two hearts tie the knot at hartness house

Hi all! Here are the wedding outfit photos from Saturday--any excuse to get a little bit glam is a-okay avec moi! If you recall, I opted for this summery number over my dress-prize for several reasons (not least of which = laziness), and I'm glad I did! The ceremony was outside in the sunshine, and a Marilyn-inspired red frock would have been a bit shocking for early-evening.

(dress: Modcloth; shoes: Charlotte Russe; earrings: gift from mom; necklace: antique shop)

I bought this necklace on a whim on the way down. We stopped in Waterbury for a bagel (me) and a sandwich (him) and I dropped in to the Antique shop to see if I could find something suitable to break up the wide expanse of my bare chest. This lovely necklace was perfection.

And of course, the most fun (and arguably, most important) accessory of all: a dapper lad on my arm :)

The wedding was held at the Hartness House in Springfield, Vermont. This Hartness fellow was a pretty fascinating guy. He was an inventor (he patented 120 different machines) and telescope enthusiast who socialized with the likes of Charles Lindbergh and helped advance Springfield into the industrial age (apparently it used to be such a significant manufacturing center that it was number seven on Hitler's "Cities to Bomb" list during WWII--now, all of the old abandoned factories are picturesque in a nostalgic sense, but you'd never know that it was once a bustling industrial city).

The coolest part of the house wasn't accessible on the big day, but speaks volumes about Hartness' character. While working, he was tormented by even the slightest auditory disturbances, and when building a separate workshop behind the mansion didn't solve his concentration problems he decided to build a workshop underground! As we strolled across the lawn on Saturday, we were walking over a series of rooms: a library, workshop, lavatory (so much classier than "bathroom"--I'm going to have to use that terminology from now on!), study, and lounge... all connected by tunnels, equipped for electricity, and ventilated.

(source)

Today, the underground apartment is a museum for Stellafane (a group of amateur telescope-makers who started an official club back in the 'twenties), which sounds incredibly awesome--I'd love to visit again someday and actually see all of the antique gadgets below the ground. And while I'm on the subject, Stellafane is a pretty nifty organization in its own right. The club was founded 75 years ago by Russell Porter, an arctic explorer and amateur astronomer who decided to teach telescope-building to a group of coworkers at the Jones & Lamson Machine Company. Thus began the first "star parties," where groups of builders got together to gaze (in order to be a card-carrying member of this elite club, you have to build your own telescope mirror). Pretty neat-o, yes?

As for the wedding itself, it was lovely and I wish we could have stayed longer but the Universe was kind of conspiring against us. The bride was beautiful (no surprise there), the vows made me cry (no surprise there, either) and it was a beautiful, sunny summer evening. Perfection! I wish the happy couple everything that their little hearts desire (and more).

...and then we went back to the hotel and caught up on the late-night replay of "Jersey Shore," which just made everything absolutely excellent.

bells will be ringing

I'm baaack!

Firstly, I must apologize for being such a bad blogger, but you know... life & everything. Secondly, I must apologize that my outfit is pretty uninspired today, but I'm pretty impressed that I got dressed at all! Daylight Savings really screwed with my sleep schedule (I've turned into an insomniac the past couple of days) but it's so worth it! I love Mr. Sun so much and can't wait to spend some quality time with him this summer.

This weekend I went to Boston to spend some quality time with some of my other favorite people--if you read this, you know who you are! One of my dearest friends (S) is getting hitched this afternoon (!!!!) at City Hall and we had to throw together a last-minute surprise bachelorette weekend for her (of course!).

On Friday my gal pals & I spent the entire day shopping & decorating the bride-to-be's apartment (after fetching the keys from her fiance, our co-conspirator) before she got home from work. We got all gussied up and started waiting (and drinking champagne) around 3:30, but she decided to go shopping after work and didn't get home until around 7! We were a little tipsy by the time she arrived, but she was certainly surprised!!

That night we took her out for fondue (her fiance is allergic to... well, everything, but especially cheese!) at the Melting Pot in the Park Plaza Hotel (delicious!) and then for scotch and cigars at Stanza dei Sigari in the North End (super-cool, an old 1920s speakeasy). Admittedly, this was not your average bachelorette blowout, but our girl is not your average bachelorette!

The rest of the weekend was pretty low-key, in the best way. Mostly we just ate (A LOT--cheese (brie and goat gouda [!], grapes, car-bomb cupcakes [guiness cake, whipped bailey's filling, jameson frosting--soo good!], pasta from Sal's, beer bread & eggs... mmm) watched movies, played Scattergories, and attempted to stay out of the torrential rain that decided to hit Boston this weekend (too bad for the St. Patty's Day parade).

All-in-all, it was a fantastic weekend with four fantastic ladies--every time I see them it makes me miss my college days with a vengeance, but I'm so so glad we've all kept in touch!

(shirt: Marshall's; skirt: vintage; belt: thrifted; scarf/tights: TJMaxx; boots: ALDO)

At first when S told me that she was thinking of getting married at City Hall in advance of the "real" wedding (scheduled for Fall 2011, when her fiance is finished with law school), I'll admit--I balked. I couldn't imagine why she would want to do such a thing. The more I thought about it, though, the more I started wondering if she didn't have exactly the right idea. If it were me, I would probably run off to a small country chapel somewhere in France (or something equally dramatic), but the idea is there.

(St Michel D’Aiguilhe Chapel, France - source)

Weddings have basically just become big parties--which is great, don't get me wrong--and it seems like the spirit of the wedding has lost its romantic lustre a little bit. I like the idea of a quiet, private "wedding" to jump-start the marriage, because that's what it is--a marriage. First and foremost, it should be a personal celebration between two people who have decided to dedicate their lives to each other... there will be plenty of time for the party (and S still fully intends to have a big white wedding).

Anyway, I guess what I'm trying to say is: I approve. And I'm so so happy that such a wonderful girl has found such a wonderful love--nobody deserves it more than she does.