Diamonds Are a Girl's Worst Friend

As usual, long overdue in posting, and much of my posting lately has been of a political and social commentary nature. Here's another, from Slate magazine, on how diamond engagement rings are, besides being one of the greatest marketing ploys ever pulled on the public, but also a symbol of a man's financial commitment to his prospective bride and "the status of a woman's sexual currency."

Writes Meghan O'Rourke, "it's telling, for example, that in many parts of Scandinavia, where attitudes toward gender are more egalitarian, both men and women wear engagement rings." Huh. Now that's a thought.

Shark fins & scallops

I chose not to serve shark's fin at our wedding for environmental reasons. Defying tradition, said some guests. Now, more proof about the environmental impacts of overfishing shark: the New York Times today reported that besides devastating the populations of large sharks, it has also devastated the bay scallop fisheries on the U.S. Eastern seaboard. How does that work?

In the absence of large sharks, the researchers say, the smaller sharks, skates and rays that they feed upon have thrived. In turn, the study shows that as one of these middle links in the food chain, the cownose ray, has become more abundant, it has wiped out scallop beds in North Carolina.

Just another example of how humans wreak havoc on the ecosystem's balance.

married!

Photo: David Wu

Even simpler photo collection

My Maid of Honor Zofia wrote to tell me a great way to collect photos at weddings in this age of digital cameras:

Another cool idea is to get a multi-format card reader and a laptop and download people's digital pix off their memory cards as they're leaving. This does require someone relatively computer savvy to man the computer downloading, but it's definitely a possibility for getting more pics from the wedding.

How easy is that?

DIY Photobooth

This is a *great* idea for those who love photobooths but can't afford to have them at their wedding (and are also technically inclined) - a DIY photobooth! I admit my eyes glazed over at the "Construction: Electrical" part, but I know many of my former schoolmates would be up to the task. Too bad WiFi-enabled cameras aren't readily available - I think it would be more efficient and reliable than the disposable-camera-at-every-table and polaroid guestbook concepts. Angela did the polaroid guestbook at her wedding, and Neil said it was a pain manning the table since the pictures take awhile to develop (long lines of guests waiting) and the picture quality wasn't that great (brownish).

Photo shoot photos

Here are some photo collages I made from the photo shoot earlier this week:


I love this photo on the right 'cause I look skinny.


Neil getting ready and us hanging out before the shoot started.


Our lovely helpers, who were our makeup artists, hair stylists, fashion stylists, photojournalists, and more! To see larger pictures, right click (in Firefox) to view the actual image size.

Notes on makeup: I was really unused to wearing such quantities of makeup and was afraid I wouldn't look natural. Mei did a great job because everyone tells me I do look natural on film. Still, for the wedding I won't wear false eyelashes because I found them uncomfortable. I can probably achieve a similar look (at least, good enough for me!) with mascara. And for the wedding itself, I want a lip color that has more berry tones than peach.

Engagement Photos!

Yesterday Neil and I were very productive—we went to the Taipei District Court to make an appointment for the actual legal ceremony. After a lot of form filling, photocopying, walking back and forth from one office to the next to get things certified and paid, we finally got our auspicious court date.

Then, we went to Sight Reaction Photo Studio for an engagement picture session with Ivan. Neil's friends Mei and Carol were our stylists, doing hair, makeup, and outfit selection. Sandra came over to document the event. I wore false eyelashes for the first time (surprisingly heavy on the lids) which thankfully looked pretty natural on film.

It was pouring rain outside, so everything was done in the studio and in relatively record time: we were done in four hours. Here's a teaser:

Even more eco-concious jewelry options

• Vintage jewelers are a good options because it's re-using what's already been mined. Check out Antique Jewelry Mall
  
• UK jeweler Harriet Kelsall is a member of the Council of Responsible Jewelry Practices

And in case you want to read more discussion, the wedding blog Manolo for the Brides has a post called "What's Love Worth?" - does how much one spend on a ring represent one's love? There's also an interesting discussion on diamond engagement rings at the Vegan Represent Forum.

Bling!

While in the States, I shopped for my wedding shoes. I wanted strappy sandals (I have wide feet, so the pointy toe has just never been comfortable) that I could wear again for another dressy occasion. Plus, I figured my high school reunion would be the perfect occasion to test out shoes.

I walked into Nordstrom with about 30 minutes to spare on morning on my way to meet up with Sophie, and the sales guy directed me to Stuart Weitzman's Quando. Very sexy, leather heel, Swarovski crystals.



The only problem? The shoes were $385. I told him to hold it for me. I know Stuart Weitzman has other sandals that are much less, so I thought about it all night. Should I drive across L.A. to the Stuart Weitzman boutique in Beverly Hills or another Nordstrom with more selection? I had only another day before my reunion, I didn't really want to schlep around town, but that pair would cost almost as much as my dress! Plus, I've never had shoes with that much bling, and it was seriously pushing my comfort zone.

The next day I went back and I told him that honestly it wasn't in my budget. We had looked at a few other styles the day before, and even though none of them were as nice, I thought I should look at them again. Thankfully, they had gotten a shipment of new shoes that morning, and voila! I found the pair!



Rica by A. Marinelli. I thought they were even nicer than the Quando—not as in-your-face as the Quandos, but still sparkly. They're really comfortable and they were a bargain at only $95!

I hadn't heard of A. Marinelli shoes until then, but I'll definitely look at their shoes again in the future.