Perfume...sigh

Love this article so much. It is an interview with a perfumer about the process of creating a perfume, and it was such a fun read!

I have a weird love of perfumes. It's more of a vicarious love, though. I am pretty loyal to the few scents I own. But I adore reading descriptions of perfumes on websites and trying to imagine what they smell like. Anthropologie always has great scent descriptions for the perfumes they carry.

The first perfume I fell in love with was Auric Blends' roll on perfumes. I still have my original bottle, which has become my signature: One Love. It's such a lovely scent, and seems to linger so nicely on my skin. It's sweet without being cloying; the base is a deep vanilla. I just adore it and don't tend to stray.

Heaven help me if they ever discontinue One Love!

I also had a love affair with Gap Scent Editions. I remember being in a huge Gap and standing in front of the display sniffing all the different perfumes, which were meant to be blended. I remember the one blend I loved was Sueded Musk with Silk Yuzu. I never bought the fragrance and it was one of those purchases I regretted never making. Years later, I thought of the scents and managed to track down the rollerball of Silk Yuzu on Ebay. It is pretty weak; the fruity, citrusy scent fades quickly. But I enjoy it all the same!

Gotta love the packaging; the perfume has a little cloth pouch
with a button closure that then sits in a little box

I then saw this article on the Wall Street Journal about orange blossom perfumes. It's an idea I had toyed with idly from time to time; wearing orange blossoms as perfume on my wedding day.

Beautiful photo by F. Martin Ramin for the Wall Street Journal,
styling by Anne Cardenas

As I did my wedding research (nerd alert), I discovered that it was tradition in the early 20th century for brides to wear orange blossoms on their wedding day. Orange blossoms represent fertility because the orange trees flower year-round. Hooray for wedding research!

Even when orange blossoms weren't available, wax flowers were created and made into headdresses. Queen Victoria started the trend (just like she started the whole white dress thing).

So, at first I was looking into vintage pieces. But, once the venue was decided, I knew that a wax headdress in August might not work. I wouldn't want to ruin a vintage treasure! So then, my next thought was that I could nod to this tradition with perfume. If I find something based on orange blossoms, it would be a fun nod to the idea.

My first stop was to get Pacifica's Nerola Orange Blossom solid perfume.

The verdict? It was surprisingly bitter. I expected more citrusy sweetness, or at least a vaguely citrusy floral. I think it would have to be mixed with a more obvious orange for me to really fall for it. Perhaps the Tuscan Blood Orange perfume by the same company?

I ended up just wearing my signature scent. It's the most me, orange blossoms be damned! I felt beautiful that day no matter what details were left by the wayside.

Wedding Rings

I certainly know what I would want to buy as our wedding bands, if I weren't already planning on making them myself.

Erica Weiner Jewelry is amazing.

I have long had a love of Erica Weiner jewelry. I love her castings of old rings, and these two are no exception. The larger of the two has "Gift" inscribed in Old Slavic, which is a dead language but a linguistic precursor to both Slovak and Slovenian (which is cool because I am Slovenian and my fiance is Slovak). The smaller ring has "Remembrance" inscribed with open work.

Erica Weiner re-cast them in 14k yellow gold and sells them as a set. I love them, but sort of wish they were available in other metals (white gold and sterling silver, specifically). She has brass versions available that can be strung on chain as a necklace, but I would want to wear them as rings and the brass would definitely make my finger green.

However, I had decided long before I saw these rings that I was going to be making our wedding bands. The plan is to make John a simple sterling silver band (He said white gold still looked sort of yellow to him in comparison, which is true).

I am actually making two rings for myself, one to sit on either side of my engagement ring. My perfect ring looks like this:

Sigh. Love. Both those photos are from the original Etsy listing, by the way; the ring was made by the amazingly talented Kate Szabone, and the photos are hers as well.

Anyways, my plan is to make two simple 14k white gold bands, both in the same grooved pattern as my ring. The bands will wrap perfectly around the diamond so it looks like it was made to be a set. I read in my wedding research (yes, I am a nerd and researched how wedding traditions came about) that in Scandinavian countries women will sometimes wear three rings: one to represent the engagement, one to represent the marriage vows, and one to represent motherhood and your future family. I like the sentiment of that, plus I don't think I could deal with asymmetry on my finger. I need a ring on each side to balance things out!

The choice to make the rings wasn't one based solely on saving money, or by my status as a fiercely-DIY sort of bride (though both are valid reasons). The main reason I decided to make our wedding bands is to pay tribute to my maternal grandmother, who was a watercolor painter and silversmith. My grandmother made my parents' wedding rings, as well as several pieces for my aunts and mom over the years. I inherited all of her jewelry tools and supplies, including some of her original silver.

Rings made by my grandmother and I.

I think it's so amazing that I barely knew her growing up, and yet I ended up years later pursuing something she loved to do. I think I must get some artistic talent from her (and my mother), because I have always loved working with my hands to create things. Making our wedding bands will be such an exciting manifestation of that passion.

I hope someday I learn more about metalsmithing (particularly stone setting and lost-wax casting) and can set up a small workshop to practice the craft. It will be such a lovely way to feel connected to her and to my artistic roots.

On an unrelated note, I found an interesting source (possibly apocryphal, but cool nonetheless) that talked about why the ring finger represents your marriage.

Apparently, the thumb represents your parents, the index finger represents your siblings, the middle finger represents yourself, the ring finger represents your partner, and the pinky your children. Hold your hands so that your fingers are tip to tip, then lower the middle fingers down into the space between your hands. You can easily separate any pair of fingers (thumbs, indexes)-except for the ring finger. This represents that you will not live with your parents forever, nor your siblings. Your children will eventually grow up an move out. But your partner and you are joined for life (interdependency for the win?).

Now, before the med school kids get on my case about anatomy, I know from back in my piano-playing days that the ring fingers can't separate for a different reason: they are the weakest fingers because they only have one extensor tendon while all the other fingers have two. Boo-ya. Aren't you proud of my knowledge of the anatomy of the hand? I am*.

*My former violin teacher used to explain everything wrong with my technique using anatomy. She would discuss specific joints, tendons, and muscles used to create different bow strokes. I guess some of it stuck!