My New Addiction...

With the fun and fury that goes with wedding planning, I have been casually browsing the internet for the last 6 months or so just trying to get general ideas of what I wanted.  But now that I'm officially engaged and in full "wedding planning" mode, I have to share with you my new internet favorite: WeddingBee

I know, everyone is all about "the knot"... but that site isn't "real" enough for me.  It's hard to find tips and ideas that are truly going to help me and fit into my budget.  Their planning tools were great, but you can only access them from their site.  I'd rather have Word and Excel documents that I can customize.  And I just don't feel like they have the right feel for the type of wedding I want.

Wedding Bee has "Bees", real brides-to-be that are hand-picked to blog about everything wedding-related (the good, the bad, and the ugly).  In addition to those bloggers, there are also Boards where anyone can post ideas... the DIY board is my favorite.  I really feel like there's ideas on there that I could actually do!

Here's a list of my favorite ideas that I want for my own wedding (I'm sure you'll see more details on these later):

• I Spy to go into an "Activity Book" for the down time.  I made my own version in Word.

• Photobooth Save-The-Dates.  I absolutely LOVE this idea... now if i can just get them printed on a magnet.  Of course that means we will be having a photobooth at our wedding as well (with the photobooth picture guest book)!

• To encourage people to participate in the bouquet/garter toss, attach some moolah or a gift card!

• Don't know if we will do a seating chart or open seating, but if I have to have Table Numbers, I want these!  What a great idea to put pictures of the bride and groom at each age/table number!  I might actually keep these after the wedding instead of just throwing them away.
•  
• I haven't picked out my dress yet, but if I have a crinoline layer, it will be PINK!  This idea is just too cute to pass on!  There's even a DIY on how to make your own instead of buying it!

• Wedding Party Newsletter.  Since I have a year and a half to plan, I want to keep everyone informed.  I figured every couple months I could send out an update.  I designed my own that are similar to this and will post it after they go out!

• A toss bouquet that's easy to catch.  Instead of sticking yourself on thorns and crushing the flowers, you can have a felt and button bouquet.  I got a link to this Etsy site from Wedding Bee.  How cute is that?!?  I might even make it be the Flower Girl's flowers too!  Plus, it's totally in the budget!

• Love Letter and Wine Box.  The bride and groom write each other a love letter, and guests can add their own letter to the couple which gets put in a box (with a bottle of wine) and sealed up kinda like a time capsule for the couple to open on their 1, 5, or 10 year anniversary.

• I know this is a semi-controversial idea, but doing a Honeymoon Registry is an idea I love!  For all of our procrastinating and/or lazy friends who don't want to make the trip out to the traditional Target or Bed, Bath and Beyond can going online and donate money to our honeymoon.  You can even set up different amounts for different excursions/activities.  I see pictures to be included with these thank you's!

There are other ideas I plan to use from this site... but I want to keep some of it a secret!  What do you think?  Are some of these ideas too out there?  As an excited bride, I love all these ideas... but as a guest, would you do these?  Would you be offended by anything here?

Jason's Views on Marriage

Every time I think of this, it makes me laugh a little.  Quotes straight from Jason's mouth... Enjoy!

The night I met Jason:

"I don't even want to THINK about being in a serious relationship until I'm 30!"

After dating for a couple months at my cousin's wedding, when I asked him if he thought we we would get married:

"I don't know.  Maybe."

After 6 months of dating at another cousin's wedding:

"Well, DUH, of course we'll get married... someday."

After a year of dating at yet another wedding:

"Can we have this, and this, and this at our wedding?"

Last weekend:
"As long as you wait until after the wedding to talk about having kids, I'm game!"

Funny how quickly they change their views!

Joint Custody

Last night, Jason and I met in Emporia for a dinner date, and to pass off Ossie.  I was a little sad to leave the little guy, but it was SO NICE to go to sleep at 10:30 and wake up at 5:45... WITH NO BREAKS!  Oss-Man usually has to go to the bathroom at least once a night (and Tuesday night it was 3 times).  As much as I miss him, I feel so rested and relaxed today!

When I first met Jason, he told me he had never had a pet dog... and didn't want one.  Not gonna lie: that was almost a deal breaker.  I hesitated to let the two meet.  Ossie can be a little... rambunctious and overwhelming at times.  I didn't want to scare Jason away.  However, when they finally met, the two were INSTANT friends (what a relief!).  I'm Oss-Man's Mommy, but Jason's his best friend.  I don't know what I would do if they didn't get along!

Ossie stays at Jason's place for a couple days every 3 or 4 weeks.  Jason loves to have Oss, and Oss loves to be at Jason's.  I totally miss the little guy, but it's nice to get a good night's sleep.

And nothing is better than knowing that when we move in together, there's a place for Oss-Man too!

Winter Break

One of the benefits of being a teacher: Winter Break!  What other job gives you two weeks off around the holidays... and still pays?!?  It's just over a week away, and I'm SO ready for the break!  Plus, I get to spend time with family and friends that I don't get to see often. 

I'm hoping to use this time to get a few details ironed out.  Although we are still a year and a half out from the wedding, here's my to-do list:

• Figure out the bridal party.
• Get the bridal party invites out (These are going to be super cute.  I'll post pictures afterward!).
• Finalize the first of the "Bridesmaids Newsletters."  Hopefully I'll be sending this out sometime this winter.
• Start a working budget.
• Get a guest list/addresses started (can you say "Christmas Card List")
• Save the Dates: I have an idea, just need to start designing it.

Former Brides: What am I missing?  Is there something else I could work on now?  I don't want to get too ahead of the game and work on something that shouldn't be done yet, but I'm trying to limit my stress later on.  (I know... You're thinking: Casey, get stressed?... Never!)

Congrats to My TWIN!!!

Wow... they are one HOTT couple!

Words cannot describe how excited I am for my cousin/twin, Kristin, to be ENGAGED!  Cory is a great guy, and I look forward to having him as a member of my extended family.  I thought I was on Cloud 9 after my engagment, but Kristin's engagment within a week put me on at least Cloud 15! :o)

Background Story Time:
Growing up, I always enjoyed the family get-togethers with my Dad's side of the family.  Not only did I love going over to Grandma and Grandpa Kuhn's house, but I also LOVED my cousins.  Lisa is a year older than me, Kristin is a year younger than me, and Laura is two years younger.  These wonderful ladies are more than just family... they're some of my closest friends.  No matter how long we go between seeing each other, we can always pick right up where we left off and talk for hours.

When we were younger, we used to play house ALL THE TIME (hey, what little girls don't love to play house?!?).  Lisa would always be the mom.  She was the supportive, nurturing one of the group.  Laura would be the baby or the dog.  She was the youngest, so that was fitting.  Kristin and I wanted to be the same, so we would be the twin teenage daughters.  We would "sneak out" to meet our boyfriends after getting grounded by Mom, or we imitated the "Saved By The Bell" characters, being cheerleaders, going to school, etc.  Whatever one of us did, the other did as well.  We loved being "twins."  

As we got to college, we both had planned to go out of state for school, but ended up being a couple hours from home.  We did, however, pick different majors.  But not long into college (and within a week or so of each other), we both switched our majors to Math Education.  We even student-taught during the same semester and graduated at the same time (I was on the 5-year plan :o).

Laura, myself, and Kristin at Lisa's Wedding

In true twin style, our engagments would be very similar as well.  Just days after my engagment, Kristin and Cory rented a small airplane and a flight instructor in Council Bluffs, Iowa.  They flew over Omaha (where they live now) and Lincoln (where they went to school).  While over Memorial Stadium, Cory proposed. 

Neither of us actually got engaged IN Memorial Stadium, but we both got our proposals about as close as the guys could get it.  Do our guys know us or what???

Kristin's wedding will end up being months before mine (they've been dating much longer than Jason and me, so she's had more time to plan), but I'm sure we'll be comparing notes and helping each other along the way.  I'd be lying if I said I hadn't considered changing my wedding time-frame to match hers for just a moment (don't worry, it's not changing).

Stolen from Facebook :o)

Congrats to Kristin, my twin, and Cory, my soon-to-be psuedo-brother-in-law!  I'm almost as excited for your wedding as I am my own!

The "Announcement"

Think back about 7 years... to a pre-historic time... a time before Facebook.  Or some 15 years ago before the dawn of time... to a time before texting and cell phones...

How the heck did people announce their engagement?!?

I spent the first weekend of my engagement informing people of the good news.  Each phone call seemed to cover the same questions: How did he do it?  Is there a ring?  What does it look like?  Have you chosen a date?  Did you cry?


As happy as I was to share the news, it seemed like a task.  I just wanted to sit back and enjoy being "engaged."  Instead, I racked up record minutes on my cell.  Jason's list of people to tell was MUCH shorter, so while he got to relax and watch TV, I was on the phone.


Then the texting started.  I texted some of my friends a picture of the ring.  Texting went SO much faster!  I could just send a picture with a quick message to my friends.  Most of them texted back a congrats message, a few called.

And then, two days after the proposal actually happened, I posted it on Facebook.  This is by far the most efficient way of letting people know of the engagement, but also the most impersonal.  All of my friends were notified on their next log-in to Facebook.  I had comments and likes on my "changed relationship status," comments on my wall, messages sent through Facebook, and both texts and phone calls to my cell phone.


I think my favorite part of posting it on Facebook was the comparison to the postings on my wall versus Jason's.  All of my friends were excited, happy, and knew it was coming (eventually).  Jason's friends, however, were totally shocked.  Phrases like "Holy Shit," and "WOW!!!" only appeared on his page.  It made me smile.


I just can't imagine having to tell everyone in person (or one phone call at a time) about the engagement.  That would take MONTHS!  Or did people just pass the news by word-of-mouth?


I'm sure I offended some people in the process by not telling them in person or calling them immediately after, but I honestly felt a little overwhelmed by the number of people I wanted to tell, and how long it actually took.  If I offended you, I apologize.

Is it bad that I just wanted to relax and enjoy my time with Jason?  
I think not. :o)

The Rock

So here's the story behind my ring (be forewarned, this is a brag post)...

After Jason started warming up to the idea of marriage, I brought up the ring topic.  He said that he refused to go ring shopping with me.  Although I trust him, I explained that I'm going to be the one wearing this ring (hopefully for a LONG time), so I want it to be something that I loved.  He refused to budge on letting me go with him.

So what did I do?  Well, one day last summer while I was chilling at his apartment (he was at work), I created a "Jason, Look Here!!!" folder in Internet Explorer.  I saved pictures/ideas/inspiration with rings that I liked.  When he came home that day, I mentioned that I had created it, and he should look at it.  He refused.  In fact, it was months before he even looked in the folder.

After he told me he was at least entertaining the idea of ring shopping, I decided to play a little "hard ball."  Every time a jewelry commercial came on the radio, I turned it up loud.  I took "minor detours" to drive by jewelry stores in KC and casually mentioned them.

I told him that I wanted something unique... I didn't want to get the "Oh, my cousin has that same ring!" comment.  I wanted something a little different.

So Jason went to many different jewelry stores (in both Wichita and KC) and used my picture folder as inspiration.  When he told them what he wanted, most of them looked at him funny.  They had NEVER heard of a ring like that.  Then he went to Shane Company. :o)  When he told them what he wanted, they created it.  From scratch.  There's no other ring like it.  And I LOVE IT!!!!!

And let me just say, this picture doesn't do it justice.  It's AMAZING!

Monogram

After HOURS of downloading and trying out different fonts, I think I've finally decided which font to use in our monogram: Irezumi!  It's a fun, "handwriting" font that (I hope) is a little eccentric, but still easy to read.  I plan to use it on all of the paper products (STD's, invitations, programs, aisle runner, thank you's, maybe even decor at the reception).

Of course, the date isn't final yet, but here is the design so far:

Thoughts?  Is it readable?  I'm a little worried it's too hard to read.  Should I make the date bigger?  Space things out differently?

And so it begins...

So I wanted a chance to keep everyone in the loop on all of our wedding details... I thought this website might be a great way to do that!  It's still a work-in-progress as we haven't finalized ANYTHING about the wedding yet, but here's what I'm thinking (Jason may or may not agree with these :o)

• May/June 2012 date
• Outdoor Wedding (with a VERY easy option for an indoor wedding in the event of bad weather... I'd stress WAY too much without this!)
• Ceremony and Reception preferably at the same location or VERY close to each other
• Open Bar (of some sort) is a must :o)
• Colors: Black, White, Bright Pink, and Silver/Gray
• Stars will be incorporated into the theme (if you know me, this is a "duh!")
• I'm going to try to DIY as much of this wedding as possible

I'm open to any and all suggestions, so former (and soon-to-be) brides, let me know any tips, hints, or recommendations.

I'm so excited!  I can't wait to start planning!