Preview of the Mr. and Mrs.

People keep asking me, "Where are your wedding photos?  Can I see them?"  And my answer is "... not yet!  Unless you want to see slightly shaky iPhone shots of us taken by guests."  Smiley face.

These types proliferate in social media, but the benefit and negative to having a professional wedding and editorial photographer take your pictures is that 1) he likely took thousands of photos from the wedding and needs to sift through them to find the good ones and touch them up, and 2) because he does wedding photography, he is also off just about every weekend shooting other weddings and being a photojournalist .. meaning there is a back log of work.  And your photos are not always hovering at the top of his to do list.

But no matter.  I'm patient.  And there is at least one photo I can present as a preview!  I requested a shot to use in time for Christmas, and here it is:

Photo by Sandor Welsh Photography

I should note that I was VERY cold.  My goosebumps are probably visible in the RAW file of this image.  But this shot still makes for a good "first look" :)  You can imagine what our dialogue must have been like.

[the big day] Married indeed

"If I get married, I want to be very married."

// Audrey Hepburn

Indeed!  :)

[the big day] Couple photo

Marcus and I have a tendency to take particular sorts of "couple photos" -- not typically ones of us caught in some tight embrace, but rather of the impersonal sort without either of us in them.  I don't remember when this developed, but we got in the habit of finding two objects of the same type but different sizes -- and laughing hilariously while taking pictures of those items.  People in cafes, grocery stores, and other places must have found us weird.

During our semi-impromptu engagement photo session with Po-Ru all those months back this summer, what good fortune did we have but to find an awesome couple photo awaiting us in the Toah Nipi kitchen?  Industrial sized spice jug meets tiny household spice rack inhabitant.  A spicy mix!

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Photo by Po-Ru Loh, who was a good sport about indulging our idiosyncrasies.

Vacation criteria for architects

How to choose your next vacation destination with a supposed architectural mindset, from Architectural Record's think | architect blog:

1. Rule out Disneyland, any beach and camping. These places are off limits (this is mostly my rule).
2. Choose a general location based on where you have not been yet.
3. Choose a location based on architecture you have not seen yet. (Why do you go on vacation?)
4. Choose a specific location based on restaurants you have not eaten at yet and don’t have at home.
5. Choose a location that has a history that precedes the century your parents were born.
6. Visit places that you cannot see anything like at home.
7. Find places that allow you to sight-see without needing a car. In other words, you’ll need to walk (or use public transportation) for some part of your vacationing plans.
8. Find places that will make for great photographs.
9. Find places that have unique bookstores and coffee shops.
10. And last, but probably most important, choose places that make your family happy (without breaking the first rule).

I would disagree with #1, #2 (... what about family?), and #5, although I do prefer older locales.  And in thinking about my own vacation-planning habits, here are some ways how Marcus and I pick out our honeymoon destination:

1. Determine the area of the world that you most want to explore -- either one of you has never been there, or one of you really wants to go back. [Europe]
2. Choose countries based on burning personal interests. [France, the UK]
3. Choose specific locations while balancing places you would love to return to vs. places (architectural or otherwise) you have not been yet but have wanted to go to for a while... along with the time frame and budget.  [Paris, Mont St. Michel, London, Edinburgh]
4. Hone the itinerary by concentrating on visiting a few places for longer periods of time, and choosing areas with unique local culture, food, and sights.  [Paris, Mont St. Michel, Glasgow, Scottish Highlands, Edinburgh]
5. Confirm your choices based on local events and the number of tourists who will be there at that time.  [New Year's in Paris; Tourist sights advise going to Scotland only between May and October.  Check.]
6. Find activities that will make for awesome photographs. ['Stalking' in the Highlands, Mont St. Michel at low tide, Parisian cemeteries]
7. Ask for recommendations on good food, unique bookstores and coffee shops, off-the-beaten path sights, that sort of thing.
8. Choose places that the both of you can agree on and get excited about.  [Check!]
9. Don't get uptight about the rules.  It's not a rational process, after all.

[the big day] Blooms

Although I like flowers, I've considered cut flowers - especially in vases - to be pretty money sinks that die too quickly (unless they come from Trader Joe's - somehow, those bouquets last for ages!  almost 2 weeks with only one water change!).

But perhaps wedding planning has changed my mind.  Or the wedding industry is leading me to change my mind.

In any rate, I have reinforced my liking for dahlias and developed a penchant for poppies.  We'll see what develops.

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Photo by floral stylist Amy Merrick

Staring London in the eye

A bus advert that had amused me all those years ago.

A no-nonsense anti-guide to London (one of our honeymoon stops):

"... You want stiff-lipped men in bowler hats and cheeky cockneys with their thumbs in their waistcoats and fish on their heads. 

I’m sorry, but they’re not here anymore. No city’s exported image lags so far behind its homegrown veracity than London’s, so let’s start with what you’re not going to find. We’re all out of cheeky cockneys, pearly kings and their queens, and costermongers. You’re not going to find ’60s psychedelia and the Beatles in Carnaby Street. There aren’t any punks under 50 on the King’s Road; there are no more tweedy, mustachioed, closeted gay writers in Bloomsbury, no Harry Potter at King’s Cross. There aren’t men in white tie, smoking cigars outside Pall Mall clubs and there isn’t any fog, but you can find Sherlock Holmes’s house on Baker Street." 

// A.A. Gill, in his NYTimes' article "A Profile of London"

 What ... no fog?!  No fish on cockneys' heads?!

Just kidding.  The fog part (amongst other things) I can attest to firsthand.  I was studying abroad in Paris in the spring of 2005.  For our semester break, I ventured to London to visit my friend Jackie.  Paris had been dulled by constant rain and clouds, but just as my plane crossed the Channel, the skies broke open and I was greeted by all sun and cheer in the UK.  Talk about breaking stereotypes.

At least we'll be able to find Sherlock.  Phew.

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As a little epilogue, another photo from the past, evidence that London - although perhaps not so foggy - is still indeed windy:

From the top of St. Paul's - a long but worthy hike for the view.

[the big day] Waterproof mascara and tissues

The (wedding related, semi curious but not most essential) question of the morning:

Will I cry at my wedding?

or even,

Will the tall man cry at our wedding?

Joanna Goddard in her blog, A Cup of Jo, posed that to me as I breezed through my largely-neglected Google Reader subscriptions.  Hm.  My first reaction was, "Of course I will cry!"  I have been the weepy one of our relationship in a way that my normally-composed self has now come to terms with, so it seems a given.  I occasionally will tear up (ever so slightly) during sad or particularly joyful parts of movies, so why wouldn't I cry on one of the happiest of life occasions?

Or so I think now.  We shall see on the day itself.

Then what about Marcus?  It's hard to say.  He's not a stone man by any means, but tears are not his forte.  But who knows?  He will probably read this entry and answer for himself.

Will it matter, in the end?  The blog entry features pictures of weepy brides and grooms.  Somehow there is a happy beauty in these images, but tears aren't the only vehicle for great emotion.  Maybe it's a better to  think about capturing the biggest smile e-v-e-r, and maybe a jump-heel-click of glee?

Regardless, I will certainly be prepared with waterproof mascara and artfully-hidden tissues.  Just in case.

[the big day] The bling and the dress

Sorry for the recent silence, but recent health issues coupled with that thing called "thesis" and that other thing called "wedding planning" have put updates on the life back burner.

But recently, I've come across 2 articles that have made me further question the traditions of the wedding industry.  Before starting to plan my own wedding, I had helped out with the pre-nuptials of family and friends and had my fair share of drama, adrenaline, and the like.  Planning your own wedding, though, really pulls the curtain away to expose what's really going on in that machine called the wedding industry, or what we couples call "the biggest day of our lives."

Don't get me wrong: I really love my fiance and am very much looking forward to tying the knot in November.  However, in this whole process I've been questioning the who/what/when/where/why/how, like ...
Why must I wear white?  Why do brides wear veils?  How is it that a single plate at a dinner banquet is more expensive than a fancy French restaurant dinner, yet the food isn't as good?

Here are two featured links that discuss some of the most critical 'wow' wedding items :

// The economic story behind the bling (outside of DeBeers) //
The Atlantic / thanks to Anne!

// Why that white frock costs so much when you wear it once //
Slate / thanks to Stef!