We started going to Faith Community Church in May. We have been every Sunday since we went the first time to this church. The pastor, Pastor Jeff, reminds me of my pastor from home. We have hymnals, and the Lord's prayer, and communion so it is more traditional than my church I grew up in which I like.
We picked our wedding day without talking to our pastor, but since we picked it about a year in advance, we prayed if he couldn't do it, someone from FCC would.
On Sunday when we were leaving service and giving hugs Pastor Jeff stopped us and told us a parishioner told him we were engaged. He told us "I want to be the one to marry you two! Can you come in to the office sometime this week to pick a date?". I felt awful telling him we already had a date. (In my head I also knew it was a Sunday and may be difficult for a Senior Pastor to get away from the congregation on a Sunday morning). He told us to write down the date and he would look at his schedule and email us this week about his availability.
He emailed us yesterday and he is available our wedding day!
One of amazing things about this is that we honestly didn't have to do any work for once. So far with wedding dress shopping and buying, save the dates being sent out, the venue being book and flower shows, we have coordinated almost everything. It was nice having our Pastor stop us while we were leaving church to tell us he wanted to be a part of our wedding.
With our spiritual selves growing upward and onward, we pray to have a healthy and happy marriage.
Having faith was the best for us.
Krystal
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Hotel Accommodations for Guests
We are very excited to have booked a hotel for our guests during the time period of our wedding.
Booking group rates often involves negotiation.
It is extremely flexible, with no deposit at the Hampton Suites. The manager is only hesitant to give us more rooms until we start receiving RSVP's. So far we have 10 rooms. 5 Rooms with a king size bed and 5 with 2 queens. It has a pool, hot tub and work out room. The rate negotiated down to is $109.00 per night, with any additional nights optional and they will honor the wedding rate.
The Holiday Inn Express and Homewood Suites are the next people I need to have conversations with. We stopped in the to the Homewood Suites yesterday, and I was not about to go into negotiating group rates with the person who was there. He told me they book solid every weekend, and the Holiday Inn Express person told us the same thing. She told us on the phone that they normally are $130 that weekend. I find it hard to believe that both hotels "book solid", considering we live out in the middle of nowhere. The Homewood Suites is adjacent to the Hampton Suites; with just as empty of a parking lot.
It is good that we have one of our hotels down to $109.00 per night for our guests. We can now tell the other hotels about this rate. So far, this has been an area much like the site fee negotiation, where you should be confident in your negotiating. It is important to us to get a very fair rate for the hotels.
My advice for booking hotels? Do not let them tell you they do not offer group rates because they book solid. The Hampton Suites was really nice and didn't try to make any more money than they already are making off of us that weekend. The Holiday Inn Express and Homewood Suites I have yet to negotiate with.
Here is a sample of one of the rooms at Hampton Suites. I hope our guests like it!
Enjoy the engagement!
Krystal
Booking group rates often involves negotiation.
It is extremely flexible, with no deposit at the Hampton Suites. The manager is only hesitant to give us more rooms until we start receiving RSVP's. So far we have 10 rooms. 5 Rooms with a king size bed and 5 with 2 queens. It has a pool, hot tub and work out room. The rate negotiated down to is $109.00 per night, with any additional nights optional and they will honor the wedding rate.
The Holiday Inn Express and Homewood Suites are the next people I need to have conversations with. We stopped in the to the Homewood Suites yesterday, and I was not about to go into negotiating group rates with the person who was there. He told me they book solid every weekend, and the Holiday Inn Express person told us the same thing. She told us on the phone that they normally are $130 that weekend. I find it hard to believe that both hotels "book solid", considering we live out in the middle of nowhere. The Homewood Suites is adjacent to the Hampton Suites; with just as empty of a parking lot.
It is good that we have one of our hotels down to $109.00 per night for our guests. We can now tell the other hotels about this rate. So far, this has been an area much like the site fee negotiation, where you should be confident in your negotiating. It is important to us to get a very fair rate for the hotels.
My advice for booking hotels? Do not let them tell you they do not offer group rates because they book solid. The Hampton Suites was really nice and didn't try to make any more money than they already are making off of us that weekend. The Holiday Inn Express and Homewood Suites I have yet to negotiate with.
Here is a sample of one of the rooms at Hampton Suites. I hope our guests like it!
Enjoy the engagement!
Krystal
Monday, September 13, 2010
Handcrafted Save the Dates
Why not just send a mass email as a Save the Date? It seems to be a trend right now. My family just went to a wedding and called it "extremely traditional" even though an email save the date was part of the package.
I don't see why if you are expecting people to travel to your wedding, you wouldn't take time to make a save the date. It isn't an option, in my opinion. Not making one just seems to be a way to cut corners and save time.
Our save the dates are gorgeous. I am so pleased with them. We handmade each one together. I came up with the prototype after hours upon hours of save the date research. Save the dates have a lot of options. Sentences, no sentences, pictures, no pictures, venue announced or not, time announced or not, etc. As long as it has the bride and grooms names and date of the wedding, the save the date can be considered a save the date.
I do not recommend handmaking save the dates if you are trying to cut costs because you may end up buying a lot of supplies that you do not need and having to redo things you have already done. Handcrafting save the dates was not cheaper (at all). After looking online, you can order 250 white save the sates for almost the cost of what we made ours. So it is pretty comparable to make your own, and a lot more personal to make them. We ended up making 4 trips to Michaels and ordered envelopes and something else for the save the dates over the internet.
Do I recommend every bride make her save the date? Yes, actually. I do not understand the lack of tradition with the save the date emails. Learning to schedule time together is part of a marriage; schedule some time to work with your fiance and do a craft together. I can almost promise you that you will laugh so hard you will cry at one point. It was a a fun experience. I will post pictures this weekend when I know people are starting to receive them in the mail! Enjoy the engagement if you are engaged!
On to the hand crafted invitations....
I don't see why if you are expecting people to travel to your wedding, you wouldn't take time to make a save the date. It isn't an option, in my opinion. Not making one just seems to be a way to cut corners and save time.
Our save the dates are gorgeous. I am so pleased with them. We handmade each one together. I came up with the prototype after hours upon hours of save the date research. Save the dates have a lot of options. Sentences, no sentences, pictures, no pictures, venue announced or not, time announced or not, etc. As long as it has the bride and grooms names and date of the wedding, the save the date can be considered a save the date.
I do not recommend handmaking save the dates if you are trying to cut costs because you may end up buying a lot of supplies that you do not need and having to redo things you have already done. Handcrafting save the dates was not cheaper (at all). After looking online, you can order 250 white save the sates for almost the cost of what we made ours. So it is pretty comparable to make your own, and a lot more personal to make them. We ended up making 4 trips to Michaels and ordered envelopes and something else for the save the dates over the internet.
Do I recommend every bride make her save the date? Yes, actually. I do not understand the lack of tradition with the save the date emails. Learning to schedule time together is part of a marriage; schedule some time to work with your fiance and do a craft together. I can almost promise you that you will laugh so hard you will cry at one point. It was a a fun experience. I will post pictures this weekend when I know people are starting to receive them in the mail! Enjoy the engagement if you are engaged!
On to the hand crafted invitations....
Saturday, September 11, 2010
American Dahlia Society Flower Show
The various combinations of flowers, colors of flowers and arrangement styles are almost innumerable. I understand the process of choosing a color palette and a color palette of flowers man seem daunting to many brides. For me, it has been a walk down easy street. Our color palette is white and yellow, and orchids, roses, dahlias, sunflowers and marigolds all come in yellows. The latter three can be grown in Colorado over summers. Orchids and roses grow from stems, dahlias grow from "tubers" (shallot sized bulb like roots). We are growing dahlias, sunflowers and marigolds to add personal touches to the wedding and to build a sense of unity for Daren and I as a team before the wedding. So far, our "do it yourself" projects have been "do it together" projects. Daren is in his senior year at CU with 18 credit hours and I have 18 credit hours, too, and with Daren's work schedule as a field hockey coach we cherish opportunities to be creative and as a team.
The American Dahlia Society held a flower show in Parker, Colorado today. We hoped to speak to some Colorado dahlia growing experts. The show was held a dog friendly facility, so we got to bring Kalé with us which is always a treat. The show was a success for us. We figure, right now because we have sunflowers in bloom in our backyard and I grew marigolds all summer and dahlias seem easy to grow according to the Society, we hope to have many accents of personal touches the day of the wedding.
Our bonding experience during the process has enhanced wedding planning 100%. Going to events like this may seem easy for many grooms to evade going to. I'll be honest, Daren was one of the only men there. I think it is important to nourish the relationship we are in with experiences like this before we say "I do". I am starting to log our hours working on the wedding; each hour our relationship is growing from collaborating together. Enjoying the time of the engagement is important.
Does every bride need to go to a club flower show? Absolutely not. I probably wouldn't if I were ordering fresh cut everything that day. I know what flowers I like. Why would I go tease myself with $100 versions of it? For me, it is the right thing to do. My artistry side is shining through for our wedding and it is what I really want.
We also have our save the date prototype ready. I bought almost everything at Michael's to do it. We ordered 1,000 (can you believe that is the SMALLEST size they carry them in) of something we need from some Dunder Mifflin-esque company and will finish creating them next weekend. I really want to post pictures of the save the date but I want all of our guests to be suprised! I will post it next weekend!
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Priscilla of Boston
As a growing girl, I envisioned shopping for my wedding dress often. I daydreamed about who would be there with me, what city I would be in and how old I would be.
I never dreamed I would have ended up in a designer salon. Going to a nice bridal salon was something I learned of doing when I started watching "Say Yes to the Dress". Because there is no Kleinfeld's in Colorado, I went to "Priscilla's of Boston". Wow.
I have insisted on growing my own wedding flowers, handmaking invitations and save the dates and other do it yourself projects. I really wanted to include my in laws in this part of the wedding process. My mother in law is a botanical illustrator, which doesn't express it enough, basically she loves flowers. She also loves gardening. It was hard for her to hear that I want to grow my flowers myself, in her backyard. And my father in law, him and I love to go clothes shopping together. Honestly, a day at Nordstrom for him and I is normally a stress free day topped off with starbucks. So, I decided I really should invite them. For every reason mentioned above, but more than anything, I love them so much!
My dress shopping experience was full of positive moments and happy highlights. I actually never felt weird or wrong once. I loved every dress I tried on. There were no dramatic "no, we hate that dress" moments like on T.V. Every dress was magical. And when I tried on the perfect one, we cried. My consultant, Francois, had a gorgeous thick French accent and picked my dress. I probably shouldn't write what my mother in law said when she saw me in the dress that we picked, but it was along the lines of "We have to get it!". Then, Francois told her that I cried when I put it on. I was on the pedestal (their fitting room is just like Kleinfeld's on TV!) and knew I was marrying the right man and into the right family. It felt like I had just met Daren all over again, just got proposed to again all while daydreaming about our future children. It really was an amazing feeling. Not overwhelming, a perfect combination of excitement and relief.
My tips for trying dresses on at Priscilla's of Boston? I don't have too many tips, but for me, wearing the veil when you try it on helps. Also, know if they go to pick out a veil for you, they will probably grab a $500 one to try on. Also, don't go in with a color or swatch in mind if you are going to try on dresses not in that color. My dress is being handmade and will not be available for me to even see until March. That is kind of nerve wracking. Also, the material (I don't want to spoil it too much here) is not 100% identically replicable, so it might be more ivory than white.
We have our flower girl dress picked out from Priscilla of Boston too, but we are going to get her measured when it is closer to March. Camille, Daren's cousin is growing so fast! Daren is involved in every step of the wedding, but I am not letting him no anything about my dress. I want him to be surpised when he sees me walking through the sunshine down the aisle to come marry him.
Here are some pictures of my experience at Priscilla's of Boston. I do reccomend it, as long as you are serious about getting a dress there. I hope you can sense the magic through these.
I never dreamed I would have ended up in a designer salon. Going to a nice bridal salon was something I learned of doing when I started watching "Say Yes to the Dress". Because there is no Kleinfeld's in Colorado, I went to "Priscilla's of Boston". Wow.
I have insisted on growing my own wedding flowers, handmaking invitations and save the dates and other do it yourself projects. I really wanted to include my in laws in this part of the wedding process. My mother in law is a botanical illustrator, which doesn't express it enough, basically she loves flowers. She also loves gardening. It was hard for her to hear that I want to grow my flowers myself, in her backyard. And my father in law, him and I love to go clothes shopping together. Honestly, a day at Nordstrom for him and I is normally a stress free day topped off with starbucks. So, I decided I really should invite them. For every reason mentioned above, but more than anything, I love them so much!
My dress shopping experience was full of positive moments and happy highlights. I actually never felt weird or wrong once. I loved every dress I tried on. There were no dramatic "no, we hate that dress" moments like on T.V. Every dress was magical. And when I tried on the perfect one, we cried. My consultant, Francois, had a gorgeous thick French accent and picked my dress. I probably shouldn't write what my mother in law said when she saw me in the dress that we picked, but it was along the lines of "We have to get it!". Then, Francois told her that I cried when I put it on. I was on the pedestal (their fitting room is just like Kleinfeld's on TV!) and knew I was marrying the right man and into the right family. It felt like I had just met Daren all over again, just got proposed to again all while daydreaming about our future children. It really was an amazing feeling. Not overwhelming, a perfect combination of excitement and relief.
My tips for trying dresses on at Priscilla's of Boston? I don't have too many tips, but for me, wearing the veil when you try it on helps. Also, know if they go to pick out a veil for you, they will probably grab a $500 one to try on. Also, don't go in with a color or swatch in mind if you are going to try on dresses not in that color. My dress is being handmade and will not be available for me to even see until March. That is kind of nerve wracking. Also, the material (I don't want to spoil it too much here) is not 100% identically replicable, so it might be more ivory than white.
We have our flower girl dress picked out from Priscilla of Boston too, but we are going to get her measured when it is closer to March. Camille, Daren's cousin is growing so fast! Daren is involved in every step of the wedding, but I am not letting him no anything about my dress. I want him to be surpised when he sees me walking through the sunshine down the aisle to come marry him.
Here are some pictures of my experience at Priscilla's of Boston. I do reccomend it, as long as you are serious about getting a dress there. I hope you can sense the magic through these.
August 7, 2011. Our wedding day.
Daren and I paid our deposit and got to pick our wedding date yesterday! It was a very exciting, nervous time. The Manor House is a Virginia-Georgia inspired mansion. This is so perfect for me, it gives me a taste of Virginia and it is 1 mile from our house. Daren's family I am sure will be hosting family at their home and it is so close! One of the hardest part about out of town weddings is teaching guests how to arrive places and giving directions. The Manor House will near our home, easy to find, and amazing to be at for a Sunday morning and afternoon.
Site fees are normally a fixed rate, but we got our site fee down to half of what it normally is. We have access to the entire mansion for the day of the wedding. Some of the weddings I have been to that have been held in mansions have limited guests to outdoor enjoyment. I have nothing against this, however I would love for my guests to be able to enjoy the mansion for the day.
We are still praying that our pastor, Pastor Jeff, will do our sunday ceremony. Normally Sunday weddings are held in church, and normally the entire congregation is invited. However, our ceremony will be at The Manor House. It is pretty popular around here to do it at the venue, and The Manor House is no exception. We are faithful our pastor will marry us.
August 7, 2011. Our wedding day.
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| The Manor House Littleton, Colorado |
The Manor House Littleton, Colorado
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