Dressing Up the Boys

I'm totally tuxedo-challenged. We went to men's wearhouse, and it wasn't that hard once we figured out a few things. We didn't want tails - it's a daytime wedding - so then the biggest thing was to choose between one-button, two-button, and three-button. The main difference is how much of the vest will be showing (if you're going with vests). We ended up going with the two button style (I think) and then just picked what kind of lapel we wanted. They'll have pictures of the two types (notch or shawl) Notch lapels look more like suits - that's the one we chose.
I would suggest you bring swatches of your bridesmaids dress if you have them. . . it makes it a lot easier to pick out colors for the groomsmen's ties and vests. They have swatches of those for you to look at, and if you don't have the bridesmaids dresses picked out already, I believe you can make changes until just a few weeks before the wedding.
Then they'll have you pick out pocket squares, cufflinks, shoes, shirts, etc. but it's not as hard as it seems once you get in there and see the options.
We had to put down a $40 deposit (which will be applied to the cost of FI's tux) for the wedding party. They "opened a ticket" on our wedding party with everyone's names, the style tux each guy would be wearing, color of vest & tie, cufflinks, shoes, everything.
If you sign up for their email list, you get $20 off the price of your tux rental & a coupon for $25 off your next purchase. We used the coupon that day to buy the pocket squares for each of the groomsmen & Jakob.
Mens Wearhouse also has a program where if you rent four tuxes, the groom's is free. We opted to give our free rental to our ringbearer for a couple of reasons. . . I think it's outrageous that a tux for a 2 1/2 year old is the same price as one for a grown man. Also, his mom is one of my bridesmaids, so it cuts her some slack since she's already paying for a dress.

Casper Goes to Hawaii?

Jakob works for a major airline that recognizes your "registered domestic partner" (or RDP) and extends flight benefits to this person. In our case, I get to fly (nearly) for free. If we were a same sex couple, not only would I get flight benefits, I'd also be eligible for his health benefits.
Another major perk is the occasional deals employees get offered. Take this for a great example. . . yesterday, Jakob came home with an memo offering all employees of said airline access to the company's vacation packages at a wholesale rate. If we choose to take advantage of it, we will save over $3500 on the package. Wanna hear the details? It's six days, five nights in Cancun, Mexico. We would have a year to use our package. Included in package is: all meals & drinks included 24 hours a day, free oceanfront resort upgrade, and unlimited non-motor watersports. Did I mention it would only cost us $148 per person (and if we were bringing kids, they'd stay & eat for FREE) ???
Yeah, it's a great deal, and would totally solve our dilemma of where to go on our honeymoon (and more importantly, how to afford it). Jakob's grandmother had a condo in Cancun, so his family has been down there several times. I've never been out of the country - even to Mexico.
So what do you think? Should we spend our honeymoon sipping margaritas and trying to get some color to my "friendly ghost" legs? Or should we wait til we can afford a really kick-a$$ honeymoon to somewhere like Fiji or Thailand? Or should we do both since the Cancun trip is so freaking cheap?

DIY Invitations

We finally settled on an invitation suite. I told you about the ones I loved but couldn't justify the price. I thought about designing them from scratch, actually was pretty set on that. But in the end, we decided to buy invitation kits from Michaels. Yeah, that's right. . . the arts & crafts place. They're not really what I had in mind from the start, but I like them - a lot. They're simple & elegant and, let's face it - at the end of their journey from box to printer to envelope to guest, they'll probably be tossed in the trash. (Shh, don't tell them that!)
"So what do they look like?"
This:

I didn't bother blurring out names or any other information since this is just a photo of the example invite that comes with the kit.
Of course, they come completely disassembled. I'll post step-by-step instructions as we assemble them along with tips on how you can customize or create a similar design from scratch.

To Bee or Not to Bee

I said I was going to take the weekend to decide whether or not I will apply to be a Bee on Weddingbee again, but I've made up my mind. I will not apply again. The more I think about it, the more I realize my beliefs and my friendships are more important than my wish to become a bee. I was going to call and ask my Carey (yeah, I call him "my Carey" - it's a long story) how he felt about it, since he's probably the most outspoken of my friends on the issue of legalizing gay marriage. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized I couldn't put him in that position. "Hey, there's this thing that I really really want to do, but it will make money for a company that isn't very gay friendly - is it okay with you if I do it anyway?"
I mean, really. . . how selfish would that be? And how would he answer? "No, I'm really not okay with that." That answer may cause some uncomfortable moments. "Yeah, cool... go for it." But I'd always wonder if he was just saying that because he wanted me to be happy. Typically, Carey's a brutally honest person, but there'd always be this nagging voice in my head telling me I really hurt his feelings and he's just too good a friend to say anything.

Edit 10/15/08
The real test was this: I decided after posting this entry that I would blog as if I were reapplying for weddingbee for a couple of weeks. That was 11 days ago, and I wrote exactly ONE entry - I had to really make myself write that one. So I know I made the right decision. . . I'll blog because I want to and I'll feel good about it because I'm not making money for anyone whose business practices appall me.

Second Guessing

"I'll take that one. . . . no, no wait - that one. Maybe this one is better. What do you think?"

Lately, I've been second guessing every decision I've made in my wedding planning process. I told you about my wedding dress and how much I love, love, love it. For the past two weeks, I've been rethinking everything from the length of my wedding dress to the color palette. I've been driving myself crazy over whether the color & style of the bridesmaids dresses will look good on all three of them. I worried about the invitations, worrying about the seating charts, even wondering if we should have looked at more venues before deciding on one.

What about you? Are you as indecisive as I am?

Mrs. Bee's Big News

Yesterday, Mrs. Bee of WeddingBee made a big announcement: She has sold Weddingbee to eHarmony. This sale will make her life a lot less hectic and allow her to concentrate on the fun part of Weddingbee. She still retains full editorial control. While eHarmony "owns" the site, at this point it appears nothing will change as far as the content, selection process or diversity of brides (and grooms like Mr. Mango). Sadly, some of the Bees will be leaving the site due to their concerns about the partnership between WeddingBee and eHarmony. Mrs. Gingerbread, one of Weddingbee's bloggers, says it much more eloquently that I could, so it is, in her words:

I am concerned with eHarmony’s heavy involvement from 2000-2005 with Focus on the Family, an organization that promotes unscientific conversion therapies of LGBTQ people and homosexuality as a mental illness. I know that as both a member of the LGBTQ community and as a psychologist, that this rhetoric and these practices have and continue to cause a lot of harm to LGBTQ people. I am not sure that I can be involved with a company that in any way is associated with an organization that promotes this type of practice. Eharmony has distanced themselves from Focus on the Family for the past few years, but I worry that this is more of a business decision rather than an actual change of heart. I believe that their current company practices support my concerns.

The other reason for concern among many Bees is eHarmony's policy against same-sex matching. My previous post There's Nothing Wrong With Adam & Steve makes my views on same-sex marriage pretty obvious. To read views from Mrs. Bee, Mrs. Creampuff, Miss Sweet Tea, and a response from Stan Holt, VP of Publishing at eHarmony, check out this post on Weddingbee.
Someone from the audience says, "And how do you feel about this, Loralie?"
Well, that's a valid question, and I don't have an answer for it. I'm still very up in the air about the whole thing, and I have questions. . . like "Will eHarmony make money from my visiting the Weddingbee site?" and "If so, can I break myself of the addiction of visiting several times per day?"
About a month ago, I applied to be a blogger for Weddingbee. I wasn't chosen, but no hard feelings. The night I received the decision from the panel, I decided then and there I would apply again after the four week mandatory waiting period (much longer than that three day wait to buy a gun). So my four weeks are up but I'm going to keep my application to myself for a few more days so I can get some answers to my questions and make the best informed decision possible.

There's nothing wrong with Adam & Steve

Although it's pretty obvious this issue doesn't affect me in the most direct & personal way, the legalization of gay marriage is one very near & dear to my heart. Jakob and I both have quite a few friends who are LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer -or Questioning). I've seen real relationships between same sex partners, and I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that their love is as real as mine is for Jakob. So why do I get to marry the person I love when they're not allowed to do the same?

A very good friend of mine who lives in Florida recently told me about an amendment on the ballot November 4th called amendment 2. Basically the passing of this amendment would forever close the door to the legalization of gay marriage in that state. It makes me feel kinda dumb to admit this, but I just don't get it. I don't get why some people are so adamant about not allowing LGBTQ people to marry.

If you really want to protect the "sanctity of marriage", make divorce illegal. In my eyes, divorce is much more an affront to its sanctity than allowing Barry* & Bill* to tie the knot.

We don't choose who we fall in love with. . . if we did, you'd never hear about the high society heiress engaged to the plumber's assistant or a powerful attorney falling for the waitress at the local diner. I think we can all agree on this - so it's not that big a leap in reasoning to say my friend Tess* didn't choose to fall in love with Layla* - she just did. And there's nothing wrong with that. They make each other happy - in their hearts, they are married and they plan to have children at some point in the future. I've seen them together many times, and every single time, I see how much they love one another and how happy they are. I wish I knew more heterosexual couples who were that in love - I think the world would be a happier place.

I read the website of a group supporting the passage of Amendment 2, and while it made me angry, it also made me sad. It made me sad because I think it must be very dark inside such a closed mind. On their FAQ page, I read this:

Are you saying gays cannot be good parents?

Two men might each be a good father, but neither can be a mother. The ideal for children is the love and nurturing of both a mom and a dad. No same-sex couple can provide that. So the question becomes, which parent is not important for a child, a mom or a dad?

It is obvious to me that the person who wrote this does not have any personal experience with gay parents. And is there really a difference between a mother's love and a father's love for their child? Sometimes the father is the disciplinarian, sometimes it's the mother. Sometimes mom is the softie, sometimes it's dad. A good parent loves their children - period. Genitalia doesn't affect this fact.

According to this line of reasoning, a child who has a parent who dies cannot and will not receive the love and nurturing he/she needs & deserves. Perhaps we should pass a law requiring the widowed parent to remarry within a few months or assign the family a "replacement" parent of the appropriate (ie opposite) sex.

Someone from the audience says, "Oh, come on...... that's crazy!"

Yeah, it is crazy. What an insane idea. . . . and that's why, if you live in Florida, I encourage you to vote NO on Amendment 2

*Names have been changed to protect the privacy of those I love*

Real STDs

A few weeks ago, I talked about Save the Date magnets. Since some of our guests are aware of my blog, I didn't reveal what ours specifically looked like. Now that they've been delivered, I can share with you without spoiling the surprise. This is a copy of the proof we received via email. Initially, we didn't order a proof (yes, it was risky, but we proofread and proofread and proofread again before submitting our order). Because of the size of the artwork, they had to rearrange the line breaks, and sent us a proof -free of charge- before printing them. So, without further ado, our STD:

At first, Jakob was dead set against sending out Save the Dates - he saw it as an unnecessary expense. You can imagine my surprise when I came home from work one day and he called me over to look at "what he'd found". Apparently, he had done some research into why STDs are typically sent out, and once he discovered the benefits for people planning a destination wedding, he was sold. Although technically it won't be a DW for us, it is for 95% of our guests, who will be flying in from Louisiana.
So after deciding STDs were a good idea, he used my good friend Google to find some options. His favorite was Favors You Keep, home of all the cute cartoon magnets options I showed you before. To encourage his participation in the process, he got to pick out the design while we decided on the colors together. His input is very important to me - I fully intend on using an extra hand for writing thank you notes later! I fear I may have created a monster since now, he has become VERY involved!

E Photos take 2

Since the weather didn't exactly cooperate with us last time we met with our photographer for engagement photos, we met with her again on Wednesday. This time, we met in the morning and were able to get in a solid two hours of time with her. We met at St Catherine's again to take a few more photos since we loved the way the stone church looked. Did I mention we arranged to meet at 8am? Yes sir, that's mighty early. When you factor in our drive time (close to 2 hours), and it was a very long morning for us!

The second time around, both of us were more relaxed in front of the camera. I can't tell you how happy I am that we decided to do a "take two" with Maureen. Not only was the weather beautiful, but we had so much fun! We jumped across creeks (okay, so it was more of a ditch) and climbed over barbed wire fences and up rocks. . . did I mention I was wearing a skirt? And yes, it was all in pursuit of a great photo which will be matted and used as a "guest book" at our reception.

Maureen told us at the end of the day that it would take a week or two for her to edit the photos and post them to an online gallery. . . I can't wait!

E Photos

Yesterday, Jakob and I had our engagement photo shoot with Maureen Sullivan of Sullivan Photography. We met in Lyons, and at out first location, an autumn storm moved in, raining us out. We were able to get a few shots in before driving to our second location. Luckily, the weather in Colorado is ever changing - rainstorms blow in quickly, and just as quickly out. Our second location was St Catherine's church near Estes Park. It's this great old stone church with Mt. Meeker in the background. For photos of the church, click here. I'm glad we decided to keep going, since at our third and final location (for the day) we got some great shots with the most incredible rainbow in the background.

Maureen is incredible - she's so full of life and so much fun to be around. She made our engagement shoot a lot of fun, and had some great locations chosen. She even offered to finish the shoot next week since the weather wasn't cooperating for much of it. Naturally, I took her up on her offer, so we have another meeting with her this Wednesday at 8 am. Since we have appointments at 11am and 1pm in Estes, we're meeting Maureen at St. Catherine's and will make a day of it. As soon as we have the photos back, I'll share them with you!

The Opposites Game

We've finally decided on a baker. In my last post, I told you a little about Colorado Rose Cake Company, our vendor of choice. I love that their cakes are four layers of cake with three layers of filling. That definitely makes their cakes stand out among the competition. The best part is we didn't have to make all the decisions about what we wanted for our wedding cake that day. it's a good thing, because I don't think I could have! Going into our meeting, I planned on an ivory cake (to match my dress) with lavender ribbon (to match my bridesmaids' dresses). I pictured something like this:

I also wanted some simple scrollwork just above the ribbon. I was sure I knew exactly what I wanted and there would be no changing my mind.
Then I saw these:
China Lace
I love how the design on this one covers the top of each tier and folds down over the sides. Instead of chocolate icing, we would go with lavender or platinum (ish) icing.
White Mountains
How perfect would this be for our Rocky Mountain wedding? It would definitely be a unique cake.
So you tell me. . . which cake should we go with - the elegant China Lace or the rustic White Mountains?

I heart cake

This morning, through a fortuitous chain of events, Jakob & I were able to schedule a cake tasting. In case you're counting - yes, this is number 4. This one was with Colorado Rose Cake Company in Berthoud, Colorado. If you're planning a wedding in along the front range, this place is definitely worth a visit.

Their cakes consist of four layers of cake with three layers of filling. For information on cake. filling, and icing flavors offered, check out their Information page.

Our tasting this morning included seven yummy options:

(clockwise from top left): Butter Pecan cake with Bavarian Cream filling & buttercream icing, Yellow cake with Apricot Mango filling & whipped icing, Spice cake with Apple filling & buttercream icing, Pumpkin cake with Bavarian Cream filling & buttercream icing, Almond Poppyseed cake with Raspberry filling & buttercream icing, Almond Cherry Cake with Cherry filling & whipped icing, and Chocolate-Chocolate Chip cake with Mocha filling & buttercream icing. We were also able to try their cream cheese mints, which are sold by the pound and are used as favors for your guests.

Normally, Jakob doesn't like anything pecan, so imagine my surprise when he actually liked the butter pecan cake! I'm a typical Southern girl - love my pecans! Not so typical of the South is my love of mango, so of course I was excited about the second cake we tasted, yellow with apricot mango filling. Both of us liked this one too - looks like choosing may be challenging. Jakob adored the spice cake with apple - me, not so much so. Neither of us cared for the pumpkin. The almond cherry with cherry filling - I'll admit I was a little nervous about this one. The last time we tried a cake with cherry filling, we loved it but were afraid it may be too strong a cherry flavor for our guests; and this one was cherry cake AND cherry filling. Luckily it wasn't overwhelmingly cherry-ish! That only left the chocolate-chocolate chip with mocha. Both of us were trying to keep an open mind about the idea of chocolate cake, but I had barely started chewing when I blurted out, "Too much chocolate!" So, once again, chocolate was an easy one to scratch off our list.

Later, I will let you know which cake company we have decided to go with. First, let's talk about how I found the four companies where we scheduled consultations. First, we were given a list of preferred vendors from the Stanley Hotel, way back when we were going to have the wedding there. That's where I got the contact information for Colorado Rose and Kim & Company. Later, I decided I should broaden my search area to find more potential vendors. For that, I turned to my trusty friend Google. (Yes, when a question arises that I cannot answer, my response is almost always, "Let's Google it!") That's where I found Tee & Cakes and Cakes by Karen, both located in Boulder. Cakes by Karen actually has four other locations as well, one of which is in Denver.
Another invaluable resource has been the website for the Estes Park Wedding Association. I consider myself lucky that the town we chose for our wedding has its own wedding association & website with vendor listings. I highly suggest you check for the existence of one in your town. Before you think, "There's no way - my town is too small," let me tell you a little about Estes Park. Nestled in the Rocky Mountains, Estes Park has an area of just 5.9 square miles and its population in 2000 was just over 5,000 people. Granted, there are a lot of wedding there due to the beauty of the scenery and the ambiance of the town. But if there's one thing I've learned on this crazy roller coaster called wedding planning, it's that it never hurts to ask!

Previous cake posts:
C is for Cake (Cakes by Karen, Boulder/Denver)
Virgin Wedding (Tee & Cakes, Boulder)
It's Finally Here (Kim & Company, Estes Park)

Will you wear a pink taffeta dress for my wedding?

A couple of months ago, my MOH and I went dress shopping for bridesmaids dresses. Because of my great experience at Pearls Place when I went shopping for my wedding dress, we went there and let Lisa work her magic. She already knew what my dress looked like, so we just asked her to pick out some dresses that were complimentary. We narrowed our choices down to two:

Sorry, I have no idea who designed this dress, but it's modeled by my fabulous MOH. And yes, she always has sunglasses on - the only time I can remember her not wearing shades was the day she got married. We teased her about getting some white sunglasses to match her dress.


Source

In the end, this is the one we decided to go with. After reviewing the photos we took that day, she decided dress #1 actually fit her better, so I don't remember why we opted for this one. These are the stock photos from Jasmine Bridal. Their dresses will be lavender ice with platinum accent.

I love the way the chiffon accent falls down the the hemline. I'm actually kinda jealous I can't have one too!

STD Fever

We have STDs! (Save the Dates, that is.) The ever-so-wonderful FedEx man delivered them early yesterday morning while I was at my management meeting. Jakob was just opening them when I got home. Normally, I would be putting a photo of what they look like right here:


But since today I sent out a mass email letting friends & family know about the existence of this blog, I will not be posting pictures of them. I want everyone to see them for the first time when they open the envelope. Instead, I will tell you we ordered them from Favors You Keep and show you some other designs we considered before deciding on the one I'm so happy about.

This one was just too cute. If the two dogs looked like Max & Simba, I would have been all over this design.


When I was little I secretly wanted to be a mermaid when I grew up, but in the end, we decided against this one. While Jakob loves to scuba dive, I have a huge fear of drowning, so we felt it would have been an inaccurate representation of us. Yeah, I don't know how I planned to reconcile the drowning thing with being a mermaid - although if you think about it, it's impossible for a mermaid to drown, so it's the perfect career move for me!


This one was a close second. It's a cartoon rendering of the Denver skyline. Since we haven't been residents of Denver for long, we honestly don't know what a lot of the elements in this one are, and figured someone was bound to ask us, "Hey, what's that?" In the end, our inability to answer that potential question was what made us scratch this one off the list.

Favors You Keep makes the whole customization process super easy. You figure out whether you want black and white or color cartoons, choose you design, paper color, ink color, type in your wording, and you're done! (If you opt for color cartoons, it also allows you to customize your hair color & skin tone) After we placed our order, we received an email saying they needed to move a word or two down a line, so they sent us a free email proof to approve before printing them.

Are you doing something a little unconventional for your save the dates?

C is for Cake

Jakob & I managed to squeeze in a cake tasting this morning between my manager's meeting at 9am and work at 1pm. Luckily, the bakery we went to has five locations in the Denver area. Cakes by Karen is a little more expensive than the other bakeries we've tried, and their delivery charge to Estes Park is the highest, but one of their flavors intrigued me, so I had to try it.
While driving home from work tonight, I realized that I've been telling you about the results of our cake tastings, but if you've never been to one, you may not know what to expect. In our experience, this is what typically goes on. Sometimes you're asked to look at the list of available flavors and choose the ones you'd like to try. At the tasting itself, cakes are brought out - often in the form of cupcakes. You are given time to taste the options and talk among yourselves before the baker or consultant discusses the nitty-gritty: pricing, servings, flavors, and decor. You are given the opportunity to ask any questions you may have. One thing I like to do is see photos of cakes actually decorated by the person who will be doing our cake. It's nice to look through a book of ideas, but if the person who will be decorating YOUR cake is unable to execute those designs properly, it's just a waste of time. And while, yes, I want our wedding cake to be delicious, I also want it to be beautiful.

Unlike our previous tastings, Cakes by Karen actually baked us an entire little cake in each of the flavors we chose to test out. A slice of each type was cut for each of us:

Strawberry cake with pineapple filling & champagne cake with strawberry filling.

Lemon cake with raspberry filling, white cake with cherry filling.

First up is strawberry cake with pineapple filling. Jakob LOVES pineapple, so I figured we should have at least one cake with pineapple something. He was a bit apprehensive about strawberry (pink) cake but after we tasted it, we really liked it, and he said he could get over the unconventional color in exchange for pineapple filling.
According to the person I spoke to from Cakes by Karen, champagne cake with strawberry filling is their most popular cake. Not so much for us. There wasn't anything particularly spectacular about it -in fact, something about the combo reminded us of Pez - great for candy, but kinda weird for cake.
The lemon cake with raspberry filling was totally for me. I love lemon cake as much as he loves pineapple. Originally I wanted to try the lemon cake with lemon filling, but was told that may be too much lemon. Too much lemon?? There's no such thing! So since I like raspberry, we tried it that way, and it was incredible! The sweetness of the raspberry was the perfect juxtaposition to the lemony goodness of the cake! We've found a winner!
Last but not least is the white cake with cherry filling. Both of us really liked it - the lightness of the cake didn't compete with the cherry flavor, which was a real cherry, not maraschino taste. In the end, we crossed this one off the list - both of us really like cherries, but we recognize not everyone does.
Bonus points for Cakes by Karen - although we did not get to keep the rest of the cakes (yes, greedy little ol' me was hoping), we were offered a piece of each to take home. Needless to say, I gladly accepted.

At Last

We have our first signed contract! Jakob & I made a trip to Estes Park last week. We signed our contract for our fabulous venue, Marys Lake Lodge, and put down a deposit. I feel unbelievably relieved. If nothing else is accomplished, we have a place to get married!


This is the site of our outdoor ceremony:

Naturally, there will be chairs and an aisle and all that jazz. Hopefully there will even be a bit of snow!


And our reception site:

I love the fireplace with double mantle. On the lower mantle we'll have candles, and the upper one will be decorated with flowers. This is the basic setup. For our reception, we will have ivory chair covers, not white and chair sashes to coordinate with our colors. We may even have colored table covers. Unfortunately, Marys Lake Lodge only has white chair covers and no chair sashes, but gave me the name of a rental company they use. Add another item to my list of "things to research".

My question for you today is this: How did you get from "what it is" to "what it could be" with your ceremony and/or reception site? Did you visualize it spontaneously or need inspiration?

The day after the three year anniversary of hurricane Katrina, this is what I'm staring at. . .

Yep, that's right. . . it's the projected path of Hurricane Gustav. Looking at it makes it feel like gremlins are tying knots in my stomach, but I can't make myself stop.
And right between the line labeled "Mon AM" and the one labeled "Mon PM" are all the people Jakob and I love (other than each other, of course). Hopefully, at this hour they are far away from Mon AM & Mon PM, or at least on their way to being there. My niece, her husband & my godchild are on their way to Alabama. Jakob's sister, mother and nephew should be leaving for Memphis in an hour. Some are staying, many are leaving. Here's to hoping for the best while preparing for the worst - the unofficial motto of Louisiana between the months of June & November.
It goes without saying this isn't typical of my entries, but in case you were wondering how this relates to my wedding. Simple. Our entire wedding party lives in southeast Louisiana. Almost our entire guest list lives there. But at the end of the day, it's not about the wedding or how another hurricane could possibly impact it. It's about the people in New Orleans.
The city hasn't fully recovered from Katrina - the last thing it needs is another major storm to undo the work that it's taken three years to get done.

To Bling or Not To Bling

It's been a few days since my last post (I think). Sorry for the delay, but in my defense, I've been feeling like, well...a co-worker of mine described it as "my head feels like a water balloon" - like there's stuff sloshing around in there. I hate being sick - I know no one likes being sick, but I REALLY hate it. Unfortunately, my job really doesn't allow me the luxury of curling up in my bed and just sleeping it off so I've been going to work, coming home again, taking care of my zoo, and passing out. Rinse and repeat.

Today, while at the Cherry Creek Mall on a job-related errand, FI and I passed by Papyrus. We decided to stop by just to comparison shop. Naturally, I fell in love with an invitation suite that is completely out of our price range. Meet my new love, Bijou:

I love the design on the bottom right of the invitation and how it's carried over onto the reception & reply cards, as well as the note cards. It's exactly what I was looking for - elegant but not boring, timeless but fun, grown-up but still me. The custom print specialist at Papyrus told us you can even further customize the invitation by adding a genuine Swarovski™ crystal to the center the design. Personally, I don't think my guests would mind if we left that particular detail out. Especially since adding the little sparkly thing would cost $1 per invitation. Although we're only ordering 50 or so, that $50 could be better spent elsewhere. And just think about what you could do with the money you'd save by being bling-free if you had 150 or more invites to pay for!

I also adored this Checkerboard invitation suite:

Her name is Braquette - not quite as stylish a name as Bijou, but alluring none the less. My favorite thing about Braquette is the beautiful plum ink - it would fit right in with the colors we've chosen - lavender & platinum. Plum would be a great accent color.
In my dream world, I would be able to combine the two invitations into one super-invite. Said super-invite would be extremely economical in addition to being beautiful and of course functional (since it is, after all, communicating all the important information about my wedding).
Do you have an aspect of your wedding planning - invitation, cake, caterer, venue, band, photographer, dress - that's completely out of your price range but you still love to day dream of?

Virgin Wedding??

Okay, so our second cake tasting was at Tee & Cakes in Boulder, Colorado. The cake artist there is named Kim - super nice, super cool chick! The shop itself appears to be a converted mechanic's shop in the Pearl Street Mall, and it's really what I think of when I think "Boulder"...kind of a combination of green, hippie, college chic.
Here are our (cup)cakes:


(clockwise from top left) Summer Picnic, Bunnies Delight, Capri Kiss, Virgin Wedding

First up was Bunnies Delight, a fresh carrot cake with grated orange zest topped with white chocolate cream cheese buttercream. Although a delicious carrot cake, it just wasn't the "bridal" cake we were looking for. I LOVED the icing!
Summer Picnic was a sweet cream butter pound cake with mascarpone cream and seasonal fresh berries. It was interesting - I'm used to strawberry shortcake, but this had all kinds of berries - it really is like a summer picnic, but still not what we were looking for.
Virgin Wedding is a pure white cake laced with almond, filled with Tahitian vanilla bean flecked buttercream. There were two things I didn't like about this cake - first, the cake was very dense - I personally prefer my cake to be light and fluffy. And then there was the icing. I've shared with you my love of cakes and even some photos of cakes I've made. What I didn't mention is that I make my own buttercream icing. I won't tell you what the base of the icing is because you may never look at cake the same way again, but it's NOT butter. This icing was butter. Of course I took a big ole bite and felt like I'd just put a spoonful of country crock in my mouth. Some people love the mouth-feel of butter, but I'm definitely not one of them.
Capri Kiss was by far my favorite. It's a lemon cake, infused with Limoncello liqueur, filled with alternating layers of lemon curd & sweet cream. Kim makes the lemon curd from scratch, and that cake is divine!
I left the shop torn. I loved the capri kiss, but I really want a two flavor cake, and I wasn't at all crazy about the French BUTTERcream icing either. On top of that, Kim's decorating style and mine weren't really in sync. At the end of the day, I reluctantly had to scratch Tee & Cakes from my ever dwindling list of possible bakers for our wedding cake.

Did you get any unexpected surprises during your wedding vendor research?

It's Finally Here

It's cake tasting day! It's cake tasting day!
Yes, I'm actually doing a silly dance to go with my very silly song.

Second only to photography, the cake is my single most important wedding expense. You see, I make cakes myself. I made my niece's baby shower cake.


I also made her wedding cake.


I even made the groom's cake. In my defense, I'd been making cakes for three days straight and I was exhausted by the time I got to this one. Besides, I maintain that we were going for the rustic look to go with the whole hunter's fleur-de-lis motif.


Both Jakob's family and mine are a little crazy about cake. Scheduling cake tastings has definitely been one of the highlights of my wedding planning journey. So without further ado, our first (two) cake tastings:

The first bakery we went to is Kim & Company in Estes Park. Bonus, she also does floral design so we were able to get a quote for both cake & flowers while we were there. Like a lot of bakers, she gave us a cupcake tasting. And yes, I took photos, even though Jakob made fun of me.


(clockwise from top left) white cake with white icing, Italian cream cake with almond butter cream icing, carrot cake with cream cheese icing, and chocolate with chocolate icing (I think that one's obvious). We also got to taste the strawberry & raspberry fillings.

We weren't allowed to choose the flavors we tasted - those were the standard ones.
The carrot cake was great, but just not "us". We had already agreed we didn't want chocolate cake or chocolate icing - it just doesn't make me think wedding cake. Besides, I'm really not that fond of chocolate cake (sorry, all you chocaholics out there). I went into the tasting thinking I'd like the traditional white cake with white buttercream the best, and it was fantastic! I loved the cake, loved the icing. I was thinking this is the one. Then we tried the italian cream. It's white cake with almond and coconut, and it was topped with the almond buttercream icing I so wanted to try. I LOVE this cake! I didn't expect Jakob to be crazy about it because he really doesn't like the texture of coconut. Guess what - he loved it too. Kim even said she could throw the coconut in a food processor so the texture wouldn't be noticeable.
We looked through her photo albums of work, and I loved the diversity of designs she's able to do. Perhaps even more important to me is that she has a steady hand when icing designs onto cakes. This was important because I want some elegant little scrollwork. Fondant is easier to deal with but I HATE the taste of fondant!

Next up, cake tasting #2.

Exciting & Overwhelming

I just found out my former coworker, Liz, is engaged! It's so exciting to have someone else who's also planning a wedding. She made the comment that it's exciting & overwhelming at the same time. That's the perfect way to describe wedding planning.
There are days when it seems like the whole planning process can be a bit much. I have papers with floral ideas and lists of photographers, a wedding planner that is half filled out, business cards and bridal magazines all over my dining room table. Bridal books are taking over my bookcase, and I have well over 100 wedding-related bookmarks on my computer. Most nights, I come home from work and spend 90% of my time researching various aspects of the planning process. However, I'm sure the day of the wedding, when I see everything come together, it will all be worth it.

And the Winner is . . .

Okay, so I promised to reveal the venue where we decided to have our wedding, and here it is.

This is the view from one of the balconies at Marys Lake Lodge, the place where we have decided to have our beautiful mountain wedding! It meets all of the requirements I talked. It's in Estes Park with views of the mountains (see? Mountains!) and nearby lodging, and catering is onsite. I cannot tell you how relived I am that we've finally made a decision and we're dealing with someone who acts like they want our business.
At this point in the planning process, I felt like we should have been sure about where our ceremony & reception would be held. And I almost gave myself an ulcer worrying about it not having one.

I'm a Bonehead

As promised, today I will tell you the story of what is perhaps the most embarrassing thing I've done thus far while planning my wedding. I posted a crappy photo of my engagement ring that I took myself a while back. It's a white gold euro band with four channel set princess cut diamonds on each side of a princess cut diamond, flanked by four round diamonds on each side - in a square pattern. The princess diamond is set on an angle, which I love because it's so unique.

A few weeks after Jakob proposed, I was at work and looked down at my ring and realized one of the round diamonds was no longer there. Of course my first reaction was to freak out, then I remembered he got the extended protection plan (smart cookie, I say) so I called the jeweler and they told me bring it in and they'd fix it no problem. Apparently one of the prongs had just broken right off. I got it back in a day or two, and it was good as new - better than new I guess.

A few weeks after I got it back, I had this crazy dream that ALL of the stones fell out of my ring. The next day, I stopped at the jeweler and made them check all of the settings. Yeah, they probably thought I was crazy, and Jakob laughed at me. He even made me tell his friends the story and they laughed at me.

What A Dream

Last night, I had a horrible dream - I suppose you could call it a "wedding nightmare". In this dream, it was my wedding day, and I was wearing my beautiful dress, but when I looked down at the skirt, I realized there was something seriously wrong with it. The entire front half of my dress was black. Apparently the wrong color had been ordered, and somehow this detail escaped my attention until I was about to walk down the aisle.
I did not wake up screaming, and no cold sweat was involved, but the memory of the dream laid heavily on me all day. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore and picked up the phone. Although I knew there was a very good chance the person on the other end of the line would think me completely neurotic, I had to call the shop where I ordered my dress just to make sure they ordered the ivory & silver one that I wanted. It also gave me the opportunity to inquire when it was expected to me in, and I found out it should be there no later than October!
This isn't the first time I had some crazy off-the-wall dream and ended up risking my reputation as a sane person to ease my mind. Tomorrow I'll tell you about the time I did something so bizarre that Jakob teased me for a solid week. In the meantime, tell me - am I the only one who has random wedding dreams and then is compelled to make sure it was really just a dream?

The Venue Pageant

In our search for a venue, Jakob & I found some really unique places that were incredible in their own right - just not the right fit for our wedding. I thought I'd share some of them with you before revealing The One.
These are our requirements:
1. Located in or near Estes Park, Colorado
2. Views of the mountains
3. Nearby lodging for our out of town guests
4. On-site catering

The first runner up is Taharaa Mountain Lodge, a quiet bed & breakfast with a completely unique vibe. From the moment we walked through the door, we knew it was someplace special. It has nine lodge rooms and nine suites, each with its own fireplace and deck with stunning panoramic vistas. Each has its own unique motif that reflects the beauty & history of the Rocky Mountain region.

Taharaa is a chic venue which combines Native American with American West, from the Arapahoe Room to Columbine Room to Cattle Baron Suite. It also boasts a Great Hall, where our reception would be. It met all of our requirements and then some - except for the last one. Catering is done by a pre-approved outside vendor.
Next time, we'll reveal the lucky winner!
Black Canyon Inn came in second runner up. It is located in Estes Park, but its views, while beautiful, are not of the mountains. Futhermore, catering is done by Twin Owls Steakhouse, which is next door.
Our reception would be in the Steakhouse, which has three rooms. The loft was far too small to accommodate a dance floor. The garden room had a strange view and was too dark for our tastes. The main room was much too large for our small reception, even with a dance floor.
The people there were very nice and helpful. They seemed like they would have been great to work with had the venue been a good fit for us.

Finally, our third runner up was Lionscrest Manor in Lyons, Colorado. Lioncrest boasts unobstructed views of Steamboat Mountain, Hatrock, Mount Meeker and Longs Peak, so it definitely met our mountain view requirement. It's only 20 miles from Estes Park, but catering is done by an outside company of your choosing although they urge you to use an approved vendor from their list. However, the largest drawback to this venue is its distance to accommodations for our guests. In the end, we knew it would be selfish to ask our families to fly from New Orleans to Denver, rent a car and drive an hour and a half to Estes Park to their lodging, then turn around a drive 30 minutes back down to Lyons for our ceremony. It's really too bad - this staircase totally made me swoon!

A Bit of the Past in Our Future

Yesterday, my fiance called me with an idea for his wedding band. He has a lot of jewelry left to him by his uncle, who he was named after. Most of this jewelry is in the form of cuff links. He has never used them, and recognized that he probably never really will. I suggested to him a while back that he choose a pair to wear for our wedding, but he came up with a way to incorporate them into his day to day life.
His idea was to have the cufflinks reincarnated - melted down and cast into his wedding band. Since I'm a bit sentimental (okay, I'm a lot sentimental when it comes to family history), I loved this idea. Although Jakob barely remembers his uncle Jakey, from what his mother tells me, the two of them spent a lot of time together when Jakob was small. I've been trying to figure out a creative way to honor his memory, and I think this is the perfect way to do just that.
What about you? Is there a loved one who is unable to be at your wedding who you will honor in some special way?

I'm in Love

With my fiance? Yes, this is true. But I'm also in love with my wedding dress.

Jakob, if you're reading this, STOP NOW!

Way back in May, not long after Jakob asked me to marry him, I decided to stop by a couple of wedding dress shops just to figure out what style of dresses flattered my figure. The first shop I went to was Pearls Place in Metairie, LA where I was helped by Lisa. I had a short list of requirements: I wanted a train but wasn't sure what length. I didn't want anything too flashy. No lace, and I thought anything strapless was out of the question since let's say I'm blessed upstairs. I told Lisa I was open to suggestions, so she grabbed a variety of styles for me to try. I tried on off-the-shoulder styles and halter styles. The halter style made me look too busty. The off-the-shoulder style I just wasn't too crazy about. Next was a strapless gown with detachable train, but the train was cathedral length which I quickly decided was longer than I wanted. I was getting a bit discouraged, then she came along.

(Yes, I'm referring to my dress as female - I'm going to be spending a lot of time with her on my wedding day, but Jakob's the only guy for me.)
She is sparkly but not over the top. Her train is chapel length and exactly what I wanted. I love the organza overlay and the ribbon detail at the hem. Even the back is pretty, and since that's what our guests will be looking at for the majority of ceremony, I wanted something that had some visual interest.

Best of all, the price was right. Pearls Place has a reputation for not inflating their prices in outrageous manner. In fact, some sources tout the shop as being a great place to get a deal on wedding and bridesmaids dresses. In addition to their already modest prices, my dress was on sale. I half expected the "hard sell" to begin, but it didn't. Lisa encouraged me to think it over. She told me if I decided that really was the dress for me, I had a full week to stop by again and lock in the sale price. I didn't even have to put half as a down payment - I could choose how much to pay. Once my payments reached the halfway mark, I would be measured and my dress would be ordered. This gave me the added luxury of not having to worry about the dress style being discontinued before I ordered it. If the manufacturer informed Pearls my dress would soon no longer be available, they'd give me a call so I'd have the option of completing my payments & ordering my dress.

Of course, I did go back a week later to put down $50 and lock in my price. First, I went to two other shops just to be sure. I'll write more about those shopping excursions next time. Honestly, it all just seemed too easy - I found "the one" at the first shop I stopped by, on sale, and the sales staff was super nice... I can't even buy shoes that easily, and I love shoes.

Has anyone else had this kind of experience? Was finding your wedding dress a walk in the park or did you search high and low for it?

Let Them Eat Cake

Today I scheduled my first (two) cake tastings! I can't tell you how freaking excited I am. I am a total cake fanatic. I even took a Wilton class at my local Michael's so I could make birthday cakes for the kids in my life. When my niece got married a few weeks ago, I made her three tiered wedding cake AND the grooms cake. I even got upset last spring when she called to tell me that the girl who was co-hosting her baby shower with me was going to buy a cake for the event - I was that dead-set on making the cake for her shower.
Since Jakob and I are planning a trip to Estes Park on the 26th, we decided we'd check out a couple of bakeries that are on the way. I made a couple of phone calls today to schedule our consultations. One place lets you taste from whatever they have baked, but the other one (Haute Cakes in Boulder, CO) has an online menu that we got to choose from. We were told to pick three options, so I perused their selections. The first two were easy to pick, but I was having trouble deciding between numbers 3 and 4 on my list. When I called the owner, Kim to ask a few question before giving them our final selections, she told me not to worry about choosing - we could taste all 4! I felt like the luckiest girl in the world.
Don't worry - LOTS of photos will be taken and I'll be writing about our favorites from our first round of cake tasting.

Mind Meld

There are so many great traditions and design elements from growing up in Louisiana that I'd love to incorporate into our wedding plans. Since most of our guests are coming to Colorado from there, I'd also like to give them a taste of Colorado. In many ways, my overall vision for our wedding is very much like Jakob and myself. It combines our love for the beauty of the mountains with our strong ties to our roots in Louisiana.
One New Orleans tradition I definitely plan to keep alive is that of the wedding cake pulls.
The fleur de lis is very popular in Louisiana, especially New Orleans. If it's not the official symbol of NOLA, it may as well be. The beauty and elegance the fleur de lis has always appealed to me, and I'd like to incorporate it somehow.

I heart these fleur de lis toasting flutes from Mignon Faget!

For both ethical and financial reasons, we're incorporating local floral and culinary elements. I love azaleas, but they don't grow in Colorado and are not in bloom even in Louisiana at the end of April. Instead, I'm working with our florist to incorporate flowers that are readily available locally. And although I'm sure by the time our wedding rolls around, Jakob and I will both be jones'ing for some boiled crawfish, instead our caterer will be serving fare that is more typically Colorado. It will be a treat to our guests and minimize the overall carbon footprint of the celebration.

Designer Crush

I've been thinking a lot about what kind of veil I'll wear for my wedding, and there's just something about birdcage veils that really appeals to me. Now, I don't know anyone personally who wore a birdcage and had never seen one up close so I called a few bridal boutiques today to make sure they had a nice collection so I could go in and get a better idea of what they're all about.
You know what I found out? That the overwhelming majority of bridal professionals I spoke to today didn't even know what a birdcage was. In case you're among those who have no idea what I'm talking about, here's a photo of one.

So after several frustrating & disappointing phone calls, I spoke to a boutique whose owner referred me to Sara Gabriel Veiling & Headpieces. And things just kept getting better. . . I found out the flagship location is right here in Denver and only 15 minutes from my condo. I called the boutique before heading that way and the person I spoke to was incredibly nice. When I arrived at Anna Be' which houses Sara Gabriel in addition to bridal & bridesmaid dresses, I was directed upstairs. Imagine my surprise when the "salesperson" introduced herself as Sara. It took me a moment for it to sink in that I was meeting the designer of all these beautiful veils. I'll admit, I was a little star-struck. I don't know about you, but it isn't every day that I meet a real, honest-to-goodness designer. All of her pieces are custom made, so after choosing your favorite from her extensive collection, you can customize it to your heart's content.
I wish I'd thought to bring my camera so I could post some photos of her beautiful and glamorous veils, but I left it at home. You can check out her website. There are no photos of Collette or Astyn (the veils I tried on) but you can find a sketch of Collette.
My original plan was to have a traditional fingertip length veil for the ceremony and switch to the birdcage veil for the reception. I hadn't really thought out the whole scenario, and Sara pointed out that if I wear the birdcage for the reception, my guests may feel a bit ill-at-ease trying to have a conversation with me through a veil. She showed me an alternative to the regular birdcage veil. It's similar to the one worn by the oh-so-fabulous Mrs. Gingerbread for her wedding to Mrs. GB 2.0 last month. Check out her wedding recap post with photos on Weddingbee.
Now I'm rethinking my game plan, but I'm so in love with Sara Gabriel's designs. I like that she is not about the hard sell. She was helpful and friendly, immediately putting me at ease. She answered all of my questions and even made suggestions for alternatives. Even if you're not in the market for the oh-so-classy but elusive birdcage veil, definitely check out Sara's designs. The way I look at it, if I'm going to spend some cash on a veil, I may as well be giving that money to someone who's super-nice and cool to boot.
What kind of veil or headpiece will you wear on you wedding day? Are there any other birdcage brides out there?

Why Cakes in NOLA Have Ribbons

There's a tradition in New Orleans weddings that make our cakes look a little odd. Silver charms, attached to a piece of ribbon, are placed under the bottom layer of the cake so the end of the ribbon is visible. It's a tradition that seems to be unique to New Orleans, brought over from France and adopted by the Creoles.
Here's a beautiful set of cake pulls from Mignon Faget.

Before the cake is cut by the bride & groom, the bride chooses a number of single ladies, and each chooses a piece of ribbon which they pull out from beneath the cake. Each charm has a meaning. Here are the meanings of some typical wedding cake pulls:
WEDDING RING.....Next To Marry
HEART.....Love Will Come
FLEUR-DE-LIS.....Love Will Flower
RED BEAN.....Luck
ANCHOR.....Hope
CLOVER.....Good Luck
WISHBONE.....Good Luck
HORSE SHOE.....Good Luck
DIME.....Riches
PENNY.....Poverty
BUTTON.....Old Maid
THIMBLE.....Old Maid

What local traditions will you incorporate into your wedding celebration?

She's Gettin' Married in the Mornin'

My niece Athena told me a few days ago that she's getting married July 18th. . . of this year. Allow me to put this in perspective for you. She (and I, as her MOH) have three weeks to coordinate a venue, flowers, attire for the bridal party & parents of bride and groom, music, photographer, cake, food, and a bridal shower. Seems a bit overwhelming, right?
Actually, it's not too bad.
Friday morning, I drove across the lake to meet her at her home, and we were off in search of a wedding dress. She's a good girl & did her homework. She found a dress she liked from JC Penney's bridal collection. Unfortunately, we soon learned none of the stores in Louisiana carry the bridal collection - you have to order them through the catalog, and we didn't have time for that. We decided to check the department stores at Northshore Mall for white formal dresses. Athena found one she liked, but alas, they did not have it in her size. After a few hours, she was beginning to get discouraged and a little worried that she wouldn't have a dress for her wedding when I remembered a money-saving tip I read in one of the many books I've perused in planning for my own wedding. . . consignment shops!
The first one we went to had three wedding dresses, one which was her size. She liked it, but we decided to keep looking. The second store we went to had a much larger selection. Athena tried on several dresses before finding "the one." She kept asking me & her mother what we thought. Finally, I pointed out that unlike every other dress she'd tried on, we practically had to force her back into the dressing room to take it off. Athena, you are right - you look like a "pretty pretty princess" in that dress. And it fits her perfectly - it's even the correct length.
Bonus score at the consignment shop - we also found my bridesmaid dress! It's a blue two piece Alfred Angelo, and more importantly, fits me perfectly. It just needs to be hemmed, which Jakob's aunt is going to do for me. Since it's two pieces, I took the skirt to be hemmed while Athena kept the top to color coordinate the best man's attire to mine.
After we're finished dress shopping, we stop at Bed Bath & Beyond where Athena and fiance Spencer are now registered.
So to recap, in one day, we were able to find, purchase, and take home Athena's wedding dress & my bridesmaid dress and register for gifts.
Day Two:
We buy hubby's wedding band, cake topper, veil making kit (we thought it'd be fun to make it together), bridal shower invitations, shower games, and bachelorette party attire for Athena.
So I have to wonder, is it really this easy or does my niece just lead a charmed life?

The Kiddie Room

While on vacation in Estes Park, Colorado, Jakob took me to dinner at Cascades Restaurant at the historic Stanley Hotel, made famous by the mini-series “The Shining,” based on a Stephen King novel. We were seated in an alcove with a wine rack/chiller. We joked about why we ended up in the kiddie room. Come to find out, he had contacted the people at Cascades and requested romantic, somewhat private table. I remember wishing we were seated nearer the fireplace - I love fireplaces. . . maybe because I was born & raised in south Louisiana and therefore have never had reason to have a fireplace.
The hostess was overly smiley when she seated us. I didn’t find out why until later that night. We were talking about my upcoming visit to my mother. He reminded me to pick up the kennel for the puppy I was getting when I got back home to Metairie.
“And you’re going to tell her you’re moving to Denver, right?” Distracted by my glass of Riesling, I responded that I was.
“And you’re going to tell her about this?” Confused, I looked at him, then down at the box he held in his hand, then back at him as he uttered four words I honestly didn’t expect to hear at any time in the near future, if ever. . . “Will you marry me?”
Of course I said yes. Then it all made sense - the kiddie room, the overly happy hostess, the waitress who alternately hovered and disappeared for obscene amounts of time, even his comment about how I had “no idea” how much this vacation cost. I should have realized something was going on - Jakob is a very practical person, not one to spend money on frivolous things like a cabin on the river with a hot tub and elk in the yard.
After the reality of it sank in, my first thought was, “I can’t wait to tell Athena.” Athena is my niece, eight years my junior. She’s one of my best friends, the mother of my gorgeous goddaughter, and now my maid of honor.
And so, without further ado, my engagement ring:

Sorry it's not the best photo in the world, but taking a picture of a ring is really hard!