Fifty years....and more

Weddings are beautiful occasions, but marriage is where the real joy sets in, and the video below proves it!

I can hardly imagine what my second or fifth year with E will look like, but having experienced both sets of my grandparents' 50th anniversaries in the last 5 years, and my parents' 25th, I must say that the way love deepens and family grows as a result of a marriage, is such a beautiful thing, and it merits all the celebration in the world.

I can't wait to be an old married couple that understands and loves each other on a level too deep to express in words

Before you head off for the weekend, enjoy this gorgeous, heart felt photo/video montage of this couple's 50th wedding anniversary--and see if you're not in tears by the end of it!

(ps. it's almost nine minutes long, but its well worth watching it beginning to end!)

from Marcus Bell

We've got a Latte Love: The girls and the details

While we were putting on the finishing touches, Sara took a couple accessories for a mini-photo shoot.

my DIY garter with vintage button

Wanted to see the completed DIY bouquet?

Voila!

need more?

My bling, for the last time alone

After slipping into my dress, White Choc helped me accessorize

Then we called Papa Latte down to see the finished product

Another reason why I wanted to get ready at home was for our bridesmaid pictures. My parents live somewhat out in the country and in mid-June it it just gorgeous. Since it's a lonely country road, I knew we have it all to ourselves for this photo shoot.

the girls grabbed the bouquets and joined me. you can see how long-stemmed they were still! We left them like that until the wedding ceremony to allow them to sit in the water as long as possible, but it makes these pictures look a little silly!

then we hopped into the van and headed off to the first look.

Next up, the boys get ready, and hang out.

Unless otherwise noted, all photos by Little Hands Photography

Previously, on We've got a Latte Love:

The day before the Big Day

The Rehearsal...Disaster

Getting Pretty

We've got a Latte Love: Getting Pretty

When my alarm went off at 7am, I nearly hit the snooze button before I realized what day it was!

I rolled back the covers, stretched, looked at my calendar and smiled. For the first time in months, there were no more days to check off. Today I was getting maaarrried!

I surprised everyone, including myself at how calm and zen I was. After a quick shower, I double checked my packed luggage and joined my dad in the kitchen for a cup of coffee before the madness began.

At 8am, the girls arrived. Toffee's and Frappuccino's sisters all agreed to help us with our hair, so we set up a beauty salon right in my parents basement.

We enjoyed breakfast compliments of papa latte, in addition to mimosas and sparkling apple champagne.

I had created a girly playlist that included everything from Rhianna and Britney to Norah Jones and Corrine Bailey Rae

The set up:

photo by Toffee, text added by me

Blow-drying, curling, and pinning commenced

Vanilla Bean

photo by Toffee

baby sister Caramel with more than her fair share of hair

photo by Toffee's sister, edited by me


photo by Vanilla Bean, and edited by me

at 9am our photographers arrived as the last of the bridesmaids' hair was being finished and we moved on to make up.

Sister White Choc

I wish I had invested a little more time and money in research and makeup for the wedding day. I loved how I looked early in the day(like me, but with improvement), but I think I was a bit melted by dinner time.

a touch of mascara to complete the look!

I love this moment caught between me and mama latte with her hair half curled. (too bad it's right in front of my dad's office!) she was probably telling me to double check my lists.

Mama Latte wasn't sure she wanted her hair done, because she really doesn't like to be too gussied up. I was glad when she agreed to do it that morning!

Sister Caramel is such a heart breaker!


I loved how crowded, chaotic and fun our morning was. It was nice to be home--no worries about forgotten items, or making it to appointments. I felt excited, comfortable, and surrounded with love.

And then it was time...

I slipped into the dress that was a long time in the making

and finally, it fit me like a glove.

In an instant, I became a bride

all photos by Chris and Sara of Little Hands Photography unless otherwise noted

We've got a Latte Love: The Rehearsal disaster

I would be lying if I said that I planned even 5 minutes of the rehearsal.

For some reason, it never occurred me that in order to rehearse our ceremony, we would need everything and everyone required for the ceremony to be there. (uh, duh?)

Our string trio couldn't be there, I didn't ask the grandparents to be there, we were missing a groomsman who had other engagements--I hadn't even thought about how I wanted the bridal party to process.

On top of that, several of my bridesmaids took a little longer to get ready than planned, and forgot their directions; there was a massive car accident on the main road to the church about 20 minutes before everyone was supposed to arrive; E's grandfather went to the WRONG airport to pick up E's aunt, uncle, and cousins and didn't realize it until 1.5 hours later.

To sum up, the evening was late and chaotic.

To my great relief our no-nonsense Scottish pastor was very organized and took charge. He had bystanders fill in for the missing grandparents and bridal party until they arrived and got things started. The church's accompanist played random music in order for us to time the walking down a very short aisle.

At this point I was filled with nerves and excitement and total sense of surreality (is that a word?) It didn't feel like our wedding, our moment yet. We went through the motions and I directed when needed. My aunt and family friends were bustling around the kitchen and fellowship hall at the church preparing for our tea reception immediately following the ceremony.

After three quick runs, I felt confident that things were running smoothly, and we headed off to pick up E's cousins on our way to the rehearsal dinner.

Unfortunately, with the airport mix up and late arrival of the family...they had only arrived at the hotel 15 minutes before we did, after 7 hours+ of traveling. So i tried to maintain my bridal calm while we sat chatting with relatives I'd never met before, waiting for the rest of them to shower and get ready. An hour later we arrived more than fashionably late to our rehearsal dinner.

I was spent and frustrated. All our friends were in town and together for us, and I wanted to spend as much time with them as possible.

Thankfully, delicious food (of which I have not one picture) and great friends awaited us!

My MIL chose Francescas Fortunato for the rehearsal dinner. I can't find any pictures of the room, but here is the virtual tour from the website:

http://www.miafrancesca.com/restaurants/fortunato/party_photos.asp?tour=2

For our dinner, the room was set up with two rows of long tables.

The Menu

appetizers
Calamari Fritti, Pizza all Frecesca
Insalata della casa
main dish

rigatoni del pastore
Pollo alla romano
dessert

tiramisu, profiteroles, cheesecake

Mama and Papa Latte and MIL and FIL Latte. FIL had just returned from Kuwait 4 days before!
(Isn't my mom beautiful? She never wears a speck of makeup, and won't touch her hair with dye, but her natural beauty shines through.)

This photo of the "Jets" deserve a special mention. If you'd been reading my blog for any length of time you'll know that my Aunt Jet served as my wedding planner, coordinator, florist, designer and crafter. Her creativity, support and advice were absolutely invaluable to me during the planning. She is a rock star!

trying to relax after a crazy day

Snorting/Laughing at our hilarious friends



Toffee, Latte, and Mocha

me with lil sisters, Caramel and White Choc

E's brother, mom, aunt, cousins

meeting new friends

E making his family laugh


BM Vanilla Bean with her fiance.



We handed out gifts to the bridal party and parents


I don't have any pictures of the guys' gifts, but we ordered them custom monogrammed stein beer mugs.

I already revealed my gifts for the girls here

Then the evening started winding down.

We said our goodbyes, and I smooched E as my fiance for the last time!

I feel asleep within minutes of arriving home for my last night in my old room.

No nerves, no restlessness, no tears.

Just a long, fun day--followed by another one!

Office Decor

There is a serious lack of design information in the blogosphere on office decor.

Sure, with the new trend of working from home, there is a plethora of design inspiration for home offices, but I need cheap, conservative decor ideas for my windowless, work office.

I think I am experiencing some sort of depression in my corner closet/office and I know I can do something to help it with decorations, pictures, and lighting.

This is what it looks like today. (it looks much brighter than normal because I forgot to turn off my camera flash)

I bought a $30 Ikea standing lamp (which is too dim to avoid using the overhead fluorescents....ugh)

I can't change the colors or furniture, but the walls and desk/organization are really where I could use some help!

I noticed mpix.com's 25% off sale on metallic prints, and thought I might try posting something conservative, yet colorful on the wall where the door is.

After a quick browse of the keywords Italy, Venice, Canal, from the Creative Commons section on Flickr, I came up with a few favorite pictures I'd like to possibly print in a 16x20 size. Ideally, I'd like to pick out some other decor that matches the colors of my current furntiure, and the print.

Venice #1

Venice #2

Venice #3

Venice #4

Venice #5

#6

Another picture entirely?

Can you guys please help a design-illiterate, depressed, closet-office worker?

Vote for your favorite print (remember I have to order them soon to get the deal!) and please offer any other suggestions for cute organizers, wall calendars, bulletin boards.

Sincerely,

Need Some Color In My Life