Inspirations from a Brilliant Mad Man

Go onto any social media site and you'll see "theme weddings" of all shapes and sizes.  Video game weddings, hipster weddings, geek weddings, rainbow weddings, etc.  You get the idea.  And great ideas they are!  It allows a couple to personalize their event with something they hold very dear to their hearts and lets the guests in on something very unique about them.

While we are already doing this sustainability thang, Randy and I are both film and art fans.  We love film.  We love art.  We love when they come together to make something spectacular.  One man in particular brings together storytelling and art so well that we want to incorporate his visual style into our special day.  So meet our favorite happy, fat, bearded, spectacled mastermind!

OH HELL NAH!!!!!!!!

No, not THAT happy, fat, bearded, spectacled mastermind, THIS one:

The face of romance.  Right here.

Yup, that's another person you probably wouldn't want to associate with weddings either, Guillermo del Toro.  He's mostly known for his dark, atmospheric horror, philosophical writing style, stunning visuals and terrorizing the shit out of little kids in damned near all of his original works.

So you're probably asking the same question my coworker shrieked when I mentioned this to her: "OH GOD WHY?!"  Well, for one, "Pacific Rim" is pretty much OUR movie.  Let's face it: it's a Mexican soap opera with giant robots and Lovecraftian nightmares.  We've seen it about 50 times collectively if not more.  We also found these from Great Big Bag of Trinkets on Etsy:

NERRRRRRRRRDS!!!!!!!!

And it's kinda snowballing from there.  Not to mention we are already incorporating a lot of his themes into the wedding without even realizing it until we took a step back and looked: nature, bugs, fairies, powerful music and so on.

The potluck won't be nearly as dangerous...I hope.

Plus, this is going to focus us.  We were getting to a point to where we wanted ALL OF THE THINGS for the wedding and it was starting to get a bit chaotic.  Now we have a series of movies to focus on and pull ideas from.  And get creative with.  Some of the films are easier than others.  YOU try and figure out how the hell "The Devil's Backbone" is gonna fit in here!

Not a good look for the ring bearer, just saying.

We have already come up with some wild ideas and we are really excited to share this with our friends and family.  It's gonna be quite an interesting and we're already having fun with it.  And it's that what a wedding is all about in the end?

Not to mention the VOW SPARRING!!

Say "Yes" to the (Secondhand) Dress

One of the things I have watched many of my friends who have gotten married tackle is the dress.  It can be a very important element to a wedding and I've seen it approached in all kinds of ways.  Some gals could really give two shits about finding the "perfect" dress and yank something out of their closet to wear day of.  Others fret and fret and FRET over finding THE dress.  For some ladies it's not something they overly think about until they hit the dressing room and for others (including our favorite forensic anthropologist) they have hung on to that fairy tale dress design since they were 8 years-old. 

Can I get a "D'AWWWWWWW!!" right about here?

In keeping with the heart of remaining sustainable and resisting buying something new, I've been keeping my eye out at the local thrift stores in the Peoria area and today I found it: a simple floor-length number with a vintage design, plenty of room in the fabric for "give" in case I put on a few pounds and enough material to work with in case I want to bring it up to tea-length, which I will probably do.

The idea of purchasing a used dress has become an option for a lot of brides.  While the concept of wearing an heirloom gown has always been there, finding a gown in a consignment store, flea market, garage sale or thrift store is becoming the way to go for the bride who wants to pop some tags and save some green, both kinds.

This guy knows what I'm talking about.

I found my dress at the local Salvation Army Family Thrift Store.  For twenty bucks, son.  She needs some work, I will admit: a few stitches, dry cleaning, alterations, etc.  But in all honesty, what dress doesn't?  I tried it on and fell in love.  And the little old ladies who rung me out were thrilled.

I am not ignorant to the way some brides view secondhand dresses.  They want their dress to be as personal and unique as their wedding day.  Why would any bride want to get married in another woman's dress?  Why was that dress at a thrift store or a garage sale?  Did the marriage end?  Did the wedding even occur?  Is the dress "cursed?"  Valid points, sure, but think of it this way: IF that is even the case, wouldn't you like to give that dress a second chance at happiness?  Or maybe the woman selling the dress is still married and wants to share the love and joy she has made in her home that started with that dress.   Something to think about about.

Either way, the dress will become YOUR dress.  I'm going to need mine adjusted, taken in at some places, let out in others, maybe a new accent brooch where the one is now that could be a bit more my style.  At one time this was another bride's dress, but today it became mine and it will shine one for a second glorious day.  And I couldn't be more thrilled with giving that kind of encore.