AH! I had this blog almost done, was seriously moving over to the 'post' button, and Firefox crashed. I've never had firefox crash, ever. matt also walked in the door 10 sec earlier. i'm not saying the two are related,,,,, but....

**EDIT: oh damn! i just found where the autosaved drafts are! after i finished this one. oh well, for next time.**

So, take 2.

I used to follow Amanda Palmer (half of the Dresden Dolls, singer/songwriter/artist) on Twitter and read her blog. She has a very informal, personal, insightful style. She kind of fell off of my radar about a year and a half ago or so. I knew she got engaged to Neil Gaiman (author, of some sci-fi and comic books) last NYE, and last night I looked at her wikipedia page to see if they ever got married. According to wikipedia, they did, in Nov, in New Orleans, in a non-legally-binding ceremony. I thought that was sorta weird, mentioned it to Matt, then moved on.

Then, i was checking Offbeat Bride , and they did a post about their wedding -- weird, right? It actually sounds like it was really really sweet, and perfect for the type of people they are.

Here is her side ... i love the statement of "i decided to marry him because i honestly don’t think i’ll ever find a better man for an amanda palmer. i really don't". that's all it boils down to, to the one simple idea that your partner is best for you. thats it. this is getting gushy , but the beautiful simplicity of that idea, and how much it resonates in how i feel about matt makes me teary.

Here is his side ... i like the contrast ; hers being all "i did this and that and this, and had others do this", and his being "i showed up and had a great time and was amazed and happy". haha.

And, here is the OB post.

Oh, it's on!

BOOKED!!!!!

It is , for sure, Jan 14 2012, in Carol Stream, at the Holiday Inn.

We are having our ceremony (another post to come on that.... if you have creative ideas, let me know!) in the ballroom, and the reception in the tent.

Here is a Flickr photostream, of all of the important things, including the "garden room", which is the post-party room in the bar. woooo.

i feel that a major weight has been lifted. Seriously. I have venue, catering, bevvys, and cake all lined up. Although, as I was with the planner, I took a little peek at the cake book, and Holy mother. Maybe it was just the page I turned to, but there were lots of flowers, columns holding the tiers apart, mid-90s vomit all over the page. I hope there is something better in there..... the first meeting we had with the catering manager I asked about the cake, and she said "oh yeah, you pick out of a book, but you can customize colors... a lot of people now are taking out the middle columns, and making it simpler. " Shyeah, you think? Here is an example:

I like this. Doesn't work with either of my potential themes, but I like it.

This is what I saw.

OK, not quite that bad. Close enough to make me think about getting a cake on the outside, maybe from somewhere awesome like Alliance or Bleeding Heart? BUT, it is already included (in our package, it is even served in a dark chocolate cup with vanilla ice cream, fanncy schmancy... we could have went up one more level, then you start getting crazy with choco-covered strawberries. Too bad I don't like those.), so it would be almost literally throwing money away. And, to be completely honest, I don't really care too much about the cake, as long as it's not offensively bad. Bad-looking or bad-tasting.

OK -- list for myself for future posts: Flowers, ceremony, decor.