our wedding

AN OLD-FASHIONED KIND OF LOVE: in the sweet, sweet soda shop

MRS. SHORTCAKE — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 06:00:10 +0000

Not appreciating my directions, the photographer stalked off. Not appreciating the thousands of dollars wasted on him, I grabbed Mr. Shortcake and pulled him towards my number one wish-list location; the 1950s soda shop. I wiped my furious tears and sniffed at my new husband,

"I don't care where he goes. I'm going to get a milkshake, whether or not we get photos of us!"

Meanwhile, back at the train station, the photographer had told our bridesmaids to go back and wait in the limo.

AN OLD-FASHIONED KIND OF LOVE: the wedding party photos

MRS. SHORTCAKE — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 06:00:26 +0000

NOTE: Some readers have expressed their disappointment in how glum some of my posts are. As a blogger, I am trying to accurately tell the story of my wedding. Not everything was perfect, and many things went wrong. However, as in any good story, a happy ending is happiest when it comes after a plot crisis. And, in the words of G.K. Chesterton,

“Fairy Tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.”

Take my posts as an example of what things can and do happen at weddings, but take it also to heart that is possible to have everything go wrong - and still remember your wedding day as one of the greatest days of your life.

***

It was still raining. Bleh! Miserable and wet, my wedding party and I headed into the heart of Fort Langley to take our group photos. My father and I had explored the quaint town a few days earlier and had a ready list of photo locations should it rain. Since it was raining, I asked our photographer if we could go to those places. He shot down my suggestions, for reasons that are still unclear to all of us, preferring instead to take our photos in front of store windows.

I do, re-do, re-new

MRS. SHORTCAKE — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 06:00:43 +0000

I'm seriously contemplating the idea of renewing our vows for some upcoming anniversary - five years maybe? I'd love to do it over, without the same stress, without all of the fanfare, just with us and a spectacular photographer.

We won't be redoing our wedding photos this summer after all, because, well, I no longer fit into my wedding dress! :) If you remember, I lost a ton of weight the summer before our wedding because of stress and a very tight budget, and dropped down to a very unhealthy size for my height. After suffering two miscarriages this year, I've been doing my best to gain back the twenty + pounds and settle into a healthier, more fertile BMI. But, as a result of those efforts my wedding dress no longer zips up past my now-ample bosoms. Whoops. :)

Surprisingly, I'm not so terribly sad, despite my disappointment over our wedding photos. I have been able to post-process many of them into something reasonable, and that is more than some other brides in similar situtations are able to do. I am grateful for that ability - and the thought of renewing our vows definitely puts a sparkle back in my eye, so to speak!

Is anyone else planning to renew their vows at a later date?

{ image by One Boy One Girl }

AN OLD-FASHIONED KIND OF LOVE: the receiving line and family portraits

MRS. SHORTCAKE — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 19:46:08 +0000

After the ceremony finished, Mr. Shortcake and I stood together outside in the pouring, freezing rain. The sky had opened up its black clouds and it was absolute misery. But, the bells on our two hundred year old chapel were ringing, and we were married. Married! Woot! Woot!

For those of you who have commented on how serene I appeared in photos, here's a candid that's a little more indicative of my emotions during the beginning of the day:

AN OLD-FASHIONED KIND OF LOVE: the ceremony, part 2

MRS. SHORTCAKE — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 06:00:00 +0000

You have known each other from the first glance of acquaintance to this point of commitment.

AN OLD-FASHIONED KIND OF LOVE: the ceremony, part 1

MRS. SHORTCAKE — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 19:28:50 +0000

I finally bought a dvd ripper so that I can tear apart the footage from guest's home videos and put it back together. Here's the processional from last week's recap:

The embedded blogging version of this video is pretty poor quality - so make sure to press "HQ" !

AN OLD-FASHIONED KIND OF LOVE: the ceremony, part I

MRS. SHORTCAKE — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 17:37:55 +0000

AN OLD-FASHIONED KIND OF LOVE: going to the chapel

MRS. SHORTCAKE — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 17:00:00 +0000

High heels on, hair in place, and umbrellas in hand, it was time to leave for the church. Our photographer had gone on ahead of us, so we had a moment to breathe.

Breathe in, breathe out.

Once that single moment was over, all hell broke loose as people scrambled to find their belongings and rides to the little chapel. My bridesmaids and I, of course, were travelling together in a stretch S.U.V limo. Not so very vintage, but my hoop skirts necessitated something that could accommodate my dress without squashing it a la Princess Diana in her wedding day carriage. So, a S.U.V it was, and it had been lovingly decorated by my mother for the occasion. Unfortunately, we all clambered into the vehicle so quickly that no one noticed the decorations, and no one thought to take any pictures of it. Whoops! Sorry, Mom! :)

Meanwhile, Mr. Shortcake and his motley crew had arrived at St. George's Parish, and were nervously awaiting our arrival.

AN OLD-FASHIONED KIND OF LOVE: the boys get ready

MRS. SHORTCAKE — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 07:00:00 +0000

MR. SHORTCAKE:

Fifty minutes of driving time away, the other half of the wedding party was slowly getting ready after an evening of margaritas and cards. The morning began with some home-made egg Mcmuffins and a couple of beers to take the edge. Nothing says, "I'm getting married today!" quite like breakfast sandwiches and a pint! Because almost none of my groomsmen had been in a wedding party there was a definite nervous energy in the air - it wasn't just from me!

Our videographer (a friend of mine) arrived at my parent's house at around 8 AM to take a few quick clips of me handing the rings to my best man for safe keeping. After staying for our breakfast of champions he too was off to visit the bridal party. It was now time for me to do the two things that a groom has to do at a wedding:

get dressed, and show up!

Those are not always easy tasks for some of us - especially certain ones who still need someone to tie their tie for them! In true "man" fashion, we set up camp in the basement; laying our "James Bond tuxedos" on the ping pong table alongside our beer.

AN OLD-FASHIONED KIND OF LOVE: getting ready, part 4

MRS. SHORTCAKE — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 07:00:00 +0000