Secretly, I speak Elvish.

This is for my bridesmaids. I'm sure they'll get a kick out of this.

This past week, I've been choosing music for the ceremony and reception. First, you need to know about some of the visual elements we have chosen for our ceremony to understand the joke. Since it's a fall wedding, there will be pumpkins, leaves, mums... but the main image on our runner and around the altar are fall trees. Kind of a nod to starting our own family tree. Also, Snow White has become our princess of choice. She decorates our ring bearer's box and our wedding cake. Expect to see lots of candles down the aisle and up the altar.

When Michael and I first started dreaming about a wedding, he's original idea was to have a Lord of the Rings theme. So when picking my music, I've been looking for some of the lesser known songs from the films. I'm very pleased with my choices. Unless you really know the score, you might not guess that they were from the epic trilogy. They also have the sound that I was going for anyway, which makes me really happy!

While searching the LOTR soundtrack, I came across this song that is briefly heard only on the extended edition of the DVD. It was so strange, but I kept coming back to it. It's a cappella starting with two female voices and as the song goes on more voices add to it. It's a very dissonant piece in elvish... Sindarin to be specific and I really want to use it. I'm thinking about during the unity candle. It has this ritualistic quality and I think it will be very pretty if not strange. I'm only going to use the first bit with the two women singing, since it will be our two mothers lighting the candle.

Because it is sung in Sindarin, I wanted to find a translation to make sure it wasn't too sad. I'm kinda superstitious and I don't want any bad mojo. (^_^) So here it is:

Sindarin	excerpt from original English poem from book:
Fanuilos heryn aglar	Snow White! Snow White! O Lady clear!
Rîn athar annún-aearath,	O Queen beyond the Western Seas!
Calad ammen i reniar	O Light to us that wander there
Mi ‘aladhremmin ennorath!	Amid the world of woven trees!

So here is this random song that I chose in Elvish, that is singing for Snow White to shine a light to help us get through the forest of trees. (O_o) Now what are the odds of that? So yes, this is the song I've chosen for the unity candle. As strange as it is, it was meant to be.

Say Yes to the Dress

OMG... I'm so tired. I'M SO HAPPY... I need lay down.

Today I met up with my girls and the "Dons" and drove to Union, MO to pick the dress. As I've mentioned before, the reason that we had to pick the dress so early was because that the color I chose for Maid of Honor, Mary-Morgan, was being discontinued in September. One of the two dresses I have narrow down to for myself also has this same blue. I also had a 25% coupon that expires on Labor Day, so now is the time.

I originally thought that this would be a small affair... Mary, my mom and Donna. But once the word got around to Elizabeth (my Matron of Honor) and Maria (my Maid of Awesome)... well... I'm so happy that it was able to work out this way.

Shopping was so fun! I had done my homework and knew exactly which dresses to try. One was this elegant, unique dress with a ice blue train which would look so cool with the girls. The other was my childhood fantasy wedding dress. It's sparkly, big, pouffy... I'd need all three of my maids to help me use the loo.

The first dress I tried on (childhood fantasy) made all my girls cry. I felt like such a pretty pretty princess! (^_^) I couldn't stop beaming. The second dress was very elegant and it laced up the back, which did a wonder for my... ahem... girlish figure. But as lovely as it was, I just didn't get the butterflies that the other dress gave me. So, I chose my quintessential princess dress and happily spent the rest of the time trying on veils.

I wasn't the only one trying on veils and dresses. The "Dons" were helping themselves to dresses and veils. It was only a mater of time that my girls followed suit and caused a muck in the back room. I'm amazed we didn't get kicked out!

I have to say, which I'm sure I'll repeat myself during the course of this blog, that my girls are so incredibly wonderful. They haven't complained once about this be a destination wedding or about the style/color/cost of their dresses. Of course I tried to keep in mind what would work best for them since the beginning, but still... these are three very strong, independent women with very different styles and ideas. I've seen them butt heads on more than one occasion (lets face it: two are sisters). I've been seeing all these "Say Yes to the Dress" shows where the bridesmaids run the appointment. Honestly I was a little scared. I should have known better. My girls are the best friends anyone could have, and I am so lucky that I'm surrounded by such awesome and caring ladies.