Low-key Oregon Coast Wedding

How to introduce Amanda of Peony :: Love, hilarious wedding blogger, nose-picker, blower-of-sunshine-up-my-ass*? She's much more than that, I feel certain.

Anyhoo, here's what Amanda had to say about her May wedding:

When Nick and I first got engaged our instinct was to run for the hills and elope. We are fairly hermit-like and my association with weddings always included vast amounts of tulle and stress. It wasn't until after some firm prodding from family that we decided to do the whole wedding thing. We chose the little town of Manzanita, OR. It's on the beach about an hour and a half outside of our hometown Portland. If our wedding had a theme it would definitely be "low-key." We wanted to embrace the small town feel of the place and keep vendors to a minimum. We rented out the local community hall for the reception. My good friend got ordained online to perform our simple beach-side ceremony. No wedding party. A local restaurant owner (and friend of my parents) catered our hors d'oeuvres buffet (we gave her free reign over the menu and were pleased with what she came up with). Since everything was centrally located we chose to forgo transportation and just walk to the ceremony, reception, and back home to our beach house at the end of the night.




Editor's note: Aren't these expired-film polaroids Amanda's little sister took fucking fabulous? Esp with the short dress and that vintage car in the background....

Some wedding highlights: overflowing glasses of pink vodka lemonade. My sister-in-law doing my hair and makeup. All of Chelsea's DIY planning help. (There was a point about halfway through wedding planning when I had a meltdown over the beige paneling lining the walls of our reception venue. She brought me back down to reality and worked out the logistics of the decor for me. Amen for garland and white chairs!) My aunt and uncle made our cakes. Grandma sewed our custom napkins. I fell in love with two dresses so I got them both. I find solace in knowing no organs were sold in order to do so. It was totally worth it. My mother-in-law made my bouquet and Nick's boutonniere the morning of the wedding. One of our friends brought in some custom pink Voodoo Doughnuts from Portland to go with our cakes.


The night before the wedding a bunch of family met up at the reception location to do flowers. We used an array of milk glass vases that my mom and I had carefully thrifted over the past year. There were buckets of peonies scattered about and I said, "Go at it. Do whatever you want!" No two arrangements looked alike, and I loved it.


We spent hours and hours on a playlist and when the wedding day came we couldn't figure out how to hook up the sound system at the reception venue. My mom busted out her trusty ipod dock. In the end it didn't really matter since most of our guests drifted home after not too long. Instead, Nick and I headed back to the beach house with some family to get drunk off champagne and toast marshmallows over a bonfire.



(Photos by Joey Bloom, Kim and Amber)

*I'm glad you guys went with the tie in the end, Amanda. The paisley is so great with Nick's tat sleeve.

WEDDING DONUTS! (er, doughnuts)

It's about time.

Tune in tomorrow for a real wedding featuring these beauties from Portland's Voodoo Doughnut.

I'm a little obsessed with Voodoo Doughnut,* especially since I read Elizabeth Spiridakis's piece about the Voodoo Doughnut Burger they serve at The Original. But did you know you can get married at the Voodoo Chapel? Sounds recession-friendly fabulous to me.**

(Photo by Joey Bloom)

*Dear Voodoo, F*ck the vegans. How bout some gluten-free options? Love, Me

**Elizabeth, here's a thought. While you're biking around Portland this summer, why not pick up a cute guy and give the $25 Intentional Commitment ceremony a whirl? Purely in the interest of research.

What's with all the creepy bunnies?

Ilovethem.


If you people are gonna keep doing engagement photo sessions, would you at least ditch the effing balloons and bring along a bunny suit?

A panda suit, and/or a panda head would also be acceptable.

(Photos by Peter Lindbergh for Harpers Bazaar via LoveMore via grace's birdcage; Jason Bright via Fecal Face via tobaccoandleather)

Gorg Italian wedding

The DJ is pretty gorg too.* Why are Italian men the only ones who can pull off the unbuttoned-down-to-there look?

And I love the photos by Deirdre Quinn via her little winter bride blog.

*If I may defend myself, I had a crush on him before I knew he was Didi's husband.

And the hip groom award goes to....

Vince.

(Photos: Weddings by Two via 100 Layer Cake)

Yes, Melissa is pretty fucking cool too. But I'm giving awards to grooms.

Funny thing about weekends when you're unemployed

They don't mean quite so much
Except you get to hang out with your working friends
-Primus

(Photo of The White Horse Tavern via the lil bee. I'm missing nyc like crazy now that summer is in full swing.)

I hate to encourage the cupcake obsessed...

But go ahead, go nuts over these "Cup Cakes" by Meg Van Heck. You know you want to. And (bonus!) now you have an excuse to scour ebay for vintage teacups.

p.s. You MUST check out the rest of the 2nd annual Boudicca Cake-Off (via scout holiday)

I am not a housewife

But I am also not the wage-earner at present. Even though H-town insists it's my job to focus on creative projects, I feel incredibly guilty about spending the whole day sitting in front of my computer without the immediate promise of a paycheck. Or going out into the field without the immediate promise of a paycheck. (Okay, I feel less guilty about that.)

So I tell myself I ought to take on more of the shopping and cooking and cleaning. The, um, housework? I think they call it.

Some days I get satisfaction out of this. I manage to go to the farmer's market and Trader Joe's.* I (gasp) wash dishes. I feel all wifey and proud of myself.

And some days I feel resentful of the burden I've taken on. I let the dishes pile up.** I warm up chicken taquitos (if I find them in the back of the freezer), which aren't really enough dinner, and we end up hitting the 7-11 for potato chips and ice cream at one am because there's nothing left in the fridge.

There's got to be a happy medium right? I definitely haven't found it. And the bungalow is so small that one day's clutter = a complete mess.

(Image via Hollister Hovey)

*Yeah, Whole Foods has been relegated to specialty items. Still sad about that.

**Note: the idea that I personally have "let the dishes pile up" is all in my head. H-town certainly does not expect me to do more than my share of the housework. In fact, he believes he's a superior dishwasher.

Taco Truck Engagement Party

Um, hello. How amazing is this? Bunny + Chip had a taco truck drive right up to the house to cater their engagement party.




There's no reason this couldn't be a wedding reception. Just saying.

Groom Style: the light suit

I am generally not a fan of light suits. I am definitely not a fan of the chino version from J. Crew, ever popular for hot-weather weddings.

But these two are slammin.*

(Photos by The Sartorialist via A CUP OF JO; Tec Petaja via Once Wed)

*And Mick, of course, knocks it out of the park.

Should bridesmaids wear matching shoes?

Hi Nomi (ESB)!

It's Melody from me melodia. How are you? I've been meaning to send you a quick email for some time now but I'm easily distracted buttressed with major procrastination disabilities. I'm sure you get tons of "OMG I need help with my wedding... should I wear a feather headpiece or not?..." emails. I hope this doesn't bug you too much.

My bff is getting married this November and she's chosen 3 ladies (me included). She's very nontraditional girl who is having a super traditional semi-lax formal-ish wedding. She's gone back and forth on BM ideas but she has it narrowed down to 2 now (in black satin). I was assuming seeing that we're all wearing the same outfit that we should have the same shoes... or if not the same they should have some similar characteristics (i.e. closed, peeptoe, color/texture). Now this is where there's a disconnect. I'm so not a formalist but my bff thinks I'm totally nuts for assuming we should have the same shoes. What are your thoughts on this?

I just figure since we're going all matchy with outfits it would look a bit odd if someone came wearing these beauties and someone else wore these pieces of crap.

You opinion on this matter is greatly appreciated.
I'm honestly feeling like this is the most superficial email I've ever sent a stranger. ;)

You rock my socks.
xo,
Melody

ps I thought you might enjoy this.


*****

Lady! Forgive the delay. I dunno what the eff took me so long.

1) I love these questions. So, duh, you're not bothering me. (Although I often laugh to myself, as I sit in my pajamas at the computer, that I have come to be considered an expert.)

and B) What an amazing dilemma! Yeah, I think you're right. If the dresses match, the shoes have got to be in the same ballpark.* Same height/color/material. (NO DYED-TO-MATCH-SATIN. PLEASE. I know you're cooler than that anyway.) Maybe you could vary a few details like peeptoe vs. traditional pump.... But make some rules like NO SANDALS. (I am not feeling all these jeweled sandals. Ick. Esp not for a formal-ish wedding in November.) Maybe the four of you should go shoe-shopping together.

*In fact, I just looked at a photo of my non-matching bridesmaids in their green dresses, and they did a terrific job of coordinating their shoes. They don't match, but they're all in the wedgy, t-strap world. Makes em look cohesive and cool.

love
Nomi

p.s. OMG FNM

(Polaroid by Jen Gotch courtesy of my polaroid blog)

The length of a marriage is inversely proportional to the cost of the wedding. Bullsh*t.

This empty motivational saying is being bandied all over the internet like it means something. And it's really starting to piss me off.

I've had it with the holier-than-thou budget-wedding people. If you want to set a budget and hold yourself to it, great. Set a tiny budget! But just FYI, it will not make you a better person. It will not guarantee the success of your marriage.

What will get your marriage off on the right foot* is putting careful thought into your wedding, whether you spend $2,000, $50,000 or $10,000+ . It may sound crazy, but I'm pretty sure the hours of deliberation/negotiation you put into grey plastic chairs vs. white "wooden" (read: polypropylene) chairs will teach you something later when you are, say, buying a house.**

(Photo by Dina Goldstein via Cupcakes and Cashmere via A CUP OF JO)

*NOTE: I am not a marriage counselor (nor do I want to be a marriage counselor). I do not claim to have a perfect marriage. In fact, a perfect marriage sounds kinda icky.

**The correct answer is b) "wooden" chairs.

white paper flowers + black wedding shoes

When this lovely lady weighed in on the great black shoe debate with "I wore a pair to my wedding, short dress and all," I shameless begged her to send photos. She obliged. Immediately. (Ihavethecoolestreaders.)

Here are the details from Kyli:

My husband Luke and I got married in New York City at the top of a private building on May 29th. We had about 45 family members and friends join us for a quick ceremony officiated by a friend and then a great party filled with music, amazing food and tons of laughter and conversation.


The people we worked with: Acquolina Catering, Hatch Creative Studio for the flowers and Collette Foley for the cake, were all spectacular and in the end everything was beautiful and delicious. The dress is vintage -- it's Oleg Cassini from the 60s. I got it online from Vintageous and the only alteration it needed was a bit of resizing.

Two good friends, Ennio Rizzi and Randy Noak, took all of the digital shots, and the polaroid and holga pictures were taken by assorted guests with cameras we'd set out.



The insane paper flower wall was made by my incredibly talented mother - she crafted every piece by hand over four months and carried everything with her from California.


In the end, it was one of the best parties I've been to, which was everything we could have asked for. (Editor's note: Yesssss!)

want vs. need

Spending time on the blogs makes me want things. And I can't help blogging about the things I want. (Or the things I want other people to want.) It's a vicious cycle.

Yesterday I left home two hours before my hair appointment just so I could go to Wasteland. I escaped without spending my own money, but not before I did a little personal shopping for Christina. Sh*t is getting out of hand.

"What's your point?" you ask me. Um.

I think I need to shop my closet again. Try everything on and ebay or Goodwill* anything not worthy of Charlotte Gainsbourg or Liela Moss. How's that for setting the bar high?**

I'll feel calmer when I love everything hanging in my closet, even if it's two pairs of jeans and five t-shirts. Then I can think about whether I really need anything. (Note to self: I have everything I need.)

H-town could not be more supportive of my creative (ie. currently unpaid) projects, but I'm beating myself up about spending money on clothes when we have to pay our car insurance.***

Know what I'm saying?

(Portrait of Charlotte Gainsbourg by Tina Tyrell)

*Can I use "Goodwill" as a verb? I'm gonna do it.

**Okay, I'm exaggerating. I promise I'll also utilize the plastic tubs under the bed, for things like wide-leg jeans that I hate now but might miss in two days.

***I think I feel more guilty coming home with the groceries from Trader Joe's and (oopsy) the skinny jeans I bought at Crossroads when H-town just smiles his ass off and says, "Hot!"

It's official. Black is the new metallic.

I mean, what did I just say, about black shoes?

Thakoon Billow Gown available at Zoë. Go immediately to Refinery 29 for 14 more wedding dresses that don't suck, and lots more black shoe styling. (Including a slouchy pair of knee socks.)

Via A CUP OF JO

Practical Wedding Shoes (part three), Or: F* it, stop trying to be practical

The always kick-ass Genevieve ended yesterday's silliness (see parts one and two) with this comment that I cannot resist reposting in full:

A) I just bought those Nine West shoes (image courtesy of Genevieve) in black and they are so beautiful it makes me SICK. They also have nearly 5" heels, so at 5'10" I am still working up the guts to wear them out. Hey, I DID get them at Buffalo Exchange for like $22 so I justify owning a pair of shoes I may never actually wear. (My husband and I do not see eye to eye on this).

B, and more importantly) The last time (and first time in literally like maybe, I dunno, 6 years? 7?) I bought myself a *new* new pair of shoes was for my wedding, and I cannot stress enough the thrill of opening the box (shoes don't all come from vintage stores? How freaking NOVEL.) and having tissue stuffed in the toes, and that new smell, and knowing that no one else's sweaty toes had sullied my sacred toe space. And I cannot stress enough how furthermore thrilling it was for me to put them on for the first time on my wedding day and being like "NEW SHOES ARE FUN AND GORGEOUS". I tried to wear them out for my bachelorette party but my friends kiboshed that idea and I'm so glad they did. Having new shoes for my wedding day ruled, and I have worn them close to 1000 times since then, with everything from fancy dresses to jeans, so it's not like buying new shoes is crazy and wasteful. It's just special.

THE END!!

p.s. New readers, you can check out G's cool as hell wedding here. Though, sadly, we don't have a close-up of the shoes.

Practical Wedding Shoes (part two)*

All right, Meggles. I hear you. But when you say "spendier," what are we talking exactly?

Because the aptly named Fortuna by Christian Louboutin, on sale at Barney's for $659.00 (down from $1095.00) is crying out for you. They have your size.**

*Because what's more practical than a pair of half-off Louboutins?

**Ground shipping is free, and sale merchandise is returnable within 30 days. I read the fine print for you.

Practical Wedding Shoes

(Photo by Arthur Elgot for Vogue, styled by Grace Coddington; Via Nibs)

I'm a brat. I went shoe shopping for Meg.

She says she doesn't need a new pair of shoes. She says she's happy to get married in the silver heels she already owns. But I detected a hint of something wistful in this post.

It's very A Practical Wedding not to buy new shoes. Very. But there is something undeniably fabulous about slipping on a new pair of shoes the day you get married. A kick-ass pair. A pair you will wear again and again with all the lovely vintage cocktail dresses in your closet.

So for you, Meg. A few ideas just in case.

First up, the Lawrence from Nine West in natural, on sale for $59.99. (Thanks kidchamp!) These bring a vintage-inspired wedding dress into the modern.


Next, Spirit (okay, seriously barfy name) by Cynthia Rowley in black satin, on sale at 6pm.com for $115.00. A classic. And a sensible 3" high. I have to say I like the look of the black heels in the Vogue shoot pictured above.


And finally, the pink Open Toe Pump from Marc by Marc Jacobs, on sale at shopbop.com for $192.50. More ladylike. More... Meggy? But, again, the angular heel adds a modern touch. I think this pair has just the right "Bite me. I'm a feminist and I'm wearing pink pumps." vibe.*


*Meg, what the eff are your wedding colors anyway? Do we even have this information? Or are such things as wedding colors too silly for you to bother with?

This couple got married 75 years ago. Aren't they rad?

(Photo found here)

why yes

I did just buy an oversized meshy-y vintage men's tank for $2.70 at Clothes Contact. Which I plan to rock all summer with a black bra underneath.*

I am having some issues with jeans, however. As in, which jeans will I rock all summer? In recent photos, my boyfriend jeans, which I hoped were incredibly sexy in an f* this kind of way, look just plain baggy. Possibly in an unflattering kind of way. I think it's time for some new boyfriends. And I might need a new skinny pair too.**

*Um, I promise you won't see this much of my bra.

**I know I know. A year ago I was all about the wide leg. But now it is hideous to me. Effing fashion.

(Via Le Fashion)

Hi

I think I'm back. My body is back anyway, happily getting reacquainted with my little desk in the kitchen of the bungalow. It's possible I've left a few pieces of my brain strewn across the Bay Bridge. And in the parking lot of the Emeryville Denny's. (Which is a movie unto itself on a Saturday night, let me tell you.)

Anyhoo, I missed you guys. My plans for recovery/reemergence are as follows:

1. Bloggety blog blog blogging.

2. Blog stalking. (Yeah YOU.)

3. Doing laundry laundry and more laundry. This may not seem like an important part of the cure, but a) all our clothes are dirty and b) I find doing laundry strangely theraputic. I think I'm still high on having my own washing machine.

4. Drinking whiskey and watching the new True Blood.

5. Tweeting publicly again. I love YOU GUYS. I want you with me always so I can talk to you, say, when H-town gets wrapped up in a wildly boring cell conversation in the car, or I'm standing in the dressing room at Crossroads and I need style advice asap. It's only when the desperate self-promoters/assy wedding planners/porn spammers (it's a fine line) descend that I want to scratch my face off.

I have much suckier things I need to take care of, like replacing the rusted-out exhaust pipe on Blue, my beloved Volvo station wagon, and finally f*cking doing our taxes. But what's another day or two?


Images via Le Fashion. I just can't wear docs again (believe me, I wore the hell out of them from 1989-1994), but when I was costume shopping here the other week I was sorely tempted by a pair of combat boots. They are supremely good with this sheer dress.

I'm not back

But these "wedding" photos (behind the scenes from a Jalouse shoot) have captured my mood today. See a bajillion more on Cory Kennedy's blog.

Bye.

p.s. Christa, you rock!