// Wedding Wednesday: Invites + Honeymoon

Apologies to anyone attempting to get in touch with me the past day or two. I'm coming off of an insane strep throat/flu-like sickness and I was 110% out of commission yesterday. Thank goodness for scheduled posts. I'm all hyped up on DayQuil and am trying to weed through my emails and finish off a design mock, so I'll be around if you need me! As long as this sickness hits the road before the weekend and I'm able to make it to work, we'll be good. Today I thought I'd share our wedding invitations (since 90% of the guests have received theirs already) as well as our honeymoon plans. 

We also did a wedding website at KaelahAndMike.com for guests who wanted to RSVP online as opposed to sending back the RSVP card. It gives guests the chance to see some of our engagement photos, registry info, get directions to the wedding site, and receive alerts (if desired) closer to the date. The wedding site itself is a little "meh" but I snagged a code from Ruffled for only $5 so it was worth it, especially considering most wedding sites cost upwards of $50.

We had been toying with the idea of booking an all-inclusive resort in Mexico for a week, and the price seemed fair back in July. Of course we waited until August to try and book it and the exact same rooms/flights/dates ended up being over $500 more. We started thinking about it and we'd probably just feel so awkward at a resort. They're really just not our style. A candlelit dinner for two on the beach? Ehhhhhhh, that'd be weird to us haha

Instead we jumped on the AirBnB train thanks to a suggestion from Nichole, and we booked 5 nights in Cancun at a house with a private lagoon, and then 3 nights in Tulum at a quaint little bed and breakfast (but not any bed and breakfast, a b'n'b in a grass-roofed treehouse!) Even with all of our traveling together and living 1000+ miles apart for some time, we've never flown together before so this will be the first for us. Sort of weird to think about haha We quickly booked both places in Mexico as well as our tickets, and now we're just counting down the days!

Overall we're really happy with the way our invites turned out, and we're really really stoked on our honeymoon. I can't wait for it to all come together! The illustrations on the invite + map are by Rebekka Seale. She was/is a total gem! I did the design on everything but I could never have done what she did. Seriously, she's amazing.

I'm off to take some more medicine and try and take it easy today. Hope you all have a great Wednesday!

Wedding Wednesday

Y'all. The wedding is seriously just 4 months and some change away. I feel like every time I think about it it's a month closer and less and less has been done. (Seriously. Nothing has been finalized since my Save vs. Splurge post, except the dessert bar baker!) It's normal to second guess stuff before you book it right? Like our honeymoon for instance. We keep looking at different things/places, and it feels impossible for us to make a commitment.

We mentioned the possibility of a cruise, and a few people brought up a good point about it being hurricane season in the Caribbean, but we also know plenty of other people who have gone in October and had wonderful times. So it's still on the table. We're also scouring Living Social/Groupon daily for their getaway deals. We're bummed that we missed out on one that looked awesome, but we've got time! For those of you who went to the Caribbean and/or a cruise, did you enjoy it? Could you tell me a little bit about your experience? We'd love to go somewhere we could snorkel, swim with dolphins (since sharks seem to be a no go), etc. You know, fun stuff!

Now back to the dessert table... I'm super stoked on this. Like, legitimately! *Drumroll please!* Miss Beca (of Tumbleweeds fame) will be whipping up the deliciously sweet spread! Eep! So excited. Did you know she's a mega talented baker? Well, she is so now you do. I've been scouring Pinterest for some inspiration to help curate a menu and I thought I'd share of my favorite ideas/set ups! I'm not 100% sure how we'll set up the dessert table and where, since the wedding is outdoors at a barn, but I'm sure we'll figure it out. Here we go!

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I love the burlap on this one. We plan on having a lot of burlap incorporated into our wedding so finding different ways to lay it across the table seems ideal.

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We're not planning on having cakes at our wedding (pies instead!) but if we were, we'd love bundt cakes. I love the look of them! And there is such a wide variety.

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I love the idea of doing a popcorn with white and pink chocolate drizzle on it. Then serving them in these popcorn cones! I also really dig the kraft paper look so these would be easy to cut and roll myself instead of buying new.

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I like how they used different cake stands to showcase different sweets. I like the idea of having cake balls but not sure if they'll be necessary. If they are, I think I prefer them showcased cake pop down (like above) as opposed to sticking in styrofoam. (I officially cannot believe I even have an opinion on that...)

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Baby donuts and little cotton candy! Maybe we should just nix the dinner buffet and stick with a dessert bar, because I'm clearly trying to rot everyone's teeth out. Oh well!

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So many pies! And I love the flags.

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More cake pops and meringue kisses! These would be easily bought at a bakery around town or something. 

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I love all of the colors here and the pinwheel backdrop! If we end up pushing the dessert table toward one of the barn walls then I might incorporate something like this.

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Chocolate dipped rice krispie treats! A little different, but fun!

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I definitely want to go for some white/clear and light pink rock candy! Another thing easily swiped at the candy store.

Do you have a cavity yet? I know. A little ridiculous. But it's fun to shop around for pretty cake plates and display jars. Let's just hope it all comes together! We're excited but also super nervous. I guess most people are for their wedding day right? 

Now I really need to start focusing on hair + makeup, and finding a cardigan that matches my dress (or breaking down and ordering a really really beautiful one from Etsy). And shoes! And bridesmaids' shoes! And figuring out why the catering people still haven't called us back. And hay bales, and blankets, and picnic baskets. Oh goodness. Breathe! It'll come together. Of course it will. ;)

What are your favorite desserts you've had/seen at weddings? 

Wedding Wednesday

I just happen to be friends with a lot of engaged people, both online and off, so with their wedding days approaching I've been noticing an increase in stress and all around panic. One girl I follow on Instagram posts every single day about wedding plans and a countdown (which I love seeing, otherwise I wouldn't follow her!) but she's constantly talking about being in "panic mode!"... Her wedding is three months after mine. Did I miss something? I get that planning a wedding is a big deal and while some people wing it, I'd like to have a little structure, but I'm wondering if I'm being too lax. Things will fall into place, right? (I say this like 2 weeks after I almost had a meltdown about my dress... man, it's a crazy rollercoaster!) 

Anyway, Mike and I have been looking up honeymoon destinations for the past two days, and trying to get a mental idea of how much needs to be saved, what we need to do, blah blah blah. We don't even have a rough guest list made yet (and it's barely 5 months out). Still, I feel like things will come together and all will be well. But while we're talking about finances, I've been weighing what takes priority for our wedding and how we're going to pull it off ourselves. What we'll save on and what we'll deem worthy of a splurge.

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Photography: This is really the single most important item to us. Having photos of our day will be far more enjoyable than a dusty ol' dress in my closet, or shoes that I'll probably never wear again. Not to say I want to forget about those entirely, but photos will probably be our only real splurge. We're incredibly fortunate that our parents have offered to gift us our photographer as we're paying for everything else ourselves. That kind of help was so gracious as we don't know how we'd manage it on our own at this point.

The rings: This is another area we feel strongly about. We definitely want rings that will fit our styles and last forever. However, that doesn't necessarily mean they need to be expensive. I talked briefly last week about ordering a new engagement ring that we both found and fell in love with.. well, it's here! It was delivered on Friday and I don't think I've stopped staring at it since. (Peep below!) I've been looking up rose gold wedding bands and have found a few via Etsy that look promising, and we're headed to a jeweler soon so Mike can try on a few styles and get a feel for what he likes. I love that there's something special about our jewelry... be it handmade, hand hammered, or antique (my new one is!), it just feels more "us" than something purchased out of a glass case (but I'm totally not knocking that!). My new engagement ring is an antique cushion cut morganite stone surrounded by a halo of 16 diamonds and then 3 diamonds on either side of the rose gold band! It couldn't be more perfect if it tried.

Honeymoon: Um, they're expensive! Geeze louise! We've been tossing around a few ideas for what we'd like to do but we haven't really found it yet. Our first idea was to fly to Portland, take the train to Seattle, and then the ferry to Vancouver all in the span of a week or so, but just seeing how much just the flights + hotels cost, we'd rather be able to enjoy ourselves more while there. With that being said, it's still on the table, maybe less Vancouver. We're also looking at a roadtrip + weeklong getaway somewhere like Hilton Head Island, SC, or even in North Carolina where we were engaged. And finally we've been charting out some mid-October cruises to Mexico/Bahamas that sound fun. I guess in terms of our budget, the honeymoon will be a splurge regardless of where we go, but hopefully we will get our money's worth! Afterall, a wedding is about being married right? I'd like to enjoy some time with my new husband! Have any of you been on a cruise? Where did you go on your honeymoon?

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The dress: I've watched a lot of Say Yes to the Dress in my day. A lot. And I know it's not uncommon for brides to spend $25,000+ on a wedding dress. You know what? That's awesome! Go you. I just don't feel like that's something I need to splurge on. Currently I'm toying between the idea of my backup dress and a handmade dress from Etsy, and it'll most likely come down solely to our budget and if the alterations I'd like can be done or not. If we can swing it, I'd love to, but I'll probably also weigh it against where our honeymoon is and what we could do with that money instead! I've seen so many weddings with $100 dresses or even Forever 21/H&M dresses and they were darling. A wedding dress doesn't have to be extravagant. 

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Mike's outfit: We want a very casual-type of wedding, especially when it comes to our attire. Luckily Mike already owns almost everything he'd need to wear, and if he doesn't, we can get it without much of a fuss. This is one of those times I'm really glad he likes to wear dress pants and button-ups/bowties on any given day!

Catering: Well, we can't get a solid answer on this one yet. We have an idea in mind for catering (picnic style), but we have yet to receive a quote. If it's just too high then we'll probably revert to our original idea of a dessert/sweets bar and a boat load of pies! We're lucky to have some very cuisine-inclined people in our family so if it comes down to it then maybe they can lend a helping hand or two! I mean, it's a southern farm wedding afterall... I guess a big ol' BBQ would suffice!

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Decor, florals and rentals: Since our wedding event is happening outside, we're really really praying for good weather. What if it rains? What if it's unusually cold in October? What if it's still blistering hot? Well, we're hoping for the best! We hope that the option exists to move the festivities inside the barn, but this barn is wayyyyy out in a field. Like, way out. (Cross your fingers for us!) But we like the idea of hay bales for seating (cliche, but I don't care!) and a lot of DIY/thrifted stuff. I'm really going to have to start pestering my friends to come over for craft nights soon to help! We're really really hoping that some family friends can lend us some hay bales, but if not, at least those shouldn't be too expensive. We got really lucky with the venue being free so let's hope that kind of help continues! We feel really really really fortunate to have so many kind people lend a helping hand or offer up their property/services. I guess it helps to have parents that people like! We plan on making our own floral arrangements (yikes!) and keeping them very very simple. We've found a few wholesale florists around town so we'll be headed their way soon! If the weather is crummy then we'll have to rethink our entire reception but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it! 

I plan on using any and all resources I can to find cheaper alternatives to things I'm after. I've been scouring resale sites, Craigslist, and flash sale sites in hopes of finding a big ticket item for less. I've been lucky enough to find some mismatched items on CL, and get some decor on Fab + Ideeli. Today Rue La La launched a 48 hour boutique sale featuring dresses from Badgley Mischka, Nicole Miller and Jenny Yoo. Here are a few of my favorites! (Some of these dresses are $99... and headpieces are $10! If you're planning a special event, check it out!)

20's inspired dresses: One // Two

70's inspired pieces: One // Two (Seriously considering both of these!)

Modern dresses: One // Two

What did you save/splurge on? (or what's your plan for your wedding day?)

Wedding Wednesday: Our Venue

It's been a while since I've written a Wedding Wednesday post, and even longer since it was related to our wedding. But truth be told, with everything we've been dealing with for the past few months, the wedding just had to get moved to the backburner. We had rounded up a hefty list of barns and family friends' farms to visit over the past little while, and even went out in November (?) or early December on a hunt. We found several that we liked, but didn't make any immediate plans. Sunday we stopped by a farm in pretty much a middle ground from both of our families. It's about an hour and 10 minutes south of Nashville, but it's so so beautiful. I think when we pulled down on the property we instantly knew that that was it. It's seriously exactly what I had envisioned in my head. Let's hope it doesn't rain that day, or if it does, that we can make other arrangements!

Luckily with it being a privately own farm of a family friend, we weren't in the time crunch game that a lot of engaged couples are. We're getting married on October 6th, and that's apparently one of the most popular wedding weekends of the year. Whoops. We've also been becoming painfully aware of just how expensive weddings are! I mean, I know the national average is like $27k but come on! For one day?! Then again that probably just seems outlandish because I could never throw down that amount of money. I won't shame anyone for making the most of their big day though! Our wedding is going to be much, much,  more tame in the financials (we hope!)

We're hoping to thrift and DIY a majority of the stuff so I'm going to have to have little wedding craft nights over the next few months and beg my friends to come lend a helping hand! Now that we know where we're going to have it, we can start planning accordingly. There are still lots of things that need to get sorted out with this place, like which of the barns we'll actually use... how the reception and ceremony will both be set up, how to acquire the furniture we need. But for now let's just look at how beautiful it is!

There are several barns on the property, and these are the 2 we've entertained the thought of. First we thought for sure the red barn with the silo, then we loved the rustic look of the second one, and then the big big tree! Our plans are currently to go with the big rusty one with the tree (with some pictures taken at the red!) And that view! So beautiful! Our truck in the very top photo of the post helps give you an idea of just how massive the barn and tree are. We shot some outfit photos here on Sunday so I'll share those later this week/weekend.

We already have our photographer (the lovely Sarah of Arrow & Apple) lined up luckily. Sarah is a former Nashvillian (from my very own neighborhood!) and we have some mutual friends in common that I've noticed over the past little while. We're excited that she'll be flying back this way to share our big day with us. We also started talking yesterday with someone who may be catering our wedding, too. A mom & pop diner that Mike's dad frequents! And the dress... oh the dress. I currently have 1 backup dress lined up in case my 1st pick doesn't work out (I'm patiently awaiting it's arrival). But the most important thing for me is that it works with a cardigan because I'm pretty sure that's one of the style features I want most at my wedding. (Typical KB, right?)

Now I'm just crossing my fingers that I can wrangle in all of my bridesmaids at the same time so we can make this happen! 4 out of the 6 are based at least 500+ miles away so it'll be an adventure! Now that we have a little bit of it figured out, hopefully I can share some more plans as they come to fruition. Crazy to think our wedding is just 6 months away! I wish I could invite each and every one of you. How fun would that be?! xo

Wedding Wednesday: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Pie

Mike and I are getting really excited about putting our plans into motion for our October 2012 wedding. We made the decision several months ago to do a multitude of pies rather than cakes or cupcakes for the reception. We've been having fun playing with pie recipes ever since. While the Blueberry + Peach is still by far my favorite (yum!), we've also made apple pie and Blackberry+Pear! This one is our most recent attempt though! I baked one for my family on Thanksgiving (and we kept one at our home, too!). Mmmm! It's rich and gooey and positively divine when still warm! Of course all pie tastes better with ice cream in my opinion but this one hits a homerun!

I originally stumbled upon this recipe from Our Best Bites (which originated from Nestle) and they have the best pictures, too! I didn't manage to snap any while I was baking away (aside from the 3 which are obviously from my phone!) but I've included a few from OBB and you can always pop on over to see step-by-step photos if needed! I got to use my new baby KitchenAid mixer for this recipe and boy oh boy, it's a dream machine! 

Let me preface this recipe with this: It is so simple! I made a second one without even looking at the recipe and I clocked myself and five and a half minutes! Of course you need to bake it for an hour, but really, it's such a simple recipe! (I changed a tiny thing here or there, but not too much!)

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Pie

Ingredients:

1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust, homemade or store-bought.
2 large eggs
1/2 C flour
1/2 C white granulated sugar
1/2 C packed brown sugar
3/4 C real butter, softened (1 1/2 sticks)
1 C chocolate chips (semi-sweet or dark works best, you might find milk too sweet)
1 C candied pecans (you are welcome to make it without nuts)

Directions:

Vanilla ice cream, or sweetened whipped cream for serving (a must!  I prefer ice cream)

optional: chocolate sauce (honestly, doesn’t really need chocolate sauce, but it looks pretty!)

Preheat oven to 325° F.

Beat eggs in large mixer bowl on high speed until foamy. Beat in flour, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Beat in butter. Stir in morsels and nuts. Spoon into pie shell.

Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until knife inserted halfway between edge and center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack or serve slightly warmed.  Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

Okay, so mine doesn't look all that delicious out of the oven, but I assure you it is! OBB makes a good point that it takes a lot less rich when it's cooled, but you can't really beat the oogey gooey goodness of a fresh-from-the-oven pie! iPhone photos and poor kitchen lighting do not do it justice. It's a super simple recipe with things you might already have in your house so you simply must give this a shot! Even if you don't like overly sweet things, this might tickle your fancy! (Mike even liked it!)


* Additional photos courtesy of Our Best Bites

Wedding Wednesday: Diana + Scott's Library Lovin'

I've had this Wedding Wednesday stored on my computer for months! I kept running into problems with Blogger when I'd try to post it but finally, finally!, it looks like it wants to cooperate! I'm tickled pink because not only is this one of the cutest, most personality-driven weddings I've seen, but also because the sweet bride is a dear friend of mine made via blogging! Diana is a true gem. She's the epitome of a classy lady in my eyes. I've always thought she was one of the most encouraging voices in the blogging world. If you don't know her, you're missing out. She pens a lovely blog, takes beautiful pictures and she's starting her own tech-based magazine, targeted to females, called Gadchick! And here is her beautiful day...

Click below to read Diana's interview and learn more about her big day! It's really charming!