A Practical Compliment

Since starting our part-time gig over at Apartment Therapy, I've really come to embrace this whole reading-posting-commenting world that is the blogosphere. I read interiors blogs and graphic blogs, food blogs and, yes — for a large portion of this year — wedding blogs. I even email the writers from time to time. I only found a few nuptial sites that I could even stomach, but A Practical Wedding quickly became my absolute favorite.

A few weeks ago, Meg posted a few pictures from our wedding and wrote some truly lovely things. You can read it here.

Just Another Married Couple

Real wedding pictures by the wonderful Francine Kontos are up at last.

Maybe these should be our Halloween costumes...

Love Carrot

Auntie Fran the Photographer is coming down this weekend with the official pictures but I wonder if any will truly be able to rival this one. We shall see...

For now, more here.

The Countdown is On

Here's to dry weather and amazing color that only nature could provide.

5 days to go...

Style Me Flattered

To say that life is busy these days would be a laughable understatement. Our little Bacon takes up nearly every waking moment at home and while he sleeps we manage to squeeze in our daily AT Boston posts (which launches officially on September 1) and plan our wedding, now less than 2 months away.

I'm trying hard to stay practical about the planning but, turns out, even a small, intimate affair comes with stress and minor chaos. So, to boost our spirits and remember out initial care-free vision for the big day, I made this little collection of images and sent it over to the *boy at work. I think its a refreshing visual reminder that all of this planning and scheduling will pay off soon and, on that October afternoon, these pictures, these ideas will come to life and we'll be able to enjoy all those decisions-made, relax and indulge in a lovely evening with friends and family.

After making it, I figured I might as well send it to the wedding blog that inspired me to do it and today she put it up on her site, Style Me Pretty. Thanks Abby!

Now everyone pray it doesn't rain...

Why Am I Marrying Him?

Photographer Kate Hutchinson is doing a beautiful series of portraits of her fiance called "Why Am I Marrying Him?" that I find extremely compelling in their universal, everyday nature.







So compelled am I that I took a break from my silly wedding blog hopping to put together my own little series. After all, the real reason behind this shindig we're throwing is in these pictures below...

Wedding Reconnaissance

So tomorrow morning (at the crack of dawn) we're off to the Lone Star State to attend the wedding of my sister's best friend. Now eye-ball deep in planning our own nuptials, I'll be taking notes. Its amazing how fractal-like this whole planning thing is, with each layer of decision making ladened with yet more and more decision making.

Last weekend we (tried to) tackle the tent decisions such as: What size do we need? How many tables will it fit? What shape is it? What kind of walls will it have? Does it come with lights and heaters? Where will we put the tent? Will we have to push the fence back if it goes in location A? If so, how far? Where will we get the tent? How much will the tent cost? Will they come survey the site before installation? How will they install it?

All that and we still haven't really nailed anything down (figuratively). But through it all we actually came across some lovely pieces of tent design - this site in particular - that don't look like plastic on a pole.





Anyway, this weekend's wedding is altogether different from what we're planning - ours is outdoors at sunset in October with dinner after, this is early morning in a chapel with brunch after - but hopefully I'll be able to glean some inspiration nonetheless.

Scouting

Some pictures from our weekend in NH. This first image is where we think the wedding tent will go. The sheep will be on the other side of the fence by then.

More here

Sustainable and Eco-Fashionable

*girl's superpower is an allergy to all metallic elements. So, more out of necessity than choice, we've been searching for non-metal wedding bands. I came across a number of unique alternatives including Easy Bake Oven rings, antique ivory, and tattoos but nothing felt right and the quality and longevity of some of these options seemed questionable at best. Wood was something we talked about early on but didn't seem like a truly appealing option until we found Nicola and David Finch of Touch Wood Rings. The quality and look of the rings is amazing. Best of all, we found them just in time to get on the schedule for August when David will take an entire month to make ours rings to our exact specifications. Now we just need to decide what we actually want and design them. A few examples:

AT, Moving, Bacon and a Wedding Dress

That's pretty much life around here, these days. First off, our third article is live on AT - check it out and vote for us here!

Now the elephant in the room: moving. So we don't actually have moving boxes yet but we're thinking about them a lot. Preliminary purging and organizing began this weekend for the big move...and then we took a break and purchased couches in "Dark Roast" and curtains in "Green" for the new apartment (because that's way easier than actually making ourselves pack our existing curtains not to mention the rest of our belongings).

Also this weekend, in yet another procrastinating move to not pack, my hunt for a wedding dress officially commenced. Sunday was spent in an 80's style bridal salon on Boylston Street and last night I rubbed blisters on both my pinky toes scouring every high-end department store in the Back Bay looking for dresses. Two possibilities thus far, two more shopping appointments scheduled for this Saturday (when I should be packing).

Lastly, our long-awaited baby is soon to be born! We don't know if its a boy or a girl but we do know that the mommy's name is Posh and lives in D.C. Of course I'm talking about our little French Bulldog puppy who, hopefully, will be born in the coming week. Pictures will clearly be posted at the absolute earliest moment possible.

Unintended Uses

Originally conceived as a simple replacement to an unsightly Kwansit tarp hut, The Shed, as it has come to be called, has taken on many additional functions beyond simply shielding the tractor from the elements. Much of the design was based on the fact that the entire structure had to be built by two people - my dad and myself - with very basic tools, and to reduce as much labor and waste material as possible. Even the detail of the rafter tails with sloping V's was based on the fact that our circular saw could only cut halfway through the beam. Two cuts were required and if they weren't straight it would never line up. 

Polycarbonate roofing was intended to not only bring natural light into the space but was a labor saving decision. The plastic roofing was much easier and safer to handle and cut than traditional metal roofing. Adding clear siding restored the clear view from the front of the house to the garden. All this light made the space an ideal workshop and now the back third of the shed is an officially that, complete with concrete pavers providing a hard floor and additional benches built into the simple wood frame walls. In the summer the space is used so much that the tractor is rarely parked inside. The overhang in the back created a small porch that became a place to sit and view the garden as well as a place to keep garden tools out of the rain. 

My first attempt at creating real built architecture will now make an ideal altar for *girl's and my upcoming wedding.

Maybe we'll move the garden hose and bucket for the big event...

A Shed for All Seasons

Although we haven't yet made many decisions about our Big Day, "location" can be checked off the list. Weather permitting, the shed's porch will serve as our altar.

Summer




Sunset


From the Garden


Winter








Fall, Season of choice for the Big Day