’s the kind that says ’permanent dye’).
Mrs. Moonbeam, Los Angeles/San AntonioAge and Occupation: 26, Intern ArchitectFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Studio Analyst, aspiring ScreenwriterEngagement Date: May 20, 2009Wedding Date: November 2009Venue: Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church (LaCoste, TX) and Mary Gray Events Center (Castroville, TX)About Me: I was born and raised in Texas, but after college I moved to Seattle for a couple of years and loved it. Then I followed my beau out here to LA and we're getting settled in. I've been making things since I can remember. I was raised by crafters. I love to sew, draw, paint, build, cook, bake (anything with a tangible end result is fair game). In that same spirit, I've been hosting since I was old enough to cook and set a fancy table. I kind of take after my grandmother, who believes that your morning OJ always tastes better out of the good crystal.
Hello there hive! I’m finally going to start my recaps. For those of you who don’t remember me, I married Mr. Moonbeam (for the second time) in November of 2009 in our large, Texas, family-oriented ceremony. We were married (the first time) in July of 2009 in a small civil ceremony in Malibu (for oh-so-romantic health insurance reasons). Both were great days for the two of us, but the stresses of our big ceremony have definitely contributed to my recap hiatus.
Confession: I really dislike our pro pics from our November ceremony. I will be forever grateful to our shutterbug relatives (Aunt Annie and Uncle Chris) who took some of my favorite pictures from our big day.
Full Disclosure: I found our photographers off of Craigslist, and we paid about $600 for their services. I wasn’t expecting blow-me-away amazingness, but I was expecting competence. Read more…
Mrs. Moonbeam, Los Angeles/San AntonioAge and Occupation: 26, Intern ArchitectFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Studio Analyst, aspiring ScreenwriterEngagement Date: May 20, 2009Wedding Date: November 2009Venue: Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church (LaCoste, TX) and Mary Gray Events Center (Castroville, TX)About Me: I was born and raised in Texas, but after college I moved to Seattle for a couple of years and loved it. Then I followed my beau out here to LA and we're getting settled in. I've been making things since I can remember. I was raised by crafters. I love to sew, draw, paint, build, cook, bake (anything with a tangible end result is fair game). In that same spirit, I've been hosting since I was old enough to cook and set a fancy table. I kind of take after my grandmother, who believes that your morning OJ always tastes better out of the good crystal.
We made our way to the chateau exhausted and weary from our travels thus far, but we were excited and pretty amazed at what we saw as we pulled up.
The rest of the day was spent wandering around the chateau and the grounds just falling in love with everything, except maybe all the taxidermy (we’re talking giraffes, baby elephants, chimps, lions—it was ridiculous). Read more…
Mrs. Moonbeam, Los Angeles/San AntonioAge and Occupation: 26, Intern ArchitectFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Studio Analyst, aspiring ScreenwriterEngagement Date: May 20, 2009Wedding Date: November 2009Venue: Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church (LaCoste, TX) and Mary Gray Events Center (Castroville, TX)About Me: I was born and raised in Texas, but after college I moved to Seattle for a couple of years and loved it. Then I followed my beau out here to LA and we're getting settled in. I've been making things since I can remember. I was raised by crafters. I love to sew, draw, paint, build, cook, bake (anything with a tangible end result is fair game). In that same spirit, I've been hosting since I was old enough to cook and set a fancy table. I kind of take after my grandmother, who believes that your morning OJ always tastes better out of the good crystal.
After our Eurostar ride, filled with the loving sounds of a crying child, we arrived in Paris. We rode the Metro over to the Marais district and walked around for a bit trying to find our hotel. The Hotel Place des Vosges was a great little place that is currently undergoing renovations, and we were lucky enough to get a renovated room on the top floor. It involved some stairs and the tiniest elevator you can imagine to get up to, but it had great exposed beams, neat little woodwork niches and an awesome bathroom entirely clad in a cool grey stone. We had a skylight and, if you needed them, there were two pull out beds.
After a quick shower we headed out to find dinner in the cool-ish Paris evening. Read more…
Mrs. Moonbeam, Los Angeles/San AntonioAge and Occupation: 26, Intern ArchitectFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Studio Analyst, aspiring ScreenwriterEngagement Date: May 20, 2009Wedding Date: November 2009Venue: Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church (LaCoste, TX) and Mary Gray Events Center (Castroville, TX)About Me: I was born and raised in Texas, but after college I moved to Seattle for a couple of years and loved it. Then I followed my beau out here to LA and we're getting settled in. I've been making things since I can remember. I was raised by crafters. I love to sew, draw, paint, build, cook, bake (anything with a tangible end result is fair game). In that same spirit, I've been hosting since I was old enough to cook and set a fancy table. I kind of take after my grandmother, who believes that your morning OJ always tastes better out of the good crystal.
Last Sunday was the anniversary of our legalceremony (we went to a lovely brunch in the morning, fit in a run and saw a play in the evening) and a handy reminder that my recaps are getting stale fast. I’m going to start these things in earnest, real soon, cross my heart.
But first, I thought I’d share our belated honeymoon-type travels. For about 2 weeks (06/28-07/10) we roamed around Europe (London, Paris and the French countryside) visiting friends, making new friends and going to another set of friends’ wedding (in a chateau!). We totally didn’t mind mini-mooning back in November for our big wedding because we knew this trip was on our horizon. And we loved spending our ’honeymoon’ with friends—since our friends are so far flung it was great to see people we haven’t seen in a while.
Part one has us visiting my old friend (and bridesmaid) from architecture school who’s making her life out in London. Our trip also coincided with another architecture school friend’s stop over on her way back from South African World Cup madness, so we had a smallish reunion, British style. Read more…
Mrs. Moonbeam, Los Angeles/San AntonioAge and Occupation: 26, Intern ArchitectFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Studio Analyst, aspiring ScreenwriterEngagement Date: May 20, 2009Wedding Date: November 2009Venue: Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church (LaCoste, TX) and Mary Gray Events Center (Castroville, TX)About Me: I was born and raised in Texas, but after college I moved to Seattle for a couple of years and loved it. Then I followed my beau out here to LA and we're getting settled in. I've been making things since I can remember. I was raised by crafters. I love to sew, draw, paint, build, cook, bake (anything with a tangible end result is fair game). In that same spirit, I've been hosting since I was old enough to cook and set a fancy table. I kind of take after my grandmother, who believes that your morning OJ always tastes better out of the good crystal.
So, we had the materials and a mockup and then I finally met up with Momma MB in Texas and we got down to business.
I stood around like this a lot. I spent 3 days straight in leggings, with a stick on bra taped to me with painter’s tape (so that we wouldn’t waste the stickiness) and a tank top, so that I could easily turn into a human dress form at a moment’s notice. Read more…
Mrs. Moonbeam, Los Angeles/San AntonioAge and Occupation: 26, Intern ArchitectFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Studio Analyst, aspiring ScreenwriterEngagement Date: May 20, 2009Wedding Date: November 2009Venue: Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church (LaCoste, TX) and Mary Gray Events Center (Castroville, TX)About Me: I was born and raised in Texas, but after college I moved to Seattle for a couple of years and loved it. Then I followed my beau out here to LA and we're getting settled in. I've been making things since I can remember. I was raised by crafters. I love to sew, draw, paint, build, cook, bake (anything with a tangible end result is fair game). In that same spirit, I've been hosting since I was old enough to cook and set a fancy table. I kind of take after my grandmother, who believes that your morning OJ always tastes better out of the good crystal.
So, what to do with heirloom lace that is 50+ years old? If your mother is an avid quilter, you wash it with the same stuff that quilters use to wash antique quilts. A little goes a long way—I only used the soap left on the protective seal after opening this product and there were plenty of suds. The spoonful that comes with it is enough to do a whole quilt, so don’t use a lot or you will be rinsing forever.
Don’t worry, we didn’t just dunk all of the lace in and keep our fingers crossed, we tested a small piece of it first to make sure it didn’t disintegrate. Then we dunked it all in a big soapy pot. We then proceeded to rinse it about 12 times. That much lace got really heavy and with all that ’careful kneading’ to make sure we didn’t rip it, our arms got tired. Read more…
Mrs. Moonbeam, Los Angeles/San AntonioAge and Occupation: 26, Intern ArchitectFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Studio Analyst, aspiring ScreenwriterEngagement Date: May 20, 2009Wedding Date: November 2009Venue: Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church (LaCoste, TX) and Mary Gray Events Center (Castroville, TX)About Me: I was born and raised in Texas, but after college I moved to Seattle for a couple of years and loved it. Then I followed my beau out here to LA and we're getting settled in. I've been making things since I can remember. I was raised by crafters. I love to sew, draw, paint, build, cook, bake (anything with a tangible end result is fair game). In that same spirit, I've been hosting since I was old enough to cook and set a fancy table. I kind of take after my grandmother, who believes that your morning OJ always tastes better out of the good crystal.
Since I’ve been married for a couple of months now, I guess it’s safe to talk about the dress. Momma MB swore me to secrecy before the wedding, but now I can let y’all in on the process of having my mother make my dress.
We started with two patterns from Vogue. I liked the geometric quality of this top, but, clearly, those weird little points had to go. They don’t really say ’timeless’ to me. And be warned that this top has absolutely no darts and for the non-sewers out there, darts are what give shape to a bodice. They are usually the way you make room for ’womanly’ curves. Luckily, I don’t have many of said curves up top, so it was possible, though it definitely still gave Momma MB a headache.
Mrs. Moonbeam, Los Angeles/San AntonioAge and Occupation: 26, Intern ArchitectFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Studio Analyst, aspiring ScreenwriterEngagement Date: May 20, 2009Wedding Date: November 2009Venue: Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church (LaCoste, TX) and Mary Gray Events Center (Castroville, TX)About Me: I was born and raised in Texas, but after college I moved to Seattle for a couple of years and loved it. Then I followed my beau out here to LA and we're getting settled in. I've been making things since I can remember. I was raised by crafters. I love to sew, draw, paint, build, cook, bake (anything with a tangible end result is fair game). In that same spirit, I've been hosting since I was old enough to cook and set a fancy table. I kind of take after my grandmother, who believes that your morning OJ always tastes better out of the good crystal.
Sorry about the absence, I’m still waiting on pro photos and happily I got a new job after the wedding, but it’s been busy.
Well, here it is folks… The Flower Wall!
And to be honest, I love it. The wall itself was gorgeous and we got some super fun photos out of the whole thing, but there were some lessons to be learned. Read more…
Mrs. Moonbeam, Los Angeles/San AntonioAge and Occupation: 26, Intern ArchitectFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Studio Analyst, aspiring ScreenwriterEngagement Date: May 20, 2009Wedding Date: November 2009Venue: Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church (LaCoste, TX) and Mary Gray Events Center (Castroville, TX)About Me: I was born and raised in Texas, but after college I moved to Seattle for a couple of years and loved it. Then I followed my beau out here to LA and we're getting settled in. I've been making things since I can remember. I was raised by crafters. I love to sew, draw, paint, build, cook, bake (anything with a tangible end result is fair game). In that same spirit, I've been hosting since I was old enough to cook and set a fancy table. I kind of take after my grandmother, who believes that your morning OJ always tastes better out of the good crystal.
This ornament is as cute as they come. I found it on the Dancing Gnome Etsy shop and I couldn’t help but imagine the whimsical woodland wedding that could come out of it. I think the ornaments would make great cake toppers and then a few gnomes could be sprinkled throughout for some fun decorations. Gnome illustrations could be used as table numbers, and those little red hats are the perfect pop of color.
Mrs. Moonbeam, Los Angeles/San AntonioAge and Occupation: 26, Intern ArchitectFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Studio Analyst, aspiring ScreenwriterEngagement Date: May 20, 2009Wedding Date: November 2009Venue: Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church (LaCoste, TX) and Mary Gray Events Center (Castroville, TX)About Me: I was born and raised in Texas, but after college I moved to Seattle for a couple of years and loved it. Then I followed my beau out here to LA and we're getting settled in. I've been making things since I can remember. I was raised by crafters. I love to sew, draw, paint, build, cook, bake (anything with a tangible end result is fair game). In that same spirit, I've been hosting since I was old enough to cook and set a fancy table. I kind of take after my grandmother, who believes that your morning OJ always tastes better out of the good crystal.
You might remember my ring from this post, but here’s Mr. MB’s ring (with mine) on a handkerchief gifted to us at the rehearsal dinner with our names and wedding date embroidered on it for posterity.
We also found this jeweler on Etsy, but then just ordered it over email since it was a special (cheaper) order. We switched out the metal to 10K white gold to get this ring within our reach. Jim Dailing (the jeweler) couldn’t have been better to work with, he was lightning fast and didn’t make us feel lame about downgrading his beautiful design. Read more…
Mrs. Moonbeam, Los Angeles/San AntonioAge and Occupation: 26, Intern ArchitectFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Studio Analyst, aspiring ScreenwriterEngagement Date: May 20, 2009Wedding Date: November 2009Venue: Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church (LaCoste, TX) and Mary Gray Events Center (Castroville, TX)About Me: I was born and raised in Texas, but after college I moved to Seattle for a couple of years and loved it. Then I followed my beau out here to LA and we're getting settled in. I've been making things since I can remember. I was raised by crafters. I love to sew, draw, paint, build, cook, bake (anything with a tangible end result is fair game). In that same spirit, I've been hosting since I was old enough to cook and set a fancy table. I kind of take after my grandmother, who believes that your morning OJ always tastes better out of the good crystal.
Mr. Moonbeam got his guys flasks with their initials monogrammed on them. It’s standard, I know, but the guys loved them and used them immediately. We picked ours up at Things Remembered.
Mrs. Moonbeam, Los Angeles/San AntonioAge and Occupation: 26, Intern ArchitectFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Studio Analyst, aspiring ScreenwriterEngagement Date: May 20, 2009Wedding Date: November 2009Venue: Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church (LaCoste, TX) and Mary Gray Events Center (Castroville, TX)About Me: I was born and raised in Texas, but after college I moved to Seattle for a couple of years and loved it. Then I followed my beau out here to LA and we're getting settled in. I've been making things since I can remember. I was raised by crafters. I love to sew, draw, paint, build, cook, bake (anything with a tangible end result is fair game). In that same spirit, I've been hosting since I was old enough to cook and set a fancy table. I kind of take after my grandmother, who believes that your morning OJ always tastes better out of the good crystal.
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
Don’t worry, we didn’t just dunk all of the lace in and keep our fingers crossed, we tested a small piece of it first to make sure it didn’t disintegrate. Then we dunked it all in a big soapy pot. We then proceeded to rinse it about 12 times. That much lace got really heavy and with all that ’careful kneading’ to make sure we didn’t rip it, our arms got tired.
We also found this jeweler on Etsy, but then just ordered it over email since it was a special (cheaper) order. We switched out the metal to 10K white gold to get this ring within our reach. Jim Dailing (the jeweler) couldn’t have been better to work with, he was lightning fast and didn’t make us feel lame about downgrading his beautiful design.
