We have lift off.

Pretty sure I intended that pun, but hopefully won't be made to suffer for it via a peep show at my wedding. Because ladies and gent, it has been decided that indeed kilts will be worn, along with the jackets and fancy bits to cover the other bits and some dangly stuff to be bitsy with some other bits and whatnot.

May I present to you the ensemble of the groomsmen:


Voila! It's more formal than I had been aiming for, but it sure beats the barefoot/barechested look that Groom has been threatening me with lately. I'm sure the jackets will be on for all of ten minutes, but won't those be a dapper few sixths of an hour?

Now my only problems in wedding life related to this are: gussying up the bridal party with fancy accoutrements like jewelry and feather hair gewgaws, and making sure my Great Aunt doesn't make good on her threat to walk around dropping change next to the groomsmen, a la John Candy in Splash* in order that she might take a gander up at the goods under there. Perhaps I should save her the trouble and just have the guys where really shiny shoes...


*rumors of a remake had tales of Heidi effing Montag vying for the mermaid. Really? It's come to this? And by the way, that movie came out 25 years ago. I. AM. OLD.

Inspiration! Peacock Feathers.

I know, I know, hardly original.

HOWEVER: Peacock feathers match pretty closely with the colors of the Blackwatch tartan* for the kilts, so bada boom, bada bing, I have some sort of inspirational item to work with, perhaps, when it comes to dress colors for the ladies. And to the flowers, maybe? And to some kind of hairpiece?

Plus the location I have now secured (well, secured with a contract in my inbox but not yet signed or paid for, anyway) is a little bit orchard/barnyard/nature abounds near by/ish, which always reminds me of the Peacocks that used to live nearby... well nearby someplace that I can't remember right now. Wow, brain. Wow. It was some house where I, like, lived. Or my Dad lived? Oh my god, I can't remember. Jeezus.

Anyway, Peacocks remind me of that. And also of Art Deco designs, which will not be featured prominently (my idea of Old Timey is more Depression-era Thirties than Post-Roaring Twenties Deco Thirties) but may sneak in a bit, you never know, because I'm me and that's how I (un)roll.

I'm also twirling the idea of thistles around in my clearly loose brain. They are so adorably prickly. (Like us). Though they are much more impractical for things like boutonnières (wow, did I just spell that right? GO BRAIN! Wait, no I didn't, I didn't make that pretty little accent. Dammit.) and bouquets and decor and the like. Not so adorable when jabbing into skin. (Like us).

Anyway, things are moving along. Now if I do well at this job interview on Monday I might actually have the ducats to pay for some of this jazz. Wish me luck!


*Which I think we might have found a rental resource from which to procure for $50 per kilt or $100 for the whole outfit, which is INSANE (in a good way - a good kilt is $400 bux! A crap kilt that you make yourself still costs $100 in materials alone!). But I need to order one and see if it's the real deal, or one of those aforementioned crap or lady skirts from Godknowswhere.

There WILL be a cheese table.

See that photo, second from the top?




WANT.

Maybe I'm just hungry right now and not able to eat cheese, like ever, these days, so it only seems incredibly desirable, but really I think it's just that the cheese-set table perfectly ascribes to the Amby-approved look and feel of a comfortable, delicious, unfussy event.

So hopefully you'll be seeing something similar in the chow arena of our little production. But then again I'm considering asking my cabinet-maker Dad to make us a bunch of cutting board/serving dishes for this spread and I'm not sure if he'll actually be down for that, so.... maybe not.


Entire feast for the eyes here.

Like a big ole backyard party...

... But fancy-like.

Like this party.

And this wedding.

And this one.

Or this one. Which happens to have taken place at one of my favorite/ideal venues, but is located too far from Ventura to be reasonable. So picture something akin to this one, but in a much smaller and enclosed yard next to a small orchard, without all the open space and sky and mountains and gorgeousness. (sigh)

And all of these (although lord knows who some of those so-called "backyards" belong to, whooooo boy. I suppose even Oprah could throw a backyard wedding, right? Dang.