La Vuelta al Mundo: Gente de espaldas

This month for La vuelta al mundo the fun and versatile Jackie asked us to take photos of people from the back. This is my contribution. It was fun and hard at the same time, specially when trying to "steal" pictures from strangers. I have to recognize, though, that some of this pics are from our archives, and to give credit where is due, some of the pics were obviously taken by the boy (we always kind of do the assignments together). Did you do it? Hope you had fun with the challenge.

Thank you

 Thanks to all of you who put up with were here reading this wedding series every day. When I started writing recaps, I thought I would be done within a week or a week and a half max. As it turned out,  it ended up taking me 3 weeks. If by any chance a bride-to-be stumbles upon this posts, I hope they can be of help or inspiration. In the same line, I would like to thank those sources I found here and there that helped and inspired us during our wedding planning, and who knows, maybe they can also help another couple somewhere.
- There is of course A practical wedding. All those smart discussions are not to be missed. I can assure you,  you will keep going back. Don't be misguided by the title, it is not only about weddings, though mostly, yes. It is a community, it is support,  it is breaking the mould and finding your way. Go check, you'll see what I mean.
-You can read all of Meg's wedding planning here. I originally found her blog in a rather superficial way by googling something like "wedding dress not poofy, not strapless, not sparkly". Then I was hooked.
-For pretty inspiration I loved Green Wedding Shoes.
-If you can read french, Mademoiselle Dentelle is full of original ideas and sane advice as well (Now she also writes at  Madame Dentelle with recipes, home improvement and all kinds of tips) .
-For a different perspective you can go to Jolis mariages and Tren di Nozze, french and italian wedding and party inspiration blogs.
-When you want a break of it all, I recommend East Side Bride with her no-nonsense fashion and sometimes general life advice. She is hilarious. The  Broke ass Bride is also very funny and full of practical ideas.
-You should also absolutely read "Comment être une vraie princesse mais en moins coincée"  by Iris se Marie, where she describes what we can learn from the royals, or how to look like a princess without looking like a 5 year old. No really. Read it. It is one of the funniest things I found, I want to print it or something. (And sorry, there is no direct link to the post itself but it is the 2nd post from the top on the first link)
-Then there is Robin at Hitchdied, who keeps starting smart conversations and rebels against all the cultural b******t that society dictates on women, in the context of her own wedding planning. But in a very funny way.
-Sharon, who writes at Bride Sans Tulle, is wise, thoughtful, sweet and sassy. You can read about her wedding day and planning on her blog. Her wedding grad at A Practical Wedding is one of my all time favorites.
-Lauren's prewedding adventures are also worth a read. Post edit: Here is her wedding graduate post and you can read more about her fabulous wedding here and here.
-Ines just started a series about her lovely lovely wedding. She wore salmon shiny shoes and made her dress and all kinds of cool games for her guests. I can't wait to read what she has to say.
-And Peonies and the Boy's wedding is also one of the most beautiful I ever saw. These days she writes about her life in the UK, she seems so wise and kind. Oh and her pictures. Make me dream.
I hope to see you back here  on Monday... on our regular random subjects :) Thanks again !

It's hard to model.

 Oh yes. I wonder if it is also hard for other people. For those with the coolest pictures ever. And yeah, I am talking about the wedding pictures. I am very happy with the end result, but boy, was it awkward. I guess that is the advantage of the so-called engagement sessions. You get to "practice", to be more comfortable with the camera and with your photographer. I remember being there and feeling stupid the whole time (boy had the same). Should we laugh? Should we look serious? Yes, yes it is all about being "ourselves" and forgetting that the camera is there but when the photographer is looking for a certain shot, well he tells you where to stand and what to do and that just kind of kills the moment. We did manage to get some of those trendy shots. We love graffittis and we are always taking pictures in front of them, whenever we have a chance.

 So when we discovered an abandoned graffitied school we wanted to take some pics there. We actually wanted to have the reception there, but we asked the city and it was not allowed because of fire regulations.

We also had some of those "classic" shots taken, just in case.

But in the end, my favorite pictures are the ones that were taken "spontaneously" when we weren't even trying. When we really did manage to forget this was a photoshoot.

This one for instance is the one we chose to frame and put over our bed, it looks very romantic and all, but acually I was looking at the dogs. I was like: "oh Terranovas. Ar those Newfoundandlers ? Ohhh are they gonna jump in the lake now?"

* All photos, except the first one, by Fotoflex

Oh flowers.

I learnt so much about flowers. I didn't really have particularly strong ideas when it came to flowers. Except for the fact that I banned roses, all I wanted was a wild, sylvester look.

 I was so happy with the end result, I think mostly because it was kind of a surprise. We originally wanted to go for antique china and glass vases, and painted tins, but like I told you a while ago here, that stuff is expensive. Even in flea markets. I never really got all those DIY weddings where this kind of style was supposedly so "cheap" . We had ideas though. At some point the plan was to go to France and get a full case of classic Orangina glass bottles and use them for that purpose. Except one more time, the swedish people saved the day. We found this and  this vases when we were not looking for them and we were all set.What's more, at the end of the reception they doubled as "favors" and everyone was happy.

  I am not sure if it is usual, but in Mexico it is quite typical for guests to take the centerpieces home. We loved the fact that our guests (and us) would be able to reuse the pretty vases. Oh but you know what was the best part ? I learnt that Dahlias are Mexico's national flower, and it is funny how unknowingly they became a part of it. First of all, Leontine, the lovely girl who prepared our flowers, used them in the arrangements. But also, unaware of this information, I just spontaneously chose them,  the night before at the supermarket,  for the kids' baskets and fountain decoration that we prepared the last moment.

  I think preparing those baskets was the closest I got to the weddig day Zen. Don't get me wrong, I was overjoyed the whole day, but not calm. I guess calm is just not me. I was more like happy hyper.

 I learnt that Nerines come from South Africa, and I learnt other names like Delphinium. , Gerberas...  (Clearly I was almost flower illiterate, because some of these flowers are well known). The girl who did our flowers really was amazing. She also made pretty flower barrettes for my mom, sister and me:

If you are looking for inspiration, I really recommend you check out Sophie's blog, I heart flowers. She makes pretty, pretty stuff and if you are in the UK, you're in luck. 

*Photos again by Fotoflex, our friend Celia, my sister, and Isis our lovely sister in law.

Our first dance

 I have to start this post by telling you how clumsy I am. Once, during a salsa lesson, the professor (a cuban guy) directly told me that I was hopeless, that I had no sense of rythm whatsoever. So we knew this was gonna be a challenge, but the boy is quite a good dancer. Imagine, I had no idea that the boy is supposed to lead and that the girl is supposed to follow. What ? Really? I am so used to doing my thing, my uncoordinated-jumping-one-arm-shaking-in-the-air thing that I do to almost every song. It's my move. Since we didn't want to make complete fools out of ourselves, we thought we might as well practice a little. The first songs that we tried to were too slow and we didn't really know what to do. At the same time, we wanted a song that represented us a bit. And so the first song we tried was this one, because we thought this dancing scene was so cool:

 You all know Zoey Deschanel right? The girl from 500 days of Summer? Well turns out she also sings, and I love love love her songs. That 60's sound of it, the funny, quirky, sweet lyrics. Her band is called She & Him, for those who are curious. And when we found this song, we knew it was it. More like when we danced to it we felt the rythm was right, that it was kind of fast but not so much and it just clicked. Well not spontaneously, of course. The boy had to guide me, to tap the rythm to me so I would get it. To explain that I shouldn't just turn, that I should turn while still following the beat of the music. But that was pretty much it. And I really love the happy tune and words of the song.

Oh and if you are in search for ideas, you know what's cool and still not overly done? A flashmob. No really. I want to organize one for someone now !

* Photos and video by our family friend Ankie, special thanks. 

A love affair

with Cymbeline. Oh yes. It all started when I was on my first year of medicine, in Geneva. We were supposed to be learning every bone, muscle, tendon, vein, and instead, the older sister of one of my best friends was going to get married and so we spent our time in the library looking at wedding dress catalogs. That's how I first found out about this lovely dresses. Then, when I lived at a student residence in Carouge, a pretty neighbourhood  in Geneva, the tramway line that would take me to the university every day (line 12 if you are curious) passed every day in front of the boutique and so the daydreaming started.

Strange enough, when I moved to Barcelona there was also a Cymbeline boutique very close to my place so those dreamy dresses were always in my mind and in my sight. I already told you the story of the dress that I couldn't have. Well, it was a Cymbeline. When we went to France  last year, I kind of forced the boy to take me to a shop because I just wanted to look at the dresses. We were there in August, and in France, summer is sacred and lots of businesses just close for vacations. Look at me when I found out that sad piece of information.

Luckily, in another town nearby there was a boutique that had just reopened from their summer break and that's where I found THE shoes. It was just meant to be. The lace in the straps matched almost exactly the lace overlay in my wedding dress, and they only had a pair left, that fitted.

 I can only highly recommend Cymbeline. In my experience in 2 different boutiques in different countries, the staff was always incredibly nice, outgoing, friendly. And I just absolutely love their dresses. The company was founded by 3 sisters, that incorporate the french savoir-faire and old traditions of haute-couture and highest quality materials with the newest techniques. Every year I am there waiting for the new collection to come out just so I can drool over the screen. And their photoshoots in Paris, are so magical and glamorous and oh so french. Just take a look, and dream on...

*Photos by Fotoflex, by my sister and by the boy.

Summer arrived in September

Finally, the last few weekends we have had some truly sunny days. Oh joy. We biked through the dunes and until the beach. Thought I would share with you. And there were jellyfish. Jellyfish. Didn't expect to see them in the freezing North Sea.

Red or Yellow?

So is it gonna be red? 

Or is it going to be yellow?

Which do you like best ? We can't seem to decide... Let me know in your comments. Then I can make a graph.

Thanks for the funny chart ESB (hope you don't mind)

 Photos via here and here.

After the wedding.

Our reception finished around 18:30. By then, people were starting to get hungry again. So we all spontaneously decided to go for dinner at the beach, Scheveningen. Thing is, we are a disorganized crowd. Those days I learnt an english idiom: herding cats. That's exactly how it was. My parents went there first, with the rest of our extended family from Switzerland (aunts, uncles, cousins) and some of his friends from his university days at political science, that he hadn't seen since back then, and funny enough he got back in contact with through Facebook.

 We (Mark, my brother, his girl, brother in law, and my friends from university) were supposed to meet them there. But the beach is soo long, that we never found each other. We walked and walked and walked, and then realized that we weren't going to be able to meet. We were in contact with phones, but my dad being new to the place was unable to explain us where they were and as hard as we looked, it didn't happen. So we had dinner at a lounge bar by the beach.

It is a good thing that the next day we had kind of organized something. Well, we just went all together for lunch to one of our favorite places, Little V. It is a small Vietnamese restaurant in a pretty square at the beginning of China town in Den Haag. I loved  that at the end, when they saw we were celebrating, they gave Mark and me a special coconut drink inside a coconut for us to share.

 The next days were spent visiting around with our family, that had stayed for a few days longer, meeting for lunch or coffee here and there, because it is impossible for everyone to want to see the same places at the same time. Coordinating and explaining the touristic and interesting spots to see was a fun task. Oh yes, this is how tired we looked the day after.

 

 *Photos by our friends Kamala and Celia.