wedding pics

so my mom's a photographer.

she shoots pics all the time.

of all kinds of things.

last year

a really close friend of mine from high school

got married

 katie.

she's gorgeous.

i was beside myself.

so i grabbed my mom's camera.

got katie and her new husband alone for two minutes

and click click click click click

got these photos.

i found them again today on facebook.

and was just delighted to see such a beautiful friend.

the lost series: Giving my Unsolicited Opinion

Mary Schrader, when you get married, you need to buy a dress from this Designer: Jenny Packham

Every single dress in her new collection reminds me of you.

Even the unconventional ones.

On second thought, just buy one of these gowns immediately and just wear it to get pizza. Maybe they'll give you a free one bc they think it's your "special day." :)

sarah + peter

i went to a wedding this weekend.

a BIG affair.

lot of hours

lots of $$$

lots to do

and lots, and lots, and LOTS

of love.

sarah, the bride,

was almost nerve-free about it.

"it just doesn't feel like a wedding," she said to me the night before as we drove to the hotel room from the rehearsal dinner. "Months ago, it felt more real than it does now."

but then.

the day-of.

(she was all a-jitters.)

i was driving to the hair salon,

and her mouth was running eight thousand miles a minute. :)

her ipod was shuffling through every love song known to man

and we were discussing just how much orange juice she should drink for timing purposes (before practically making bathroom time impossible in the dress.) :)

the boys were adorable.

i saw them occasionally, when i made sure they were all dressed correctly, or talked to vendors, or hunted down the priest, or spun the photographer in the right direction, or helped the florist with her arrangements, or kept track of the bell girls and programs and guest book and baskets of favors. :)

i saw sarah, occasionally, as i zipped dresses, procured lint brushes, clasped necklaces, hung clothing, unlocked and prepared rooms, made sure the groom didn't see his lady, escorted grandparents, and hooted and hollered from the back of the church, slowly, and happily thrusting my arms into the air with rock hands while sarah and peter said their "i dos."

they did!

and they do!

and then we all partied like it was 2011 for the next six hours.

a victory indeed, if i ever do say so.

my two albums of the event

(thank you, iphones!)

are available publicly

here and here.

(in fact, i finally put my camera and iphone away so that i could focus on being more of a guest and less of a documenting nuisance.) :)

i completely forgot about this guy

marriage proposals are a common thing for me.

as a very young woman working in the Dairy Queen in texas, the old cowboys came in and sucked their cigarettes and told me that i was an excellent woman. then they blew me kisses and asked for more coffee and told me they were all going to marry me.

my car slides backwards into a ditch, last in Texas, and the mid-forty year old man helping me  held my outstretched hand a little bit too long and asked if i was a married woman and then creeped by my window and kept asking me questions about where i live, where i go to church, where i was heading now.

or.

my brother graduates from marine boot camp and immediately gets on facebook with his friends. he shows them my photos, and they cry for my number.

and like an excellent idiot brother, he gives it out.

marriage proposals are left all over my voicemail.

or.

more boys in hawaii

and a really old man who followed me at work and asked me to move away with him

in bars

and in libraries

and surprisingly, more than one on a beach.

look in my eyes

and find something they like

and skip the formalities,

jumping right to lifetime commitments.

or.

the best one.

^this guy. in these photos.

Edmund.

Who i completely forgot about, until someone commented on a photo of mine on facebook from the time i lived and played in hawaii, and then i absolutely remembered.

I was on a beach. by myself, reading.

Edmund was on the beach, with his friends, wasted off his ass.

he fell in love with me.

begged me to marry him.

began to cry when i said no.

big tears sliding down his face, his lips puckered up (as he also tried to kiss me.)

kept holding my hand and pulling me towards his family (assumably to show off his new bride.)

he's from the phillipines. told me that he's an exceptional swimmer. was willing to dive off into the deep blue to prove it.

he told me he loved me. and that i needed to go back to his home and be his "phillipine bride."

and then he asked me to take all these photos of him.

which, obviously, i was thrilled to do.

this is not an everyday opportunity, my friends, not by any means. :)

and when he got a very aggressive and pouty and crybaby and whiny,
i packed up my books, my towel, my sunglasses, my sunscreen
and told him adios.

happy hearts

these photos from 100 layer cake

really warm up my heart

congrats!

to this assumedly very happy couple. <3

Photographer: Amanda Gallant of AG Photography

did i mention that i went to a bachelorette party?

well i did.

and it was everything that you would expect it to be.

and in that case, i mean

there were no tigers,

shotgun weddings, strippers,

found babies, stolen cop cars,

illegal gambling, vegas hotels,

lost bridal party, or emotional phone calls home.

that DG up above is Sarah, the bride.

(she'd kill me if she ever saw this on my blog, but she won't, i know, that's why i went ahead and posted my super cool wedding present idea for her here.)

in fact, it was quite tame, i'd suppose.

dinner.

a club.

a lot of woo-hooing and a lost debit card (totally mine,)

and then passing out from three hours of dancing on the floor of a conversion van while everyone else ate penis shaped cookies around 1:30 am.

that was kind of fun. :)



if your name is Sarah Barner, do not read this post

Dear Sarah Barner,

First of all, stop reading this post. What are you doing here? Did you not just read the title?

I just figured out what I'm making for your wedding, and if you continue to read this, you're going to spoil the surprise.

So, stop.

Seriously, cut it out.

What do you mean, "why did you post it online if you didn't want me to read it?"

Seriously? Because it's awesome, that's why.

Obvs.

So, here it is, and it rocks:

A map.

Ta da!

A map!

I'm getting you a map. and happy, little map flags (i'll seriously make my own if i can't freaking find adorable map flags for you.) and a really great marker. and i'm going to mount it on foam board and frame it. and when beautiful, wonderful, amazing things happen in the future of your life, the future of your life with your soon-to-be husband, you can map them. First Home. There's a map flag for that. First child. There's a map flag for that. Heck, even your Honeymoon! Map it. 

Sarah, my love, my friend, my dear, your life is a history waiting to happen. 

I love you.

Allyson 

idea heavily borrowed from oh happy day

thank you for consistently being brilliant



good gift idea!

pre-paid dates for a new couple.

one for every month.

if you can afford it, so awesome.

surprisingly save-able

oh, sometimes i'm over the wedding bloggers saying "OH I LOVE THIS. SO GORGEOUS. OMG. TOTALLY."

often times, actually.

but this wedding rocks. oh i love this. so gorgeous. omg. totally.

designed by a couple in the wedding biz, they absolutely hit it out of the park. see more of it on greenweddingshoes

art imitating life

so i found Fleur Anning on etsy, yesterday.

and i am beyond thoroughly impressed.

the artist takes a photo of you and your beloved (or heck, probably a photo of anything, truth be told)
and makes a portrait out of it.

there's writing in the background, letters or songs, or one couple even transcribed some of their first emails to each other.

i LOVE the way it looks.

super classy.

supes class.

and most impressive?

you can take a crappy photo and turn it into an incredible portrait.

WIN!

if you were having a halloween wedding...

flower girl?

ring bearer?

especially if they're adorable. then they become even MORE adorable,

and your wedding is a win.

hearts hearts

found these over at 100 layer cake

and absolutely loved the groom in the heart sunglasses too.

what a fun family. <3

oh, and if you'd like your own pair

(and honestly - who wouldn't - i have four)
you can find solid ones at fredflare.

it ain't easy bein' green/eating brains and junk

i'm not really into zombies.

which you might not know given 

the posts on 

zombie loveshoot

zombie wedding poster

and, what's that, the incredibly post-production film Haven Hill, which I lived through...

BUT

i'm very into halloween weddings.

and these would be too cool.

while we're on the subject of zombie weddings...

my pal Lee sent this to me.

it's a poster a friend of his made for a wedding.

(lee's the hungry one in the bottom left, creepin' me out.)

hawaii

hawaiian wedding cakes, that aren't tacky, are rare.

trust me.

do a google image search for hawaiian wedding cake and see what you find.

NOT MUCH.