Weddingbee Blog

It is finally time for me to show y’all our amazingly wonderful engagement pictures shot by none other than Brother Oatmeal. We drove on over to San Francisco for a quick weekend trip, complete with incredible food and great entertainment. All in all, it was a fantastic weekend spent with two of my most favorite people. I don’t really need to explain much, so I’ll just let the pictures speak for themselves.

You may have noticed that I have been a bit absent over the last few weeks. Well, there is a reason for it. I felt that I should offer up an explanation to you, dear readers, who have begun to invest time and interest in the Oatmeal wedding journey.

I lost my job three weeks ago. Was it due to an unfortunate lay off, like many, many others out there? No. Sadly, it was within my control. I was simply let go for my sales performance. I worked in the medical device industry, a field so cutthroat at times, so rewarding at others, and simply stated: difficult. My sales numbers over the last 6 months were lacking, I was not having success in the call points I was being forced into, and well, this is what happened. You see, I have never actually failed at anything major in my life. I’ve always been a success-driven person, type A as all hell, a go-getter, a winner. And here I am, in the middle of my engagement, three months before our wedding, supposedly one of the happier times in one’s life, and I failed at my career. If, for nothing else, this is incredibly humbling.

Why, oh why are we so obsessed with our shoes? I suppose that question could be posed to most women in general, without regard to weddings. Maybe that’s why our wedding shoes become such an ordeal. A mission. An obsession. But, they’re sooooooo pretty, so why wouldn’t we be completely overwhelmed by wedding shoe goodness?

Once I saw THE shoes, there wasn’t really a question of whether or not I was going to get them. I came across these lovelies on some fashion blog (this was so long ago—I honestly don’t remember where). Then I started doing some research. And then…I found them. I FOUND THEM. At Barney’s. The only problem about that is we don’t have a Barney’s in Fresno, so I would have to purchase them online. No big deal. The next day I went to do just that, and guess what? They were “no longer available.” I’m sorry, they’re WHAT? So I thought long and hard about it, took it as a sign that spending that kind of money on wedding shoes was a complete joke, and went along my merry way. Ha. Yeah right.

I mentioned to my wedding coordinator in passing that I had found the world’s most gorgeous shoes and that they were no longer available. And then, it snowballed.

In an effort to incorporate both the Oatmeals’ interests into our wedding, we’ve decided to do a little something funky with our programs. Now, let me give you some background info on Mr. Oatmeal. You may remember from this post, that I mentioned he is quite fond of crossword puzzles. And when I say quite fond, I mean addicted. Here are a few photos taken from over the last few years, with Mr. Oatmeal completely uninterested in anything other than his puzzle.

{On our way to Yosemite a couple years ago, we had to stop for a wildfire. He capitalized on this opportunity by taking out his puzzle}

I’ve stumbled upon, quite possibly, the greatest idea ever to have been invented in the history of wedding guest books. You may be thinking, “Hey Oatmeal, what gives? You’re already having two guest books at your wedding. Why are you still talking about this?” Honestly, I had no intention whatsoever of adding to the list. Buuuuuuut, something changed when I came across Thrilled For You. Check this out.

I’ve noticed a major downside to having a fairly lengthy engagement, and that is, you make many decisions early on in the engagement, thinking you’re being original. Then as the months go by and you continue to obsess over wedding blogs on a daily basis, you find that so many of these details are popping up in dozens and dozens of other weddings.

I’m not, however, going to let this discourage me from using the ideas I originally dreamed up. Not to say I made them up, of course. I was simply inspired before they made it to the big time.

So what’s a prime example of this? The gorgeous and wonderfully “unique” wedding tree.

Dear Weddingbee brides, AKA those living in wedding-blog la la land,

I think it’s so important to take a step back and look at the bigger picture every once in awhile. What is a wedding all about? It’s certainly not about the flowers, the centerpieces, the shoes, the food, the venue. None of that really matters when you think about it. I know some of us spend countless hours obsessing over the details because, well, we’re getting married and that’s what we do. But we need to be aware of the realities of this wedding world we live in every day.

I’m not sure if many of you out there have come across this article, but I desperately wanted to share it with anyone following the ‘bee. Click on over and read it if you’d like a fresh perspective on all that wedding inspiration we’re constantly bombarded with.

{Kurstin Roe Photography}