. classically modern .

19.10.10

Bespoke Silhouette Rings....

Some people choose to engrave their wedding bands with their wedding date or names - but this is taking that to a whole new level! At Cameo by RUX you can create a custom band with a using the profile of your loved one!
Can you see the profile of the faces?

I'm pretty sure this is the coolest thing since sliced bread.
AND for those of us that already have our wedding rings, they have bespoke bangles!

Now I just need to figure out which anniversary is 'Resin' so I can convince Mr. Gloss to buy me one!

Images from Cameo by RUX

16.8.10

366 Days Ago....

Yesterday was our one year anniversary. We are officially no longer Newlyweds –
It’s hard to believe it has been a whole year since I married my first love and best friend.
And we threw one great party surrounded by our families and closest friends.

We are up in Maine, once again, to celebrate, surrounded by our families and friends (thankfully this time it’s not costing us as much :) ), eating year old cake with a splash of champagne and reaffirming our commitment by restating the vows we took only one short year ago. In fact, we are taking our whole honeymoon week off – I guess that would be our honeyversary?

Anyways, even though it feels like the wedding happened only weeks ago, so much has happened since then.
I didn’t know what to do with all my free time post wedding planning so I started my own business. It’s time consuming and challenging but I love it.
We also recently closed on a house. It’s 90 years young, so also very time consuming and challenging :).

If you are interested our new adventures, just need a little more Gloss in your life and/or the many DIY homeownership projects I’m convinced I need to tackle, you can find me here at Classically Modern Nest.

Lastly, I wanted to say thank-you. Everyone here has been a source of encouragement, inspiration, strength, community and laughter throughout this process. Your comments and messages meant more to me than you will ever know. Thank you for letting me be a part of it and share my story with you –
I wish you all the best of luck with your planning and futures.

I’m not one for goodbyes, they are so sappy and final.
So lets just leave it at 'adios', which translates to both 'farewell', and also 'goodluck'. I’m sure I’ll pop back in from time to time :)

xoxo,
Chelsey

11.8.10

Nearly Nautical Nuptials : Spin Me One More Time

While our guests were eating dinner, I got to steal a dance with my dad.
We danced to Cinderella by Steven Curtis Chapman.

At the end, he gave me the biggest hug - I don't think he was quite ready to let go.

Mr. Gloss danced with both his mother and step-mother to the Book of Love by Peter Gabriel and Simple Man by Lynard Skynard.

I think this was a great way to kick-off the night - after we were done with the 'special dances' the DJ invited everyone onto the dance floor and that is where they stayed ALL night.

Our photographers pulled us outside just for a brief moment to capture the sunset -

Before we went back in we stood off to the side, just to watch everything. Everything we had worked on diligently for over a year had finally come together. We looked around at all our family and closest friends having a great time and concluded that it was all worth it, times 10. The time, the money, the stress (because lets face it wedding planning is not all rainbows and sunshine), just washed away and we just watched, blissfully happy and only a tad bit sweaty.

Reflection time over - lets DANCE!

And while everyone was dancing I snuck off for some additional sustenance, since I had all of 6 bites of my dinner -

Yes, I made s'mores in my wedding dress and surprisingly enough didn't get *anything* on it!

And then headed back out for more dancing....
(the little boy you see on the floor a lot is Jack - he was 'break dancing'.)

At this point I was exhausted, we had one final dance to Ray Lamontagne's You Are the Best Thing. We said goodbye to our friends and families and were driven to our hotel.

We had arranged for transportation home for everyone who wanted to really celebrate. Unfortunately (or fortunately), no one wanted to leave so the poor bus driver had to sit in the parking lot for 3 hours. (He was still getting paid, so I don't feel too bad for him) but instead of driving everyone home, he ended up driving most of our guests to a nearby bar after we shut everything down - apparently there was more partying to be done!
There are photos from said bar floating around out in cyberspace, however I will not be posting them - you can breathe a sigh of relief and thank me later (yes, you all know who you are).

10.8.10

Nearly Nautical Nuptials : Food & A Few Special Words

While we were making sure everything was legal, our guests were lining up to get some of this yumminess:

We hired Diane Bartley to cater our event. Her home is only a few minutes away from our tent location which was key since the tent had no kitchen or water. Our menu was carefully designed so that everything could travel well since it would be all made off-site. She, and the food, was absolutely fantastic. She also allowed my mother (who is an avid gardener) to bring in her own fresh herbs and vegetables to encorporate into the dishes. Yum.

Our Menu included the following:

Marinated, Grilled Chicken with a Tomato & Onion Concasse

Sirloin Tips sautéed with Onions, Mushrooms & Peppers
Spinach Lasagna with Freshly Grated Parmesan

Mediterranean Orzo Salad with Fresh Vegetables & Feta Cheese
Caprese Salad with Fresh Basil Tossed in a Balsamic Vinaigrette
Oven Roasted Red Potatoes with Sea Salt & Fresh Rosemary
Summer Squash & Zucchini Medley with Garlic & Fresh Herbs
Yeast Rolls & Oatmeal Molasses Bread

While our guests were eating, Glossy MOH gave her speech.

We'd been friends for 10+ years at this point so there was a lot of good memories to reflect on - including how we still talk on Thursday mornings early in the AM and call it 'Locker Talk' (we shared a locker in high school).

I laughed, and I cried .... she's the best.

Mr. Gloss's brother (and best man) gave his speech next.

Parts of it were pretty amusing. When Mr. Gloss laughs really hard it sounds like he's going to choke - this was one of those times ....

Then, we got down to the good stuff - THE CAKE!

If you remember, my dad made the cake stands, I made the two cakes on the side and the top 2 tiers of the center one out of styrofoam - the bottom layer was real and made by my mom. My aunt and grandmother frosted and decorated the cakes that morning.

I thought it appropriate to annotate the photos below:
1. Me: Give me the knife, you don't know how to do it right. Him : We have to do it together.
2. Me: You're wrong, I'll do it.
3. Me : You better not smash this in my face, no seriously. (Look at that smirk on his face).
4. He's still smirking.

...and, he fed me nicely.
Look no mess!
So I fed him nicely.

9.8.10

Nearly Nautical Nuptials : For the First Time Ever....

I can't believe its been almost a year since our wedding; I promised myself I would finish my recaps before our first anniversary, so lets wrap it up!

Last time we spoke (I know it was a long time ago) I left you with all our reception details and mentioned that we were patiently waiting outside the tent to be introduced as husband and wife.

Our parents and fabulous bridal party entered first, the music playing was the instrumental beginning to Angels & Airwaves - The Adventure.

...and then US! Mr. Gloss ushered me onto the dance floor where we had our first dance.
I kind of love the way he is looking at me in this photo -

Our first dance was Lovely Tonight, sung by Joshua Radin & Michelle Featherstone.

As people were starting to get dinner, we filled out the rest of the paper-work to make everything legal. As you can see in the first photo I'm clearly quite concerned about what our paster (FIL Gloss) is writing - more like what he is writing in as the paper clearly said BLACK INK ONLY.

Our witnesses, the best man and maid of honor, signed as we watched ....

...and then it was REALLY REALLY official.
Which was cause for more champagne!
(and check out the Mr. fufilling his husbandly duties of trying to keep me hydrated - it was HOT!)

Up Next : Dinner & A Few Special Words

9.3.10

Nearly Nautical Nuptials : The Reception Space

While we were taking a few last pictures, and our guests were getting themselves off the boat, our second shooter Meredith zipped into our tent and took pictures of the set-up and details before our guests got in there. I'm so thankful she was there to capture photos of all the details I put my blood, sweat and tears into.

First up: the tables - if you remember, we opted for rectangular tables.
We had set up the bones of the space the day before (placed all the tables and chairs) but Emilie & Fiona of Pink Orchid weddings transformed the space just as we had discussed and it was perfect.

These vases were one of the first things I bought. I loved how the yellow flowers popped against the navy runners. Although my mom planted hundreds of flowers to grow for the wedding, I'd say only half came up in time due to a terribly rainy summer, so we ended up buying some bulk flowers. The week after our wedding though - the whole garden was yellow :)

Our place settings : I've refused to touch my sewing machine since sewing all those napkins and table runners. We ran out of time to iron all the tablecloths but the runners hid the crease down the center really well! I'm not sure if I ever got around to posting about our menus but they were gocco'd and tied on with blue and white baker's twine. Since we ended up doing a buffet, we kept the plates near the food stations and I think it really helped keep the tables clean and uncluttered for these photos.

Our escort cards : I cut these out of white museum board and used a laser cutter to engrave the names of the tables along the sides. Then I wrote out the name of the guest and tied more blue and white bakers twine around it.

The Signage : We named each of our tables after different boating knots (we were seated at 'snuggle hitch'). The table signs were backed with navy paper, the food/drink signs were backed with yellow, to keep things interesting but organized :)

Above : guestbook made via Blurb with our engagement pictures, photo sharing cards made via vistaprint with instructions for our guests to upload their photos to our flickr account post wedding.

I made special chair signs for myself and Mr. Gloss (shown below) since we were VIP's and all.

Our chalkboard welcome sign.

This was a big hit with our guests - some of our older guests found some accidental and not-wedding appropriate words, but I can't wait to hang this up once we buy a place of our own.

The Favors : We included a basket of flip-flops and pashminas for our guests, the flip-flops flew out of there, and even though it wasn't cold most of the pashminas were gone by the end of the night as well -

Our main favor was strawberry jam. My mom handpicked enough strawberries for 120 jars of jam - bless her, I wouldn't have had the patience :) Most of our guests had never had my mom's jam before (those who had took a lot more than one jar ;) ) and those who hadn't called or emailed all the next week saying how awesome it was. One person, who will remain nameless, admitted to making a PB&J sandwich and then eating the remainder of the jam straight out of the jar, it was that good. Smucker's has nothin' on my mom.

We also included bags of goodies for the kids to entertain themselves with. There were coloring books, crayons, some games/frisbees and random Martha Stewart crafts. They were a big hit!

Since I never posted about these before, I figured I would include them now since they kind of tie in with our favors - our Out of Town Bags. They included a few maps of the area, some water, snacks, matches and maple syrup that my parents bottled.

We also included a brief welcome note to our guests -

Gratuitous napkin shot - there were 6 facts in all.

and I saved the best for last: THE CAKES!

My mom made our cakes and my dad made the stands.

1.3.10

How I Knew I Wanted to Marry Mr. Gloss....

Today is our 10th anniversary (pre-wedding of course). A decade is a very long time, in fact I've been with Mr. Gloss almost half my life -

So naturally, many things have changed since those first few months/years. We've grown-up and instead of growing apart like many couples that date from a very young age, we've grown together. Like all relationships its not rainbows and sunshine 100% of the time - but those are the times that I value the most. I'll admit sometimes I get so mad at him I don't even want to be in the same room together - and while I'm sitting alone, fuming, I realize that even though I can't stand to look at him right this second, there isn't anywhere else I'd rather be. Which leads me to the point of this post: I knew I wanted to marry Mr. Gloss when I realized I wasn't IN-love with him anymore. Now, before you gasp and gossip about me to all your friends hear me out.

To me, being 'in-love' comes early in the relationship, there are no worries or concerns, you can't stand to be apart and spend your days floating on a cloud of bliss. While that is all well and good it most likely will not last forever. When I realized I wasn't 'in-love' with Mr. Gloss anymore I also realized that I loved him so much more than I ever thought possible. Its just a different kind of love- I realized that I wanted to wake up beside him every day and take care of him when he's sick, or strategize together if we are broke. And as angry as I get when he never lets me have control over the remote, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. My love for him grows everyday, honestly- I'm not just saying that, and everyday (save for a few ;) ) I love him a little bit more than I did before.

So, having said that- I know the next ten years will not be all candy and bubbles and stickers; there will be hard days and I will appreciate them (notice I did not say 'like them') because they give perspective to the good days and make me realize how lucky I am 99% of the time.

So, cheers Mr. Gloss, and here's to the next decade!

When did you realize that you wanted to marry your fiance/husband?