winter wedding

My sister recently married her long-time boyfriend and had a beautiful ceremony at the historic Hawthorne Hotel in Salem, MA.  The two of them are both unabashed geeks, and the whole event was saturated in geekery in the best way, from the bridal party gifts like this heart glass to the handmade game and/or comic themed terrarium centerpieces. I was the maid of honor, to be sure, and did hair and makeup for her as well, using my modest makeup powers as a force of good.

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Paper flower bouquets and boutonnieres, the bouquets custom made from Harry Potter books, the boutonniers from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Ah, Etsy.

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Brunch before the ceremony at the quirky, charming Gulu-Gulu cafe, featuring these incredibly strong gin champagne cocktails.

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After a session of experimenting (months before) the bride made the bold and excellent choice of Lancome’s Rouge in Love Fiery Attitude for her lipstick. Lovely, no? This lipstick can do no wrong in my eyes. The lace hair ribbon is handmade, Etsy again. She didn’t want to wear much makeup, so actually there wasn’t much to this job.

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And do you know, I’d never been in a photobooth before? I don’t even know where you would find one aside from a wedding or fair, or perhaps a mall somewhere. Quite fun, though. This was the official guest book for the event. A massive hit with the whole room, with a near constant line of people wanting to go again and again with different configurations of people. There were many geeky props. Really entertaining to browse through the book of photos later.

And every guest got to make their own Lego figurine from a buffet of body parts and accessories. Mine has a kind of Lara Croft thing going, I think.

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My brother. 18. Pretty adorable.

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I haven’t seen the photographer’s photos yet but will share some,  maybe, when they come out. I didn’t get many of myself/my outfit with my camera but this shows the general look and color scheme going on. It was absolutely freezing outside, by the way.

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So, that’s one thing I’ve been up to!

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the heart studs

Lately I wear studs almost all the time, and these are the current favorites.

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Hand sawed and stamped brass hearts, from the Etsy shop LibiClozet, stumbled upon while I was searching for something else entirely. Isn’t it always the way?

You can choose to get them without the text, and she has other shapes, too.

I like the lack of symmetrical precision, the handmade-ness giving them a childlike feel.

I don’t particularly want anything else heart-shaped or that says love on it but I really liked these. Buying them was one of those whimsical impulses that later feels strangely wise and appropriate, from which I then draw positive conclusions about my nature and mental/emotional state. Those are the best.

Wearing them here and here, though difficult to see, which shows you how small they are; really an excellent size.