This Will Be Our Year: All Kinds of Pretty and One Big Fat Ugly

I would like to take full credit for how beautiful the dining room looked, but I can't—we picked Calamigos Ranch because we wanted something that was nearly finished already, and it was beautiful before we added a thing.


Aside from the centerpieces and menus, I didn't really bring much—a couple of chair signs for me and Mr. Spaniel because I had leftover paper and ribbon, and none for anyone else because I didn't have leftover time.


But it's not real life if something doesn't look just plain-out ridiculously awful, somewhere. Behold, the Hideous "Henna" Cake!


Do you remember my inspiration cake? No? I'll show it to you.

(source)
And just in case math is not your strong suit...


You can tell that whoever was working on the cake was looking at the inspiration picture. What you can't tell is what they were thinking. Or why they didn't start over when they got those giant blobs of fudge smeared across the bottom tier.

I have to say, I thought it was pretty funny when I saw it. But I also wish I would have known just how bad it was going to look, so I could have saved the money on a "pretty wedding cake" and put together a much prettier and more cost-effective cake buffet instead. At least it tasted good!

All photos by the magical Meg Perotti, unless otherwise noted.

Miss anything?
The Spaniels Are Married!
Watching Paint Dry
Vendor FAIL
Putting Our Faces On
Something New
Boutonnieres and Tuxedos
Sneaky Spaniel: The First Look
Something Borrowed, Something Blue
Hey Laaadies! (The Wedding Party)
Signing Our Lives Away
Marriage Is a Process...ion
We've Only Just Begun (The Ceremony)
Organized Chaos

This Will Be Our Year: Organized Chaos

After the ceremony, the cocktail hour began. Mr. Spaniel and I didn't want to miss our entire cocktail hour with our guests, and had planned our entrance to the reception area and first dance for only fifteen minutes in as a result. While we waited for our cue, Mr. Spaniel and I took a few minutes to sit and reflect on the huge step we had just taken.


Just kidding. We sat and took directions from about seven different photographers.

Mr. Spaniel points out one camera, while looking at another (guest photo)
I don't actually remember what this face was for, but I sure look flustered! (guest photo)
I didn't have much time to stress, though. The bridesmaids fixed my bustle, Mama Spaniel fixed my lipstick, and then we were ready waltz into the reception area!

In a parallel universe—that is, out front on the patio where the cocktail hour was starting—the venue staff was serving champagne and strawberries to our guests.


I love how relaxed and happy everyone looks in these close shots... but back up a little, and you can see that it was a madhouse!

(guest photos)
All photos by the talented Meg Perotti, unless otherwise noted.

Miss anything?
The Spaniels Are Married!
Watching Paint Dry
Vendor FAIL
Putting Our Faces On
Something New
Boutonnieres and Tuxedos
Sneaky Spaniel: The First Look
Something Borrowed, Something Blue
Hey Laaadies! (The Wedding Party)
Signing Our Lives Away
Marriage Is a Process...ion
We've Only Just Begun (The Ceremony)

This Will Be Our Year: We've Only Just Begun

It was time.


(This was our recessional music, and the unofficial "anthem" of our wedding, because we married on the Persian New Year... and it's one of the happiest love songs I know. :) Play it while you read!)
Surrounded by our closest friends...


...by our families and our support systems...


...we listened to the words of wisdom of our officiant (married 50 years!)...


...and to the words of "The Prophet."

You were born together,
and together you shall be forevermore.

You shall be together when the white wings
of death scatter your days.

Aye, you shall be together even in the
silent memory of God.

But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
and let the winds of the heavens dance between you.

Love one another, but make not a bond of love.
Let it rather be a moving sea between
the shores of your souls.

Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf.

Sing and dance together and be joyous,
but let each of you be alone,

Even as the strings of a lute are alone
though they quiver with the same music.

Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.

And stand together, yet not too near together.
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,

And the oak tree and the cypress
grow not in each other's shadow.

(I tried not to cry.)


We exchanged vows...


...we exchanged rings.


We were pronounced "Dr. and Mrs. Spaniel."


Mazel tov!


Yeah, this will be our year.


All photos by the marvelous Meg Perotti and Regis Photography.

Miss anything?
The Spaniels Are Married!
Watching Paint Dry
Vendor FAIL
Putting Our Faces On
Something New
Boutonnieres and Tuxedos
Sneaky Spaniel: The First Look
Something Borrowed, Something Blue
Hey Laaadies! (The Wedding Party)
Signing Our Lives Away
Marriage Is a Process...ion

This Will Be Our Year: Marriage Is a Process...ion

And the first step in that procession is getting down the aisle. :)

First the groomsmen and Middle Brother Spaniel took their positions...


Then Younger Brother Spaniel walked Grandma Spaniel to her seat and took his place...


The Spaniel-in-laws...


Mama and Step-Dad Spaniel...


And my bridesmaids. I still love their dresses every time I see them. :)


The music changed, and my nerves went haywire. OhmygodI'mgettingmarried!


Papa Spaniel walked me to the bottom of the stairs before he took his seat, as I'd planned to walk up the stairs to meet Mr. Spaniel alone.


But after Papa Spaniel gave me a hug and started to step away, the processional music abruptly stopped. Suddenly, I became very conscious of my sharp heels, the cracks in the ground that I couldn't see beneath my heavy dress, and the eyes of 150 people on my back. I was absolutely terrified, but somehow I made it up on my own!


It must not have taken forever, since I'm the only person I've talked to who remembers the music getting cut early, and I made it to the top, grabbed my mister, and was ready to get married!

All photos by the stupendous Meg Perotti and Regis Photography.

Miss anything?
The Spaniels Are Married!
Watching Paint Dry
Vendor FAIL
Putting Our Faces On
Something New
Boutonnieres and Tuxedos
Sneaky Spaniel (The First Look)
Something Borrowed, Something Blue
Hey Laaadies!
Signing Our Lives Away

This Will Be Our Year: Signing Our Lives Away

The portraits finished with fifteen minutes to go before the wedding ceremony(!!!). Mr. Spaniel grabbed the ketubah, and we were off to sign our lives away!

I love how excited we look here. :)

The ketubah was not in our original budget, but it was worth every penny: our framer/officiant framed it for us right after the wedding, and I love looking at it on our wall. :)

(Personal photo)
While we promised to love and respect each other in writing, our guests were doing some signing of their own.


I'd planned to print a guestbook from our engagement pictures, but I panicked and asked Meg to print one for us instead. It's another favorite wedding keepsake of ours!

(Personal photos)
To make sure our guests knew that it was a guestbook and not just a collection of pretty pictures, we made sure to include some helpful signage. To do so, we pulled more mileage out of our invitation proofs, as I used the fancy "baroque" frame around the invitations to frame a cute little guestbook poem I found online (I didn't think of blogging about this when I did it, so I didn't save the source... sorry!).

We thought this photobook
would make a great souvenir
So if you have a wedding message,
please write it in here
Some words of wisdom,
encouragement, or a joke
A poem, a drawing, an anecdote
We'll look through it fondly
in years to come
So thanks for making
this book a special one!

We printed it out on a piece of card stock, cut it down to 5x7", and put it in an inexpensive acrylic frame from Target.

(Personal photo)
Probably unnecessary, but I was all about last minute projects (and I have a few more to show you before I'm done here!).

All photos by the astounding Meg Perotti, unless otherwise noted.

Miss anything?
The Spaniels Are Married!
Watching Paint Dry
Vendor FAIL
Putting Our Faces On
Something New
Boutonnieres and Tuxedos
Sneaky Spaniel (The First Look)
Something Borrowed, Something Blue
Hey Laaadies!

This Will Be Our Year: Hey Laaadies!

Okay, and dudes, too!

(Hey, a barn! We had an accidentally rustic wedding!)
We had (what I think was) a really large wedding party. I liked the idea (in theory) of asking just a few people who were especially important to us, but it just so happened that we couldn't think of any less than enough people to make up a small army. Still, how awesome to have such a troop stand beside you on one of the most meaningful days of your life!


...or, you know, sit beside you!

(Photo by Regis Photography)
While there were some minor downsides to such a large wedding party (gifts got really expensive by the time we were done, and do you have any idea how difficult it is to get thirteen people to stand in the same position for long enough to take one good picture with no one blinking? ;), I can't imagine having done it any other way.

Mr. Spaniel asked his brother and five of his closest friends, who are all people I love dearly as well, to stand with him, while I asked three of my best friends, my two step-sisters, and my two (not-so-)little brothers to stand with me. We didn't worry about "balance" or aesthetics (or where they would stand at the ceremony or how they would recess up the aisle—which, as it turns out, is probably a good thing to think about at some point before the rehearsal!) when deciding who to ask. I absolutely think this was right for us, for the following reason:

Younger Brother Spaniel and Middle Brother Spaniel
I love my brothers. :) Sure, Mr. Spaniel likes them, too, and they seem to think he's just spiffy, but these are my people. If they'd spent all day with the groomsmen, I would have missed one of the most emotional moments of the day for me.

After my lovely bridesmaids helped me into my dress, my freshly-boutonniered and be-socked brothers came to join us for bridal party portraits. Seeing them in their tuxedos, all spiffed out for my wedding? It was all I could do to hold it together. It was the first of a few waves of incredibly strong emotion I felt that day: people will remind you, over and over again, to "be present" on your wedding day. I could NOT! But it was one of the powerful moments of the day that I doubt I will ever forget. A no-show vendor? A dress that doesn't fit? Insignificant. Your little brothers in fancy tuxedos, all dressed up for your wedding, with eyes misting at their sister in the full bridal get-up? WHOA! You're present. Even if it only lasts for a moment before the day starts rushing by you again.

All photos by the phenomenal Meg Perotti, unless otherwise noted.

Have you considered an uneven (or otherwise unorthodox!) wedding party? What were your reasons?

Miss anything?
The Spaniels Are Married!
Watching Paint Dry
Vendor FAIL
Putting Our Faces On
Something New
Boutonnieres and Tuxedos
Sneaky Spaniel (The First Look)
Something Borrowed, Something Blue