Our Wedding Brought To You By Dr. Pepper and Snapple

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Weddings are expensive, and it seems like every time Chris and I say "wedding" the price seems to triple, if not quadruple. I think what is even worse is the nickle and diming -- corking fees, cake cutting fees, food shortage surcharges, photography usage fees -- it's vendors trying to squeeze every last penny out of you! Chris and I want to have a nice wedding, but we don't want to auction off our first child to do so! But one bride did just that! Well, not auctioning off her first child, but auctioning off a spot as a bridesmaid on Ebay to pay for her wedding.

Have you seen this article? It came across my RSS news feed yesterday. Apparently, a bride in Virginia auctioned off a spot as a bridesmaid to the highest bidder on Ebay in order to pay for her $7,000 wedding. With a combined income of $32,000 and a 1-year old, the couple was on a tight budget, so they turned to Ebay to offset the expenses. Who is the lucky winner? Dr. Pepper and Snapple! Not only did the company up the bid to $10,000, but is launching an online competition to decide who the bridesmaid will be -- with talk of a surprise celebrity. I have to give the couple major props for being creative! Now, they can not only afford the wedding, but the honeymoon as well.

This article begs asking the question --is this the new bridal trend: corporate wedding sponsorship? Chris and I are really trying hard to stay on budget, but I know that I couldn't have a corporate brand plastered among our decorations to offset expenses. I know the bride didn't mean for Dr. Pepper to be their wedding sponsor, but I have to admit my antidisestablishment side is fuming. What next is in the corporatization of America?

Hi Ho, Hi Ho...It's Off to Breck We Go!

Since none of our families had seen our venue, we decided to take a little trek up into the mountain to Breckenridge on Saturday. Like I said in yesterday's post, when Chris and I toured the venue in November it was ski season – not only was the patio where we would get married buried under snow, but the dinning room was converted into a café for skiers. Now that all the snow had melted and ski session was over, we could get a better picture of what the location would look like on our wedding day. So, my FFIL, FMIL, FSIL, my mom, Chris, and myself piled into our cars and drove up to Breckenridge to look at Ten Mile Station. The hour and half drive along I-70 is stunning!

When Chris and I toured the venue in November, we took the chair lift up to the Ten Mile because the road was buried in 6 feet of snow. Now that all the snow had melted, we could take the dirt road up. I am really glad we did this because finding the road in town is really, really tricky. Addition to my to-do list: 1. Make signs to point our guests in the right direction.

First off in our tour of Ten Mile: Inside. Lucky for us, they were setting up for a wedding, but unfortunately I couldn't meet with my coordinator, Britton, as she was hosting another wedding at one of the other Breckenridge Lodging and Hospitality sites. Another coordinator, Helen, graciously gave us a little tour of the facility and answered all of my questions.

Above, the bar/cocktail area. I really like how it is off to the side and separate from the dinning room. If too full, guests can spill off onto the patio. I did a count of the tables and after counting 8 High-Tops (I thought there was only 4), the Michael Miller Dandy Damask linens might be cut for cost. GRRRRRR! I want to think of a way to incorporate the fabric. Any ideas?

In the pictures is my FFIL, as well as our guest book table, escort card table, monitors for a slideshow, and table for appetizers. A some point in the evening the table for appetizers will go away and this area will be used as our dance floor. Off to the right hand side and not pictured is a little alcove for the DJ.

The big issue that we discovered were the tablecloths. In our pricing basic tablecloths are included, so I just went with them; however, this is what the basic tablecloths looks like --unpressed and dropped only a few inches off of the table. Although, I could potentially look past this, it just doesn't look good. Addition to my to-do list: 2. Hunt for better linens. Next up on our tour: Outside.

Above is a photo of Chris, his parents, and his sister.

This is the patio where Chris and I will get married. I love, love, love the long walk down the aisle! And the mountains in the background! *sigh*

In this photo you are seeing my FFIL and myself discussing the grate issue. Right were I will be standing there is a grate that I could potentially get my heels caught in. I can just image myself happy, tearful Cookie blissfully staring into Chris' eyes and then !!!!BAM!!! nose dive into the pavement. Although the aisle runner will cover it, there needs to be something hard underneath to prevent heel and bodily damage. Addition to my to-do list: 3. Cover for grate.

A photo of Chris and myself in the exact spot where we will get married. *sigh*

And finally on our tour I leave you with this: my sunburn. That's right, on Friday I did a whole post about the altitude, but did I even think of putting sunscreen on my shoulders, no! Although, I did put it on my face! I was only out in the sun for 30 minutes max, but at 10,000 feet the sun is 40% stronger. I am really hoping it will fade by September, but I have a tan line from a burn last year on my back that still hasn't faded. Oh, well. Addition to my to-do list: 4. Apply aloe vera to burn liberally.

A Little Something Special

Yesterday, Chris surprised me with a dozen Black Magic Roses. Unbeknowst to him, these are the exact roses that will be in my bouquet. They are beautiful, stunning, and a I cried when he gave them to me. I don't really need or want a lot of material things, but once in a while it's just nice to get some flowers from my honey! I truly love this man!

At Altitude

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Since Chris and I are getting married at an elevation of 10,234 feet, I feel it's necessary to warn your about the possibility of altitude sickness. To be honest, I don't think anybody will get sick. I am really more concerned about the affects of altitude on our older guests rather then the younger ones, but it affects people differently. And with all the debauchery, shenanigans, and inebriation that I know will ensue at the wedding, I thought I would give you guys a heads-up.

What is altitude sickness? The above photo is a of the sign from Mount Evans, one of Colorado's Fourtenners, warning about the dangers of high altitude. According to WebMD, "Altitude sickness occurs when you cannot get enough oxygen from the air at high altitudes. This causes symptoms such as a headache and not feeling like eating. It happens most often when people who are not used to high altitudes go quickly from lower altitudes to 8000 ft or higher. For example, you may get a headache when you drive over a high mountain pass, hike to a high altitude, or arrive at a mountain resort.
Mild altitude sickness is common. In the United States, more than 20% of people visiting the western mountains have it.1 Experts do not know who will get it and who will not. Your age, being male or female, and how physically fit you are play no role in whether you get altitude sickness."

Really the best way to avoid altitude sickness is to acclimate, which is the process of adjusting to the decreasing levels at lower altitudes before accending to high ones. Unbeknowst to you, we have devised a plan to acclimate you to the altitude. Since many of you are traveling from sea level or slightly higher, we asked that youstay a night in Denver before heading up into the high country, not only to acclimate, but to enjoy our rehearsal dinner. At 5,900 feet (the elevation that Chris and I live) you will begin the acclimation process while dining on roasted pig without even knowing it.

Also on our web site, I have a devoted a special page to all topics related to mountain health: altitude sickness, the affects of alcohol and caffeine at altitude, weather, and sun exposure. Although none of you are climbing Mount Everest to get to our wedding, I want all you to have a good time. The last thing I want is for you to be stuck in their hotel room sick and miss all the fun!

The Short and the Long

I have always had straight, short hair. When I was five, my mother cut my hair into the infamous Dorothy Hammil haircut. Although, I had several different hair-dos --including really bad perms in the early 90s --for the next fourteen years of my life I had nothing but straight, short hair.

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In college, my short hair was fantastic. I would roll out of bed, grab a quick shower, blow dry my hair, toss a little product, and run out the door. No fuss, no mess. I loved it! To illustrate how short my hair was, below is a photo of me, circa 2005. Please note the differences and similarities to the Dorothy Hammil do.

After college and right before I met Chris, I decided out-of-the-blue that I was done with the straight, short hair and decided to grow it out. So long Dorothy Hammil! Now, this was a major decision, hair altering decision considering I had spent almost 24 years with short hair. As my hair grew longer, I started to play around with all the different styles: flat, curly, and up-dos to see what I liked best. For my friend's wedding--where Chris and I would meet -- I decided to go curly. Below is Stacy(future bridesmaids) on her wedding day and myself.

Remember, Chris and I were in a long distance relationship. In between the day we met and the next time Chris saw me again was six gruelling weeks. Literally, the second phrase out of his mouth the moment we saw one another again was, "I thought you had curly hair? You had curly hair at the wedding." Subsequent photos and baby pictures would convince him otherwise.

When thinking about my hair style for the wedding, I thought back to the day we met and my curly hair. Now, my hair is longer than I have ever had it, and would be perfect for some long loose curls. So, I took the below image of Katherine McPhee hair at her wedding this weekend to my hairstylist for a pseudo hair trial.

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Here is how it turned out, and me trying to get a good hair shot in our bathroom mirror. I love it! My veil won't be done until the middle of July, but when I go for my cut and color in August I'll be able to take it to do the real hair trial. Below is my hair, eight hours later. The curls fell out a little more than I would have liked, but I think it still looks good.

Although, my long hair is defiantly growing on me, I am half tempted just to chop-off my hair after the wedding and go back to my short hair days.

When Cake and VW Bugs Collide

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One reason Chris and I chose our venue was the inclusiveness of the package --meaning chairs, tables, linens, dishware, food, beverage, and cake are all included in the price. This meant less time and stress running around finding a rental company, caterer, and baker. Another reason that we chose the venue was their pastry chef. When we signed our venue contract, Ned Archibald, Executive Pastry Chef and Chocolate Magician of the Keystone Resort, was the exclusive cake baker for Ten Mile. I didn't mind having to exclusively go with Ned because his work is fantastic.

About a month after we signed the contract, I got an email from our catering manager about the cake. Apparently with over 200+ weddings per year, Ned could not keep up with the demand and decided to not bake for Ten Mile. Now, our venue was on the hunt for a new baker and would get back to me shortly. Needless to say, I was disappointed but optimistic. A few weeks go by and I got another email from the catering manager saying that they had found a baker, Katie with Clint's Bakery. I emailed Katie and we set-up a tasting consultation with Chris and I in January.

To try to save time, gas, and money, we are really trying hard to limit our trips up to Breckenridge (which is about an hour and half drive from our house), so we pack our days with wedding planning activities. On this particular cold, sunny Saturday in January we had quite a day -- skiing the mountain in the morning, cake tasting, meeting with our catering manager to lock in 2007 food prices, and more skiing in the afternoon. At 6:00am we headed off to Breckenridge and as we turned onto I-70 we ran straight into bumper -to-bumper ski traffic. Three hours later and two very frustrated Cookies later, we finally make it to Breckenridge. By this time we have missed skiing in the morning and were about to be late for our cake tasting, when Chris hits a patch of ice going literally 5 miles per hour and runs into the back of a VW Bug in my mother's car! We all pulled off to the side of the road, made sure everyone was ok, and then we started inspecting the cars. My mother's car was fine, only the licence plate was bent, but the rear bumper of the Bug was broken and cracked. Ironically, the couple we hit was also engaged and getting married in Florida. They were really cool about the situation, and they eventually got a new bumper.

After swapping insurance cards, we rushed to our cake consultation. Clint's is more of a coffee shop than an actually bakery, so there was a ton of people sipping on espresso and chomping on breakfast burritos during our entire consultation. Katie was a really nice, bubbly girl -- who we later found our had just graduated from culinary school two years ago. She decided to go into cake baking after a few friends asked her to bake cakes for their weddings, and was now starting to build her business. Before the consultation, Katie and I had discussed a few options of cake we wanted to taste, and during the meeting I gave her our cake inspiration board along with a few other cake images to decide on a design.

From left to right: Row 1 take the cake, April Reed, The Cake Girls Row 2 April Reed and Erica O'Brien

Image from The Knot Colorado

We finally decided on this inspirational image for our cake. Please excuse the scan, but I gave the original image to Katie. The cake will be a three layer chocolate cake filled with real raspberry and raspberry preserves. The first and second layers will be separated with orange and red roses but the third will be sans flowers. The frosting will be a white fondant with tiffany blue royal icing detail, as well as, a thin brown ribbon on the bottom of each later.

After we decided what the cake looked like, Katie presented us with five different cakes to try --baked as adorable oversized cupcakes, however all the cakes were really dense. Because the cake was so dense, we asked if she could make it a little lighter. Immediately, a hurt look overcame her face. She told us that she had never had a problem with anyone liking her cake before, and would see what she could do. Chris and I left feeling a little worried if she could pull off the cake, but with the exclusivity of Ten Mile she will bake over 60 cake this summer alone. We are crossing are fingers that practice makes perfect.

On a lighter note, I found these adorable little salt and pepper bird shakers at Target for $5. Instead of a traditional cake topper, our florist will set the birds so they are peeping out of the flowers on the second layer.

If It's Sunday, It's Meet the Press

I wanted to diverge from the regular wedding blog to pay tribute to an amazing political journalist, Tim Russert. Tim, thank you for your hard nosed interview style that asked the questions we all wanted answered from our politicians with integrity and dignity. Sunday mornings will not be the same without you!

The Forgotten Guest Book

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While scrounging around for some unmemorable item a few years ago in the basement of my father’s house, I came across my parent’s guest book from their wedding in the back of a hallway closet. The thick layer of dust that caked the cover confirmed my suspicion -- the book had not seen the light of day in over thirty years. As I flipped through the pages and pages of names, I was surprised to recognize a majority of the names -- many whom were relatives or friends of my parents. Also, I found a list of the wedding presents my parent’s had received, along with my mother’s handwritten notes about thank you cards. Although very touching and bittersweet (my parent's are divorced), their guest book looked so sad and pathetic being tucked away and forgotten about these many years. So, when thinking about what we wanted for our guest book, I was reminded of my parent's guest book and knew I needed to come up with something that would be a visible reminder of the guests that surrounded us on our wedding day.

Since there are so many creative ideas for guest books, the hard part was figuring out what best fit with our personality as a couple. Here is a sampling of inspirational ideas that I gathered about guest books -- some of which are on the opposite spectrum of what we would do (ie. signed guitar great for a rocker wedding), but they got my creative juices flowing.

From left to right -- Row 1: Chair and Guitar from Brides.com, Jars from The Knot Row 2: All photos from The Knot

After thinking about it and since Chris and I love photography, I wanted the guest book to involve photos. One of the current, hot trends in guest books are the guest self portraits from couples photobooths that are then gluded in albums and accompanied by a cute, little note to the couple. Although I really like the idea of photobooths and guest book photo albums: 1) We are not having a photobooth 2) I didn't want an album that I would never see and forget about like my parent's lonely guest book.

From left to right: Brides.com, The Knot, The Knot

Ultimately, Chris and I decided on a guest book style that is very popular, trendy, and maybe passed its prime --the signing of names on the mat of an oversized frame. Even though this is a far too often done as a modern guest book, I love the idea! Of course the frame will eventually hold a photo of us on our wedding day. I love the metaphor that not only did our friends and loved one surround us on our wedding day, but they will surround our lives always! Maybe I'm reading too much into the guest book? ;)

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For several months and every time we made a Target run, we always ended up in the frame aisle debating about whither the mat will hold 75-100 signatures. Finally over the weekend we found a winner, and even better it was on sale for $22!

There is plenty of room on this puppy for the 75-100 guests and the occasional John Hancock's. Plus, guests have space to write a little message if they want. Instead of just one photo from our wedding, I like the fact that there will be five photos, and for the wedding I'll fill the frame with photos of our engagement protraits.

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Also, I am gathering old wedding photographs from Chris and my parents, grandparents, and greatgrandparents to not only surround our guest book but to honor those who have passed on.

The Rant of an Overworked Bride

Please be forewarned: this is a rant of an overworked bride!

I have two jobs. Yes, not one but two jobs. During the day, I sit behind my computer and either write grants or plan fundraising events for an affordable housing nonprofit, and then at night I moonlight part-time as a designer and painter for a children's theatre. Both jobs are equally rewarding, because I feel like I am doing some good in this world, but both are equally tiring! I took on a second job to help pay-off student loans quicker, but with planning our wedding on top of two jobs, I feel like I am being pulled in a million directions.

Currently, I have two major projects at both of my jobs. I'm planning a fundraising event for my first job, and I've got a gigantic muraling project for the theatre. My time is being gobbled-up with an endless to-do list that keeps expanding instead of shrinking. My days and nights are consumed with work, and my weekends are consumed with either work or wedding errands. Hopefully, my work life will clam down in the middle of June when both projects end. But this rant isn't about working two jobs. What gets this me incredibly frustrated is when work creeps into my personal life, especially wedding planning. I highly value my personal time, and I try really hard to set boundaries between work and my personal life, but lately all my time has been consumed with work.

Since I am a theatre major and a portion of my job is planning fundraising events, I decided not to hire a wedding planner to save money because I could it all myself. Lately, I really wish I would have because I've had to put aside a lot of major wedding projects that need to get done asap, particularly invitation design and printing, to finish other work priorities during my personal time. I've delegated some wedding planning duties to Chris like planning our rehearsal dinner, music planning, and anything having to do with his attire, but to be brutally honest the actual wedding planning is not Chris' thing. Chris and I will only get married once (hopefully)! I just want to savor every moment of planning because it will be gone all too soon, and not have that time stolen way from me because of work. And besides, I have a lot of fun wedding planning!