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| My Community Bio | ||
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| Knot Name: JenniferYasmine | ||
| Wedding Role: Bride | ||
| Wedding Date: January 03, 2004 | ||
| Location: Seattle, WA (but wedding in Highgate, VT) | ||
| Age: 23 | ||
| What I do when I'm not on The Knot (occupation): Graduate student in Genome Sciences | ||
| Where you'll find me on The Knot (favorite board): Planning & Etiquette | ||
| About our wedding: Where else you'll find me on The Knot: the Vermont Local Board and Same-Sex Weddings Board. Email: gogarten (at) u (dot) washington (dot) edu People who want help wording their invitations: I have great expertise in the area of invitation wording and actually derive great pleasure from figuring out wordings for people! I own a copy of Emily Post's Etiquette from 1935, an actual copy of Crane's Blue Book and even a 1910 book called Manners and Their Social Usages. Dork alert! Make my etiquette library and tremendous dorkiness work to your best advantage and ask for my help!1
 Welcome to my the third incarnation of my bio - the professional pictures! This bio exists almost entirely to give me an excuse to look at my wedding photo proofs one more time. Our awesome photographers were Dennis and Ellen Curran, whose webpage is at http://www.curranphotography.com. I cannot sing their praises enough!
 Your heroine en deshabille! Shocking! It is I, JenniferYasmine, in my natural habitat - note cans of Diet Coke strewn about in the background. I might look relaxed and hip; however, I might as well be upfront with you. I'm one of those boring, anal brides who addressed her envelopes, inner and outer, by hand in painstaking script. I assigned seats for my guests. My wedding gown petticoat could, and even did, swallow up an family in its frothy billowing depths. Rounding out the knot confessional, I even wore a tiara on my wedding day! However, as you can see above, my inherent nobility permits and even demands that I wear a tiara with every outfit, even a terry bathrobe.
 Worst of all my sins of the knot, I love painting my toenails a really tacky bright Barbie shade of pink.
  A much easier thing to come out about here on the knot: above is Stephanie, my bride and joy! We had a civil union in Vermont on January 3 of this year. (Civil union is the legal term for Vermont's legislation which recognizes same-sex couples - we had a proper wedding, and it was actually in a church with a pastor.) We were joined in our blizzardy destination wedding madness by 100 friends and family, many of whom came from places far, far away with much better weather. It was absolutely fabulous! We had a Victorian, wintery sort of theme going on, with long sleeves and colors of white, silver and icy blue.  I love this picture of the two of us. So much that I'll probably put it on our living room wall, making every guest wonder if we have a big narcissicism streak or what.
 We toyed with the idea of only having one wedding gown in the wedding, but that totally didn't work out.
 So we each got our own gown for a less conjoined look. (Bridal division has been achieved!) Anyway, apart from the two gowns, two e-rings, and no groom thing, we really had a pretty standard wedding -- except I think it was particularly nice just because there were two of us fussing over all the details. Don't go expecting a nudist wedding or anything, we didn't even do a garter toss! Too much talk. Must have more pretty pictures! Let’s go for a vaguely chronological outline of the big day! Getting ReadyHow long does it take one bride to get ready? Multiply that by two, and that’s how long it takes two brides to get ready! This section is therefore obviously big. Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, and a lucky sixpence in your shoe! We both had lucky sixpence, from our parents' coin collections. Mine was a King George sixpence - how cool is that?  This picture reminds me of the story that the first wedding veil was invented by Nelly Washington to recreate the effect of when her fiance first saw her through the lace curtains of a shop window.  We also have vintage rings, but not because we wanted to match our wedding theme, I promise!  Ringpillow from Ebay. I promise there are pretty things mixed in with all of the hideous kitsch!  My bouquet, which is home of the biggest wedding splurge. (This coming from a bride who imported her officiant from across the country, uh huh!) Vintage reproduction reembroidered silk ribbon at $20 a yard. Three yards of it.  My family joined us on the vintage kick by carrying family pocket watches.  I made the figurine by the fireplace of the bridal suite wear the garters like a tutu. I know, so mature. Being silly helped reduce night-before jitters! Also featuring my great shoes. They were beat up from being broken in, and no, the color absolutely didn't match anything else, but they were SO comfy!  Our claw-footed bathtub for two was great, and it even had an old-fashioned modesty screen. Those are my stockings and the spare draped on it -- stockings plus real garters (on a belt, not to throw) is WAY more comfy than hose anyday!  Close up of our flowers, which were totally NOT what we wanted. All kinds of funny white flowers and blue hydrangea thrown in with the white roses and delphinium that we asked for. Oh, well - they photographed pretty well!  We each carried a hanky from our grandmothers. My grandmother had the monogram MG, which are our two last names and our new married name! I also wore my other grandmother's pearl necklace as my something borrowed, which has this awesome clasp with sapphire chips, so it didn't matter that the clasp kept falling to the front. And my mom gave us matching earrings for our shower! The purse is not beautiful, but we got it the afternoon of the day before when we realized that we didn't have a purse!  DW's grandmother's hankerchief. Note the importance of the hankerchief in a bridal ensemble - we used them a LOT!  Bridal pit stop - I'm steadied by my mom and brother as they fuss with me!  Our flowergirls swinging their feet. Cute!  The wrap DW forgot to get until the last minute. She was in tears because she didn't have a cape or coverup and forgot to get one. Finally we got an overpriced piece of white fabric sold as a bridal shawl from David's. My mom's brooch helped dress it up, though, and it ended up not being the major crisis it seemed like at the time. You can see the detail on DW's dress well here. She's moving her e-ring to the right hand before the ceremony.  I am being verbally guided through a mirror-free lipstick application just before the ceremony. Sometimes it's great marrying a woman.
 My crinoline eats our bridal suite!  My dress in repose, and the corner of our wedding gifts to each other peeking.  I was the cleanest bride ever. I took 2 baths a day in the days leading up to the wedding. The tub was just too awesome.  My handsome brothers!  I really don't dress like a lumberjack! I ran into my brothers' room the morning of the wedding screaming "OH MY GOD, I DON'T HAVE A BUTTON DOWN SHIRT!" and thankfully they found something that was able to accomodate my chest, so that my hair and makeup were undisturbed.  Just love this picture of my mom, my brother and my sister-in-law while my mom was getting her makeup done.  Your daddy will also carry your bouquet if he loves you enough. :)  My family! I love them! They're the best, and they also clean up well!  She looks cute and diminutive, but that woman is packing an aluminum safety blanket among other things in her "purse" (read backpack). Ha ha. Now you know why our emergency kit was so well prepared. I get it from somewhere!  Manly manly purses! Our siblings serve as a repository of stuff after the ceremony.  Amidst the getting ready chaos, an usher arrives. This is proof that my brothers look like normal teenage boys when they're not all wedding dudded up.  My brother gives me a morality boost as I'm getting ready. (Really, as my family dress me because I'm too nervous and my outfit is too complicated. I did very little getting ready besides giggling at things and shrieking.)  I touch up Stephanie's lipstick before the ceremony. Foundation, powder and lipliner before normal matte lipstick = lasting and smudgeproof. Take it from a wedding kiss where both people wore lipstick!  Big train...big crinoline... which one would win in a rocks-scissors-paper-shoot type game? Tough call.  Oh my god, I just loved all of the divans and couches that our reception site just had sitting around all over the place. We just moved from divan to divan, taking portrait after portrait.  Veils screen out the rest of the world.  We see each other for the first time after getting ready separately. Stephanie is smart to have her hanky out!  I know, the cliched bride gazing into her bouquet picture. I had to have it!  Before: I'm a Lady Lumberjack, and I'm Okay!  After: The realization of getting married finally hits.  Under normal circumstances, I really do know how to dress myself. It was a good thing I had my family around on the big day, though.  The prevailing mood was a little bit silly, yes!  It takes a village to get on a wedding dress.  Silly! Yes!  Yes, it was like being in a pit stop.  DW had her own entourage to help primp.  The mood in the other getting ready room was apparently more calm than mine! Love the photo within a photo in this one!   Peering in to check on Stephanie's progress getting dressed!  The two most important women in my life!  Quiet introspective moment before the family barges in bringing chaos!  My brothers putting ON the garters. As in, the decorative traditional ones. Not the ones that hold up the stockings...  It also takes a village to put on a detachable train.  We let our ring bearer carry the real platinum and diamond goods!  But he was well supervised by the best men.  My father-in-law writing his toast. WHich was awesome. We had literally 10 people give 5 minute toasts, and a couple of spontaneous guest toasts, so yes, we got behind schedule. And very, very teary eyed. Again.  My brother, not afraid to get a hair boost from the makeup artist.  What happens when after getting on your dress and your enormous crinoline and everything is perfect, and then you realise you don't have your stockings on yet. My crinoline eats my entire family and my sister-in-law!  With grim determination, I finally hook the garter in place. I win!!  My sweetie is so charming!  And regal!   Also falling prey to the hypnotic powers of the bouquet.  This photo is so indicative of the chaos going on before the ceremony. Multiple formal portraits going on simultaneously, people getting ready.  Somehow, we got ready on time!  The processional across the street to the church is started.  It was so slippery and I was so afraid I would fall!  Or get my dress dirty!  But somehow we made it!  My long veil didn't make it on until we walked to the church, so I had a veil-bearer. The Ceremony
 The church where we had the wedding. We lit it with candlelight and heated it with propane heaters, because in keeping with our Victorian theme, we had no electricity. We're nuts, but it all worked out really well!  Our ceremony decorations and light source, here with a stack of old bibles.
 We were unable to find someone on the east coast who met our exacting criteria for an officiant, so we imported our friend, a Lutheran pastor, from Chicago. Not kidding! (Top 10 signs that you may be a high maintainence bride...)
 Walking down the aisle with my dad. I'm clutching his arm in a bit of a death-grip because I'm trying not to cry, which might explain his hand-clench.
 Apparent her dad was also under the delusion that when escorting a lady, one clasps ones hands firmly in front. (My father used to work in a hospital as a nurse in his teens, and he was totally using the "invalid hallway guide grip" on me during the rehearsal, ha ha. That was even funnier.)
 A bona fide photojournalistic adoring glance. My mom's outfit was so awesome. I loved the hat, and the whole thing was elegant and JUST the right level of glamour! She actually had the wardrobe planning help of someone whose clothing designer boyfriend was a finalist for the German version of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Every MOB should have such help!
 Our flowergirls and ringbearer at the ceremony, being directed by our officiant. They were such troopers, all!
 This is the ceremony underway - just wanted to show off how quaint and cute the church is. We filled it to the maximum capacity with our 100 guests, so it was very cozy - and warm!
 Our ceremony, which was just the right mix between traditional elements and individual touches. We picked readings from our favorite poems, since we used to send each other a romantic poem at the close of each email when we first met.
  We had a unity candle service. It was really fun!
 The kiss part was even more fun. Kissy kissy! Whoo!
 When the ceremony was over, we carried our taper candles back up the aisle during the recessional, and lit candles that we had passed out to all guests. They then walked across the street carrying candles to the reception.  Warning. Pictures taken from above may reveal your undergarments. I love this picture anyway.  Our junior attendants ring the church bell!  Hiding out in the balcony, listening to our obscure recessional being played, and enjoying the quiet moment.
 A portrait in the church! We were recreating a photo of DW's late grandparents on their wedding day.
 When you have male attendants, they will still carry your bouquet for you if they love you enough... :)
 Just married! We walk across the street from the church to the reception. We are too excited to care about saving our skirts from the slush, so they get muddy. That's alright - it's the bridal perogative!
  The reception took place at a Victorian Manor with a ballroom, now serving as a bed and breakfast. We stayed there with our immediate families. It was great!
 I swore that it wouldn't happen, that no one would bring gifts to a destination wedding knowing that we had to travel cross-country the very next day. Uh huh, goes to show what I know!  These are our escort cards. Each table was named after a poem by a Victorian-era obscure poet from the small town we were married in. We then had a Victorian-era Vermont photograph of a snowflake used as a motif - one corresponded to each table. And we used those little plastic chips meant to look like ice (purchased at Walmart) to gussy up the escort card table a bit. Thank god Walmart made it into that sentence before it got to a Martha-Stewart level of neurotic theme consistency.  Our place setting - our toasting flutes, favors and menu cards, flanked by the mismatched vintage silverware that I freaked out about not matching in my most bridezilla moment.   My parents are insane, too, and made 120 jars of crab apple jelly from the tree in their yard. We added labels from MyWeddingLabels.com, and voila, favors!  Another insane bridal crafts moment - the place cards we put in each water goblet, shaped like upside down hearts. Yes, we did not have anything better to do than curl 100 pieces of quilling paper the night before the day before the wedding! We sat by the fire and gossiped, though, so it was all fun, and at least 2 people besides us actually noticed. In the background you see another symbol of bridal insanity - the folded napkins. We had an actual conversation with the reception hall about how to fold them. I hate napkins stuffed into the water glasses, which by the way, the Highgate Manor never does. 2 brides = twice the maintainence!  Centerpieces. Not wild about what the florist did, but we loved the candelabras that our reception site provided.  My parents put together a poster of all of the weddings in my family since 1904 (the earliest wedding we had photos from). This was on display over the escort card table, which is now pretty decimated since people have already taken their seats.  I love that our reception site put out vases for us to put our bouquets in to keep them fresh. I also love that we totally didn't notice the vases until later in the evening!
 My parents the hosts, entering the reception!  Being announced as Mrs. and Mrs.  We were so happy because we entered the reception just at the climax of my absolute favorite aria in all of opera - the Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute by Mozart. So spine-chillingly awe-inspiring. A great note to sweep in on!  We did the Polaroid guestbook. "Oh my god! It's us! We're so cute!!" The marvel of an instant photo never pales, even in the age of digital cameras.
 Here we are just overjoyed to be starting up the receiving line! Our guests had been eating appetizers and drinking warm beverages, so hopefully they did not suffer too much from my desire to have everyone shake my hand and treat me like the late Queen Mum.  Someone else is also excited about the receiving line! It is a miracle!!  My sister-in-law toasts!  The older best man toasts!
 I gave a toast! I'm terrified of public speaking, but I'm so glad I did! Ladies, it's really good to take the opportunity to thank your guests and praise your spouse!
 DW also gave a toast. I was so happy to listen to it - that's a genuine, candid photojournalistic adoring glance, not at all posed!
 After the toasts came our first dance to Elvis' "Can't Help Falling in Love With You".
 We took a bunch of ballroom dance lessons, and somehow remembered everything perfectly! 
Our dance instructor MADE UP this step for us, I swear. It is a reciprocal curtsey - you can kind of understand how it doesn't get used so much in traditional man-woman dancing.
Some more getting our dance on! Could be the first dance, but could also be later on, because we did waltz a lot, and it’s hard to tell the difference between a waltz and a foxtrot in photos!  We danced with our fathers to "My Girl" by the Temptations. (Not like synchronised swimming. This is just a particularly lucky shot.)  Somewhat less traditionally, we also danced with our moms, to "What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong.  On the theory that we were good enough dancers to make our guests watch us for a while, we then had a bridal party dance with all of our attendants, parents and us. It was "Last Night at Lafittes" or similar, by the Squirrel Nut Zippers, and we invited our guests to join in after the first 30 seconds or so. Please note in this photo how awesome it is to dance in a big-skirted dress.
 These are two of our fabulous attendants, with the emergency kit. They are amazed and delighted to suddenly be holding Gas X, Q-tips and Shout Wipes, in the middle of a formal event. We really did use all of those items.
 Sneaking off to the coat-room in the middle of the reception for a little newlywed one on one. We just looked at the stars and enjoyed the moment, and then it occurred to us that our photographers might like that moment, so we grabbed one of them. The doors were open because it got warm with all of the frenzied dancing!
 This is a picture of our first dessert. It didn't photograph well, but I knew that if we didn't serve creme brulee, my evening wouldn't be complete. That's one of our three flowergirls on DW's lap!
 Dessert #2 - the wedding cake. Which people actually ate in its entirety because it was separated from Dessert #1 by a good two hours of wild and frantic swing dancing.
 We really like how this photo mirrors the pose of our cake topper in the above picture. We are cutting the cake!
 The ringbearer fell asleep at the reception. So cute!
 The bouquets are off! We launched simultaneously or near to it... although we actually used the MOH bouquet for one of the tosses, since we also did the anniversary dance, and wanted to give the nicest bouquet away in the non-airborne, less-damage prone method. :)
 Quite a struggle broke out among happy, silly guests whom we absolutely did not force to go up and catch the bouquet.
 We absolutely love this picture of the bouquet toss winner, her mom who had been actively vying for the bouquet as well, and the friend from high school who was happy to have received a flower.
  I'm almost embarassed to say that this is "I Got You Babe" later on in the evening. It's a special song for us... (she says as the reader snorts).  We had kids at our wedding, and it was so much fun. It also did not compromise the formality of our reception. Then again, maybe the fact that we're tremendous dorks did compromise the formality...  I'm singing along to what is probably some godawful piece of music that we included because it has special meaning to us. Our wedding, the only wedding ever to play opera and Strauss waltzes alongside "I'm Not Talking About Movin' In" by England Dan and John Ford Coley. Our DJ was SO patient. Our guests, even more so.  Our photographers were so easygoing that we just had a blast taking photos and goofing around with them. This is in the middle of our reception when we snuck aside for some extra photos.  In the doorway.  The nice thing about having two photographers - the same thing from a different angle!
 Us being pelted with birdseed as we exit the reception.
 Note that DW's hair has sprouted several flowers in the course of the reception. One of the flowergirls was really happy to give a bridal beauty boost, and at the end of the reception, we saw no harm in letting her go right ahead. The End!And they lived happily ever after...These are places where DW and I have travelled together. All but Hawaii are ones we have taken road trips to/through - big destinations were family (CT), DW's extended family (ME), where we went to college (IL), where we go to grad school (WA), Shartlesville, home of the world's largest indoor village (PA), Graceland, Memphis, home of Elvis Presley (TN). Hawaii (HI) was the honeymoon and we obviously flew there!
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| The Knot Weight Loss Club Member: Goal: 0 lbs Progress: What is the Knot Weight Loss Club? | ||
| Our Wedding Web Page: http://students.washington.edu/gogarten/wedding.html | ||