2.29.2012

The Bended-Knee Proposal

I was looking yesterday at the pictures from the night that Patrick and I got engaged, and it really made me wonder, why the tradition of proposing on bended knee? Not that I'd have it any other way, don't get me wrong! --- I'm just curious as to how the tradition was started. So, I did me a little research on the interwebz, and...nothing.

On Wikipedia, it talks about the traditions of proposing on the whole, it barely mentions the knee thing. All the other sites I checked simply stated: there is no historical origin we know of the bended-knee proposal. Many sites say that it could have spawned from the tradition of knights kneeling to accept honors from their Royals. Some say that it is a sign of respect and spirituality delving from kneeling in prayer. It also "elevates the engagement ring between" the couple. For whatever reason, it stuck, and it marks the proposals of many couples each year.

There is something so romantic to me about this tradition. I guess, growing up, you see it in all the romantic movies and books, and it's something that tells you that this is real, it's happening to me. For me, I took it as a sign of ultimate respect and love from Patrick. It really showed me how much he honors me and our relationship.I think that it is a beautiful gesture. Of course I flung myself down to my knees with him after I said yes. I'm glad I did. I think now, looking back on it, I feel like joining him on bent knees was my way of reciprocating that respect and honor. Then again, it could have been the sheer joy I felt. (It was probably that).

I am in no way saying that if a man/woman proposes to their significant other without taking a knee that they don't love and respect their partner, nor am I saying that it devalues the proposal. I'm just speaking from our proposal and how it affected me.

Since the youtube, twitter and Facebook crazes, proposals have become more and more elaborate. More power to them, too! To each their own. It's such a reflection on the couples' style, and the bended or non-bended knee proposals are unique, special, and beautiful in their own ways.

How did your SO propose? Were they kneeling? How did it make you feel?

Best,

Micah

2.28.2012

Registering!

We finally did it! Two weekends ago, P and I had a wonderful time finally registering ourselves for our wedding gifts! We hadn't been able to go, and kept having to reschedule so two Fridays ago we turned to each other and said "Let's go. Tomorrow." And we did!

Guys, registering for wedding gifts is a little too much fun. We made sure to only ask for things we knew we needed/wanted and that we would actually use. P got to use the laser-gun-thingy (and I am glad, I probably would have broken it or something). Oh! Where did we go you ask? The Crate & Barrel of course! It's got beautifully designed and top-notch products that are actually affordable. We found most of the things we'd like, but there are still others (we plan on registering at a few places to give different price ranges/options for the guests).

I'll admit, there were a few times when the thrill of registering faded, and it got kind of tedious, but then we would head to a different section, like furnishings or bed/bathroom and our energy got refreshed. My advice, make sure you can dedicate at least an hour and a half to each store you plan on registering for. That way, you won't end up just settling and you can really discuss with your fiancee what you want. Remember: you're registering together for things that you will populate/define/employ in your future home together. They are supposed to last, and you must agree together. Sure -- there were definitely a few compromises (Thanks Patrick, for agreeing to the cobalt blue tumblers I love!) but all in all it's a fun and exciting thing to do together before the wedding!
Expert Registry-Man
I'll admit, I have been obsessively checking our registries online and adding/subtracting things. And we still are looking for a few items (we both have specific tastes aesthetically for things, so sometimes it takes longer for us to decide). I will also admit that while I am very excited about receiving things to create a home with Patrick, I do feel the slightest twinge of guilt. I know that we are not forcing anyone to give, but you know that feeling on your birthday that you get as you open presents under the gazes of your gift-givers? It's immense gratitude mixed in with a little guilt. I guess it's something that I have always felt about presents. We are so excited about our wedding and to have all of our guests present for the celebration of the marriage. That being said, if we don't receive anything we registered for, I'm happy. If we do, I'm immensely grateful. We are blessed to be surrounded by loving friends and family. And preparing for this wedding coming up in ::gulp:: four and a half months has really made me focus on that.

Best,

Micah

2.24.2012

Cupcake Fiend

Image via Hyperbole and a Half
Yes, that's what I think of too, when I read "Cupcake Fiend." I think also that this title can also be attributed to me. I mean, I talk about them ALL THE TIME. It's an obsession, spurred from Patrick's birthday last year at which cupcakes were present. You could say we met, we wooed and the rest is history (I'm still talking about cupcakes, yes). So, in all my fiendish-ness---I want to bring you my personal favorite flavor picks! Here is my perfect half dozen flavor cupcake box (suitable for almost any palette, perfect for a party or just for a sweet treat). These cupcakes are from Kick*ss Cupcakes in Davis Square.
  • Plain Vanilla Cake with Vanilla frosting - Classic, and can be dressed up with sprinkles or food coloring. Always tasty and almost everyone will love it!
  • Plain Vanilla Cake with Chocolate frosting - If you're going to serve vanilla, there needs must be a chocolate option.
  • Red Velvet with Cream Cheese Frosting - This is becoming more and more my favorite flavor. The sweet-but-not-overwhelming frosting, the lucious red velvet-y cake! SO good. And so pretty!
Those are my classic choices, now for the funky flavors to spice things up!
  • Chocolate chip Cookie Dough with Cookie Dough filling - This is exactly as delicious as it sounds it is.
  • Pink Lemonade - It's a citrus-y summer-y piece of heaven that never fails to look adorable and taste amazing!
  • Strawberry Shortcake - So yummy, so tasty and it's healthy (kind of) because it has a strawberry on it...no? Ok.

You know you want one.

 
So those are my favorites! Oooh! I also love a good chocolate PB cup. No one can resist that. Now we just have to narrow our two bakers down and decide on flavors together! (Patrick, these options I laid down for ya, whatcha' think? Eh? Eh?)
 
Enjoy your friday and have a cupcake! Totally worth it, will make you smile.
 
Best,
 
Micah
 

2.22.2012

The Finishing Touch!

Patrick, I love you, but this is one of those posts you
may not read. Get out! Go read FailBlog or something!


OK, so guys... I think I finished my complete Bridal look for the wedding! I know, I already talked about most of my accessories. But I failed to fill you in on something I had been making trial after trial: My hair flower is complete! How did I decide which flower to make (I used several techniques for the trial flowers including a new one I haven't posted about yet --- but hang in there, that flower is used in other ways!)? Simple. I sat down with some wine and a movie and began to seriously, nervously without any fear of error work on what would become my hair flower. 

It ended up being the second tutorial that I filled you in on -- with the silk flower and using lace from my mother's and grandmother's wedding gowns! I also ordered albino peacock feathers to add to the drama and elegance of the piece (IMHO). Without gilding the lily and with no more a do, here it is!

Before the feathers were added --- when I was still unsure
if this would end up being the flower.
With the peacock feathers! Now I'm definitely sure
this is the one!
I used the same tutorial I shared here, but also glued crystals and pearls to a jewelry center and sewed that to the center of the flower. I made sure to anchor the flower petals to the felt base I made for the alligator clip so that it would be nice and sturdy. To add the wedding lace from the pieces my family gave me, I cut small circles and layered them in with the petals as I sewed/hot glued everything together. The peacock feathers I added as I hot glued the alligator clip in place. Simple! And look at the results!

I am so excited about how it turned out. And it will be very special that I made it, and that it is made from pieces from my mother's and grandmother's wedding days. That is the most special to me. I will carry that little piece of my family with me through the whole day. It really warms my heart. I can't wait to begin going to hair trials and to see how it looks! (Bringing it to my first fitting on Saturday!)

What are you wearing in your hair for the big day? Are you going veil, or veil with flower, or just flower, or none of the above? Let me know!!!

Best,

Micah

Saying our "Thank You(s)!"

This is ridiculously a little early, about 143(!) days, but I wanted to share with you a quick craftie I may be employing to help us say "Thank You"s to our guests. You may have seen the adorable pictures of "Thank You" parasols on wedding blogs and websites. Like this:

Image via Exquisite Affair Productions 

Image via Wedding By Color
"Thank You" parasols are a sweet, classic way to thank our guests for being there for our day. I originally made it for best friend/bridesmaid Abbie's wedding ---which came out so adorably! Abbie was working so hard on other things for the wedding, so I offered to take on this little craft to help her out. It came out pretty nicely and was such a snap! 

First I printed out the letters (like 150 sized font) and then I traced them onto the blank white parasol we got.


Next, I simply filled in the letters! It probably took all of twenty minutes, and came out beautiful.


After the wedding, she graciously lent it to me to use after our wedding! It's definitely something that we'd like to use! 

How are you making your "Thank You" cards for your guests?

Best,

Micah

2.17.2012

Wedding Bells are ringing!

Happy Friday and long weekend everyone! Here's something I have been meaning to post about for months! (::Slaps hand:: Bad blogger!) 

Anyway, Patrick and I are hoping to make this wedding reflect us as much as we can. We never want it to be cookie-cutter, and it is important that we have our upbringing and family life as an influence on our day. Thus, the bells. Growing up, we lived with my Grammy on my father's side. She always collected different bells and displayed them all over our house; crystal bells, porcelain bells, painted bells and copper bells. Each different from the next, and each coming with a story. As a little girl, I was fascinated with them. As often as I could find something to stand on to reach them, I would ring them, their clappers tinkling merrily with each wobble of my little arm. So, I had the idea: Why not place them on our tables for the guests to ring? (There are traditions of ringing tiny wedding bells for the newlyweds to kiss, sometimes the bells are replaced with clinking of glasses). 

Since the bells are my grandmother's and very sentimental, I had to figure out a way to ask the guests to ring the bells without them thinking they were favors (which are totally different and nomable, for a later post!). So I thought to make some little tags to tie on to each bell. From the Crafter's Paradise, Michael's, I bought a tag-shaped punch and got down to work with some cardstock.

I used a heart-hole-punch to tie them to the bells. But they
seem a little small huh?
So I found some pretty design-paper and cut some
more tags out.
A LOT more.
Next I fashioned the plain cardstock tags and the design-paper
tags together to form a bigger tag.

Needed a little help from Elmer's and Bridesmaid Abbie!

Ta-dah!
But what should they read? I wanted them to be polite but firm that the bells needed to stay on the tables. With a little help from the boards of Weddingbee, I was able to decide on something I think really works! 

The front reads: If you'd like to see a wedded kiss, ring the bell for lifelong bliss!




And the back reads: These lovely bells were graciously lent by Micah's Grandmother. Please leave them on the tables. Thanks!

They're going to be such a beautiful and special part of our wedding reception. I'm so happy to add such a personal touch. And the tags were a quick little project to tie them (see what I did there) into the look of our reception. I'm so excited! (I'll make sure to post pics later of the bells all complete with their tags. I have none now because they are sitting in a box in a room of my parents' house).

How are you tying your family into your special day? 

Best,

Micah

2.14.2012

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day
Image via Wikipedia
Happy Valentine's day to my one and only. My best friend in the entire world. The person who sees me at my absolute worst, and respects me the most. The person who lifts me up when I am down, and higher when I am flying. I love you, Patrick, with my whole heart and my whole self. Thank you for always being there for me.

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
   If this be error and upon me proved,
   I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
Sonnet 116, William Shakespeare


Love,

Micah

P.S. Wishing you and yours love and good wishes on this lovey-dovey Valentine's Day!

My Somethings/Accessories for the Bridal Look

My apologies for being a bad blogger of late. I promise, I have so much to post about, and a lot has been going on in the Wide-Wedding-World of Micah and Patrick. Before I go off about anything else, I have to talk about my Somethings! I finally acquired all of them!!!

I spoke briefly before about one something, that I was really excited about. It was the first of many something blues (I can't help it! I love blue!!!). But here are the rest of my somethings, and almost all of my Bridal accessories!

Oh! Patrick, do NOT read any further!
I'm talking about my WEDDING
ACCESSORIES here!!!


OK. Here they are!!!

You probably can't see it clearly, but those lovelies are
almost all my accessories!

My shoes with peacock shoe-clips, and my garters!

My Something Blue --- Brooch, and my Something New -- Crystal Earrings

There's the Sixpence (for my shoe!)

Here is my favorite new purchase! My Something Old
---It caught my eye in an antique shop. It compliments my wedding ring
set so well, I couldn't pass up. My Something Old Right-hand ring!
You may have noticed that I neglected to a.) tell you about the white shoes next to my pretty Ninas and b.) picture my Something Borrowed. A.) I will post about the white shoes shortly! B.) My Something Borrowed is actually still living with it's owner and my FMIL! It's a GORGEOUS delicate crystal bracelet. I can't WAIT to show you --- but I must, it's being borrowed, so I can't have it now :)

I showed you all my garters and shoes (although I never posted a photo) before. The shoes I completed by making quick shoe clips with a little help from my friend, Michael's Craft Store peacock feathers. Love them! I hinted at my purchase of these earrings when I found them in a Friday Finds post. They called to me --- begging to be bought and worn with my dress! So, rather impulsively, I bought them. The other earrings I mentioned that Patrick gave me for my birthday will be worn, don't you worry! The brooch I am planning on using to attach a ribbon sash to my dress! (First fitting coming up!) My FMIL gave me the sixpence in my stocking this Christmas! I was so touched, and so excited because that's a part of the Somethings that I was concerned I wouldn't be able to get!

Finally, quick story about the Something Old. I always thought I could borrow a piece of jewelry from my parents or FILs however, there was just one thing I couldn't really reconcile (please don't judge, this is extremely Type A of me): I never wear gold and all the jewelry I wanted to borrow were gold. So, last Saturday I took a trip to an Antique shop, not really expecting to find anything but BAM! --- there it was; this stunning art-deco-esque ring. I couldn't take my eyes off of it, and I had to try it. I had two concerns; one that it would over power my wedding ring set, and two that it wouldn't fit on my freakishly tiny fingers. But both fears were put to rest! It actually compliments my rings and sits well on my middle finger! I can't wait to wear it!

There we have it. Now that I have all the Somethings, all the under-roos (sneaky, I know -- I bought them yesterday and I'm not sure about sharing them over the interwebz so those will remain a secret) it seems that my Bridal-look will be completed when I have the dress altered, and then finally on the wedding day including my hair and makeup (And hair flower --- coming soon!!!!!).

What about you? Are you going for it to complete your bridal look with all the Somethings? Did you worry or have a hard time finding one of the items? Do you ramble as much as I do when you're excited?

Best,

Micah

2.06.2012

Feeling like a Princess...

...A Disney Princess that is!


Image via Disney Wiki
I know, I know! I already have a dress, but --- as I was perusing the Pintrest Wedding section, like ya do, I couldn't help but be drawn to these beauties! Now, I am by no means a two or three dress bride. But, these lovely gowns do make me feel all dreamy, and I thought I would share them with you. Here are my favorites:
All images via Disney Bridal.com Alfred Angelo designs.

  
 
Belle's Dress and Sleeping Beauty's Dress from Collection Two
SWOON! (Belle's my favorite Princess)
This is Cinderella's Dress from Collection One
It's magical. Ethereal and lovely.
If you haven't found the dress yet, check these beauties out at http://www.disneybridal.com/. I think they are lovely and deserve a good gaze at!

Enjoy!

Micah

2.02.2012

Mawwage...

Impressive Clergyman from The Princess Bride
1987)
I know I haven't talked very much about our ceremony to date, but that is because we were looking for an officiant...but now I can say proudly that we have found one!

Patrick and I thought for a long time about how we wanted to create our ceremony. We really wanted to find something that was unique to us and our relationship. Something that we'd remember, something really special. We love the idea of writing our own vows, but we also like the traditional vows. There are so many things to think about! Hand ceremony?  Which readings? What music (besides what I told you!)? 

Although we are not particularly religious, we were incredibly moved by our best friends' ceremony this summer. It was celebrated by my now Boss, actually: Reverend Jep. It was a beautiful ceremony created to reflect their love and commitment to each other. And it was sacred. Patrick and I knew that we wanted something similar, and yet uniquely ours. We asked Canon Pastor Steve from the church that I work at to help us create such a ceremony! Guys, he accepted today! I have been walking around with a giant smile all day. Because now we officially have an officiant (ha!).  It just makes the wedding, and more importantly the marriage more real and now we can begin to plan our ceremony --- the most important part!

Rev. Steve asked us, because it will be an Episcopalian ceremony, to take premarital counselling classes with him which Patrick and I are looking forward to. We can wait to talk with Steve about how we'd like to make our vows to each other and begin our lives together. 

So excited. So. Excited. We're getting married!

Best,

Micah