Rollin' Rollin' Rollin' - Wedding Part II

So our bride & groom are happily married. The cheese has been unveiled & the guests enjoy mulled wine while the bridal party takes pictures.

sigh.

Wedding pictures can be painful. They can be uncomfortable and awkward with people yelling at you and you try to look happy and ignore the fact that your face hurts from smiling so much. It was cold out and I was enjoying my mulled wine. I didn't want to leave the reception to go smile for an indefinite period of time.

And then I stepped outside and saw the chaos.

These pictures? So. Much. Fun. If this photographer didn't live in another country, I would so hire him. We could not stop laughing. But, when we could stop laughing, we'd get some fetching photos.

Me & Elizabeth & Todd
The second of my 3 favorite pictures as two of my favorite people who happen to not live in the same state as me, are all in the same place, same picture.

Here we have the "American Group" along with the groom:

Todd, me, groom, bride, father-of-the-bride, mother-of-the-bride, boyfriend-of-the-mother-of-the-bride & sister-of-the-bride.

Here's the last of my favorite three:

Aren't we all cute? I just love this picture. Love, love, love. I think more American weddings should do this. Apparently, I was told, this shot is standard at British weddings.

Well, I was going to actually talk about the wedding, but I can do that tomorrow. Lets see some more of what we in America call wacky and what those in the UK call normal

FYI, it is normal to attend a wedding in your country's traditional garb. This tradition is rad beyond words.

Here we have Scotland and Austria represented. And, in case you like to play where's Waldo when looking in pictures, yes, in the Scotland picture, that is the bride & groom dealing with one of the bride's straps popping off thanks to a delightful bear hug delivered to the bride.

And here, if you're asking yourself, why isn't that nice picture of the traditional garb of Norway in better focus? I'd really like to get a better look at those fabulous socks. Yeah, here's what the photographer looked like:

Now, a sane person would have handed the camera to her boyfriend who was holding nothing at the time. Or, she might have even handed over the flowers, the wedding program and/or the purse. But, we're talking about a member of the bridal party so really, sanity doesn't enter the picture until after the wedding festivities are over. Yeah, that's in the bridal party handbook.

But, here is a tradition I will happily bring to American weddings. Those of you who know me well are scared right now. And you know what? You should be.

Behold!

Funny hats & fascinators!

Part III, coming soon....

Back in the saddle again

The wedding saddle that is.

And no, I'm not getting married. I'm the girl who's been in eight weddings and also assisted in countless others. So, in honor of weddings and people I love, I present you with the last wedding I was in. Unfortunately work and holidays hit so I wasn't able to bore, er, tell you about it before.

This one wins for furthest travelled. That title was previously held by a wedding in Maine but that wedding has now been dethroned.

If you're new to my blog, I'll give you a hint to where I was:

Yup, you guessed it, Tahiti. Oops, sorry, that's where I want to go, not where I was. Yes, we traveled across the pond.

Now, you might think to yourself, well, a British wedding would be easy. I mean, its a country where English is spoken and we've all seen "Four Weddings and a Funeral." That looks like great fun. And it was, but everything was different.

Actually, could you go watch that movie before you read any more? It sure would help the story. I'm sure you have the DVD. I can wait.

....

The language is different, the dress code is different, the bridal responsibilities are different...everything is well, different.

Lets start at the reheral, shall we? See that nice father daughter couple walking towards the house where both the rehearsal dinner and wedding reception were held? That's the bride and the father of the bride. Can you see that she's wearing a suit? (Click on the picture if you need more detail.)

At the rehearsal, Elizabeth was wearing pants (those pants you see right there) and when the vicar asked how long her dress was (to know if kneeling would be an issue) I said it was the same length as her PANTS. Yeah, everyone had a good laugh at that one, except for the 5 Americans who didn't know why they were laughing.

Britain 1, Maid of Honor 0

And, by the way, I was a Chief (and only) Bridesmaid, not the Maid of Honor.

Britain 2, Maid of Honor 0

The day of the wedding, there were a few traditional issues that we won't go into on the interwebs. But I will tell you this.

Britain 2, Maid of Honor 14,986

We all made it to the church on time, though a few of us might have been walking quickly due issues alluded to above. But, it gives me a good excuse to show you one of my three favorite pictures from the wedding (note Elizabeth is holding her wedding shoes so they don't get dirty on the walk to the church.

Don't we just love her dress? Off the rack ladies. Yes, you can find a dress for a reasonable amount of money. I bet someone really cool bought that. And yes we're going to ignore that the bride is gorgeous and completely in shape and could have worn a paper sack and looked fabulous and instead we'll focus on the fabulous dress, off the rack.

Britain 2, Maid of Honor 14,987

As luck would have it, the church they were married in is right next door to her now father-in-law's house. Again, you see this in "Four Weddings and a Funeral." Everyone walking from a fantastic old church to an equally fantastic old house for the reception. Fabulous, right?

Britain 3, Maid of Honor 14,987

Although this wedding has many British traits to it, the bride and groom did put their own spin on the most important element of the entire day.

Cheese.

Oh, you don't believe me?

That's cheese. That's cheese from France. That's cheese from France picked up by two friends of the bride & groom. (Only one person was sent but he invited a friend for the adventure.)

Seriously.

Of all the preparations for the wedding, this was the one single element that was key to the success of the event.

Now I think you fully understand the crazy of my friends and why I adore them so very, very much.

Part II coming tomorrow.

Hands on 3rd

Friday night I was able to con, er, make plans with Jenny and Mieke to crash the opening of Hands on 3rd. I really wasn't sure what to expect other than free food. And really, give me a few free cookies and I'm yours.

And free cookies they had.

(They had cheese & crackers and wine and soda. It was a lovely spread, but really, I was about the cookies.)

This event definitely had an art show kind of vibe in both the people attending and the overall mood of the room. Everyone was creative and curious, trying to take it all in without breaking anything.

From what I understand, Hands on 3rd is going for a community feel. There's very little retail (though, I think that'll change since people will need supplies) as their current focus is on classes. And those classes are incredibly varied, and all look to be quite interesting. Oh sure, they have sewing and quilting and crochet but they also have make your own kitchen garden, millinery, frame building, and the list goes on.

One of my favorite things about this space is the energy. The owners & teachers are just so enthusiastic to share their talents with you. I spoke at length with Corina Haywood, their millinery teacher. She was just lovely and I couldn't be more excited for her fascinator class on 5/17.

Of course since they didn't know me and were happy to see people walking through their door they asked how we had heard about their space. Well, of course, I told them, Ellen originally found them. It was her keen eye that discovered this little gem before they even opened.

All in all it was a lovely evening filled with cookies and good company.

HANDS-ON 3RD
8377 W. 3RD STREET
LOS ANGELES, CA 90048
(323) 655-0515

HOURS:
TUESDAY, FRIDAY & SATURDAY: 10am - 6pm
WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY: 10am - 9pm
SUNDAY: 12noon - 6pm