Why blog?

I've been thinking about the significance of this little blog Mr. Tortolito and I have going on here. Why does it exist? Why do we choose to write about otherwise private aspects of our lives in a public forum? And why do we blog about our wedding, of all things? If I had to ask myself these questions, chances are you don't know the answers either. I spent some time thinking long and hard about this, and decided to take a moment to share a bit about the meaning of this blog.

Those of you who keep a blog know how much dedication it takes to keep it alive, updated, and interesting. Not to say that we are the most dedicated bloggers (trust me, I sometimes feel like our little blog is inadequate compared to so many others out there), but we still really enjoy having this outlet to share our random thoughts, life events, or really just anything at all! And, as you probably know by now, we're getting married! That's kinda a big deal to us! It's not a big deal to a lot of people and we recognize that. I really, really try to limit my wedding talk with friends and family because I don't want to come off as that person who is all about her wedding and can't talk about anything else. I'm probably just being self-conscious here, but I can't help but monitor myself to make sure I'm not talking about weddings 24/7. Weird? Probably...

But guess what? Blogger doesn't care if I have weddings on my mind 24/7. Our blog is here to listen to us anytime, anyplace. How cool is that? It might not be the best at carrying on a conversation (haha!), but we can share every single one of those unnecessary and often unnoticed (yet important, to us) details. For me, it's been such a relief to have a means to just write about anything and everything about our wedding. If others want to read/hear about it, then great! If not, I will never know and thus won't mind one bit!

Now, on to the more deeper meaning of Team Claudia y Felipe. We've mentioned here and there how we are trying to have a traditional Mexican wedding. You've probably read about our incorporating talavera, papel picado, mariachi, and so on. While I'm sure all these details will certainly set a particular mood for our party, it's not all about the decorations and music. It's about family. It's about celebration. It's about bringing together those family members and not being afraid to have a loud, vibrant, crowded, happy event that extends well into the night and only ends because everyones' feet hurt so much from dancing to banda and tropical music for hours. Mr. Tortolito and I are trying our best to achieve this for our wedding, along with incorporating all those decorations and details to complete the overall mood.

You might asking yourself "Why Mexican? Why not just call it an American wedding? It's just the same." True, Mr. Tortolito and I are American and we are having our wedding in the U.S. I wasn't born in Mexico, never lived there. Mr. Tortolito was born in Mexico, but he only lived there for the first 6 months of his life. Yet, we still feel strong ties to the country where our parents were born and raised (except for my father who spent most of his young life in El Paso, TX). It is still part of our individual identities and something that each of us respects and are proud of because it has made us who we are. For me, personally, I've witnessed how easy it is to lose touch with those customs and traditions of a family's native land. Holding on to that is something incredibly important to me. I know it's virtually impossible for a family to begin a life in another country (as my or Mr. Tortolito's parents did) and not expect to assimilate. As I've grown older, though, I realized how important it is for me to never forget where my family came from and why they went to the U.S. Don't get me wrong - I'm extremely proud to be American. I've had so many more opportunities at bettering my life and getting educated than my parents or grandparents could have ever dreamed of. But, I never want to take that for granted. I feel that respecting and identifying with where my family came from will remind me not to. I can say the same for Mr. Tortolito, too.

With that said, Mr. Tortolito and I really want our wedding to reflect this aspect of us. As most people planning a wedding would know, it's all about finding the perfect inspiration to bring your vision to life. However, inspiration for typical and traditional Mexican weddings is a bit limited on the 'nets. Mr. Tortolito and I have often found ourselves asking parents and grandparents to explain certain customs to us as a reminder for why we are incorporating them. For example, we had to ask Mr. Tortolito's grandma in Mexico the meaning behind the lazo and arras in the Catholic ceremony.

Going back to my original point for this post (wow, how many tangents have I gone off on?), this blog allows us to put a little bit more inspiration for Mexican weddings out there in internet land. While we will inevitably be incorporating American elements, we want to maintain that traditional Mexican feel. It's not just important to us, it's important to our grandparents, parents...our families. We want them to be comfortable at our wedding, and know that we recognize and will carry on with the traditions we were raised with as we begin our new family. If this blogs allows even just one more person to understand what a Mexican wedding really means (not just guacamole, sombreros, and mariachi), it would make us happier people. :)

And just because no post is complete without pictures...

Me and Mr Tortolito in his hometown of Jerez, Zacatecas.