Mr & Mrs

We did it! We got married! The day was perfect in all the important ways. We had an amazing time, we shared a beautiful and important moment with our friends and family and we didn't care about the fact that we forgot to display some of the flower decorations.

The honeymoon in beautiful Santorini was relaxing and suitably romantic and we now want to go back to the island every year! 

We're back in our new flat and we still don't have an Internet conection so I'd be missing from the blogospehere for a little bit longer, but here are some of the photos that our friends took on the day. More photos and details to follow...

Off to get married...

Before I disappear to get married (Yay!) I thought I'd leave you with some of the inspiration pages from the wedding booklet I've created this year.

First the inspiration for the big event, when we'll be getting married in Spain on 18th September...

We've also organized a picnic brunch the next day for a more relaxing catch up with our friends...

Then we'll go on honeymoon to Santorini, Greece, and then to Barcelona for a friend's wedding (She's getting married two weeks after me)

On our return, we've organized a stylish (I hope!) champagne and cakes party in Oxford for some of our friends who couldn't make it to Spain...

I'll be back with photos and stories (but not too many) of all these events at some point in early October...

More bloggy weddings.

Randomness and links

So, yep, I'm posting links, but hey, at least I'm posting! First a quick update: I'm stressing about work and stressing about the wedding... from time to time I get to talk to people about non-wedding or non-work related things, but not often.

When it all gets too much, reading your blogs helps. So I have been reading blogs, just not writing much. And I've been collecting inspiring images on my Tumblr. And I've been dreaming of going back to writing and taking photos, and reading, and crafting...  I'm really, really excited about our wedding day and the honeymoon, but I also can't wait to have my life back afterwards!

And with that, I'll give you the randomness and the links:

Best writing advice ever.

If you're a blogger who value your blog and your time, you need to read this.

It's never too late to realize your dreams. 

I found this article about model photographers interesting. I'm still thinking lots about what I like about photography and dying to go back to experimenting with my camera. I have On Photography, by Susan Sontag, on my bedside table but I haven't started it yet as I want to have the mental space to be able to enjoy and think about it 

I'm loving the Inspiring Women series on Ill Seen, Ill Said which includes, of course, Lee Miller. I saw an exhibition about her somewhere in London a couple of years ago and I've been fascinated by her life and fearless attitude to trying new things ever since. Her biography is also on my bedside table...

A very articulate post on artists' right to earn money on side jobs. It's not selling out it's being responsible! I've always thought this and have never been able to put it into words as well as Amanda Craig.

There is no link for this one, but I found this quote by William Burroughs, on inspiration, that really got me thinking about this inspiring blog world of ours: 

“Out of the closets and into the museums, libraries, architectural monuments, concert halls, bookstores, recording studios and film studios of the world. Everything belongs to the inspired and dedicated thief…. Words, colors, light, sounds, stone, wood, bronze belong to the living artist. They belong to anyone who can use them. Loot the Louvre! A bas l’originalité, the sterile and assertive ego that imprisons us as it creates. Vive le sol—pure, shameless, total. We are not responsible. Steal anything in sight.”

I'll be back soon... Some of my favourite bloggy people have  disappeared from the blogosphere so I hope they come back soon too :)

Simple things... for a happy birthday

It's Christina's birthday today and we are giving her simple things as a present. Here are some of mine...

* A day off in the middle of the week

* Going on a date with my fiance: some wine, a fun French movie... just the two of us in the middle of wedding planning craziness.

* Beautiful simple posts by friends

* Dreaming about travelling

* Discovering details of New York through Kristina's camera

* A coffee date with a good friend

* A text message just to say "I'm thinking of you"

* Rain in the evening after a very hot day

* ... And (I had to mention it) Spain winning the World Cup!! I'm still smiling! This couldn't have happened at a better time for Spain, we really needed a reason to celebrate. I celebrated in Oxford with my Spanish friends but here's an account from a Brit in Madrid.

More simple things here and here.

Our wedding invitations

I've been dying to show you our wedding invitations, and now that most of our guests have seen them, here they are! If you remember, the stationery was one of those things that we decided from the beginning were very important to us. J is a designer so we always knew he'd design something for the occasion. I was in charge of the text and of course there were several discussions during the process on whether words or design are more important!

We started with the colour red and the idea to reflect the wedding venue. As we're getting married in a beautiful old castle we used the medieval theme throughout the invitations, with the stamp on the envelopes or the icon of a knight proposing to his lady (probably not very historically accurate, I know!). We also wanted the invitations to be fun and hopefully reflect that we want our day to be relaxed and not too formal.

We included a card with the basic details (what, who, when, where) and  another one with information on getting there and accommodation. We also designed single postcards for our RSVPs. Finding a printers was the most difficult part. There isn't really that much out there for those who want to design everything from scratch and not use a template or buy designed ones, but luckily we found a good printers in Oxford that did the whole thing for us.

We are really happy by how they've turned out and it's been really good fun giving them to people. And that's one thing ticked off the list!

12 months of being 30: Our wedding, our way

* This post is part of my 12 months of being 30 project, an attempt to record what happens during my year of being 30 through my own collage, photography and words.

I promise I'm not turning my dear blog into a wedding blog, despite evidence to the contrary. I do think that the wedding planning needs to feature in my 12 months of being 30 posts, even though I'll be 31 when I get married (but let's not think about that). And what better day than today, exactly 6 months before I get married? On the 18th of September, I'll be marrying Jon. I can't wait! And not only because the planning will be over then! :)

I'm still having a hard time with the stress of wedding planning, and with the pressure to do things "the proper way" (whatever that means), but for this post, I'm focusing on those things that I'm enjoying. The best wedding advice I've got is to pick two or three things that are important to you and concentrate on those. One of the most important things to me is the fact that we're writing our own vows (something still pretty unusual in Spain), but apart from that, these are the things that I'm looking forward to:

• The dress: Yes, I'm that shallow but I think I'm allowed. I'm incredibly excited about my dress. I found it in two days, after visiting two shops in my hometown of Salamanca. On my first visit, I tried on lots of different styles. I thought I had a clear idea of what I wanted, but when I tried on those floaty, understated dresses that I had envisioned, they seemed a bit... boring on me, so I changed my mind and chose something a bit more fun! I won't post a photo here, but let's just say that this was my inspiration:

• The photos: We both decided not to have video, as we can't really see ourselves watching it much after the wedding (I think I'll bow to the pressure, though, and get a friend to record the ceremony, but I'm not paying for it to be done professionally). I do see myself looking at the photos in years to come and remembering the day, the details, the guests... so it was important to find a good photographer that understood what we wanted. The search for a photographer was stressful, specially because we had to do it all online, but we think we've found the perfect photographers and we're meeting them in a couple of weeks, when we go to Spain for Easter.

• The stationary: Jon is a designer and it was important to him to design our invitations and make them fun! They're now ready and we're about to send them so when they've reached our guests, I'll show them to you.

• That people have a good time: Let's be clear, we all know (even if we don't like saying it) that weddings can be incredibly boring... I know my guests will be happy for us, but I also want them to have a good time! My biggest fears are that our guests get bored or hungry during the evening!

Thanks!

I feel I don't say it enough! Thanks to my bloggy friends, my Flickr friends, my Twitter friends. This amazing community of people who offer inspiration, wise words, a smile, a laugh. People who open my eyes and my mind to new possibilities, new ways of doing things, new places to visit, new things to say, new photos to take....

Some of my favourite photos that have been inspired me on Flickr: 

1. 47 365 Golden, 2. 46/365: Go Girl, 3. 44/365 Shine the light on Lake Peten Itza, 4. 46/365, 5. 45/365 Pink Love, 6. 46/365, 7. sideways, 8. DSC_0012, 9. 36/365, 10. cat posing, 11. LA Sky Last Night, 12. Tea and books, 13. in the post {34/365}, 14. rubber balls {35/265}, 15. Happy Snowy Bokeh Wednesday :D, 16. Pink Vanilla Meringue, 17. it snowed., 18. 24:365 winter watercolor, 19. 25:365 casting shadows, 20. paris et ses monuments, 21. 100119_WellThumbed, 22. Orbs, 23. IMG_0030, 24. hear the silence**, 25. 7/365, 26. Untitled, 27. 6/365 2010, 28. 5 365 A whiter shade of lemon, 29. gull, 30. DSC_3738 (55:365), 31. 1 365 The pylons are coming, 32. Untitled, 33. white snow crystal, 34. Bicycles and Polaroids, 35. dirty diana, 36. i want to run away

Thank you, most of all, to those of you who visit me here, read my ramblings and continue the conversation. Your comments always make my day. And your comments on my wedding post were amazing! They made me smile, they made me furiously nod in agreement, they made me so happy...  Happy that you understood what I meant and reminded me what's important about my wedding day.  Thanks Francesca, Jan, lamediterraine, An Open Heart, Cyndy, Spud, Rach, Kristina, Jane, Julochka, Green Ink, Ida and Christina. If you send me your addresses (My email is in my profile), I'll send you a little present to thank you! Because I'm feeling happy and generous today! :)

The Wedding Posts

 Via Green Wedding Shoes

I've been trying to write this post for weeks, a post about the wedding planning. And I struggled to put my feelings in writing, until I realized that I was actually trying to write two different posts.

One about how happy I am and how much fun it is to plan, to think about our day, to talk about what we want, to reflect about what it all means. I wanted to talk about the beautiful and fun inspiration around the blogosphere, and all the wonderful ideas.  Because I'm, at heart, a romantic girl and I'm excited about this day, I can't wait to wear the dress, and I'm looking forward to sharing and celebrating our love with family and friends.

Via Green Wedding Shoes

Via Snippet and Ink

But then there is this other post that I feel I also need to write. About how confusing, frustrating, at times incredibly boring, this planning also is. How the inspiration can overwhelm you to the point that you don't know what you want anymore, and you start needing wanting things that you never even knew existed and that you could never afford. How tiresome it gets when absolutely everyone has an opinion and don't hesitate to tell you what you should and shouldn't do, regardless of what you want. How upsetting it is when people assume that my future husband has no opinion and no say about the whole day (What groom? You'd think he's merely another accessory for your day, if you hear what some bride magazines are saying.)

And I suddenly don't know if I want...

... a vintage wedding...

Via 100 Layer Cake

... or maybe a beach wedding...

 Via Kiss the Groom

... or perhaps, I'm meant to have a winter wedding...

Via Snippet and Ink

... a rustic wedding...

Via Style me pretty

... or a modern one...

Via Green Wedding Shoes

And so, I've been struggling, going back and forth between those two stages of mind, feeling all the above, often all at once. 

But then I read about other people who feel like me in this wedding blog with a difference, and I re-read the story of the best non-perfect proposal, and hear others talk about what it means to be married. And I remember that even though our wedding is an important day, it's not The Most Important Day In Our Life, it's only the beginning. And it's not all about me, it's about us, and it's not about having the perfect party, it's about getting together with the people we love to celebrate with them.

And then, I can dream again about our day and enjoy it, and I'm not thinking about eloping anymore...

Via Green Wedding Shoes

 

And I know that certain things are important to me... and I can compromise on others.  I'm going to have red shoes and a red jacket... whatever my family thinks! Because it's the important things that matter... :)

 Via Green Wedding Shoes