These question and answer posts are steadily becoming my favorite types of posts. You guys submit some really intense (AND CHALLENGING FOR ME) questions. Crossing my fingers every time I answer one of these things, since you just really never know.
Forgot to say happy afternoon – happy afternoon! Good to see ya. One to two sentence house update: the radon test came back at 2.5 (anything over 4 is cause for action according to the gov’t) sooo, we’re a little punched up. Radon is apparently linked to uranium and what’s in play here is the likelihood of acquiring cancer in the home you’ve just tested for radon but whatever it’s nothing. Right? I’m sure it’s nothing. O_o
The bridal shoot we’re featuring in the pictures part of today’s post offers hefty, satisfying doses of tabletop inspiration, treat love, and bridal style for miles. So we’re so pleased that Kristi, of Kristi Wright Photography, thought to submit the bright n cheery loveliness of it all. Today’s shoot is what I think of when I think of a super chill, super tasteful bridal shoot, and I wanna do one RIGHT NOW. Bambino, get my makeup bag! Mommeh’s gonna put some effort in tonight, she feels inspired! Ok the feeling’s passed.
Now. Before I move into part one (which is today’s question from our reader) I haz a quick question for Kristi. Kristi- did you guys eat the cakes in the shoot? There are a whole lotta cakes in the shoot, and they leave a whole lotta unanswered questions about the specific ways everyone chose to break down those damn lovely cakes. Inquiring minds want to know! (So far it is just me who wants to know but I’m sure there’s more…Bambino, for example – he LOVES hearing about cake!
See? Yeah so did you have a cake fight, or what? Did you guys throw cake directly at each other’s mouths, simultaneously fighting with, AND eating, the slices of cake… serendipitously ‘having your cake and eating it, too?’
OH speaking of cake, Marie Antoinette, who happens to be a source of inspiration for this shoot, said something once about cake <== TRANSITION WIN
MOVING ON TO MORE ADULT MATTERS: today’s question from a reader happens right now. You might wanna put on your serious pants for this one…
Dear TKB:
This will probably sound weird but I’m hoping you and your readers could give me some informed reassurance.
I’m marrying my partner of almost 7 years next Spring. I’m excited, he’s excited. I’m not so much writing to get reassurance about our relationship, I do feel that I know (as well as anyone could possible know this kind of thing I mean) that he’s right for me, and I know that he feels that way about me. It’s not about that.
It’s about the fact that my parents are divorced (when my sister and I were teenagers; I’m almost 30 now). And now we’re watching as his parents go through that process. It’s a painful, disillusioning thing to watch, especially when it’s a couple you believed would make it.
So I’m a little scared of marriage right now. I can’t see that we would ever find ourselves wanting to separate, but I also don’t have the pleasure of being naive about these things, having gone through now two divorces between two couples I believed in. His parents seemed meant for one another, as did my parents. (My parents never let on about their unhappiness when we were growing up, but to this day they don’t even speak).
I just want to feel upbeat again about getting married. I’d love to hear some stories of people who’ve experienced/witnessed longlasting love, since I’m lacking right now on examples. I’m in love with the wonderful man I get to marry next year, but I can’t kick this nagging fear of the seeming inevitability of it all, ever since his parents told us. I also don’t feel like I have anyone to talk to about this. I don’t want to make my parents feel bad about splitting and I know they will if I bring this thing up.
Really anything you and your readers could offer up, I would truly appreciate hearing. Thanks for taking the time to read.
~ Feeling Jaded
Dear Miss Jaded,
Our friends Will and Kate (which is what we’ll call them for this blog post) live next door to a middle-aged couple we’ve met only a few times. Will and Kate live in suburbia, and whenever we leave the city to visit them not only can we breathe with unrivaled ease, but we sometimes chill with them and their neighbors, Prince Harry and Random-Girl-From-Nightclub. Ok that’s not going to work. Harry and Sally, we’ll call them.
Harry and Sally are lovely; they’re both super likable, down to earth people. There’s a lot of love and friendliness there, and they’ve always given me the feeling of being a proper match. You know when you meet a couple and you walk away thinking they are one another’s adjoining puzzle piece? Don’t always see that in couples so it’s nice when you do. You remember it. And I don’t remember much of anything so great couples are clearly one of life’s pleasures for me.
Well about three months ago, Kate told me her neighbors had separated. One of the pair moved into an apartment in a nearby town while the other stayed put. It was pretty sad to hear that news. Mostly because it is, plainly, pretty sad news, but also because every time I get to know a couple that seems so uniquely *right* for one another, I take a mental snapshot of it and file it under evidence that “it” can work. So you’re not weird for wanting we strangers to share with you some real examples of lasting love from our own personal circles. For me, real life examples of love being effectively maintained between two people – especially when it’s up against overwhelming odds – these stories of love are the only things that keep me believing in it. I always thought that, if you deeply love one another, and you are cognizant of the fact that relationships take work, then in most cases, you’re going to make it for the long haul. I wasn’t looking forward to trashing their file.
Anyway. Kate told me a funny story last week– early one morning she was woken up by what sounded like an animal stuck in the wall, whaling to be freed. The moaning seemed to be getting increasingly more desperate, so she called Will up to the bedroom to help her locate it. They never discovered the precise whereabouts of the animal, however they did notice that there was some howling coming from the neighbors’ bedroom. She looked to the driveway, and that’s when she noticed both Harry and Sally’s cars. They were parked side by side. And since then, Sally’s car has been in the driveway more nights than it hasn’t. Things are starting to look up.
Or they’re just having sex. THE POINT IS:
People who have that right mix of belonging with one another have a great shot at making it work, and often find their way back. But nothing is for certain, and I wouldn’t think of offering you guarantees, though I’m sure that’s not something you’re expecting out of this. You seem to be after a renewed feeling that we have some semblance of control over our futures and our relationships. I wish we did too. We don’t. We just have to take it as it comes, and in the meantime work as hard as we can at showing the one we love how gahdamn f**king much we f**king love that sunnuvabeach.
Update on Harry and Sally: The sexual healing going on in that bedroom has awoken Kate (and Will) three more times, which brings Kate (and myself) a renewed sense of joy every time we know they’re back together working on things. However she reports that the novelty of overhearing your neighbors reuniting at the genitals wears off after around the first time you hear it. “It was so shocking and funny to catch them that first time but now it’s just like, ‘I would really like to get some sleep, please. Can you bang in the living room?’”
I’d like to turn it over to you guys now, as we move into the picture part of today’s post. Given Miss Jaded’s letter, this is great time to share some of those love stories you’ve got, so don’t hesitate if you’ve got it in you!
Alrighty! I’ve got some rather tasty eye candy for your faces today, mostly because it is like so totally fancy and I am just super in the mood for fancy stuff not that I’m unique or anything. I think it’ll brighten up this otherwise sorta serious little hump day post, right? Couldn’t hurt.
Here’s how Kristi described the mission of the shoot, style-wise:
We wanted to create an atmosphere inspired by Europea
I am fuhh-REAKING out over the light in these images.
So let’s talk:
What are you thinking when it comes to Miss Jaded’s question for Dear TKB?
And when it comes to cake, DO YOO LUVVIT? Also, OMG THIS SHOOT. On a scale of 1 to 10 I cartwheeled five consecutive times before fainting. So a 9.5? Yeah a 9.5 sounds right.
xoxo - Alison
P.P.S. – who’s watching the debate tonight?
Photography: Kristi Wright Photography / Venue: Chateau Bellevue (Austin, TX) / Styling and Paper Goods: Bird Dog Wedding / Cake: Jenny Baer Baking (site under construction) / Makeup: Ellie Vixie / Hair: Erin Jantzen at Mint Salon / Flowers: Verbena Floral Design / Shoes: Jimmy Choo, Dallas TX (shoe design is ‘Logan’) / Dress: Amy Kuschel from Unbridaled, Austin TX (the design is ‘Pearl’) / Veil: vintage