January 24, 2010

I am getting MARRIED today.



yup .. thats happening. Today.










I love you guys for being on this journey with me .. I cant wait to share the conclusion with you.

See you on the flip side.

Nothing new to report

Well, nothing new today that is .. but tomorrow ... I will be back with some big news!


PS: our yarmulkes arrived!! They look awesome! Yay! And I ordered some gifts for my girls .. but I won't be posting them up here .... the spies!... they are everywhere! But I promise to show you pics after I give them out ... you know I love to share everything you guys.

Bad blogger! Whatchya gonna do?

I've been a baddy! Not posting for two straight days! This whole being a lawyer thing is harder than I thought! But in the meantime, the wedding planning has been progressing along....

Things we have gotten done:
We met with two florists this weekend (who I LOVED! Never thought I would say that! No really, both were awesome) and we're going to see another two next weekend.

We picked yarmulke colors for the wedding! A yarmulke or kippah is a traditional head-cover that is usually worn by Jewish men .. although sometimes women too depending on their traditions, beliefs, personal feelings, etc... I will tell you more about this later this week.

We received our invites! They are AWESOME (thanks Leslie!)

And we set up appointments to talk to some photogs next week.

Phew ... yep, this whole wedding thing is gonna happen! One way or another ...

And to make up for being a baddy this week I leave you with a deal from Wedding Channel

Enter code & receive 10% off your online order of $85 or more @ wedding channel

Coupon code:  COUPONCABIN10 .... Expires Dec 21st

Letter

Dear Wedding-To-Do List,


Get smaller!


Love,
Bridechka



PS: While your at it, could you have a talk with Work-To-Do-List? He is really getting out of hand lately! Thanks! Xoxo!

Invitations!

Yep, its about that time ... we are going to be sending out invitations super soon! And I wanted to give you guys a super secret sneak peak before our guests get 'em!

But before I show you the goods let me introduce their creator ... the super talented Leslie Chen of Slieberry Designs.

Check the handiwork people ...

... the front of the rsvp ...

... and the back ...

The invited will be packaged in an awesome charcoal pocketfold ... and I got tell you .. I never thought I could have such warm fuzzy affectionate feelings for stationary ... but Leslie has made it happen! I will  take some pics when they arrive and show you all the end result. In the meantime, let me know what you think of the design and the wording and then go check out some of Leslie's other work over at her fabulous blog.

Best. Registry Idea. Ever!

A gift is a gift is a gift is a gift .... and eventually all of the kitchen supplies and household appliances start to become redundant, especially if you already live together and have a bunch of this stuff ("Look hon, another coffee grinder .... woo?"). But how about a registry that lets guests give you a new kind of gift? An investment in your future! That is where weddingfutures steps in! Instead of giving you tangible gifts or cash (which some people feel uncomfortable with ... although not me! Bring on the cold hard cash people! More on this later when I explain that Russians only attend weddings with envelopes not boxes ... ok tangent over!). More on weddingfutures ....

See its easy! Ok get ta investin peoples.

Gimme five

{Source}

Just five months from today, I will be standing under the chuppah, saying ancient words, holding his hand and looking into his eyes ... knowing that we are taking this step together, moving forward by sharing our love with the most important in our lives.

PS: I can't effing wait!

Make Your Own Wedding Shoes

Check out my guest post over at the Weddzilla blog about creating your very own wedding shoes.

Best. Processional. EVER.

Has anything ever been more awesome? Don't lie, you know this is effin fantastic!

{Source}

That white thing I am gonna wear ...

I have been holding out on you. I kind of have a wedding dress. And by kind of I mean I totally and completely have a wedding dress. Wanna see my it?? Well then hope on over to the Weddzilla Blog and check out my post.

F*ing gorgeous

Ever read a poem that was so fucking beautiful, you had to curse just to express how dizzingly gorgeous it is? No? Try this one on for size.

... oh and just to warn you, this only my second favorite of his poems ... the link to my favorite one of his is below .. its so lovely it makes my chest ache .. you know, in that really really good way.


The Archipelago Of Kisses

We live in a modern society. Husbands and wives don't
grow on trees, like in the old days. So where
does one find love? When you're sixteen it's easy,
like being unleashed with a credit card
in a department store of kisses. There's the first kiss.
The sloppy kiss. The peck.
The sympathy kiss. The backseat smooch. The we
shouldn't be doing this kiss. The but your lips
taste so good kiss. The bury me in an avalanche of tingles kiss.
The I wish you'd quit smoking kiss.
The I accept your apology, but you make me really mad
sometimes kiss. The I know
your tongue like the back of my hand kiss. As you get
older, kisses become scarce. You'll be driving
home and see a damaged kiss on the side of the road,
with its purple thumb out. If you
were younger, you'd pull over, slide open the mouth's
red door just to see how it fits. Oh where
does one find love? If you rub two glances, you get a smile.
Rub two smiles, you get a warm feeling.
Rub two warm feelings and presto-you have a kiss.
Now what? Don't invite the kiss over
and answer the door in your underwear. It'll get suspicious
and stare at your toes. Don't water the kiss with whiskey.
It'll turn bright pink and explode into a thousand luscious splinters,
but in the morning it'll be ashamed and sneak out of
your body without saying good-bye,
and you'll remember that kiss forever by all the little cuts it left
on the inside of your mouth. You must
nurture the kiss. Turn out the lights. Notice how it
illuminates the room. Hold it to your chest
and wonder if the sand inside hourglasses comes from a
special beach. Place it on the tongue's pillow,
then look up the first recorded kiss in an encyclopedia: beneath
a Babylonian olive tree in 1200 B.C.
But one kiss levitates above all the others. The
intersection of function and desire. The I do kiss.
The I'll love you through a brick wall kiss.
Even when I'm dead, I'll swim through the Earth,
like a mermaid of the soil, just to be next to your bones.

                           -- Jeffrey McDaniel

... and if you liked that one, this one is even better. No seriously, it gets better. Don't believe me? Check it and enjoy.

{Image Source}

Take a Penny, Eat a Penny

First I saw these ...

... and I thought to myself:

"Self! I .. uh, well you ... well I guess we, found chocolate coins on Get Married. I know we never really thought about giving out chocolate at the weds but, these are a very cute personalized edible thing we can give to your guests, and the price is pretty good, and they remind me of Hanukkah gelt, and they are shiny ... oooh sooo shiny ...."

Where was I? Oh yes .... and then I saw this ...

{Image Source}

And now I am kinda sold. I am loving the display, the sign, the yummy goodness that certainly awaits in each of those bags. Bottom line: this idea is made up entirely of OH HELL YES!

Twig Votives

My tree obsession reaches new heights pretty much every day ...

... but they are so pretty, right??? Find them here.

Floral or fern-al?

So .... remember these??? Well, look what I found now ...

Also kind of dreamy ... Oh man, is anyone else starting to feel bad for my future hypothetical florist? Cause my indecisive nature seems to be rearing its cute little head again. ...

What? You think being indecisive ain't cute? Wrong! It's adorable. ... Or is the Big Guy lying to me?

Oh well, I'll just tell them to go with whatever is cheapest and all of our problems will be solved.

{Image source}

Throw your money at this

As many a NY (and many an anywhere) couple knows .. finding a venue is hard. What do you do if you don't want a big classic wedding but your also not into the City Hall thing? Well right now, you pout and suck it up. But we can use our dolla dolla bills to remedy the situation. Click here to support a fantastic project trying to create a Wedding Chapel in the NYC.

Here is the pitch:

"Wedding Chapel" will be New York City's most fun and affordable 

wedding spot, offering couples the chance to have long lasting 

memories without a church or city hall. Wedding Chapel clergy will 

marry couples at the Grand Opening storefront on 139 Norfolk street in 

Manhattan's Lower East Side. It's Vegas -- the New York way.

Women in Green

You know how sometimes, you fall in love with a green dress, and then you see another one and realize that you love that one too? Then another, then another, until you realize that you have a problem? No? Really? It's just me? Is there a green dress twelve step program? 

Hyatt Wedding Registry

So I am not so into registering for gifts (Russians don't do wedding gifts, they bring envelopes full of cash and why mess with such a warm and wonderful tradition?) but this looks like a pretty sweet idea. Check the pitch peeps ...

Hyatt Hotels & Resorts Launches new Online Bridal Gift Registry

Hyatt Hotels & Resorts has unveiled the Hyatt Gift Registry, where couples can register online for a host of amenities, services and accommodations at Hyatt hotels and resorts worldwide.  Imagine spa treatments, dinners on the beach, scuba diving or an anniversary stay at a favorite hotel on a gift registry?  It's an ideal option for the couple who has everything.

Guests make a contribution towards Hyatt Gift Cards (redeemable at Hyatts in the U.S., Canada and Caribbean) or Hyatt Check Certificates™ (redeemable at Hyatts worldwide). Just like traditional registries, couples are notified as gifts arrive and they can make revisions with just a few easy clicks. Best of all, there are no expiration dates or blackout dates so any extra honeymoon credits can go towards future vacations, spa treatments, etc.

And if you're planning a destination wedding, couples who wed at a participating Hyatt property (in the U.S., Canada, Cancun, Mexico or Aruba) by June 30, 2010 will receive up to five complimentary nights towards their honeymoon.

Our newest vendor!

There is a great debate that rages in the wedding madness ... to DJ? OR to band?

Me, I am a fan of DJs. For many reasons. The music sounds right (cause its not a cover!), they're cheaper, take up less space ... oh yeh and have I mentioned that the music sounds right? 

BUT ... and this is one giant ass in the world of 'buts' ... there are problems with my DJ lovin. First of all there is something to be said for live music, it pumps everyone up, sends out perky energy vibes, and hopefully gets everybody excited and ready to dance. 

Also, in order to make everyone happy, here is the collection of languages and genres that would need to be played at our wedding: 

American music that older Americans like to dance to, old school Russian music, Russian dance music, Hebrew/Jewish music, French, Italian, Spanish (if I could only explain to you how much Russians love latin music ... soooo much!), Pop, Dance music, hip hop, classic rock (for the Big Guy), Jazz, Swing, Standards, at least two obscure Joe Dassin songs, American music that young Americans will want to dance to ... 

Its not that a DJ couldn't provide some of these types of music ... but a lot of the Russian and old-school Euro-pop that makes my Russian fam happy will not be on your average DJs playlist, and they are nearly impossible to find online.

But the Big Guy and I didn't need to debate at all, because the wedding music was not an issue for us ... we knew exactly who/what we wanted right away. 

And here is why:

Two years ago, we went a our friends K&A's wedding and saw the answer to all or our musical queries. And that answer came in the form of the most effin fantastic BAND, either of us has every seen! This band did it all! Russian, English, modern, old, Spanish, Italian ... I think you are starting to get the picture. They were in a word PERFECTION. And the Big Guy and I signed a contract with them, so they are officially our band now. 

Venue - check

Rabbi - check

Rings - check

Band - oh hell yeah!

Color me impressed

I don't really ascribe to the theory that you must must must pick colors and stick to them like religious law when engaging in this dance called wedding. I am much more of the: go with your gut, pick things in colors you like, and it will all come together in the end ... or it won't. But who wants to be miss matchy matchy anyway? Not I. 

But then I saw this lovely collection of colors and I just might be coming around. What do you think? So lovely right ...

{Image source}

Wedding Update

We have a Rabbi, people, thats right ... place, check! rings, check! Rabbi, check check! Even if we don't get anything else we are definitely going to be married by the evening of January 24th.

Let me back up a bit. The Big Guy and I we are big into our Judaism, both as a culture and as a religion.  The Big Guy used to be a really religious and has become a lot more mainstream recently but still has a love for many of the traditions. 

I was born in the Soviet Union where practicing Judaism was illegal. So I grew up not understanding who I was or where I came from, all I knew was that I was a Jew and therefore I would never be considered truly Russian but also my family wasn't allowed to leave (for more info on how we were finally allowed to leave check out this film). 

So, after years of being scared, suspicious, curious, distrustful, and intrigued by religion, I started to get proactive. I started taking classes and learning and asking questions and figuring out not just what Judaism is but who I am. 

I first met our Rabbi when I signed up to do a condensed Bat Mitzvah course for people who had never had become Bat Mitzvah before, like yours truly. I so enjoyed his teaching style, his humor, his openness, his kindness, and his overall welcoming presence that I started going to all of his classes and bringing the Big Guy and all of our friends with me. 

When we got engaged, we knew we wanted someone who knew us, someone who cared about us, someone who was happy to see us take this big step together, and most of all someone who understand our strong feelings about our culture and ethnicity and he was the first person who came to mind. Blogland meet our officiant, Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff.

Check him out .... 

 

 

oh yeh, and he's British ... doesn't get much better than that.

{Videos from JEC}