my head will explode.
Well, okay. Not really. But still, I've been listening to swing, jazz and big band music from the 1920's-early 1950's for the last week in preparation for Saturday's party.
We decided to keep the library authentic. Very little light (and some lamps that just might be haunted) and all music must be from the early part of the 20th century and of course, Halloween themed.
Normally, the library is set to look like the Treasure Room from the Disneyworld Adventurer's Club (rip AC). But during Halloween, we re-do it to look more like the library from Tower of Terror that you watch the Twilight Zone episode in. That room is also set in the 1930's.
Keeping it authentic means I had to replace certain songs from my 'library' playlist with other, older songs. And figure out what to do with classics like Sting's "Moon Over Bourbon St" and Squirrel Nut Zippers "Hell". Both of those are too offbeat to play in the main party room. I might leave Devil Doll & Jill Tracy on the list for now because they might be new but they sure sound like they are from the 1940's.
So far, I have:
~~vintage~~
The Headless Horseman - Kay Starr
Ghost Riders in the Sky - Peggy Lee
Old Devil Moon - Rosemary Clooney
Me & The Ghost Upstairs - Fred Astaire
Ghost of Smokey Joe - Cab Calloway
Devil's Gonna Get Ya - Bessie Smith
Witchcraft - Frank Sinatra
Old Black Magic - Louis Prima
Wobblin Goblin - Rosemary Clooney
The Yodelin' Ghost - Bing Crosby & the Andrews Sisters
Quoth the Raven - Ella Mae Morse
Halloween - Betty Grable
~~modern jazz that could/will be filler as it blends nicely**~~
Hell - Squirrel Nut Zippers*
Who's That Creepin? - Big Bad Voodoo Daddy*
Moon Over Bourbon St - Sting*
Doomsday Serenade - Jill Tracy*
You Put a Spell on Me - Devil Doll*
(pretty much anything else by Jill Tracy)
I'm not sure I want to include the early 1950's/1960's pop Halloween novelty songs like Monster Mash & Monster Movie Ball in the library as I think the room is best suited for jazz, swing & big band. Beyond that, you get too modern. I'd like to keep everything from pre 1949.
At 10 pm, we will break from the music and play the original 1938 broadcast of the Mercury Theater's "War of the Worlds". I wish we could play at 8 pm for authenticity but I fear there won't be many guests yet at that point.
I'd like to include some old radio commercials mixed in with the songs, hopefully some for old horror films.
Music plays a huge part in the annual Halloween party. The really modern (1970's-current) songs will be played in the main rooms. The entrance music will be organ music and narration from the Walt Disney World Haunted Mansion.
I spend almost as much time on the music as I do the decor. Really.
Now to finish the lighting effects. Greg is bringing over the strobe lights on Friday and Friday night will be our last night to set up lighting in the entryway. I'll post some pics when it's all done.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
Blink 182 "I Miss You"
"We can live like Jack and Sally if we want
Where you can always find me
We'll have Halloween on Christmas
And in the night we'll wish this never ends
We'll wish this never ends..."
Some lyrics Greg heard the other day. Apparently this is a Blink 182 Song (a band neither of us is that interested in). But he heard it and thought of me. And I really like that excerpt. :)
I guess I should expand my horizons a bit with music and not blow off a band just because they have a few Top 40 hits, huh?
Where you can always find me
We'll have Halloween on Christmas
And in the night we'll wish this never ends
We'll wish this never ends..."
Some lyrics Greg heard the other day. Apparently this is a Blink 182 Song (a band neither of us is that interested in). But he heard it and thought of me. And I really like that excerpt. :)
I guess I should expand my horizons a bit with music and not blow off a band just because they have a few Top 40 hits, huh?
Scary Cake?
The other night Greg and I were randomly going through image searches for Halloween Wedding Cakes and we came across these. I really hope we'll be able to find someone to make a really super cool Halloween themed cake.
I LOVE LOVE LOVEEEEEE the last one but I know for a fact that true black frosting is wickedly hard to make. I tried when I made the Death Note cake and failed pretty miserably.
The first one is cute. I like the spider webs.
I LOVE LOVE LOVEEEEEE the last one but I know for a fact that true black frosting is wickedly hard to make. I tried when I made the Death Note cake and failed pretty miserably.
The first one is cute. I like the spider webs.
Not gonna lie. I'm pretty psyched about having a wedding cake with either a Dia De Los Muertos, Jack & Sally or The Corpse Bride topper on it. I would have done that anyway, even if we got married in like, May like "normal" people.
Bah. Who wants to be normal! :)
I love that Greg actually cares and wants to help plan too. I think the fact that our wedding is not going to be your standard Bridezilla "OMG EVERYTHING HAS TO BE PASTEL AND FRILLY!!!" type of wedding helps.
We're having a great time planning this. It's going to be so "us".
Friday, October 16, 2009
Okay so this isn't wedding related but...
Below are some photos of the beginning of my decorating for this year's Halloween bash. My roommate & neighbors & I all throw a huge party every year. We have so much Halloween stuff from over the last 7 years or so! I haven't even begun to tackle the library yet, and that room is the creepiest.
Anyway, figured I'd share some of the decorating I've done, so far. Most of this stuff lives in my room during the other 11 1/2 months of the year. :)
Anyway, figured I'd share some of the decorating I've done, so far. Most of this stuff lives in my room during the other 11 1/2 months of the year. :)
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Our Engagement: 8-2-2009
Greg asked me to marry him in Salem, MA at Harrison's Comics on 8/2/2009 in the exact spot where he first saw me exactly one year earlier.
EARLY DAY: Our day started out super fun. I woke him up with the song "Anniversary" by Voltaire. This song is beautiful.
Since we are learning Japanese together, I found him a card with the Kanji symbol for "Love" on it & gave it to him along with a Nintendo Wii & some Wii & PS3 points. He was psyched! Then I surprised him with a shopping spree for some new games. (The Wii, points, and most of the spree was paid w/ Target cards I earned from work merit rewards!)
He gave me a Nintendo DS & my own copy of Japanese Coach. We'd been sharing his copy. Also, he got me a girly shirt with glow in the dark skulls on it! I love that he knows & appreciates my quirky style. After his morning long gaming shopping spree, we headed to Salem for our day.
IN SALEM: The downtown garage we usually park in was full so we had to park quite a bit away (which ended up being awesome because I found a wine & pizza place I never knew existed. They weren't open though). I had no idea what he had planned so I didn't think anything about us stopping into Engine House Pizza for a while. I took FOREVER in the pizza place too. lol. I didn't want to throw out our last two pieces but he didn't want to walk back to the car (now I know why!) and drop them off. So I wanted to wait till I felt somewhat hungry again haha and then eat them.
Finally, we left. Then he REALLY wanted to go to Harrison's.
So, for the last few weeks, he's told me that one of my gifts was "location specific" and "had to be given to me in Salem". He also mentioned that a few of his friends thought I'd LOVE this gift. Sooo, I started guessing what it could be and I came to the logical conclusion that it was Sandman Bookends.
Seriously.
I devised this whole story in my head where he probably special ordered them at Harrison's or something and was taking me there to pick them up. I figured "his friends love comics, and they know I love Sandman so there you have it".
Yes, I thought my engagement ring was going to be ceramic comic book bookends.
Go ahead, laugh.
Lo, and behold, we entered the store and I dawdled much. I lingered near the "ceramic stuff I can't afford" cases for a while and wouldn't you know it, the Sandman bookends were gone out of the case. I SOOO thought I had him! ha! He kept trying to get me to go the back of the store and I kept stopping to look at stuff.
When we finally got to the back of the store where he'd first seen me a year ago, he stopped me there. He started telling me how this was the spot where his life changed forever, and...
...and, like typical me, not having a CLUE what he was getting to, I stopped him for a second to make a snarky remark about a guy in a Dr. Seuss hat who was walking through the Marvel aisle near us... "Hahaha look at that guy in the funny hat..." (yes, I feel terrible now for interrupting)
And then Greg just got down on his knee and told me it was also the spot where he wanted to ask me to marry him and proceeded to do just that. I almost fainted. I didn't even look at the ring for like 10 minutes. I just hugged him and said "yes, of course I will" and then I had to sit down.
And that's how I became engaged to the man of my dreams.
When I finally saw the ring, I was just so blown away. He picked it out himself and it's a stunning black diamond set in white gold with antiqued looking scroll work and smaller black diamonds all up the band to give it extra shiny. :) I have to give him sooo much credit for picking the ring I am positive I would have picked also. It's like he just read my mind.
He went and got us some water and we both sat on the floor in Harrisons. I was shaking, and shocked. As I said to my brother when I called to tell him, "I didn't know! I thought I was getting bookends!!" (another quote I will never live down). Eventually we collected ourselves and after some calls and texts to friends and family, we headed out.
On the way out, I had another total *us* moment. We were walking past the Pocky (Japanese wafer candy) display as I was saying "Greg, I will always love you and cherish you...and holy crap! Is that *Banana* Pocky?!" (So sue me, it was a new flavor, I got excited. We just can't have romantic conversations, Greg & I. LOLZ).
After purchasing the banana Pocky, we went to the Cave Bar* to get some champagne. It was the worst (but best!) champagne I've ever had. :) We toasted our future together.
**so the Cave Bar has had like 4 name changes in the last year. We went there on our first meeting and almost every trip since. We like it because it's dark, has stone walls and kinda looks like a cave. We don't know what it is actually even called these days.
After the bubbly, we wanted to get some pictures taken of us in Salem on our engagement day. Since neither of us brought a real camera, we figured the best way to go about achieving this goal would be to go get pictures of ourselves done at Salem Vintage Photography. That's why our engagement pictures have us dressed like pirates. It was the only access to a real camera we had. Now you know...
After the pics, we rushed over to our waterfront dinner. We ate at a place called Captain's and it was delicious and perfect. They sat us upstairs in a practically private, dark candlelit room. We could see the water but we were far away from all the other people.
Perfect.
After dinner, we decided to just walk around and enjoy the ambiance of Salem at night. Lit up trees line the walkway from Fool's Mansion to Harrison's. We'd stopped in Fool's Mansion as well earlier, another frequent stop when we're in Salem. Fool's is where Greg very sneakily got my ring size out of me a few months ago. Fool's seels goth clothing and jewelry and we'd been looking at some of the kitschy goth rings and he "wanted ideas for christmas".
We ended our perfect night at the Gulu Gulu cafe, eating the rest of our banana Pocky, sipping wine and absinthe on the patio and talking about our future plans. And enjoying the happiness.
We took that Monday off as well, and just enjoyed a relaxing day at home, not being at work.
August 2 2009 was a perfect day/night and I'm still in shock that I get to marry the man of my dreams... considering that when I first saw photos of him I used to tell a few of my friends I thought I did not stand a chance with him.
Guess I was wrong about that AND the bookends. ;) I'm not a very good guesser, am I?
~~~~~~
Links:
http://www.harrisonscomicsltd.com/ Where we met. Where he proposed. Where you can buy the latest issue of Jack of Fables, a custom Venom bust & and an assortment of plush toys from Labyrinth all in one transaction.
http://www.foolsmansion.com/ Where I'll probably end up buying my wedding dress!
http://www.gulu-gulu.com/ The best wine cafe in Salem and the only place I know of in Salem to actually be served absinthe. I know! Only one place in Salem of all places... They have a lovely patio and are right across from Harrison's
http://www.capts.com/ Go here. Eat the filet mignon.
http://www.salemsvintagephotography.com/ Join our crew, mateys. Or at least look like yeh did. ;)
EARLY DAY: Our day started out super fun. I woke him up with the song "Anniversary" by Voltaire. This song is beautiful.
Since we are learning Japanese together, I found him a card with the Kanji symbol for "Love" on it & gave it to him along with a Nintendo Wii & some Wii & PS3 points. He was psyched! Then I surprised him with a shopping spree for some new games. (The Wii, points, and most of the spree was paid w/ Target cards I earned from work merit rewards!)
He gave me a Nintendo DS & my own copy of Japanese Coach. We'd been sharing his copy. Also, he got me a girly shirt with glow in the dark skulls on it! I love that he knows & appreciates my quirky style. After his morning long gaming shopping spree, we headed to Salem for our day.
IN SALEM: The downtown garage we usually park in was full so we had to park quite a bit away (which ended up being awesome because I found a wine & pizza place I never knew existed. They weren't open though). I had no idea what he had planned so I didn't think anything about us stopping into Engine House Pizza for a while. I took FOREVER in the pizza place too. lol. I didn't want to throw out our last two pieces but he didn't want to walk back to the car (now I know why!) and drop them off. So I wanted to wait till I felt somewhat hungry again haha and then eat them.
Finally, we left. Then he REALLY wanted to go to Harrison's.
So, for the last few weeks, he's told me that one of my gifts was "location specific" and "had to be given to me in Salem". He also mentioned that a few of his friends thought I'd LOVE this gift. Sooo, I started guessing what it could be and I came to the logical conclusion that it was Sandman Bookends.
Seriously.
I devised this whole story in my head where he probably special ordered them at Harrison's or something and was taking me there to pick them up. I figured "his friends love comics, and they know I love Sandman so there you have it".
Yes, I thought my engagement ring was going to be ceramic comic book bookends.
Go ahead, laugh.
Lo, and behold, we entered the store and I dawdled much. I lingered near the "ceramic stuff I can't afford" cases for a while and wouldn't you know it, the Sandman bookends were gone out of the case. I SOOO thought I had him! ha! He kept trying to get me to go the back of the store and I kept stopping to look at stuff.
When we finally got to the back of the store where he'd first seen me a year ago, he stopped me there. He started telling me how this was the spot where his life changed forever, and...
...and, like typical me, not having a CLUE what he was getting to, I stopped him for a second to make a snarky remark about a guy in a Dr. Seuss hat who was walking through the Marvel aisle near us... "Hahaha look at that guy in the funny hat..." (yes, I feel terrible now for interrupting)
And then Greg just got down on his knee and told me it was also the spot where he wanted to ask me to marry him and proceeded to do just that. I almost fainted. I didn't even look at the ring for like 10 minutes. I just hugged him and said "yes, of course I will" and then I had to sit down.
And that's how I became engaged to the man of my dreams.
When I finally saw the ring, I was just so blown away. He picked it out himself and it's a stunning black diamond set in white gold with antiqued looking scroll work and smaller black diamonds all up the band to give it extra shiny. :) I have to give him sooo much credit for picking the ring I am positive I would have picked also. It's like he just read my mind.
He went and got us some water and we both sat on the floor in Harrisons. I was shaking, and shocked. As I said to my brother when I called to tell him, "I didn't know! I thought I was getting bookends!!" (another quote I will never live down). Eventually we collected ourselves and after some calls and texts to friends and family, we headed out.
On the way out, I had another total *us* moment. We were walking past the Pocky (Japanese wafer candy) display as I was saying "Greg, I will always love you and cherish you...and holy crap! Is that *Banana* Pocky?!" (So sue me, it was a new flavor, I got excited. We just can't have romantic conversations, Greg & I. LOLZ).
After purchasing the banana Pocky, we went to the Cave Bar* to get some champagne. It was the worst (but best!) champagne I've ever had. :) We toasted our future together.
**so the Cave Bar has had like 4 name changes in the last year. We went there on our first meeting and almost every trip since. We like it because it's dark, has stone walls and kinda looks like a cave. We don't know what it is actually even called these days.
After the bubbly, we wanted to get some pictures taken of us in Salem on our engagement day. Since neither of us brought a real camera, we figured the best way to go about achieving this goal would be to go get pictures of ourselves done at Salem Vintage Photography. That's why our engagement pictures have us dressed like pirates. It was the only access to a real camera we had. Now you know...
After the pics, we rushed over to our waterfront dinner. We ate at a place called Captain's and it was delicious and perfect. They sat us upstairs in a practically private, dark candlelit room. We could see the water but we were far away from all the other people.
Perfect.
After dinner, we decided to just walk around and enjoy the ambiance of Salem at night. Lit up trees line the walkway from Fool's Mansion to Harrison's. We'd stopped in Fool's Mansion as well earlier, another frequent stop when we're in Salem. Fool's is where Greg very sneakily got my ring size out of me a few months ago. Fool's seels goth clothing and jewelry and we'd been looking at some of the kitschy goth rings and he "wanted ideas for christmas".
We ended our perfect night at the Gulu Gulu cafe, eating the rest of our banana Pocky, sipping wine and absinthe on the patio and talking about our future plans. And enjoying the happiness.
We took that Monday off as well, and just enjoyed a relaxing day at home, not being at work.
August 2 2009 was a perfect day/night and I'm still in shock that I get to marry the man of my dreams... considering that when I first saw photos of him I used to tell a few of my friends I thought I did not stand a chance with him.
Guess I was wrong about that AND the bookends. ;) I'm not a very good guesser, am I?
~~~~~~
Links:
http://www.harrisonscomicsltd.com/ Where we met. Where he proposed. Where you can buy the latest issue of Jack of Fables, a custom Venom bust & and an assortment of plush toys from Labyrinth all in one transaction.
http://www.foolsmansion.com/ Where I'll probably end up buying my wedding dress!
http://www.gulu-gulu.com/ The best wine cafe in Salem and the only place I know of in Salem to actually be served absinthe. I know! Only one place in Salem of all places... They have a lovely patio and are right across from Harrison's
http://www.capts.com/ Go here. Eat the filet mignon.
http://www.salemsvintagephotography.com/ Join our crew, mateys. Or at least look like yeh did. ;)
Welcome
This blog is a 13 month diary of the plans for our Halloween Wedding. It will take place on 10/31/2010 in Leicester, MA at The Castle Restaurant/Banquet Hall. The theme of the wedding a blend of Gothic, Renaissance and of course, Halloween.
~~My engagement ring is a black diamond (which I love!! Greg listens to me and actually got me a ring that was "me" and not some ring you could find in any Beldens).
~~We dressed up like pirates for our engagement pictures. No, really. We did. I'll post pictures.
~~We spend a considerable amount of time in the late summer/fall "Halloween shopping".
So, really, the fact that we picked Halloween for our wedding date should come as a surprise to no one.
We both knew we did not want a traditional wedding. That's just not "us". We love each other and we really wanted our wedding to reflect "us" and not other people. We wanted something different because we are...well...different. We both have some interests that are a bit outside of the mainstream and we want the day we celebrate our marriage to reflect those things.
I really wanted to get married on Halloween since it's my favorite day of the year. Greg kinda wanted to get married at a Ren Faire. We both got what we wanted when we found a cool (and inexpensive!) castle banquet hall that looks like it is out of a gothic fairy tale.
It was available for 10/31/2010, the last weekend Halloween date for almost a decade. So we booked it.
And here we are. Enjoy the blog.
~~My engagement ring is a black diamond (which I love!! Greg listens to me and actually got me a ring that was "me" and not some ring you could find in any Beldens).
~~We dressed up like pirates for our engagement pictures. No, really. We did. I'll post pictures.
~~We spend a considerable amount of time in the late summer/fall "Halloween shopping".
So, really, the fact that we picked Halloween for our wedding date should come as a surprise to no one.
We both knew we did not want a traditional wedding. That's just not "us". We love each other and we really wanted our wedding to reflect "us" and not other people. We wanted something different because we are...well...different. We both have some interests that are a bit outside of the mainstream and we want the day we celebrate our marriage to reflect those things.
I really wanted to get married on Halloween since it's my favorite day of the year. Greg kinda wanted to get married at a Ren Faire. We both got what we wanted when we found a cool (and inexpensive!) castle banquet hall that looks like it is out of a gothic fairy tale.
It was available for 10/31/2010, the last weekend Halloween date for almost a decade. So we booked it.
And here we are. Enjoy the blog.
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