Songs and Gowns

I've been on a music kick this week, and, hence, trying to figure out what to play at the wedding and reception. I know that I mostly want big band/jazz music including Cole Porter, Ella, Sinatra, Astaire, etc. We toyed with the idea of having a live band, but that idea was scratched after we looked at our budget. And honestly, that is completely fine with me. Now, we can listen to a variety of great voices singing great tunes. :)

Here is a list of big band/jazz like music I'd like.

"All the Things You Are," Ella Fitzgerald
"Cheek to Cheek," Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald
"I'm Crazy 'Bout My Baby," Louis Armstrong
I love the lyric, "Mr. Cupid was our teacher [...]"
"Anything Goes," Cole Porter
"Begin the Beguine", Ella Fitzgerald
"The Way You look tonight"
"Ain't That a Kick in the Head," Dean Martin (I LOVE this one!)
"Fools Rush In"
"I've Got You Under My Skin," Michael Buble
"Come Dance With Me," Frank Sinatra
"Something's Gotta Give," Sammy Davis Jr.
"Sam's Song," Bing Crosby
"It Had To Be You," Doris Day
"Love," Sarah Vaughn
"What A Wonderful World," Louis Armstrong
"The Best is Yet to Come," Michael Buble
"I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter," Bing Crosby
"Puttin on the Ritz," Ella Fitgerald
"It Started All Over Again," Frank Sinatra
"You're the Top"
"I've Heard That Song Before," Harry James (with a female singer)
"One O'Clock Jump," Benny Goodman

Listening to all this music makes me think of the ceremony and reception AND my dress. So I thought I'd upload some dresses I like so far. BTW, I'm uploading pics of what I like and NOT what I'm getting so Kenny can see the post.

David's Bridal's Organza Tiered Ball Gown (Just under $1000)

I absolutely LOVE this dress! It has the ball gown look I liked as a child, but the ruffles give it that rustic look that fits in so perfectly with the theme of the wedding.

BUT I'm not the biggest fan of having a strapless gown. They're beautiful, but I would rather have straps for that extra little bit of support. Plus, I would feel a little too bare without straps.

David's Bridal's Satin Ball Gown with Pleated Bodice ($700)

I love the straps on this one and the way the gown drapes down. It reminds me of Belle's dress in Beauty and the Beast (my favorite Disney "princess"). I don't know how I feel about satin just yet, but, again, I LOVE the straps.

I wish they had the front of the dress pictured on the website, but can you believe they didn't?!

David's Bridal's Organza Fit and Flare with Embellished Lace ($650)

This is one of those gowns I don't love in the picture, but think I would love once I try it on. Rather than satin, I like lace a whole lot more. It just comes across as so romantic, and apparently I'm more attracted to the Organza gowns given the two I have chosen to list.

Whatever gown I end up wearing, I want it to be different than the traditional gown and yet timeless. I guess we'll see if I can achieve this within the budget.

_________________________________________________________________

Lastly, I just want to end this post with a cheesy, currently popular song that I love right now.

"Just The Way You Are," Bruno Mars (Video)

When I first heard it, my first thoughts were of how Kenny makes me feel. Yes, yes. Roll your eyes if you want. I'm sure Kenny's right there with you rolling his. In fact, when I played it at his place, he told me to turn it off. But, nonetheless, the way he makes me feel is a great feeling to have.

Wedding Venue

I wish I had more pictures to show of the actual venue itself, but I couldn't find many pictures at all. I used to work at a country club near my parents house who said that they would help Kenny and us out with the wedding, which is awesome! The chef is awesome and the staff is great. I'm so glad that we will be planning with people I know and trust. I always get so nervous working with people I don't know.

Because it is a golf course, most of the pictures on the site are of the greens. I found only one picture (right) of the dining room we will have rented for the reception. Isn't the place beautiful?

Our reception will be slightly different though. Instead of the rental chairs pictures, we will be using the chairs already provided by the clubhouse which are cushioned wood chairs with a lower back. I love the warm setting of the place, so obviously the colors of the wedding will reflect the feel of the clubhouse.

While googling golf course weddings, I found this picture that best shows what type of ceremony it will be. It will be on a corner of the "tee-off area" (excuse my lack of knowledge of golf) facing the woods. The area is right outside the clubhouse, so right after the ceremony everyone can head back inside while the wedding party takes pictures.

I'm not sure exactly how all this is going to pan out just yet, since this requires renting chairs which are expensive and hay bales are out of the question now. I have a couple new ideas in mind, including bench seating and/or picnics...

Anyway, now we have a venue... hopefully, I will find the dress soon! (I haven't even been dress shopping yet.)

Pennsylvania: Part 3

Like the last two posts, I don't know where to start. I suppose, I will start with our very first engagement party. ^_^ Most of his family came over Tuesday night for dinner and celebrations consisting of, well, talking. It was the first time I had met any of them, aside from his grandmother, and most of the family live far away from each other, so everyone seemed to be catching up with one another and their lives.

Towards the end of the night, Karen and one of her sisters came around the corner with two presents tied up with one large red ribbon. Since neither Kenny nor me expected anything at an engagement party, you can imagine how surprised and excited we were. Kenny let me open the presents, which I had no problem with. I love opening presents. :P

What we found were Pampered Chef pots and pans with a spatula and large spoon in Kenny's old homemade stocking Karen made for him when he was a child. I'm going to try to make a stocking similar in style and size for myself. I think I'm going to make mine with Santa on the front. I can't wait for our first Christmas in our new home. It's going to be all 'decked' out with boughs of holly, falalala laaa lalala laaa!

Changing the subject to the weather, it was freezing without even an inch of snow... BUT there were frozen puddles! I know there are frozen puddles in Georgia, but most of the time it's only a thin layer. This one seemed thick so I tried to stand on it. It would have held if I didn't jump on it though.... :/

However, the best part of freezing weather was standing on the edge of the pond across the street from his parents' house! I wish I could have walked out into the middle of the pond, but Kenny wouldn't let me for obvious reasons.

To the left is a picture of the pond I briefly stood on. At the bottom of the picture you can see where I stood. Unfortunately, we didn't get a picture, because Kenny wouldn't let go of my hands to take the picture. The area where it looks like someone walked out further was because Kenny walked out a little bit on the ice.... (not fair). BUT... I'm a little too scared to walk out there anyway.

Isn't the pond so pretty covered in snow and ice?!?! And this is the view from the windows of his parents' house. ^_^

I had wanted it to snow a lot while I was in Pennsylvania, but can you believe that the moment we leave, it actually got colder in Atlanta?! Hmph! Skipping ahead, I just have to say that I was so happy to see all the snow as we drove home through Virginia. Here is the snow in front of a Cracker Barrel in Virginia. Look at how much snow! When I scooped it up in my hand and threw it in the air, it looked like it was snowing all over again! Yey! ^_^

Pennsylvania: Part 2

I would really love to blog about everything we have done here, but that would be incredibly too long, so I'm going to try to keep it short. Let me start with the suitcase and chalkboard I got for the wedding. It goes perfect with the d.i.y. oldies theme I have listed below. (And I'm super excited about it!)

Here is the "vintage suitcase" we got for $12.50. I wasn't sure exactly what theme I wanted for the engagement pictures. But now I know. I want to wear the wool skirt my grandmother gave me. (She wore it when she was about 30-40 years old.) And I want Kenny to wear a tweed or similar style jacket. Basically, we will be dressed as if we are from the 30's to 40's. Location? The Jonesboro train station that is now the Gone With the Wind museum. Something along the lines of the picture taken to the left would be adorable, wouldn't it?!

Remember the idea of the chalkboard being nailed to a tree with the menu written on it? I had it on an earlier blog. Well, I found the perfect chalkboard for $12! Kenny said that he could get one at JoAnn's for cheaper and then fix it up, but once you buy the paint, brushes, and sandpaper, we will have spent more than twelve bucks. Now all we need to buy is chalk!

As for the food, I believe we have come to a conclusion. We will have two dishes of pasta: a vegetarian and meaty one. We may even have some hors d'oeurves being passed around during the "photograph session" after the ceremony. We'll see. We are on that budget after all. In addition to the pasta, we may have some Japanese food as well: sashimi, egg rolls, california rolls, etc. (I suppose it isn't exactly "Japanese food", but it will be delicious.)

The same day we found these items above, Karen took us to a tea room in Intercourse, Pennsylvania. We had ginger peach tea (left) which was soo delicious! The place was adorable and quaint. It was as if we had gone to someone's house to have tea. We found out afterward that the family that owns the tea house is from England. Apparently, they bring cups back from sales in England. The daughter was serving us and was incredibly sweet. She told us about these boot sales in England where people will set up their cars with the boot (trunk) open and full of whatever they don't want. How awesome does that sound? You just sift through the pile and take what you like.

I had my first mincemeat pie here and it was scrumptious. Doesn't that just sound like a yummy word? Anyway, here is the picture of my food. (I went a little picture crazy on this trip.) Basically, it's a chicken pot pie with ground beef and onion inside. I'm sure there is more seasoning to it though. I loved it, especially on a cold day like yesterday.

As far as the wedding goes, we also decided on a pattern for the guest quilt. We plan on using the railroad crossing pattern while using the colors beige, taupe, golden brown, and creamy white. The stitching over the writing will be in dark brown and the little squares connecting the "tracks" will have little dogwood flowers embroidered in the middle. I tried to find a quilt similar in color or pattern, but I couldn't find one that looked remotely close, so we'll just have to wait until a couple months after the wedding to see the final project. It's going to be beautiful though! And match any theme I may want in our future homes to come. ^_^

Before I hastily finish part 2, I have to show pictures of the chocolate candies made for the engagement party I haven't been able to talk about yet. We went to the Wilbur chocolate factory in Lititz, PA, where I learned how to make chocolate candies using white chocolate, red dye powder, and plastic molds. I made little snowflakes on a stick, and holly leaves with red berries!

It was so cold, it barely took five minutes for the candies to harden! They took no time to make and everyone loved them! ^_^

Pennsylvania: Part 1

We have finally managed to plan a trip to Pennsylvania to visit Kenny's family. We left Saturday around 1pm after a meeting with an event coordinator for the wedding. We found the place, but I'll post about that later.

Currently, we are in Mount Joy, Pennsylvania, a city close to Lancaster. The place is beautiful! We didn't get to see much of the scenery on the way here because it was too dark, but here are a couple of pictures I have been able to take so far since we arrived.


































As you can see, there is a lot of farmland. It's beautiful! How awesome would it be if we could have the wedding up here?! AND it fits in with the theme that I really like. But... it's just too far away.

However, while we've been here, I have had some great ideas for the wedding, bought a couple things for the favors, and his family threw an engagement party for us! So many things have happened the past couple of days, so brace yourself for an incredibly long, picture filled blog.

First, I want to start off with how cute his parents house is. His mom, Karen, is very creative and always has cute little ideas. She seems to dabble in all sorts of crafts like sewing, crocheting, knitting, card making, etc. This year, his parents didn't put up a tree, so his mother made her own little tree out of twigs in the yard. Isn't this the cutest little idea?! She said that she got the little snowmen from coworkers at a little shop she used to work at.

I think we are going to the shop today to look at the fabric and such for the wedding. I'm getting really excited about making little bags for the wedding favors, because I, now, have a nice sewing machine Karen gave me. She gave me a little piece of fabric to practice the stitches on, so I made a little bag to put the thimbles and such in. I'm hoping that we'll be able to afford a 2 bedroom apartment so I can have a sewing/craft room. If anything, I'll set up a little corner for my little projects in the living room.

Kenny's dad, Tom, was awesome and fixed my laptop from being stupid. Now, it works ten times faster and is just absolutely wonderful! He really likes technology, so I know who to ask questions when I have any computer issues. ^_^

As far as the fabric, I have already gotten some fabric from the thrift store down the street. $2.99 for two yards of lacy fabric, $1.99 for two yards of the green fabric, $1 for the lacy trim and ribbon, and $1.29 for the jar of buttons.

I want to create little wedding favor bags out of the lace fabric. I plan on putting a little potpourri in the bottom of the drawstring bag with a little bottle of wedding bubbles sitting on top. I'm not sure what I want to do with the green fabric just yet, but it was too cute to leave behind. And for two bucks!!



On Monday, we went to a little town called Lititz to visit a couple of shops and eat lunch. The place and shops were adorable! We were met at the door by pups at several of the shops as well. They were all so sweet! I wish I had gotten pictures of them, but I felt awkward taking pictures of strangers' dogs.

There was this one little shop that I loved with an owl theme. The shop was a bit above my budget, so I didn't get anything from them, but the stuff they had was really cute. One item I loved was this little owl made out of sweater material.




For lunch, we ate at this cute little cafe called Tomato Pie. And they're specialty was (drum roll) tomato pie. Karen and I didn't get the tomato pie, not knowing what to expect if we did, but Kenny, being the smart one, did. Once we tasted his dish in comparison of our own, we both wished we had ordered the pie instead. It's not even in season and it was soooo delicious! When I get back to Georgia, I'm going to try to make some myself. Mmm... My mouth waters just thinking about it, it was sooo good. (Highly recommend this place. If any of you get the chance to go, you HAVE to have a slice of tomato pie!




While at Lititz, we also fed a swarm of ducks. Yes. A swarm! There had to be at least 50 of them! Next to the pond we found them at was a little machine selling duck food for a quarter. We must have spent nearly two dollars trying to feed all of the ducks, but of course, a cup of food won't feed all of these precious birds. And me, being the goof I am, was fascinated with their cute little webbed feet! Aren't they the cutest! What is funnier is that, when the ducks realized we were out of food, they all splashed into the water and swam away. (picture to left)


There is so much more that I want to post, but I don't have the time right now. We are leaving in 15 minutes for Stratisburg and Amish country. (I can't remember the name of the town.) I'll finish the update of Lititz, the engagement party, and today later tonight!

salami, crackers, and interior design

No. These are not the hors d'oeuvres for the wedding. This is my "man" dinner tonight and I just have to say that it was so hard to find a non-elegant picture of "salami and crackers." And I call this sad and yet satisfying dinner a "man" dinner because this is, often, what I would catch my Dad eating when he was in charge of his own dinners.

Now, I find myself in charge of my own dinner, and what do I grab at the store? A half pound of salami, Ritz crackers, Craisins, and Doles' Mango Peach Orange juice. (Dinner, desert, and beverage - check)

I guess a part of my dad has rubbed off on me. I only care to eat a full dinner when I'm with family, which leads me to this. I can't wait to start a life with Kenny for more reasons than one. However, at the moment, I can't wait just so we can have a nice dinner together every night.

My head is in the clouds right now thinking of our lives after the wedding. Because most of the post-wedding plans are undetermined, I like to focus on the concrete material aspect of it.

For example, decorating on a budget. How are we going to decorate our place to appeal to both of our tastes? Kenny likes the more clean-cut, organized slightly Asian design, where as, I like the more cottage-style, wood-burning fireplace feel. Though I know Kenny would probably let me decorate how I want, I can't wait to take this challenge and find a way to meet in the middle. And I already have so many ideas!

I need a little hiatus from wedding talk for a moment, so I'm going to jump ahead a little further to the planning of our undetermined, temporary home, i.e. apartment. How about I begin with what we already have.

A brown leather passed down from his brother and sister-in-law who got it from his parents. Granted, this is not the exact couch, it does look fairly similar. However, I'm pretty certain that ours sits a little lower than this one.

A coffee table with matching end table. Again, this is not the exact one either. Ours does have the same black oval top, but with chrome legs and a second black oval shelf underneath. The end table is similar, but round.

A 1970s corner dining table with two broken chairs. (Again, this is not the exact one either.) My mom actually salvaged it from a friend of the family. She re-upholstered it and it's in pretty good condition, aside from the two chairs. The legs are, again, chrome and you can lift the seats on the bench for extra storage inside. How nifty is that?! This is definitely perfect for an apartment setting, but I do hope to get a nice dining room table eventually. This one needs a table cloth. The table top is the manufactured wood with rubber trim. Not very pretty.

Lastly, we have a bed. In fact, we have two of these Ikea beds. I bought a full when I moved out of my parents place, and he copied me with a queen several months later. Aside from the many bruises I get due to the sharp corners, I actually love it. The back is bent slightly back like a bench and is so comfortable to sit on while reading, typing, or, in my case, crocheting. I definitely don't recommend this to anyone with small children. It just seems a little dangerous with the corners. I know we will be using his queen size bed, but I'm not sure if we will be keeping mine or not. Depends on whether we have a second bedroom or not.

Well, that's pretty much what we have as far as big furniture goes. This can seem very daunting of a thought, but I see it as a blank slate. A lot of room to work. The brown leather couch works perfectly with the cottage style I like and, well, everything else is more Kenny's style. We plan to go to estate sales and yard sales probably in the spring once we know where we will be living.

But, here is a list of ideas I have for our new place, wherever we end up.

To the right is a large mirror with a red frame. I chose this because it would tie in perfectly with the imaginary red rug I would love to place in front of the couch. I love having red accents, but only a few. In this case, the mirror and carpet would be all I need.

Crate and Barrel. Of course, I would finally find the chair I like at the store I can't afford. How adorable is this print? I know I wouldn't exactly call this a timeless a piece, but how cute! I can definitely imagine this next to the leather couch we have, my imaginary rug, and oval coffee table. I love it! Now to keep an eye out for a look alike it shape, not necessarily pattern.

I didn't intend for the t.v. stand to copy so small, but I suppose it makes sense. It isn't exactly a large priority of ours, but if we do get one, I hope it has character like this one. Plenty of room for storing the cable box and what little DVDs we have.

How adorable would this be next to the door?! We could keep our keys here AND do any last minute make-up touch ups before heading out! I love having mirrors around. They brighten the place up and make the area look bigger if placed right. Which is why I would like a large mirror in the living area.

I can't wait for the finished project. I can already see Kenny telling me to stop "looking" at the rooms. He already tells me stop looking at the blog constantly. He says, "Nothing has changed," meaning I wrote it so why do I keep reading it? I have no good response other than, I get it from both my parents.

(Pictures found on GoogleImage unless otherwise specified.)

Kenny's Ideas

Kenny's been pretty awesome about letting me plan the wedding how I want it. But I do want him to be a part of the planning process, so he does have some ideas. And, of course, they mostly revolve around kendo.

Originally, he thought it'd be awesome to wear the kendo attire at the wedding, which I really didn't like for the wedding. So he found this suit modeled after the late 1800s. (I love it!)

The only problem we have now is where to find this suit and for what price. He found this at Gentleman's Emporium. I love the whole look. And the green is the perfect color for the wedding matching the overall theme of what I am looking for.

Because I don't want the wedding party to spend a lot of money on their suits and dresses, their attire will be simpler and less expensive.

How cute of an idea is this?! A kendo cake! Though we may not do this for the wedding cake, he wanted to have a kendo groom's cake. I find this to be absolutely adorable. Now, we just need to find Kendo cake toppers.

I find this too cute to not include in the wedding.

When he told me he wanted a sword at the wedding, the first thought I had was, "This is what Erica must have thought when Paul made this suggestion." One of my bridesmaids has just recently gotten married and her now husband, Paul, insisted on having a sword included in their ceremony. I guess we'll see how this goes. I'm not sure exactly how he wants to incorporate this just yet.

← This is Killian, his brother and sister-in-law's pup. She is the most adorable and expressive dog Kenny wants to make the ring bearer. I doubt we will be able to do this because it depends on the venue and whether anyone would be willing to be the puppy-sitter. I really doubt we will do this, but it's a cute idea.

And, also, I'm sure Killian would probably hate this, but how cute would this look on her?! On second thought, nevermind. Poor pup.

(Pictures found on GoogleImages unless otherwise specified.)