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?