Sam was sweet enough to take a moment before her honeymoon to write this about her wedding day. It's incredibly sweet, and the readings kind of make me want to cry, in a good "wedding-y" sort of way. I actually did cry, BRIEFLY at the wedding. One solitary tear. It was very lady like. I then continued to get my kleenex all caught up in the zipper of my purse, I made a big mess because I was in such a hurry to "blot". Regardless of my tissue mess, everything was beautiful. I'll let Sam tell you all about it~

On a mild, moody and overcast day last weekend, Dave and I got married. The day was filled with preparation. It was surreal to think that later we would be looking each other in the eyes in front of our friends and family and saying our vows. The evening approached and my dad got more and more tense ordering people in and out of the house. My mom (cool as a cucumber) collected the boutonnieres she and I arranged earlier. Erin took some photographs of me and my grandmother and dog in the yard. We drove to the wedding and I waited in one area while Dave waited in another. I was told he was really nervous. Earlier that day he told me he was having stage fright. I told him to take deep breaths, that it’s not a performance. When the moment came to walk down the aisle I thought I was calm but I could hear and feel my heart thumping in my chest. As I walked down the grassy path the wind rustled the leaves and the grey sky looked beautiful and peaceful. Everything brightened as Roland played the violin I drew nearer to Dave’s big glowing smile. The ceremony was beautiful and our friends did their readings with aplomb. Everything after that flew by as if to take place within a moment. It was spectacularly fun to salsa dance, eat cupcakes, watch the slide show and drink mojitos in the company of everyone I love and everyone my new husband loves. It is difficult to express how moving the whole experience was for us. I hope some of these photos help paint the picture.


Two of our favorite readings from the ceremony:

"The Blessing of the Hands," revised by Reverend Daniel L. Harris:

These are the hands of your best friend, young and strong and full of
love for you, that are holding yours on your wedding day, as you
promise to love each other today, tomorrow, and forever.
These are the hands that will work alongside yours, as together you
build your future.
These are the hands that will passionately love you and cherish you
through the years and, with the slightest touch, will comfort you like
no other.
These are the hands that will hold you when fear or grief fills your mind.
These are the hands that will countless times wipe the tears from your
eyes; tears of sorrow and, as in today, tears of joy.
These are the hands that will tenderly hold your children, the hands
that will help you to hold your family as one.
These are the hands that will give you strength when you need it.
And lastly, these are the hands that, even when wrinkled and aged,
will still be reaching for yours, still be giving you the same
unspoken tenderness with just a touch.

From "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" by Louis de Bernieres:

Love is a temporary madness; it erupts like volcanoes and then
subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have
to work out whether your roots have so entwined together that it is
inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is.
Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the
promulgation of eternal passion. That is just being in love, which any
fool can do. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has
burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Those
that truly love have roots that grow towards each other underground,
and when all the pretty blossoms have fallen from their branches, they
find that they are one tree and not two.

Dancing at the reception...




photos are by Erin Gleeson and chad nicholson
davesam.com has a flickr stream with lots more photos if anyone wants to see more.

Only one week until Sam and Dave's wedding! As promised Sam is sharing her ketubah with us, along with her last minute thoughts. Here she is:



I can’t believe we’re getting married next weekend. I have a surreal feeling of excitement and disbelief. We’ve been talking about this and planning little details for so long that it is difficult to believe that next Saturday I’ll wake up and know that Dave and I will be celebrating our love later that day with everyone we love. Time is accelerating. I can’t slow it down. I’ve never been happier and I want it to last. Dave’s truly my best friend in the world. I feel like we’ve known each other forever. I have so many emotions surrounding this event. I can picture his face as I walk toward him. I can picture my parents dancing happily and all my friends laughing and enjoying themselves. I can see my 91-year-old spirited grandmother dancing with Dave, who she loves as her own grandson. It’s all going to be so overwhelmingly special, I just want to slow time down and enjoy every second. Words cannot express how grateful I am to have the most creative parents in the world who have planned and baked and built and created what I know will be a moving and memorable day for us and them and those who have been in our lives and shared time with us as we’ve grown and as we’ve grown together.

Today is technically Tuesday, but it's sorta Monday (on a more existential basis).
So, we're going to hear from Sam because it's (existentially) her day.



Last week my post was full of the impending doom that I would not accomplish my tasks before June 9th. This week things have calmed down. I finished my report cards for work, scanned all the photos and made the juxtapositions so that Dave can make the imovie slideshow, finished the painting on the ketubah (I’m getting the words printed on Tuesday and will post the finished piece next post), I got the earrings, and picked up my wedding ring. My parents have been so on top of everything all along but my mom really outdid herself last week when she completed 160 fondant flowers for the cupcakes. I still have to finish the cake topper and find a brunch dress but the big things are really finished. Dave and I also really need to practice what we learned in salsa class or we’re going to be bickering on the dance floor and I’ll have to deduct 7 points from our on going point system (anyone else have that? You know... add points for good behavior and deduct points for badness but never really tally? We’re getting really excited and had a really fun dinner in Park Slope on Friday; we each took our wedding rings out for a test run. They were a perfect fit, just like us.

I’m making a lot of headway on the slideshow this weekend. I’ve scanned all the photos and begun the juxtapositions. I’ve also bought some lovely watercolor paper for the ketubah and found a printing place for the lettering. So I’ll paint the design with transparent colorful inks and then have the lettering printed in a nice color. I promise to post the finished piece. I’ve also decided that instead of finding funky earrings, I’m going to go with something more antique and understated that will match the look of my dress. Initially I thought I would mix metals and wear a bit of gold but with the silver accents on the dress it might not look intentional. So I’m going to Stardust Antiques this week and getting a lovely art deco pair of earrings (above) I have my eye on. I’m still in the market for a dress to wear to the following morning brunch. I am madly coveting the Kate Moss white dot dress (above). It seems however to have been snatched up all over the galaxy, so if any SO,SN readers have any suggestions for something similar and perhaps also reasonably priced I would be so appreciative. Dave and I also finished shooting a silly wedding video to air at the event. We’ll post that when he’s all finished editing (I’m happy that’s not my job! All I have to do is act...silly that is). His other videos can be viewed at moldawer.com.

I wished I could have been there, sounds like Sam and Dave had wonderful times! I'll let her tell you all about it. Here she is:


Our respective gender outings… a.k.a. Bachelor/Bachelorette night happened yesterday. It was so much fun. I highly recommend karaoke to bring people together. I think perhaps that the UN should use it as a negotiating technique. Dave’s friends were wonderful and planned a perfect day for him. They really know him well. He met up with them at noon for beers at McSorley’s, then off for a shvitz at the Russian/ Turkish baths, then cigars and scotch, lunch, dinner and then back to our apartment to play X-box using a projector and large white sheet for an extra large screen (if you knew Dave, you’d know that scotch and video games are a perfect match). I went to brunch with one friend then headed over to Brooklyn with another to go to a vigorous vinyasa class, then manicure/pedicures, dinner at Cronkite (a pizza/wine place) with 7 of my girlfriends, then Karaoke!! Did I mention that my friend Hannah baked marvelous pink cupcakes for us to indulge in! Perfect! She knows me well. I made little pink cards with cupcakes on the front and little “I love you, my friend” note on the back. Everything was so splendid. I feel so lucky and special to have such amazing girlfriends.

Monday update courtesy of Samantha who is getting married in a little over 1 month! Yikes!

It’s getting down to the wire. We’re running out of time!!! I’m not frantic yet. I probably should be. You may have noticed an air of nonchalance in previous posts. Furthermore, you may have noticed that the nonchalance often accompanied long lists of things we’ve yet to accomplish. Well here’s the current to do list and the actual count down of days left to do these (not so small) tasks…35…egads: Illustrate our wedding contract (modernized, more egalitarian Ketubah), finalize our 7 readings for the ceremony, finish a funny video Dave is making to show at the wedding, get a dress for the day-after brunch (I’m thinking the white dot dress by Kate Moss due to come out May 9th), figure out natural flower hair accessory, earrings, necklace, whether or not to alter dress, where to do it for under $200, get Dave’s shoes and suit alteration, finish cake topper (I’m making these little birdies sitting in a nest out of pom poms, twine and fabrics, figure out ipod mix for when the Cuban band stops, song for friend to play on violin while we walk down the aisle and finish scanning 100000+ childhood photos of the both of us for a slide show. I’ve scanned only about 100 so far. Here are a few cute ones. We have to put together the slideshow too, and try to find good juxtapositions. So that’s possible right? On top of writing my 200+ art report cards for my students? Did I mention that the wedding is June 9th and my last day of school is June 8th? Should I be sweating right now? Probably.

Keeping it brief this morning, right to Samantha:


Last weekend we had the pre-wedding party, it was so lovely. The weather was glorious! Having my friends and family together was the most wonderful experience. Everyone was very laid back; we ate, made almond biscotti, sat under the umbrella on the patio, relished the shade on the porch, lounged in the hammock, chatted in the Adirondack chairs and picnicked on the lawn. Here are some photos I took along with a lovely family portrait my friend/photographer extraordinaire Chad. The ones of me on the patio and on the lawn (peach dress) were taken by my photographer friend Erin. I was sad when the day was over but some of my family stayed on and we had a lovely dinner and started perusing childhood photos for the slideshow, it turns out that me and Dave went to the same day camp at the same time (weird coincidence!). It was a meaningful and memorable day that meant the world to Dave and me.

Hi everyone! Samantha sent me this post on Saturday, I'm sorry it's a little delayed. I've been away all weekend. Here's Sam!


Sunday is the pre-wedding party my aunts and uncles are throwing us at my parent’s house. I promise pictures next week. I’m really looking forward to it. It should be a lovely day full of games, cookie baking and lots of lounging in the sun. I’ll keep this weeks post brief. I would like to wear a hair accessory for the wedding. I happen to have long curly dark brown hair so I’m not doing an up do; I’m going to leave my hair loose and flowing. I might like to clip up the sides with a flower clip though and I keep wavering between buying a fake one or just getting a gardenia and bobby pinning it in. I love natural flowers but is it going to wilt in a minute or fall off if I bop around? The fake ones I’m seeing are fun but they look really unnatural and I don’t know if that’s my look. I love the vintage Billy Holiday thing with a flower on one side. Any tips and suggestions are welcome. I would love some input. Thanks!
*The ones above are from Jennifer Behr, and Nicole Kidman, respectively.

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. I ate way too much holiday type indulgent food this weekend and I really can't see eating again until August 2009, at the very earliest. So that means more time for blogging. Let's start with an update from Sam:
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I got the wedding ring that I mentioned from Clay Pot. I look forward to wearing it for the rest of my life. The artist is Lisa Ceccorulli, Here’s what she says about her designs “"I like to look at three, five, and seven as symbols of the steps to contentment." The shapes of her jewelry take the forms of stepping stones used to make walkways through ancient Japanese gardens. The stones and plants were arranged in groups of threes, fives, and sevens.
On another little note, I spent last weekend with my family and Dave. Dave went back to work on Monday and then came up for Passover dinner with his family (which is now the tradition). I was on vacation this week so my dad suggested I stay on to work on picking the photographs for the slide show we’re planning for the wedding. But Dave, Pita (the doggie) and I wound up getting a ride back to the city with Dave’s family that night. I wrote a little email to my dad the next day because the weekend was so wonderful and full of bonding:
“Thank you so much for the beautiful weekend and holiday. I love being with you so much. I love you and mom so much.”

And my dad replied with the most touching little email that meant so much to me:
“I was having a HUGE love rush for you too. Talking to Mom this morning…that was why I really wanted you for another night… Somehow, although nothing is really changing, I am getting emotional about "losing my daughter. Love you to pieces!!”

I replied with this:
“you will never lose me. We are only growing closer and closer. You and mom are my favorite people and I'm never so happy as when I am with you and Dave. I love you so much Dad and look forward to many many more beautiful weekends together. Sweet dreams."

This is a little delayed, but we can't go a whole Monday without hearing from Sam! Seems like lots of progress this week. Here's Samantha:
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Spring is here! The wedding is in two + months . So much has been taken care of! As per your suggestions I went to The Clay Pot in Park Slope, I must have tried on 10 wedding bands and I found one that I love. The artist is Lisa Ceccorulli. Her bands are not on the website unfortunately. I'm going back to have another look next week so stay tuned. This weekend Dave and I got his wedding tie and shirt from Calvin Klein. We went with a crisp white shirt and a shiny silver tie. I saw a picture of Jonathan Reese Miller in a Gucci ad with that combo and thought how nice the light colors looked in contrast to a dark suit. His suit is charcoal gray. My nana Sally (the one from the photo in a previous post) is visiting my family so Dave and I spent the weekend with everyone. Dave built and finished our wedding website with my dad's input. It contains all the info our guests will need. We're enjoying the start of spring and spending this beautiful time with family finishing up final details and getting ready for a pre-wedding party my aunts are hosting for us later this month. I just have to find shoes, earrings, a wedding ring for me, a dress for my mom and shoes for Dave...these are the tasks are all on the agenda...hmmm maybe there's more to do then initially speculated.

It's going to be a beautiful day here in New York. Tomorrow, there are rumors it will reach 70 degrees. I'm trilled, yet deep down in my bones, I know that it WILL snow in New York one more time before winter is officially over. I tell you this because we are all always so surprised when it snows in April, we are shocked to our core. We curse the weather man. I'm just trying to prepare you all. Brace yourselves, is all. Don't break out your pastel capri pants yet. In the mean time, Samantha has some major developments in the ceremony department. Here she is:

Yesterday Dave and I met with the rabbi at the café in Lincoln center; the rabbi’s son’s friend was performing there later in the afternoon. He has two other sons also, one of which was my very first friend in life. The rabbi and his wife are still close friends with my family. I can’t imagine anyone else marrying Dave and me. He’s wonderful, liberal, reform and willing to do the service as we wish. Over tea and coffee he got to know Dave, and us as a couple. We talked about modifications to traditional ceremonies and ways to include friends without having a processional. It’s really going to be a lovely ceremony, very meaningful to both of us. In the end it’s going to be a very secular ceremony with some beautiful cultural traditions interspersed that represent our culture, our grandparents and parents. We’ll use my papa’s talit on the chupah and Dave’s baba’s kiddish cup. We’re going to make a kitubah that will be an egalitarian agreement between us and we’ll have a few friends read some modified, updated blessings, some hold the chupah and one play the violin. I know it’s going to be so special for everyone in our family and hopefully our friends too. This is a picture of me and the rabbi’s son from the good ol’ days (we’re still friends today).

I spent the weekend in Boston with my sister and her brand new kitten, Joey. I love Joey. The cuteness. The damn cuteness. Dell will now have to deal with me begging for a kitty of my own. Sorry Dell. So let's do the Monday thing, Samantha needs your advice:

Here's Samantha:
Recently Dave saw something that peaked his interest, a jigsaw ring. He tried it on, “it’s so cool and mathematical” he animatedly exclaimed. Yesterday morning we made an appointment with Little King, a shop I mentioned in an earlier post. The people who work there are sort of ex-rock’n’rollers who make custom pieces of jewelry in the East Village. Anyway, I started drawing up designs for Dave’s jigsaw ring in my sketchbook to bring them (the ring in the picture is from Gillett’s Jewelers online). I came up with something and we brought it in to get a price quote. They’re making it for him as we speak. We decided to go with 18k rose gold; Dave loves the coppery look of it, and white palladium, which is slightly more steely looking than white gold. So he’s all set.
Now what about me? Here’s my dilemma, I work with my hands, I paint, I do clay and papier-mâché with the kids all day, I cook, I swim, etc. I need a ring that’s sturdy and durable. I am not comfortable with the idea of taking it on and off all the time. I want to wear it constantly but don’t want a plain gold band that I’ll grow bored with. I was thinking that I could modify some of these designs from Doyle and Doyle. The engraved one might be good with green or pink tsavorites right? Anybody have any other suggestions for me? I’m looking for yellow gold, at least 3mm and something interesting yet durable…any ideas?

I'll pass you straight over to Samantha for the latest update on her wedding diet. Here she is:
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So last week I mentioned getting in better shape. Since then I read the South Beach Diet book and Dave and I decided to do it. Phase one started with cutting out bread, pasta, fruits, cookies or alcohol…. my favorite things (alcohol was easy enough…chocolate, not so easy). I went a whole week without those things. I increased my protein consumption (tofu, tofu, tofu) and increased my running mileage (a friend and I are doing a half marathon in April). I did not lose a pound; maybe I ate too many calories of almonds and tofu (I know it sounds crazy but that must be why). My mom and dad are doing this diet too. So now everyone’s serious, they lost a few pounds but are in good health to begin with too.

Friday after feeling discouraged about my failure to lose weight, Dave came home with a new plan called The Best Life Diet. The guy who penned it is Oprah’s health and fitness guru. I’m not a huge Oprah fan but Dave got the book for free from his publishing company, so I’m reading it. It makes far more sense than cutting things out drastically. It’s a gradual approach. I’m already in the second phase of it from my first week on South Beach. I’m not going to go crazy. I’ve decided that instead of being strict and obsessing, I’m going to take the underlying principles of each diet and apply them to my life. So here’s the diet: Try to stick to three meals a day and two small snacks, make sure there’s protein in every meal, skip refined sugars (except on occasions or on the weekend), increase exercise and vary it more than I currently do and most of all watch portion size. I can’t expect to drop weight like sedentary people that eat cheese fries with a side of Pepsi, nor am I looking to yo-yo diet. I see that there are a lot of diets online for brides but I want to do this mostly for my life… not that looking bad on my wedding day is not a motivating factor as well. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Good Monday! Today Sam needs some assistance with her feets. I love Naturalizer heels. I know what you're thinking. Ew. Right? Wrong (sort of). Indeed, many of their styles can still be found on the feet of elderly school nurses everywhere. BUT... they've got some very hot little items as well. Stop making that face. I own a pair of Naturalizers, most comfortable heels I have. I could walk miles in them. So that's my two cents.


Here's Sam:
I’ve been thinking deeply about shoes lately. Yes, philosophically too. What to wear for the wedding? I’ve pondered the practical issues; I’ll be on my feet for many hours, perhaps salsa dancing for some of that time. I’ve pondered fashion issues like the fact that my legs might look longer if I were to wear tall shoes. Annnd back to the practical, Dave’s 6’ 3”. Annnd back to the fashion, I would love a pair of beautiful shoes that I can wear again for the deluge of weddings, bar mitzvahs and occasions I have this summer.
Cole Haan's line, complete with Nike Air technology, just might be the perfect fit (top left). Naturalizer also offers some attractive options (the other three). I have not quite found the pair of my dreams yet but it would be fantastic if I could create a shoe that had the comfort of a flat, and the style of the heel. A hybrid. Frankly you won’t see too much of them under my dress. So I suppose comfortable and stunning are my goals, is it possible? Any suggestions?

So we had a busy weekend. We got a blog lift! Notice the bags under our eyes are a little smoother? Notice how the curve of our derriere is... subtler? Notice the come-hither plumpness to our pout? We had work done!
Seriously, not that much changed. The archives will be more useful, the RSS feed button is now front and center, we added some major categories to the directory. We added some links to the blog roll. We have more space to grow, thanks to a third column... life is good. And I have a surprise for you later in the day (the only clue you get is here). But for now, please give your attention to Samantha. Here she is:
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So far there haven’t been too many family flare-ups in planning this wedding. Just 3-4, which is not so bad if you think about the fact that in planning a wedding the couple has to come to aesthetic, financial and practical agreements on how it should look and feel and together they have to coordinate those feelings with those of their parents. My parents are really taking the lead on this. They’re both creative and artistic and they understand what we’re going for. Dave is pretty deferential to my aesthetic choices. He may have mentioned that he would like a hologram as a cake topper and he might have mentioned something about Medieval Times but everyone has learned to chuckle and blow him off. He’s been pretty good-natured about being disregarded. He’ll be happy with friends and family and food (especially food). I’ve actually noticed that since my parents have gotten into this, we’ve grown closer. We talk everyday anyway but this event has given us all something to look forward to. Everyday something comes up about minor or major details from dresses to music to mojitos. I think in the end we’ll all look back fondly on the build up as well as the end result. We’re all totally in agreement that we want to enjoy this event come what may. There’s no way everything can go exactly as planned so we’re prepared to go with the flow.

Ah President's Day! The day I never seem to get off. It seems that no matter what my job has been over the years, President's day is the one holiday I invariably get screwed on. I just got back from a vacation, so I can't complain too loud. We missed last week's update on Samantha's wedding planning, because I was on said vacation. This week, Sam needs advice! I'll pass you right over so you can commence dispensing indispensable advise.


I'm beginning to struggle a bit with winter weight. Everyone I know keeps saying, “the wedding’s just around the corner”. I know, I know butttt and a very big butt; I can’t seem to get motivated. I’m not going to starve myself. I already run about 1.5 to 2 miles in the morning and then do about 40-45 minutes more at the gym (from 5:03 AM -6:20AM before I have to leave for work at 7:30-ugh!) weekdays. I’m a vegetarian but I eat eggs and dairy…that sums it up. I do have a sweet tooth and love bread but generally I eat pretty healthy. In the spring I will be more active, like I might run in the park or something after work. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what else I might do to kick start better eating and working out? I also want to start doing more weight training to get my arms looking better (I descend straight from Russian peasants so my lineage dictates arms with extra padding…even when I ran the marathon…even when I was on the swim team). Thankfully my genes are not all bad, this photo is of my grandmother (nana Sally) and grandfather (papa Aaron). She looks like a doll, I could never look that angelic but it's a good goal. A dear friend once told me that her grandmother used to call winter weight "winter wool" so I guess come spring I'll have to take off my sweater! Any tips on slimming down healthfully or good weight training tips is so appreciated.

Hope everyone's weekend went well! I'm going to pass you right over to Samantha, so you can get to reading about her venue breakthru. Here she is.


For me a backyard garden wedding was so befitting. However with the fantasy, came the reality. The more tent people my dad met with, the more my parents came to realize that putting in a floor that fit the entire tent along with drainage systems and gutters, was going to cost a ton. At least as much as renting a place. Plus having the wedding at home, you have to rent everything from silverware and linens to port-a-potties. So for fear I would go all Shining Bridezilla on them, they secretly started looking around the area for an outdoor venue that had a weather contingency plan.
Thursday they came in to the city to hang out with Dave and I. Over coffee and cake (the cake was to preemptively sooth me I think) they broke the news that having it at home could be a potential nightmare if it rained and difficult even if the weather were fair. After a little coaxing I realized that the alternative plan was better than the original. We’re having the wedding outdoors at this place called Dolce within the IBM complex a mile from my parent’s house in Palisades, NY (we still get to have a great brunch at their house the following morning). We still get to bring in our cupcake tree and hydrangea centerpieces. The place has hundreds of acres, a swan pond with koi, a beautiful stone wall and a tent leading into a room with all glass walls (guest rooms too!). If the weather is nice we’ll get married by the stone wall and then all walk to the tent for cocktail hour and then party inside with the large glass windows open to all the surrounding trees. So all bases are covered and I don’t have to meditate, pray and make deals with the world that it won’t rain. I’m hoping for gorgeous spring weather and the scent of lilacs in the air but if it does not happen that way, our guests won’t have to wear rain gear and use port-a-potties… phew.

Ah Monday. A lot of lucky people have today off. I am not one of those people. But, it is a great day just the same. Today, we must give Samantha our advise. She is having some trouble with her registry. I'll let her tell you all about it.



Drama. The registry. I thought that it would be good to work on something together with Dave… you know, a couple bonding thing for the wedding. It did not work out as well as I’d hoped. I thought we would be able to sit down together and do a registry. Wrong. I read a lot of design blogs so I’ve been collecting interesting sites that would be good for registering or online shopping. Dave is a master guru at organizing filing and creating systems. So I thought I’d be able to come to the proverbial table with my collection of findings have him organize it all and then go through it together to make sure we have everything and agree on it aesthetically. He created a system using google notebook to categorize all my info. But by the time we got to the first item he was freaking out and getting frantic “how big is this dinner plate? $22 for a mug, are you crazy Sam, we break mugs everyday!! What’s an accent plate? IS this pasta bowl for a single serving or for serving a whole dinner party?“
UGH! We were sitting next to my 18-year-old punk brother having this conversation and he chimed in how bourgeois we are and everyone wound up going his or her separate ways. I don’t see what’s wrong with registering at 5-6 different sites. A few of the typical ones for older guests like Bloomingdales, Crate and Barrel etc. and then a few younger more independent designer kind of sites like Clio Home or Design Public. I love Kate Spade’s Gwinnet China but I also love these.
Dave thinks we should only register at two or three places, I think more like 5-6! What should we do? I really want some unique stuff and I want to support some indie designers. I figure the older people will be comfortable at Bloomingdales and the younger people will shop online. What’s the best compromise? And does anyone have any good registry suggestions. HELP!

To hire, or not to hire a photographer?
That’s the question. My dear friends Erin and Anna are both photographers (a sampling of Erin's pictures above). A family friend (whose son I happened to go to prom with) is a film maker/videographer. Problem solved? The only dilemma is that I don’t want them all to be working the whole wedding. I want them to break it down to the Cuban music. I want them to have plenty of time to stuff themselves with cupcakes.

I'm thinking about asking every guest who considers themselves visually savvy or a budding auteur to bring along their digital camera and then send us their favorite candid or posed shots. I’ve asked Erin and Anna to each work an hour, one at the ceremony and just after and one in the tent in the yard. So I think all of our bases will be covered and the photos will feel expressive and free. With my Photoshop skills, we are bound to end up with a wonderful collection of photos documenting a lovely (god willing rain-free) wedding. Right? I'm right, right? Seriously, what do you think? Can we cut this corner?

Happy Hanukkah! AND... only one week until Christmas! Everyone has something to look forward to. I'm just loving this time of year. I feel so cheerful.
Having inserted my two cents, we will now hear from Samantha:


Jewelry…any ideas? I know that I want to go with something funky that I can wear again. Something with gemstones perhaps and a colorful flare. My engagement ring is yellow-gold with a green tourmaline center stone and small yellow sapphires surrounding it. My dress is white and it has these little silver sequined appliqués on the upper bodice, below the straps, they remind me of 1930’s pins. I really would prefer to wear gold though, is that a faux pas? Help…any ideas? I love this kind of stuff (see pictures above). The designers are (in order) Satya, Alexis Bittar, and Boucher. I’m looking for more ideas. Maybe I could even find something vintage 30’s to go with the theme of the dress? Also, any ideas about a vintage hairpin or headpiece, you know like the small one that you can wear on one side. Any help from readers is appreciated! Thanks and enjoy those jewelry sites. The prices are pretty reasonable too.