Farewell February

This will probably be my last post for February. Under 6 months to go now! Let's take a peek back at the to-do list and see how we did:

Start working out Wedding Shower details with MOB/MOG
Get Engagement Pics scheduled
Get short list of officiants
Continue looking for the perfect pink shoes
Meet with 2nd DJ choice

and left over from January...
Send Save the Dates
Visit and book possible ceremony location
Set up initial florist consultations with 2 florists
Apply for passports

Not bad for a short month. Time to start thinking about March!

Here is the church... Here is the steeple...

Major wedding update: we booked our church today!

For someone who is insanely indecisive I was amazed that I pretty much had my mind up before we ever got to the church. Before I reveal where we will be saying our I Do's... let me show you where we were thinking about.

#1 - Wheeler Park, Geneva

Wheeler Park is this massive park in Geneva and includes the Geneva Senior Center. You can't tell from this picture, but the back of the building has this brick courtyard and 2 lines of trees stretching out from the courtyard that makes the most beautiful natural aisle. The down sides to Wheeler Park that in addition to thinking we would be married at the "senior center" is that fact its a park an there are not the nicest bathroom facilities. Plus, outside in August is a big risk, it could be crazy hot and humid and that would make everyone cranky.

#2 - Hilton Garden Inn Courtyard

For the all inclusive wedding, the Hilton where our reception is also has this cute little courtyard we can use for the ceremony. This issue here, as my wise fiance points out, is that with the air conditioners from the rooms facing the courtyard it would make it very difficult for the guests to hear! Also... I have plans for this little courtyard - I'd love to turn it into a Lumiere filled spot where reception guests can go to take a break from the food and fun inside.

#3 - Baker Methodist Church, St. Charles

Just down the road from the Hilton Garden Inn is this historic stone Methodist church that takes my breath away every time I drive buy it. Climate controlled for August and picturesque, this building was one of this firsts that came to mind when I got to start planning my wedding. There are some MAJOR turn offs however. #1: No Secular Music. This is a BIG issue for me... not that there is anything against sacred music, but as the wedding should reflect upon the couple, how can you limit the musician side of KJ and Me to a few Bach cantatas and vocal arias. Blah, no thanks, I get enough of that at work. #2: This mega building came with a mega price tag. So much so, we would have to cut back on about 20 guests to afford it.

and with no further ado, I give you our ceremony location:

The Congregational United Church of Christ, St. Charles

A 15 minute drive from the Hilton, this church has it all! It has a fairly open music policy, and the Reverend Susan Daley, who we have requested as our minister, is extraordinary. Not to mention the sanctuary is beautiful! There is the main section that seats about 150, and a small balcony for an additional 50 people. The dark green carpet is set off by a brightly colored wood and white decor. There are stained glass windows along the top of the sanctuary for plenty of natural light. I told KJ earlier today that it was really more than what I was expecting, and it really is perfect.

I'm so excited for this step of the wedding planning. It's been an interesting road to this point. Neither KJ or I being very religious has made having a wedding at a church or in a more general place an interesting discussion topic. While I recognize that being married in a church while not "religious" is offensive to some, I want to say that both of us have a sense of spirituality which is something that I think can be portrayed through a church ceremony more accurately than a wedding located outside a house of worship.

I am so very excited and can't wait for more planning as we head into March!!

Labor of Love #1 - Save the Dates

KJ and I put our save the dates in the mail Saturday! Thanks to the post office being closed yesterday for Presidents Day (hello... did they not realize I was very antsy and wanted my save the dates to be arriving at mail boxes on Monday), the majority of them should be delivered today with some of the out of state addresses arriving later this week.

I'm pretty excited because I can "sort of" call these my first DIY project. I know I technically DIY "cheated" because I ordered the majority of the stuff and just assembled, so instead I'll call them a "labor of love". Here is a look at how these wonderfully cheerful magnets came to be...

KJ took the lead and talked to Best Man K - who just so happens to be a graphic designer. (Of course, this conversation happened after I tried politely to squash KJ's ideas of funny save the dates that included (but not limited to) pictures of me throwing a pie in his face, a boxing themed save the date with the quote "two last names enter, one leaves", and a comic book type magnet depicting "all of our dreams coming true" where KJ has Wolverine claws coming out of his hands....)

So yes, KJ talked to Best Man K who so graciously helped KJs "approved" concept come to life with his mad design skills.

thats KJ and BM K at a Nadafinga show in 2007(ish)

I'm really impressed by the design because even thought its not exactly what KJ was hoping for, they are sweet, incorporate our pink & navy color scheme, and are pretty "fun" ... a theme that's becoming prominent in our wedding. So once we had the design I took care of ordering the magnets and envelopes, and after about 2 weeks of thinking how are we going to send these bad boys in the mail, MOH S stepped in to help assemble.

You would think these were pretty easy to assemble... and you'd be right. The hard part was actually thinking out the process of how they would all go together.

Step 1 - Address envelopes (check! MOH S has super clean handwriting so this was the easy part) The hard part was the 2 months prior spent acquiring everyones addresses and making sure our guest list was right at the number we wanted.

Hard at work

Step 2 - Attach magnet to navy card stock with glue dots. Pretty easy once MOH S got the hand of these little suckers. The card stock I got cut at Kinkos - but of course it wasn't that easy. You would think that you could just cut a piece of paper in four and use it as the backing for the magnet, except that the way the envelopes are glued, a quarter piece of paper is about an eighth of an inch too big to fit in the envelope. So after the original cut job, I had to have them re cut to fit correctly.

Experimenting with glue dots

Step 3 - Affix message about "you have a magnet in your hands... please don't throw it away" to corner. Between KJ, MOH S, and myself I think we had about 7 different ideas of how to draw attention to the fact that yes, in fact that is a magnet you are holding in your hands. Idea #1, write a message on each of the pieces of navy card stock... it sounded like it would work, so MOH S and I sent KJ off to the craft store to get the proper paint pens! 45 minutes later (and a pizza) later, KJ returned victorious and we started writing on each of the papers. I think we got about 3 pieces in before we started spelling the word "magnet" wrong, or forgetting a "the", or just getting too frustrated. So idea #1 died pretty quickly. Idea #2, attach a little message about the fact there is a magnet in your hands to the paper. Perfect, that would work... except then we spent the next 20 minutes discussing the placement of the piece of paper. Over the magnet? In the corner? On the back? Hmm.. maybe we should revisit Idea #1. Or move to idea number #5?

Someone (I can't really remember who) made the executive decision to affix saying to corner and that's that. MOH S and I sent KJ off, again, this time to Kinko's to get the sayings printed and cut while we went back to more glue dots! Another 45 minutes and KJ returned victorious... this time complaining that the Kinko's smelled of awful lingering farts.

We stuck the sayings on and ta-da! We had assembled save the dates!

Step 4 - Stuff, Seal, Stamp
Easy, Breezy, Beautiful!
Step 5 - Deliver to Post Office!

and today... we get to enjoy Step 6. Which is, as our friends and family find our save the date envelopes among their pile of junk mail and bills, we can finally start sharing the excitement we've been feeling for so many months!

Thanks again to BM K & MOH S - you guys rock!

Lust

It was my birthday yesterday... yay!

So for my birthday dinner, KJ took me to Meson Sabika - voted the best tapas restaurant in Chicagoland. It really didn't disappoint, lots of food, lots of selection, and pretty yummy wine!

One of the 8 dinning rooms in the mansion - Lace drapes welcome you into each of the rooms.

And here is where the lust comes in... Meson Sabika also has a pavillion for weddings. A wonderful, romantic, beautiful candellier filled pavillion. With puffy drapes hanging from the ceiling and a room enclosed by 360 degree windows which look out upon the land the mansion sits it.... well it's absolutly beautiful.

It reminds me exactly of a wedding held in summer in one of those big white tents with drapes hanging from the top of the tent, expect the pavilion has air conditioning (important for an August wedding in Illinois).

Hence the lust. Our reception location is pretty much the exact opposite of this. Our room has no windows, a lower ceiling, and no natural light. Before you go thinking we are going to have a party in a dungeon, we are not. A hotel was super important to us since our family is from out of town, we wanted the convience of having the party and sleeping at the same place. Also, we are getting a pretty nice price for the overprices suburbs.

Our ceremony room is pretty plain... in fact, take a peek for yourself.

Transforming our reception location into the perfect party room is going to be a lot of work for a tight budget. I have some ideas (lighting, centerpieces) but other areas are still tba.

When I saw Meson Sabika I was sad for a few seconds that we gave up the beauty of a room - but in the end, I'm very satisfied with our reception location and really excited to have a great party!

Earth... what?

earth⋅quake

 [urth-kweyk]

–noun

1.	a series of vibrations induced in the earth's crust by the abrupt rupture and rebound of rocks in which elastic strain has been slowly accumulating.

2. something not found in Illinois.... until last night.

**********************************************************************************************

Last night I could not fall asleep. I tossed and turned in bed for sometime until I decided the floor looked like it might provide solice. So I grabbed my pillows, pulled out on extra blanket and headed to the carpet. About 4am:

KJ: "Cara, Cara, Cara, Cara, Cara?", "Cara, Caaaaarrrrraaaa......."

Cara: Rolling over from her slumber..."w.w.w.what babe?

KJ: "Are you ok?"

Cara: "I'm fine, I was sleeping, what's wrong?"

KJ: "I think you feel out of be..."

Cara: "WHAT?" noticing the apartment felt like it was on top a vibrating bed.

KJ: "I thought you fell out of bed." thinking "earthquake?"

Cara: "Earth what?"

KJ: "oh, well, go back to bed."

Scene

The Aftershock: So apparently, KJ thinks my falling out of bed creates the same situation as an earthquake?

Grr... I'll be at the gym for the next 6 months... trying to prevent earthquakes.

I love you, I love you not... February to do list

It's a short month, but there is lots to be done. Here's a list of what's happening in February:

Start working out Wedding Shower details with MOB/MOG

Get Engagement Pics scheduled

Get short list of officiants

Continue looking for the perfect pink shoes

Meet with 2nd DJ choice

and left over from January...

Send Save the Dates

Visit and book possible ceremony location

Set up initial florist consultations with 2 florists

Apply for passports