Part 1: Tryin' to Get the Pretty
Part 1.5: Old, New, Borrowed, Robotic
Part 2: Please Help Me; I Can't Dress Myself
Part 3: Poise!
Part 4: The Philosophy of the Ham
Part 5: Setting the Scene

As a teenager I'd hadn't thought much about what my wedding would be like, but I was pretty sure that I'd be calm and certain before I walked down that aisle. Everything would feel right. A decade later on my wedding day, with all of my anxiety left months in the past, I felt exactly that way in the moments leading up to the ceremony.



Our friends did a fantastic job of making sure that we didn't see each other before the ceremony started. One of our photographers snapped these pictures of Mr. Lollipop before he was hustled out of the way so that I could leave the Rectory and make my way over to the church.



We went with an asymmetrical Dahlia for his boutonniere. As his wife, I am biased, but I think he is exteremly adorable in this picture.



Our wedding coordinator, a.k.a. Our Lady of Awesomeness, a.k.a. Emily, helped welcome people to the church. I'll be writing more about her later.



Most people arrived early. We placed mutual friends on Mr. Lollipop's side to even out the large difference in family size. Still, our wedding turned out to be the largest gathering of my Mother in Law's family ever.



I couldn't walk around without a crew of bridesmaids to help carry my giant dress. It was like being queen for a day, but not in any way I expected. I was very glad that I had a second, lighter dress to change into so that I didn't need any bathroom helpers.



There were a few stragglers running into the church at the last minute. This is a picture of me laughing at them and yelling 'You're late!' at them as they scurried into the sanctuary.



I was acting like a big goof-ball while waiting outside of the church and waved like a monkey at all of the passing cars. I couldn't help myself; I was so frickin' happy that I was finally getting married after waiting so long and spending so much time working for this one day. My Dad knows me well enough to but up with my antics.



All photos above are courtesy of Purvis Photography.

Labels: photography, wedding

posted by Alison 5/26/2008 02:42:00 PM : (0) comments : splink


Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Part 5 - Setting the Scene

Part 1: Tryin' to Get the Pretty
Part 1.5: Old, New, Borrowed, Robotic
Part 2: Please Help Me; I Can't Dress Myself
Part 3: Poise!
Part 4: The Philosophy of the Ham



For some reason, finding a ceremony spot turned out to be the toughest part of planning our wedding. Having a Sunday wedding automatically ruled out most of the places of worship in the area and our reception site, the zoo, didn't allow ceremonies on the premises. I found a lovely spot due to a stroke of luck, but a week later they called to tell me that they had accidentally double booked us and we would have to find somewhere else. Aaaaa!

At wits end, I checked the map for the closest Episcopal church to the Pittsburgh Zoo, and prepared myself for some serious groveling to try and find somewhere where we could get married, even if it was on the front lawn. I called to make sure that someone would be there who would talk to me and then I went in person because I thought it would be harder to say 'no' to my face. I ended up meeting with the Rector of St Andrew's, Bruce, and he listened and was helpful. It was the complete opposite of all of the other churches I had called; all were too eager to get off of the phone with me. He looked in the church's date book, saw that September 2nd was clear and booked us with no haggling over deposit checks, no stern warnings about what we could bring or when we had to get out. It was perfect, and the church itself was beautiful outside...


and inside...

The 100 year old building was made of stone and built in the Gothic Revival style. It's only a small donation for non-members to get married there and free for members. I'm really glad that I found it and we liked our experience so much that we became members even though it is a 20 minute drive out of our way. It's definitely the place I would recommend to couples looking to get married somewhere beautiful and not go into debt.

We also found a few other ways to save a little money on our wedding day. My uncle was helpful enough to loan us his Jaguar to drive us to the reception. It sure beat paying for a limo.

We thought that the church was already beautiful, so we kept the decorations to a minimum. We had bunches of koi nobori (carp windsocks) at the doorway for color.

We also decided to keep it simple with the pew decorations and used simple metal lanterns on ribbons. My brother later changed the ribbons and used them for his wedding two months ago.

We placed a plastic Virgin Mary on the altar. It belonged to my Mother's parents and stood on their hallway steps for years and served as a little memorial to them during the ceremony.


The church also came equipped with and organ and a fantastic organ player, Peter Luley. It was nice to have traditional music with our traditional church, though we were Wagner-free, and therefore wedding march-free. I walked down the aisle to Mouret's Rondeau, aka the theme to Masterpiece Theater.

All photos above are courtesy of Purvis Photography.

Labels: photography, wedding

posted by Alison 5/21/2008 01:37:00 PM : (0) comments : splink


Wednesday, February 27, 2008

The Lollipops Get Hitched: Part 4 - The Philosophy of the Ham

Part 1: Tryin' to Get the Pretty
Part 1.5: Old, New, Borrowed, Robotic
Part 2: Please Help Me; I Can't Dress Myself
Part 3: Poise!



After looking at hundreds of sets of wedding photos, it is clear that there are many styles of posed photos. There the formal family shots, of course, with family and bridal party members arranged in rows. There are ones that look like fashion photo spreads with dynamic colors and camera angles. Others emphasize the romantic, featuring a staged kiss or a couple embracing. Finally there are the hammy pictures, the silly ones that will make you roll your eyes or giggle depnding on your mindset. I suppose everyone has some combination of these types in their photo album, varying by personality. In my mind's eye I pictured having lots of fashion photography style pictures with Mr. Lollipop and myself looking fierce, but in the end our true personalities won out and we ended up with dozens of photos of us being wacky/weird/ourselves. It took very little to drag the rest of the bridal party down with us.

However, this didn't start with me. When I met Mr. Lollipop at 18 I was a serious, studious teenager who rarely smiled and certainly never made faces or horsed around. After we started dating he encouraged me to smile more and more.

Eventually, a few years later we both moved to Japan and lived in neighboring cities. He would always escort me in the evenings from Seto back to Nagoya and keep me company on the train. Most of the time we would be in a car by ourselves. It would be pitch black outside and brightly lit inside the car so the opposite windows carried our reflections like mirrors. Mr. Lollipop used to make faces in them at me, and eventually he goaded me into making them back, and soon we were having facial contortion contests. All of my silly facial habits can be traced back to those train rides.

So, during our pre-ceremony pictures we were in separate places, but we each individually decided to ham it up with other bridal party members. If you're inclined to be a little bit silly, I highly recommend it before the ceremony. I would have been a lot more nervous and snippy if I had to squash the impulse. Instead, we had some good laughs and the final moments were happy and relaxed ones. Photographic evidence can be found below.

Mr. Lollipop makes the Best Man uncomfortable:



Ham-tasticness runs in Mr. Lollipop's family.


Some of my ladies were more game than others.

Oh no she di'nt!


Oh yes she did.


Penguin is not the only Bee who likes boobs.


I forget the sentiment that were supposed to be displaying here. It was probably something like 'Hell, no!'


My cousin and I pointed at the plastic Virgin Mary on the altar. It once belonged to our grandparents.

...aaand some normal pictures to balance it out:








All photos above are courtesy of Purvis Photography.

Labels: photography, wedding

posted by Alison 2/27/2008 10:55:00 AM : (0) comments : splink


Monday, February 04, 2008

The Lollipops Get Hitched: Part 3 - Poise!

Part 1: Tryin' to Get the Pretty
Part 2: Please Help Me; I Can't Dress Myself



There was a weird bit of time between getting ready and finally entering the ceremony. We needed to take a few pre-cerenony pictures, but at the same time I wanted to be seen by as few people as possible, and I especially didn't want Mr. Lollipop to see me before the ceremony. My bridesmaids and family members acted as guards and messengers to clear each room before I could advance like a king piece on a chessboard.

All photos below are courtesy of Purvis Photography.

We waited on the landing until the front hall cleared. I can't remember what was said to give me that facial expression, but it was probably something scandalous.


Meeting up with my dad for the first time after getting dressed:




Each of the mothers recieved fragrant gardenia corasges. Coincidentally, the bloom is a favorite of both of our mothers.


The groom and wedding coordinator gave out last minute directions and smoothed unexpected kinks.


Me with my abuelita:

This is one of my favorite pictures of me with my dad.

My mom gave me her wedding ring as my 'something borrowed'. I was expecting her to loan me a different, less sentimental ring, so I was surprised and honored.







We snuck a few pictures in the chapel before the guests were seated.


I can't believe how gigantic my dress looed from the rear. It never seemed that big in the garment bag, but after putting it on it appears that I could hide my own pretzel cart under the train. Mmm...pretzel.


My husband likes pictures of me making funny faces. I did my best Bridezilla for him in this photo.

Labels: photography, wedding

posted by Alison 2/04/2008 11:38:00 AM : (0) comments : splink


Sunday, December 09, 2007

The Lollipops Get Hitched: Part 2 - Please Help Me; I Can't Dress Myself

Part 1: Tryin' to Get the Pretty

Ah, it's been a while. A month or two ago I managed to get a promotion at work. The good news is that I get to run my own project and hire people. The bad news is that I work longer hours and have less time for blogging. Wah! Still, Mr. Lollipop and I had a wonderful wedding day and I really want to share our pictures.



All photos below are courtesy of Purvis Photography.

My arrival at St. Andrew's Episcopal:


My lovely $100 dress, a garment I learned to love again:


My mom and I puzzled over my broken iron. No steaming for us.


Here is the full view of the wrinkles. We never did get the iron functioning and after five minutes I said 'screw it' and put on my dress. Luckily, it was a warm day so the wrinkles fell out on their own.


Sadly, I couldn't put my own shoes on without falling over. Wedding dresses are heavier than they appear.


My mom looked great!


Me with my veil over my face during adjustments:


My veil attached to my comb using tiny neodymium magnets. We did this so I could take it on and off without disturbing my hair.


Finally, a look in the mirror...

a hug from my mom...

...(She did get a little weepy.)...(Aww.)...


...and I'm on my way.


Meanwhile...

Labels: photography, wedding

posted by Alison 12/09/2007 11:08:00 PM : (0) comments : splink


Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Take Your Photographer to the Zoo Day

Some of you might remember that I fired our original photographer one month before our wedding. In hindsight, it was probably one of the best things I could have done to make our event less stressful, mostly because we ended up hiring a wonderful photographer, Mike Purvis. Instead of fighting us about how/when/what of our pictures, Mike listened and did his best to give us exactly what we wanted. While his services and those of his partner, Summer, are more expensive than our original guy, I feel like it was money well spent on two photographers who really clicked with us.

Plus, as a bonus, Mike did a walk-through with me for both of our venues. Both were new to him and there was a good possibility that the Pittsburgh Zoo's Aquarium, our reception location, would be a challenge to photograph. So, I met him one day last August and we spent an afternoon at the zoo.

More than anything, it was good practice for me. I am not used to being photographed and it was nice to have a chance to get used to being in front of the camera.


I'll admit that I had fun trying to act casual while Mike snapped dozens of pictures.


He managed to get some good location photos and we might use a few of these to round out the album. I especially liked this shot of the underwater tunnel,


and this shot of the aquarium's indoor jungle.


Mike also caught some great shots of the animals. For instance, this peacock peaking in the window on the aquarium roof,


or this curious fish,


or one of the impassive bears in the exhibit just a stone's throw from the aquarium.


Mike also had a chance to visit our ceremony venue and talk to our officiant, Rector Bruce Robison. It was a huge relief to me for them to work out the photography rules ahead of time. I wanted great photographs, but ones that wouldn't annoy or distract our pastor, a man we greatly respect. I am pleased to report that I didn't notice either photographer during the ceremony. Good job with the ninja skills, guys!

Labels: aquarium, photography, wedding, zoo

posted by Alison 10/31/2007 07:06:00 PM : (0) comments : splink


Monday, October 08, 2007

Photos from Friends and Family

I admit it, we totally stole Ms. Lemon's idea to collect photos from friends and family using flickr. We printed our account information on the back of our seating cards, and while they weren't as pretty as Madame Lemon's, they did the trick. Well, it helped to have a bridesmaid willing to cajole people by email. (Go Aileen!)

We ended up with some wonderful photos that have a slightly different perspective than our professional ones. My favorite is the shot below of us immediately after the ceremony.


Some photos captured memorable moments even before our photographers arrived. We made the boys wait in the basement after I ran home to get my dress. I didn't want Mr. Lollipop to see me after I'd had my hair and makeup done.

Other pictures revealed the point of view of our friends and family. Along side our professional pictures they provided a more complete record of the day.

I needed lots of help getting my shoes on.


My ladies looked fabulous as they waited for pre-ceremony pictures.


We took a long ride up the zoo escalator to get to the aquarium shuttle.


The best man served as guardian over our plastic Blessed Virgin Mary as we moved her from the ceremony to the reception.


Some of our friends clowned around in the tunnels around the stingray tank.

There are many more photos still to come once our professional shots are ready for release. Stay tuned!

Labels: photography, wedding

posted by Alison 10/08/2007 12:18:00 AM : (0) comments : splink


Monday, August 06, 2007

Hijacking an Art Exhibit for Engagement Photos

As you can probably tell by now, we tend to do things our own way. And that way tends to be the cheapskate way. So, instead of hiring someone to pose us on the Monongahela Overlook we decided to take advantage of one of our favorite places in Pittsburgh, the Mattress Factory Art Museum and do it ourselves.

The art museum was built out of (as you might have guessed) an defunct mattress factory. It's a highly interactive museum for one geared towards adults; most of the exhibits are 'experienced' rather than viewed. One of the permanent installations is a set of two rooms with polka dot floors and mirrors on all the walls and the ceiling.

We spent a Saturday morning last December laying on the floor of one of the exhibits trying to get something we could send out with our Christmas cards. Since we weren't planning on sending our photos to the newspaper for an announcement we decided that we could afford to be a little unconventional. I made the dress in the photo myself, adapting a shirt pattern into a full length shirt dress.

We sent a few different versions to friends and family:



This one is my favorite, but I screwed up the exposure timing and not even Photoshop could save it from the resulting weird coloring:

Labels: engagement, mattress factory, photography, wedding

posted by Alison 8/06/2007 01:41:00 PM : (0) comments : splink


Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Our First Vendor Blip

Arg...I'm kicking myself a little for not doing better research on our photographer. I hired his company after going to a bridal show and hating every photography booth except for his. I really liked the style of his photography and decided that it was worth the significant expense. However, since then I found two online reviews, both negative. I decided that we could avoid most of the pitfalls mentioned in the reviews by having a clear list of the photos we wanted and being up front about our priorities.

Well, we had our last meeting with our photographer before the wedding and it didn't go so smoothly. We have had two prior meetings, and each went amicably. In the mean time, I've had a chance to look at photographs from other weddings and decide what I want for mine. Going in to this meeting, I knew that in addition to traditional ceremony posed shots and candid reception shots I wanted photographs of the reception venue and its set-up before the guests arrive and the tables get trashed. With this in mind, I signed up for two photographers so we could get the coverage we need.

Here is how things went wrong: First, he expanded the six shots we wanted for our posed session to more than 24, by moving most of the pre-ceremony shots to the post-ceremony session. Then, our photographer insisted that both he and the assistant photographer be present for our entire posed shot session, and no, one of them cannot go to the venue early to cover the reception details. Why? Because the posed shots will suffer and pictures of people are more important than pictures of things. I know he's the professional, and pictures of us with our families are a top priority, but he didn't seem to get how important seeing pictures of the (non-trashed) details were to me. Our wedding is pretty heavy on the DIY, so most of the details represent the hard work and creativity of my loved ones and myself. Unfortunately, there was no compromise on his end.

My disappointment colored the rest of the meeting, and poor Mr. Lollipop tried to play diplomat, but didn't meet with much success. The short end of it is that our photographer is going to do what he wants to do and we'll need to hire a third (!) photographer to get the shots we want. Crap. It's too late to hire anyone else and we've already paid a hefty deposit.

The moral here is to always check online reviews before handing over a deposit.

Labels: photography, wedding

posted by Alison 7/25/2007 09:40:00 AM : (0) comments : splink

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