Science-y Details

Since I already shared a few wedding photos yesterday, and I've mentioned before how I designed and printed my own wedding invitations and other paper goods, I thought I'd share a few more pictures of the other science-y aspects of our wedding. Little did you all know, I originally started this blog to chronicle my DIY wedding projects, but never wrote more than a few drafts. Then when I started sewing, I just deleted those drafts and kept the title and profile for my sewing blog. Unfortunately, some of it doesn't really make a whole lot of sense anymore, considering the usual topics here at Cation Designs, so I'll probably be changing that as soon as Walnut, Fenxi, and Gummy all stop hissing and growling at each other and I can take my eye off them.

When my husband and I were planning the wedding, we were going through a phase of life where we'd been attending upwards of six weddings a year for the previous few years. We were pretty thoroughly sick of letterpress birds-and-flowers invitations, Canon in D, Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring, the unity candle lighting, and reading of 1 Corinthians 13. So we decided to put our own spin on our wedding -- SCIENCE. It was all over our wedding stationary, and it crept into our decor:

Our card box, guestbook pencils, and edible favors (madeleines and gourmet sea salt in tiny flasks).

And because I couldn't resist, I snuck in a little chemistry lesson into our pastor's script (to be fair, he used to be a middle school science teacher, so it wasn't entirely weird for him). Instead of the standard the-ring-is-a-circle-it-has-no-end-just-like-your-love speech, he said, "These rings are made of precious metal, noteworthy for being on the positive end of the Electromotive Force Series. These metals do not lose their electrons easily, and are therefore resistant to corrosion. It is an ideal symbol of your love for each other, and a reminder of the promises you have made to each other today." And instead of a unity candle or sand, we had...

Yes, that's right, a unity precipitate. As our pastor explained, "If you look behind me, you will see two flasks of chemicals. Cindy, the flask of sodium phosphate represents your life up to this moment, separate and distinct from Eric's. Eric, this flask of copper sulfate represents your life up to this moment, separate and distinct from Cindy's. Marriage is the joining of two lives into one. This is what God meant when He said: 'On this account, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall be one flesh.' From now on your thoughts shall be for each other rather than for your individual selves. Your plans shall be mutual, your joys and sorrows shall be shared alike. As you pour these solutions together, they will form an insoluble copper phosphate suspension. This is an irreversible precipitation reaction, and as such represents the union of your lives, surrounded by God’s love." My students who were at the ceremony loved it, but also confessed to inward groaning that I somehow managed to put together an educational wedding. A couple of smart-alecks also pointed out that I wasn't wearing goggles or gloves...

And as a final touch, we had to work cats in, somehow...hence our Simon's Cat place cards. These were a beast to cut out the week before the wedding, but it was so worth it (and totally hilarious) to see them all lined up, begging for food.

Again, all photographs courtesy of The Youngrens!

Anyway, sorry for the little detour into wedding-land, but hey, it's June, right? Prime wedding month, according to my wedding photographer friends. I promise I'll have some actual sewing projects to share soon! In the meantime, I'm still trying to wrestle my mom's cranky old Kenmore into submission. Gosh, I miss my machine.