one thing that’s always caught my eyes was the chuppahs and canopies and such at weddings. i understand the symbolism behind chuppah and know that it’s not just for decoration but there are some simply wonderful and beautiful chuppahs out there!
[source]
[source]
christina aguilera’s extreme chuppah!
[source]
sometimes when i’m at church i like to dress it up in my mind. i know i should be paying attention to the pastor but it’s kind of hard when i’m trying to visually measure just how much space is up on the podium. or counting how many pew decorations i’ll need and if i should put something on the pillars on the sides of the sanctuary.
i mean, its hard trying to pay attention while looking for the book and verse he just quoted. because i was too busy wondering if i wanted to make an aisle runner.
i think i should ask for forgiveness and repent.
with the house properly decorated and the guest sufficiently stuffed, we moved on to the party games. depending on the shower, the games can add to the fun or just add to the misery. i was determined to make sure this event was the former.
first off, we created a small book of newlywed advice for jacki. i printed up a set of 3×5 cards with designs i borrowed from paper source and mounted them on 4×6 sheets of scrapbook paper i bought at michael’s [cut from 12x12 sheets]. we asked people to write out a note of wisdom/advice as they arrived and at the end of the shower, we presented jacki the album filled with the notes.
i covered the front and back of the album because i didn’t think florescent kitties quite fit the theme.
our first game was “decorate a cake.” jacki’s mom very kindly supplied the sheet cake [to make the mini wedding cakes] and all the icing for us. we had twelve cakes and intended to have the group break into teams of 2 – 3 people except no one paid too much attention to us over the excitement that they’d be decorating the cakes. teachers…they’re the worst at following directions. the group turned out to be super competitive and creative. it was hard for jacki to pick just one cake so she picked 3 winners.
the second game was the classic “what would [insert groom’s name] say?” earlier in the week i had recorded ed’s answers to a few questions and burned it onto a dvd. we upped the hilarity factor by stuffing bubble gum in jacki’s mouth for every wrong answer. people were laughing out loud at the video and jacki was none too pleased…especially after getting 13 questions wrong.
a couple years ago i had the pleasure of planning and co-hosting my best friend’s bridal shower. and boy did i stretch my creative muscle for that. at the time, jacki and ed were planning on going to hawaii for their honeymoon so i thought a luau-themed shower would be perfect.
i started with the stationary. i printed them at home from design-her-gals [i had signed up for their at-home service about a month before for my christmas cards]. i went through several revisions of the invitation but finally settled on the wording with help from my dear friend google, who introduced me to aloha friends. they had quite the handy cheat sheet of hawaiian phrases.
i also included a business card with the registry information along with a few 3×5 index cards for the recipe box we were going to present her with at the luau.
jacki’s sister and moh, becky, found all of the decorations at a trip to the wishing well in sacramento. she found all of the serving platters and other fun decorations to put around the house as well as the leis, which she and the other bridesmaid nicole made cute nametags so everyone would know who everyone else was.
for decoration, i made several tissue paper pomanders in two sizes to hang around the house and deck. i was quite pleased with myself because i felt like i had thwarted martha stewart who was selling her pomander kit for $20 to make 7 pomanders when i made 16 [one large and one small in each color] for only $7! there’s no reason to buy the kit; especially not when the tutorial is already posted online!
i made them a week in advance and fluffed them out once i got to the house. i do like the smaller ones a lot more than the larger ones. oh, and a tip for anyone else attempting these, it’s easier to cut the ends if you do them in sections. it’s quite the obvious thing but it took me till about my fourth one to figure that out. and another tip, tissue paper is delicate.
before i left for the christmas break i was doing my best to convince a friend of mine that i wasn’t getting engaged. i distracted her by postulating that if anything should happen, it would only be us looking at engagement rings [i was right!]. she seemed shocked at first because she thought i’d be ruining the surprise of my ring.
to be honest, i don’t care much. the ring is a wonderful gift and symbol of our intent and commitment to each other and there was the fact that i still wouldn’t know what the ring would ultimately look like; but for me, what i really want to be surprised by is the proposal.
i don’t have any kind of dream proposal; the bf can design that any way he sees fit whether by a big grand gesture or a small subtle one, either way is fine. i’ve always looked forward to what would be said before finally dropping to a knee and proposing [okay, so i did have a bit of a dream proposal…the knee thing. i’m sure the bf can humor me]. i can only imagine what’s going to be said: will he be nervous? will something go wrong? will he rush through his words? forget to say something? i’m sure he’ll take the time to be ultra romantic and sentimental. will he tear up? will i cry?! will i be upset at something completely random and unrelated? will i suspect it’s happening before it happens? will i believe it’s happening? will i grin like a maniacal cat the entire time?
and what about afterwards? will we keep looking at each other with wonder and disbelief and pure happiness? will we be able to stop kissing? will we giggle at each other? will we make the stupid silly jokes that we do now? are we going to be two complete dorks about it [in a word: yes]? will i ruin the moment and say something along the lines of, “haha, you’re really stuck with me now. sucker!”
knowing me? that’s a huge possibility. hey, i’ve done it before. in front of company no less.
the only stipulation i’ve made about the proposal was that it didn’t happen in public. personally, i’m not big on the proposals with other people around, even my own family and friends. i love them but i’d rather save the celebration for later. this is a moment that i want for just the two of us. and that says something because i love being the center of attention. i do think it’s so nice when people get engaged with family and friends present but it’s just not for me. i don’t want to share that moment with anyone but the bf. what i really want to do is just sit back and enjoy that moment with him and i don’t feel like i’d be able to fully do that if other people surrounding me. i don’t want to risk being taken out of the moment too soon because you really only have that moment to relish. you can’t make up for it later. and if i do end up crying, which i suspect might happen, i definitely don’t want to have people present for that spectacle.
but in it all, the proposal afterglow is such a fragile, fleeting moment that i want to cherish it for as long as possible. the ring? yes, i’ll look at that lovingly and that’ll be the tangible memory of that moment, but it’s the story of the proposal that i’ll be sharing with everyone.
after all, i helped picked out my promise ring. was it any less special because i knew he was buying it for me [he actually pushed me away so he could make the purchase]? no, not in the slightest because while i don’t quite remember what he said when he finally gave it to me, i know that i couldn’t stop grinning and my heart melted.
into a puddle in the middle of the mall.