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.
Read more…

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?
Read more…

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.
Read more…

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.
Read more…

I know that I have been woefully absent. So absent that I might not even be remembered. It seems that I have a way of underestimating things - for example I underestimated the problems one might have with internet in Mexico. For whatever reason the internet connection we have here in lovely Zacatecas hates the site upon which I blog. Hates it to the degree that crashing and losing of half-typed entries drove me to give up for almost two months. But here are more pictures at last.

So our photos were taken largely in Powell’s City of Books, which bills itself as the world’s largest independent bookstore. I was so grateful that they would let us in there on their busiest night of the week to take pictures. And let me be clear that even though we did our best, we were definitely in the way. But if you really have an idea that you think represents you as a couple, go for it, because the pictures came out awesome!

The boys browsing a bit while they waited for me to show up to do the reveal. But where was I and the girls at?

Read more…

Sorry that it has been long time no blog, but believe it or not packing up your whole life and moving to a completely different country is more time consuming than planning a wedding. I know, I didn’t think that was possible either!

But here I am with eight hours to kill in Mazatlan before our bus leaves for Zacatecas, and thought I would post up some of the pictures that we got from our amazing photographers, who not only got us the pictures super quick, but busted out some custom Thank You cards in only five days! I love those guys.

It is important to start the morning of your wedding off right. Step one should be coffee, especially if you have to venture out sans makeup. Step Two…
Read more…

The first photos that Mr. Robin and I have from our wedding are from our photobooth. Our photographers set up a backdrop in the cocktail area, and throughout the reception an attendant snapped photos of our guests. I love this because it looks like everyone had fun being goofy!

Mr. Robin with his sister!

Read more…

So we are home… well our home until the first week of February when we fly out to start our 6 month trip.

There is exactly one month between our wedding day and the day that we fly out. This posed an interesting dilemma for my name. I just couldn’t see spending six months and not taking Mr. Robin’s name. It is really important to me for us to have the same name because we are one, we are a family. I know that people have many different feelings about this subject and I think all of them have valid points. But for me personally, it was a priority.

So instead of waiting six months… marathon name change session! We are due to leave for the honeymoon in the evening the Monday after the wedding, so I have several hours. I grab an expanding file with all identifying documents and papers and room for more. This will be a day that you collect paper.

Read more…

But sadly, they are getting to the end of their mini-moon. We decided to take seven days after the wedding away from home, to relax and be married! And now we are on our way back, where we will have to prepare at super speed for our six month honeymoon.But I also can’t wait to post all the details. We had such a fun night!

I had a whole cake plan. Well, it was more of a dessert plan. See I don’t really love cake - I mean plain birthday/wedding cake type cake with frosting and such. In fact, I border on dislike with a few exceptions, but I love dessert. I love baking and Mr Robin’s mom has made wedding cake and other family members have baking talent. So I thought that we would lay out an amazing dessert spread of a small wedding cake, cheesecake, cookies, tres leches cake, and pie. Something like this:

(From Josiah’s Catering, a crazy beautiful caterer from Manila)

Read more…

If I tell the truth, I wanted to hold the ceremony in this place. But there was just no way that we could cut the guest list down to the fifty or so that might be allowed. I have spent so much of my life in this particular place that it would have suited me perfectly. I am not the only one getting married though, and Mr. Robin has a lot of amazing people in his life that deserve to be a part of our big day. But I still wanted to spend some time there on the big day.

What place am I talking about exactly?

Powell’s City of Books. The largest independent bookstore in the world. Which happens to be right across the street from the Portland Armory, where our wedding is taking place

Read more…

We need to have control of the music. That was decided from the beginning. I have just heard too many stories from couples who made detailed lists, provided songs, and then heard none or little of what they wanted. Add to that the fact that a great many of our dates were to concerts and shows, and we needed to rock the iPod wedding. So a friend of Mr. Robin will provide ceremony music with her guitar, and then when the reception rolls around we will have an iPod full of all the songs we love.

However, we have an issue… What song are we going to dance to for the first dance?! We have it down to two, which you can listen to thanks to YouTube:
First Day of My Life by Bright Eyes - this is a really sweet video.

Read more…

Merry Crafty Christmas!

Like many of you, I am sure, I spent the last few days cooking and wrapping but I wanted to stop and wish everyone the merriest Christmas. Happy wrapping and unwrapping, and joy in the lovely season that surrounds us!

Oh and TWO WEEKS!! until I am Mrs. Robin.

We have had extreme luck in vendors for our wedding. Our caterer/event manager is a family friend of Mr. Robin’s and my make-up/hair artist is my good friend and bridesmaid. As for our photographers, well I spent a long time searching the internet looking at different types of photos.

Then one day I was cruising Offbeat Bride and saw this photo:

I was in love with it. And then I saw the name of the company that did it, FS Weddings. And I thought to myself where have I seen that name before? Hmmm.

Read more…

I dread the question. Everyone asks it!”Where are you guys going to live?”

Here in Portland, what part of the city you live in says a lot about you. Before you ask newly met people what they do for a living, you ask them what part of the city they live in? I live in Alberta currently (crafts oriented, arty, coffee-fueled, funky) and Mr. Robin lives in Sellwood (community-oriented, good food, supports local merchants).

Read more…