Skippy Says: Where It All Began, Part III (Skippy Gets Married)

Read our big announcement about a little package we're expecting here, where it all began, part I here, and part II here!

After the ceremony, everyone headed to the reception which was held at The City Club. Having the ceremony and reception at two different locations was honestly a bit of a pain, but I was so in love with both the ceremony site (the Shakespeare Garden in Golden Gate Park) and the reception site (The City Club) that I couldn't help myself. 

When you're planning a wedding, you'll hear lots of people tell you to pick what's important to you, and then to pick things you could spend less money on or do without. You know, because of that silly budget thing most of us have to work within. Well, one of the things that was most important to me was flowers. I love flowers (and even worked at a flower shop for a while!) so there was no compromising on those. I went with orchids draped around branches placed in a vase submerged with hydrangeas and more orchids, all finished off with some tea light candles. Purty. 

My mama (in the middle holding the mic) gave the sweetest toast. She talked about a video Ryan's dad took of us shortly before the wedding where Ryan is trying to teach me to ride a bike and I'm wailing "Ryan, come back, don't let me go, I want you by me." She told us she hopes we feel this way about each other our whole lives. Thanks mamula.

That's my BFF/maid of honor giving her toast. She wrote an incredibly sweet and silly poem where she explained to the room how she and I are soulmates. Sorry Ryan. But in all fairness I did warn him that was the case, so he entered the marriage knowing that. She also introduced the guests to a Russian wedding tradition in which all the guests scream "gorka," meaning bitter, and then the newlyweds have to kiss to get the bitter taste out of their mouth. Good times.

Ryan and I encouraged the guests to scream "gorka" loudly. We won't put on a show for free you know.

That's my best friend Marina giving her toast. You could definitely tell this girl is getting her PhD in comparative literature. Her toast was incredibly heartfelt, and I had a hard time keeping it together for most of it. I was kind of ready to kill her at one point though, when she decided it was a good idea to tell all our guests about that time I thought I had butt cancer. No, not when I was little, I don't even have that excuse. Like, a few years before the wedding. But then again, I just told the whole internet about it, so I guess I shouldn't be too mad.

This was our reaction during that little part of her speech.

All I gotta say about this is that if you're getting married in the Bay Area, Carolyn Wong is your woman for the cake. For realz, just trust me on this.

It got two thumbs up for me, at least after I finally got to taste it. When Ryan and I were cutting the cake to feed each other, he put the tiniest little piece on his fork for me. I shook my head no, I wanted a bigger piece, and refused to eat until he added more. Which he did, but it still wasn't enough. I decided to take matters into my own hands and remedied the problem by switching my fork with his, and then we were finally good to go. Don't judge. I like cake.

During Jewish weddings, the bride and groom get lifted and carried around in chairs. While Ryan got some big, strong men lifting him, I had some puny lifters. See that expression on my face? That's fear for my life.

We spent the rest of the night gettin' down:

No, really down:

The perfect end to a perfect day:

Skippy Says: Where It All Began, Part II (Skippy Gets Married)

Read our big announcement about a little package we're expecting here, and where it all began, part I here!

I spent the night before the wedding with my 3 best girlfriends (and bridesmaids) in the same room Ryan and I later stayed in on our wedding night. I'll just go ahead and say that if you ever have the chance to stay at the Mandarin Oriental in San Francisco, you should jump at the opportunity. The view alone is worth it. We had the hair and make-up artists meet us in our room in the morning because seriously, what's better than being pampered while staring at the city you love most from a gorgeous room with a 42nd floor view?

Taking a break from the beautifying process to share a moment with my BFF/maid of honor:

The back of this dress is seriously a large part of the reason why I bought it:

Oh, and what have we here? I'll tell you what. This right here is what happens when you learn that your limo company thinks your wedding is on August 31st rather than August 1st, and you have about half an hour to somehow get yourself across the city to your ceremony site. Cue hysterical laughing because really, what else are you going to do?

Except hail a cab. Classy.

Somehow we made it to the ceremony only a few minutes late. You see that tall girl, second from the right? That's my overly emotional best friend Marina. Here she is already crying when I just started walking down the aisle. God bless her heart. As you can see, I did not have my bridesmaids all wear identical dresses. Instead, I told them to pick out a purple dress of their choice in a similar material. Their material of choice? "Something kinda shiny." I dug it.

Ryan and I had a Jewish wedding ceremony, where one of the traditions is for the bride to circle the groom seven times. Unfortunately, I was a little nervous and lost count. See hilarity of evidence below. On our wedding video, you can actually see Ryan holding up his fingers to show me how many times I've already circled, and how many I have left to go. Atta boy, what a helper.

This right here is our rabbi holding up our Ketubah, the Jewish wedding contract. We chose to write our own, comprised of our vows to one another.

Oh, and look at me getting my wedding band- I think I like it! Per Jewish tradition, Ryan first put the ring on my index finger and then I moved it over to my ring finger. The reason for this is twofold. First, in Jewish mysticism it is believed that there is an artery running straight from the index finger to the heart. And second, by me moving the ring to my wedding finger rather than Ryan placing it on there, I am indicating that I am willingly entering into this marriage. Do I look willing or what?

At one point during the wedding, the rabbi said he wanted to wish us the best of luck. And I stopped the ceremony in order to thank him. What? It seemed rude not to. Below is Ryan making fun of me. I think. Either that, or this is the part of the ceremony where the rabbi described the time Ryan tricked me into being locked in our dog's crate.

At the end of Jewish wedding ceremony, the groom smashes a piece of glass. As Ryan said, he destroyed it.

After the ceremony, we took a few family photos before heading to the reception. Ryan and his mama:

Me and my papa:

And a few of the two of us:

 Ok, maybe this isn't the most attractive photo of me, but it's very typically us:

Stay tuned for part III, the wedding reception, tomorrow!

Skippy Says: Where It All Began, Part I (Skippy Gets Engaged)

Thank you all so much for your congratulations and kind words on yesterday's post. Since I've told you we're having a baby, I figure I should go ahead and tell you where it all began.

Ryan and I met and started dating in high school, the summer after my junior year. Well, technically, I was in high school and he had just graduated, since he is a grade above me. For this reason, Ryan likes to constantly remind me that he is my high school sweetheart, but I am not his. And then I like to punch him in the face.

We planned to just have a fun summer fling together for a month or so before he went off to college, but we both fell for each other faster and harder than expected. So the month turned into a year, then another, and then a third. Four years of cross-country and cross-continent long distance dating and lots of fights later, we finally moved to the same city. A year later we moved in together, and another year after that he took me to Cape Cod and told me he wanted to make an honest woman out of me. And I told him I couldn't wait.

I love animals, and for our four year anniversary Ryan took me to the San Francisco petting zoo. I decided I wanted to go back there for at least part of our engagement photoshoot, since you'll never see a bigger smile from me than when I'm hugging a goat. Or sheep. Whatever.

After the zoo, we headed to one of my favorite museums-- the Legion Of Honor.

While there, we decided to have a runway walk-off. You know, America's Next Top Model style. Ryan totally won.

A quick stop by Queen Wilhemina's Garden:

Before finishing off the day at the beach:

Stay tuned for part II, the wedding ceremony, tomorrow!