Tuesday 4 January 2011

The Ashton-Draper wedding

Round 30: January 2031 (Summer)

Rob Ashton is 30, Patience Draper is 29.

Patience and I broke with tradition a little and spent the night before our wedding together.


She was still insistent that I not see her dress before the wedding though, so in the morning, she went to get ready at Josie's place down the street. She said she wanted to "wow" me when I saw her at the altar.

Patience definitely succeeded there but I think she would have anyway.

The ceremony ran relatively smoothly, even though I almost dropped the ring. Patience wasn't nearly as nervous but she's an actress; she thrives on being the centre of attention.

Much of the whole wedding set-up was a surprise to me. I knew who our bridal party was and we jointly decided on a venue but I admit that Patience did the rest - clothes, flowers, catering. I've been so stressed with work, so I let Patience take over. She didn't mind.

I don't know how much help I would have been if I was more involved but Patience did a fantastic job, mostly on her own.

Patience and I really enjoyed our meal and getting to catch up with everybody.

All our guests seemed to have a good time too.

Even Sylvia, Patience's niece. I think she talked to everybody. There were no other kids at the wedding but she's an only child and doesn't have any cousins yet, so she's used to adults.

Plus, Patience told her there'd be cake.

The cake was pretty good, I admit. I just tried not to think about how much it probably cost!

I thought I would feel a little bit out of place, given that just about everyone there was a guest of Patience's.

But it was a good time actually. I feel very lucky be joining Patience's family. They're all great people.

Her stepbrother Calvin is becoming a really good friend of mine and it's been hard for me to make friends here.

I don't know Troy quite as well but he seems like a good guy.

I didn't always think it would be so easy for me to integrate into the family. I remember getting a very frosty reception from Lake when Patience first brought me home.

I don't know if we'll ever be friends, exactly, because we're quite different people. But things are much less awkward between us now.

I think Kendal had a lot to do with that. She always really liked me and wasn't too happy with Lake's initial reaction to me.

Becoming a grandfather softened him a little too. He really loves Sylvia and I think he's wanting a few more!

Patience and I definitely want to give him some more grandchildren but maybe not for a little while.

We're going to take a year or so to relax before we start a family. Patience is still going on with her crazy talk about nine kids but I think she's accepted that it won't happen!

Lake wanted to raise a toast for us before the reception ended. He used the opportunity to announce he'd be paying for Patience and I to go on a honeymoon! He did the same for Rose when she got married but I can't say I was expecting this!

I was pretty stunned. No one has ever given me such an extravagant gift before but we were both really grateful. We paid for the wedding ourselves but we really didn't have anything left to go away anywhere.

We headed for the mountains. Not to camp, of course, because Patience likes her luxuries.

We stayed at the same hotel Josie and Troy stayed at for their honeymoon. Fortunately, we had a much better experience than they did. I wish I could eat like that all the time - one of us is going to have to learn to cook one of these days!

We were both hoping we'd get some snow while we were there but it turns out it was the wrong time of year. It was cold there, but not cold enough.

Three Lakes is still a beautiful place though, so we couldn't complain.

It was still a great trip. Nothing at all to do except hang out together, which we really haven't been doing enough of lately.

I've been working too hard lately, trying to work my way back up at the firm. With Patience working mostly nights, it was almost impossible to see each other much.

I wish we could have stayed longer. We'll come back one day for sure.

We were both sorry to leave. Patience is already talking about buying a vacation home up there!

I think we should probably focus on buying a home here in Exeter first but it's definitely something to consider in the future.

Extras:

This one will be cropped when I frame it, so um...ignore the park bench!


Patience, with her best friend Josie and her sister Rose.

Rob, and his friend Steve and Patience's stepbrother Calvin.

Rob and Patience, with Rose and Calvin again, as well as Patience's other stepbrother Troy and her half-brother Chris.

And finally, Patience and Rob with Patience's dad Lake and her stepmother Kendal.

Notes:
  • I changed my mind at the last minute with Patience's dress! This dress was the original one I had planned for her but then I chose a different one. But I've been waiting to use this one for a while now. I just needed someone who would conceivably wear it. With the feathers on the bottom, it's quite a lot of dress!
  • No crashes! Whee! This was a relatively small wedding though...for me, anyway! I had under 20 guests there.
  • No baby yet! I'll probably let them try when I play them later on this round. Neither have the want yet, so I figure they don't mind waiting. The longer I make them wait, the less chance Patience has of fulfilling that nine kids ideal, lol!
  • Patience rolled up the want to buy a vacation home as soon as she got out of the shuttle. Might have to wait on that one! The girl has big dreams!

16 comments:

  1. Aww, such a cute wedding, as always. You're the master of simish wedding photography.

    Patience did a wonderful job planning the wedding. The dress is from AAS, correct? The suits, I haven't seen before.

    Their wedding makes me want to work on wedding cake recolors again, I should really stop recoloring though :) I don't have a wedding coming up in my hood anytime soon :( So I have to live through your hood and your sims.

    It looks like Patience's favorite color is yellow, am I right? Also, it's great to hear Rob's voice finally :) though it was a little sad that he didn't have any family to attend the wedding. Did we ever learn his backstory?

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  2. Apple Valley, aw, thank you!

    Correct! That's an AAS dress (All About Style, for those of you not in the know ;)) I had Zelda try it on when she married Tate but it wasn't right for her. She's never been a fancy girl. The suits are by Mikexx2 at MTS, from the same set Troy's suit from his wedding came from:

    http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=302458

    Patience's favourite colour is definitely yellow. I put her in yellow randomly as a teen and I mostly keep her in it now, seeing it suits her.

    Rob doesn't have a back story as yet but it's possible that we might eventually meet at least one of his relatives. ;)

    Thanks for your comment!

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  3. I loved this wedding but then again I say that about all of your weddings. You're the wedding guru, lol.

    I'm so happy that Patience's family has taken Rob in so well. I felt kind of bad for him for not having anyone at the wedding.

    That dress has Patience written all over it. Very good choice!

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  4. Beautiful wedding as always! Patience's dress definitely fit her personality. It was a bit sad that Rob didn't have any family there but he has now gained a whole new family :)

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  5. Again, love your shots at the end of the wedding, love the guys wearing the matching suits. Honestly Carla, you should become a wedding planner, you rock at this. Once was enough for me, LOL! Honeymoon shots were also very nice indeed, love the one walking hand in hand.

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  6. Very lovely wedding, as usual! I say that all the time but you always do such a nice job. Can I hire you as the photographer for my sim weddings? I just love all the posed photos. They're a beautiful couple. I loved her dress and the bridesmaids dresses. Very stylish and very Patience.

    Ha, when Patience dreams, she dreams BIG! 9 kids, vacation homes... that fits her SO well.

    I'm interested in finding out what you have up your sleeve regarding Rob's family. I've been trying to think of some backstories for a few of my townies that have worked their way into my sims' lives. And someone at N99 (was it Laura? Maisie? or Sari?) got me thinking about making siblings for them using other townies that have similar looks. And I like that ROS you did to introduce Jesse? into your hood. I'll have to make sure I have that one in my file.

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  7. Sari, thanks! I'm pretty happy with how this one turned out.

    Most of Patience's family is very nice. Well...except Troy but he's an odd mean Sim and he's normally quite friendly. So they've all been happy to welcome Rob in.

    I'm glad you thought Patience's dress suited her! She needed something a bit elaborate. ;)

    Thanks for your comment!

    Mizzgin03, glad you liked it! I almost chickened out with Patience's dress but it's very her, so I just went with it. Like it matters that much! But it does...to me!)

    Rob has more family than he knows what to do with now!

    Thank you for your comment!

    Drew, thanks! Those are really fun for me to do, though Rob and Patience were being a bit uncooperative, so it was somewhat of an exercise in frustration this time. The walking hand in hand one was the hardest, so thank you especially for that!

    I don't think I'll be trying my hand at real weddings any time soon. I'd have to deal with real brides and from my experiences as a bridesmaid, they can be a nightmare!

    Thanks for reading!

    Danielle, aw, thank you! I love doing weddings so if you lived closer, I'd probably seriously take you up on that offer! I'd never thought of using those dresses as bridesmaid dresses before but a lot of the more bridesmaid-style dresses are not really very Patience. ;)

    Yes, Patience is not a simple girl, as you've probably gathered! ;)

    And yep, that was Laura you're thinking of. I don't know if you've read LH but she's got a former townie as a playable and she made another former townie with the same facial template his brother and then created their mother as well. I'm not positive where I'm going with Rob but I have a few ideas I'm tossing around. :)

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  8. Beautiful wedding! I love Patience in yellow and the bridesmaid dresses seemed like something she would pick. I'm glad that Rob is fitting in nicely with her family, they seem like a good one to fit into.

    Now Lake needs to stick around until she has a baby, in another round or two... You know I'm eying all your elders carefully.

    What I really liked as well was the hills. Ive tried making nice hills before, but the ones here are really great. Odd thing to notice, maybe, but it really makes the wedding pictures that much more pretty.

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  9. Such a beautifull wedding! I like Patience's dress!! I want to use it from some time now, but I can't find a sim to fit, at least not one that is going to marry soon!

    I was kind of expecting Rob and Patience to continue the tradition of comming home pregnant form their honeymoon, but I'm also kind of happy it's still just the 2 of them :)

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  10. Maisie, yellow is definitely Patience's colour. Her family have gone through their share of drama but they're all pretty happy and settled now. So Rob's married into a huge family but they're a happy one, thankfully.

    Ha, I bet you are! Lake's update is coming up quite soon in the round, so I won't keep you in suspense for too long. It would be nice if he stuck around long enough for Patience to have kids, especially seeing he's one of my older elders.

    You know, I didn't even notice the hills! This is just Central Park, from Belladonna Cove, except made over multiple times! So well done EA, I guess? I rarely touch the raise/lower ground tool.

    Thanks for your comment!

    Tanja, I love Patience's dress too. I think your Jo could wear it, actually! She's got a good style about her.

    Ha, it seems like everyone is coming home pregnant lately, so I don't blame you! But I'm glad they didn't as well. With my population going the way it is, I might even make them wait until next round, provided there's no birth control failure!

    Thanks for reading!

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  11. Another beautiful wedding! Patience's dress really fits her--she's an actress, and deserves a dramatic dress.

    How nice that they were able to go on a honeymoon when they weren't expecting it! It was almost strange to see a couple make it out of the honeymoon without getting pregnant, LOL.

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  12. Rachel, thank you! Yes, I think actresses can get away with dressing dramatically. ;) So many in RL seem to play it safe though, like us regular folk do, lol!

    It's getting to seem that way in Sullivan, isn't it? Though it's a little more realistic that way, I think. I don't know anyone in real life who came back from their honeymoon pregnant. I'm sure it happens but most couples want some time to settle.

    Thanks for reading!

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  13. Adorable! That dress looks lovely on her. I couldn't see any other character pulling that off.

    The interaction between Lake and Rob is cute. Rob still comes across as a little intimidated, lol.

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  14. Lunar, I almost deleted that dress a while back! I'm glad I kept it, because it saved me redownloading it for Patience. As soon as she and Rob got serious, I thought of that dress right away (Rob rolled the marriage want a long, long time ago and Patience not long after him).

    Lake and Rob really do not get along that well. They're getting there but I just don't think they have much in common. I'm sure Rob is still intimidated at times and that Lake probably likes it that way!

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  15. Oh, beautiful wedding! I love all the yellow! Perfect for Patience. That is quite a dress! And yes, probably only Patience could pull it off - so chic and modern as she is. Loved it!

    And of course, Rob looked quite handsome as well! :)

    Good luck to her with those nine kids, lol! ;)

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  16. Laura, I'm glad you liked it! I think this dress was one of the ones I had Patience model back when I did the posters for the bridal boutique, so I imagine she's had her eye on it for a while.

    If Rob and I get out way, there won't be nine kids, lol! God, can you imagine?!? They would be very good looking kids though!

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