NerdBrideWalking

oh yeah, I got married last October!

I meant to do the whole blog-about-wedding-plans thing but well, didn’t, because I have a total love/hate relationship with wedding blogs. And then I was going to post pictures, but I wanted to submit them to Ruffled, a wedding blog that I mostly love (but also slightly hate, because really? they never show a wedding that is for like more than a hundred people? Yes, smaller weddings are totally cool and allow for picture perfect moments, but just inviting my family is more than 100 people…and with more than 100 people you just really need folding chairs and garbage cans everywhere…) but eh, that didn’t end up successful, so I never got around to posting some here! So enjoy some of my nerdbride moments:

I am not very good at Apples to Apples...

Totally Married.

I DEMANDED to have Bingo at my wedding. (I totally lost my voice calling the first few rounds)

Nerdgirl Lindsay dancing with her Hufflepuff pride showing.

Nerdgirl Jill and Nerdgirl Jen (along with our equally nerdy and awesome friends Diana and Courtney) in the photobooth!

I may do some more wedding related posts (it has been long enough where I can have deep, intellectual reflections about it!)–unless you guys scream “NOOOOO DON’T!” which I would totally understand.

-Amber

Amber’s Bridal blah blah blog: all the pretty maids in a row!

So my friends and I have already done the bridesmaid dress thing several times, so I thought for my wedding the girls could choose their own outfits–especially since my wedding is a bit more casual than most bridesmaid dresses seem and since we will all be outside in October so they need something they can layer up. I also don’t really have a distinct color scheme (how could I ever narrow it down! I want greens, and purples, and berries, oranges, and twilight shades, and yellows and browns and golds) so I guess I really pushed ’em out naked onto the quad. Here are a few of the suggestion pictures I sent them:

I ADORE the outfit of the girl on the left--I could stare at those shoes for hours and hours...

I think this sweater coat lived in my Anthropologie wishful-thinking shopping cart for months...I even considered buying it to go over my dress...such a romantic look...

I can't get enough of the dress-sweater-belt look--several of my bridesmaid were super drawn to this look, too.

Sooooooo what happens when you tell your bridesmaids that they can get any outfit they want in pretty much any color and then turn your back for a second while all shopping at JCrew????

THEY ALL CHOOSE THE SAME DRESS!!!! Seriously, it was like a whole Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants thing–this dress looked AMAZING on each and every one of them!

LOVELY!

THANK YOU, ZOOEY DESCHANEL, FOR COTTON DRESSES!!!

YUP it is cotton and it has pockets! BONUS and BONUS! Three of them choose to get it in Spiced Wine and two in Cypress–geez that was easy! I think their plan is to all have matching tights, but otherwise to mix and match sweaters, jackets, belts, jewelry, etc. Secretly (but not that secretly I guess since I’m posting it here) I hope at least one of them wears a fancy hat 🙂

amber

Amber’s Bridal blah blah blog: Steve’s Book Publisher Style

Soooo since I’m not ready to do the super exciting Wedding Dress post because I haven’t gotten the pictures off my mom’s camera yet….

WHAT WILL STEVE BE WEARING AT THE WEDDING?!

Well, months and months ago he informed me that he would be wearing this outfit 🙂

Dapper, yet Manly.

This look is from the Gentlemen’s Emporium and is called Charlie Griffiths, Book Publisher. So as you can imagine…

I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!!!!!

P.S. the website also has a STEAMPUNK emporium! I desperately want to be Steampunk…

P.P.S. the ladies emporium isn’t very lovely–everything looks way matronly. Although I am a fan of the crochet gloves and the bathing tunic!

amber

Amber’s Bridal blah blah blog: Take my picture, please!

ummm, so yeah, I did like two bridal blah blah’s and then took an eight month break? So what better time to catch you all up than BEDA?!

So lets get started: Photographer? check!

Lets say this right up front: I REALLY REALLY like to have my picture taken despite being rather unphotogenic. I am super excited about having a professional there all day to make memories where I look non-greasy, non-eye-squinty, non-gummy-smile, and non-pointy-chin! Totally worth the money!

So last fall, my mom and I went to our first (and last) bridal fair. Last because I decided after 5 minutes of being there that I did not want to attend another one as a Bride. Now, I had been to ALOT of these as a bridesmaid and I always had ALOT of fun. So much fun wedding stuff! But omigosh, when I stepped foot into the conference hall I was just completely buzzkilled by all the other girls buzzing around showing off their diamonds. Now I don’t have a problem with showing off your ring–you should be proud of it! But something about this buzzing felt a little catty and fake (and I know what you are thinking: “but Amber, you love catty and fake!” right? it is usually so entertaining, but only when it is confidently catty, methinks). Most likely, I just felt left out because I didn’t see anyone I knew that I could run up to and yell “You’re getting married?! Me, too!” (actually I did see someone that I knew, but after three attempts at waving and getting no response because she was busy exclaiming “you’re getting married?” I felt quite invisible and self-conscious.) Annnyyway, so due to the buzzkill-caused moodiness, my mom and I went straight to the Trolley guy to book and then walked around grabbing business cards and were out of there in 20 minutes.

Later, from the safety of my slouchy couch, I went to all the different photographer’s websites. What was I looking for? I’m not really sure. I knew I didn’t want many if not any posed pictures, or at least not the straight posed pictures–I’m sure I will be doing LOTS of VOGUEING on my wedding day. And I wanted someone who could capture personalities. My favorite picture in my parent’s wedding album is one of my determined Grandma hiking up Mom’s dress so she could walk through the sleet and snow (they got married in mid-April!) So when I came across this picture, I just knew.

Hahaha, just kidding! Although, not gonna lie, I do think that is kinda awesome…

But no, THIS is the picture that made up my mind:

Isn’t this just the loveliest photo?! I think you can tell alot about a wedding photographer by how well they photograph the family and friends of the bride and groom–especially the grandparents. Sure I want pretty pictures of myself, but I also want pretty pictures of Grandmas and cousins and aunts and librarians!

The photographer is Jesse Inskeep of Inskeep Photography in Moline and he is fantastic! oh my, I am getting very giddy!

Amber

Cool Wedding Thing I Cannot Afford: Hello Super 8

Oh gosh, I never really thought I would want a videographer at my wedding, but then I found these fabulous people:

HELLO SUPER 8!

So hip and nostalgic! (which is such a fabulous combination) I just get completely floaty and starry-eyed while I watch the demos on their website–it is as if they have somehow harnessed the power to capture weddings at their best–they are the cliche that is not cliched. How wonderful are their “Hello Guestbook” smiles?! Hmmm, maybe someday when I am a wealthy Reference Librarian I will hire them to follow me on a British Holiday where Steve and I will wear striped shirts and wave at the camera from a small dinghy.

Amber’s Bridal blah blah blog: BINGO!

So there I was, feeling all “AAAAAACK!” I love love love weddings and cheesy things and girly things, so why was I being all Bella Swan about planning my wedding?

"Eh, I'm Bella and I like Wuthering Heights and I'm too good for prom and dresses. frown."

Then one day, it suddenly all became clear. Bingo. Bingo! I wanted to play Bingo at my wedding reception!

How I want to look on my wedding day.

I spent a couple days just feeling all giddy and dreaming of Bingo before it gradually became clear why I wanted Bingo. My grandmother was a big Bingo player, and thus Bingo is closely tied to memories of my family: we played Bingo together every Thanksgiving using bowls of corn kernels to mark our cards; Grandma would always give us a few quarters to play games with her at the summer festivals of Long Grove, McCausland and Donahue; and I spent HOURS making pictures using her Dotter markers. Bingo means family, bingo means sharing, and bingo means fun 🙂 === MY WEDDING!

:::sigh of relief::: everything makes sense now–I want my wedding to feel like a good ol’ family get together! food off the grill, Bingo and horseshoes, uncles watching football, grandmas playing cards, etc etc. Wheeee I am so excited now! Every bride needs a bingo moment. Let the planning begin.

Amber’s Bridal Blah Blah Blog: First

Hey you all! So I’m in love with a guy named Steve and getting married, blah blah blah, and so I decided to start a weekly (yeah more like monthly) update on how the planning is going. Not because I really think my wedding plans are super fascinating and deserve your attention, but because I’m lazy and now when people ask me “sooooo tell me about your wedding!!!” I can be like “Read the blog, Crazy!” and then “Sorry, I called you crazy.”

So this is post number One and I am calling it “First” and we’ll play catch-up.

Hey Cuckoo! Time to get married!

So Steve proposed to me at the beginning of the summer (Yay!), but it has just been in the last week that Mom and I have gotten started on this shindig. Why did I take so long? As an experienced Bridesmaid and obsessive buyer of “Martha Stewart Weddings” magazine, I knew what to do. My problem was that I didn’t know what I WANTED to do! Somewhere along the way I became what the event planners call “nontraditional bride” as in “Do you think we could Pee-wee Herman to officiate our wedding?”

Large Marge sent me.

So I found that the normal wedding stuff, the kind of things that I love at other girls’ weddings, totally freaked me out or bored me—-as in I don’t really want everyone to watch me cut a cake and I think chair-covers are weird-looking. So I just didn’t do anything but think about how much I really wanted this casserole dish, but it would probably be gone from stores by the time I register:

This dish talks like me!

But then I had this thought: “Bingo.”

Minus the Beach Blanket.

Next time on Amber’s Bridal Blah Blah Blog: BINGO!