Ruby Slippers: January 2009

30 January, 2009

Photographer Friday: Ksenija Savic

Today's Photographer Friday features Ksenija Savic. I love her combination of bright fresh colours, moody textures, and dreamy romance...

29 January, 2009

Video: Walking in

I thought I'd share the actual moment(s) with you! The bridesmaids walking into the chapel, followed by my entrance. I was going to do two separate videos, but I got lazy and just stuck them together with a jump cut. Apologies.

There's nothing like video with sound. This really gives you a feeling of what it was actually like. I love the music I picked out (though I wish my Dad's friend had got the beginning of my music, because it builds so nicely), and of course, you can really see how I went from perky bride to about-to-cry-bride, back to I'm-okay!-bride in the space of ten seconds. Enjoy!

Down the Yellow Brick Road Part IX: Down the Aisle.

While we were faffing around outside, the crowd was going wild with excitement:

Can't you just feel the anticipation? :P

Finally! Here come my beautiful ladies! I was still hiding out of sight outside, of course.

For some reason, Sister Ruby Slippers walked in looking really shy and nervous - until she caught her husband's eye and giggly-smiled. I must ask him if he pulled a face or something! (That's him at the very edge of the right hand side):

The useful staff at The Moon & Sixpence closed the doors behind the girls so that I could approach without being seen too much. Well, there's only so much you can do with glass doors! I was really pleased, because I had no idea if they were going to do this, and I really wanted it to happen!

Here my Dad leads me across to the chapel:

And a view from behind us, which I edited in photoshop for some colour variety. This washed-out look doesn't always work for me, but I like it here:

Aaaaand...I'm in! I wanted a silhouette-looking entrance photo, so I tried this in photoshop:

I can honestly say this was the most overwhelmingly happy I've ever been in my life. I had really wanted to do the serene, smiling gracefully bride walk down the aisle. Instead, I ended up grinning from ear to ear, trying to wave at my friends with my eyebrows, and just generally being like a kid trying to contain his excitement in a shop filled with Christmas presents. This is okay. I'm not that serene, calm, elegant bride. I'm that "so-happy-that-I'm-actually-past-the-point-of-crying-bride", also known as the "so-excited-I-could-jump-up-and-down-bride".

It was such an amazing feeling to see all the people I know and love, all so happy to see ME. It's impossible to describe. I've never felt so overwhelmingly overwhelmed, and so full of emotion I didn't know what to do with!

There was actually a very sweet moment as we walked through the doors. I've told you before that I love the movie Father of the Bride, and that I watched it the night before the wedding. Well, in the movie, Steve Martin and his daughter are waiting to walk into the church, and he steps forward, and she stops him because it's not time yet. That exact thing happened here! My Dad was all set to walk in as the helpful door-guy opened the doors, but I held him back, because the music (the theme from Father of the Bride!) wasn't at exactly the right point I wanted to enter yet. We had gone over this in rehearsal but my Dad's a bit scatty! Anyway, I didn't mind. It was all too fabulous to mind something like that!

Here are some more of us walking in:

I wish I'd practised how to hold a bouquet. It looks way too high.

Googly-eyed Bride:

Breathe, just breathe....

Mr Ruby Slippers makes his first photo appearance as we reach the front of the chapel. I can't say "altar" because there wasn't one.

My Dad is totally excited to be giving me away:

Lifting the veil:

Ouch...watch..the...hair...

So that lovely veil was quite the mission for my poor Dad to lift back over my head and straighten out. It was pretty funny, though.

I cannot remember what he was whispering to me here, but I like the image:

Actually, maybe he's just still straightening my veil!

Then as we stepped up onto the main platformy area, my girls (primed beforehand) kindly straightened my train for me:

And there I was, face to face with the man I'd met randomly four years before; who, on the first day we met, showed me how to paint flames onto a black stage flat, whose dvd collection made me fancy him a little, who was the reason I kept going to boring house parties thrown by his housemate, who kissed me for the first time on Christmas Day 2004, and who, in a few minutes, would become my husband.

Amazing.

Previously:
Part I: The Night Before
Part II: Salon, Supermarket & Judy Garland
Part III: Setting Up
Part IV: Prettifying
Part V: All Bridalled Up
Part VI: For the Boys
Part VII: Going to the Chapel and We're...
Part VIII: Meanwhile, Back at the Chapel...

28 January, 2009

Photo of the Day

Doesn't this photo by Lucida Photography look just like a painting? Love it!

27 January, 2009

Down the Yellow Brick Road Part VIII: Meanwhile, back at the Chapel...

So what was happening whilst we girls were primping, prettifying and posing?

The chapel was looking just beautiful:

The pens were waiting to sign the register:

The tissues I'd set out for my weepy family were in place:

The Mother/Father of the Bride/Groom signs looked great:

My petal cones, filled by Sister, BFF and Aunt Ruby Slippers were waiting in the entranceway:

Meanwhile, Mr Ruby Slippers greeted his two bosses with the proper decorum. The one on the right with his glasses on his head is marrying, in December, the girl Mr RS is about to hug . I really hope we're invited. I haven't been to a wedding since April 2006. Not including ours, obviously. And I luurve weddings.

I have to say that this is one part of the day that I, of course, missed entirely, and I'm kind of sad about that. Granted, the "are you nervous?" comments and "It's not too late to back out now!" jokes might have annoyed me, but mostly I would just have loved to be there and see everyone arrive and chat to them and mingle and share my excitement. Still, it's the price you pay for a Big Reveal.

Here Sister-in-Law Ruby Slippers, her friend Jen, and MIL-Ruby Slippers enjoy the free welcome drinks outside the chapel. I missed those, too. But they did send sandwiches to my room, and we had complimentary orange juice, champagne and tea and coffee!

SIL-Ruby Slippers and her boyfriend had just broken up about six weeks before the wedding, and since they'd been together for seven years (much longer than Mr RS and I!) we said she could bring a friend instead of him, so that she wouldn't feel too bad. We don't really spend much time with SIL-RS , so she didn't know anyone else at the wedding, really.

And then they waited...

And waited....

And looked nervous:

Everyone was ushered inside somewhere around this point, so that when we arrived outside...

The only people waiting were my Dad, his friend Rick (with the camera) and our officiant (in the black vest thingy):

I have no idea what my Dad is doing here; maybe he's going to pretend to steal my nose and make me cry?

And of course they had to fix my veil back over my face, like the proper, demure bride I was:

Did I mention how much I loved my veil??

Apparently I had a speck of mascara just below my eye. BFF Ruby Slippers kindly scraped it off for me:

I know what this face was! My friend Kath (who spells her name just like mine!) came hurrying round the corner, late as usual! She covered her eyes and ran, going "I don't want to spoil it, I'm not looking!" She's so cute. I wish I had a picture of that! My boss (the latest man in the WORLD) and his wife were also late. They were hurrying into the chapel just as we arrived outside. I had told him not two days before that he was 100% without a doubt going to be late, and he assured me he wouldn't. I've heard that pretty much every day I've worked for him.

Meanwhile, my Dad shows off his "Father of the Bride" cufflinks that my cousins gave him before my sister's wedding in 2003.

Me with my Dad. I'm so happy:

My Dad looks so cute here:

And then it was (BREATHE) time to line up and go in! Here are the girls lining up outside the church (yes, all two of them can line up, if I say so!):