Day of the Wed 2006

My husband and I decided to bow to tradition (kind of) and get married in October 2006. Before doing so, we'd each moved across the country for the other, had maintained a relationship across continents, and had, in fact, actually met as Peace Corps Volunteers in Mongolia. We'd also bought a house, supported each other through some pretty tough experiences, and acquired two cats together. So six-plus years into the relationship, it didn't really feel necessary to stand on ceremony when it came to getting married. Actually, I guess we wouldn't have done the traditional thing even if we got married six days after meeting... it's just not our style. And I have strong opinions about the wedding industry, and the implications of being inundated with marketing about being a princess for a day. It frustrates me to no end that rampant capitalist forces have convinced many women that love is synonymous with spending $50,000 for a party.

So our wedding was, in part, a commentary on that, while also being a really fun party where we got to make a formal commitment to each other in front of family and friends. Because my husband: (1) loves Halloween and horror movies; and (2) is of Mexican heritage; and because I: (1) love crafting; and (2) also love the spirit of both Halloween and El Dia de los Muertos; we decided to throw a wedding in October that would draw upon the color and spirit of El Dia de los Muertos (honoring the spirit of the dead) and the fun of Halloween (Costumes! Everyone in costumes!) One of the many craft items I/we (we being my family, including my mother, sister, sisters-in-law, and anyone else we could rope into participating) made for the event were sugar skulls. At the end of the night, people who wanted them could take a skull home. The photo above is one of about a dozen that we had scattered around the venue. I got the sugar skull mold from Mexican Sugar Skull, an online vendor with tons of great supplies. We decorated the skulls with fondant and I think they added a lot to the day.

I'll post more about other wedding/muertos crafts in the future.