The wedding was about a month ago now, and even now I still keep getting snapshots of all of these little moments throughout the weekend that have just shown how lucky Allen and I really are.
But don't take my word for it, take a look for yourself:
Showing posts with label wedding plans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wedding plans. Show all posts
October 6, 2011
June 16, 2011
Things Are HAPPENING!
Woah long lull between blogposts. I apologize to anyone who actually reads this thing.
Alright, so the biggest news of all....
The invites went to print!!
Ahhhhh....there are mixed emotions. Those things are my babies! My blood, my sweat....well you get the idea. Sending them to the printer was a wild mix of relief and scariness all at the same time. I know they're in good hands, but I'm at a point now where I'm so anxious to get them back to see them for myself. And fawn over them. And pet them. ....anyone who knows me knows I'm not joking.
The other thing that followed this up was the biggo order of envelopes and other paper goodies that go along with the invites. Not a big deal to most, but after eyeing this stuff for literally a year now and finally pulling the trigger, I've suddenly had doubts of "what if I don't like these anymore?" despite the fact that I've ordered paper swatches and samples galore. I know I'll love them, but it's all starting to come together!
Which brings me to our most recent (yet-not-so-recent-anymore-since-I-never-blog) trip up to TC over Memorial Weekend. MAN was that a good weekend! My sister was in town and we took her all over the place to see everything from the rehearsal dinner spot, to the reception site, to the church, to another food tasting (still delicious food, don't you worry), to a couple restaurants that we love up there (Red Ginger for the win!), and even stopped by the hair salon. Yes, we got into that much detail. I felt like a little kid dragging my mom by the wrist around at school being like "Now look at THIS! Now wait, look what we did HERE! Do you like it do you like it??"
Luckily, she ate it all up and was equally (if not more) excitable about the whole situation. We are AMPED! We even fit a little wine tasting up on Old Mission for good measure:
The other side effect to our weekend was the realization that we're 3 months away from our wedding. YIKES! We actually have to start making decisions on things, which is a weird concept for us since we've been engaged for almost two years now at this point. Things that people originally were like "Oh you have time to get back to us on that" were now saying to us "So what have you decided on that?"
Oops. Guess this thing is really happening :)
So I have many more updates to share, including my gorgeous shower that happened at the end of May and the fun that's about to happen with invite assembly (including an invite assembly party next weekend - yep, we get kind of crazy around here!). Much, much, MUCH more to come friends!
Alright, so the biggest news of all....
The invites went to print!!
Ahhhhh....there are mixed emotions. Those things are my babies! My blood, my sweat....well you get the idea. Sending them to the printer was a wild mix of relief and scariness all at the same time. I know they're in good hands, but I'm at a point now where I'm so anxious to get them back to see them for myself. And fawn over them. And pet them. ....anyone who knows me knows I'm not joking.
The other thing that followed this up was the biggo order of envelopes and other paper goodies that go along with the invites. Not a big deal to most, but after eyeing this stuff for literally a year now and finally pulling the trigger, I've suddenly had doubts of "what if I don't like these anymore?" despite the fact that I've ordered paper swatches and samples galore. I know I'll love them, but it's all starting to come together!
Which brings me to our most recent (yet-not-so-recent-anymore-since-I-never-blog) trip up to TC over Memorial Weekend. MAN was that a good weekend! My sister was in town and we took her all over the place to see everything from the rehearsal dinner spot, to the reception site, to the church, to another food tasting (still delicious food, don't you worry), to a couple restaurants that we love up there (Red Ginger for the win!), and even stopped by the hair salon. Yes, we got into that much detail. I felt like a little kid dragging my mom by the wrist around at school being like "Now look at THIS! Now wait, look what we did HERE! Do you like it do you like it??"
Luckily, she ate it all up and was equally (if not more) excitable about the whole situation. We are AMPED! We even fit a little wine tasting up on Old Mission for good measure:
Ahhh... 2 lads :)
The other side effect to our weekend was the realization that we're 3 months away from our wedding. YIKES! We actually have to start making decisions on things, which is a weird concept for us since we've been engaged for almost two years now at this point. Things that people originally were like "Oh you have time to get back to us on that" were now saying to us "So what have you decided on that?"
Oops. Guess this thing is really happening :)
So I have many more updates to share, including my gorgeous shower that happened at the end of May and the fun that's about to happen with invite assembly (including an invite assembly party next weekend - yep, we get kind of crazy around here!). Much, much, MUCH more to come friends!
March 29, 2011
Creative Block
I've been spending the last few weeks starting to work on the creative for our invitations. Here's where I'm at so far:
Haha :)
The problem that I'm running into right now is the same one I've had all along - I have TOO many ideas! I've really been trying to narrow them down, and I know that I have the right "look" at this point for the wedding overall...but where to go from there? Yes there's inspiration boards, etc etc and I have all of that, but pulling all of those into a piece of paper tends to have its difficulties.
This weekend, my mom and I are going to meet with my aunt to discuss flowers - logistics of getting everything up north and cost to do so, overall look of the flowers (some of this is obviously limited by the transport up north, but I know it's all going to look amazing), and really nailing down the details of the day. I have a feeling that this will be a HUGE help in getting an overall picture of the day, especially because I know my mom and aunt will have a lot of great ideas to get everything executed. I just hope that all of those discussions get the creative juices flowing for me afterward!
Haha :)
The problem that I'm running into right now is the same one I've had all along - I have TOO many ideas! I've really been trying to narrow them down, and I know that I have the right "look" at this point for the wedding overall...but where to go from there? Yes there's inspiration boards, etc etc and I have all of that, but pulling all of those into a piece of paper tends to have its difficulties.
This weekend, my mom and I are going to meet with my aunt to discuss flowers - logistics of getting everything up north and cost to do so, overall look of the flowers (some of this is obviously limited by the transport up north, but I know it's all going to look amazing), and really nailing down the details of the day. I have a feeling that this will be a HUGE help in getting an overall picture of the day, especially because I know my mom and aunt will have a lot of great ideas to get everything executed. I just hope that all of those discussions get the creative juices flowing for me afterward!
March 25, 2011
Adventures in Registering
So I think I mentioned before that Allen and I had been working on our registries for the wedding. I've heard mixed reviews from different couples about their registering experience - some love it, some hate it, most are overwhelmed by it, some knew exactly what they wanted to get going in, and some did it all from home. I think we were a combination of all of those.
Most of our concern lied with the fact that we don't plan on being in our house in the next year or so. We would like to move, but anywhere we move in the short term is going to be a rental - aka, not permanent. So to pick out stuff for our future house together, without knowing what our future house looks like, was a bit challenging and really limited what we registered for. For example, we registered for very generic bathroom hardware in two different schemes since we don't know what a future bathroom could look like for us. Boring? Maybe. Practical? Yes.
I think the unknown made registering a little difficult, but overall we had a really good experience with it. Allen did drag his feet the first time at BB&B, but after he got that scanner in his hand...well...let's just say we ended up with a few gems like this:
By the way - that's totally staying on the registry. Somehow, now, I can't picture our future married life without it. But we've done other editing (3 sets of plastic containers in multiple sizes? Where would we even put that?) and I think we have narrowed things down to stuff that we know we'll love and use and share with everyone - yes, including the french onion soup crocks. I will totally make people soup in those things, I am so excited.
The other side effect this has brought on now is my stalking our registry. Normally I wouldn't even consider doing this, but I was editing some stuff on our registry when I noticed that items have been purchased for us already! Not only does this make me insanely curious as to who the early bird was that found our registry and purchased, but it has also made me stalk our registry every day to see what else happens on there. Don't lie, every bride does it, but no one talks about it. I'm talking about it, and I can't help it. One of the many perks of being a bride-to-be :)
Most of our concern lied with the fact that we don't plan on being in our house in the next year or so. We would like to move, but anywhere we move in the short term is going to be a rental - aka, not permanent. So to pick out stuff for our future house together, without knowing what our future house looks like, was a bit challenging and really limited what we registered for. For example, we registered for very generic bathroom hardware in two different schemes since we don't know what a future bathroom could look like for us. Boring? Maybe. Practical? Yes.
I think the unknown made registering a little difficult, but overall we had a really good experience with it. Allen did drag his feet the first time at BB&B, but after he got that scanner in his hand...well...let's just say we ended up with a few gems like this:
Everyone needs a Haier 16-Bottle Wine Cellar, right?
The other side effect this has brought on now is my stalking our registry. Normally I wouldn't even consider doing this, but I was editing some stuff on our registry when I noticed that items have been purchased for us already! Not only does this make me insanely curious as to who the early bird was that found our registry and purchased, but it has also made me stalk our registry every day to see what else happens on there. Don't lie, every bride does it, but no one talks about it. I'm talking about it, and I can't help it. One of the many perks of being a bride-to-be :)
March 23, 2011
Cake O'Licious
Sorry for the delay in blogging, but things have been ca-razy around here! A few highlights:
- I'm halfway through my winter semester, which means I almost have only 3 classes to go until my Master's is DONE!
- I started a new job at Universal McCann in Birmingham, and I'm managing In-Market and Search Campaigns now for Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Ram and Fiat - completely, new, exciting, and awesome (and BUSY!)
- Whittling our way down the to-do list for the wedding! Including, but not limited to, picking out a cake for the wedding!
In looking for cake options, Allen and I have pretty much agreed that we want a small cake - 2 layers at most, with sheet cakes in the back for the caterer to cut up. Allen's mom has graciously volunteered to make our cake (as she's done for the other Mitchell kids and other relatives), so we're really excited to find something cute, yet easy to transport across the state of Michigan (eek).
Even though we're looking at smaller cakes, there were a few crazy-tiered cakes that were pretty fun to look through. These images are all courtesy of Half Baked - The Cake Blog.
February 23, 2011
Hotel Issues
A little wedding notification:
So for people who are planning on attending our wedding, but more importantly, planning on booking at the Bayshore Resort (the hotel that is within walking distance of our reception), we've run into a bit of a problem. Apparently our families are early bookers, and we've already booked almost 30 rooms through our block. This is awesome, but the problem is that there are other events that have blocked rooms for that weekend at the same hotel, so they are occupying the other available rooms at the hotel. So, there are a couple of options:
1. Try one of our other hotel blocks (see www.allenandkaitlyn.com for details)
2. Wait until the beginning of August when they release the other room blocks to book your room
3. Book an upgraded room now, and then downgrade to a standard room in August when the other rooms are released.
We have the sales guy working with us to see if he can release any other rooms from the other blocks, but he's apprehensive to do so with the events so far away at this point. We will keep working with him and I will try to keep you posted to make sure that we can get other rooms released.
Sorry for any hassle that this has caused, but I'm really glad that people are so excited and are booking their rooms already! I promise to keep you all posted! Please get a hold of either Allen or myself if you have any questions!
So for people who are planning on attending our wedding, but more importantly, planning on booking at the Bayshore Resort (the hotel that is within walking distance of our reception), we've run into a bit of a problem. Apparently our families are early bookers, and we've already booked almost 30 rooms through our block. This is awesome, but the problem is that there are other events that have blocked rooms for that weekend at the same hotel, so they are occupying the other available rooms at the hotel. So, there are a couple of options:
1. Try one of our other hotel blocks (see www.allenandkaitlyn.com for details)
2. Wait until the beginning of August when they release the other room blocks to book your room
3. Book an upgraded room now, and then downgrade to a standard room in August when the other rooms are released.
We have the sales guy working with us to see if he can release any other rooms from the other blocks, but he's apprehensive to do so with the events so far away at this point. We will keep working with him and I will try to keep you posted to make sure that we can get other rooms released.
Sorry for any hassle that this has caused, but I'm really glad that people are so excited and are booking their rooms already! I promise to keep you all posted! Please get a hold of either Allen or myself if you have any questions!
February 17, 2011
Adventures in Save the Dates
Last weekend, Allen and I were able to finally finish our first crafty wedding project. Success! While it was definitely nice to see it all come together, there were definitely a few bumps in the road. Since I am not even close to an expert when it comes to all things print and crafty, I am happy to share my mishaps with all of you to avoid in the future.
First - the design. As always, never an easy process for me. I started out sketching, mostly trying to work on the "logo" for our wedding. I wanted to have an image that we could carry through all of the pieces of our wedding (with some variations), and finally came up with something that was both typographically and aesthetically pleasing (to me), with about 4 different designs and layouts. Then, I started working with photos that I thought represented the Traverse City area a bit - I wanted people to look at the save the dates and get excited about the possibility of going up north for the wedding. The final product turned out like this:
My mom had seen the photo on one of the sites I had looked at (I used istockphoto.com for this particular photo) and was immediately on board. Once I showed it to Allen, he was in love and instantly wanted a glass of wine. Success! I decided on the square format based on some free leftover envelopes I had from a job at work, and definitely couldn't throw those babies away! They were a clear vellum so the recipient could see the image through the envelope. Love.
However, the full layout of the card was actually on a 5 x 7" card. I did this because I used a site called Vista Print to print the cards. They're one of my favorite sites to use, especially for down and dirty printing - even though their options for specs can be a bit limiting, the printing always turns out really nicely. So when we got them, they looked like this:
First - the design. As always, never an easy process for me. I started out sketching, mostly trying to work on the "logo" for our wedding. I wanted to have an image that we could carry through all of the pieces of our wedding (with some variations), and finally came up with something that was both typographically and aesthetically pleasing (to me), with about 4 different designs and layouts. Then, I started working with photos that I thought represented the Traverse City area a bit - I wanted people to look at the save the dates and get excited about the possibility of going up north for the wedding. The final product turned out like this:
(Under the 9.10.11 it says "traverse city, mi" and on the back is the hotel and website information)
My mom had seen the photo on one of the sites I had looked at (I used istockphoto.com for this particular photo) and was immediately on board. Once I showed it to Allen, he was in love and instantly wanted a glass of wine. Success! I decided on the square format based on some free leftover envelopes I had from a job at work, and definitely couldn't throw those babies away! They were a clear vellum so the recipient could see the image through the envelope. Love.
However, the full layout of the card was actually on a 5 x 7" card. I did this because I used a site called Vista Print to print the cards. They're one of my favorite sites to use, especially for down and dirty printing - even though their options for specs can be a bit limiting, the printing always turns out really nicely. So when we got them, they looked like this:
(We need a new camera - sorry for the blurriness)
This meant that Allen quickly became my go-to cutter buddy, and he used my paper cutter to cut them down to size. I had this from previous art projects in school, but you can get them for super cheap at Michael's, and they come with different cutters so you can perf, score, etc.
The next step was inserting into the envelopes (an easy while-watching-Jeopardy activity), and then we affixed the return address labels. I purchased a return address stamp from Paper Source to save on cramping and cheesy return labels. I figured that since we'll be sending out a lot of wedding-related mail in the near future it would be worth it. Top that off with a handy $10-off promotion, and I grabbed this guy for $25 worth of hand cramp savers:
You can change out ink colors, and if we ever move, we can replace the plate with a new address
Then we stamped our return address onto some round sticker labels to use as our sealers (saving precious taste buds and preventing tongue paper cuts - always a plus):
Ta da! Love those envelopes.
The final step was addressing these suckers. This is where we had some problems. Again, I used my trusty Paper Source to find some fancy address labels, and ended up finding vellum labels that would allow for the wine image to be seen through the envelope without a chunky label covering everything up. Amazing! This would have all been great, except that the template that I downloaded from PS was incorrect. Twice. I set up my template in InDesign to allow for use of a scripty font that I had used on the invites. Due to the vellum, it was difficult to see on the actual label sheets where the die cut of the label fell. So it wasn't until we were pulling the labels off to affix to the invites that we actually realized that half the labels on each sheet printed off-center or completely off the label.
Epic fail. This would be where I would show you a picture of this monstrosity, but we were so frustrated in trying to re-work them that I never got around to it. After trying to re-layout the labels for the cut off addresses, and after going through way more labels than we had intended, we ended up getting the save the dates out in two batches - first were the ones that were at least still mailable (even if they were off-center), and the second drop was of all the people from the first batch that their labels didn't really meet my standards. The second batch went out about a week later after procuring more labels. So, if you got your save the date late, that's why! And even the second batch still didn't turn out 100% the way I would have preferred. But, it's done, and lesson learned - measure the template yourself, and get labels with a clear die cut so you can see mistakes right away. Done and done for next time. At least it wasn't for the invitations.
Overall, despite some serious address label frustrations, I am really, really happy with how they turned out. I think they portray the overall tone of the wedding with the bay and the wine (naturally), and I'm proud of the work we put into them together. Hopefully everyone else enjoys them as much as I do!
February 2, 2011
It's been a busy, busy week!
In the midst of getting over a foot of snow this week, there has been lots and lots of excitement around here!
Exciting event #1: Mel and Scott are engaged!!
Scott was kind enough to include all of us in his big moment by having us appear at the Ren Cen downtown right after he popped the question. While I didn't get their first grand entrance on video, I did manage to score the slow clapped entrance when they came downstairs to meet us:
It was all very exciting. And then things got even MORE exciting when I got a phone call Sunday morning saying....
Exciting event #2: Jill and Michael are engaged!!
As if one amazing engagement wasn't enough, now my best friend in the world calls me and tells me that she is now engaged to the love of her life (who, just happens to be another one of my most favorite people in the world...and Allen's too. There's a bromance involved).
Exciting event #1: Mel and Scott are engaged!!
Scott was kind enough to include all of us in his big moment by having us appear at the Ren Cen downtown right after he popped the question. While I didn't get their first grand entrance on video, I did manage to score the slow clapped entrance when they came downstairs to meet us:
(Video all thanks to my amazing sister - she got us a Flip video camera for Christmas!)
It was all very exciting. And then things got even MORE exciting when I got a phone call Sunday morning saying....
Exciting event #2: Jill and Michael are engaged!!
As if one amazing engagement wasn't enough, now my best friend in the world calls me and tells me that she is now engaged to the love of her life (who, just happens to be another one of my most favorite people in the world...and Allen's too. There's a bromance involved).
Awwwww, love :)
So it's been a crazy, amazing, really exciting time with everyone! I couldn't be happier for my friends, and it's been fun to be part of all of it. Plus, now I have fellow crafters to help me with my wedding stuff (and I will totally return the favor for you guys too - this crafting bug won't be going away quickly!).
Speaking of the crafting bug...a little sneak peak of our save the dates:
More to come on those once people start receiving them. Needless to say, Allen and I have been extremely productive on this crazy snowed in day of ours.
January 21, 2011
Checking off the To-Do's
My my my, it has been a while.
But can I just tell you - we have been so, SO productive!! Through the holidays, the time off of school (which I'm now back into), and everything in between. Productive, productive, productive.
A few highlights of items checked off the to-do lists:
But can I just tell you - we have been so, SO productive!! Through the holidays, the time off of school (which I'm now back into), and everything in between. Productive, productive, productive.
A few highlights of items checked off the to-do lists:
- Bridesmaid Dresses - check! Since we have such big bridal parties, I'm letting my lovely ladies pick their own style of dress. They'll all be from the same manufacturer, the same length, and the same color, but the style is all completely their own. I want my ladies not only to be comfortable in their dresses, but if they feel comfortable they will look even more fabulous than they already are. Plus, I love how everyone is going to look unique. Woo!
- Groomsmen Tuxes - check! We were able to get our account set up with Men's Wearhouse, and all of the men will be looking dapper in their tuxes. The guys have it so easy - they just get measured and it's done.
- MY Dress - check! Yep, you heard right. I have a dress. But that's all you're going to hear about it ;)
- Wedding website - check! I was finally able to take some time and update our wedding website with all of the event, travel, and accommodation information for our guests. Hopefully it's helpful for people, but I definitely enjoyed putting it together. Check it out at: www.allenandkaitlyn.com.
- Registry - check! Well, at least one part of it. We did a partial registry at Bed Bath & Beyond, but will also be hitting up Crate & Barrel in February and possibly Macy's if necessary. At first I wasn't sure how much Allen was going to enjoy registering, but once he got that scanner gun in his hand I think he felt a new sense of power. I think we both got a little scanner-happy at some points (everyone needs a wine refrigerator, right?) so we may be doing some editing once we get our other registries taken care of.
- Wedding bands - check! A super easy night out resulted in us walking out of the mall in under 45 minutes with our wedding bands. I think we both just went in with clear ideas of what we wanted, and it was just quick as can be. We have them at the house, and it's fun for me to just take a quick peak at them whenever :) So fun.
- Honeymoon flights - check! We were able to secure our vacation time for the year, and are now booked for our TWO WEEK honeymoon! We'll be flying into Barcelona, spending a few days there, then fly into Rome, spend a few days there, and then spend the second week touring around Italy. I don't remember ever taking a full two week vacation (at least not since I was much younger), so I am really excited for our adventure!
- Save the Dates - almost check! I've been working on our save the dates for a while now, and after many, many, many drafts, revisions, theme and color changes, format changes, etc. I think we finally got our favorite nailed down. I really, really love them. I'll be sure to post more up once they finally go out, but I'll be releasing the art to the printer this weekend and putting them together in the coming weeks. But MAN! If I was this indecisive and nit-picky over our save the dates, I can't even imagine how I'm going to be on our invites.
It's been really great and a huge relief getting a lot of these items taken care of. I'm so excited to keep getting things checked off!
November 15, 2010
A Very Happy Birthday
Wishing a happy, happy birthday to the love of my life today!
We celebrated this weekend by going up to Traverse City, and then playing hookie from work today and relaxing around the house. While we did manage to get quite a bit of wedding planning done up in Traverse City (secured our DJ, taste testing for caterer, meeting with the priest, putting in a bunch of deposits), we definitely managed to balance work with play. We hit up one of our new favorite restaurants up there - Red Ginger. And when I say that it was the best sushi I think I've ever had, that is quite an understatement. We were ready to lick our plates! I can't wait to go back again :)
It was a very productive and fun weekend for both of us. It definitely solidified why we're having our wedding up there - the entire Traverse City area is so fantastic, clean, filled with happy and kind people, and a ton of amazing food and wine! I am so excited for even more trips up there, but more importantly, I can't wait to marry this guy :) Happy birthday baby!
We celebrated this weekend by going up to Traverse City, and then playing hookie from work today and relaxing around the house. While we did manage to get quite a bit of wedding planning done up in Traverse City (secured our DJ, taste testing for caterer, meeting with the priest, putting in a bunch of deposits), we definitely managed to balance work with play. We hit up one of our new favorite restaurants up there - Red Ginger. And when I say that it was the best sushi I think I've ever had, that is quite an understatement. We were ready to lick our plates! I can't wait to go back again :)
It was a very productive and fun weekend for both of us. It definitely solidified why we're having our wedding up there - the entire Traverse City area is so fantastic, clean, filled with happy and kind people, and a ton of amazing food and wine! I am so excited for even more trips up there, but more importantly, I can't wait to marry this guy :) Happy birthday baby!
August 3, 2010
Introducing Urban Blue
Alright everyone, I'd like to introduce you to our wedding reception site, affectionately called "Urban Blue":
Now it doesn't look like much now, but believe me, it's going to be fabulous. Picture in your mind a crisp white tent spanning the lawn you see above, with tables overlooking the sunset over Grand Traverse Bay (if you're going off of this picture, the beach would be all the way down at the bottom past the picture). Isn't it awesome?! Eeeeeeee! This whole space is like a blank canvas just waiting for us, I am so excited!
There are a ton of perks and great things about this location. One thing I love is the small cottage that you see at the top of the picture. It will be rented to us for the week prior to the wedding, perfect for our early arrival for preparations (but sorry, not open to everyone else!).
And this is probably the best perk ever: Guests can walk (or stumble, if you prefer) out to the beach, walk down the beach to their left, and about a half block later, they arrive at one of the hotels we'll be reserving rooms at! We'll be offering up other hotels to people as well of course, but how could you not take advantage of that?!
So many great were accomplished this weekend - meeting with our tent and equipment rental company, meeting with photographers (nothing decided officially on that yet), meetings at the church, and meetings with hotels in the area. Let the planning begin!
Photo courtesy of Orchestrated Grace
Now it doesn't look like much now, but believe me, it's going to be fabulous. Picture in your mind a crisp white tent spanning the lawn you see above, with tables overlooking the sunset over Grand Traverse Bay (if you're going off of this picture, the beach would be all the way down at the bottom past the picture). Isn't it awesome?! Eeeeeeee! This whole space is like a blank canvas just waiting for us, I am so excited!
There are a ton of perks and great things about this location. One thing I love is the small cottage that you see at the top of the picture. It will be rented to us for the week prior to the wedding, perfect for our early arrival for preparations (but sorry, not open to everyone else!).
And this is probably the best perk ever: Guests can walk (or stumble, if you prefer) out to the beach, walk down the beach to their left, and about a half block later, they arrive at one of the hotels we'll be reserving rooms at! We'll be offering up other hotels to people as well of course, but how could you not take advantage of that?!
So many great were accomplished this weekend - meeting with our tent and equipment rental company, meeting with photographers (nothing decided officially on that yet), meetings at the church, and meetings with hotels in the area. Let the planning begin!
July 27, 2010
THE update
Alright guys, the blog post you have all been waiting for.
We have a venue.
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!
Ok, WOO again! So much to update on! After much, much, MUCH searching, and then re-searching, and then going back to our original thoughts, and then wiping all of those clean and making a fresh start of it, we have a venue. This was, by far, the most painful part (so far) in the wedding planning process for us, but I can honestly say that we are so happy with the decision we've made, and it's going to be a blast for everyone.
My dad said one thing to me during this whole process that really stuck with me: "You know, you're having all of these people come up north for your wedding - don't you want them to feel like they're up north? Or feel like they're on vacation?"
Where is the venue, you ask? Well, it's still in Traverse City (downtown, actually). It's a private property that sits right on Grand Traverse Bay with about 200 ft of waterfront. Yes, we're rocking the outdoor reception. Yes, that's scary, but I love it. There is no other way to bring everyone up north and make them feel like they're up north without actually feeling all of that - being outdoors, being on the water, hanging out with the people you love, watching the sunset, and then partying the rest of the night away :)
Also with this venue officially solidifies our date. It was actually already solidified with the church, but now that the venue is booked, it's official official. And that date is...
September 10, 2011
Mark your calendars, it's going to be legen...wait for it...dary.
Do you know what this means?! This means that the date is settled, we have a venue, we have a caterer, we have a bar, we have a church, and now we can start booking all of the really super fun stuff like photographers and DJs, we can start talking flowers, do invites, everything else that we've been looking forward to! How awesome is that?! That's what this weekend will be dedicated to - we're heading up north with Allen's parents to get as much of that done as possible. Also, I will take more pictures of the reception site. I can't wait for you all to see it :)
I feel like we're finally making progress on all of this now. We're checking things off the master list (and trust me, it's a long one). Finally we get to breathe a sigh of relief, and all of the really super fun stuff can start coming together. I can't wait to share the rest of our progress with all of you!!
July 19, 2010
Flowers by Gabrielle
As many of you may or may not know, my Aunt Carolyn co-owns a flower shop in Grosse Pointe called Flowers by Gabrielle (Gabby is the other co-owner) and I used to work with them quite a bit back in my college days. They do all kinds of events all over the area, including weddings, Stanley Cup parties (no joke), parties gallore - including kid's birthday parties, and all kinds of other stuff too. I am lucky enough to say that they will also be doing the flowers for Allen's and my wedding on top of all that!
Well, this past weekend, they had a monster of a wedding that they did the flowers for. They just posted the pictures up, and ohmygosh did my jaw hit the floor when I saw the photos. Stunning. Seriously. Here are a few of my favorites (all photos courtesy of Flowers by Gabrielle's Facebook page)
Well, this past weekend, they had a monster of a wedding that they did the flowers for. They just posted the pictures up, and ohmygosh did my jaw hit the floor when I saw the photos. Stunning. Seriously. Here are a few of my favorites (all photos courtesy of Flowers by Gabrielle's Facebook page)
Bridesmaid bouquets - sooo gorgeous! (and huge!)
Tent Entrance
The Head Table - the entire table had mirrors on it so the flowers and candles reflected up (so cool)
Banquet Tables
Closer look at the banquet tables
There are so, so many things that I love about what they did! Of course, when you have the money to do all of this, that makes things easier ;) but I know my aunt and Gabby can make anything look gorgeous because they are so creative and so good at what they do! I know that I am in good hands for sure, and I can't wait to work with them. Love it!
June 24, 2010
Things going on
Why hello, strangers.
I have definitely been MIA lately (my apologies, for those who actually read this thing), but life has been busy busy busy! A few of the highlights:
School: I'll be done with my third semester of school by next Tuesday. YESSSSSSSS! I'm in serious need of a break, and luckily because I busted my butt for the past two months, I'll be rewarded with July and August off of school. I'm really excited, but I know this means I'll be dragging myself back to school in September. Temper tantrums will be involved.
Fun Stuff We've Been Doing: This past weekend was especially fun for me because we got to have our first Top Chef cooking night with Elaine and Paul. We've decided, since we're all fans of the show, that we're each going to take turns cooking fabulous meals, and then we will eat the meal while watching that week's episodes. I kicked off last week by cooking fillets with blue cheese butter on top, tomato and goat cheese tarts, and asparagus. It was straight yummy, don't be too jealous.
Another fun activity this weekend was our pig smoke-out with a bunch of the crew. Here's Jeff with his slab of pig:
Again, yummy. Luckily, there's more pig for us to cook up, so we'll probably have another event soon. Oh, and here are the flip cup champs after their victory on Saturday:
Fun Summer Plans: Allen and I have many fun plans coming up in the next few months, which I am super excited about (as soon as I can get out of school). A few tidbits:
Busy busy busy!
Wedding: So one little step of progress that we have made in our wedding planning is that we already completed our marriage class! Finally, one thing checked off the list. It was done through a local church, and it was actually really well put together, I have to admit. I really didn't know what to expect going in, but the one thing that I appreciated was that the speakers had an understanding of where the couples were today and not 50 years ago. Overall, it wasn't a bad experience, but it was 5 1/2 hours long so we're definitely glad we have that out of the way :)
Ok I promise, soon, eventually, I will have an official "this is what's happening with our wedding" update for everyone. I just don't want to put anything out there until it is signed, sealed, and deposited. We're close. We'rethisclose. Just have to get the paperwork in close. After that, I'll be happy and willing to dish :)
I have definitely been MIA lately (my apologies, for those who actually read this thing), but life has been busy busy busy! A few of the highlights:
School: I'll be done with my third semester of school by next Tuesday. YESSSSSSSS! I'm in serious need of a break, and luckily because I busted my butt for the past two months, I'll be rewarded with July and August off of school. I'm really excited, but I know this means I'll be dragging myself back to school in September. Temper tantrums will be involved.
Fun Stuff We've Been Doing: This past weekend was especially fun for me because we got to have our first Top Chef cooking night with Elaine and Paul. We've decided, since we're all fans of the show, that we're each going to take turns cooking fabulous meals, and then we will eat the meal while watching that week's episodes. I kicked off last week by cooking fillets with blue cheese butter on top, tomato and goat cheese tarts, and asparagus. It was straight yummy, don't be too jealous.
Another fun activity this weekend was our pig smoke-out with a bunch of the crew. Here's Jeff with his slab of pig:
Again, yummy. Luckily, there's more pig for us to cook up, so we'll probably have another event soon. Oh, and here are the flip cup champs after their victory on Saturday:
so gangsta
Fun Summer Plans: Allen and I have many fun plans coming up in the next few months, which I am super excited about (as soon as I can get out of school). A few tidbits:
- Over the 4th we're going to head to St. Joseph's with a few of our friends that we rented a cottage with
- Trips planned for Traverse City, Chicago, and Vegas
- We have our 3-Day walk coming up in August (yikes!), with plenty of training and a fundraising event splashed in there as well
- Finally, my old next door neighbor and sudo little brother is getting married (yaaaay!) and so my family and I - sister included, yay! - will be up in Grand Rapids celebrating that craziness in August
Busy busy busy!
Wedding: So one little step of progress that we have made in our wedding planning is that we already completed our marriage class! Finally, one thing checked off the list. It was done through a local church, and it was actually really well put together, I have to admit. I really didn't know what to expect going in, but the one thing that I appreciated was that the speakers had an understanding of where the couples were today and not 50 years ago. Overall, it wasn't a bad experience, but it was 5 1/2 hours long so we're definitely glad we have that out of the way :)
Ok I promise, soon, eventually, I will have an official "this is what's happening with our wedding" update for everyone. I just don't want to put anything out there until it is signed, sealed, and deposited. We're close. We'rethisclose. Just have to get the paperwork in close. After that, I'll be happy and willing to dish :)
March 26, 2010
Momental Designs
Happy Friday! (oh, and GO STATE!) :)
So in my search for inspiration lately, I came across a website that I absolutely, 100%, head-over-heals fell in love with: Momental Designs. The invitiations that these ladies come up with are so unique, fresh, completely girly, and just absolutely stunning! I am constantly going through their catalog online and patiently waiting every day for another blog post to come through to see what else they've been working on. Their unique style of hand-painted invitations combined with different printing processes (including letterpess!) are just incredible! I love, love, love them. Ok enough of that, here are a couple of my favs:
I think this last one has to be one of my favs. As much as I love the letterpress save the date (the middle one), I really love the hand painted flowers in this one. How gorgeous, right?! Love. Please, please check out their blog, Rice Ink, to check out more.
So in my search for inspiration lately, I came across a website that I absolutely, 100%, head-over-heals fell in love with: Momental Designs. The invitiations that these ladies come up with are so unique, fresh, completely girly, and just absolutely stunning! I am constantly going through their catalog online and patiently waiting every day for another blog post to come through to see what else they've been working on. Their unique style of hand-painted invitations combined with different printing processes (including letterpess!) are just incredible! I love, love, love them. Ok enough of that, here are a couple of my favs:
I think this last one has to be one of my favs. As much as I love the letterpress save the date (the middle one), I really love the hand painted flowers in this one. How gorgeous, right?! Love. Please, please check out their blog, Rice Ink, to check out more.
February 23, 2010
The One That Got Away
So our trip up to TC this weekend proved to be not as productive as I would have really hoped for. We went to a lot of appointments and met with a lot of people who had a lot of things to say, and came up with this conclusion:
We got nothin'.
We saw the only 3 venues in TC that can hold all of the guests we're inviting, and the one venue that had been the forerunner for me this whole time is really not our best option. The other two are...well, "eh" puts it lightly for me. The one I liked the best, the Traverse City Opera House, is the one that I am now going to refer to as "The One That Got Away."
There are a lot of reasons behind this. First and foremost, it's expensive. Secondly, we didn't really get the greatest customer service from the people/vendors that we would have to use to go there, and that is just the makings of a impending bad experience in my opinion. Yes, it's gorgeous, and yes, it would be fabulous, but I (and the rest of my family and Allen) am big on the customer service aspect. If you don't feel like the venue is going to do everything humanly possible to make your day extraordinary, time to go elsewhere.
So we're kind of starting from scratch now. I'm still hooked on Traverse City, but we have to look at other options that might be hiding around us. I'm trying not to get discouraged on any of this, but I have to admit it's pretty frustrating when you have your heart set in one place, and then realize that it really just isn't the best thing for you. So we move on, hopefully with more stellar results.
We got nothin'.
We saw the only 3 venues in TC that can hold all of the guests we're inviting, and the one venue that had been the forerunner for me this whole time is really not our best option. The other two are...well, "eh" puts it lightly for me. The one I liked the best, the Traverse City Opera House, is the one that I am now going to refer to as "The One That Got Away."
bye bye Opera House :(
There are a lot of reasons behind this. First and foremost, it's expensive. Secondly, we didn't really get the greatest customer service from the people/vendors that we would have to use to go there, and that is just the makings of a impending bad experience in my opinion. Yes, it's gorgeous, and yes, it would be fabulous, but I (and the rest of my family and Allen) am big on the customer service aspect. If you don't feel like the venue is going to do everything humanly possible to make your day extraordinary, time to go elsewhere.
So we're kind of starting from scratch now. I'm still hooked on Traverse City, but we have to look at other options that might be hiding around us. I'm trying not to get discouraged on any of this, but I have to admit it's pretty frustrating when you have your heart set in one place, and then realize that it really just isn't the best thing for you. So we move on, hopefully with more stellar results.
February 15, 2010
Save the Dates
So, I may have spoken too soon in my post last week that I'm lacking wedding "style." All of a sudden, out of no where, all kinds of wedding fabulousness is smacking me in the face. I'll continue to post a lot of it up here as part of my own categorization method, but I've decided to also keep a few details to myself so I can make sure there's still surprises for those who actually come to enjoy our day. :)
In the meantime, I wanted to share these adorable letterpress Save the Dates that were posted as part of Clover and Bee's "Inspired Midwest Bride" series. I just love how intricate the design is, while completely taking advantage of the one color letterpress print. The entire Save the Date package that they put together is adorable - a vintage feel, but still crisp and clean, along with the long portrait composition. The calendar at the bottom with the punched out dates is absolutely adorable too! Plus, I love me some letterpress so I can just never get enough. Enjoy!
In the meantime, I wanted to share these adorable letterpress Save the Dates that were posted as part of Clover and Bee's "Inspired Midwest Bride" series. I just love how intricate the design is, while completely taking advantage of the one color letterpress print. The entire Save the Date package that they put together is adorable - a vintage feel, but still crisp and clean, along with the long portrait composition. The calendar at the bottom with the punched out dates is absolutely adorable too! Plus, I love me some letterpress so I can just never get enough. Enjoy!
February 10, 2010
Lack of Style Guide
A lot of people have been asking me lately about the "style" of our wedding - colors, flowers, centerpieces, look and feel, overall atmostphere (do we want it to be vintage? classic? elegant? contemporary? modern?). Do I have inspiration boards made up? No. Should I? Maybe?
The answer is this: I have no clue.
I can tell you what I think our colors are going to be, and what I think I like for certain elements (flowers and the like), and I can tell you that narrowing down all the beautiful options I've seen on every other wedding blog is incredibly overwhelming, but other than that I'm a little bit lost right now. There are so many options!!!! It's so hard to pin point - especially when we barely have our venue determined at this point. (Sidenote: We should hopefully have that determined after next weekend, when Allen, my parents and I all go up north to finally pick where the reception will be - yay! More on that later hopefully). I have a feeling that the venue will really drive a lot of what our overall style is going to look like.
But the other issue is that I would like for things to be uniquely us, but it seems that everything that is "uniquely us" in the random sporadic ideas that I have tend to not be that original. As soon as I find something I really like and think is cool and different, I read a blog about someone who has done that already. In all honesty, I think we're all just copycats at some point or another, but it would be nice to have a piece of the wedding that just belongs to us and no one else. I hope in the next year or so we'll figure out what that one thing is.
Speaking of blogs, one of my favorites (Clover & Bee) had a quote from one of their featured brides in their Real Wedding section that really hit home for me:
The answer is this: I have no clue.
I can tell you what I think our colors are going to be, and what I think I like for certain elements (flowers and the like), and I can tell you that narrowing down all the beautiful options I've seen on every other wedding blog is incredibly overwhelming, but other than that I'm a little bit lost right now. There are so many options!!!! It's so hard to pin point - especially when we barely have our venue determined at this point. (Sidenote: We should hopefully have that determined after next weekend, when Allen, my parents and I all go up north to finally pick where the reception will be - yay! More on that later hopefully). I have a feeling that the venue will really drive a lot of what our overall style is going to look like.
But the other issue is that I would like for things to be uniquely us, but it seems that everything that is "uniquely us" in the random sporadic ideas that I have tend to not be that original. As soon as I find something I really like and think is cool and different, I read a blog about someone who has done that already. In all honesty, I think we're all just copycats at some point or another, but it would be nice to have a piece of the wedding that just belongs to us and no one else. I hope in the next year or so we'll figure out what that one thing is.
Speaking of blogs, one of my favorites (Clover & Bee) had a quote from one of their featured brides in their Real Wedding section that really hit home for me:
“The truth is, we’re not people who often consider our style. Our most consistent style is probably cute and nerdy, with aspirations to being elegant and sophisticated. (We’re perfectly happy with the former, and occasionally achieve the latter.) That said, we did want this once-in-a-lifetime event to include certain elements—lots of natural light, elements of both the outdoors and the city, and the beautiful jewel tones found abundantly in our culture. Most of all, we wanted our wedding to look and feel unique, rather than just being another event in a rectangular box in a hotel that could be located anywhere.”
January 29, 2010
Winter Wedding Inspirations
January 21, 2010
Adorable flowers
Just a quickie for an adorable little flower arrangement I saw on Clover & Bee:
I absolutely love the urns with the roses and how they compliment the tables. As much as I love tall centerpieces, I don't love when I can't see across the table at the people I'm sitting with. I think these are the perfect compliment for classy, a little vintage, yet absolutely gorgeous. I would probably look for something similar to this, but maybe have a grouping of them with different urns and/or different flowers in multiples on tables. That would also depend on how our tables are set up, but at a minimum I think these would look great at a head table or something.
Love, love, LOVE! The whole wedding that these were featured from can be found here, and the photos of the event are awesome. A little too vintage for my style, but still adorable all the way :)
Love, love, LOVE! The whole wedding that these were featured from can be found here, and the photos of the event are awesome. A little too vintage for my style, but still adorable all the way :)
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