Mythmatched: A Very Unicorn Ceremony

After our first looks, it was time for the ceremony. Except for the heat and a stifling humidity, the weather was beautiful. Fluffy white clouds in a mostly blue sky defied the predictions of torrential rain and strong winds.

Mr. U and I opted for a Jewish-ish ceremony. I say “ish” because it wasn’t entirely traditional. We didn’t have a chuppah—mostly because my DIY attempt at making one was the most epic of failures. Instead, we made do with the venue’s gazebo. We did, however, provide custom yarmulkes for the gentlemen to wear. Mr. U even designed a cute logo for the inside.

The inside of our yarmulkes (aka kippahs) / Personal photo. Logo by Mr. Unicorn.

The ceremony got off to a bit of a late start. Our violinist was very late; by the time she showed up, we were halfway down the aisle. After the fact, I was a little disappointed, but in the moment I was so very, very happy to be walking down the aisle, arm-in-arm with my parents, that I didn’t care.

I joined Mr. Unicorn under our “gaz-uppah” (chupp-ebo?), and Rabbi took over. Rabbi Lebow has known Mr. U since he was just a baby, so it was very special to have him officiate. The ceremony was lighthearted and funny, and I apologize in advance because this shiksa has very basic knowledge of Jewish wedding traditions. We signed the ketubah, drank from the Kiddush cup, and finally it was time for Mr. U to stomp on the glass.

Now, I’m told that most Jewish couples simply opt for a light bulb or something similarly easy to break. The glass item is usually wrapped in a napkin or placed in a cloth bag so the glass shards don’t go flying everywhere when the groom stomps down on it.

But I’m a Unicorn! And as such, I have to complicate things. In an effort to bring some sentimental value to the stomp-glass, I wanted Mr. U to stomp on a beautiful, multicolored blown-glass globe that my mother and I found in Murano, Italy when we visited for my 16^th birthday.

We placed the pretty glass sphere in a cloth bag, and when the time came, Mr. U stomped on it with gusto! But the globe slid out from under his foot to the other end of the cloth bag. So he chased it around with his foot for a while, looking pretty silly, if I do say so myself.

I think my face says it all.../ Screenshot from wedding video by Landon Donoho

Finally, Rabbi Lebow took pity on Mr. U, who was still doggedly stomping away at the glass that would not be stomped; Rabbi pulled the glass out of the bag, stared at it quizzically for a moment, then smashed it on the brick and told my sweet, persistent groom to go ahead and stomp on the shards.

"Um..." / Screenshot from wedding video by Landon Donoho

TOTALLY WORTH IT. Look at the pretty glass. LOOK AT IT. / Screenshot from wedding video by Landon Donoho

Glass shards on display with our ketubah. / Personal photo.

Close up of the pretty glass. / Personal photo.

Mazel T’ov!!!!

Next up: The Unicorns Get the Party Started

Mythmatched: Getting Pretty and First Looks

I know, I know. I did it again. I fell off the face of the earth—mid-recaps, no less!

I promise I have a half-decent excuse.

Ready?

You sure?

Here’s a hint:

It's a baby unicorn!!! / Photo by Tiffany Lynn Photography

There’s a little Unicorn on the way!

Baby Unicorn will be joining us in the next 18 days or so, and we couldn't be happier. This means, of course, that I really should probably finish up those recaps. Two years post-wedding. Ah well. Better late than never?

If you’ll recall, it was the morning of the wedding, and Mr. Unicorn stopped by to surprise me with a gift before his groomsmen kidnapped him.

The day was a chaotic whirlwind as we rushed around the venue getting everything ready. To this day, I regret not hiring someone to at least set everything up and coordinate the day of the wedding. Hive, if you’re on the fence and considering hiring a wedding planner/day-of coordinator, DO IT! Even if it’s only for the day. I promise you’ll be so much more relaxed and focused on the actual events of the day instead of “OH MY GAWD THE MOSS SQUARES! For the love of all things holy, has anyone seen the box of moss squares and sparkly twigs?!” You don’t wanna worry about sparkly twigs on your wedding day. Trust me.

Soon it was time to put on our wedding finery. The bridesmaids and I piled into the cramped “bride’s room,” and the gentlemen….well, they dropped trou in the parking lot, I found out later, because they couldn’t find anywhere else to change. Boys will be boys, I suppose.

My mother was supposed to help me get ready, but due to a wardrobe malfunction of her own, she ended up running late. I felt bad that we missed out on what could have been a touching mother-daughter moment, but my bridesmaids were there to help get me in my dress and button all the teeny buttons. 

Getting pretty! / Photo courtesy of MOH T

Still getting pretty. / Photo courtesy of MOH T

After some happy tears and a brief, sentimental moment to reminisce about how we all met and how far we’ve all come, it was time to venture out for the first look.

Time to get this show on the road! / Photo courtesy of MOH T

I know the “First Look” trend isn’t for everyone, but it suited Mr. Unicorn and me just fine given the craziness of the day. It would have been nearly impossible to keep me hidden from sight until the walk down the aisle. Not to mention, I was so excited to see Mr. U all dressed up! I just couldn’t wait!

Sneaking up behind a very dapper Mr. U / Photo by ChrisWithCamera

Checkin' each other out. / Photo by ChrisWithCamera

Groomsman D is not impressed. / Photo by ChrisWithCamera

Did you have a “first look,” or did you wait until the actual ceremony to see your SO?

Next Up: A Very Unicorn Ceremony

Mythmatched: Wedding Day Prep and a Surprise!

The morning of the wedding, I woke up at the ass crack of dawn. Seriously. It was still dark out. All my bridesmaids were fast asleep, so I quietly snuck out of the hotel room and slunk off to my car. Honestly, hive, it was so early in the morning, I didn't know where to go. I sat in my car and watched the sun rise, feeling sleepy and nervous and excited. I’m sure to an outsider, I looked like a total creeper, sitting in my car in a near-empty hotel parking lot.

Finally, I decided to drive over to my mother’s house to kill some time. To my surprise, everyone was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, enjoying a delicious breakfast that my mom, aunt, and grandma had cooked up. It was so nice to spend time with my family before things got crazy. My aunt, uncle, grandparents, and cousins had flown in from Venezuela to be here for me. It meant the world to me to have them there, and I tried to just let it all sink in.

I had one sweet surprise that morning when Mr. Unicorn showed up unannounced to give me a little present! Months prior, I had mentioned to him the “signature scent for the wedding” trend, and this studly man took it to heart. He worked up the courage to set foot in Sephora and sniff bottle after bottle of girly perfumes…to get me this. I was so excited. I mean, who doesn't love presents? Mr. U stayed long enough to get photographic evidence of how much I loved his gift. Then he was whisked away by his groomsmen.

What is it??? -Personal photo

Guess I'll find out. -Personal photo

ERMAGERD PERFERM!!! -Personal photo

I will smell purty! -Personal photo

Before long, it was time to head to my nail and hair appointments. I don’t have any pictures of the getting ready because I went alone. My bridesmaids were busy helping my mom load up the cars with case after case of champagne bottles and wine. In any case, I didn't mind having a few moments to myself while I was getting pampered.

Up next: The Ceremony

Mythmatched: The Unicorns Rehearse...Or Do They?

And now you get to hear all about the Unicorns’ rehearsal…or lack thereof.

You see, after all my careful planning, Mr. Unicorn managed to derail my idea of how the rehearsal dinner ought to go. 

Allow me to explain.

I’m sure ya’ll remember my diagrams detailing the EXACT order in which the bridesmaids and groomsmen were to walk up and down the aisle for the wedding. My original plan was to have them practice a couple run-throughs before the rehearsal dinner. Sounds perfectly reasonable, right?

Apparently, Mr. Unicorn disagreed. For whatever reason, he got it into his head that he wanted to make a huge production of it. He wanted us to wait until all the guests arrived before calling our bridesmaids and groomsmen down one by one, in no particular order, to receive their thank-you gifts. 

Rather miffed that my very specific plans for the rehearsal were falling to pieces, I reluctantly agreed. Though, if looks could kill, there is a very good chance Mr. Unicorn would not have made it to the wedding day.

Once the guests arrived, Mr. Uni gave a little speech thanking everyone for coming. He thanked our parents, and we presented them with thank-you gifts. Then he explained that food would be served after he introduced each bridesmaid and groomsman. Let me do the math for you: that’s thirteen introductions.

Needless to say, by the end of it, everyone was eyeballing the barbecue with hungry looks. As soon as Mr. Unicorn finished his presentation, the horde descended upon the buffet line like locusts, and any attempt to divert their attention was in vain.

Some of the groomsmen trying on their new hats! -Personal photo

“Hey guys, if you don’t mind doing a really quick run-through for tomorrow, that would be great!” My pleas fell upon deaf ears. “Please pretty please?” I felt totally ignored, diagrams in hand, begging for a run-through of the processional and recessional.

“We’ll just do it after dinner. Everyone’s hungry,” Mr. Unicorn said, calm as you please. For the second time that evening, I glared daggers at my soon-to-be husband.

By the time everyone was finished with dinner, the sun had set. It was too dark to rehearse, and I was too full and happy to care. Mr. Unicorn and the groomsmen got a fire going in the big stone fire pit, and we watched the moonrise. 

The picture doesn't quite do it justice. Personal photo

For the first time in nine months of wedding planning, I stopped stressing about all the little details. I simply snuggled up to Mr. Unicorn under a beautiful full moon, feeling ridiculously happy at the prospect of spending the rest of my life with this man. 

The Unicorns. Personal Photo.

Next up: Wedding Day!!!

Mythmatched: Post-Bachelorette

Well, Hive. I’m sorry to keep disappearing on you. Married life has surprised me with ups and downs that have kept me on my toes and away from Weddingbee for longer than I would have liked. And, I’ll confess, Mr. Unicorn and I haven’t even finished writing our wedding thank you notes. Bad unicorns!

Clip from Disney's The Emperor's New Groove via YouTube.com

In all seriousness, though, thank-you notes have been a huge pain. A word of advice to any and all brides-to-be: knock those suckers out the week after the wedding. If you procrastinate, like we did, you'll find yourself writing very generic notes for gifts you don't really remember. 

Dear So and So,

Thank you so much for coming to our wedding. We hope you had as much fun as we did! Thank you so much for the generous gift! We have already put it to excellent use in our new home.

Much love,

The Unicorns

It's not that we aren't grateful; it's just that we can't remember exactly which one of our guests gave us a garlic press...

But I’m back to finish up my recaps, if you haven’t forgotten me.

We left off with the most epic bachelorette party of all time…

The morning after, my lovely bridesmaids took me out to a nice brunch. We reminisced on our college dorm days, and I felt like the luckiest girl in the world to have such amazing friends. It’s funny, really. We don’t live near each other, and we don’t call each other very often to keep in touch, but every time we see each other, we pick right back up from where we left off.

After brunch, we raced home to pack up wedding things and take them to the venue. After months of meticulous wedding planning, I finally realized how much STUFF I had accumulated. From moss squares to apothecary jars to customized yarmulkes (for any non-Jews, that’s the skullcap that Jewish men wear), we packed everything into several different cars and headed to our wedding venue, Heritage of Sandy Springs.

For any Georgia bees, definitely consider Heritage of Sandy Springs. Apparently, it’s usually a concert venue, but the lovely old farmhouse made the perfect backdrop to our medium-sized wedding.

The rest of the afternoon passed in a frantic blur as my friends and family helped me set up as much as possible. Hive, there was just so much to do!

Mason jars galore! -Personal photo

Is my OCD showing?-Personal photo.

Coming up: The Unicorns Rehearse...or DO THEY????

Mythmatched: The Bachelorette Party

The week leading up to the wedding was CRAZY. I remember running around like a headless chicken, calling vendors, finalizing details, and putting the finishing touches on my DIY projects. A lot of the smaller stuff simply didn’t get done. For example, I didn’t get a chance to screen-print the front of our guest book with a cutesy logo. The infamous yarn letters were also an epic failure that never saw the light of day.

Needless to say, it was a HUGE relief when the day of my bachelorette party arrived. One by one, bridesmaids started trickling in. We got the music blasting, the drinks flowing, and penis-shaped pasta cooking.

At this point I’d like to interrupt this blog post to bring your attention to the following warning:

Moving right along.

Since we are responsible party people, we decided to take the subway down to Tongue and Groove for the evening. If you would please close your eyes and imagine a group of scantily clad ladies, armed to the teeth with glow-sticks and balloons riding the subway…

Or I could just show you the photographic evidence.

Classy, huh? / Personal photo

Blowing bubbles at the train station. / Personal photo

Once we made it to the club, we were shocked to discover that the online reservations I had made were mysteriously lost. In the end, it was a blessing in disguise. The manager was very apologetic and gave us the nicest VIP table with a complimentary bottle of champagne. Nothin’ like some free champagne to start the night off! Am I right, hive?

At some point someone ordered a round of shots, and I vaguely remember a bottle of vodka...

The rest of the evening is kind of a blur, but somebody clearly remembered to take pictures.

Our VIP table. / Personal photo

A Groom-to-be at his Bachelor party. It was a perfect photo op. / Personal photo

A little nervous about the impending lap dance headed my way. / Personal photo

Only a matter of time before I hopped on that pole, really. / Personal photo

Overall, a fantastic night with the Unicorn Bridesmaids! / Personal photo.

At the end of the night, we piled into a cab and headed back home. 

Up next: The Unicorns rehearse....well, sort of. 

Back from the Dead

Well look who’s back, hive! It’s none other than your very own MRS. Unicorn back from the dead. I kinda left ya’ll hangin’ after my last post, and I can’t apologize enough. I promise I have a pretty good reason for pulling that disappearing act, though.

Mr. U and I bought our very first house!

The Unicorn Residence. Personal photo.

Isn’t it adorable?????

Gratuitous picture of our couch because I am seriously in love with it and those amazeballs chevron pillows.

Yellow chevrons and teal tufted velvet? What's not to love? -Personal photo.

 

It’s still hard to believe that this little beauty is ours! After a lot—I mean A LOT—of negotiating back and forth, we closed on the house the week after Thanksgiving. As if our crazy work schedules weren’t enough, we were quickly caught up in a whirlwind of packing and moving and holiday mayhem.

Can you ever forgive me?

Anywho.  I figured the best way to kick off the Unicorn recaps is with the wedding video! I am so thrilled with how it came out; it was honestly worth every penny. I had been on the fence about having a videographer, but I am so glad Mr. U and I took the plunge and splurged. The videographer we hired was great to work with and made sure to capture the entire wedding from start to finish.

Without further ado, I give you our wedding video, shot by the wonderfully talented Landon Donoho.

Benjamin Wedding from Landon Donoho on Vimeo.