Wedding Prep

Gosh, where do I begin? The last two weeks have been pretty darn amazing, and Dan and I are still coming down from all the excitement. Dan is back to work today, and I start a new freelance job tomorrow, and so soon things will go back to ordinary. But please indulge me for a few days as I recount our wedding and honeymoon story on The Ham.

First, I have a bit of a confession to make. For the last year, I have become somewhat of a wedding junkie. I never was the type of girl who dreamed about her wedding or had fairytale notions of the day, and I used to make fun of the girls who obsessed over every detail. But in the midst of the dullsville of job searching and everyday life, there was something very exciting about a world filled with romance and frilly dresses and beautiful flowers and fine paper goods. It was actually a lot more creative and fun than I expected, and I got very much sucked in, loving every step of the way.

The fact that I enjoyed wedding planning so much surprised me because I am sometimes required to plan events as part of my job and they are by far my LEAST favorite thing to do. In general, I am not a party person, and events tend to make many people -- how can I say, a bit crazy. I hate the intensity and pressure of it all. This time around, there was something different about planning a party where all the attendees would be the people I love and where we could do whatever we wanted in a very calm fashion. I especially loved the design element and creating a look and feel. We are lucky to have an amazing set of parents who never interfered with our vision and generously contributed to making our day just the way we wanted it. Which meant the only "crazy" people involved would be me and Dan, and as far as I can tell, we're not all that crazy.

So I was the one obsessed with reading my Martha Stewart Wedding magazines and wedding blogs and updating my multi-paged excel to-do list and spreadsheet, but don't be fooled...Dan was equally involved in the planning process. I hear some brides complain that their groom doesn't care about their wedding day, but not in this case. Dan and I made EVERY decision together (thankfully we wanted the same exact thing so we rarely argued over anything), and we split up the workload pretty equally. The weekend was truly a reflection of us as a couple.

There are many times where I wanted to tell you all about wedding planning on this blog, but Dan and I both believe that there is an element of surprise to every great event, and so I didn't really say anything to anybody. (Plus, I was still in the closet about my wedding obsession). Besides, you really did not have to know about the afternoon where my sister and I sat at my mother's kitchen table making handmade fabric flags or my jaunts to Brooklyn to visit the adorable and talented calligrapher or the fact that we didn't have one or two, BUT THREE BANDS or the gleeful day a big box arrived in the mail filled with Dan and Yvonne buttons. It was much more fun to see your reaction in person.

We arrived in New Orleans the Wednesday before our wedding because we needed to get our marriage license three days prior to the big day. Dan was convinced that we would be sitting on our bums, twiddling our thumbs with nothing to do. We did end up having a lot of things to do. Or shall I say, I had some things to do and Dan ended up having a lot of things to do. Dan lost a lot of weight before the wedding and the suit he got fitted in December in New Orleans was literally falling off of him, so we went to get his suit taken in. They usually needed a week for such orders, but agreed to have the suit ready in two days time. Dan was also on a mission for the right belt and maybe a new shirt and there was a lot of indecision so it was good we had some extra time to sort all that out.

I really wanted the days before the wedding to be relatively stress free, so while Dan figured out his belt situation and got beer for the welcome party, Annette and I went to a spa to get manicures and pedicures. It was the first time my sister has gotten a professional pedicure...ever. She never pampers herself so I am happy to treat her to one of my favorite indulgences plus have a little relaxation time before everything started.


Dan filling out the application for our marriage license.



Getting the seersucker suit taken in at Perlis.



Susan helped me put together the wedding favors which were little bags filled with pralines from Southern Candymakers.



Dan and I aroused some suspicion at the grocery store when we purchased 40 lemons for our wedding decor. The cashiers and shoppers we met were genuinely excited that we were having our wedding in New Orleans. I lined up the lemons around our hotel room because I was afraid they'd spoil sitting in plastic bags, which made our hotel room look kind of creepy and weird.


Dan and I have been together for seven years, but our families have never met each other, so we arranged a meet-the-families dinner on Thursday night at Dick and Jenny's, a neighborhood joint serving New Orleans style food with a twist. No surprise--everyone got along well and I think everyone was just excited to be there. As usual, my siblings Pete and Annette were nuts over the food options so we tried things like fried oysters, escargot, fried green tomatoes, and seafood aplenty. Even my mom, who is a pretty conservative eater, dove right in! Everyone was in a festive mood, even little Michela, who after a long plane ride, needed a bottle and a nap!

Dan and I often pondered what it would be like the day our parents met and it came and went so quickly and without a hitch, it's funny that we ever thought about it at all.


Pouring over the menus.



Henry and Susan - Happy Parents Number One!



Tad and Maria - Happy Parents Number Two!



Monica, Michela and Henry



Pete and Annette - the eaters!



Bros Dan and David

All photos from the dinner taken by Pete.