My Old Kentucky Wedding: Kentucky: The Kentucky Derby in a Nutshell

So, in my last post, I showed you my very first inspiration board! Some of you probably loved it, some of you probably hated it (I'll be the first to admit that it's super girly). I mentioned that I didn't want it to SCREAM Kentucky, but it's important for me to represent!

This is the first post in my "Kentucky" series! Get excited. And we're talking about the Kentucky Derby.

Some facts about the Kentucky Derby:
- Takes place at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky on the first Satuday in May
- It's called "The most exciting two minutes in sports" because it's INTENSE!
- Also called The Run for the Roses
- Famous for its spectators crazy elaborate hats
- The horses that run in it are three years old
- Alot of celebrities and famous people attend
- Most famous drink is the Mint Julep
- It's almost impossible to get a ticket unless you want to hang out in the infield- a.k.a the insane party zone!
- May 2010 will be race number 136
- It's the absolute more prestigious race in the world to win!
- It is 1 1/4 miles long (or 10 furlongs)
- It's the first leg of the Triple Crown (followed by Preakness and then Belmont)
- The infield is the lawn in the middle of the track accessed by an underground tunnel. This is the young party scene, and it gets pretty raucous. No pictures to keep me safe for work!

Churchill downs is absolutely beautiful! It's also called the Twin Spires, and when I was little, my dad used to take me to the "horse zoo" to watch the races on non-Derby Days.

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It takes place, like I said, on the first Saturday in May. That's pretty straightforward. However, be aware that the First FRIDAY in May is the Kentucky Oaks. Kentucky Oaks is another race that's super popular, especially for people who actually live in Louisville. My mom used to tell me that everyone (including herself) would skip out on work and go to the track instead. One time she saw her boss there, but really, she couldn't get in trouble cause he was there too!

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Also, I was born on Kentucky Oaks. And if I had been born on Kentucky Derby, my parents were going to make my middle name the name of the horse that won. Cute, right? We're die hard Derby Fans, I guess. But I came a day too early and missed out on having Ferdinand as a middle name. Gosh darn.

Its called the Run for the Roses because the horse that wins gets a blanket made out of red roses. It has 554 roses in it!

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And of course, the winner is written down in history, and gets a pretty awesome trophy. This is the old version of the trophy- it was changed for the 125th derby. The horseshoe now points the other way (up) and it can't be turned back down or all the luck will run out:

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One more thing before I gallop off (ah ha, get it?). This is something that I've always loved about horse racing, and might have to suck it up and incorporate it somewhere in my wedding, but I love Jockey silks. Each stable has their own identifying silks that the jockey wears and they register them with The Jockey Club so no one else can use them- it's a matter of branding and representation. As a side note, the guy wearing the yellow and green stripes on the bottom right is Pat Day. He's a famous jockey and one of my family's favorites!

By the way, if you want to make your OWN silks, you can do it here. Here are some examples :