The Pineapple Wedding: March 2009

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Love Again: Pre-Ceremony

The Rehearsal, Rehearsal Dinner, Rehearsal Dinner Gifts, Getting Ready, First Glance, Portraits, Loved Always

After returning to the River's Club after our portrait session the boys headed to the Men's locker room and the bridesmaids and I went to powder our noses. I wanted to get upstairs and hide away before the guests arrived, so Emily, the wedding coordinator for the River's Club, took me through the coat closet and into the ballroom where the ceremony would be taking place.

As you can see, we did very little to decorate the ballroom. We were working with a limited budget and would only be in this room for under and hour, so any grand ideas I once had were scrapped. The decor wasn't stunning, but the carpet was new and there was some simple decorative art on the walls.

The only things that we added were programs on each chair and the hand-painted aisle runner. (The runner was taped at the end to the floor, something I didn't take into consideration.)

Our ceremony and pre-ceremony music was performed by great friends of ours, Pete and John. Pete was also one of the groomsmen so there were moments when John played and sung solo. It worked out really well, with Pete just sitting and standing when needed. :)

They did an amazing job and I love that so many of our friends were able to be a part of our wedding.

So while Pete and John were playing to an empty room I was hidden away on the other side of a temporary wall. My bridesmaids were in the locker room finishing their touch-ups and I have no idea where anyone else was. This was a very strange, but relaxing, time for me. It seemed like I was sitting alone for an endless amount of time. Every few minutes my mom, Emily or one of the photographers would peak there heads in to make sure I hadn't run away.

This is one of the times my mom came to keep me company. The only way I could think to sit down without wrinkling my gown was to sit backward. I am indeed a classy gal. At one point all three photographers and Emily came in with worried looks on their faces. I don't even really remember what the crisis was, something about having enough time to get photos of the important moments before our contracted eight hours were up. I just kind of giggled and said to put the events in whatever order was necessary. I couldn't imagine actually caring at that point. (It turned out not to be an issue at all and the photographers left well after the cake cutting and such.)

One of my favorite parts about having all of these photos is seeing how genuinely happy everyone was. I was over the moon to have this time to share with our loved ones, but it is wonderful to see how over the moon happy others were too, like Krissy and Katie.

Finally, my best friends, sister and father joined me. We lined up to get ready for our walk...

Did you have any alone time on your wedding day?

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Love Again: Loved Always

The Rehearsal, Rehearsal Dinner, Rehearsal Dinner Gifts, Getting Ready, First Glance, Portraits

When I began my recaps for Weddingbee Mr. Pineapple asked me if I would be able to mention his mom, even though she would not be in any of the photographs. I have never explained our reason for getting married early to the hive, it just never seemed like the right time. Well, now is as good as any, I suppose.

Mr. Pineapple's mom was very sick last September so Mr. P and I decided to get married early, just in case she was not going to be able to make it to our October wedding. We wanted, more than anything, to be able to share our wedding day with our parents. So, the wedding in a week took place. My father flew to Pennsylvania from Florida where he joined my mother who had been staying with Mr. P and I. The day after Mr. Pineapple's mom was released from the hospital, she and Mr. P's step-dad were able to see us marry. Just last week Mr. Pineapple's mom passed away after fighting cancer with strength and courage for nine years. The services were attended by over 600 people and an amazing tribute to her life. She will always be loved and dearly missed.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Love Again: Portraits

The Rehearsal, Rehearsal Dinner, Rehearsal Dinner Gifts, Getting Ready, First Glance

This post could be alternately titled "The Pineapples Publicly Display Affection." Mellon Park is a popular spot for skateboarding teens and pooping pigeons. Luckily, I think we managed to scare off both. We did have a small audience of on-lookers, one of whom said to her husband "Look at those beautiful flowers!" She must have been wondering how we managed to get peonies in October.

Here is a little bit of proof that your bridesmaids don't have to wear the same thing to look stunning. I purchased the shawls at H&M for $9 a piece, which was a pretty sweet deal. I chose the colors based on what I thought each girl would like the most. I had pretty much thrown the "wedding colors" concept out then window by that point.

Here at the boys all wearing different gray suits and ties we gave to them that sort-of matched.

All of the groomsmen have jobs that already required suits except for one, Mike (aka our free-j). Luckily, since he is an actor he was able to rent his suit from a costume shop. Talk about using your resources wisely.

I am not sure what the concrete stage thing we are standing on was originally intended for, but it was a great spot for our photos.

Have you noticed how we are on the verge of laughter in many of the photos? Well, Mr. Pineapple kept burping and blowing in my face. Awe, memories.

This is one of my favorite photos from the day. I'm not normally a fan of the tilt/wacky angle, but this one is an exception.

There is that sun again! Wow, I really cannot wait for spring!

Time to head back to the River's Club, pluck some fall leaves out from my crinoline, reapply a little lipstick and get hitched (again)!

Are you planning to have portraits taken at your ceremony site or somewhere else?

Monday, March 9, 2009

Love Again: First Glance

The Rehearsal, Rehearsal Dinner, Rehearsal Dinner Gifts, Getting Ready

Mr. Pineapple and I decided to go ahead and do as many formal portraits as we could before the ceremony. Seeing each other before the wedding ended up not being a big deal anyway since we were already married. Any jinxing that was to be done had been at the Clymer magistrate.

Pittsburgh is known for its cold and cloudy days. Why it was 55 and sunny on an October day is beyond me, but I was thrilled. In fact, if it were any warmer the thousand layers of pouf may have made me melt. The boys waited at the Omni while we headed to Mellon Square Park. It was the perfect location for us: right behind the hotel, three blocks from the River's Club, surrounded by cityness but still with plenty of fall foliage.

One last look in the mirror for Mr. Pineapple.

We decided to do our best Abby Road impression. Lucky for us Pittsburghers don't go downtown unless they are on their way to work or a Stillers™ game.

I love this photo of Mr. Pineapple. He looks like a nervous groom about to wed! (Well, except that here he is already sporting his band.)

Then it was time for Mr. P and I to get all first glancey and such. Even though we were already wed, it was wonderful to see him for the first time in this way. He was finally able to see the dress that made me cry and I got to see him with a smile almost as big as mine.

For some reason these crazy girls in dresses were hollering at us.

Next, it was time for Mr. Pineapple to inspect my duds. I seem to remember flashing people like this a lot on our wedding day.

This is when Mr. P teased me about my "tiara." The only things he knows about bridal fashion he learned while watching me watch the wedding episode of Glamor Magazine's don't list. They said no tiaras, whatever mine was cute. ;)

One last kiss before portrait time.

Are you doing a first glance?

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Love Again: Getting Ready

Love Again:
The Rehearsal, Rehearsal Dinner, Rehearsal Dinner Gifts

Great news, hive! Last week Mr. Pineapple and I received the DVD containing our full resolution files from Mary Mervis. Mingwei Tay, the student and aspiring wedding photographer, provided us with our images months ago, but I wanted to share everything with you at once. So, it begins with getting ready.

Mr. P and I spent the night before our wedding in the Omni William Penn with some of our guests. Although it is traditional for the couple to spend the night apart I knew sleeping was going to be a challenge for me, especially without Mr. P by my side. I woke up at about 4am and that was it, I was awake for the day.

At 9am my mother, 4 bridesmaids and I met Mingwei at Philip Pelusi hair salon just a couple floors below our ceremony and reception site. I was a bit worried about getting my hair and make-up done so early especially since we still had a good deal of prep work to do upstairs. Jamie, the stylist, offered to create another appointment for me at noon to touch up my hair and do my make-up.

I didn't make any changes from my trial, soft curls and warm tones. I was really calm all morning until this point. Mary's photographers, Tammy and Marella, were meeting us at 1:30 to head over to the park where we were to meet the boys for a first glance and portraits. That meant an hour and a half to have my hair fixed, make-up done and get dressed. It was plenty of time in the end, but I was still for some reason nervous about the clock.

I was not fond of the idea of actually getting dressed in front of the cameras or even my friends so I hopped into my dress and called for my mom to zip me up. This was the next and final stressful moment of the day. After my fitting issues I was really really worried the dress wouldn't zip. My poor mother... while she was trying to get me zipped I kept saying "Does it fit? Is it zipping? Are you sure? Is it squeezing my back fat?" Two second later I was zipped and ready to get married (again).

The pearls that Christy is clipping around my neck were a gift from Dad Pineapple. They were perfect. Simple and definitely re-wearable. They completed my wedding jewelry, the only other pieces being pearl earrings Mr. P gave to me early on in our relationship and of course my rings.

Speaking of accesories, here is Bridesmaid Christy wearing the rose colored pearl earrings and necklace I made for my bridesmaids. My favorite part of the necklace was the copper rose clasp. I also gave each of the bridesmaids a wrap to wear since we had planned on taking photos outside.

Sister Pineapple and MOH, Krissy, wore a wacky teal hair flower I made for her. It was kinda quirky, but so is she so it worked.

Here I am showing off my crinoline and cowboy boots. I am so glad I decided to wear my boots the entire day. Not only was I completely comfortable and able to dance all night, but now the boots Mr. P bought my for my birthday a year earlier are even more special.

I was so relieved at this point to be ready and on time. Now I was able to relax and just be happy. After this point I didn't have any clue what time it was and I didn't care. I was definitely ready to see Mr. P again and squeeze him.

Here is a shot of the final clay bouquet made by Diane of DK Designs Hawaii. The bouquet is now sitting in one of the dishes from our candy buffet where I can admire it everyday, forever. Going with clay flowers was one of the best wedding choices Mr. Pineapple and I made.

Before I knew it we were heading out of the River's Club to meet Mr. P and the other boys.

Getting ready was the most nerve racking part of my day, what was yours?