Love for Kenzie Kate

Word to the wise: Do not order samples from your favorite invitation company when you don't actually have the money to order them...unless you want to end up like me.

See, it all started when Mrs. Bee posted about the gorgeous invitations over at Kenzie Kate. Being a big fan of something old, something new, I had seen the web site before. But Mrs. Bee's post happened to coincide with my recent decision not to make my own invitations, so I checked it out again.

I was playing around on the site, admiring the beautiful designs when I came across the The Palm Springs design. Needless to say, it was love at first sight.

So I thought I would order a sample. It was inexpensive and so easy. How could a girl resist? I'd almost forgotten I'd ordered them until I found the package in my mailbox today. And boy oh boy was I in for a treat.

I knew from the beginning that the Kenzie Kate invitations were just a bit too rich for my blood, but I can't help but gush about them a bit, for any of you brides still looking for those perfect invites.


This is what I found when I opened the package: complete with chocolate colored tissue and a note from Mackenzie herself.


Yes, it is as pretty in person as it looks on the Kenzie Kate site. The yellow is bright and vivid, perfectly paired with the modern grey pattern. And the ribbon accent? Just too cute for words.

The site allows you to choose two invitations to be sent in the sample, so I also got Aberdeen because it was so pretty.


It turns out Aberdeen is just as dreamy, with creamy cardstock and rich colors. Mr. Chickadee actually liked this one better than the Palm Springs!

So, anyone out there choosing Kenzie Kate for your invites? Which design did you go with?

Or, anyone like me and fall in love with something completely impractical? Come on, tell me all your guilty wedding pleasures!

Snow Day Fun

I thought my days of lounging around the house while it snowed buckets outside were over upon graduating high school...

but surprise! SNOW DAY!

Unfortunately, Mr. Chickadee is not so lucky...so while he's working hard I'm spending the day doing productive things...you know, like walking around in my wedding shoes and veil. Breaking in my shoes, pretending to be America's Next Top Model, same thing, right? Right.

As you may remember, I'm the bee suffering from veil-a-phobia, so the fact that I was wandering through a bridal shop, fell in love with a veil (that actually looked right on my head!) and took it home with me that day is a little bit surprising. But I guess when you know, you just know.

My veil's short and perky (just like me!) and I think it'll add a lovely bit of whimsy to my wedding day ensemble.

My veil on the day I bought it (left) and me today, in my lazy snow day mode (right).

The stock image of my shoes from zappos.com (left) and my actual shoes in white (right).

On the same day I found my veil (which, I should mention was also the day we chose bm dresses and got my mom's dress), I also picked out my shoes. This was, again, a total impulse buy.

My mom, sister, aunts, and cousins (why yes, I do travel with an entourage) were wandering around Woodfield Mall, enjoying some smoothies, when we decided to swing by Macy's. In the shoe section, I found these beauties, and seriously, within 5 minutes of walking into the store, I was at the cash register paying. They're perfect with a peep toe, short heel, and jewel accent! They're Caparros, style: Vincente.

Despite these items being bought on complete and utter whims, I really really love them! I think I'm starting to discover that agonizing over every little decision will only cause this whole wedding planning process to be an utter nightmare. Sometimes it's best to just run into a store, buy what you need, and run out before you can have second thoughts!

Wedding Procrastinator, Extraordinaire

Hi, my name's Miss Chickadee and I'm a wedding procrastinator.

I'm proud to announce that it's been almost an entire week and a half since my first (and hopefully last) major wedding breakdown, which was followed almost immediately by a wedding intervention courtesy of Big Sis & Mama Chickadee. Needless to say, it was an intervention worthy of Dr. Phil himself, complete with motivational speeches, list-making, and more than a few tears.

The good news is, I am a reformed Chickadee and the proud possessor of 100 COMPLETELY FINISHED Save the Dates. I also managed to check many many other things off my to-do list...including a few toughies like choosing a veil, shoes, and bridesmaid dresses!

Today though, is going to be completely devoted to my Save the Dates. I know what you're all thinking, though, "didn't we already get a post about this?" Um, yes. Good memory. You're right, I did already write about them... but they've changed. What can I say, it's a woman's prerogative to change her mind.

Sure, I had to learn the hard way that I just don't like the way my gocco prints, or that the swirly patterned vellum that looked alright in the tray at Hobby Lobby is just not my thing, or that it actually takes way more adhesive than you could ever estimate, but in the end (with a little help from Paper Source and a lot of help from Mr. Chickadee) I finally have STDs that I LOVE.



The supplies:
#10 Open End Envelopes in Curry from Paper-Source.

#10 Flat Cards in Black.

Tons of yellow ribbon from Hobby Lobby.

These magical adhesive mounting squares.

A reliable paper cutter (best paired with a very methodical fiance).

A nearby Office Max/Kinko's/copy shop to print for you.

The Process:
1. Work up your design in your favorite layout program. If you have InDesign or QuarkXpress, that's awesome, but you can do it just as well in Publisher or something similar. I used a combination of the fonts Scriptina and Orlando for our design.

2. If necessary, take Miss Flamingo's advice and turn your design into a Vector image.

3. Turn your design into a PDF and head over to your print shop of choice. A tip for all those black and white brides out there....if you're just doing a basic black text on white paper, ask for it to be printed with the color printer, not the b&w printer at a place like Kinko's. It'll cost you a little extra but it'll be higher quality!

4. Time to get cutting. This is my least favorite part, as I always manage to miscalculate EVERYTHING. This might be a good time to call your hubby-to-be in for some couples crafting super bonding time.

5. Stick all your layers together. I really recommend these nifty little mounting squares. They don't leave a mess, are easy to apply, and keep all your pieces smooth.

6. Ta da! You're done!

Having the Save the Dates done is a HUGE weight off my shoulders. What was the task you found yourself procrastinating the most? Any tips for staying motivated with the wedding planning?

Jumping on the Bandwagon

Like so many others these days, I've been a very busy bee. In addition to the usual pre-holiday hubbub, I've started a new job and it's keeping me very busy. I feel like right now I'm also in a bit of a wedding lull. I've hired all my vendors, made all the big decisions, and now I'm just waiting to get cracking on all those DIY projects (like those Save the Dates I haven't worked on since July!).

However, I've noticed a lot of bees posting their engagements pictures lately and realized I never posted mine. We ended up getting our pictures done on two different nights since our first attempt happened on a cloudy, rainy night. We got our pictures back soon after and Mr. Chickadee and I love them so much! It was so much fun to get to see our photographer, Mark Romine, in action.

Once we got the proofs back we decided to order a photo guest book of our engagement pictures. Just yesterday Mark e-mailed me to let me know the design was ready for my approval!

You can see the entire guest book design here but I'll leave you for now with one of my favorite pages!


Photos by Mark Romine. I think clicking makes it bigger.

Attack of the Killer Veils

I've heard time and time again that a woman doesn't truly feel like a bride until she dons her veil for the first time. One of the employees of Michelle's Bridal Shoppe even told me a story about a bride who chose her veil first and planned the rest of her wedding day attire around that. For many brides, the veil is an integral part of her wedding day.

So I'm beginning to think I may have a problem.

The thing is, I fully appreciate a beautiful veil. There's something really breathtaking about a cathedral length veil skimming the floor as a bride makes her trek down the aisle. It's just that I don't really like veils on me.


Some lovely full length veils from Romona Keveza.

Gorgeous right?

Well...this is me in a long veil. I like to call it the bride-eating veil....for obvious reasons.



So I blamed this unfortunate tulle explosion on the fact that I'm a pretty petite person, and decided a long veil was just not for me.

However, the sad fact is that a short veil does not automatically reduce the likelihood of poof-overdose.


Also from Romona Keveza. I secretly love all of these looks and wish I could pull them off!

These are some more examples of my previous run-ins with veils of the shorter variety. You can tell by my face in the first picture that I'm a little underwhelmed.



So for now, I'm still undecided and decided to take a little break from the veil hunt, before I'm consumed by my biggest fear...

which would be, of course, these veils:


(I feel like I should mention that Romona Keveza is actually my favorite wedding dress designer...I just strongly believe these veils should stay on the runway!)

Anyone else in my shoes when it comes to the great veil dilemma? Any tips or suggestions of how to overcome my veil phobia? What kind of veil did you choose?

#4

Things I learned from my sister's wedding: #4

Try to get everything done a few days before the actual wedding. Ok, admittedly this is much easier said than done, but try to schedule all your do-it-yourself projects to finish up well in advance of your big day. That way you won't be up the night before tying ribbons and folding programs when you should be sleeping.

My sister got married on a Sunday and the Wednesday before my parents and I showed up at her apartment and helped her finish all the crafty projects, including her favors of Jelly Beans in little bags.



The Seville, my sister's reception venue, requires brides to bring in all their supplies several days in advance so on Thursday we dropped off toasting flutes, place cards, menus & menu holders, cake knife, fake rose petals, and favors. The Seville was super organized and while my sister talked to the manager, I went over the placement of everything with the guy who sets up the room on the day of the wedding.

It was wonderful, then, to get all the wedding clutter and day-of projects out of my sister's house for the rest of the week. I think we were all a little more relaxed knowing there was nothing left to do for the big day!

Bridal University

For all those Central Illinois brides out there (I know there are a few!), this Thursday is the second annual Bridal University in Champaign-Urbana.



This event brings together some of the area's best vendors (including my photographer!) in an informative session on choosing vendors, making the most of each vendor and his/her services, and answering all those plaguing questions. There's also a fashion show and creative workshops meant to "put the fun back in wedding planning."

The event is taking place this Thursday from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. at Michelle's Bridal, 2210 N. Willow Rd. in Urbana. Tickets are $10 each, but all the proceeds go to Habitat for Humanity.

If you're feeling a little lost in the wedding plans, or need something to add the fun back in, come to Urbana for the night....or you could always come to meet me! :)