After Ike

Above are the remains of Murdoch's at Mermaid Pier, after Ike swallowed Seawall Blvd and belched up the remains. The historic Balinese Room disappeared completely. So did the unhistoric Hooters I had grumbled about earlier.

No word yet on the condition of the other side of the island. The causeway remains closed, and it may be a week or more before people can come back and assess the damage to their homes and businesses.

Needless to say, our wedding trip may be very different than we had imagined.

Stay strong, Galveston. Our thoughts and prayers are with you as you begin to recover.

Homework for Sarah.

All right, sweetheart, you asked for it...

I did some research and assembled this giant ass list of wedding photographers in the Greater Houston area. Please peruse them when you feel like it. (And maybe ferret out some quotes for us?)

Here's what I'm thinking. Of course, we'll have the photographer cover the ceremony and the reception for a couple of hours--at least until after sunset. That way we'll be sure to get lots of good photos of family. But I would also like to get some daylight pictures of the two of us on the beachfront and maybe some other locations on the island before the ceremony. So a package that offers 5-6 hours of coverage and doesn't limit us to one location would be best.

Most of these sites say the photographer will go to Galveston at no extra charge, but that's something we should double-check.

Separate engagement/bridal sessions? Only if you want it. Personally, I don't feel like getting dressed up twice. ;)

Also, it's really important that the photographer includes hi-res digital images in the package--I could care less if they offer pebble finish or Italian leather albums, as long as I can edit and print the pics myself. Or more realistically, ask you to do it. Sigh.

Photographic Memories

Blanca Duran Photography

Sacred Image

Hedgepoth Photography

Morris Malakoff Photography

Rhea's Photographic Art

Luxe Studios

EVOKE Photography

Allure Photography

Adams Photography

Ibarra Photography

Studio B

On Location Houston

Plum Tree Studios

Tate Photography

Captivating Impressions

Fishnet decorations

Want. It.

Watch this space!

Plenty more cute/embarrassing pictures of the happy couple to follow.

Venue update

We heard back from the Elissa folks and they were very, very accommodating. The rental terms suit us, too. Only two hitches: We are going to have to rent tables and chairs for the reception, because the museum doesn't have any. And Michi will have to find some elegant short-heeled shoes for the ceremony, because high heels aren't allowed on deck.

So...we'll probably put down a deposit this week!

The master plan

After a few weeks of talking, reflecting, and budgeting, here's what we've got so far:

The date. Saturday, September 12, 2009. Tentatively.

The ceremony. It will be short and sweet, a celebration of our love and exchange of vows. Sarah wants to hire an officiant, which I'm fine with but have no idea where to look. Neither of us identifies with any particular religious tradition. We will adapt from traditional wedding vows or write our own.

The location. Galveston, Texas. Close enough to Sarah's family, far enough away from Houston.

The invitations. We're mailing paper invites as soon as we're sure of the date. Score one for tradition! We'll probably design and/or print our own, though.

The guest list. Family and close friends who are able to make the trip. Right now the number's hovering around 30.

The bachelor party. The less Michi knows, the better.

Pre-wedding activities. Dallasites, y'all gotta check out the new Moody Gardens aquarium in Galveston. As good as, if not better than the Dallas World Aquarium we're so proud of up here. I'm thinking about buying a block of tickets to keep everyone occupied before the ceremony.

Lodging. I can probably get a nice discount on the new Marriott Springhill Suites that just opened on the island.

The reception. Cake, drinks, and a light buffet right after (and hopefully right next to) the ceremony.

Photographer. We really want to hire a professional but are a little shell-shocked by the price. Will keep networking and shopping around.

The food. Chef Michi is desperately trying not to go overboard (ha!) here. (Note to self: Your wedding day is not your last chance to impress your friends with food.) We're considering a nice array of cold foods including fruits, crudites, gourmet cheeses, and a catered sandwich tray of some sort.

The cake. Michi is torn between a fresh lemon and blueberry cake with candied lemons, and an elaborate almond /praline /marscapone / chocolate ganache confection. She firmly vetoed Sarah's Nintendo cake idea.

The hooch. Cold beer and punch at the reception, plus bubbly for toasting. We're holding out for a venue that lets us bring our own, instead of selling it to us at a 1000+ percent markup, which pretty much rules out every single hotel.

The decorations. We're thinking about working in an "under the sea" theme with shells and whatnot for the tables. (But not live fish in bowls, which every wedding guide I read infuriatingly recommends.)

Music. iPod, baby!

Flowers. I like all flowers. I'll pick something simple and seasonal.

The attendants. We each plan to ask one close friend to be an attendant.

The attire. Dress for Michi, tux for Sarah, black dress or suit for the attendants, evening casual for everyone else.

The dress. Beautiful cocktail or evening dress in off-white or ivory. Not a wedding dress. And yes, as a matter of fact, I do plan to wear it again.

Hair and makeup. I'm making a salon appointment. Not vain, just inept with a blowdryer. Besides, building a coiffure to withstand Galveston's heat and humidity is a task best left to the professionals.

The honeymoon! No firm plans yet, but we had so much fun on our May cruise out of Galveston, we're seriously considering doing another one on a different ship. After the ceremony, we could retire to the Harbor House hotel, and walk to the pier the next morning. How about it, eh?

The residence. The bride and bride will reside in Dallas. And rent. A friend at work asked me if we were going to buy a house after the ceremony. No, of course not--we'll be too broke from the wedding!

Party time!

"When we was young, oh man did we have fun..."
-- The Strokes, "Alone, Together"

Sarah can't wait to go shopping to stock the bar for the reception. Because she went to college. And higher education pays off, kids.

Nightmares in white satin

Last week I talked Sarah into taking me to a certain bridal megachain (which shall remain nameless but goes by the initials David's Bridal). She needn't have worried. We were out of there in less than ten minutes.

Before I offend anybody, not everything in the store was repulsive--I actually liked a couple of necklaces. And I know women who have found perfectly suitable wedding dresses and bridesmaid dresses there, at good prices. But personally, I just can't do it. I can't do satin and faux pearls the size of Skittles and the oh-so-trendy red ribbon sashes. I can't handle a store where a size 2 dress is built like a size 16, and where $600 buys maybe $80 worth of polyester glory.

I won't be coming back. It's not you David, it's me.

Ring glitch, Michi glitch

So I picked my engagement ring up from the jeweler's Tuesday after getting it sized. (A seven down to a five--all that cheesecake and short rib I eat at work hasn't fattened my fingers, apparently.) The ring looked and felt so great and I wore it all day. Well, someone must have forgotten to readjust the settings, because somewhere along the way one of the accent diamonds fell out and left a big, gaping hole.

I got irrationally scared to go with Sarah to take the ring back to Zales. I guess I was afraid the repair wouldn't be covered by the warranty and we'd have to argue, or that they'd think we were trying to scam them, or that they'd scoff at us because we didn't buy the Kohinoor. Or worst of all, that they wouldn't be able to fix it and I'd have to return it and look for another ring when I like this one so much.

Sarah ended up going by herself, and of course, there was no problem at all. My customer service nightmares did not come true. They took the ring, apologized profusely, and promised to have it fixed and back in my hands as soon as possible.

And fittingly enough, the whole situation helped remind me of yet another reason I want to marry Sarah: She's damn good in a crisis. Especially a Michi microcrisis. Usually I'm pretty rational, but sometimes a stupid little problem just completely derails me. Then she's there to scoop me up, dust me off, and fix everything before I even know what happened, all without making me feel silly. I love you, Sarah.

Sea dreams

Currently looking for my Little Mermaid tape so I can watch the shipboard wedding for inspiration. (The second wedding, that is, not the first one where Eric almost marries the Sea Witch.)

Ahoy!

One idea we're floating (heh) is to have the ceremony (and reception, if the guest list permits), on the Elissa. She is a restored 1877 merchant barque currently moored at the Texas Seaport Museum in Galveston, and one of the oldest ships still sailing. I toured the Elissa as a child, and it was way cool. Unique, historic, and beautiful--what else could we possibly ask for in a venue?

Oh yeah, affordable. According to the Texas Seaport museum's website, $500 or $750 (weekends) gets you the ship, museum, and pier for a whole evening! (The ship is open to the public during the day.)

This is currently my number one choice. I'm too nervous to call or write. Sarah's going to email them later and ask the important questions. Are our dates available? What's included in the rental fee? Do they allow alcohol? Are they cool with a couple of girls tying the knot on board? Etc...

The one that got away

This beautiful ivory 100% silk chiffon with feather-trim dress by BCBG Max Azria would have been fabulous! Unfortunately, its from the Spring 2008 collection (which is already in the final closeout stages) and no one has it in my size. Boooooo!!!

Nah, that's okay, I wasn't ready to be done shopping, anyway.

Cro$$ing off the Dalla$$ Arboretum

The Dallas Arboretum has long been on our shortlist for ceremony locations. It's beautiful, it's serene, and it's popular too--during the spring you can't throw a skipping stone without hitting a flower-festooned bride. Still, after getting more details on wedding rentals, we've decided to take a pass. Man, I should have given up on that place when they started charging $10 to get in.

Several gardens are available for ceremony-only rentals, at prices ranging up to $1000. (On the low end, $200 buys a gazebo for an hour, no seating, 10 guests maximum. ) Reception facilities start at $2500 base rental fee and go up from there. Also, depending on the location, the number of guests, and whether alcohol is served, the Arboretum may require the hosts to add valets and DPD officers to the payroll. Oh, and you can't bring in your own caterer. You have to choose from among the Arboretum's ten or so "approved caterers."

The bright side for brides: The Arboretum will allow non-commercial bridal photography (Sarah: "How generous of them!") during regular business hours with paid admission.

Candy buffet, what's not to like?

Sorry to go all Martha on ya, but...

I love this wedding favor idea from theknot.com!

You buy different bulk candies (preferably color-coordinated with your reception decor, natch), put them in pretty jars, and supply baggies and ribbons. Your guests make their own mix to take home. Just like at the mall! No, seriously, I am going to do this.

Setting a date

We won't have a final date (or even an official working date) until we swap schedules with friends and family, but...

Saturday, September 12, 2009 will be me and Sarah's five year anniversary of dating, and is a) far enough in the future to give us time to plan, b) convenient for guest with work/school schedules, and c) hopefully not to doggone hot for an outdoor ceremony. If that doesn't work out, the 5th or the 19th are other possibilities.

A ceremony on the coast

I say "coast" because I'm hesitant to call any place on Galveston a "beach." Still, the island is one of my favorite places--pollution and historic tragedy only enhance its dingy charm. Me and Sarah both have happy memories, from childhood trips to our cruise just two weeks ago. (I'm not so happy that my all-time favorite seafood restaurant on the seawall recently turned into a Hooters, but anyway.)

My point is, we're thinking about doing the deed in Galveston. It's close to the water (a must for mermaid Michi), and has loads of beautiful historic buildings (that's the 1911 Hotel Galvez in top left corner. Also, compared to cash- (or credit-) flush Dallas, wedding venues and services on the Gulf Coast are dirt cheap!

Another bonus: Its proximity to Houston, since Sarah's guest list is looking to be a whole lot longer than mine.

Dress shopping, carpet shopping

Went shopping for the dress today. Sarah was with me, acting like a kid at the bank. I was browsing the racks at Neiman, Saks, Dillards (don't want a wedding dress, really, just a beautiful dress to wear for the wedding), she was feeding me comparative analysis of the carpet in each store.

Sarah: "Wow, this carpet is so thin but soft. They must have, like, six inches of padding underneath."

Sarah: "Yuck, this carpet is worse than concrete. I'm going to wait on that hard tile over there."

Me: "All right! I'm finished, we're leaving!"

I can't wait to see how impatient she gets when I find something I actually want to try on...

She says I can wear heels with my dress!

What a sweet girl.

Wedding planning made simple

Having been together for almost four (blissful) years, me and Sarah have talked about wedding plans a bunch of times. One thing we've always agreed on is that we want a fairly simple ceremony with only family and close friends in attendance. It may be the most important occasion we celebrate together, but that doesn't mean we need to bankrupt ourselves or endure months of stress in order to have a beautiful day.


Recently we went over the "Countdown Calender" checklist in Bridal Guide magazine and just crossed out all the steps we don't want to bother with. Below, some of the wedding professionals we want to fire and traditions we want to 86 from our ceremony.


The wedding consultant/planner. A bonus for keeping it simple--no one to manage all the chaos. (Michi: "We don't need no stinkin' J. Lo!")

The ceremony musicians/DJ. No grating string quartet or "Chicken Dance" at this party.

The printer/calligrapher. We're skipping programs (Sarah: "Great, something awkward for guests to hold.") and place cards. Will send out formal invites and/or announcements, but not from some fancy-pants paper shop.

The lawyer. No prenup necessary!

The videographer. People complain about paying $9 at the multiplex, then they cough up $1000+ for a boring DVD they'll probably watch once.

The limo/carriage driver. We're going to try to have the ceremony and reception at the same place.

The marriage license. Because, well...you know.

(Multiple) dress fittings. I'll just buy the one that fits, thanks. Sarah might need a tailor for her tux, though.

The flower girl and ring bearer. Cute but trouble.

The wedding registry. Just kidding. I'd like to skip this one, but I'm pretty sure Sarah wants to register at Gamestop.

The rehearsal/rehearsal dinner. Can't we all just go to Chili's?

The "post-wedding brunch". WTF, Bridal Guide? I thought that was supposed to be breakfast in bed!

The ring

My engagement ring is a pear-cut emerald with diamond accents from Zales. The actual stone is much brighter green, almost the color of my (now second) most treasured possession, my green car. And its my birthstone, too. That Sarah, she is a thinker.

She said yes!! I mean, I said yes...

So...Sarah asked me to marry her on Friday, May 23. Less than a week later, she's already tired of hearing about the wedding plans. She asked me to put all my ideas, pictures, and web links in a folder so she could look at them all at once--but I figured, why not put them online we can access them anywhere? And so friends and family can see them, too?


More details about the proposal (and a picture!) to follow.