Wedding Rings

wedding summary! (part 2)

Question:

> I have this color > of red in my mind which I’ve seen on a few dresses but no one will tell > me which manufacturer makes those dresses. > I’m looking for a dark, bright red.  Not maroon, and not wine.  It’s > like the color of red glass.

I’m to be MOH in a wedding Sept. 4, and our dresses are a similar color, very dark red (like the ‘black magic’ roses!). We ended up having them made (bride’s mom is a seamstress, isn’t she lucky?) but when we were looking at dresses at a bridal shop, they had a book with swatches from most of the manufacturers so that we could find a color we liked and look at dresses in that line.  Perhaps someplace near you  would have this option as well? Jen

Response:

> Which manufacturer did you get your BM dresses from?  I have this color > of red in my mind which I’ve seen on a few dresses but no one will tell > me which manufacturer makes those dresses.

the dresses were made by after six.  there’s a color (same colors as the dessy catalog) called claret, that’s not really red and not really wine. i’ve seen the bari jay berry color, and it’s very similar. i almost wish we’d had the dresses made – i found matching fabric (both satin and georgette) for my flowergirl’s dress, and it would have been cheaper (and in hindsight, much easier) to make them. -becky

Response:

I’m loving this summary – I’ll only "interrupt" for a moment to ask this uick question… Which manufacturer did you get your BM dresses from?  I have this color of red in my mind which I’ve seen on a few dresses but no one will tell me which manufacturer makes those dresses.  I finally managed to coerce a bridal boutique salesgirl into telling me one – there’s a "Berry" by Bari Jay that is beautiful, but it’s a little bit too burghandy-y. I’m looking for a dark, bright red.  Not maroon, and not wine.  It’s like the color of red glass.  You know those old red jelly dishes that our grandparents have?  Like those.  My seamstress says she thinks that Lizette makes "claret red" dresses. Can you help me?? THANK YOU!!  Back to the summary at hand…. ~Crys — ….and the cloud forest around me hummed with the music of contentedness…. Share what you know. Learn what you don’t.

Response:

i stood at the foot of the stairs waiting to go up into the church foyer, and i could hear the string quartet playing.  (fyi, they were quite awful.  that was the one real disappointment of the whole day – i had written all kinds of music for the processional and seating, and it really got butchered.  it was, however, better than they’d been in rehearsal.  what can i say – they tried.) i still had not seen chris since about 11 pm the night before.  we’re rarely apart, so that seemed strange. the next few minutes seemed to stretch on forever – i was more nervous than ever.  somehow all the processionals and seatings and candle lightings happened in the right order and at the right time.  there were no awkward music pauses at least (but then i’d been quite anal about timing those things when i wrote the music), but truthfully it all went by me in a kind of haze.  finally i stood at the back of the aisle with my father, and i could see chris and the church full of people and all our friends standing up front – and i didn’t cry!  i don’t think i’ve ever been so happy in my entire life as i was at that moment. the ceremony was wonderful – we had a performance by my dad and one of the groomsmen singing "blackbird" (a beatles song), and another groomsman had written a song.  chris cried when we exchanged vows. then, in typical fashion, he made everyone there laugh because we had a hard time lighting the unity candle…i don’t even remember what he did, i just remember people laughing and the mood softening.   i also remember looking out at everyone’s face and feeling like my lips might break from smiling so much. i suppose i should take a moment to describe the obligatory Wedding Details:  we got married in nevada city, california.  bridesmaids wore claret red dresses.  my bouquet was two dozen black magic roses (ok, so they’re really dark red).  the woman who did the flowers also put some belladonna in the bouquet that she actually PLANTED in her garden because i said i liked it.  bridesmaids carried bouquets with white roses, and some other mixed flowers in mostly red/purple/blue tones and some statice.  my flower girl threw rose petals on the aisle.  groom and groomsmen and various dads wore tuxes.  my dress was a diamond-white silk shantung jasmine dress, with a dropped waist, short cap sleeves, venice lace on the bodice, and little rosettes around the waist and hem.  for the even more curious, i paid $100 for it at rumors in santa barbara, off the rack.  it’s a discontinued style.  it had to be taken in a little, but was otherwise the first of many really great "finds" along the way.  that store has a good selection of discounted dresses, most of which are, granted, either not terribly stylish, or in need of cleaning and maybe some repair – but every now and then you get lucky! back to the story at hand. chris and i exited to more crappy string quartet music (they were quite jubilant in their playing, just equally out of tune).  i could have cared less at that moment, even though it was actually pretty important to me.  we escaped downstairs for a few minutes and shared what was to be our only private moment for the next 8 hours.  we kissed. then we walked out the front steps of the church, and were greeted by all our guests who had collected in front of the church and started to cheer.  they rang the church bells, and our attendants threw rose petals at us.  it was sickeningly like something out of a julia roberts movie, despite its spontaneity.  we then spent waaaay too long trying to organize the various and sundry family members in the requisite posed photographs.  we really wanted a more candid approach, but we compromised on just a few family shots.  a wise choice, given the time it took to get 15 people in one picture where no one was cross eyed or picking their nose or whatever.  the photographer basically whittled us down to smaller groups, then just chris and i.  the photographer’s assistant followed us as we walked down the street to the hall where the reception was held.  the sun was setting, and he kept stopping us to get "just one more really great shot."  i just wanted dinner at that point. (part 3 coming)

Response:

Filed under: Diamond Wedding Ring