On this happy Mother's Day I want to start by giving very special mention to our Moms. We wouldn't be here without you. Literally.
The last few weeks have been a bit of a blur, and yet while much of it was wedding prep, nothing was actually prepping for the wedding. No, instead it was preparing to PAY for the wedding. We've been doing garage sales. Yes, last weekend we did both Saturday and Sunday, and this week just Saturday. Our total cost, since our awesome Neighbor/Flower Girl pitched in for the cost of the ad in our local paper as she also had a house full of stuff to sell, was less than $8. We made more than $500. We are super excited about that. It's cleaning the house AND making money at the same time!
Unfortunately it kills your entire weekend, and several days prior to the first weekend in prepping, and you feel you have no time for anything else. After the first garage sale we realized we'd been out of the swing of wedding prep for too long. So that, along with an upcoming trip and just our general long term want inspired us to go buy a laptop. I've so often had one for work we never felt the need to have personal laptop. But now we have one! We know that it will be in high demand as we get closer and closer to the big day!
We planned to have it out and working on some emailing and Excel spreadsheet-ing, but there really wasn't much time to do it with the folks coming by. We were able to do some, but we're definitely feeling a bit behind on it. Hopefully we can get a bit more caught up this week. We made initial plans and tentative plans with several places so we should quickly get back in the swing of things.
We have 2 bridal events next week, and 2 bridal events planned for 2 Saturday's from now. One is with a place we'd like to have do our cake if we can swing it. And who doesn't like a chance to eat some cake?
We are also planning to do a meeting with a company that we were TOLD was the preferred rental company for where we are having our reception, but when their representative returned by call last week I found out they do SO much more! She was supposed to send me some info for us to review so I could have her email address, but haven't gotten it yet. If they can do a few of the things it could be great for us to have one group coordinating it though in the end it's all about three things; Price, Product, and Personality! Fingers crossed it will be a good option!
Also, on Saturday we met someone - a friend of a friend - who is an amazing singer and is up for singing a few songs at our ceremony/reception. And this was all great until we start talking with her and realize we basically have no idea what we would want her to sing or at what time we would want her to sing. We've been working so hard on some of the "big" details we haven't spent much time on the little ones like that. But we realize we're getting to that time.
Finally, on Saturday we got the cards we're using for our Save the Date's. Kandi has one more add on to get to make it a "complete package", but hopefully we can have those sent out by the end of the month. It will be nice to sort of make it official in that kind of a way. The first mailed item. It's a big step. Just one more big step of so many we've had on this journey!
Showing posts with label Bridal Shows. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bridal Shows. Show all posts
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
A lovely "normal" Easter
Easter was lovely. Nice break from thinking about wedding details. Went to church. Had friends and family over for a nice Easter dinner. It was absolutely perfect in that absolutely normal kind of way.
And that got me thinking...
One thing that I keep thinking about, but haven't chatted about is the absolutely normal way it's all gone. That may sound strange but let me say it's really not what we expected when we started this process.
We thought the church might say no. For year's we'd wondered, scared to find out what they would say. Instead they came to us before we could even come to them. There have been nothing but loving open arms.
We thought looking for vendors would require lots of explanation. We expected to have our "Actually there isn't a groom - this is my partner Kandi" to be followed by the dreaded - "oh.....<silence and judgmental stare>". You know what we got instead? "Really? That's awesome!" or "That would be so cool - I haven't done a same-sex ceremony before and I really wanted to!". I'd say that we've been shocked, but there was nothing shocking about it. It all felt so...normal.
And let's remember - this is Arizona. Just a few years ago my state, that I love so much, voted though a constitutional amendment restricting marriage to only Man+Woman. It was the same election cycle that passed Prop 8 and elected Obama. Talk about mixed emotions. We actually went to a protest the next day. I think Kandi's sign said it all...
We are happy to fight for our rights, but we were not looking forward to the "fight" for our catering rights. Or the "struggle" for photographic equality. But we were ready. And then...
It was easy. It was normal. Everyone loved us. Everyone wanted to work with us.
Now don't think I'm so in the wedding haze that the thought is ever lost on me that of COURSE they want to work with us. Gay wedding $ spends just as good as straight wedding $ and when times are tight, as we all know they are - business is business. And I know that the folks we're talking to live and die by their ability to make couples feel good. Make them feel happy and cozy and loved so they'll fork over their hard earned (or Daddy's hard earned) cash. But at the same time, our B.S. meters are pretty high. We can normally detect a fake comment. And we have. But those were the "I say this to all the brides because it makes them happy" kind of comments. Hard to fault someone from a few of those when they do this over, and over, and over again.
But just as there is something wonderful about a holiday with family and friends that goes so smoothly you might call it the "same old boring thing" when you loved every minute of it, this process has been the same old boring wedding planning thing. Go to bridal shows. Taste cakes. Try caterers. Try on dress. Same old. Same old. No one blinks an eye - unless it's a positive comment. How amazing they think it is that we've been together 10 years. How they think it's so stupid it's not legal in the state. How generally awesome they think we are.
No struggle. No push back. Just love.
Just a normal wedding. For two fabulous "normal" girls.
And that got me thinking...
One thing that I keep thinking about, but haven't chatted about is the absolutely normal way it's all gone. That may sound strange but let me say it's really not what we expected when we started this process.
We thought the church might say no. For year's we'd wondered, scared to find out what they would say. Instead they came to us before we could even come to them. There have been nothing but loving open arms.
We thought looking for vendors would require lots of explanation. We expected to have our "Actually there isn't a groom - this is my partner Kandi" to be followed by the dreaded - "oh.....<silence and judgmental stare>". You know what we got instead? "Really? That's awesome!" or "That would be so cool - I haven't done a same-sex ceremony before and I really wanted to!". I'd say that we've been shocked, but there was nothing shocking about it. It all felt so...normal.
And let's remember - this is Arizona. Just a few years ago my state, that I love so much, voted though a constitutional amendment restricting marriage to only Man+Woman. It was the same election cycle that passed Prop 8 and elected Obama. Talk about mixed emotions. We actually went to a protest the next day. I think Kandi's sign said it all...
We are happy to fight for our rights, but we were not looking forward to the "fight" for our catering rights. Or the "struggle" for photographic equality. But we were ready. And then...
It was easy. It was normal. Everyone loved us. Everyone wanted to work with us.
Now don't think I'm so in the wedding haze that the thought is ever lost on me that of COURSE they want to work with us. Gay wedding $ spends just as good as straight wedding $ and when times are tight, as we all know they are - business is business. And I know that the folks we're talking to live and die by their ability to make couples feel good. Make them feel happy and cozy and loved so they'll fork over their hard earned (or Daddy's hard earned) cash. But at the same time, our B.S. meters are pretty high. We can normally detect a fake comment. And we have. But those were the "I say this to all the brides because it makes them happy" kind of comments. Hard to fault someone from a few of those when they do this over, and over, and over again.
But just as there is something wonderful about a holiday with family and friends that goes so smoothly you might call it the "same old boring thing" when you loved every minute of it, this process has been the same old boring wedding planning thing. Go to bridal shows. Taste cakes. Try caterers. Try on dress. Same old. Same old. No one blinks an eye - unless it's a positive comment. How amazing they think it is that we've been together 10 years. How they think it's so stupid it's not legal in the state. How generally awesome they think we are.
No struggle. No push back. Just love.
Just a normal wedding. For two fabulous "normal" girls.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
A showing-our-Pride kind of weekend
It almost feels like a slow week until I remember everything that's gone down! A few days of putting off an update here and I feel like I'll lose more of the details - so time to post!
Thursday we met the florist to check out both a florist and a "hard goods" place. Yea, we didn't know what that meant either. It's the place that sells all the stuff that won't die. Vases, ribbon, aisle runners, tulle, candle holders, sparkly things and a wide assortment of dried and silk-ish flowers. It was awesome.
While we were at the hard goods store I felt like I was on some fantasy shopping trip. I had to remind myself that whatever I liked - I paid for. So I tried to remember that - but you know me. I like it all. I may have held back, but most folks never would have thought I was! While we found some great ideas, I also saw something that I thought was SO ugly I couldn't help but make a comment.
In the back there were some large manzanita trees that had been spray painted a bright red. These beautiful natural trees now looked like red lacquer. Icky. So I said so. More than once. Ok, so I said it a lot. They were just really, really ugly to me. Ugly.
This weekend was Pride. Yea Pride! Another chance for a parade and free beads. We really love a parade. At one point, early on, I really tried to think of how I could incorporate parades into the wedding as that is one thing we've done consistently since we got together - and are really known for doing. We have such a great time.
Saturday morning was the parade, then after some errands and lunch we went into the festival. This was their second year for having a wedding tent, and it was our first stop. The first thing we noticed was the Air Conditioning. When the day was a high of 96 degrees, these things matter. Then we started checking out the vendors who were there. The third vendor we saw was in fact the hard goods place that we'd just visited a few days before. Then, as we're going to the next booth, I see it. Or shall I say - them.
There they were. The ugliest trees in the world.
Up on stage where the fashion show was about to begin.
It was awful. And hilarious. All I kept thinking was, "You know, we're not all THAT gay..."
But apparently - someone who organized this really is.
After the Pride festival we went to dinner with my Mom - who was so sad she had to miss all the festivities but her friend's wedding started the same time as the parade. There will always be next year's parade, but hopefully that will be her only wedding so of course we understood.
We went home to change clothes and have a good 15 minutes of quiet time on the sofa as there wasn't time for a disco nap and then we went to the club.
I like the idea of going out. I like dancing, being with friends, drinking my water with lemon and being the designated driver. I really do. I enjoyed where we went, and they were even playing good music. But dear HEAVENS I think I may have either babysat for some of these kids in the club - or for their parents. While I'm sure I wasn't the oldest person in the place, I was clearly in the top 10%. So what's a girl to do?
Close the place down. Oh yea - we were there until the bar was closing up, the last song played, and until - in the words of Prince - the ugly lights came on. Take that 22 year-old's.
Then, Friday I got a text and then a call from Kellie at The Big Picture who took our engagement photos. We had such a busy weekend I didn't really get to see them until Sunday. We've been waiting to see all the shots that she gave us since our shoot a little over two months ago. She let us see some teasers - but it's been a long tease! Now, we have almost 300 to chose from. Still haven't heard anything about pricing (we never did know what came with what we won when we won it so we've just been happy for everything we've gotten so far!) to get some of the pictures. But since she has given it all to us for free, we wanted to return the favor and share some publicity her way so we're posting the info on Facebook and here for others to see. About 24 hours after posting it we have 10 likes, 16 comments and 2 re-posts - one of which will be sharing her info with a friend of hers who is looking for a photographer. The more you get, the more you give back, right?
If you aren't one of the many who saw the pictures, you can check them all out at her View the Big Picture blog. Well, actually she did a cute little write up on us that included some of the pictures and then she included a link where you could see the other hundreds of options. As I said on Facebook - enjoy the cuteness!
Thursday we met the florist to check out both a florist and a "hard goods" place. Yea, we didn't know what that meant either. It's the place that sells all the stuff that won't die. Vases, ribbon, aisle runners, tulle, candle holders, sparkly things and a wide assortment of dried and silk-ish flowers. It was awesome.
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| Amazing, right? Each bundle is 25 roses and there were more than the 6 I got in this picture. Wow. |
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| I love these. Their name escapes me right now, but I can still like them. :) |
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| Not sure how or if we'll use this, but I thought it was a "different" kind of option for filler. Very natural. |
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| Aren't these cute? Such a great color punch. The florist said she's even pulled off the little colored ball at the end and strung them together to make a garland. I said that's likely too rich for our blood, but I like the idea. For someone else. |
In the back there were some large manzanita trees that had been spray painted a bright red. These beautiful natural trees now looked like red lacquer. Icky. So I said so. More than once. Ok, so I said it a lot. They were just really, really ugly to me. Ugly.
This weekend was Pride. Yea Pride! Another chance for a parade and free beads. We really love a parade. At one point, early on, I really tried to think of how I could incorporate parades into the wedding as that is one thing we've done consistently since we got together - and are really known for doing. We have such a great time.
Saturday morning was the parade, then after some errands and lunch we went into the festival. This was their second year for having a wedding tent, and it was our first stop. The first thing we noticed was the Air Conditioning. When the day was a high of 96 degrees, these things matter. Then we started checking out the vendors who were there. The third vendor we saw was in fact the hard goods place that we'd just visited a few days before. Then, as we're going to the next booth, I see it. Or shall I say - them.
Up on stage where the fashion show was about to begin.
It was awful. And hilarious. All I kept thinking was, "You know, we're not all THAT gay..."
But apparently - someone who organized this really is.
After the Pride festival we went to dinner with my Mom - who was so sad she had to miss all the festivities but her friend's wedding started the same time as the parade. There will always be next year's parade, but hopefully that will be her only wedding so of course we understood.
We went home to change clothes and have a good 15 minutes of quiet time on the sofa as there wasn't time for a disco nap and then we went to the club.
I like the idea of going out. I like dancing, being with friends, drinking my water with lemon and being the designated driver. I really do. I enjoyed where we went, and they were even playing good music. But dear HEAVENS I think I may have either babysat for some of these kids in the club - or for their parents. While I'm sure I wasn't the oldest person in the place, I was clearly in the top 10%. So what's a girl to do?
Close the place down. Oh yea - we were there until the bar was closing up, the last song played, and until - in the words of Prince - the ugly lights came on. Take that 22 year-old's.
Then, Friday I got a text and then a call from Kellie at The Big Picture who took our engagement photos. We had such a busy weekend I didn't really get to see them until Sunday. We've been waiting to see all the shots that she gave us since our shoot a little over two months ago. She let us see some teasers - but it's been a long tease! Now, we have almost 300 to chose from. Still haven't heard anything about pricing (we never did know what came with what we won when we won it so we've just been happy for everything we've gotten so far!) to get some of the pictures. But since she has given it all to us for free, we wanted to return the favor and share some publicity her way so we're posting the info on Facebook and here for others to see. About 24 hours after posting it we have 10 likes, 16 comments and 2 re-posts - one of which will be sharing her info with a friend of hers who is looking for a photographer. The more you get, the more you give back, right?
If you aren't one of the many who saw the pictures, you can check them all out at her View the Big Picture blog. Well, actually she did a cute little write up on us that included some of the pictures and then she included a link where you could see the other hundreds of options. As I said on Facebook - enjoy the cuteness!
Monday, March 21, 2011
Did someone just flip a switch?
We had the most amazing weekend. We did the annual Art Detour, which is always amazing. It sort of had a wedding theme as several of the places we went, in addition to art galleries, were possible reception spots. Our friend Karen joined us and it was great to spend time with her. When we went to lunch we ran into our friend Brian. Running into friends is not something that happens easily in Phoenix. We are a huge city and folks can be so spread out around town you are quite unlikely to be in similar places. Running into a friend is an awesome treat! And as a bonus - these are both friends that if we were doing a wedding party they would be in it. Wedding planning, friends AND art. Heaven.
After dropping off Karen, we decided to stop by a location that we had contemplated once as a reception site back before there was a ring and we were "officially" looking for anything. After looking around and talking about how cool it could be - we decided to ask if they rented the space. Turns out they do. They have only had 2 other weddings there. We got excited. She didn't have the full pricing details, but she gave us what she did know and let me just say - we were excited! And that is exactly why I'm not giving the name of the place! :) Let me just say - it really is amazing. It's a place that is very us, but isn't a place we've been with anyone else, or that anyone else would even know is very us. So - we've emailed someone there to get more details and will be holding our fingers very, very tightly until we hear back from them.
After all that, we were feeling more positive about the idea of actually having the ceremony this year than we have in a long, long time. We decided to go get some ice cream and hang out in our nearby park to enjoy the amazing weather. Looking around there we talked about how beautiful that spot is, and that we'll need to plan some kind of family picnic there when all the family is in town. We've talked about it before, but this time just felt more "real". Like it wasn't just an idea - but that it was really going to happen.
We met another friend that night in another downtown spot. From there, I went home to spend the next few hours updating our Ceremony spread sheet and trying to get equipment rental prices for some new ideas we had. Kandi spent the last few hours of the night at the casino trying to add to the wedding funds. No such luck that night - but she still had a great time!
Sunday after church we went to a family picnic where I saw some 2nd and 3rd level cousins I haven't seen in a good 15 to 25 years. We had a good time and enjoyed seeing family.
Really great weekend. It was so focused on friends, family and ceremony stuff woven into it all. But what's even better is that it didn't END with the weekend!
Tonight after work we had a questionable dinner - we went to a cake tasting! We planned to eat something great when we got home, but were both too full of cake! We came up with some amazing ideas that we are really excited about too!
Tomorrow I go try on dresses. Maybe I should have planned that before the cake tasting? :) It's at David's Bridal and I'll be honest that my hopes are NOT high! I've heard some really horrible experiences from brides over a size 12. If you can't try on a dress that even sort of fits - it's hard to really make that non-refundable hundreds of dollars custom dress kind of decision. But - I'm willing to give it a go!
Thursday we have our very first caterer tasting with Magic Touch Catering. Their appetizers were SO good at the vendor showcase at Bentley Projects that we've been talking about them since then. We knew we had to make the appointment!
Whew! So much in such a short period of time! Did I mention how excited we are? We're so excited to see where some of the updates from this weekend take us! It's definitely proving to be a fabulous adventure!
After dropping off Karen, we decided to stop by a location that we had contemplated once as a reception site back before there was a ring and we were "officially" looking for anything. After looking around and talking about how cool it could be - we decided to ask if they rented the space. Turns out they do. They have only had 2 other weddings there. We got excited. She didn't have the full pricing details, but she gave us what she did know and let me just say - we were excited! And that is exactly why I'm not giving the name of the place! :) Let me just say - it really is amazing. It's a place that is very us, but isn't a place we've been with anyone else, or that anyone else would even know is very us. So - we've emailed someone there to get more details and will be holding our fingers very, very tightly until we hear back from them.
After all that, we were feeling more positive about the idea of actually having the ceremony this year than we have in a long, long time. We decided to go get some ice cream and hang out in our nearby park to enjoy the amazing weather. Looking around there we talked about how beautiful that spot is, and that we'll need to plan some kind of family picnic there when all the family is in town. We've talked about it before, but this time just felt more "real". Like it wasn't just an idea - but that it was really going to happen.
We met another friend that night in another downtown spot. From there, I went home to spend the next few hours updating our Ceremony spread sheet and trying to get equipment rental prices for some new ideas we had. Kandi spent the last few hours of the night at the casino trying to add to the wedding funds. No such luck that night - but she still had a great time!
Sunday after church we went to a family picnic where I saw some 2nd and 3rd level cousins I haven't seen in a good 15 to 25 years. We had a good time and enjoyed seeing family.
Really great weekend. It was so focused on friends, family and ceremony stuff woven into it all. But what's even better is that it didn't END with the weekend!
Tonight after work we had a questionable dinner - we went to a cake tasting! We planned to eat something great when we got home, but were both too full of cake! We came up with some amazing ideas that we are really excited about too!
Tomorrow I go try on dresses. Maybe I should have planned that before the cake tasting? :) It's at David's Bridal and I'll be honest that my hopes are NOT high! I've heard some really horrible experiences from brides over a size 12. If you can't try on a dress that even sort of fits - it's hard to really make that non-refundable hundreds of dollars custom dress kind of decision. But - I'm willing to give it a go!
Thursday we have our very first caterer tasting with Magic Touch Catering. Their appetizers were SO good at the vendor showcase at Bentley Projects that we've been talking about them since then. We knew we had to make the appointment!
Whew! So much in such a short period of time! Did I mention how excited we are? We're so excited to see where some of the updates from this weekend take us! It's definitely proving to be a fabulous adventure!
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Baby steps forward
We haven't won the lottery yet - but I did get a full time job! Woo hoo!
My part time job became a full time job and I really do enjoy it. The money is a little well under what I said would be my absolute minimum to pay the bills - but it's a job. I'm starting to look at options for a part time gig now, as is Kandi. And hey - I always thought it could be fun to work at Starbucks. Or maybe Target - I look great in red and I'd love the discount! Either way we're happy to have what we have.
Last week was a small bridal show put on by some of the same folks who did the show where we won the photo shoot. Knowing we were going to attend it, the photographer brought some sample pictures from our shoot. They were very cute. She also was organizing which couples would be participating in some of their "fun" events - and chose us to participate. Some were silly little things like doing a couples dance or trying to catch a bouquet. Those were all to win things, and we didn't, but it was still fun. Another thing that gave no prize except for the experience itself was ... well... I don't remember what it's called but here's how it went down. Kandi was handed a 4 inch round cake covered in icing. I was handed a 4 inch round cake similarly frosted. And then - we were to shove it in the other person's face.
We both had cake everywhere. It was kinda awesome. Wouldn't ever want something that messy, sticky and "make up ruining" like that on the day of - but it was fun to do for the event. Both the main photographer and her assistant were busy snapping away while we were doing it and I'm hoping we can get some great shots out of it.
Another great thing about this event was that my mom was able to join us. It was her first bridal show and a really great introduction to it all. She got to enjoy chatting with all the vendors, trying all the fun appetizers and sampling the desserts. And of course, it was nice to just spend the time together!
The show was at an amazing venue, Bentley Projects. In all honesty, it was one of the first places I thought about when we started picturing reception locations. I didn't even know they would do it - but then once I saw the pictures my next concern was if we could afford it. Sadly, we likely can't afford it - but I'm still requesting a pricing sheet.
Next week we have an appointment for a private cake tasting with a new company we found at the big bridal show called the Lovely Little Cake Shop. And then the next day we both have an appointment at David's Bridal to try on dresses. Yes, I said both of us. At the bridal show you got a $50 gift certificate for each person that made an appointment - so we each did. I haven't convinced her to actually try on any but I REALLY really am hoping I can convince her. I think it could be so much fun.
We also need to sit down and have the conversation we've been putting off a bit. So - now that I have a job - what can we really spend? It's a tough call. Because if we decide based on just the job I have and not any part time jobs we hope to get we might not like the answer we get. We've talked about the idea of putting it off until Spring, or even next year - but neither of us love that idea. So, we'll see. For now - fingers crossed on us or a family member winning the lottery! :)
My part time job became a full time job and I really do enjoy it. The money is a little well under what I said would be my absolute minimum to pay the bills - but it's a job. I'm starting to look at options for a part time gig now, as is Kandi. And hey - I always thought it could be fun to work at Starbucks. Or maybe Target - I look great in red and I'd love the discount! Either way we're happy to have what we have.
Last week was a small bridal show put on by some of the same folks who did the show where we won the photo shoot. Knowing we were going to attend it, the photographer brought some sample pictures from our shoot. They were very cute. She also was organizing which couples would be participating in some of their "fun" events - and chose us to participate. Some were silly little things like doing a couples dance or trying to catch a bouquet. Those were all to win things, and we didn't, but it was still fun. Another thing that gave no prize except for the experience itself was ... well... I don't remember what it's called but here's how it went down. Kandi was handed a 4 inch round cake covered in icing. I was handed a 4 inch round cake similarly frosted. And then - we were to shove it in the other person's face.
We both had cake everywhere. It was kinda awesome. Wouldn't ever want something that messy, sticky and "make up ruining" like that on the day of - but it was fun to do for the event. Both the main photographer and her assistant were busy snapping away while we were doing it and I'm hoping we can get some great shots out of it.
Another great thing about this event was that my mom was able to join us. It was her first bridal show and a really great introduction to it all. She got to enjoy chatting with all the vendors, trying all the fun appetizers and sampling the desserts. And of course, it was nice to just spend the time together!
The show was at an amazing venue, Bentley Projects. In all honesty, it was one of the first places I thought about when we started picturing reception locations. I didn't even know they would do it - but then once I saw the pictures my next concern was if we could afford it. Sadly, we likely can't afford it - but I'm still requesting a pricing sheet.
Next week we have an appointment for a private cake tasting with a new company we found at the big bridal show called the Lovely Little Cake Shop. And then the next day we both have an appointment at David's Bridal to try on dresses. Yes, I said both of us. At the bridal show you got a $50 gift certificate for each person that made an appointment - so we each did. I haven't convinced her to actually try on any but I REALLY really am hoping I can convince her. I think it could be so much fun.
We also need to sit down and have the conversation we've been putting off a bit. So - now that I have a job - what can we really spend? It's a tough call. Because if we decide based on just the job I have and not any part time jobs we hope to get we might not like the answer we get. We've talked about the idea of putting it off until Spring, or even next year - but neither of us love that idea. So, we'll see. For now - fingers crossed on us or a family member winning the lottery! :)
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Here and there and back again
This weekend we'd planned to be in Las Vegas helping our friend celebrate her 40th birthday. A few weeks ago, those plans changed. First, we realized that it was the weekend of the biggest Bridal show in the city and we know how amazing it can be to find a new potential vendor. Then, we found out that Pastor Barb would be leaving the church to take a 6 month assignment at another church. This is great for them as our church has been struggling financially so as a husband/wife team they have been making less than what one normal salary would be. Getting 6 months of regular salary is great for her, and there is some savings for our church as well. While she is leaving, her husband Pastor Rich will stepping up to be lead pastor. We were told that this weekend would be her last leading the congregation. So, we decided that Kandi would go to Las Vegas - her favorite place - and I would stay here to attend the Bridal show and see off Pastor Barb.
When we first heard about Pastor Barb leaving, while we were certainly disappointment our only real concern was that she would still be able to perform the ceremony while Rich was the lead pastor just in case that 6 month appointment was extended. We found out that as long as Rich was there, she could easily do it, so we were ok. Then, today things took on a whole new turn.
I happened to walk out of the sanctuary with her at the end of the service and joked with her that she would be terribly missed but was allowed to be gone as long as she needed and go as far as she wanted as long as she came back to do our union ceremony. While she initially laughed back, in her reply things actually took a serious turn. She started talking about what might happen if there was another pastor in place and how there are some ethics issues to be considered. In my head I was shocked - after all, wouldn't her husband still be pastor here? Surely he wouldn't be concerned, right? I posed a question and found that she was actually talking about what it might be like if they were BOTH gone. I have to say that was something we'd never considered. We have a date less than a year away that we'd shared with them and this was the first time there was a hint that they neither of them would be there. The more we talked we realized there was another much larger issue.
Our church was created when two churches of different denominations merged. These denominations are United Church of Christ and United Methodist. Pastor's Barb and Rich are UCC but if they were both to leave then per the charter a United Methodist pastor would be selected. There is a huge debate in the UM denomination going for the last few years about the ability of the church to be open to gay individuals in ministry, marriage or any other commitment ceremony. Officially as of right now gay individuals can not be ministers and should a pastor perform a ceremony (be it union or a legal marriage in a state where it is allowed) for a gay couple they can get in some serious hot water.
In one 10 minute conversation I went from happy to.....I don't even have a good word. The one thing we knew was that we wanted the ceremony in the church and with Pastor Barb. Now - it appears that if we want to ensure that happens - we need to plan it before June. But even if I got a job in the next month - that's highly unlikely since in Arizona no one wants to do a June wedding. Heck, May is even pretty warm. We'd be talking about an April wedding. 3 months away? Yea, I don't see that happening. And if not that - then what?
It was here. Then it was gone. And I may not know until May or June if I can get it back.
Oh yea - I went to the Bridal show yesterday. I scheduled an appointment to actually go in and try on wedding dresses this week. I was excited.
I was. Now....
Now I'm a bit less so.
When we first heard about Pastor Barb leaving, while we were certainly disappointment our only real concern was that she would still be able to perform the ceremony while Rich was the lead pastor just in case that 6 month appointment was extended. We found out that as long as Rich was there, she could easily do it, so we were ok. Then, today things took on a whole new turn.
I happened to walk out of the sanctuary with her at the end of the service and joked with her that she would be terribly missed but was allowed to be gone as long as she needed and go as far as she wanted as long as she came back to do our union ceremony. While she initially laughed back, in her reply things actually took a serious turn. She started talking about what might happen if there was another pastor in place and how there are some ethics issues to be considered. In my head I was shocked - after all, wouldn't her husband still be pastor here? Surely he wouldn't be concerned, right? I posed a question and found that she was actually talking about what it might be like if they were BOTH gone. I have to say that was something we'd never considered. We have a date less than a year away that we'd shared with them and this was the first time there was a hint that they neither of them would be there. The more we talked we realized there was another much larger issue.
Our church was created when two churches of different denominations merged. These denominations are United Church of Christ and United Methodist. Pastor's Barb and Rich are UCC but if they were both to leave then per the charter a United Methodist pastor would be selected. There is a huge debate in the UM denomination going for the last few years about the ability of the church to be open to gay individuals in ministry, marriage or any other commitment ceremony. Officially as of right now gay individuals can not be ministers and should a pastor perform a ceremony (be it union or a legal marriage in a state where it is allowed) for a gay couple they can get in some serious hot water.
In one 10 minute conversation I went from happy to.....I don't even have a good word. The one thing we knew was that we wanted the ceremony in the church and with Pastor Barb. Now - it appears that if we want to ensure that happens - we need to plan it before June. But even if I got a job in the next month - that's highly unlikely since in Arizona no one wants to do a June wedding. Heck, May is even pretty warm. We'd be talking about an April wedding. 3 months away? Yea, I don't see that happening. And if not that - then what?
It was here. Then it was gone. And I may not know until May or June if I can get it back.
Oh yea - I went to the Bridal show yesterday. I scheduled an appointment to actually go in and try on wedding dresses this week. I was excited.
I was. Now....
Now I'm a bit less so.
Monday, December 6, 2010
New friends, new opportunities!
This weekend we went to a "Bridal Expo" this weekend that was organized by the amazing Bamboo Bakery. We have seen them at 2 other events and Kandi is head over heels for their Red Velvet cake. I loved their Banana - and love the idea as it's not your "standard" cake. As soon as I heard they would have 15 different cake flavors available for testing I knew we had to be there.
Rather than having to pay for entry because they were renting out some hotel space as many other events do, this event was held right in front of the shopping plaza where Bamboo Bakery and several other celebration themed vendors all have their retail homes. When we pulled up to the strip mall we initially thought - "well, it's small but at least there's cake" but boy were we wrong. There were more vendors at this event than any others we've gone to so far. We got there at 3:30pm and didn't leave until almost 7pm - just as the fashion shows were about to start. At that point we'd seen everything and were hungry so we had to go but we did get to see some of the models lining up as we walked to the car.
We found a florist that we really clicked with. The name of the company is Crazy Daisies Flowers and Gifts. Michelle, the owner/designer, and her husband were there and while she was chatting with us he was actively creating some arrangements in the background. I liked some of the ideas she had and they both liked one of the big ideas I had for the big day. Her husband even joked that they would be stealing that for a future event. She was almost finishing my sentences by the time we were done - we just clicked. While we haven't gone down the road of figuring out our budget yet for floral (again, job kinda comes first...), and we didn't ask Michelle much about her pricing, I think it's quite possible that we may have just found our florist. :)
We also met a really nice photographer. His company is SJA Studios. When I started talking to him he was just thinking "normal wedding". After Kandi walked back over from looking at another booth and I introduced her as my partner he got SO excited. He mentioned he had never done a same sex ceremony but he has 2 gay sisters. I think he was pretty excited about the idea. Heck, I think he was MORE excited about the idea of having us/me as a customer once he knew it was a same sex ceremony than he was when we would have just been a "normal" event. We will definitely put him into consideration when deciding our photographer.
One of the little booths/tables was a sign for "Indian and Arabic Henna". I have been absolutely fascinated by the detailed designs done on brides hands and feet in Indian tradition. Not only are the designs just incredible, but I think it's amazing that they often make it a major event in having this done with family and friends around contributing one more party to the pre-wedding festivities. I've heard that more and more western brides are incorporating something like this into their big day but I've been hesitant to do something like that. BUT - that sign said Arabic Henna... I'd never heard of Arabic Henna before and as someone who is half Arabic, I was intrigued. She showed me several designs explaining the differences in the style between Indian and Arabic styles. Briefly, Indian Henna is filled with tons of tiny little details and designs and is usually a golden to medium brown color. Arabic Henna is often a more organic flow with floral designs or inspiration from art incorporated into the design and it is generally a very dark brown to almost black color. So, she asked if I'd like to try it out. I give into my curiosity and, since I was wearing a long sleeve sweater, give her my hand. About 2-3 minutes later, she was done.
(Hours later after removing the dried application)
About a minute into her design I made the comment to Kandi that I was totally safe in getting this now as I wasn't likely to have any phone calls asking me to come in the next day for an interview.
Monday afternoon I got a call to come in for a Tuesday interview.
If I get this job, henna is officially my new lucky charm.
All in all a really good weekend with lots of new information - and the potential for an even better week! Fingers crossed!
Rather than having to pay for entry because they were renting out some hotel space as many other events do, this event was held right in front of the shopping plaza where Bamboo Bakery and several other celebration themed vendors all have their retail homes. When we pulled up to the strip mall we initially thought - "well, it's small but at least there's cake" but boy were we wrong. There were more vendors at this event than any others we've gone to so far. We got there at 3:30pm and didn't leave until almost 7pm - just as the fashion shows were about to start. At that point we'd seen everything and were hungry so we had to go but we did get to see some of the models lining up as we walked to the car.
We found a florist that we really clicked with. The name of the company is Crazy Daisies Flowers and Gifts. Michelle, the owner/designer, and her husband were there and while she was chatting with us he was actively creating some arrangements in the background. I liked some of the ideas she had and they both liked one of the big ideas I had for the big day. Her husband even joked that they would be stealing that for a future event. She was almost finishing my sentences by the time we were done - we just clicked. While we haven't gone down the road of figuring out our budget yet for floral (again, job kinda comes first...), and we didn't ask Michelle much about her pricing, I think it's quite possible that we may have just found our florist. :)
We also met a really nice photographer. His company is SJA Studios. When I started talking to him he was just thinking "normal wedding". After Kandi walked back over from looking at another booth and I introduced her as my partner he got SO excited. He mentioned he had never done a same sex ceremony but he has 2 gay sisters. I think he was pretty excited about the idea. Heck, I think he was MORE excited about the idea of having us/me as a customer once he knew it was a same sex ceremony than he was when we would have just been a "normal" event. We will definitely put him into consideration when deciding our photographer.
One of the little booths/tables was a sign for "Indian and Arabic Henna". I have been absolutely fascinated by the detailed designs done on brides hands and feet in Indian tradition. Not only are the designs just incredible, but I think it's amazing that they often make it a major event in having this done with family and friends around contributing one more party to the pre-wedding festivities. I've heard that more and more western brides are incorporating something like this into their big day but I've been hesitant to do something like that. BUT - that sign said Arabic Henna... I'd never heard of Arabic Henna before and as someone who is half Arabic, I was intrigued. She showed me several designs explaining the differences in the style between Indian and Arabic styles. Briefly, Indian Henna is filled with tons of tiny little details and designs and is usually a golden to medium brown color. Arabic Henna is often a more organic flow with floral designs or inspiration from art incorporated into the design and it is generally a very dark brown to almost black color. So, she asked if I'd like to try it out. I give into my curiosity and, since I was wearing a long sleeve sweater, give her my hand. About 2-3 minutes later, she was done.
(Hours later after removing the dried application)Monday afternoon I got a call to come in for a Tuesday interview.
If I get this job, henna is officially my new lucky charm.
All in all a really good weekend with lots of new information - and the potential for an even better week! Fingers crossed!
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