You are invited...

The wedding invitations have been sent out!! Apart from a few late stragglers, which should be out in the next day or two, everything is en route. My parents sent them out Tuesday, and on Wednesday I know 3 different ones had already made it to their houses. Nice, post office. Nice. :)

And since I'm forgetful and didn't blog after mom and I had worked on addressing them, I have a few pictures from that day that I'm gonna throw on here.

all the addresses lie within...

The inserts Bed, Bath, and Beyond gave me for our registration. We were just gonna mention it on an insert, but this was a nice surprise.

In that box is around 65 invitations. And we added more soon after. Insane. But awesome. :)

A Few More Ring Pictures

Michael's ring came in on Friday! So, before taking them to my parents for safe keeping, I took a few random pictures. :)

They're simple, but we love them. :-D

Ring Ring Ring

Sooooooooooo. On Monday we got the pleasure of spending the day with Michael's mom Paula. It was absolutely fabulous to see her. She came up because she wanted to do a few things: mainly check out some potential rehearsal dinner sites and shop for wedding bands.

We went to two places next to the Limestone Club. Columbia Steak House, which is a mere two doors down from the site, and Jonathon's, the restaurant inside the Gratz Park Inn. We loved Jonathon's, but it was a little more expensive than we were planning to pay. So, Columbia Steak House has officially been booked for the dinner.

That took about an hour, and then off we went to the mall. Michael was gonna be getting some new clothes for his birthday, so we figured we'd check ou

t the jewelry places in the mall. One stop shop! So we headed into the first one we found, which happened to be Zales.

We both got our fingers sized and looked at our options. Michael ended up going with a really nice dark grey tungsten ring. Tungsten is the kind that won't scratch or chip, so if you use your hands a lot, is real good for that. But it's ALSO not the one that won't cut or shatter (that's titanium) so if his finger were to swell up we wouldn't have to cut the whole finger off. Always a plus. I just went with a basic gold band, something that will go really well with my engagement ring, and compliment it nicely.

As you can see, mine was ready to come on home with me! And we sent me engagement ring off to be sized, so I feel a tad naked right now without it. Shouldn't be too much longer before I get it back! Michael's ring won't be in for another week or so. With tungsten, they have to mold it to the correct size. Not so easy to size in store. But soon. :)

Oh, look at that. It's like looking into the future, haha.

:-D

I got a text from my mom today. The invitations came in!! And while I have yet to see them for myself, mommy dearest was sweet enough to send me a picture. :)

Yay! So pretty!! I can't wait to see them in person. Gotta gather up the rest of the addresses I need so these suckers can get put in the mail by the end of the month!

Another cool thing - I downloaded an app for my phone that's a calender countdown type of thing. So now, every time I unlock my phone, I see this cute little reminder:

108 days left! ^_^

And Now For Some Good News

All the bridesmaid dresses are in and picked up! Yaaaaay!! They showed up A LOT quicker than I expected them to. I was ready for mid August haha. It was a very pleasant surprise getting the first notification email. They sent me two, and when I went to go get those two, the third was there with them! I was excited.

Only one alteration appointment has been set up at this point - Jessica's - but it's all good. She scheduled it for...one of the first weekends in September. I'm gonna try getting the other girls set up around the same time, hopefully. The girls at David's Bridal need around a month to get everything done, so that'll still be plenty of time. Should work out very nicely.

Was able to get a few pictures of Jinni in hers. It looks so lovely. :)

She gots a bouquet and everything! lol Iron Man is her groomsman ;)

Bridezilla Rears Her Head

I was wondering when we would hit a bump in the road. Well, we ran smack into it tonight.

The site we're having the ceremony/reception at has a bridal suite two doors down from it that was included in our reservation. It's something you can either include in with your wedding celebration, or it's something that has been available to rent out for extended stays.

My mom got an email from the owner of the place tonight with some bad news. Unforeseen circumstances, and events out of their control (his words), has made the bridal suite no longer available. Permanently. Not gonna lie, pretty upset about it. When we first visited the place and toured the suite, I absolutely fell in love with it. It wasn't the main factor in deciding on the Limestone Club by any means, but it was quite the motivator. Not to mention how CONVENIENT it was going to be. We were planning on getting ready and dressed there (us girls, anyway). Mom was going to use the refrigerator in its' little kitchen to store some stuff. It was going to be sooooooo easy.

But...I'm doing my best to think positive. Trying to push Bridezilla back down in her hole. It's still early enough that we have options available, that mom is going to start looking into as early as tomorrow. We should be able to get our hands on something nice that's nearby to change in and stay. Not to mention, the owner is being more than accommodating about it. He's going to refund us $300, even though we really didn't pay any extra to begin with. I think this is amazing, I'm blown away by how sweet these guys have been since day one. I'm bummed, I'm angry, and I'd like to absolutely throttle whoever caused this to happen. But I'm gonna move past it.

Below are some parting pictures, as we say a bitter farewell to the gorgeous Limestone Club Bridal Suite.

the bedroom

<3

the amazing bathroom

<3 <3 <3

Marriage Nightmare

Yes... It finally happened. Friday night I had my first nightmare involving the wedding.

It was the day of, and everything was going wrong. One of my bridesmaids got sick right before it was time to take pictures, and yes, she was already in her dress. Needless to say...the dress was messed. We were missing decorations. For some reason, Michael was nowhere to be found. And right before the ceremony was scheduled to start, still sans Michael, I find out one of the wedding rings got accidentally dropped down a gutter. Oh! And that the cake was utterly destroyed in transit to the site. ;_;

Oh my god. It was absolutely terrible. I don't remember full details about everything that was going on, but those are what stuck with me after I woke up. I really hope those don't occur too frequently. I don't know how I'd handle it.

Though, through it all, I can STILL say that my mom had one of these nightmares well before I did...haha

Victory!

As of yesterday afternoon, all the bridesmaid dresses have been paid for and ordered! I'm unbelievably excited that this step is behind us.

The funny part about it, Jessica was the last one to get to David's Bridal and get fitted, yet ironically is the first one to physically own her dress. The one off the rack fit her perfectly, except for its' length, so the girl we were working with was all "Just take this one off the rack and home". I was kind of baffled. But she has it! And already has her alteration appointment set up, for the beginning of September.

Here's hoping the others will start showing up within the month or so. :)

Men's Warehouse

Yesterday we went over to Men's Warehouse and got the grooms stuff all set up! I was pretty much just there to be there, this was all Michael. We got with a woman named Jordan, she was nice. She brought over vest design samples in our color and a book with all the different styles we could choose.

The groomsmen are going to be wearing black pants, a white "dinner jacket", red vest, white shirt, and red bowtie. We moved away from the FULL white because a) it would be so hard to keep those pants clean and b) we thought it might keep it all together a bit more. It's a nice look. My little brother is going to be a junior groomsman, but we're putting him in traditional black. His coat style is going to match Michael's, but he'll have the red vest and bowtie also.

Michael is doing the traditional black tux, white shirt and vest, and he's going to have a red bowtie too. And while all the others are going to wear plain black shoes, Michael is going to be wearing these:

They are SO him. Not to mention, with the color scheme, how perfect will they be?! They're so nice.

Once we got everything picked out and written down, we went ahead and got Michael fitted for his tux and put down the deposit for his rental.

Look at him trying on the jacket :)

It was a very successful trip. We're gonna get all the guys in by the end of July. I'm really looking forward to seeing it all pull together once they put everything on. I especially can't wait to see my brother in a tux, he'll look just too cute. :3

What a Deal!!

While I was at work today I got a very unexpected phone call. A women from Men's Warehouse was on the other line. You can imagine my surprise, because we have yet to visit either them or Geno's Formal Wear to get the men set up. Renting tuxes never takes too long, so we're not in a rush there.

She was calling to ask if we had been interested in setting something up for the guys. Where they're affiliated with David's Bridal, they must have seen the information in their system about our date and what we've set up with my girls so far (Of which...3 of the 4 have been fitted and their dresses ordered! Just one to go ^^). She asked how many guys we would be looking to rent for. She THEN informed me about some specials we can take advantage of if we schedule an appointment and do the rentals through them.

We're going to be able to get $40 off every tux rental, and a $450 certificate that can go towards any suit they sell. Holy wow! So...needless to say, we have booked an appointment at Men's Warehouse for this Wednesday afternoon. :) I'm sure I'll have more to blabber about then, haha.

We Have Registered!

Michael and I both had the day off today, so we figured it would be a good time to get our wedding registry taken care of.

Our original plan when we set out was to hit up 3 places: Bed Bath and Beyond, Target, and Wal Mart. We decided almost immediately, though, to knock Wal Mart off the list. It got put on there originally for convenience - so people who didn't live anywhere near the other two would have no trouble. But... All registries can be accessed online, so that's why it disappeared.

So off we went. Bed Bath and Beyond was our first stop, since it was closest. We got in and went to the little area they have set up, and didn't have to wait long before a lady named Kimberly came over. We had to fill out a little paperwork: names, date of even, the address we wanted things shipped to that were going to be mailed (which we put down my parents' place in Winchester, they have a lot more room to store stuff, haha)... While that stuff was being filled out, so we weren't just sitting around, she pulled out a book full of china designs. Now, I'm not one of those people that wanted to have crazy expensive fine china put on our registry. But we found a great pair of everyday china that we put on there first thing.

Once all the paper stuff was taken care of, Kim got us a gun, and off we went. She stayed with us for a bit at first to make sure we were on our feet. She took us to cookware, where we picked out some nice non-stick pots, before leaving us to ourselves. That's one of the things I loved about her. She checked back with us to make sure we were doing okay, got us some bottles of water about halfway through, but she left us alone. It was nice not having someone hover over our shoulder while we did everything, but if we needed help or had questions, it didn't take 5 minutes to get it.

She recommended having around 200 items on our registry so guests could pick more than one gift if they wanted to, and we hit that mark no problem. In the end we had around 208 items or so. The best thing is if we think of other things, we can hop on the website and edit the list however we want. Though, for the most part, we got all our bases covered. Kim said we had a very well-rounded list of items. :)

One of the coolest things: Kim printed up inserts that we could put in with our invitations letting people now we were registered there. Mom planned on putting it in, she's putting together an insert with some information anyway, but there they were! They're really nice looking too.

We were in there for...probably around 2 hours. And by the time we were wrapping things up, we really didn't feel a need to go to Target. So we headed on home.

This puts us one step closer to things being done, and I'm so excited. I've been excited to get this done for a while now. And even though Michael was hesitant to be excited at first, we both had a great time doing it.

Is it October yet? ;)

engagement pictures!!

This is by far one of the most exciting things that has happened so far. Last weekend (the 11th)we got together with Crystal for picture time. The weather was perfect. She came to the apartment around 4:30, and together we set off.

We went over to the Ashland Henry Clay Estate first. Plenty of trees to help keep us out of direct sunlight, and absolutely gorgeous. I'd been there before for pictures, and was really excited to go back.

A few of my favorite shots from Henry Clay:

We spent about 45 minutes or so there before wrapping up and heading to our next destination. We headed to downtown Lexington and over to Gratz park, where the Carnegie Center is. We wandered around the area looking for cool little places, and passed two separate weddings that were going on that day, haha.

Crystal said: "I know every single photographer in town takes pictures at this door, and I really don't want to be cliche, but....it just looks so cool!!"

In total, we spent about 2 hours going around and shooting. We got a lot of pictures, more than it felt like we did when we wrapped up. It was so much fun.

The pictures all got put online a few days ago. The website she uses is really cool, you can buy prints of whatever you want directly from that site. Your basic prints are available: 8x10s, 4x6s, and wallet sizes. I can't wait to work with her more on the wedding day. :)

http://cheis.smugmug.com/Clients/kerrymichael/17628798_STsh9Z

The Basics

The wedding is going to be on October 29, 2011 at 3:00pm. Casual formal for guests (i.e. Sunday best). The reception is going to be right after the ceremony.

Our wedding party has 4 on either side. My matron of honor is Melissa (see proposal video), and my bridesmaids are Jinni (roommate and one of my bestest friends), Erica (good friend and co-worker), and Jessica (my first super close friend ever).

Michael's best man is Rob (close friend and co-worker), and his groomsmen are Blain (friend/co-worker, and Erica's husband), Jason (friend and they're on a podcast together), and Chris (manager and friend).

There is no ring bearer, but we do have a flower girl - my godparents' daughter Kate. And it's looking like my little brother, also named Michael, is going to be a junior groomsman.

Our colors are black and white, with a hint of red to pull it all together. I'll be in white (obviously) and my girls are going to be in black. Michael will be in black, and his groomsmen are going to be in white. The tuxes are going to have a red vest and bowtie, and the girls are going to have red rose bouquets and red accessories.

People

The two people we've been working with has been the photographer and minister.

We got the photographer first, and she is too great. Her name is Crystal Heis. Crystal and my mother are mutual friends with a co-worker at the UK library, which is how we got in contact with her. She used to work with Holifield Photography, and has since then branched out to do her own thing with photography, and works in one of the libraries on campus.

Her blog: http://cheisphotography.blogspot.com/

When I looked through her work the first time, I fell in love. Something about her eye, her perspectives, are so beautiful and unique. I wanted her, haha. We first met with her on location, so she could check out the Limestone Club. She is a character! We chatted for a good while, swapped stories, and just chilled before getting down to business.

For the minister, we had to browse around a bit more. Neither Michael or I are a part of a church, so we were quite unfamiliar with our options. We ended up finding Rev. Cynthia P. Cain of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Lexington. The Unitarians are very open in their beliefs, and as far as wedding ceremonies, will essentially sit down with the bride and groom and figure out what they want to get out of the service and do it. Sounded like a perfect fit. So I shot her an email.

For a little while, it seemed like this was going to fall through. When Cynthia got back to me, she informed me that there was a chance she'd be unable to do the ceremony. She's apparently going to be away on sabbatical around the time, but didn't have her schedule yet, so she had to get back to me.

Luckily, she did, and it's going to work out. She'll be free and in town that weekend. Wonderful! She sent us her fee letter, and hopefully we'll have a meeting arranged soon. :)

The Venue

Our location was one of the first things we locked down. It's a place here in Lexington, downtown, called The Limestone Club. The building was built in 1897, and originally housed the Lexington Ice Cream and Ice Company. It got restored in 1996 and was turned into a ballroom, and it is gorgeous. There is a kitchen and bathroom, and a 2-deck patio outback with a bar. And next door to the ballroom is the guest house/bridal suite. The suite...is gorgeous. It has 2 full bathrooms, a huge living area, master suite bedroom, marble shower, and...wait for it...WHIRLPOOL TUB. That is where we're going to get ready that morning, and where Michael and I will be staying the night after the ceremony.

The planner that works for the club is really nice. She took us through the ballroom and the suite, chatted with us about the wedding, and plans, and all that. Not long after our visit, we payed for and reserved it.

Their website:

http://www.limestoneclub.com/home.html

A picture slideshow of the bridal suite:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/223nlime/sets/72157624531193575/show/

The Proposal

No, not the Ryan Reynolds & Sandra Bullock movie.

The event that started it all. It's only appropriate to talk about it first.

It happened on September 3, 2010. Michael and I had been together for 2 years. We were down in Atlanta, GA, with my dearest friend (and matron of honor) Melissa and her husband Matt, at a convention. Dragon*Con! The hotel we were staying at had a viewing balcony and restaurant 73 stories high. Beautiful. The rest...is history.

They had planned it. Been planning it for months. Everyone at work knew, apparently. I had no idea. And I'm not just saying that to act surprised. I had NO IDEA.

It was one of the best moments of my life.

Hello and Welcome!

So, I am getting married.

:-D

And I randomly decided today that I should put a blog together. The main reason being is that seriously, it's all I think about right now. Almost everything I look at deals with my wedding, or weddings in general. All I want to bloody talk about is the wedding.

SO! I thought this was a better outlet for all my ramblings, thoughts, and feelings so I won't pester my fiance or friends to death. Besides, I think it's a fun way to chronicle everything. Why didn't I start this earlier? Oh well! I can play catch up with everything that's happened so far.

Prepare...for catch up.