Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Typical Kalispell

I made the mistake last weekend that everyone who lives in Kalispell, MT knows not to do. I washed my car.

The weather has been unusually nice and warm, and since it was in the 50's, I guess I got caught up in the spring fever that everyone else seems to be enjoying. Well, just to be typical Kalispell, and shove my mistake in my face, we woke up this morning to this:

(Pic by me on my phone)

Yep, that is snow. About 2-3 inches of it too. It won't last, but I also don't think that is will be the last. We normally get at least one snow in April too.

Because of the typical Kalispell weather, our outside wedding months are limited. I wrote earlier about how we came to the decision to get married on the date we are, and one of those reasons is the weather. Let me give you a break down of typical Kalispell weather:

  • January, February, March: Snow, mushy when it rains
    • Wedding would have to be inside
  • April: Possible snow, lots of rain, pretty mushy out, starting to get a little sunny though
    • Wedding may possibly be outside, most likely wouldn't happen, so must have a backup plan
  • May, June: Sunny but cool. Teases you with thoughts of summer
    • Outside could be possible, would still be crazy to not have a backup plan though, just in case
  • July: Always rains on the 4th, after that it starts to get hot
    • Good time for outside wedding (as long as its not around the 4th!)
  • August: Smokey from all the forest fires, hot
    • Outside weddings will be hot, and your guests may not be able to breath from all the smoke
  • September: Warm
    • Good time for outside wedding. Not too hot, not too cold, smoke normally gone (I may be a little biased here!)
  • October: Rainy. Expect rain or snow on Halloween
    • May be able to pull of outside wedding earlier in the month, but would have to have backup plan and start in the afternoon (nights get COLD!)
  • November, December: Cold, rainy, snowy
    • Wedding needs to be inside
What is the typical weather like in your area? What months are best for an outside wedding?

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Cake For Cutting

MS and I don't like fondant. AT ALL. It has a weird texture and gross flavor. So why would we want to have a wedding cake covered in that crap and serve it to our innocent guests? We don't. So we aren't. In fact, our wedding cake isn't even going to be eaten! Nope, we are buying cakes from Costco (because they have the most amazing cakes) and serving those to our guests. But we will be having a wedding cake to cut and feed a bite to each other (no smashing in faces!).

My sister/BM C was going to make our cake for us (she is an amazing chef!), but becuase of the time frame of when she is flying in, all that has to be done, and when the wedding starts, she doesn't think she will have time. So momma HS (who is behind BM C's baking ability), has volunteered to make our cake! We have an idea of what we want our cake to look like and how large we would like it to be. Something like this:


I love this cake. Its not too big, but still big enough. Its simple and elegant and perfect for cutting! I would like the black flowers to be purple instead though, and the white bands around the bases to be black. That would tie in our colors, and add a little more to the cake. Since momma HS doesn't decorate cakes, only makes them, I had to find someone to take on that task. And who better to ask than Flash (he trully is a man of many talents)?! He does sculptures and figurines out of fimo, so why couldn't he do it out of fondant?! He has agreed to try, and even found a cake decorating class to take. BM D also talks about all this here.

We are very excited about momma HS baking and Flash decorating. I know that with these 2 people, our cake will be amazing! (We are thinking possibly a Funfetti flavored cake to make it a little more fun!)

Who is making your cake? Is the cake you are cutting the same cake you are serving?

Friday, March 26, 2010

Oh Kate Moss, You Hit It On The Nose

Everyone, at some point, has heard Kate Moss's inspirational quote: "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels". While this statement caused quite an uproar and many people were upset about it, I think she hit it on the nose.


I have been struggling with my weight. I posted about this earlier too, and things haven't changed much! I recently changed some meds around too, and the scale keeps going up and up. No matter what I do, how much I cut back, I have still been gaining.


So, I have been trying to live by the moto that so many frown upon. I try to tell myself that those cookies, or chips, or cake, or doughnuts, or latte, really isn't worth it, and the 5 minutes of heaven will stick to me for a lot longer than that. I would rather be skinny (or try to get that way), than to enjoy some sweet indulgence.


I am having a hard time, and I want to look and feel good. So I will keep struggling and trying, and hopefully soon (PLEASE, soon), I will look the way I want.

Are you stuggling with your weight? How do you feel about Kate Moss's quote?

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Will You Marry Us?

MS and I have thought of every possible option of people to perform our ceremony and marry us. Of course, the more obvious ones came to mind first, such as a pastor or justice of the peace.


Another option that came to mind though, was a family member to do it. We really liked this idea the best, and thought of the perfect person to ask. Flash, my sister's/BM D's boyfriend!

Personal Pic

He is not a minister, but is going to get ordained on the internet to be able to marry us. I'm not quite sure all that he has to do, but there is still plenty of time to get it all figured out and done.

We are so excited that he is going to be such a huge part of our wedding. Thank you Flash, you are the best!!! :)

Is there anyone in your family playing a really important role in your wedding?

Friday, March 19, 2010

Pretty & Functional

I finally decided on what to do for centerpieces. And after talking to a lady I work with, I have come up with a neat way to fancy them up, and a great way to keep our flowers moist. Let me introduce, Deco Beads!


They are these weird little gel dot things that you put in the bottom of your vase (mason jar), add water, wait, and they swell up absorbing all the water! They come in beads and cubes, and a bunch of colors


You can put candles or flowers or whatever you want in them, and they keep them moist, and in the possition you want.


So, I think I am going to get some purple cubes and clear beads for our centerpieces. I want to put about 3 or 4 white carnations around the edges, and have the purple orchids in the middle. These are such a neat way to add a little something to our centerpieces that not many people have seen before. Not only are they pretty, they are functional too! Thanks for the help coworker! :)

Have you found anything really neat along the way of your wedding planning?

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Home Sweet Home

Once again, I have been MIA. SORRY!!!!! Yes, I did get my computer back from Geek Squad (thank you computer guys for fixing my life line), but out in the country, there is no internet service, yet (we are working on that!). :)

BUT, I had my wonderful BM D send me some of my pictures off Facebook to my work so I can load them here for you, just like I promised earlier.

So, here are a couple random pics (all taken by me) of our home sweet home:

The outside, before we had our door painted and steps put on

My kitchen! Where I attempt to pretend like I know how to cook

The extra bathroom/little man's "moose" bathroom

My boys trying to figure out how to hang the blinds in the spare room

Those are it, for now! I will get some more and move them down the line of people to be able to post them for you. We really are trying hard to get some internet out at our place, so hopefully soon!

Oh, AND...


Thursday, March 11, 2010

Changing My Mind

I have had a really hard time making a decision and sticking to it in regards to our wedding. I have had many freakouts about our "theme", and run to BM D many times asking (or something like that) for help on inspiration. So, to stick to my ways, I have changed my mind again.

I wrote earlier about the centerpieces I "decided" to do, of course after having already changed my mind before. Well, I have decided to do a different centerpiece. And I really do think that these are going to be the ones! We are going to use Ball jars for vases, with a black ribbon tied in a bow around the top, and flowers in them.

MS's mom cans salsa, so she has lots of these jars, and if we have to buy more, she will be able to use them (instead of us being stuck with 100 different vases!)


We were going to use Calla Lilies as one of our flowers, but (imagine this) I changed my mind and we will go with purple Orchids


And this is the look of the centerpieces we are going for (of course with the above mentioned flower and black bow!)


We may fancy them up a little, but I love the simplicity of this. I am really happy with these for centerpieces and will not change my mind again (knock on wood).

Have you changed your mind a lot during your wedding planning?

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Bringing It All Together (Part 2)

After talking to my sister/BM D, I had her make an ispiration board for our wedding, using most of our different elements. This is one of the boards she came up with:

Top row from left:
Bridesmaid Dress by J Crew; Bouquet via The Knot; Bridal Gown by Jasmine
Middle row:
Entrance to BruMar Estate
Bottom row from left:
Containers from Candles and Such; Invitation by Michael's; Hay Bale Ceremony via The Knot

She is very talented! And much appreciated! Its nice to be able to see all of our pieces in one place. It helps pull our ideas together and see what we want to change and work with. I am overall really happy with the direction we are going right now, although there are a few things we will probably change.

I have been having major freakouts though, where BM D has to calm me down and tell me everything is going to be ok. My main concern has been that our wedding is becoming too formal. We want to have a fun, laid back, celebration. But like my sister says:

Your venue is fun. Your colors are fun. You guys are fun. Everything will be fun.

Thanks Dee. That is what I needed to hear!

Do you feel like your wedding is taking on a theme/feel that you aren't going for? What look are you going for?

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Bringing It All Together (Part 1)

I need help. BAD. Whenever I read about weddings, and see pictures, and inspiration boards, all of them seem to have a "theme". They all go together. I don't think our wedding does though. We have many random things thrown in, and nothing really seems to flow.

I am a typical "Montana" girl. I love to be outside and ride 4-wheelers and drink beer, shoot guns, camp, hunt, fish, hike, you name it, I do it, all the while, having our local country radio station playing.

(Personal photo of us drinking beer on the 4-wheeler)

I am also a girl though! I like to wear skirts and get dressed up and I all that jazz (sometimes). So, of course, I want a pretty, elegant wedding, with the long white dress and such. I would also like to make our wedding a little "country", like us. But the different parts of our wedding don't seem to be coming together or portraying us very well. And since I can't make inspiration boards, I will just post pics for you to see what I am talking about!

First, my dress:

(Personal pic *sorry for looking like crap!*)

Then, my MOH in her dress:

(Personal pic *isn't she beautiful!?*)

Our venue:


Our cocktail hour favors!


We are also using straw bales for our guests to sit on during our ceremony:


I love all the things we have in our wedding, but I just don't think they have the feel we are going for, and I don't know what to do! Maybe if I could actually make an inspiration board and see it all together, it would look better, but since I can't, I have to try to imagine it all. And that's not working real well for me! I need help!!!!

Can anyone put an inspiration board together with all our wedding elements (and make it work!)? Are you having trouble invisioning your wedding?


Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Inspiration

I have a confession. I have yet to put an inspiration board together for our wedding. There, I said it. I have a lot of ideas in my head, and have attempted one or two boards, but my attempts end up just that, attempts, with no outcome. I have these pictures in my head, but when I try to put them all together, I just can't do it!

So the other day, I was talking with BM D about wedding inspiration boards. I asked her what she always invisioned my wedding to be like. Well, she made an inspiration board for it! And she couldn't have put together a more perfect board for me. While it isn't the wedding we are having, it describes me to a tee.

Since BM D put a board together for what she saw for my wedding, I thought I would do the same for hers. The only thing, as I stated earlier, I can't put an inspiration board together! So, I have opted to just describe it and provide pictures! Here is how I invision my sister's wedding.

I picture a very small, intimate wedding in the evening starting at like 7 or so, and be lit up by tons of tealight candles and white Christmas lights. Loews Lake, Las Vegas, at Lake Las Vegas would be the perfect setting:


She would wear a very flattering, simple dress, much like these:



She would accesories with pearls:


Even adding a nice little pearl detail to the invites:


And the cupcakes:


Sticking with pearl as one of her colors, she would add another light color, like champagne for the bridesmaids dresses:


Her bouquet would also be light, with just a little hint of a dark burgandy:


The bridesmaids would carry bouquets to match the burgandy:


The aisle would be lined with burgandy petals and flowers, and they would also be used at the cocktail hour that would follow, in these centerpieces:


That is how I invision my sisters wedding. My inspiration for her without the board!

Do you have trouble with inspiration boards? Do you invision other peoples weddings too?

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

MIA

Sorry, I have been MIA for the past few days. BUT, I do have a good excuse! We closed on our house on Friday!!!! (And as soon as I get my computer back from Geek Squad I will upload REAL photos of it!)


We had planned on moving all day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, but that didn't happen. We were both struck with the flu on Friday, so spent the day sleeping on the couch and hugging the toilet, not fun. Saturday morning though, we got up early and started the great move!

Our house is so gorgeous and the views are amazing and we couldn't be happier! Everything turned out so perfect, and we are almost done moving. Yes, we still have some little random things left in our rental, but have a month to get them out, so no hurry.

So sorry for being MIA, but I promise that the wedding planning is going to back in full swing in just a few days!