Save the DATE, we're getting MARRIED! The DIY I

Okay, so. I really do love my STD's, because they were alot of work and if I didn't love them, all that work would have been for absolutely NOTHING! And now I'm going to tell YOU how to make them! Because I spent too long on them to not share!

Print the name of the city you're getting married in down the side of the page separated by about 3 lines (so you can use your tag punch without worrying about cutting through the middle of the next one down). Cut off the strips with a paper cutter...

... then punch them out using your tag punch (I used the Martha Stewart one and it was the perfect size).

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Punch a hole in the end of the tag so you don't totally mess it up when you try to stick the brads through later. Trust me, it makes it SO much easier! I used a 1/16" hole punch from Fiskars. Set those babies aside. Realize that the last few steps were rather scary- the sentences start with "cut" and "punch" and "trust me" and "I used"... all of which sound ominous.

Trim remaining paper to the size card you want to use. I recommend using 4 x 6 because you will have MUCH easier time finding envelopes to match that size than say, 5 x 7. I made mine 5x7 and finding a box of just envelopes was a challenge. Make 100 of them. Wonder if this is going to be worth it- decide to chug on ahead anyway. Set aside.



Take a drink of beverage of your choice- I was boring and went with water. Up next, the actual information and my little barns!

Save the DATE, we're getting MARRIED!

My Save the Dates are finally DONE!!! I'm super proud of them cause they're the first:
a) wedding project I've finished
b) large scale paper project I've ever done
c) awesome thing I've been able to pull off.

These are the pictures of the VERY FIRST ONE I finished!

This is the front.

The inside. Includes our first and last names since we didn't include a picture of us and we didn't want to confuse people. Also, all the little tags are made of the same paper as the card paper. It's held in by CLEAR photo corners- I didn't even know those existed, but one of my friends picked them up at Michael's for me.

And last but certainly not least, it sitting on the fridge cause it's a magnet. It's ivory, and my fridge is white. Yes, it's making me a little crazy.

Midway through the process. This is how many of them there are (about 100):


I realize that for an STD, it's a little bit over the top. But it was totally worth it to me and I have no regrets about the time I spent making them, even though it was a pretty substantial amount of time. About 5 movies worth. What do you think? Do you think they were worth it? Did you have a particular project that took forever but was worth it in the end?

Up next, the DIY how to!

Stop and smell the roses

Alright lets talk flowers. I'm not overly excited about flowers, not going to lie. First of all, you can't eat them. I mean, you can, but they a) don't taste very good b) sometimes they're poisonous. So eating them is out. And really, they're pretty, but they're just flowers and they die and... did I mention that you can't eat them?

(I am not this goat)

I'm one of those people that would rather have AWESOME food than beautiful flowers, which is good because I'm working with two different caterers right now and they both have stellar reputations. But I still have to have something:

* on the table
* for my bridesmaids to carry
* corsages for the moms/ g-moms and boutineers
* maybe alter arrangements
* the ever present centerpieces (we might cut the floral budget by doing something non-floral but my Mom wants me to get a quote)
* the buffet decoration.

I don't know if I've outright mentioned it, but our colors are pretty much ivory and green. We might throw some dusky purple in there just for fun, but I love white and green flower arrangements. I think they're gorgeous and classic and can look super romantic or super modern. We're going for the romantic, almost wild look:

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(both scans of Brides Magazine September '09 issue)

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But. While that's super pretty and romantic and everything, it's not exactly what I want by itself. I want to incorporate vegetables (and succulents), I guess so at least I can say the centerpieces are edible. But check out these examples, cause I think they're gorgeous!

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(I think this is the most gorgeous thing EVER)

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(both from the same place)

I'm meeting with a florist today that's supposed to be really good, so I'm hoping she can combine these two into something that really speaks to me and fits within our (relatively small) flower budget (since we're not spending a ton of money on them. Cause you can't eat them.)

I have me a DoC!

And I love, love, love her! Oh my goodness! I had two meetings with potential DoCs today. I met up with her at Starbucks this morning at 10:30 (she was my first meeting) and we got along so fabulously that I want her to be my new best friend. I talked with her for an hour and a half! I don't know if that's normal, but it seems like a long time to me and we talked about everything from my wedding (duh), to her kids, to a bunch of completely random and unrelated topics. She's really a "month of" coordinator and man, she is just so completely with it. Even before our meeting, she promptly answered all my emails with thoughtful, helpful emails.

(This is Jackie)

I realize this post completely mimics other posts about Day/ Month of posts, but I can't help it. I am a complete control freak and I never in a million years thought I would find someone that I could trust enough to run things the way I want them to be run. And I completely and totally think Jackie will. And she seems like the type that "won't take no crap from nobody" which is awesome, because there are some potential situations that I don't want happening at my wedding! And Jackie... Jackie will take care of them.

(she'll make everything right on wedding day!)

Btw, if you've never had Tazo's Vanilla Rooibos tea, please try it. It's amazing. They ran out of my peppermint tea the second time I was there to meet another DoC (who I did not choose and will not be commenting on) and so the Barista gave me this one to try. It's awesome- super subtle but still awesome. Just like me!

So get me to the church on time...

... but first, we need a church!

Once we started talking about getting married in Lexington, our priority became finding a church that was important to Mr. KM that could also hold all our guests, and was available for our wedding date. Because this was such a big deal and I don't have a "church home" here in Lexington, I felt like having Mr. KM make the decision was more meaningful since he grew up here. We needed one of these:

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His first choice was the chapel at his seminary. It's all white with beautiful, classic stained glass windows. Sorry, I don't have any pictures of it- I've only been twice (during which neither time was appropriate to take pictures) and there aren't any pictures online! When he preached the chapel service he preached his senior year of seminary, I went, and it was the first time I had ever heard him preach! So it meant something to me, too. Unfortunately, their insurance policy said no dice... Mr. KM was really bummed, because it would have meant alot to him. And it was too small, but that was really a moo point.

Another option was the church that he preaches at, but it's too far away and too small. It's about an hours drive from Lexington proper and there are NO reception venues up that way. Plus by the time we get married, his contract will be up. This was never in the serious running, but it was at least an option.

And yet ANOTHER option was the church his parents go to. They've been going there for at LEAST 35 years, have both served as president of the board, and were even married there! It's a pretty little church, but Mr. KM doesn't like the sanctuary and it doesn't mean much to him personally. I think it would have been a really sweet gesture to get married where his parents got married, but it wasn't meant to be.

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The most logical choice (to me, anyway) was to get married in the church Mr. KM had interned at, was ordained in, and where he was mentored by the woman who is now our officiant. I thought it was the obvious choice all along, and it's where we are getting married. And I'm really excited that his mentor is officiating the service! She is no nonsense and isn't going to wax frothy poetic about how beaaaaaaaautiful marriage is. Oh no, she'll probably lay it out there how hard it is, and how hard we'll have to work. And I am MORE than okay with that! Realism is best, eyes wide open. The church is very, very red inside. Lots of red stained glass and such. It'll make pretty pictures, but we can't add a whole lot of greenery or else it'll look like Christmas! But it's pretty in an almost retro kind of way, and the sentiment is more than I could ever ask for.

(personal photos)

How hard was choosing your ceremony venue? How did you decide, or was the decision pretty much made for you?

I'm at the Pizza Hut-what? I'm at the Taco Bell- what?

I'm at a combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell- what!

Okay, if you haven't heard that song... you're not missing anything. It might be the most annoying thing in the whole world, but you can listen to it here if you're so inclined.

Anyway, I live off of one of the main arteries in Lexington. It's great, cause it doesn't take much time to get where I'm going. It stinks, because- okay, don't judge me- fast food.. Yep, there's the cringe I was looking for! Yeah, I'm one of THOSE people. I don't EVER eat it more than 2x a week when I'm being terrible, but sometimes you crave a little bit of this:

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To illustrate my point, these are the restaurants that are within 3 miles of me. A.K.A. the radius of doom. I seriously do not leave this radius most weeks. It has my gym, my grocery store, work and a major shopping center and these fast food places:

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That doesn't include pizza places, ice cream places or those fast chain restaurants and I missing a couple that I can't remember. Most of these places I avoid like the plague, but Chik-Fil-A and Chipotle are totally my kryptonite. They've been the WORST part of trying to look my best for my wedding. And they're always such a disappointment- all those commercials LIE! They lie. So I don't eat those places most of the time. But man... just seeing the junk food world makes me go home and crave something terrible for me.

What are your food triggers? How have you managed to avoid them OR if you haven't been able to deal with them, how have you dealt with the cravings for everything bad for you?

The Day of Coordinator

My Dad's one requirement in this whole Wedding Planning Debacle is that I have a Day of Coordinator. He didn't want my mom stressing out about getting things done, or trying to do it all herself, which she usually does. We both have this syndrome:

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But I figured it couldn't hurt and if it was my Dad's one requirement, I was willing to give in to that. So I found these two AWESOME DOCs that I'm interviewing on Tuesday. They're pretty much the exact same price, so that's not the issue, and they both seem equally professional and they both are popular in Lexington Wedding Vendor Circles.

DOC A: has already made about a million and two suggestions about vendors even though I haven't hired her yet- which is awesome because they're ones that I need. But also a little bit suspicious. She's really pushing for this one florist that I've heard good things about, but I almost feel like she's bringing her to our meeting on Tuesday. I like suggestions, but I don't like having people being shoved down my throat. This woman is on TOP of it, though, and I like that because it will keep me in line.

DOC B: Was actually recommended by my venue off-hand, a "Oh hey, she's really awesome day of coordinator if you're looking for one." She's more laid back than the other, which isn't bad and actually fits more with my style. She also had her wedding and reception at my reception venue, so she knows the layout, the people who own the place, and how things run. But she's not as WITH IT on emails, and I really like when people are right on top of emails.

I'm meeting with both of them on Tuesday, like I said, so it'll be interesting to see how I click with each one of them...I'm nervous, because if I'm going to give up control of the "day of" schedule, I'd better be making the right choice. I'm really bad at giving up control and so if I do, it had better go FLAWLESSLY or I'll be ticked.

On being the preacher's fiancee...

I am the preachers girlfriend. Fiancee. Whatever. Anyway, my friendancee (he's my friend, and my fiancee!) is a minister. Granted, his church is SUPER small and about an hour away, so I don't attend. I've met his congregation exactly once, and while it was fun and they were super nice and totally love me... I'm not the "preachers wife" kind of girl.

(http://carthage.cementhorizon.com/archives/007546.html)

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I occasionally cuss, I (very) occasionally drink, and I can out tell dirty jokes with the dirtiest of old men. I'm proper most of the time! But mostly I'm just a real person, not the ideal preacher wife. And my coworkers are real people. They drink. Alot. Some of them smoke. Some of them smoke things that aren't legal. So mixing these two groups of people at our wedding is giving me a fit. Because while Mr. KM's contract at the church expires at the end of July, it is still infinitely important to both of us for them to be there, but we're not really sure how well the two groups are going to mix. Obviously, we'll put them at different tables and put Alan's congregation away from the bar but having two drastically different circles come together like this is a little scary, especially when one group (Mr. KM's congregates) are so, so sweet and proper and my co-workers are so, so not. I say this with love, but also a little bit of truth: they're basically hooligans:

(http://www.lovethattune.com/storage/hooligans.jpg)

They're not nearly as bad as I seem to be making them out to be, I promise. They're just young. And mostly still in school.

Did you have any problems mixing groups of people? How did you diffuse different personalities? Or did you not even bother worrying about such a thing?

On top of old smoky...

I think I'm going to start calling our cake "Old Smoky." For no reason other than it's a classic song and a classic tradition that my Mom would not hear of eliminating. We're actually going to have a small-ish cake for reasons that I'll talk about later, but in the meantime, I have to find something to put on top of it. I wanted something cool and sweet, not just flowers but not a monogram (because I haven't decided on the name change issue) either.

This was my original inspiration and the first picture relating to cakes that I saved on my computer:

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I love chocolate, this was totally different than what I've seen around, and it looks really elegant. Even the flowers are made of chocolate! And I could totally find a mold and do it myself. The layer that is surrounded by the chocolate ring (see? symbolism) is actually styrofoam on this cake, just FYI.

And of course, Ann Wood's little birds had me at hello:

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But since our cake is small and not a showcase piece (really it's existence is for my mom to have some cake cutting pictures) I felt like spending almost $300 on them didn't make sense.

I LOVED this one, but since we're not doing fondant it wouldn't be as clean:

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And last but certainly not least (Mrs. Poodle put this in one of her entries):

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But... okay, here comes the embarrassing part. Mr. KM and I have these totally dorky nicknames for each other. I won't tell you who is who, but we are slothy and gator:

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I searched in vain for a cuter sloth and gator, but these plastic animals are the closest I could find. Ideally, I'd like to find them in the same ceramic material that my owl is made of (yes, he's the tackiest thing ever, but I LOVE him) just so it would be... classier.

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I'm considering putting out an Etsy Alchemy bid out there to see if someone can do it, but I don't know how hard that process is. Any idea? Anyone know how to make ceramics? Anyone have any luck with an Alchemy bid having to do with ceramics?