the wedding: part 1
So this is it. Here is our wedding. Smashed down into two blog posts (that means there is only one more).
Photos by Liesl of Photo Pink
(except no. 10, by Shawn Bannon)
makeup by Jennifer Luna
hair by Tina Lasker
dress made by Rebecca Dominguez
suit jacket by Denver Bespoke
officiant Elysia Skye
location Natural History Museum of Los Angeles
next…details, food, decor and dancing…
and in case you missed it…getting ready for the wedding
easter brunch
Well, we managed to pull everything together and put together a lovely Easter brunch. We even managed to snag an amazing dining set, including a beautiful hutch and a buffet, from Craigslist and pick it up on Saturday. There was a lot of cooking and moving of furniture and cleaning (as we still haven’t quite moved in 100%) but I’m proud to say it went off without a hitch.
We reused the wonderful moss centerpieces from our rehearsal party along with a few pieces we have in our china collection. I am totally in love with this bunny.
We also used the cloth napkins that we got for our wedding (which you’ll be seeing in action, in the next few days). Clearly I have a thing for bunnies. While we do have a lovely set of spring themed dishes, we were one setting short. This mismatched mushroom plate fit in nicely though.
I even tried my hand at flower arranging for the occasion. I obviously chose a vase that was much too large, for my flower selection, but I was really happy with the extra color.
I had to get a little fancy and make these french toasts with asparagus and orange beurre blanc that I found on Martha Stewart. Of course, with a few simple substitutions, I was able to veganize the entire recipe. They were a lovely addition to the brunch, slightly decadent, but not too sweet or overwhelming of the other dishes.
I’ve never had a beurre blanc sauce before so I’m not sure if I made it quite right but it was extremely tasty.
Cooking in our new kitchen is a dream. For the first time, I have sunlight in the kitchen. It’s an amazing thing.
Shawn’s one request was a deep dish quiche filled vegan bacon and daiya cheese. I used the broccoli quiche recipe as the base from Vegan Brunch
Alicia brought some delicious roasted Brussels sprouts and a carrot ginger soup with cashew pesto. So good. I also made some roasted spring vegetables but forgot to photograph them. Oops!
My mom made an orange quinoa salad. Definitely an orange theme this year.
Nine of us fit at our new table! I still can’t believe we found it.
With so many different dishes, we had to fill our plates many times with small servings. Here’s round one with the french toast, quiche, soup and veggies.
Mochi really wanted to be part of the party.
I made some molasses candies as a treat. Having never made them before, I’m pretty pleased with how they came out. I think I could take another crack at it though. I used blackstrap molasses so they were particularly strong. Ideally I’d prefer them to be a bit more subtle and less chewy. Of course, they should also be coated in chocolate. Making candy is like making magic.
Luckily my mom brought an assortment of chocolates from Xan confectioners.
It was a wonderful day filled with family and friends. It definitely showed me how much it takes to host a good party. Thank goodness I had help with the dishes. Now I’m just glad I have the rest of my Sunday to relax.
sanctuary
For Earth Day, I wanted to take a moment and share some of the photos from our trip the the Karori Bird Sanctuary in Wellington, New Zealand. This sanctuary is a massive forested area surrounded by a pest proof fence so the birds are safe from predators. While the birds are allowed to come and go if they wish, they’re provided with additional food inside the sanctuary to help them thrive.
We walked around for quite awhile before we actually saw any birds as we chose a more secluded path. You could hear them calling but would only see the swaying trees.
Then we found the Kaka feeders and were soon surrounded by a flurry of the brown parrots, ready for snacks.
Down in the valley, we found so many other species of smaller birds flying about, playing and chirping.
There was this duck (who I affectionately call Quackers) who was very curious about me and sat down right next to me at a shady spot on a bench.
We walked around for hours enjoying the tranquility of the area, listening and looking for birds.
It was deeply affecting to learn how much New Zealand has been transformed by humans. It is hard to believe that there used to be 12 foot tall flightless birds roaming the island freely. With a saddening amount of extinction, especially amongst bird life, I’m thankful that there are places like the Karori Sanctuary taking action to preserve the endangered species still struggling.
As an island, the environmental impact of everyday life in New Zealand is much more clear. Where here in the US, many are able to push aside ideas about living greener, it seemed to be the general consensus of everyone in New Zealand to conserve and preserve the magical environment that we all reside in.
I hope you celebrate Earth Day by doing what you can to protect our precious world, even in some small way.
and so it begins
I’m going to tell you now that the hardest thing about posting these photos will be not giving a commentary on each one. Instead I will try to let them tell the story on their own.
Starting with the preparations…
Hair by Tina Lasker
Makeup by Jennifer Luna
Dress designed by me, made by Rebecca Dominguez
Garter by Jennifer Luna
Shoes from Beyond Skin
Images by the wonderful Liesl of Photo Pink
coming soon
Well my dears, it’s been a strenuous weekend of packing and unpacking, but I couldn’t not share just one of the many amazing photos from our wedding which I now have in my possession.
Normally I jump the gun and share things before I probably should, so just know this it is extremely difficult to not just post everything. There are a lot of photos though, so I wouldn’t do that to you. Mainly though, the photos are basically the last little bit of surprise I have left about the wedding before it’s really over.
So I’m going to hold out just a little bit longer (but not too much longer, don’t worry).
Look forward to: dinosaurs, elephants, ghosts, vintage outfits, crazy outfits, my goofy faces, terrariums, moss, marble, lots of lace and possibly some shirtless dancing men (and by possibly I mean definitely).
Photo by Photo Pink
