Halloween

Better late than never...  We spent Halloween at our friends house who live two houses down from this big haunted one, which is known as the Hatchet House, it even had hatchets on the windows.  Supposedly, the father hatched his girl to death or something in the park.  But, because of this story this street is huge for Halloween.  Our friends were told to buy hundreds of dollars of candy, and they did and they still ran out and had to turn their light off early!  So, here are our costumes!

New venue, new date, new everything...well almost anyway.

Okay, a lot has happened since I last posted.  We now have a new venue.  We have chosen The Sand Plum at the Victor Building in Guthrie, OK.  Also, we have a new date, May 29, 2010.  Kris and I were going to go see The Dominion House and we figured that while we were already in Guthrie, we would look at the Sand Plum as well.  We went to the Sand Plum first, fell in love, and the Dominion House couldn't compare. 

I'm way more excited about this place than I ever was about stupid Coles Garden.  We are still crossing our fingers that we get our deposit back.

On a lighter note, my dress is here!!!!!!!  I only need to add a bustle, get it hemmed, and one other thing, otherwise it fits like a glove. 


And, I went and added a whole lot of stuff to the website....

Venues and Snuggies

Going to see the Sand Plum and Dominion House today, Dominion House has May 22 open as of two days ago.  Crossing fingers...  On a lighter note, to make me feel better about all the wedding crap Kris went and bought me a Breast Cancer Awareness Snuggie.  Photos to follow.  And, we are doing the Breast Cancer Walk on Saturday!

Oh My God, I don't even know where to start.

I got a letter in the mail the other day that Coles Garden sent saying, sorry they are going into forclosure and will not be able to host our wedding.  Isn't that just amazing!  Our wedding is in 6 months!  We now have 6 months to find a new place which I have realized is impossible since I have called all the alternative places to no avail.

Options...

A. Dominion House
B. Chesapeake Boat House
C. Sand Plum
D. Tres Suenos
E. Some Lady's Backyard
F. Oklahoma Heritage Museum

Option A. is the best with E. being the last resort.  Option B. is a little small, but awesome.  C. wouldn't be an outside wedding,  D. would be cool, but it is Oklahoma wine, and F. is a little pricey.  I'm a little stressed and I almost never get stressed out, because I planned this stupid thing a year ago!!  AAAACK.  Okay, breathe.  The Dominion House at least has May 22 open for the moment.  And, I have been to a wedding there, Melanie's, she sent me a message saying they were great, although the backup plan for rain wasn't pretty it was stress free.  And, I imagine they are the same price a stupid Coles Garden.  Well, at least, I hadn't gotten the flowers or the hotel or our honeymoon yet.  Thank God.

back from KC and first present

Back from KC.  We had so much fun!  Went the the big art fair they have every year, went to a real farmers market, had some awesome BBQ, and had some great times with friends. 

We also received our first wedding gift off of the registry from our friends Erin and Dan.  Love it, can't wait to use it at my famous Christmas Tea Party.  Thank you also to Martha Stewart, how I love thee as well.  Erin said anyone else registering for a teapot would be ridiculous, but for you, we bought it, ha.

If I won the lottery today I would open up a tea shop, sigh.

Oh, and this is Erin, one of my bridesmaids.

We may have been slightly inebriated at this moment, but she lives in KC so we don't see each other very often and don't have many photos, and need to work on this.

shoes schmoos.

I decided to  not use either pair of shoes and keep looking.  Maybe, I don't even want blue anymore maybe some bad ass gray shoes.  Something that would stand out in photos.

My "save the dates" are here, hopefully to be mailed out in October. 

On a different note going to Kansas City to see our friends, so excited!  I love Kansas City, if I didn't have family here and strangely didn't love Oklahoma so much, I would definitely consider moving.  Kris too.

website

So far people like the shoes with the peeptoe.  And, since they are the most comfortable, I will keep those hidden for a while.

And, I think we are going to go the cheaper and more environmentally friendly route and have people RSVP on a website.  I changed from theknot.com to mywedding.com since the website now matches what I think the invitations will look like.

http://www.mywedding.com/kriskate/

Shoes and more

Okay, so I'm working on the save the date ideas and Kris and I were thinking about using one of my paintings, and I like the idea of magnets so we'll see. Even though we are not using the color orange, this painting holds significance. Before Kris and I had met, I had this painting in an art show and told him about the show. He went fearing the worst and hoping that I wouldn't be some crazy artist who paints pregnant ladies with fish in their bellies...oh wait I am... And, this is the painting he saw, phew.
On a different note...
I really need to set a date with a florist just to throw my ideas out there.

And onto shoes... I want to do the blue shoe thing, and when I was ordering boots the other day for my Halloween costume (which is awesome by the way,) here is a hint...I came across two cheap blue pairs and of course bought them both. I'm not sure they are what I am wanting, but truth is I don't really care that much about my shoes. Out of the two pairsI like the ones on the left better, but they are not as comfortable as the ones on the right. So, I'll probably save the ones on the left in case I can't find anything better and wear the ones on the right the next time I go out! My one reader, Bellagio, what do you think? I would put a photo of my dress up here, I'm pretty sure Kris doesn't read this, but in the off-hand chance he might one day I won't. A little tradition never hurt anybody.

Initial Meeting at Coles Garden

So, we had our initial meeting at Coles Garden to see what we had done and whatnot.
Here's how the meeting went...

her-"Our minister..."
me-"We're not going to use your minister."
her-"Our ceremony music..."
me-"We're not going to use your ceremony music."
her-"Our baker..."
me-"We're bringing in our own baker for the cake."
her-"Our DJ..."
me-"We're not going to use your DJ."
her-"Well, we changed our policy and we no longer allow outside DJs."
me-"Well, you told us we could have our own DJ."
her-"Oh yeah, I guess there is a note here saying that. We changed the policy that day because we had an outside DJ do a wedding and it was awful and reflected poorly on us."
me-"Well, I talk to Kris."

I do feel like I'm kinda being a Bridezilla, but I also feel like I'm not asking for much, and its our wedding so if we want to pay extra to bring in all our own things, I think they should let us. It's our choice not theirs. And, the wedding should reflect us not them.

-We know a DJ, who is Kris' good friend. And, he has done weddings before
-My sister is going to do the photography for basically free. With the help of an assistant since she is also one of the maids of honor. FrannieandCakePhotography.
-My sister's friend is a really awesome cook and baker, so she will make our cake. Plus who really remembers the cake anyway, unless its really bad or really good?
-Kris knows a lot of musicians so hopefully one will be willing to play some acoustic guitar at the ceremony, instead of their lame keyboardist, who I heard was really cheesy.
-And, we're going to use the same judge who married my Mom and Stepdad, who is a friend of the family.
-We also want to bring in specialty cheeses from Forward Foods, and I had to fight for that as well even though they already told me they'd let me do it.

I guess to get what you want in a weddings its worth fighting for, but really annoying.

Still need to get on the ball with...
-flowers.
-invitations.
-honeymoon.
-and talk to all of the people we know above again.

Post Wedding

The trip was a lot of fun. Not a big fan of Virginia though, everything seemed like a big hassle and the traffic was awful and kind of ghetto. Where we stayed it was really nice though and it was really fun getting to see everyone. The wedding was for one of Kris' high school friends. The wedding was really sweet and the dj let me get my shout on.I do know that at my wedding I definitely want all of that cheesy crappy wedding music played, like Shout and the Electric Slide and the Hokey Pokey, heck yes, bring those on. You only get to dance to them once in a wedding dress!
I love Kris' friends though, when I met them I knew I wanted them to be my friends forever too.

I did take home a pretty awful souvenir in the form of a sunburn from Virgina Beach. The beach was a lot of fun, thanks to Angela for giving us directions to a good one! All in all, it was a blast! Oh, and I spent too much money. OH well!

Virginia Wedding

We're going to a wedding in Virginia this weekend. Kris is actually a groomsmen, so we fly out on Thursday, which is when the bachelor and bachelorette parties are. The wedding is Saturday, but we've decided to stay an extra day to hit the beach on Sunday. The wedding in Newport News, and should be fun, I can't wait!

After that, I really need to start getting flowers and invitations started!

Frannie and Cake Photography

My sister just did a wedding at Coles Garden and some recent bridal photos if you are interested in her work, its different from the usual wedding photography. Here's the link...

Frannie and Cake Photography

and more dresses...

So, the dress is officially paid for and ordered!

I went and tried my two favorites once again just to make sure and it confirmed what I thought, so we ordered and paid for it. Its the Enzoani gown from before and stunning. When we went to the bridal shop I mention bridesmaid dresses and then they had Ande try on a few, and I decided on my bridesmaid dresses as well. (I had some in mind already.) They are Mori Lee gowns and I decided on 784 in Vintage Silver taffeta. You can go to the link and change the color to the last switch. Also, you can add the halter and see it there. Otherwise this is the wrong color, but its the dress.
On a different note, we went to Coles Garden today for another visit. And, we are 90% sure that we are going to change the wedding and have it there. That means the wedding date will change too. Kris and I have two anniversaries one is our first date which was April 19, and then the day we had "the talk" date which was Cinco de Mayo. So, at Cole's Garden the date would be April 24, 2010. Right between our anniversaries which I think is perfect. They have three different gardens but we would have to use the Royal garden since we are going to have 150+ people. And, Kris and I like the walled in garden for a more intimate feel.

Keep in mind my colors are light pink, gray, and white(because that is the color of linens Coles uses) with lime green accents.

setback

Minor setback...since my Mom is a teacher and has been in school until now I think she just now started to think about wedding plans, and is freaking out. A lot. With deciding on the Myriad Gardens we do have to everything from catering, to cleanup, to decorations, to booze. Now that she has had time on her hands to think this through she is thinking it is too much work, plus with it being outside in Oklahoma in April, is stressing her out. Especially all the finer details.

Perks of Myriad are
-we have control of everything
-allowed to bring in our own booze
-outside is awesome
-cheap

Drawbacks are
-parking is a bitch
-inside not so hot for a ceremony inside, if it rains
-finding catering
-finding flowers
-finding etc.

She has now decided that despite the higher price tag of Coles Garden, they might be the better choice because they do everything for you. It will make our wedding more expensive, but I told her if her sanity is worth a couple thousand extra dollars then its worth it. But, all of use are going to have to think about it. Sigh. And, we have to decide by the end of the month because she has a meeting with the Myriad to sign contracts.

I knew things were going too smoothly.

Dresses, dresses

I did go dress shopping at three places.

My first appointment was at 11:30 at JJ Kelly the high end store. The customer service was awesome. Except, I could only afford to try on sale Monique Lhuillier dresses, etc. with stains or something wrong, and then they would have to be greatly altered. Then my next stop was Bella Rose, where they claim to have affordable indulgence or something like that... Their dresses were definitely more in my price range. Although they did made you put the dresses on yourself, which is no easy task, and they were really nice and helpful. Then just to be on the safe side we went to the Walmart of bridal stores, yes, David's Bridal and it was awful. I felt like I was a lab rat, and that's all there is to it. Although they did have the cheapest dresses, they only had one with sleeves and lace they called the jenna bush dress and my mom vetoed it upon hearing the name.

The dress I decided on was actually not quite what I was expecting, but you never know until you try it on, and it was at Bella Rose. Its an Enzoani gown, reasonably priced in my range and stunning on. The bridesmaid dresses I think are going to be vintage silver taffeta by Mori Lee.

wedding website

So, besides this fabulous blog I have created a wedding website for good measure at that fancy place called theknot.com if you are interested.

Kate and Kris

Honeymoon and dresses, dresses, onto dresses

We had been discussing many different options for the honeymoon that we both liked from different cruises including a European cruise, which would be awesome but too expensive, to Maui. Kris really isn't a beach person though, and me being super pale and anti-tanning am pretty okay with that. We haven't booked anything yet, but we did decided where we wanted to go officially. California Wine Country, Northern Sonoma County, here we come, in less than a year. It's perfect for us really, since we are both wine lovers and met at the liquor store. I have narrowed down the city and some of the places that we could possibly stay. I want to stay in Healdsburg because is located near a few awesome vineyards and within walking distance of the city you can visit all sorts of little shops.

Some possibilities for hotel or B & B are...
Les Mars Hotel This one is the most expensive, but really nice
Madrona Manor I like this one a lot, just look at the outside
Camelia Inn This is one of the cheaper ones, and adorable, I love the atmosphere
Hotel Healdsburg This one would be Kris' favorite because of its modern flair, I would enjoy the spa
Honor Mansion This one is really expensive as well, and awesome

I'm leaning towards staying a couple nights at one and a couple at the other for the week. And I like Camelia, Madrona, and Hotel Healdsburg the best.
-
On dresses, I finally made some appointments for next Wed, which should please my sister since she has been bugging me about it since we got engaged. Though, I will admit, I'm really excited as well. I'll keep you posted on what happens next Wed. And, onto the catering!

I am lucky to know some amazing people who are helping to keep my costs down, and its one less thing to have out of the way.

-Kris has a friend who will be the DJ
-My sister is going to the photographer and Maid of Honor, with assistance
-My sister's friend makes amazing cakes, and will make mine, which I want to be modern and simple

the date

We have a date!!!! April 3, 2010. We signed the ceremony date with Myriad Gardens at the Water Stage. And, we are leaning towards having the reception there as well. Then having an after party at the Renaissance Marriott Hotel downtown, for all of us youngsters who still want to party and hang out. The people staying at the Renaissance could literally walk to the wedding since it is two blocks away. At least, one thing is down, now we just need to make the reception final and then catering and the dress that everyone keeps bugging me about! Until the next news...

still no reception venue

Next on the list will be to check out some hotels downtown. We went to Will Roger's Theatre, but one of the thing we really want to do is have Forward Foods cater the cocktail hour with all sorts of cheese, and Will Roger's said no to that, although so far Will Roger's was the best looking place we have seen so far. They were incredibly hard to get a hold of and set an appointment up with, though, and expensive.

I do also know that I want to have a candy bar, and not some lame one with candy like snickers or twix, one like this at Oh! Nuts, with pink and green candy in fancy bowls.

So far the wedding planning is on hold until we find a reception venue. arg.

Oklahoma wedding fun

Good weddings in Oklahoma are hard to come by. Thank you mom for giving my the money and budget. She is awesome. So, I do think I have officially decided that we are going to use the Myriad Gardens and going to get married on the Water Stage. The stage has been updated since this photo and has built in chairs that seat 210 in place of the cement benches. Also, they are going to refinish the stage. So, as long as the weather permits, which there is never a guarantee on any kind of weather in Oklahoma, the wedding will be here. The reception is another story, still looking in the downtown OKC area. And, there is no date set as of yet, March 27 or April 3?

But, I do know what the wedding colors will be. Thank you paint swatches. This is pretty close, the colors may vary ever so slightly with different hues.Sort of a warm limey olive green or an apple green, dark warm gray or maybe a slate gray, and light pink, breast cancer awareness style. Really, the I'm not so sure about the hue of each one. After I chose the main colors gray and pink with green accents, I then found out that my Mom's wedding colors were green and pink, so hurrah, good choices Mom. I want my bridesmaid dresses to be gray. Maybe with green shoes. And, then I really like the pink ranunculus with green in the middle. And the green ones are pretty awesome, I have to admit.And, I also think wheatgrass centerpieces would be really cool. Probably with rectangular low white or gray vases though. Okay, enough for today.

Wedding Venues Round II

So, the Skirvin was okay, I had my sister with me who has taken photos for them so they offered me $2,000 off and gave me a free ashtray with candy in it from B.C. Clarks. Ha. Still, $8,000 for just the reception is too much money.

Myriad Gardens went well, I just have too many guests to do an inside wedding in the garden, though I could do an outside wedding. The only problem with that is that Oklahoma weather is crazy. Ideally I would like an outside wedding, so cross your fingers. Still looking a venues for the reception, the reception area in the Myriad was pretty awesome for the Crystal Bridge, but not so cool for outside weddings. Sigh, still more places to look for.

Civic Center Music Hall, and
Will Rogers Theatre,
here I come, and I still like the Public Market a lot as well.

Venues

Who knew finding the right wedding venue and reception would be so hard? For some reason I feel like I am a lot more picky than other people. Or maybe most people get married in churches and I want an outside wedding in a garden. And, I want a really cool modern venue for a reception but still be romantic, no bows on my chairs please. So, I guess if I were to become a bridezilla it would be about this. I have seen 4 different places, I do have a favorite, but have mixed feelings.

-Cole's Garden was too expensive, but not ruled completely out. They have some really cool gardens.
-The Hamilton Event Center was too small, and overpriced for how small it was. But, for a smaller wedding than ours would make a good reception.
-Castle Falls was too rude, the lady didn't even introduce herself to us. Plus, they have a lot of really weird and strict rules. But, the castle, grounds, and history of the place was really cool.
-The Farmer's Public Market was a little ghetto on the outside, but really awesome on the inside, and the customer service was amazing.

I have noticed that so far most wedding venues are located in ghetto areas, some of them just hide it better than others.

Next on the list to see are the Myriad Botanical Gardens and the Skirvin, and then perhaps some places in Guthrie. Sigh, this is hard. I just have too high of expectations I suppose.

Engaged

So, I haven't been doing any art unless you count rearranging books at work as art. But, there have been some exciting things to happen in my life lately. So, maybe it is time for me to change my blog into something else, so that I might actually use it.

A month ago on Friday the 13th, I was planning on going to a lovely dinner with my boyfriend to celebrate Valentine's Day early. His birthday is February 15th, so we had a planned a party for him on Valentine's night. He had made reservations at Boulevard Steakhouse, and when we got there we had to wait at the bar for a table, which is one my biggest pet peeves at restaurants. The point of a reservation is to not have to wait, at least in my opinion. Then when we were finally to be seated, the lady led us through the whole restaurant even through the lounge area, and said to Kris, "didn't you say non-smoking?" Since, I have asthma I like to know ahead of time if I am going to be around smoking. His response was, "things are about to get interesting."

So, we get to our room, which is a back room in the restaurant, and I see Ande first, then my sister, and my mom, and Tony, and all of Kris' close family and friends. And, I think in my head, Oh my God, he is going to propose to me. Then I think, maybe he's not, maybe he's not. And then he picks up a champagne glass hands it to me and picks one up himself. And, I think, Oh my God he is. He proposes, I can't even really remember what he said, I just started crying and couldn't see the ring, and I shook my head yes, and said yes. And, everyone was hugging me, and I was in shock and couldn't even look at the menu for about 10 minutes. It was perfect, and crazy, and I love him. I had no idea, he had it planned since the beginning of the year and everyone knew, but me.

But, now comes the wedding planning, so, maybe for the time this will be a wedding planning blog.

Before Kris I was always the girl who looked at wedding magazines in disdain, and thought I would get married later in life. But, being with Kris made me want to get married and do all those stupid things other girls do, and look at pretty wedding things, gross. And, it was embarrassing, but here I am planning a wedding, and enjoying it, mostly.