Aroma's biography
... gonna get ma-a-arried!! 
Married! Yay! We got married on October
16th, 2010. It feels amazing! There is a ring on my finger... (Still trying to wrap my head around it...)
I have no words - it was so amazing! I am the luckiest girl in the whole wide world! Not only did the love of my life say Yes to me, but our family and friends shared the moment and a great party with us and everything went soo smoothly.
I wouldn't say it was the bestest day of my life, but that is fine. I never expected it to be. It was too exhausting to qualify for that title. But it was definitely one of the happiest, happiest days in my life!! I feel blessed beyond words.
Thanks, PW!! My wedding wouldn't have been what it was without PW. I owe all of you big!
I was chosen as BOTW. Oh sweet lord, that is such an honor! I honestly don't think there could be a bigger compliment! Thanks, I am so happy!
This is me...
flirting with a kangaroo. It was so friendly and cute.
I am from Germany, so please forgive mistakes. Especially prepositions I am very indecisive about.
Fi and I met in University. We both studied law, but we did never really talk until in our second year we both tutored the new first years. Fi told me later, he had noticed me before in classes because of my poor drinking-out-of-a-bottle skills and he thought I was cute. Tutoring means - apart from showing the newbies around - going to the first year parties and having fun. That's where we first started talking. We talked more on another party and after the third party of talking and laughing, he walked me home and we kissed. "Oh no", I thought. He was very nice, I liked him a lot, but I did not want a relationship at that time. So, I told him. A week later on my birthday he called me and we talked and talked on the phone. He couldn't make it to my birthday party, but we met again at a friend's house. We literally did not spend a minute apart on that evening. He walked me home again and we kissed again... He told me, he wanted to see me on the weekend and that he'd call me. That was on a Thursday... when did he call? Saturday at nine pm. By that time I was so angry that he didn't call me, that I didn't even want to answer the phone anymore. Well, I did. And we talked more. At midnight, we decided to go for a walk in a nearby park. It was November and snow was everywhere, but it was one of the most romantic nights of my life. He walked me home at 4 in the morning.
Then we started to date properly, dinner, movies... We have never stoped talking since and he is still my favorite person to discuss things with, to share my thoughts with and to laugh with.
This is us, Malte and me:
Engagement
We got engaged in January 2010 after 5 years of being in love.
After our first state exam in December 2008 we had decided to got to the other side of the world together and do our master's degree. So we enrolled at the Victoria Uniersity of Wellington in New Zealand for the LLM program and went to live there for a year. It was the most amazing time of my life! I loved it and I would go back immediately if it wasn't for my family. I cannot stand to be so far away from them for long.
We had a wonderful year, but it had to end. So we sold all our stuff, bed, desks, chairs... and packed the rest. The last day we spent doing some last souvenir shopping. In the evening, Fi invited me to dinner to one of our favorite restaurants. After delicious Vietnamese food, we had a cocktail in a very cosy Jazz bar. Then Fi wanted to go for a walk at the waterfront. It was a lovely warm night with stars sparkling. At some point, he stopped and hugged me. He said: 'So, the past year New Zealand, what is next?' I wondered what he was talking about: ' I don't know.' 'How about getting married?' ... WTF? 'Are you asking me to marry you?' This was such a surprise! The thought had occured to me that this would be the _perfect_ evening to propose, but I never thought that he wanted to get married before we finished our education entirely (- there is this two-year traineeship kind of thing we have to do after Uni in Germany before our second state exam). I had had no idea he was thinking about this in more than abstract we'll-get-married-some-day terms.
He said: 'Yes, but you cannot say Yes yet. I have something to bribe you.' He pulled out the ring. It fit perfectly on my finger like it was made for me. I recognised it to be a ring I had loved and showed him months ago in a jewelry window, a blue Topaz on a white gold band. Of course, I said yes. We hugged and kissed. And I cried. I am not the crying-type usually, but in this moment I was so overwhelmed.
Then I really needed a drink to calm my nerves. (This is my Fi's favorite part of our engagement story!) So we went to a nearby bar an had a schnaps. *lol*
The next morning, I skyped with my Mom and she asked: 'What is so shiney and blue on your finger?' Seriously, I did not tell her. I just changed the topic. I wonder if any other bride can understand this. I love my Mum and I was excited to tell her later, but I wanted to keep our engagement to ourselves for just moment longer. It felt like such an intimate thing to share and I needed to wrap my head around this first.
On our way back to Germany, we had a stop-over for 4 days in Hongkong. This was just the time we needed to talk about it and enjoy sharing the secret. Back home we told everyone and it was great how happy and excited everyone was! We are blessed with having so caring families!
I love reading those, so I thought, I'll do one too.
Copied from CapitolBride.
How old are you both? I am 26, Fi is 27 - we'll get married on my 27th birthday.
Do you have any pets? No, but he promised me, I will get my french bully as soon as we can afford dog sitters. I love dogs, I am especially crazy about french bulldogs, english bulldogs and pugs. Boston terriers are cute too, but I have never met one in person.
Was the proposal a complete surprise? Yes and no.
Will the wedding guests be "balanced?" That means, if we bothinvited the same number of people, right? Then the answer is nearly. My family is a little larger and I invited a few more friends, but overall it's pretty balanced.
What are some traditions you're keeping at your wedding? Bouquet Toss, Cake Cutting, Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.
Are you buying his wedding band for him? No. His family gives us the wedding bands.
What is one thing about your FI that drives you nuts? He is a notorious last minute guy. That drives me crazy like two times a week.
What are you most looking forward to about being married? Spending the rest of my life with my favorite person on the planet, starting a family, plan the future
Inside or outside? Inside. October in north Germany is likely to be thunderstorms. But I really hope for sunshine.
List anything you dislike. Warm carrots (love carrot cake though), celery, lies, poor grooming - I am quite sensitive to smell, heavy perfume gives me a headache too.
How many people will be there? 41 - 43, depending on if my ill gradparents will be able to make the journey They cannot attend. So sad!
Time of day? 6:00 pm Sharp! I must emphasis SHARP because my family still doesn't understand time. (Stolen from CapitolBride, but I sooo hear you!)
Any kind of theme? no theme.
How many bridesmaids? no bridesmaids, but witnesses of marriage
What kind of cake/what will it look like? I have no clue. My aunt will make the cake and except for some flavours we don't like, we told her to surprise us.
What kind of dress will you have/color/mat erial? Ivory, strapless, corset with honeycomb lace, satin
What kind of flowers in your bouquet? No idea. My other aunt will surprise me.
Kind of engagement ring? White gold, blue Topaz - just look at the picture.
How will you wear your hair? low updo, elegant, sophisticated, clean chic
Who will be important to be there? Everyone - we only invited those people who we love and who play an important role in our lives. Oh, and the groom should really be there... :D
How long will you be engaged before you get married? 8,5 months
Live together before or wait till married? We live together for 4 and a half years now. I really don't think that you should get married until you have lived together for a couple of
months minimum, better a year.
Take a long time to plan the wedding or will it be simple? More on the simple side, I guess
Will you write your own vows or use something pre-made? I don't think I'll be able to speak without crying, so we will probably just say 'I do'. Haven't really disussed that yet. Yes, Fi agrees.
We are going to get married in a civil wedding only. This is different in Germany from North America. Every couple has to get married in a civil ceremony to be legally wed. This is where you sign everything and are registered as married from there on. Some (acutally most, I think) couples decide to have a church ceremony too, which can take place on the same day or later. We decided to not do that as we are not very religious.
Nevertheless, I will wear a beautiful wedding dress. My Mom was visiting and we - including Fi - decided to go to a few wedding boutiques to see what kind of
bride I wanted to be. I hadn't even looked at a lot of pictures yet and I did not intend to buy at all. We just wanted inspirations and some fun. First we went to a big store and I tried on several styles - greek goddess, princess, very plain in
white, cream, ivory in short, long, sleeveless... I did not know what I wanted. I just knew all this wasn't really me. They were all pretty, but I didn't feel it.
Then we went to a really small boutique. We entered and I saw a hat with a birdcage veil lying in a shelf. I fell in love immediately. I grabbed it and wouldn't let go anymore. My Mom liked it too. She said, it looks like one of those stewardess hats, but in a very pretty way. I laughed so hard at this, she was right. But I don't care, I love my hat! Look: it has little beige rose buds all over.
I showed the hat to the saleslady and asked her, if she had a dress that went with the hat. She had. I tried it on together with the hat and really liked what the mirror showed me. My Mom and Fi loved it too. The dress is ivory and strapless A-line with a corsage. Again, I have no picture (Update: inserted picture from the fitting.) It is a rather modern dress, no flowers, pearls, rhinestones or lace. I'll post pictures when I go back there for the fitting. As we get married in October (on the 16th, my 27th birthday), I will wear a marabou stole to keep me warm.
The dress has a short train, but I don't want a train and will have it bustled permanently. (Note to myself: Decide about a bustle. Read article: http://www.projectwedding.com/wedding-ideas/bustles-for-your-gown) Eating my words and decided to keep the train. Don't tell Fi!
The dress was on sale and when we saw the small price tag, my Mom decided to buy it for me without thinking about it any longer. She said, when I found another dress, it was fine, but she tought, this was the right one. I have never had the
desire to look for another dress. I just love it and I am excited to wear it!
For support under the dress, I can recommend this wonderbra: http://www.asos.com/Wonderbra/Wonderbra-Ultimate-Lace-Strapless-Bra/Prod/pgeproduct.aspx?iid=867407&SearchQuery=wonderbra&Rf-700=1000&Rf-800=22.667,-1&sh=0&pge=0&pgesize=20&sort=-1&clr=Ivory It is very comfortable and looks good. :-)
update: * Thanks for the sweet comments. They make me really happy, I appreciate!*
update 2: Had my second fitting today. Everything went well. They still have to make some minor alterations but overall I am happy. :))) It's funny, I can hardly explain, but I just feel like myself in my dress. Like she was actually made for me. I am not sure yet, if I want te get her dyed after the wedding. I might. But then again, she is so pretty in this color ivory.
Alright, I had my first fitting today.
First good news: I still love my dress! (I was kind of anxious that I might have changed my mind about her in the meantime. I change my mind ALL THE TIME about pretty much anything, so there was a risk. But everything is fine. She is still "the one".)
Second good news: Apparently, I lost a little weight. Last time it was a bit tight and I had to hold my breath for the saleslady to close the zipper, but today: perfect. No alternations needed around the bust (is that the right word?). Yay for that! They will make her a little shorter, let her out a little bit around the waist and I'll have a one-point overbustle. Partly, because it is the only way to bustle a dress the seamstress had ever heard of and I didn't want her to practice complicated french bustles on my dress, but then I am really happy with it because the dress is rather simple, so a simple bustle style is appropiate. Especially the picture from the back shows that the dress needs to be altered a little around the waist. In the second hat picture you can still see the tag dangle down - my Mum cut it off afterwards.
Third good news: I got the marabou stola I had my eye on since day 1.
Now on to the best part: Picccctures. (Please ignore stupid face)
*UPDATE*
Look on wedding day
sharing the BIO LOVE
- Bios I want to go back to for inspirational or daydreaming purposes
miss_em2010 - who made me realise that I cannot possibly get married without a stole!! Read her advice break! It is so wise. In fact, read her whole bio. It's so worth it! For me, it definetily gets the trophy for Most Wonderful Wedding and Most Gorgeous Bride.
LadyHannah - had to save her because our dresses are similar. Good taste, Hannah! ;)
Jasminealaine - DIY Tutorial for the cutest fabric flowers.
klovesb - Hello Elegance!
plumcrush - If I had all the money in the world, I would have recreated her wedding for us. So beautiful!!
jules84 - Jules has one of the most beautiful dresses I have ever seen. The color is perfection! Can't wait to see her wedding pics!! She will be an incredibly gorgeous bride.
MountainBride - I am stealing her "bouquet tossing" idea and I might steal the guestbook idea too. Love her bio!!
... next to pw I like to look at:
www.dawanda.de (The German Etsy)
of course: etsy.com
I ordered these stamps from www.etsy.com/shop/myrubberstamp. She was just wonderful to work with and stayed patient, although I changed my mind a couple of times. I chose two stamps in two different fonts I liked. Wow, this is the first time ever, I see my new name written out. Exciting!! I can't practice writing my new name - superstition.
Her card - sorry, picture is a bit blurry.
The set I got - the little Hello stamp was for free - yay!
One for me (covering the surname and blurred out the address underneath the name). OMG! So excited to see my new name...
And one for us (again covering the surname and blurred out the address). I know, usually the name of the woman comes first, but I think our names look better this way. Whaaa! This is real!
This is so much fun! I didn't actually create these ispiration boards for inspirational purpose, but for the pure fun of doing it and combining beautiful pictures. I love everything and wish I could marry several times to include all the wonderful ideas and items - but then again, once is enough. :)
(I couldn't leave my e-ring out, could I? Although I had intended this to be pro-pictures only.)
Seriously? Yes, seriously, no bridesmaids. :)
We don't really do this in Germany. We have witnesses of marriage instead who sign the wedding papers with us. I asked my best friend from first grade in primary school, whom I have known and loved for 21 years now, to be my witness, Fi asked his younger sister. Originally we had both planned to ask our younger siblings, but my brother will be underage when we get married and therefore, is legally not allowed to witness the wedding.
My aunt offered to get my bouquet for me. I loved that and am most grateful. Another thing I don't have to organise. Yay!
I showed her my inspirational pictures. She has great taste. We already talked about ideas and her thoughts were mine exactly, so I am excited to see, how it turns out.
I wanted colour! Firstly, I just like vivid, strong colours and secondly, I think it looks better in the pictures when the bride is not all-white, but has a pop of colour. I really love flowers like buttercups or peonys or roses with big blossoms.
If I used your pictures, please email me. I am happy to give credit. I just saved these a while ago.
Love the colour! Red and pink are my favorite colours.
Update: This is my old inspiration pics.
Love the flowers. This bouquet looks so soft and ...missing word here... full/rich.
Same here. This in a darker pink would be perfect! I cannot believe how beautiful these flowers are.
Love the colour combo.
This is my favorite inspiration picture ever!! She looks so happy and pretty and relaxed! This picture is everything I want my bouquet and my wedding to be. Love!
* UPDATE *
Ok, forget everything above. Yes, I still love these, but my aunt showed me a book about bridal bouquets from her florist where I saw the picture below. I fell in love! Now I want this.
I think it is so unique! LOVE! These black centered anemones are so pretty! I think overall, I like summer and spring bouquets the best. But I am getting married in fall and I
want my bouquet to fit. I think it would go well with my dress and my overall appearrance. At least I hope so. The bouquet is kind of vintage-glam, which I love!
*UPDATE*
My bouquet turned out quite similar to the very first pic I ever saved and wanted. Funny, because I never showed my aunt. She must know me well! It was beautiful! The florist couldn't get black centered anemones in October, so they used deep red dahlias, roses and hydrangeas.
Our menu is going to be Vietnamese-European mix. It sounds so good, I get hungry every time I think about it.
- Cucumber salad with Prawn ceviche
- Pho Bo - Noodle soup with shoots and fresh herbs
- Salmon on bok choy and papaya from the wok
- Fillet mignon caramelised on apples, pumpkin and thyme
- Pecorino tarte with pear sorbet, grape sauce and pine nuts
(Wow, this was hard to translate from German. I hope I got it right.)
(After wedding update: It was delicious! )
Our menus are DIY and I hope they turn out well. *fingers crossed*
This is what our trial looked like. I stopped the print at some point to not waste so much ink, that is why it is not neat at the one end. We still have to figure out, what shape it should have, but I am happy with the font. It is in German of course, but you still get the idea. Maybe this is helpful to some. I will take pictures of the process when I do them all.
*UPDATE*
Today I started project menu. I want to iron the text of our menu on red napkins. We wanted to buy red napkins, but surprisingly, it was really difficult to find some. I guess cloth napkins aren't that common anymore, but I didn't want paper napkins. I think cloth napkins are just more elegant. We went to quite a few stores, I searched the internet, but everything was way too expensive. So we decided to dye white napkins. We found these at Ikea on sale, so they were € 0.50 each, wich is about US$ 0.63. Yay!! (I can't find them on the website anymore, so maybe they discontinued them.)
Step 1 - washing them
Step 2 - cutting off the tags
Fi is helping. :)
Step 3 - dyeing
The napkins are cotton/polyester 50/50. So I needed two different dyes, but I could mix them and dye the fabric in one step. Relief! I let the pictures speak.
This is the dye I used (same brand for cotton too)
I let them soak and simmer for 30 - 40 minutes, stirring them every 5 - 10 minutes. I did this 3 times with 15 napkins each time.
After dyeing, before washing in the washing machine. (Look at my sink, it's red! - It was easy to clean though.)
Result.
I am happy with the colour!! It's exactly what I wanted: a bright red, light enough to be a good contrast to the black text it'll have. I am a happy face right now. :)))
*UPDATE*
Finished! We ironed the menu on - a looong process, but a successful one.
This is what the napkins looked like on the tables. (The name tags lie on top, not part of the napkin/menu.) Everyone loved it and several people took them home. :)))
I love jewelry and I really want it to be perfect on my wedding day. (I am using the word perfect too much! Note to myself: Not everything can be perfect. Start to deal with it
already or you will be disappointed.)
I cannot wear pearls because of this stupid superstition that wearing pearls on a wedding day symbolises tears in the marriage. I don't believe in such things, but I don't like to risk it either. Plus, my Mom would be upset. So no pearls. Which is a shame, because there is hardly anything more bridal than pearls and I have this adorable necklace... Oh well. No pearls.
Anyhow, I will wear my engagement ring on my left hand. It will be my something blue. Then I will borrow a white gold necklace with a little diamond pendant from my Mom. That will be my something borrowed. And lastly, I fell in love with these earrings. The blossoms are white gold plated and they have a white jade pearl. They were purchased at the German aquivalent to Etsy, where I have seen them too. Here I am wearing one and showing the other. Do you like them?
The ring thing is different in Germany. We don't wear e-ring and wedding band together. In fact, e-rings just became popular as an american trend over the last years. I told my Fi for years that I didn't want an engagement ring but an
engagement dog! Well, I really would have preferred a dog, a french bully please , but I like the ring, too. ;-)
Back to topic: In Germany, the couples get matching wedding bands and wear them on the right ring finger. This is probably the most common, classical type. Usually, the ring of the women doesn't even have a stone.
Of course, you can get them in all different gold types and also bi- or tricolor, with and without stones etc. The idea is that the rings of husband and wife are identical to show that you belong together. We decided to go with the traditional model. At first, I wanted a little bling, but a jeweler showed me something I loved. For our first child or our first/second/whenever-not-too-far-in-the-future anniversary I want my then-husband to give me a very thin, delicate diamond band, that I will wear with my ring. Something like this. And maybe, if I like it very much, I might wish for a second one later, so I can wear one above and one underneath the wedding band.
UPDATE
We got our rings! They are heaven - I love them so much! I am even more excited about them than about my dress. I am going to wear this ring for the rest of my life and I can't wait!!
They are red gold and engraved with our wedding date and our first names - mine in his ring and his in my ring. We got them in a finish the translator tells me is called matte-de-luxe in English. It looks really soft.
I took some quick poor quality pictures, but I zoomed the one in (increased contrast too) and you can actually see the inscription.
As I am wearing a hat and I want my hair up, I need a low updo.
I just got sent inspiration pictures from the gorgeous dianemeriam - I want what her hair stylist did!
Here is my other inspiration: Update: Still love this, but not my inspiration anymore.
Love this!
But I like this versions a lot too.
This picture is so pretty!! She looks gorgeous.
*Update*
Change of plans! I want something sleek and elegant now. No lovely curly, messy updo for me anymore. I just feel that a less playful hairstyle will go better with my dress. Plus, thanks to the hat I already have a lot going on on my head.
Criteria: low-sitting or otherwise hat-compatible, elegant, sophisticated, pretty, sleek, interesting, non-boring, special
Style 1 - low updo
*UPDATE*
My hairdo turned out to be similar to the last one above. I loved it!
My make up inspiration board.
I want to look exactly like Charlize here. Only, I am exchanging colours, but I adore this picture of her.
Usually, I am very undecided. I am a libra, so it is not my fault. But make up is my area of expertise and I didn't have to think twice. I am doing the make up myself and I want long thick lashes + dark pink/red lips.
My products:
* YSL Perfect Touch Foundation, my summer shade (or autumn fake tan shade) is #5, peach (completely misleading colour name, my skin has yellow undertones) I love the smell and the staying power of this. It gives me the most perfect teint without being too heavy. Picture
* Alverde Concealer, a German drugstore brand for organic cosmetics. It is quite peach toned, which is great for colour-neutralising dark circles under the eye.
* Powder: MAC Mineralise Skinfinish Natural in light medium
* Blush: Benefit Benetint Picture + MAC Dollymix Picture
* Bronzer - I am still undecided, probably Napoleon Perdis mosaic bronzer. It gives a nice sunkissed glow. Picture
* MAC lashes #33 Picture
* Mascara Voluminous by L'Oreal Picture
* Bobbi Brown gel liner in Sepia Ink or Espresso (I have both and they are pretty much identical.) Picture
* Two Faced Shadow Insurance Picture
* Eyeshadow by MAC, probably Vapour on the lid Colour Swatch and Haux in the crease Colour Swatch for a slightly defined eye, some Satin Taupe Colour Swatch on the upper and lower lashline
* for Brows I have a super cheap H&M pencil which I love, colour: brunette
* lips - the only item I bought for the wedding (makeupwise that is, of course): MAC Pro Longwear Lipcolour in the colour Perennial Rose. Here is a picture by the phantastic, beautiful Temptalia. I think on me the colour looks slightly darker, because I am slightly paler then she is. I already tried it on a night out. This stuff is amazing. So long lasting and not drying at all. Plus the gloss, you put over it is so non-sticky (I say, It has a chapstick feel to it) that Fi actually kisses me. And he hates kissing glossy lips.
I love the colour so much. It is exactly what I wanted! A deep, not-too-dark, shimmery-but-not-glittery, pinkish red. Or reddish pink. I can't decide. What do you think? MAC calls it a dusty pink with gold pearl.
Check out Temptalia's reviews, she is amazing: Source of picture = Temptalia
The official MAC "swatch"
Finished look
I turned this face (applying foundation)
into this face (hard to tell because of the veil, I know.)
My favorite scent is Lacoste femme which I am going to wear for the wedding. It is elegant, clean, chic. Love it! 
I was out with a friend to watch Sex and the city 2 (say all you want, I liked it!). We had dressed up a little to honor the occasion. After the movie I looked down at me feet and thought: Hey, these shoes would really work with my wedding dress. Plus I don't have to break them in anymore - they are already very comfy. Yay!
So here they are. I think the colour is a little darker and a bit more golden-beige in real life, but it is close. Bought from Zara for around € 40 some years ago.
And here are more beauties:
... with birdcages of any kind. Here I share it.
Btw: Here is mine.
I got most supplies for our card box today - except for the boxes. *lol* Going to buy them on Monday.
So far I have:
* black ribbon, approx. 1 inch
* black feathers
* tiny rhinestones
* double-sided tape
* a card for the sign
Going to update this. :)
Update 9/28: Done! Yay!
This is pretty self-explanatory. It was surprisingly easy and Fi helped, so it was quickly done. I majorly failed on making the poofy bow! I think it turned out nice anyway and I am really happy with it. The card saying "cards" will be attached to a ribbon with a white heart shaped balloon at the end which I'll glue to the box. :)
Today, Fi and I had a DIY marathon! It was so much fun doing all this together. Now I am ready for some Gin Tonic and bed! ;)
Picturespicturespicturespictures! :)
Some impressions of Johanna being busy.
I turned this
into this. The word means "Bride". I ordered the letters, which are iron-on, from a seller from the German Etsy-equivalent.
Fi turned this not very beautiful picture, we got on a fleamarket for 10 bucks, into out Thank you (which is what "Danke schön" means) sign, which we will take pictures with on our wedding day. I love the result!
These are frames with names of our guests we will put on the tables instead of place cards and a Thank you frame to go on the gift table. Can you tell how much the black paper sparkles? It is gorgeous!! I am crazy about this paper!!
UPDATE
Frames in action
The day before the wedding was dedicated to *relaxation*. For me, that is. Malte went home to spend the last night at his parent’s house to make our
apartment a men-free zone. I truly appreciated it and I took it as an early wedding present, because I had a blast while he had to deal with his family. Lol, poor guy! Thanks, darling, I love you for doing this! 
Around 2pm I picked up my maid of honor, my witness of marriage, at the train station. She helped me pick out false lashes. My other 3 girls arrived a while later. We had tea and muffins and a lot of fun
until it was time to go to the hammam. I had told them, I was taking them to a spa but I also had booked a *massage* for each of us as a thank you for them. They were so surprised! Yay! The spa center was very beautiful and we had such a great time in
the sauna and at the hammam. Finally, I realized that the wedding was here. It helped me to enjoy the anticipation. The heat and the massage relaxed my body, the chatter of my girls relaxed my mind. I strongly recommend to make some time to do whatever you enjoy most on the day before your wedding. Don’t stress with projects anymore, try to be done. I will
cherish this time with my girls as a wedding memory forever!
We spent the evening cooking and painting nails. At midnight, it was my birthday. I got presents and I got a surprise cake. Yay! We went to sleep around 1 am. I lay in bed totally annoyed because I was sure, I wouldn’t be able to sleep, but actually I must have fallen asleep quite quickly. LOL!
The next morning, my mum brought me a birthday cake and all 6 of us had a huge breakfast. No, correction, 5 of us had a huge breakfast – I couldn’t eat. It looked good, but my stomach felt queasy. Piece of advice: Don’t try this at home. Eat! I know
it’s hard. I couldn’t. But you have to try!! Instead, I drank tea with milk and sugar to get some energy into my system. Anyhow, it was nice to have them all around me. :)) Afterwards, I explained to my mum and 2 of my friends, whose job it was
to go to the venue early and decorate, how I wanted everything to look. My aunt and uncle came by and dropped of my bouquet. I was thrilled to find that it succeeded my expectations! My aunt and her florist had chosen dahlias, roses and hydrangeas
in a deep deep red. So freaggin' beautiful!!! Then, it was *hair time*. Two of my girls and I went to the hair salon where we met my photographer and the cute dog of the salon owner. :) After cuddling the dog, we got started. I had emailed pictures of what I liked before. My hair
dresser did an amazing job. She totally got what I wanted. It was super funny to watch her super concentrated face in the mirror! LOL! My girls looked so beautiful, too. We had the salon all to
ourselves, and we had a good time. Except for one thing: I had hairspray in my eyes, in my nose, in my mouth. Oh so gross!! She must have used a whole bottle. Probably, I had hairsprayin my ears too, but there it didn't bother me as much.
Back home, everything had gone to chaos. Everyone had to get ready, so half-dressed girls were running around putting make up on and looking for shoes. I loved it! :D We had a break to eat some birthday cake and have a glass of bubbles to calm the nerves. :))) I was able to eat and drink, which made me feel better. (Really:
Try to eat something.) Then, back to chaos! I started doing my make up, ignoring the orders my Mum was yelling at everyone, the questions people kept asking or my ringing phone. I tried to fade everything out and concentrate on my make up only, one
brush stroke at a time. Finally, everyone except for one of my bffs, Nadja, and our photog were off to the venue and we had a very silent apartment all to ourselves. Nice! Nadja helped me to get dressed. It was such a great moment to finally put my
outfit on and see everything come together. We had to giggle when Nadja closed all the buttons of my dress – she made jokes about buttons ruining the wedding night, because Malte would never be able to open these. (Spoiler: He was quite fast
at it. Lol!) On the way to the car, we met our neighbor, a lovely elderly lady, who greeted me very politely with a very confused look. It was so funny! Some days later she brought us flowers, so cute!
Our first look was not very spectacular, to be honest. He just got out of the car and I had no patience to hide or anything and just ran straight into his
arms. We were very lucky with the weather – it was a beautiful golden autumn day. The sun was already very low at
5pm, but the light was perfect for pictures! We took some bridals and then I hid in the car. Two of my friends and Malte’s sister accompanied me. We watched the guests arrive, chat and disappear into the location. My in-laws were 10 minutes
late... but it didn't really bother me. I didn't expect anything else.
The ceremony was so amazing. I am most grateful for these wonderful moments, it’s one of my favorite wedding memories. Our music worked so well. We had the
Pachelbel's canon fade into Elton John "Going to the chapel" - perfect combo of romantic and fun. :)) First, people cried, then, people laughed (including me)! I can't say
enough good things about the woman who married us and her speech. It was smart and funny, very personal and touching, interesting and well-performed. She told the story of how we met, how our relationship grew and how Malte proposed. She said the
sweetest things about marriage and about being a couple. I am over the moon that someone filmed parts of it and I get to hear it again! When she had declared us husband and wife (Eeeeekk! Still find this exciting!), she asked Malte: Do I have to tell
you what to do now? Funny! (He got it and kissed me.)
On the way to our restaurant, we found out that due to a festival some streets were blocked so our directions didn’t work. Great! Oh well, everyone found it. We started with a delay, but we didn’t care.
When I entered the restaurant, I was amazed! It looked so beautiful, better than I had ever dreamed! :)) It was just right, exactly what we wanted. Another of my favorite wedding memories: Realizing that I
loved it, looking at Malte and seeing the same in his eyes.
Everyone had a drink, than we sat down to have dinner. Malte and I gave a welcome speech in which we addressed each guest (or couple) individually saying a fun fact about then to give people something to talk about. Many of your guests didn’t know each other so we thought it might help. The food was delicious!! We got so many compliments on it, the chefs did a great job.
Between the courses, we got presents: my maid of honor had asked each guest to bring a recipe for us and she put them all into an album, making a personalized cook book for us. Definitely one of my favorite
presents, so personal and such a sweet memory!! Malte’s sister had send blank memory game cards out to the guests and they had personalized them with pictures and other things. So now we have our very own memory card game. Love it! My mum brought a canvas, an easel and paint. A friend of mine started out
with our names, our wedding date and a vase. Everyone could add flowers and other details to the painting and now we have a super cool painting. Such a sweet surprise!! We got many more presents but the others were just put on the gift table and we
opened (and cataloged) them the next day.
After dinner, my dad gave a speech and we had our father-daughter-dance to “Que sera” by Doris Day. I tossed my "fake" bouquet (to the Sex and the city theme) and small bouquets flew everywhere,
so each girl could have one. At around 1am, we cut the cake. I honestly can’t remember whose hand was on top. My aunt had made a wonderful Sacher cake. It was delicious!!
We danced and partied on until 4am. It was a perfect night! Yes, people did step on my dress, so my bustle broke – but my mum fixed it with a safety pin. Malte had a short crisis because of group fever (and a beer
too much, I daresay), but we stepped outside, had some fresh air and it was fine again quickly. Overall, no biggies. We were lucky to have a wonderful wedding and an awesome party with all the people we love most in the world.
Because it takes ages to upload pics to PW, I just insert my favorites here. If you want to see more, follow the link at the bottom to an online gallery. :)
* at the hair salon with two of my best girlfriends, saying hi to the super cute dog.
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* back at home, my mum is putting false lashes on me
* my sweet mum holding the balloons for the table centerpieces. Btw: I loved the balloons so much!
* love the two-mirrors-effect of the pic
* I really like this two pics of me. Piece of advise: Get a good photog.
* I think this pic is hilarious! :))))) Can you tell my hairspray smells bad?
* pics of our first look. Btw: My lipstick was kissproof. Fabulous stuff!
* my mum fixing my bustle - for the first time.
* the cottage where we got married, it was beautiful!
* married! The second before our first kiss as husband and wife.
* this was such a lovely surprise! Earlier, it was a tradition to seal contracts with a schnapps. So because we got married at an old farm estate, they brought us spoons and poured out some plain schnapps for us to "validate" the marriage. Fun! (Note the hands of the girls...) On the second pic we get a second round. :)
* our tables
* one of my favorite gifts. My maid of honor had all guests bring recipes to the wedding. She put them in an album and now we have our very own personal cook book. Love!
* my sweet little cousin wanted us to open her present for us at the wedding. So we did. On this pic we say thank you to her.
* by little brother making a cool dancing move. :)
* my cousin caught one of the mini bouquets
* we had fireworks as a topper on our wedding cake. Wow!
Click for for more pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/johannapreusz/FOTOS?authkey=Gv1sRgCMXZ3dzFzLXFGA#
Ok, this is something I muse about for so long I can't even tell. Do I want to cut my hair short? The answer is always the same: I think I do, but I am too afraid.
When Katie Holmes got her amazing bob, I was about to throw the magazine away and run to the salon. But I didn't. This is driving me nuts and I think, I have to get a chop to be able to stop thinking about it. It gets old...
Problem: I love long hair. I love my hair. It's healthy and thick and I really like updos. I never had short hair, so I have no idea, how my hair looks in short. What if I hate it? It will be looong 3 years until it is long again. What if my face looks fat with short hair? What if my hair looks always messy because it is so wavy? What if I don't feel like me anymore? What to do?
I decided to do it! :) Sometime between the wedding and Christmas.
I'd love something like this.
Wavy bob. Cute. Not as elegant. But cute.
Maybe a long bob would be better...
*UPDATE*
Did it! :))) Feels great!
Before
After
*UPDATE*
Even shorter. I didn't straighten my hair that day, so this is what my new angled bob looks like wavy. Usually, I wear it straight though.
And a happy face because it was such a nice sunny day. :)
