Moving on

It has taken me what seems like an eternity to recap the wedding, but now that it's done, it's time for me to move on. Over the past year this blog has been my saving grace. It has provided me a space to share my mishaps and misadventures of a bride to be. It has granted me access to so many beautiful, creative and inspiring people. It helped show me that a wedding can contain both traditional and whimsical elements that celebrate you, your husband to be, and your family.

Mostly though, this blog helped transition me from life alone in New York to married life across the pond in Ireland. Now that the wedding is (finally!) all said and done it is time to move on from Furi Kuri Weddings and start a new chapter, a new blog. One filled with exciting new beginnings, mishaps and adventures...

So come join S. Monster and myself in our new home over at Furi Kuri Travels

The best you see, has most definitely yet to come...

The Wedding: Reception Surprises

As the night drew to a close, S. and I had a few surprises in store…

My little sister and three of her friends (girls who I consider adoptive sisters since I’ve known them so long) performed a kick ass tribute dance to OK GO – A Million Ways to be Cruel. Random, offbeat and fun it was a complete smash hit and without a doubt, was one of the best wedding gifts S. Monster and I received.

For our big send off at the end of the night, thanks to the restrictions of the reception site, I had stumbled across the genius idea of using glow sticks. The original plan had been to have the glow sticks passed out right before our farewell. Due to a happy accident though, they were passed out much earlier and I’m so glad they did! 

Everyone went wild with reckless abandon after the glow sticks made an appearance. The few people that were reluctant to join in before were now in the midst of the action.   

{Who says you can't have a wedding and a rave party?}

{Sexiest photo EVER}

All to soon it was time for the night to end. Our family and friends lined up, forming a tunnel encased in a soft purple glow to see us off.  Running hand in hand, we took the final steps of the long beautiful journey that led us here.   As we came out the other side, we embraced the next bright and shiny new adventure that awaited us as husband and wife.

Look out Ireland--here we come!

The Wedding: Reception (otherwise known as Dance Dance Party!)

From the very beginning of the wedding planning, S. Monster and I’s number one priority for the reception was to have fun. And for us, that meant throwing a kick ass dance party which was made possible thanks to our amazing band, The Buzzcatz.

When it came to the entertainment, it was of the utmost importance to me to have music that everyone would enjoy. Not only did the Buzzcatz deliver that with a blend of classic big band swing, soul, jazz, blues and rock and roll—they did it all with personality and charm to spare. Jaws dropped as Ricky, the lead singer, performed a Louis Armstrong impersonation for the song “What a Wonderful World” that was so dead on even Satchmo himself would have tipped his hat.

Music is a powerful tool and it has always played a huge part in our relationship. It has provided countless inside jokes and was the cause of many spontaneous dance parties. Mostly though, music helped us get through all the time spent apart.

So when it came to picking the music for our first dance, there was never any contest. For us, it was a song that was a constant source of comfort in the toughest of times and summed up so perfectly everything we went through. Michael Buble’s “Home”

Another summer day
Has come and gone away
In Paris and Rome
But I wanna go home

May be surrounded by
A million people I
Still feel all alone
I just wanna go home
Oh, I miss you, you know

And I’ve been keeping all the letters that I wrote to you
Each one a line or two
“I’m fine baby, how are you?”
Well I would send them but I know that it’s just not enough
My words were cold and flat
And you deserve more than that

Another aeroplane
Another sunny place
I’m lucky, I know
But I wanna go home
Mmmm, I’ve got to go home

And I feel just like I’m living someone else’s life
It’s like I just stepped outside
When everything was going right
And I know just why you could not
Come along with me
'Cause this was not your dream
But you always believed in me

Another winter day has come
And gone away
In even Paris and Rome
And I wanna go home
Let me go home

Let me go home
I’ve had my run
Baby, I’m done
I gotta go home
Let me go home
It will all be all right
I’ll be home tonight
I’m coming back home

Words can't describe how completely at peace I felt in that moment. It was our first dance as husband and wife. We had made it....we were finally home.

If I was at peace while dancing with S. Monster, I was nothing short of a hot mess while dancing with my father (as you will see in the pictures). I was so overwhelmed with emotions for who, aside from S. Monster, is the single greatest man I have ever known. I am so blessed to have extremely close relationships with both of my parents, but there is no denying that I am and will always be, daddy’s little girl. As I stood there with my father, swaying to our song, I completely lost it.

Once the sentimental portion of the evening was over and the tears dried, it was time to really get the party started.... 

Out of the 125 guests in attendance that night I could probably count on one hand the number of people who weren’t dancing. From 5 year olds, to 80 years olds, and everyone in between was busting a move.

Under stars and twinkle light adorned trees, on a brick covered floor, we danced and laughed the night away.

On top of having great music everyone would enjoy, it was important to me to throw in some quirky offbeat choices that highlighted S. Monster’s and I relationship along with our nerdy/ uber awesome personalities.

One of the things I enjoyed the most about planning the wedding was picking the songs that would be played during the Bands breaks. Details that I’m sure no one else noticed, but I loved them all the same. It was an eclectic mix ranging from jazz rendition of ‘The Spiderman Theme Song’ to a few favorite Spanish tracks so we could get our salsa on.

Without a doubt though, one of my favorite offbeat songs from the night was the one S. Monster and I cut the cake to. It was our “unofficial” song. A song that can only be described as our musically equivalent ying to our “official” song Michael Buble’s Home yang.

What incredible song is this you ask? Why it is the Pillows “Ride on Shooting Star.” And because this song is so totally awesome, I have embedded it here for your viewing and listening pleasure. Enjoy!

The Wedding: Food, Cake and Good Times

When it came to the reception, like the rest of the wedding, S. Monster and I wanted it to be an intimate celebration. A time for family and friends to get to know one another and enjoy themselves. After all, what is a reception if not a kick ass party?

We found a gorgeous historic bed and breakfast a mere 10 minute walk from the church. The site was divided into 3 “sections” if you will. Inside, people could lounge around on comfy couches and oversized Victorian chairs. Outside, there was a huge wrap around veranda where people could sit at large wicker tables while taking in the scenes from the courtyard. The courtyard housed the band, the bar and the action. It was there, under a canopy of stars and twinkle light covered trees that we danced the night away.

{view from the courtyard}
Where the ceremony was a celebration of S. Monster and I, the reception was a celebration of our loved ones. It was infused with equal parts our personalities and those of our families. While the guest book might have been in honor of our soon to be new home (it was a coffee table book of Ireland), it was surrounded by the wedding photos of the people who showed us the value of marriage--our parents and grandparents.


The food was the other big area where we paid homage to our heritages and each other. Bite sized appetizers, a blend of Hispanic, Italian and Southern cuisine, was served throughout the evening and we made sure that regardless of where you were, food was easily accessible. We had butler passed h’dourves, various food stations set up in the courtyard and a buffet of scrumptious fare inside (one of my favorites was the Risotto Balls we served which was the meal S. Monster cooked for me that ultimately won me over)


{The bonds of new friendships being forged over good food, good times and quite a bit of alcohol}

Speaking of delicious food, our cake was, in a word, AWESOME! It was an unexpected additional expense since initially we weren’t planning on doing anything fancy. It’s strange to think that a few layers of cake and butter cream frosting could capture our relationship so perfectly, yet that’s exactly what it did.



Add to that a few custom cake toppers by the very talented Lauren Alane Bradshaw and we had the most swoon worthy scrumptious piece of awesome perfection EVER (of course it is quite possible that I am a teeny tiny bit biased)

{I love, love LOVE everything about this cake! Have I mentioned that already?}


{Booyah! Bring on the dancing...!!!}

Congrats Peonies!

For some truly lovely prints go check out Peonies and Polaroids new Etsy shop...

The Wedding: The space in between

Our wedding, like every wedding, had a few minor mishaps along the way. There was the fender bender the morning of my little sister got in, the hostile and rude church coordinator we had to deal with, keys (and all the bridesmaids belongings/purses) getting locked inside the transportation, S. Monster and I getting left behind at the church, losing our photographer for 45 minutes, etc. etc...........

Ultimately though none of it mattered and none of it bothered me the day of. At the end of the day all those little things that went wrong only added to the charm and uniqueness that was our wedding day. Despite our little bumps we had the most amazing time and, if I do say so myself, still got quite a few gorgeous photos!

I love this series of intimate shots taken right after the ceremony

This is one of my favorite photos

who doesn't love a spiral staircase?

And last but not least, our ridiculously good looking bridal party