Boom Boom Pow!

A friend sent me this gorgeous link to Our Blog of Love. I was transfixed by page after page of the gorgeous images this Georgia-based photographer captured. I wanted to share some of my favorite awe-inspiring images. Happy Friday!

With This Tandoori Lamb Chop, I Thee Wed

{In our culture wedding food is traditionally served on a banana leaf. While I'm not sure we will necessarily serve our food on a banana leaf, we will definitely incorporate them into our decor somehow.} 

Foregoing lobsters for burgers and foie gras for fries is so my bridal style. If Nor Cal’s summer weather and my parent’s snobby suburban neighbors would permit, I would totally celebrate my coming nuptials with a backyard bbq. I was thrilled to stumble upon this article With This Burger, I Thee Wed in the NY Times today that’s directly in line with my sentiment. With the economy in the sewer, couples are doing what they can to curb costs at their wedding. One of the first places people start dollar slashing is the menu. I personally prefer home-style burgers and fries to the fancy (and often tasteless) asparagus and duck confit that they serve at weddings anyways.

In line with our beliefs, we are choosing an Indian caterer who brings his own tandoori bbq and grills fresh lamb chops, chicken tikkas, and naans on the spot. (Yum!) His catering style is far from fancy and his food is far from average. We used him at my sister’s wedding and there was a line down the driveway for his tandoori treats.

Basically, in today's economy budget-savvy brides don’t want their guests leaving the party saying, “Damn, they spent how much on that wedding?!” Recessionista couples want guests feeling comfortable, at home, and most importantly saying, “Damn, that was the most fun wedding ever!” I couldn’t agree more. 

Wisdom-filled Words

{i can read}

Birds of a Feather Flock Together

 

Ever since I started this whole wedding planning process I’ve been transfixed by the idea of large branches—cherry blossoms, dogwood trees, and willows.  I have a vision of huge vases brimming with tall overflowing branches, dimly lit candles, and brightly colored flowers. That's why the image above first caught my attention, after I digging a bit deeper I was sold ...

The Wedding Co has embarked on a global DIY art project. They are collecting origami paper cranes from engaged couples around the world to create a chandelier of cranes. With a goal to collect 10,000 cranes, they will contribute 50¢ from each birdie received to cancer research. The end result will be an overpowering community-made art installation. (How cool is that?) Couples should send a handmade crane with their names and the location of their wedding to the Wedding Co. to be a part of a global flock of love.

(I’ve already started on ours ... )

Happy Birthday Future Hubby!

Today is my Danoosh’s Happy 26^th Birthday. We had an utterly fabulous weekend together celebrating with food, drinks, and friends. (What more can you ask for?!) Out of all of the fancy things we did to celebrate (a couples cooking class, a three-course dinner, multiple gifts) he said his favorite was going to see the movie Hangover on Sunday night. Ha! I told him next year all he gets is In and Out burger and a DVD rental.

We are both magazine-a-holics and have multiple subscriptions. I always feel guilty getting rid of old magazines so I decided to put them to use and wrapped Danny's present with them. I even topped it off with a handmade 'zine flower. He liked it and I think it turned out pretty cute. I have forever bidden adieu to wrapping paper.

My pressie wrapping made me think about an idea my sis and I had talked about for the wedding. I adore Indian sweets (known as mithai) and am def planning on serving some up on the big day. What's cuter than some newspaper cones stuffed with Indian sweets? Nothing. I agree. 

Ode to Anthropologie and Tequila

Anthropologie oh Anthropologie, how I love you let me count the ways. Sometimes I just browse through your aisles of beautiful skirts, dresses, rings, earrings, books, and teacups and am lost in a land of unprecedented beauty. 

My sis sent me this Fireworks necklace made of cloth flowers of chiffon and satin and I had to share. While is has nothing really to do with my wedding, it's exactly what I want the big day to feel like—whimsical cloth flowers paired with shots of tequila while droppin' it like it's hot to Madge.

Stop and Smell the Roses

Hubby-to-be and me spent a lovely, lazy Saturday wandering around the Mission in San Francisco this weekend. I love the Mission for it’s eclectic mix of culture, food, people, and style … it’s just so San Francisco. We wandered in and out of thrift stores, ate the best fried egg sammy in the world, soaked up the sun in Dolores Park, and had some blue bottle coffee.

We stopped and smelt the roses (literally) at my fave grocery store Bi-Rite. I was mesmerized by the deep red peonies and lush-smelling lavender. Flowers are so breathtaking just by themselves. There’s truly no need for bazillion dollar arrangements by design-school graduates to make our day special.

I guess this past Saturday just taught us that there is no better time then right this minute (ESPECIALLY during the wedding planning insanity) to stop and smell the roses.

Mom and Dad Seventies Style

I love this photo of my mom and dad at the Bombay airport in 1970. My dad was on his way to study in New York and everyone was seeing him off at the airport. In those days flying was a big, huge deal. You wore a suit and an entourage of loved ones comes to the airport to see you off.

Vintage photos of parents, grandparents, and couples that inspire us are definitely going to be integrated into our big day. One idea I had is to have all our guests send us images of them on their weddings and have them framed and displayed throughout the wedding space. Just a thought ... off to brunch now at Mission Beach Cafe, one of my fave SF spots. Yum!

Boo on You Wedding Flowers!

I am currently in San Francisco (hurray!) spending some time with the fam. My overly enthusiastic mother is in hard-core wedding-mode. This includes non-stop chatter about table linens, napkin colors, floral designs, and photographers. This also includes various appointments. Today we saw two wedding florists. The first one we saw "just for ideas." This woman definitely creates some floral masterpieces but her base price is $12,000 to $15,000 dollars. RIDICULOUSA. 

After days and days of non-stop wedding nonsense I am further and further creeping into a black anti-wedding hole. I am excited about the wedding, but really not so much about tablecloths, flowers, high-boys, and bouquets. How does an anti-bride plan a love-filled wedding in a world of floral and family insanity?

Worth Fighting For

I found this breathtaking quote on i can read, a gorgeous site that celebrates images with words. I am an incredibly lucky girl to have found the most sweet, adorable, and loving hubby-to-be. That being said, life together (clearly!) isn't all strawberries and orgasms. This phrase really touched my heart today because there is a very real chance that we may have to do long distance for the next six months to a year before we get married. A scary predicament, but worth it because I know that our love is always worth fighting for (and have no doubt that together we will always win).

Mango Tree Party

What, you ask, in the world is a mango tree party? Well, a mango tree party is exactly what it sounds like—a party to plant a mango tree. Why, you ask? Well in our religion, Zoroastrianism, the mango tree party is a pre-wedding ritual to ensure newlyweds have lots and lots of healthy babies. Basically, the bride’s younger brother (or cousin or close family friend if no little bro exists) plants a mango tree as a fertility blessing for the starry-eyed couple.

We will have a mango tree party at Danoosh’s house in Bombay and my family’s house in Hillsborough, California. Traditionally, the ceremony takes place four days prior to the nuptials. Family and close friends get together watch the tree being planted, eat, drink, and be merry. Food and community are clearly the most important parts of the afternoon. After the tree is planted and the gifts are given, everyone pigs out on rice, shrimp curry, beef kebobs, spicy chicken—the works. {Check out the book My Bombay Kitchen by Niloufer Ichaporia King for a deeper look on the relationship between Parsis (Parsis are Zoroastrian’s from India, aka us) and food.}

Although I am not that well-versed with the various religious traditions and customs of our religion, my family kinda goes with the flow and picks and chooses the fun, meaningful ceremonies. The mango tree party is my favorite ceremony because its a relaxed celebration with those closest to us. Plus, there is just something so special about planting a tree, especially a tree that bears mangoes, my favorite fruit. 

{Check out the pics above of my sissy’s mango tree party last July 2009. Danoosh, my hubby-to-be, Jehan, our little cousin, and Zephan and Zane, our two two-year-old family friends presided over the tree planting.}

Do you have any cultural or personal ceremonies that you did/will include in your wedding celebrations?