Sunday 26 October 2014

The Hamilton-Novak wedding

Round 35: January 2042 (Summer)

Amar Hamilton is 41 and Adrienne Novak is 35. 


During the wedding planning process, a couple of people suggested that it might have been better to wait until after the baby was born to get married. Amar was happy to push ahead or wait, so I decided to push ahead.




Grandpa was keen to see us finally marry, so I wanted to please him but I also thought planning while pregnant would be easier than planning with a newborn.

I really underestimated the physical toll pregnancy can take on your body though, because I have been absolutely exhausted.

Amar has been really helpful with Beau. He’s been doing the whole nighttime routine every single night for at least the past month, since I can hardly even stay awake until Beau’s bedtime lately!

By the time the big day arrived, I was feeling very, very pregnant (which I was) but also excited to finally get married.

We didn’t have an unlimited budget and my family is huge, so we ended up having to leave a lot of people out who we probably would have invited otherwise.

But I think all the most important people to us were there to watch us exchange our vows.

Well, almost everyone! Beau was supposed to be watching the ceremony but at some point, he wandered over to check out the pond instead.

Amar and I were not too fussed about that. He’s four years old. I doubt wedding ceremonies are particularly interesting to him. 

I knew he wouldn’t be too bored once the ceremony was over and done with. We made sure Matilda and Miles brought Phoebe, who kept Beau entertained all afternoon.

Matilda and I have been inseparable for years, so it figures that our kids would become close too.

Matilda was my matron of honour and the first one to congratulate me after the ceremony. She’s probably been waiting for me and Amar to join the married people club for a while now. 

She and Miles haven’t been together as long as we have and they’ve been married eight years already. Amar and I like to take our time, I guess!

We had an insanely long engagement too, to the point where Amar's little brother Zane thought we’d just be engaged forever and never actually get around to having a wedding.

Neither of us really ever thought we’d get married at all though, so not rushing into it didn’t seem like such a big deal to us. 

I know other people were waiting though. Grandpa was so glad we’d “finally” tied the knot.

My parents were always pretty chill about it and happy to let us go at our own pace but Grandpa was a different story entirely.

Grandpa really loves Amar. I never expected them to get along as well as they do. 

I’m glad Malcolm and Hope could make it. Hope was going to stay home if she wasn’t feeling up to it but fortunately, she’s been feeling tired but pretty good otherwise. I can relate to that! 

An afternoon sugar rush was seeming like a really great idea, even if I didn’t get the chance to consume in quite the way I would have expected.

Amar was lucky I was in a good mood, especially seeing I've been biting his head off for the slightest transgression lately!

Beau was off playing with Phoebe for most of the reception but mysteriously emerged once we cut the cake. Funny that. 

He approved highly of the cake! He won't eat non-chocolate cake, so we were pretty sure he'd be pleased with the choice. 

That was probably the only time all day when all three of us were together! Probably a favourite part of the day too, for that reason.

It didn’t last long! We opened up the dance floor and Beau was off with Phoebe once again. 

I was glad I had a little energy to dance for a while with Amar. I don’t really stand much on ceremony or anything but that was one tradition I wanted to do, rather than falling asleep in my meal (like I did at home last week!)

I felt like Amar almost ruined the moment when he stomped on my foot but I got over it pretty fast! I could tell he already felt bad about it. 

Everyone enjoyed themselves, which is the most important thing!

Even so, I was really happy to get home and put my feet up! I’m on maternity leave now, so all there is to do is relax with my boys and wait for the baby to arrive.

Extras:

I normally stick all my extras on Tumblr but this was too funny to me! After Beau finished his first slice of cake, he went back for a second.


Which left Adrienne's uncle James totally cakeless! The top part is just for show, as the only option he had was "clean up". Which he dutifully did, in the toilets!

Posed shots:


I don't usually do a picture by the cake but I think I was hungry when I did this one!




I almost rage-quit so many times doing these photos! No one was co-operating (I am weirdly resistant to Freezer Clock sometimes, even though it solves these problems 100% of the time), the stupid willow trees were always in the way, sims kept jumping off their OMSPs - everything was going wrong! This one ended up looking like they were almost just being cute, rather than irritating.




Blossom MK at N99 was very sweet and made this dress for me in the exact shade of green I was looking for! That's part of why this wedding took so long to do. I had it in my head that this dress already existed and then was disheartened when I found that it apparently didn't. But now it does!




Another blooper! From this angle, you almost can't tell Adrienne's head is actually inside of Amar's face!


This was the picture that gave me the most trouble. I find elders very frustrating to pose, because they seem to naturally look up when adult sims will look straight ahead. Really annoying and very frustrating to try to shoot around so it's not as obvious!




And finally, a family shot - I like how even Baby #2 is there. :D

Notes:
  • Despite all my whinging about posing, I am relatively happy with how this wedding turned out!  It was a fun session and Beau was being adorable throughout. I also have some other funny/cute outtakes that I'll put up on my Tumblr soon. 
  • Adrienne is a Hamilton now, seeing Beau already was anyway. There are more than enough Novaks in Sullivan. ;)
  • Next update is Cordy and Eliot's but I have roughly zero idea what I'm going to do with them! I'm going to brainstorm sometime over the weekend.  :)

18 comments:

  1. First and foremost, Phoebe and Beau dancing together was SO cute. Also, Amar putting Beau to bed is so sweet and I love the picture of bedtime. Adrienne's dress was lovely and suited her so well. I love Matilda's dress, and it is so nice that Blossom MK could match that dress with the groomsmen's shirts. I never noticed that issue with the elders looking up but now that you mention it, it is true in my game too. I'm glad you were finally able to get all the pictures. I'm thinking it must not be long till Hope's baby is due?

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    1. Amar's a pretty good dad! He's probably a better parent than Adrienne, truth be told, lol! He just has more warmth to him than she does.

      I was kind of limited on wedding dresses for Adrienne, because I needed to find one that fit her belly, so I'm glad you like the one I picked. I was really way more thrilled with Matilda's dress though - absolutely perfect colour!

      You'd think so but we still have a while. Hope is due in June. We'll see Audrey and Adrienne's babies first - Audrey in April and Adrienne in May. :)

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  2. A cosy way to start Sunday morning for me, mug of coffee and looking at your Sims wedding pictures :-)
    I had no idea elders pose differently from adult Sims, never really taking any posed pictures myself. I guess I should give it a try next time I have a wedding in New Maximiliania; there haven't been any for a long time.

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    1. So glad you enjoyed it! You know, I'll say this for the EA poses - they are very good in terms of the sim moving their head towards the camera. I've never noticed the elder issue with those poses - only with the ones from pose boxes. I'd be interested to see what you discover though, as I usually only use the EA poses with kids (most pose boxes aren't set up for kids to use).

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  3. I loved the wedding. I wish mine were as pretty. I too find that elders are the hardest to work with sometimes.

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    1. Elders can be tricky in general. Pretty weddings are more due to good CC as opposed to any actual talent on my part. ;) You could totally do the same if you wanted to. :) I'm very glad you enjoyed it, in any case.

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  4. I was pretty miserable pregnant, and if I had to pick I would absolutely get married 6 or 7 months pregnant over getting married with a newborn. They're amazingly demanding creatures for being so tiny.

    Also, that cake is making me hungry.

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    1. Ha, maybe once the baby comes along, Adrienne will decide she made the right choice getting married beforehand after all! I guess that could all depend on what kind of baby he/she turns out to be as well. ;)

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  5. So Cute! And you're telling me that dress didn't exist before now? Too bad, I love that shade of green!

    Beau and Phoebe were beyond adorable throughout the ceremony. And I'm with Adrienne; babies are demanding. Get the wedding over with now, while you know sleep.

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    1. Well, it exists now! I'm not sure if Blossom is planning to share it but I certainly wouldn't mind if she did. I might ask her.

      I guess every woman will have a different perspective on weddings before or after the baby! I've had couples do both in the past. I remember Ruby was about six months old when Asha and Luc got married, for example. :)

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  6. Sim weddings, oh my gosh, why do we do it! lol Well I know why but yeah they can be such a headache especially when your wedding party sims are not doing what they're told. Despite the trouble you had it was a lovely wedding and I always love seeing your posed wedding shots too. :)

    I thought it was sweet to see Adrienne marry while still pregnant. She looked gorgeous and the green brides made dress was lovely, so elegant and I noticed it matched grooms shirt. ;) Amar and Adrienne are such a sweet couple, can't wait till she has the baby!

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    1. I know! I've been peeking at your wedding pics on Tumblr when I can, so I know we've been doing the same thing the past week or so, lol. I think the results are worth it, so I will torture myself once again sometime in the future. ;)

      I hadn't had a pregnant bride in a while and that was my main reason for rushing this through (not Adrienne's reason, obviously, but it was mine!) I forgot how few dresses are out there with maternity morphs, but I was happy with Adrienne's dress anyway. I'm getting pretty excited to see this baby myself, though we'll meet Jack and Audrey's baby well before Adrienne's. :)

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  7. Such a beautiful wedding! I think it's cute how Beau showed absolutely no interest until the cake came along, lol.

    I can totally relate with the almost rage-quitting. It feels like weddings are the worst, maybe it's all that sugar from the cake or something but my sims never work with me on those wedding photos. Elders are super-annoying when posing. I usually just use the pose action because that way they look to the camera. That way I can keep at least a little shred of my sanity intact. Other times (when I'm feeling more patient) I use the slow motion cheat because it helps a lot to get the game paused at just the right moment.

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    1. Beau was pretty typical of a four-year-old boy, I think! He has his priorities straight.

      I don't know but you're right, weddings are the worst! I think it's just because with so many people on the lot, I can't wrangle them all like I can in a regular play session. So they do all the annoying things I usually prevent them from doing without even realising it. Argh. I'll do it all again though, just for the pics!

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  8. Well now I officially want cake... and chocolate cake at that, which I never want! Thanks for that Beau!! Must be good if he went back for seconds! I really like the wedding photo by the cake, that's a nice touch. The entire wedding was pretty, and I liked the dress that Blossom recolored for it. Phoebe and Beau are adorable! I enjoyed the entire thing!

    Agreed that elder posing can be annoying, I use that one posebox to help with that... I don't know the name, it has been too long. Where you control their shoulders, neck, three parts of back, head... to look at angles. I know you have/had it. That really helps with the elder head thing, I bump it forward by the smallest (or second smallest) degree. Sorry I'm so vague here!

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    1. LOL, Beau was making that cake look pretty good, with his pure enthusiasm, I guess! He's such a cutie. Can't wait to see this family with the new baby. I actually forgot Adrienne was pregnant until I got you and Sari's comments today!

      Oh, no worries, I know exactly the posebox you mean. I've actually never thought of using that with elders but I'm going to try it with the next elders I have to pose. The head thing drives me so insane!

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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  9. That green is gorgeous. Did you do surgery on Amar and Zane? They really do look like brothers.

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    1. I was very lucky Blossom offered to make that dress for me. She actually made me two, because she wasn't sure of the exact shade of green I'd prefer, so she just did both!

      Amar never had any surgery. If you look up Amar Hamilton on the Sims Wiki, you'll see what he looks like as a teen with no CC (spoiler alert: not great!) Zane did have surgery, though it was actually not my intention to make him resemble Amar. He and Chloe had fallen in love on their own and they both had boring EA dormie faces and then when I was done with him, he turned out looking like Amar! I think I posted a comparison pic on Twitter and chatted about it with a couple of people and then decided to make them brothers! It made Amar a bit more fleshed out for me than most of my former townies, so it was a very happy accident.

      Thanks for reading and commenting!

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