Eco-Vintage Weddings

Guest Post Monday: Music & My Sweetheart

Hello readers! Last week, my sweetie emailed me this story, and I just had to share it with you. Enjoy!

Jordan here. For my second guest post, I’m going to talk about music. I love music, Sara enjoys music, and music is pretty powerful. I got the idea for this post when I was listening to the radio in my car on the way to work. A song came on, and it instantly made me think of when Sara and I were first dating.

My reaction to this song was a mixture of confusion and humor. I was confused because I did not know why, of all the songs Sara and I listened to together, this one sparked memories.

The song was “Ridin’” by Chamillionaire. The song was new and popular when we both started working at Wells Fargo (where we met). Sara expressed to me that she really liked the song, which was probably a good thing, because if I had learned about her Backstreet Boys (BACKSTREETS BACK ALRIGHT!) obsession I probably would have developed a poor judgment of her. No disrespect to the BSBs (I WAAAANNNTT IT, THAAATT WAYYYY).

Anyway, the trip down memory lane is where I’m going with all of this. My memory flashbacks started with recalling when Sara would beg me to call in sick to work, so that we could hang out. She was a poor influence on me (in fact, she had me skip work or school to be with her, but never did the same for me…she was always more studious than me). Anyway, I picked her up at her school after calling in sick to work, and she got into my Jeep Wrangler and enjoyed the ride. Which, mind you, was probably not the safest ride ever, but she enjoyed it (she obviously fooled me, because if I don’t drive like a grandpa now she gets after me…)

The trip down memory lane then scrolled through moments of flirtation at Wells Fargo, and then quickly skipped along to the time a friend and I called her at 3 AM after a day of fun at the University of South Dakota (that probably deserves its own post). But, this memory montage ended with one of things I love most about Sara. Around me, she has never been afraid to just be goofy, so while listening to the song in my car on that morning, I could imagine her in the passenger seat dancing to the song.

Sara dancing in the car is quite the sight. She’s bouncing around with rhythm, throwing her hands all over the place, with a rotation of facial expressions, all without stopping before she prods me on to join her (which typically, I do). It was surprising and wonderful how one song brought back several good memories and reminded me about one of the best things about Sara, which is that she can be herself around me … and I love her goofy nature.

Showcase Wednesday: Wedding & Love Advice from my Mom!

Happy Wednesday, readers! Two weeks ago, my parents unearthed from storage their wedding photos from 30 years ago (!!). While I’ve seen these photos a few times in my life before recently, this was the first time I saw these photos since embarking on my own wedding planning.

My mother looked beautiful in her long organza gown, complete with a full circle skirt and a stand-up split neckline. The whole gown was trimmed with Chantilly lace. The dress was only the second gown that she tried on! Instead of a veil, my mother wore instead a lace-embellished hat with a wide brim. My father wore a white tuxedo – he looked sharp (and he looked SO MUCH like my brother!).

Along with the wedding pictures was a memory book that my mother kept while planning their wedding. Covering everything from bridal showers to their first home, each page is bursting with memories. I had never seen this book until recently, so it was such a treat for me to read through and imagine how excited my parents must have been to marry each other.

While the memory book is full of gift lists and guest book signatures, I took away a few life lessons that I thought I’d share with all of you:

-          Remember that the wedding is only one day in your lives, and act accordingly. My parents were high school sweethearts that married at 19 and 21 years old, so they had a modest wedding. My mother found her wedding dress at a local department store, and she split the cost of it with her father, my grandfather. My father, who was leaving for basic training for the Army, proposed to my mother with a diamond less than one month before he left. Throughout the memory book, I could feel my mother’s excitement – “Went to the church around 5:00 p.m. to get dressed. Forgot everything – my tote bag and my clothes for the next day! Where was my mind?!” Just before the wedding, my mother wrote this: “Time for the wedding; pretty soon my dream would come true!!” My parents served their guests cake, roast buns, mints, nuts, coffee and punch. Instead of embarking on a honeymoon cruise or a week-long vacation to Mexico, my parents moved to Colorado, where my father was stationed with the Army.

In reading her memory book, my mother has reminded me time and time again that all that matters is that Jordan and I end up married at the end of the day. The details of the day (like the wedding dress, the food, and the decorations) are literally just icing on the cake.

-          The wedding day may feel like living a dream, but day-to-day marriage is real life. One of my favorite parts of this memory book is the space where my mother wrote a letter to my father. While she admits that she should have written this letter shortly after their wedding, my mother instead wrote it two weeks before their 4^th wedding anniversary. In her letter, my mother talked about moving to Colorado and what an adventure their first year of marriage was (“the first year was so terrific – but more of a dream than reality”). My mother then talked about how difficult the second and third years of their marriage were, since my father was stationed in Germany during that time. My mother wrote, “We lived through it – and the meaning of trust and faithfulness took on a new light for us.”

Reading these words, and hearing my father tell stories of his life in Germany and my mother’s memories of her life in Colorado, only further illustrates the struggles that come along with marriage. But instead of lamenting that life wasn’t like their wedding day, my mother wrote about how their struggles made their marriage stronger. I can only hope that when I think back to the struggles that Jordan and I will encounter in our marriage that I have that outlook five, ten, twenty years from now.

Happy Wednesday!

Progress Report: 101 in 1001 Goals Project

[To read more about my goals, click here.]

I’m about one month into my 101 in 1001 goals project, so I thought I’d share my progress with my readers!

Goals Completed: 1

Financial

-          Designate and use a jar to hold my loose change.

Goals in Progress: 2

Relationships

-          Spend time with or talk on the phone with my Grandma at least one time per month.

Bucket List

-          Try at least one new wine per month for one year. [This month I tried Black Swan – very yummy!]

I think that’s a pretty successful start to my 101 in 1001 goals project!

Here are the goals I want to begin and/or complete in March:

Relationships

-          Write and mail at least ten handwritten letters. [I plan to mail one letter in March.]

-          Send a care package to one of my dear friends at school.

-          Talk with Jordan about changing my name, about his feelings regarding divorce, and about his feelings regarding adoption.

Necessities

-          Write down and store end-of-life wishes.

-          Get an eye exam & glasses.

Physical Changes

-          Keep a food journal every day for one month.

I’m very excited about this project, and I love feeling like I’m making progress toward achieving these goals!

How are YOU keeping your goals?

Have a great Monday!

Guest Post: Planning the Proposal

Hello readers! My lovely fiance asked me recently when he could write a guest post on the blog (truthfully, I was SO excited that he wanted to write, I said, “Uh, how about now?!”). So, I’d love to introduce you to my dear almost-husband, Jordan – he’s going to tell you all about planning the proposal, from a groom’s perspective:

It was very early after Sara and I met that I knew that I would one day marry her. However, Sara and I took a lot of time falling in love, so it took about two and a half years before I realized that my dreams would come really come true. And reader, she was worth the wait.

I really had some plans to go really out of this world, blow her mind, and make anyone who can listen jealous (Sara requested that I don’t even tell her, so that she won’t be let down, so I won’t mention it here, but what I ended up with was leagues better in the creative and caring department that she should know that she’s ahead.). (Sara’s Note: Reader, he told me one of his ideas once upon a time - all I’ll say is that it involved PENGUINS, my favorite animal ever…but honestly, he wowed me with his actual proposal. WOWED ME. Read on…)

Well money and timing issues, among other things, got in the way of my grand plan, so I went back to the drawing board. Sara had told me that I needed to ask her Dad for permission, so I went along with setting up that meeting, and he gave me his blessing.

I had asked my parents for ideas on how to propose, and they had some great suggestions. I also asked my friends who did their own proposals and kind of got a mixed bag. However, one proposal did stick out, which was my buddy’s and groomsman’s Eric Depue. So, I borrowed his proposal plan to construct the overall structure of my plan.

My plan was to send Sara on a scavenger hunt around Sioux Falls, where we live. I would first send flowers to her office, with a card containing her first clue. I then planned to leave gifts at each stop on her journey, along with cards holding clues as to where she should go next. At the final stop, I would get down on one knee and propose.

Having the plan in hand, and the permission to go through with it, the hardest part came in planning and pulling off the whole ordeal. For my plan, I had to come up with a list of Sara’s favorite things and/or meaningful things we’d shared or experienced in our relationship. Luckily this list was pretty easy to put together, and the next plan came from mapping out the stores I would have Sara visit as she got her gifts from store to store. This was the hard part. I had to first find the right stores, and then make sure they had the right product, or something similar at least. Then I had to make sure I could trust some random employee to be working late enough for Sara to find them. Yeah…it was hard. [A special note:  I wrote special cards explaining the reasoning behind purchasing each gift and how much I loved her. This also became a tough task, as I had to rewrite two of them because I couldn't find exactly what I wanted, and had to act on my toes to find the perfect gift for the occasion. But she said yes, so I think I nailed it.]

But by the hands of God, the plan could not have gone more perfectly. She received flowers at her office right on time. She then traveled to get her gifts from Barnes & Noble, to HyVee grocery store, to Triple Play Sports cards (a baseball card shop here in town), and then to Best Buy. The final clue then instructed Sara to trek out the waterfalls of Sioux Falls where she found me and walked (through misty rain) toward me. I said some sweet things that I’m certain she paid little attention to, I asked, she said yes, and we’re now happily engaged for 6 months, and have 5 months until we will be married!

The engagement took tons of special care, time, and thought, but I loved every second of it, and I would do it all over again. Next time, though, I’ll try for a sunny day.

To read Sara’s version of the proposal story, click here.

[Photo: Creative Kindling]

What’s YOUR Favorite Wedding Movie?

Hello readers! What’s your favorite wedding movie? Mine is Father of the Bride (1991), of course!

I recently wrote a post for Luke over at Journalistic Skepticism on why this wedding movie is the film I return to again and again for an honest (and hilarious!) account of American weddings. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be analyzing other beloved wedding movies; be sure to stay tuned!

Click here to read this post!

Green Friday: The Importance of Etsy & eBay

In the past few weeks, I’ve purchased the following items from Etsy: gifts for my bridesmaids, a fascinator which I plan to wear in my hair at our wedding, mini-valentines that are plantable (!!), and a lovely vintage hat for our photobooth. I’m also in talks with another artist on Etsy about having her craft dresses for our flower girls (more on this soon!).

But, given all of these purchases from Etsy, I got to thinking about how supporting the work of artists is another way to ”greenify” your wedding.

I read on blog after blog about the importance of supporting local artists/vendors when selecting who you’d like to help you on your wedding day. But isn’t the importance of supporting artists IN GENERAL, local or not, also important, given the alternative (investing in the lackluster mission of chain stores by purchasing pre-packaged, assembly-line-produced merchandise)?

I also thought more about eBay. eBay is literally an online thrift store full of items begging to be refurbished and reused. Instead of purchasing a brand new wedding dress, some brides select vintage or preowned gowns from eBay or other sites. Furthermore, by investing in collectible items, such as vintage typewriters, vintage hankies and much more, brides have the opportunity to perpetuate and honor the history of these items. What can be more “green” than that?

There needs to be more discussion of alternatives to greenifying America’s weddings. It’s not simply about recycled paper, soy-based ink and organic food; it’s more about making conscious, easy choices with the environment in mind.

What do you think? How are you “greenifying” your wedding?

Blogging Hiatus….

Hello readers! Just a note to let you know that posting will be rather sporadic this week. I had planned a week full of wonderful wedding lovelies, but the unpredictability of life stepped in the way. Jordan lost his grandmother to cancer / stroke over the weekend, so we’ll be spending the week wrapped up in the love of family.

Please keep Jordan and I and his family in your prayers!

NOTE: I did manage to write a post scheduled to go live this Friday; check back then for your dose of Green Friday goodness!

[Photo Credit: Andvic via Flickr]