Wedding Favors

Oh right, the wedding. I never got around to doing as many wedding re-caps as I'd thought about but, honestly, when it was over I was pretty burnt out and couldn't bring myself to talk about all of those carefully planned details. But it's been just over 6 months now (how long is one considered a newlywed?) and we were reminiscing the other night with some new friends, trying to explain the favors we gave out to our guests. So, dear friends, here are some photos of our personalized M&Ms, complete with our faces, names, and wedding date.

Of course they were totally cheesy and our faces were a little distorted (Guille's head is super huge in one of the pics) but that just made it even more fun and lighthearted. Plus, M&Ms are kind of gourmet here (being an import) so it was fun to add an American element to the wedding. We ordered them online (uploaded 2 photos) and had my family bring them down. We didn't have wedding colors so we just got silver, gold, and pearl. Oh, and they tasted great.

So, it's been over 6 months and I still don't have permanent residency. I had to go back to immigration and pay (at the bank) another 10 pesos to renew my temporary status AGAIN. There's an additional delay because an E was left off of my name on the Interpol records. And of course we had to fight about it because those immigration workers obviously don't want to be working. The last time I had to go in to provide something they lost, they said that everything was ok. So we were like, why didn't you tell us then?! And the dude helping us actually said, well there are a bunch of people working here it's not my problem. Really, dude? It seems like you all have on the same shirt. You all are suppose to be working together to finish things. Oh, but I forgot that I'm in Argentina and there is no final authority or anyone willing to take responsibility. Sit back, drink your mate, and get paid.

I wasn't the only pissed off immigrant that day. Another guy started yelling about how his worker was so mean and unconcerned, and made him feel so bad about himself. Why was that necessary? He yelled that someone should blow up the place. Did security detain him? HA! What security? The workers laughed.

iPhoto's enhance button...

...is amazing! Just look at the difference that it made in this photo...you can see each grain of rice as it flies into my meticulously planned up-do.

Of course, it didn't perfect every picture - it often overexposed a pic, leaving it too grainy, and I had to turn the shadows down - but for quick DIY photo editing, it's your best friend. All of the amazing wedding blogs that I followed made me drool over processed RAW photography, but it was impossible to find photographers experienced in that type of method here. This, however, saved me a lot of money and I'm totally happy with the results :)

Making a Memory

One of my mother's famous catch phrases is 'We're making a memory' and while I rolled my eyes each time that she said it while I was in high school, I increasingly realize the significance of trying desperately to remember a moment in time. I've got a terrible memory though, so the photos of the wedding will be an important reminder to me in the years ahead.

To make them a little more special than sifting through iPhoto (who knows what will exist by our 50th anniversary), I was inspired by 2000DollarWedding to create a book using blurb. So that's what I'm doing with any snippets of free time that I find - putting together a book of our wedding photography. The software is easy enough to use but the time it takes to create it will depend upon how picky I'm going to be about layouts and backgrounds, etc., and how much creative control I'll try to wrest from my new husband ;) Here are just a few of the pre-ceremony photos that I'm including:

All photos were taken by Luis Vignoli. :)

Meet the Trilnicks

'Invitations' is not a big enough word to describe this

Wow, this was something. I mean, it's just a card, but it wasn't so easy. First, the vision in my head when I think 'wedding invitation' was nowhere to be found. Apparently, letterpress doesn't exist in Argentina for invitations. Also, your only choices, really, are ink jet or laser printing - forget DIY gocco - you're not gonna find an affordable gocco set on MercardoLibre (Argentine eBay). And good luck trying to explain any 'fancy' printing styles in Spanish.


We decided, then, that we needed to get involved in designing something that we liked and could produce. We ended up taking a picture of the gates of our reception venue and having our sister-in-law in Spain turning it into a printable design. I love the effect she used to give it a retro feel.


Fortunately, Guille's brother offered to take over the invitations and gifted them to us, buenisimo!


We ended up with 2 designs - I chose a chandelier as the inside graphic for the ones I sent (as is hanging when you walk through the gate), and Guille's mom came up with a cute Spanish phrase for a music stave that went on all of the ones distributed to Spanish speakers. My favorite detail is the shadow of the gates that is on the reverse of the front flaps - so cool!


We ended up writing separate texts for each language instead of translating it directly - there's a different tone here - I get that, but luckily I got to write what I liked in English. They printed the invites on a kind of sparkly, off-white paper and rounded the top - a sweet detail - and then Guille's mom brought them over from Spain. We went out in search of envelopes, with no idea of what color we wanted but found a nice sand color with a little sparkle to match at Papel Plus.


We printed them ourselves and then hand addressed the outside envelopes for the international invites.



For the ones that we delivered here, we added a wax seal, which turned out to be pretty fun. We don't have wedding colors so we just picked some fun ones for the wax.


For the lighter colors, we found that it was easier to melt a chunk of the wax in a tiny spoon instead of putting it directly on the flame, which could sometimes turn it black.



Lovely! Thanks to L & I for such amazing work :)

Wedding Workout #1

Weed pulling is a fun and enjoyable sport...I just love the pop that the root makes when it's yanked from the ground. I recommend this exercise for targeting arm, butt, and thigh muscles...you'll definitely feel it the next day, ouch.



Clearly, I've given up on the gym - it smelled like sweaty boys and was way too hot, making it even less desirable for me to exercise. I'm supplementing my weed pulling with pilates for my current workout - I'll let you know how it goes - possible before & after pics. Until then, enjoy these hints of spring!

Here's the Date!

Initially, we didn't expect any Americans at our wedding. And since my parents didn't plan on coming at first, I wasn't planning on inviting anyone else from home. The plan was to have a series of receptions when we visited at Christmas.

But since my family is coming, we're not going home for Christmas. And so, all reception plans were canceled, along with marriage announcement/reception invitations. But I still wanted a way to announce our wedding date, without obligating anyone to come, so I sent out a few small cards with a handwritten note:

We're getting married
November 26, 2009
in
Rosario, Argentina.

Please save the date
to join us or
toast us from afar.

With love,
Meag & Guille

I like to call them my "Here's the Date"s, since it's really an announcement more than a calendar event. I found the cards at one of my favorite little artisty shops - Peccata Minuta (objects irresistibles) - which is hidden away in a passageway off of Cordoba (954). Oh, and its violet season :) Happy Sunday Morning!

It's a Cake!

Do you see that little cake in the middle? It's perfect, I love it.


Being that we're dessert people, Guille and I couldn't decide on one dessert so we're serving smaller portions of two desserts on one plate. Later, we'll have cake with champagne but as people will probably be full, we'll only need a little cake. Thus, this is cake perfection.

Images by Stephanie Williams found on Pink to Green

Our venue serves desserts made by a local baker. Since I've tried a variety of her creations, I have no doubt that she'll make a delicious cake. And now I know exactly what I want!

What is it about Sunday mornings that make them so lovely? Maybe it's that the city has finally quited down and you can hear birds chirping. Maybe it's the calm before the storm of a crazy work week. Whatever it is, Happy Sunday morning. :)

Dinner with a side of jazz

Back to wedding planning. It finally seems official that we're getting married and my family will be here to see it. And so, with less than 3 months to plan, we're getting things together. In this episode, we listen.

Of course, it isn't necessary that we provide live music for our small dinner crowd, but it seems like a good excuse for it. We're not stressing over this element of the wedding planning process - our venue will play their usual dinner music if we don't have musicians, and we can even suggest our favorites. And with this relaxed attitude, Guille (the violinist) and I (the former Carnegie Hall employee) went out in search of a sound.

We heard that a jazz quartet was playing at Cafe de la Opera, the sister cafe of Cafe de la Musica, located in Teatro Circulo.

It was a fun time, and good to hear live music again (though in such a small space, amplifiers seem overwhelming). But I think we realized that it's too much for our little wedding. Now we know that we're more interested in background music - something that our guests can enjoy but that doesn't impede conversation. If we had dancing, then it would be a different story - we need meal music. We might be going with a single Spanish guitar player.


The cover for the Jazz Club Rosario show was 15 AR$. Be advised that, as is typical in Argentina, a live performance that is scheduled for 9pm will most likely start closer to 11pm. The menu was much smaller than that of Cafe de la Musica, but they had 2 3-course dinner options for either 29 or 34 AR$. The food was good, though a picada would work just as well. What is it about bread pudding that just fails to excite me?

It's All Happening!

VieModerne on Etsy

My mother asked me what I wanted for my upcoming birthday, and so I realized that I needed to make some wedding decisions. Specifically, I needed to decide on some bridal accessories so that I could remove them from my wedding budget(s). And so, with the help of Accordions and Lace, I found this lovely flower at VieModerne. The chiffon matches my dress and the pearl will match my jewelry.

I also chose a short blusher veil. I loved the look of fuller ones but realized that a lot of extra pins would be needed for the perfect arrangement and my hair won't hide much. I also pictured myself trying to explain how I wanted it to look to a hairdresser in Spanish (que quilombo!) so I decided to keep it simple:

Brendas Bridal Veils on Etsy

Yay for birthday! That's enough pesos saved to cover the cake!

Veil Ponderings

Ok, don't get mad at me but I can't show you the dress yet. I don't want to jinx it. You see, it's at my parents' house in the States. I ordered it off of eBay thinking that I could wear it for a State-side reception but since dress shopping here isn't going so well I'm going to use it for the official wedding. I'm happier this way too because it's perfect for the courthouse and the spring weather.

So why am I worried about jinxing it? Well, it's 1950's vintage and I haven't seen it in person to judge the condition myself - plus what if it doesn't match me? I really do like touching and trying clothes before committing but I couldn't beat the price and the vintage mystique.

I have to pick a veil before having it all sent down so this is where I need your help. I loooove birdcage veils but I know that they can be tricky and I'm not sure that one would fit with my chiffon party dress (tea length). To give you an idea, this dress is quite similar to mine - same material - but mine has a different top and probably won't poof as much.

Calendar Girl Clothing

Here's another of similar style/material:

Posh Girl Vintage

Posh Girl was a little above my price range (which is in pesos) but they're having a summer sale (15% off everything) if you're interested. Really beautiful dresses - many between $500-600.

I've decided on a blusher veil for the length. (YES! 1 decision down, 3 million to go.) I would really love to have a flower in my hair but don't want to overdo it.

Blissful Moments on Etsy

Twigs & Honey

For birdcage, I like Something Bold's The Marilyn (thanks Liz!)...

Something Bold

And I like how Sweet Home Alabama ends in the back (my hair will be similar)...

Brendas Bridal Veils on Etsy

But there's just something so lovely about tulle...

Also Brenda's Bridal Veils

Maybe it's because of images like these that I'm drooling over classic tulle...

I imagine that a flower would be too much with tulle...thoughts?