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Hey y'all!

Just wanted to let everyone know that I am on Twitter as SomethingBlueAL. Please follow be there if you're also on Twitter!

I am looking forward to vegging out with Brian tonight and getting my dress fitted and shopping with my mom tomorrow!

-K

Wedding cake porn...

First off, I have to share an awesome blog with y'all. It's called Cake Wrecks and it is hilarious! All they do is post pictures of truly horrible cakes. My favorite category is Missed Marks, where you can see a photo of what the cake was supposed to look like and how it ended up in the end....truly horrifying.

I think I am in good hands with Marty at Publix. I've been trying to come up with some more ideas for our cake, as I think we'll more than likely be doing a 3-tier cake (rather than 4) and possibly a small groom's cake too. So without further ado, cake porn!!!

Love this piping....

Like the idea of putting blue hydrangeas (rather than pink peonies) in between the tiers if it's not too $$.

Love the detail on this.

Simple, classic...

Another one with breathtaking details.

I think this is really doable for us, and I like the color too.

Maybe a little too whimsical, but very cute.

If $ were no object, and I could get any cake, this would be it... just like it is pictured here.

-K

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes!

Hi everyone!

It's been a busy weekend and a busy Monday and Tuesday too!

We are changing the company we're using for our reception linens! I got a postcard in the mail over the weekend advertising a special with coverupslinens.com.

It said: Ask about our 2009 Early Booking Special. $2.69 for any color Basic Cover & Organza Sash - just mention offer #BB209 when booking. Includes shipping. For orders booked prior to March 31, 2009.

Their e-mail is info@coverupslinens.com and their phone is 877-777-6417. They are out of Roswell, Ga., and can overnight ship to all of Alabama and Georgia and I would guess they can ship a lot further too!

It just so happens that I will be attending a wedding on March 21 in Atlanta and my mom will be attending a bridal shower on March 22, so we are going over to the Coverups Linens showroom on March 21 to make our selections. They told us that would not be too late, woohoo! (c:

A nice sales rep sent my mom a couple swatches over e-mail that I like:

Sparkle blue organza chair sash

White polyester chair cover

Here's our wedding schedule for the next month or so:

Sat. Feb 28: First dress fitting and shopping for my mom's dress.
Fri March 6-Sun March 8: My Bachelorette Party in New Orleans!!!
Sat. March 21: Appointment at CoverUps Linens showroom.
Sat. March 28: Hair run-through and makeup consult at Cleopatra's Oasis Salon in Gulf Shores, Ala.
Mon. March 30: Appt. to pick out bouquet ribbon and discuss reception centerpiece layout with our florist, All Island Flowers.
Sometime between March 28-30: Make cake order at Orange Beach, Ala., Publix.
Mon. March 30: Get marriage license at Baldwin Co. courthouse in Bay Minette, Ala.

The big projects left are:

1. Finalize ceremony program and make program fans.
2. Get shoes dyed -- possibly light blue!
3. Finish bridesmaids' gifts. I so wish I could blog about this but I will wait until after the wedding as I don't want to ruin the surprise!
4. Work out exactly what we want for aisle markers (we are thinking large nautical lanterns of some sort) and centerpieces (beyond the flowers) and buy whatever is needed (votives, starfish, lanterns, whatever).
5. Decorate flower girl basket and get flower girl dress.
6. Make sure Brian gets his suit altered.
7. Make sure my ring bearer gets his outfit set - we are looking for a white/ivory camp shirt and khaki pants.
8. Work on lingerie shower invites.
9. Finish Blurb photo guestbook.

Phew.

-K

Blog award!

Thanks to Jenn at With This Ring... for this Love Ya award!

“These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.”!

I give this blog award to:

1. Five Tomatoes To Freedom
2. Habbala: Spazzing Since 1985
3. The Bona Fide Preppy Bride
4. Learning to be a Wife
5. Sail on Silver Girl

and five is about all my fried brain can come up with right now! If you've already received this award then just disregard!

-K

Be at Peace

This is for everyone who may be going through some tough times at work like myself. Actually, it applies to any sort of tough time you may be going through:

"Be at Peace," by Saint Francis de Sales

Do not look forward in fear to the changes in life;
rather, look to them with full hope that as they arise,
God will lead you safely through all things;
and when you cannot stand it, God will carry you in His Arms.

Do not fear what may happen tomorrow;
the same understanding Father Who cares for you today
will take care of you tomorrow and every day.
He will either shield you from suffering or will give you the unfailing strength to bear it.
Be at peace then, and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginations.

-K

Mandatory furlough

Well, it looks like the wedding and honeymoon will now take place during part of a mandatory, company-wide 10-day non-paid furlough. Luckily the pay reduction will be spread out over several months' worth of paychecks.

So, now we are staying on the Disney honeymoon an extra day and I'll have vacation days left for later in the year. So see, there is a silver lining.

It's been a really busy day (severe weather, finding out about the furlough, etc.) and I am EXHAUSTED but I'll have lots more to blog about soon!

-K

My Videographers!

So let me tell you about our videographer odyssey.

First off, I couldn't decide whether I even wanted a videographer for our wedding. Brian didn't really care and would have rather used the money to buy himself a nice video camera and set it up for the ceremony and reception. I was wavering, as I'm a little squeamish about being the center of attention and having 2 videocameras hovering around certainly wouldn't make that feeling any better....

Finally, I started leaning toward 'yes' for a videographer. My mom and I went to the bridal show in Birmingham last fall, and at the bridal show, my absolute favorite of all the videographers there was
Superium Productions a 2-guy operation. One of them, Keith, has been doing wedding videos for more than 20 years, and Nick is about my age and has been doing them for a couple years now. They shoot in HD and use a camera stabilizer system, which makes it all look sooo super smooth and professional. But when I was at the bridal show, their prices were so high! They started at $1,700, and with the extra mileage cost to Gulf Shores and the hotel stay, it would have tallied up at well over $2K and out of our budget range.

So, I started researching videographers in Baldwin County and came up with one that sounded OK. I got great referrals on her and some good sample videos. We were about ready to sign the contract with her and send in the deposit when Nick from Superium Productions e-mailed me out of the blue and told me about some major pricing changes for 2009.

I was so excited! Packages starting at $1,000?!? So I contacted Nick and told him we were interested. Keith and Nick came out to my parent's house last Sunday for a personalized consultation. It turns out that they need a beach wedding for their portfolio, so they are throwing in a third camera with the camera stabilizer system for FREE! And it gets even better, they are also throwing in a "Love Story" (you can see some samples here) which normally cost $800, also for FREE! The only downside is that random people on the street might recognize me because they are using our video as a beach wedding sample for when they go to bridal shows! lol!

All in all, I am really excited about hiring Nick and Keith at Superium Productions. If they do a great job (and I have faith they will) then I plan to shout it out from the rooftops and hopefully get them some good PR with wedding mags and blogs.

-K

My Valentine's Day surprise

My mom and I were out shopping ALL DAY on Saturday. She returned some things to several stores, we bought a few doodads for the wedding, and she got me three new blouses from Kohl's!

The big plus -- we found shirts for the groomsmen at Kohl's! And after the sale and coupons, they were only $20 apiece! They had 3 of them there and I had to order 2 more from their Web site.

I finally got home around 9:30 p.m. and this was what I walked in to:

Pinwheel salmon stuffed with crabmeat on a bed of spinach! YUM! Green beans, twice-baked potato, and a roll. And red wine, of course. Brian OUTDID himself, it was all amazing!

I thought it couldn't get any better when he told me to close my eyes and came back with this from the kitchen...


Isn't that the cutest thing ever? The cake is half-and-half, meaning chocolate-vanilla-chocolate-vanilla in 4 layers. It was all amazing and so sweet of Brian to actually bake for me! The reason he made the cake is because I had brought up the idea of doing half-and-half for our wedding cake. And the Mickey and Minnie is because we are both DYING to go on the Disney honeymoon! I'm so excited, it almost doesn't feel real!

We are working out tonight -- I nearly ran a 5K last week on the treadmill and I want to do it again!

-K

Doing our part to help the economy

Whew! I've had a couple busy days at work. My mom and I are constantly e-mailing and calling about stuff like champagne flutes, cake servers, etc.

We both just want to get a lot of these small details wrapped up and bought so that we can concentrate on getting my dress fitted, finding an outfit for my mom, and so that I can work on the programs!

Here are a few more things we need to buy:

1. Flowers for the flower girl.

2. Tiny acrylic diamonds for reception centerpieces.

4. Small starfish for reception centerpieces and flower girl basket trying to decide between finger/pencil starfish and knobby starfish -- any thoughts?

5. Starfish pew markers.

6. Wedding photo guestbook -- I have decided on Blurb and I have already started on it! I think it is going to look phenomenal!

7. Two large baskets for wedding program fans. Odds are my mom already has a couple of these but we'll see.

I am also thinking about getting bottled water and putting it at the ceremony site in a large tin bucket tub with ice and personalized water bottle labels. We'll have some older folks attending so I think it would be a nice gesture.

I'm going to be blogging about my bachelorette party and our videographers soon!

-K

Ceremony music!

We have decided on our ceremony music! I got confirmation from our Pastor today that the musician can play our songs. We are having an acoustic guitarist play. Very simple, very beachy, very "us," since Brian played guitar a lot when we first met. He hasn't played very much recently but maybe he will pick it up again.

Anywho, our guitarist will play for 30 minutes prior to and after the ceremony. Here are our picks for the actual ceremony itself:

Family and bridal party entrance: "I Will" by The Beatles.



My entrance: "Sunshine of My Life" by Stevie Wonder.



Recessional: "Blessed" by Brett Dennen. I couldn't find an acoustic version of this but Dennen uses an acoustic guitar in the original anyhow.



What do y'all think of our picks? We didn't want to go too obviously beachy, like Beach Boys, Jack Johnson, etc. We both love The Beatles, Brian has ALWAYS thought of me when he hears "Sunshine" and "Blessed" is such an uplifting, happy song!

-K

Updated to-do list

• Make photo guestbook on Blurb.com or Kodak Gallery. (anyone have recommendations?)
  
• Order flower girl petals and make flower girl basket.
  
• Order small starfish for flower girl basket and reception centerpieces.
• Order acrylic ice for reception centerpieces.
  
• Order cake topper and pew markers.
• Buy 2 large baskets for program fans.
  
• Trip to buy flower girl dress -Feb. 21.
• First wedding dress fitting -Feb. 28.
• Have Men's Wearhouse tailor Brian's suit.
  
• Pick out khakis and white shirt for groomsmen and ring bearer.
  
• Finalize wedding ceremony and music and make wedding program fans.
• Finalize plans for wedding arch with officiant.
  
• Make hotel reservations for hair & makeup run-through and cake consult, weekend of March 28-29.
• Make plans to film the first part of our Love Story with Superium Productions. (I'll be blogging more about this later!)
• Make plans for bouquet preservation with Keepsake Floral. They are based in Orlando and I can drop off the flowers myself! Yay, no shipping cost!
  
• Get day-of questions answered by The Beach Club.

I have eliminated one thing from the list: favors! I decided that the wedding program fans are favor enough.

-K

Call for followers!

I have started following a lot of bloggers recently through Blogger. I used to just follow everyone through my Google Reader, but now I'm following through Blogger too.

Please, if you read my blog, follow me through Blogger if you have an account! I'd love to get an idea of who's visiting. My blog is just starting to pick up a little steam and I need all the help I can get!

I just love getting comments from other brides, hopeful brides, and wedding professionals!

-K

The lay of the land

Today I am sharing some photos of our venue! These were taken during our scouting trip to The Beach Club last April 2008.

First off, the ceremony site:

The view looking toward the beach from the condo towers.

The start of the boardwalk that leads to the beachside ceremony site.

Walking down the boardwalk "aisle" toward the ceremony site.

The view of the condo towers from the ceremony site.

I don't have a photo with me right now of the actual ceremony site... but basically it just a photo of the sand overlooking the ocean. You get the idea.

And now, the reception room! It is called the Island Room and is toward the front of The Beach Club property.

It's basically a big square room with 2 low overhangs on either side. Our dance floor will definitely be bigger than the one pictured!

I love the high ceilings and the cool chandeliers!

Thanks for taking a tour of our venue!

-K

Looking up... invitations... and TGIF!

Things are looking up a bit for Brian and me. There's a possibility that he will cook at a dinner party soon, and there's also a possibility that he will get to go make some moolah covering the Spring Poker Classic in Tunica, Mississippi.

Aside from being an awesome chef, Brian is also a huge poker buff. He has the poker blog on al.com (sometimes people even recognize him in public, it's pretty funny) and he has worked for a couple different poker Web sites as a freelance blogger/writer. But the work had just dried up over the last 6 months or so. So I will continue to pray that he can get some on-the-side work while working toward a full-time job here in the Ham.

In more exciting wedding news.....

I addressed all the invitations last night!!! All but a handful with new addresses that I'm still waiting on went out in the mail today! I took some photos of the finished products with Brian's camera this morning at home, so I will upload those when I get home tonight. What a weight off my shoulders!!

Lastly, I changed my blog layout yet again. I keep gravitating toward a blue hydrangea-centered theme.

We are meeting with the videographers on Sunday. Can't wait to blog about that experience, they seem like awesome, fun guys.

Have a great weekend!

-K

Praying

To say that money has been tight for Brian and me lately is an understatement. Virtually all of my paycheck goes to the mortgage, the utilities, and the credit cards. There is a little left over each paycheck for groceries.

It's been causing a lot of problems for Brian and I, and I don't like fighting, especially as we get closer to the wedding. But it's causing a lot of stress on both of us. He's spending his free time fixing up the house, which I appreciate greatly, but what I really want is for Brian to have a job. And they're really tough to come by these days.

And since Brian works in the hospitality/restaurant biz, there are a lot of deceptive, flaky people. I don't recommend that anyone go through culinary school in these tough economic times -- the return is just not worth the investment. Most positions that Brian qualifies for are hourly, some even close to minimum wage. And he's worth so much more than that. So I'm turning to prayer for Brian, and for all my coworkers who were recently laid off, and for everyone who has lost their jobs as a result of the economy.

So if anyone has any restaurant/cooking/culinary leads in the Birmingham area, please pass those on. It's greatly appreciated.

-K

Giveaway + birthday plans

Blue-Eyed Bride is giving away Hanky Panky panties! I have NEVER owned a pair -- just Victoria's Secret PINK! for me most of the time.

I would love to try them before the wedding and get some cute "Bride" Hanky Panky panties too!

For my birthday, my sister sent me a gift certificate to my hair salon! I got it in the mail yesterday!

Brian and I had a great workout at the Y last night. Tonight I am going to the Birmingham ED2010 event then dinner with Brian and my parents. And now I am going to lunch with some old coworkers at O'Kafes.

-K

Happy Birthday!

to me!!!

I am 26 today. Does this mean I'm officially in my late 20s? Gulp.

-K

Honest Scrap Award

I've been tagged by Authentically U! - A Diamonds & Sapphire Bride with the "Honest Scrap" Award. Thank you girl! So now I list 10 random facts about me:

1. I have one blue eye and one green-ish eye. I don’t think it was always like that but sometime during puberty the right one turned green-ish.

2. If I was not in the online media business, I would be the high school English teacher who advises the student newspaper. Or I would be a college journalism professor. Or a novelist, or a magazine editor. I still love magazines.

3. I’ve worn glasses since the age of 7 and contacts since the age of 11. I have a -6.5 prescription. My whole family is basically blind, but my sister has the worst vision of all of us. I think she might be legally blind, lol.

4. I’ve never really been single since the age of 15. I’ve only had two serious boyfriends in my life, and the second one gets the awesome privilege of marrying me! (c:

5. Despite taking gymnastics classes as a kid, I never learned how to turn a cartwheel. And, despite being on the swim team, I never learned how to dive. So they always put me in the backstroke events. And I still sucked. I suck at all sports.

6. Apparently when I was young, I could sing, sort of. I was in the elementary and middle school chorus, the Mt. Bethel UMC church choir, and this really cheesy dancing/singing group for girls aged 6-14 called ‘Stars of Atlanta.’ We were really cute and sung at old folks’ homes and the Festival of Trees in Atlanta, and Disney World – twice!

7. I am really, really obsessed with Labrador Retrievers and think they’re the best breed of dog ever, even though the only two Labs I’ve owned in my life have been absolutely NUTS! Chelsey was our black Lab mix that I grew up with and Mango is our purebred chocolate Lab that Brian and I got Christmas of ’07.

8. I’m not sure that I’ll ever live out of the Southeast. Cities I would be willing to move to are Nashville, Memphis, New Orleans, Austin, Mobile/Pensacola, Orlando, and Jacksonville. I could live in Atlanta only if I knew that my work commute was basically nonexistent. But I love Birmingham. And South Florida is a no-go after living there for a year, although it’s a great place to vacation.

9. In high school I had a silver 1997 Honda Accord Special Edition that I adored. “The Fast & The Furious” movie came out when I was in high school and my high school boyfriend decided to buy me a rear spoiler on eBay. It turned out to be a little larger than we thought. My dad always called it “the whale tail,” and thinking about it embarrasses me to this day.

10. I have lived in 6 states: Georgia, Tennessee, California, Texas, Alabama and Florida, and I have moved 11 times in my life


Since most of the blogs I follow have received this award, I'll let anyone who wants to receive this award!

-K

A great weekend

I had a great weekend! Brian's 30th birthday was yesterday and my 26th birthday is tomorrow, so it's always nice that we can celebrate our birthdays together.

Friday night we just hung out at home and I made tomato soup and grilled cheese for dinner...yum. Brian was very grateful because he ALWAYS cooks and he had been out in the yard raking leaves then at the gym for 2 hours.

On Saturday morning, we went to the Y and worked out for an hour. I was FINALLY able to join up when Brian told them we are getting married soon and wanted to add me to his account. Normally it is $35 per single person per month, but it is only $42 for a married couple. So we did cardio for 30 minutes and weight machines for 30 minutes. I really want to tone up my midsection and arms as much as possible before the wedding. So now we are going 4x per week together and I think we'll both really enjoy it.

Saturday afternoon, Brian's grandfather and aunt came into town to celebrate our birthdays. Brian's mom got sick with salmonella so she couldn't make it. But she is getting better, so please pray for her! Anyway, we went to the local burger joint and they treated us to $50 Lowe's gift cards. Brian already used some of it to buy a new kitchen faucet -- our old one was broken. He IMed me just now to tell me that he installed it, hooray!

Saturday night we went to the UGA-UA basketball game in Tuscaloosa. Alabama won, 75-70, yay! And we had tickets to the Coliseum Club buffet. We were like 3 feet from UA Athletic Director Mal Moore at one point. After the game we went out in Tuscaloosa and kept running into people we know. We didn't get home until 2 a.m.!

On Sunday, Brian's dad and stepmom treated us to Logan's for lunch and are contributing toward the Disney honeymoon as our birthday present. Hooray!

Sunday afternoon my mom and I went to Michael's to do some shopping. We bought calligraphy pens to address the invitations, some placecards on clearance, some goodies for the bridesmaids, and bubble vials and ribbon for the fake getaway at the reception.

We're celebrating our birthdays with my parents on Tuesday, addressing the invitations on Thursday night, and meeting with the videographers on Sunday.

-K