one year

This weekend, Marcus and I celebrated our first anniversary! One year ago, we exchanged our vows surrounded by friends and family, full of love in beautiful Amsterdam. We thought our first-year celebration in Portland should be at least half as momentous. There were drinks at Departure (thanks Vanessa!), an amazing dinner at Bamboo Sushi, live music at Brasserie Montmartre, morning coffee at Stumptown, breakfast at Clyde Common, and a trip through the snow to Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood. And lots of anticipation for the years to come.

On the eve of our anniversary, I received a sweet note from our wedding photographer Chris Spira with a re-edit of one of our favorite shots, (pictured above). I thought it would be a good time to (finally) show some of the small details of our wedding.

Below: Invitations made by Follow Studio, cakes made by my fearless family, the ceremony room at Huize Frankendael, the table setting and my bouquet, the bicycle Marcus rode to the ceremony, vases of flowers and pots of Dutch honey.

All photos by Chris Spira.

counting days

We have entered that phase of talking about days until the wedding. Five days until my dress is finished. Seven days until the first guests arrive. Sixteen days until we say I do! Our excitement is high and there is relatively little stress. Our aim the whole time has been to keep things simple and we can only hope that things continue smoothly through the big day.

Any tips on making it through the final days before a big event?

Sunset timelapse photo via

the search for a cake

If you have read small sight for a while, you probably know that I love baking. The best part being the eating of baked goods, naturally. Since I first started experimenting with baking, I have been successful with many recipes and failed with many others - learning a thing or two in the process.

I learned that melting butter does not make anything easier. I learned that baking soda and baking powder produce two distinct results and mistaking one for the other only creates disaster. And I learned to trust my instincts when it comes to measurements.

Given my love for baking, I have decided to bake our wedding cake. With about 1.5 months until the big day, I plan to try several cakes over the next weeks and, with the help of my unsuspecting colleagues, determine a winner. Vanilla bean cake? Buttercream frosting? Chocolate raspberry filling? What is your favorite type of cake?

Photo sources: cake buffet, cake 1, cake 2, cake 3, cake 4, cake 5

a plan for a day

When I announced my engagement on small sight, I knew I wouldn't turn this space into a wedding blog, but I also want to share a few moments along the way. Planning an intercultural wedding and marriage leaves a lot of room for learning. I spent one morning in September running between the American and German consulates in Amsterdam to finally learn that all answers would depend on the German province in which we will wed.

After phone calls, clarifications, translations, and waiting rooms, Marcus and I now have all our paperwork in order! It now needs to be submitted for approval, after which we will be allowed to schedule an appointment at the registry office in Berlin. What I thought would be the most difficult part has actually been quite painless.

I wish I had better news for the yet-to-be-printed save the date cards and the yet-to-be-booked venue. My older sister has a lot of event planning experience and is encouraging us to finalize the most critical parts. Maybe it's because we're planning a Berlin wedding while being in Amsterdam, but everything is just taking a lot more time. In between, I have been gathering some visual inspiration for that day in April, which I wanted to share. If anyone has some tips on wedding planning, I would love some insight! How did you handle all the details and planning?

Photo sources: flowers, table, dress and bouquet, church.