Weddingbee

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But I could have my own suit! To my exact measurements! Not only for my wedding, but for all sorts of occasions in the future! It had to be done.

So, Monday, I went down to Kuhlman’s with an appointment to meet with Scott and his measurement man. Yes, he has a gentleman who he calls in just to take measurements. I like to think of him as the tailor equivalent of “The Cleaner” from Point of No Return. Measurements are his thing and he does them well.

(Mr. Cherry Pie getting measured)

Here’s a short video of Mr. Kulhman and crew doing their thing. I’d just come from my nursing shift on my bike, hence the silly pants and shirt:

Truth be told, I don’t trust myself to go it alone. So I went to my appointment with Miss Cherry Pie on one arm and one of my incredibly fashion-conscious nursing friends on the other.

(The Cherry Pies looking at fabric swatches)

(Examining suit/vest lining in the natural light)

I thought I had decided what I wanted, but looking at all the fabric and design options raised a ton of questions and I started to reconsider everything. While I could get into all of our questions and answers right now, let’s start with the basics and I’ll fill you in once I have my first fitting… Classic black, white, gray, brown, tan, navy or pinstripe? What will your man be wearing on your wedding day?
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Anyway, after about five minutes of selfish wheedling, I realized just how great it was that my mom wanted to come. She’s been very busy and somewhat detached from the wedding planning process so far, and I’ve gotten used to that. On the one hand, I’ve been happy that neither she, nor Mr. Cherry Pie’s mom, nor any other relative tried to take the reigns from me. On the other hand, I’ve felt overwhelmed by the planning at being somewhat alone in my enthusiasm for the wedding a lot of the time.

I’ve been so used to going it alone that it didn’t even occur to me to ask her to come with me. Once I realized that this would be the perfect way to get my mom involved in the planning process, I was really psyched. We’d get to do wedding stuff… together!

I looked into getting her a discount Amtrak ticket but they were sold out. No big, right? We could get a regular ticket, maybe even a sleeping compartment for the overnight trip! I called up Amtrak to ask about the price of splitting a sleeping compartment.

It looked fun, but it just wasn’t affordable for a weekend trip. No worries, right? We can handle sitting in coach seats for one night. Then I asked about packing up our bikes for transport.

They told me that we couldn’t take bikes on the train.

Welllll, we were kind of relying on the bikes to get to the cabin, being that there are no shuttles or other public transport running this early in the season. And bike transport was the reason I bought my ticket in the first place.

They explained that West Glacier is a carry-on, carry-off station only, meaning that they don’t stop long enough to unload checked bags and bikes. They said we could train into Kalispell and rent a car or ride our bikes or the bus from there. Aside from getting ridiculously complicated, the train trip combined with other time/money expenditures was looking quite expensive.

So Amtrak is refunding my ticket and mom and I are driving out to Montana today. It’s a 10-hour drive and the cost of gas will equal the cost of my discount train ticket. We’ll take turns driving (like Mr. Cherry Pie and I usually do) and enjoy the scenery. It’s supposed to be gorgeous, green, and UNSEASONABLY warm out there this weekend.

I’m bringing my bathing suit!

I am disappointed because I really, really wanted to take the train… I never have! But, I’m glad I called Amtrak to ask about a ticket for my mom because otherwise I would have shown up to the station today with my bike and then I woulda been sh*t outta luck. So my grand solo adventure is looking slightly less solo and slightly less grand but it will be an adventure nevertheless.

With everything we have planned—floral appointment, food and cake tastings, hair and makeup trial, listening to our band, and visiting our venue to plot the ceremony and reception locations— I’ll have a lot to report on when I come back on Monday. If there’s anything in particular you’d like to hear about, comment to let me know and I’ll fill you in when I get back.

(Image Sources: 1, 2, 3)
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Isn’t she lovely? Jade’s attire is inspired by what Scott’s wife wore on their wedding day. Aww, what a tribute!
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Today, she writes:

I was browsing etsy this morning and found something that may interest you. I don’t know if you’re still considering doing some kind of up-do for your hair for the wedding, but if you are, etsy just did a feature on Japanese woman named Atelier Kanawa who is living in Los Angeles, and makes traditional Tsumami Kanzashi hair pieces, like the ones worn with traditional kimono. Some of them are strikingly beautiful. (Look at her sold pieces as well for more.) She also has some videos up on YouTube showing how she makes her pieces and talking about her family, education, etc. and how she learned how to make traditional kimono, tsumami kanzashi and other traditional Japanese craft. One of them also shows a bunch of different styles of pieces she can make. I thought they were really interestingI don’t know if this is the kind of thing that could fit in with your rustic, Montana wedding theme, but I just thought since you are interested in Japan and the things she makes are really beautiful I would pass it along.

I spent part of this morning browsing Atelier’s hair ornaments and they are really, really beautiful. It’s true that most of them wouldn’t work well with the ambiance of our wedding, but I have a feeling I might just want to get one anyway to wear with my yukata!

I lived in Tokyo with a host family for a year, between 2003 and 2004, as part of my secondary bachelor’s degree in Japanese. (My primary degree was in Magazine Journalism.) It was the most amazing experience (and stressful) I’ve ever had!

Toward the end of my stay, I started ogling yukata, which are like a more casual, light, cotton, summer version of a traditional kimono. They’re primarily worn to festivals during the spring and summer months, and though I was leaving for home in early July of 2004, I desperately wanted to get one to bring back with me. A lot of my friends purchased affordable yukata from Uniqlo, which is sort of like the Japanese version of Old Navy. But I was way too tall to fit into Uniqlo’s robes!

My host mother surprised me by taking me to a traditional clothiers in Asakusa, one of Tokyo’s old-town neighborhoods, and having a yukata with matching geta (shoes) made for me. (Did I mention how much I LOVED living with them!?)

Anyway, looking at these hair ornaments made me super nostalgic. I know that they aren’t right for my wedding, but maybe they will be right for yours.

What are some of the beautiful things you’ve found but passed over because they weren’t your wedding style?
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She said she’d like to meet me and asked if I’d come, but I didn’t think there would be way I could make it. Because I would be going alone (Mr. Cherry Pie is chained to graduate school and work), I didn’t want to brave the 10-hour drive or sink the cost of a hotel along the way. I hadn’t planned on flying, so I didn’t have the funds for plane fare and a rental car. I thought about taking the train, but this early in the season, none of the shuttles into the park are running and that would leave me stranded at the gate!

Then I remembered that I could take my bike on the train. It’s only 10 (flat) miles from the West Glacier Amtrak station to the cabin, so that’s what I’m doing. I got a special discount fare for the 14-hour trip on the Empire Builder ($55 each way for a coach seat, no sleeper car) and it’ll cost me about $10 each way to check my bike. What a grand adventure!

(This is the train I’ll be riding, the Empire Builder!)

Katalin is a superhero and set up a whole bunch of appointments for our visit. (She’s driving.) When I saw the agenda she’d prepared I got really giddy. I get to do so many bridey things I never thought I’d experience!

Friday, she’s set up an appointment with our florist to talk about ideas and pricing. I don’t think we’ll have a chance to do mock-ups… but maybe, if I ask nicely.

After that, we’re meeting with one of two potential caterers for a tasting. Yay, I thought I’d be eating the food without knowing how it would taste! (I guess I still might be, if we go with the other caterer who can’t do a tasting.)

THEN I get to do the first of TWO hair and makeup trials. My second trial is the day before the wedding when we go to the salon for manicures and pedicures. They’re both free for the price of wedding-day hair and makeup. How sweet is that?

Saturday, we are spending most of the day in Polebridge figuring out where exactly we’ll set up for the ceremony and reception, picking locations for photo ops, working out the details of our cake, checking out their tables, linens, and flatware, and talking about options for food and drink.

Basically, we’re just going to spend some hours chillin’ in the town where I’ll be married and making sure that we’ll be able to handle everything on the day of.

If we have to, we’ll take another trip into town to see the rental company. But since I don’t think they’ll be able to show us (physically) most of the things we’ll need on such short notice, we might just take care of renting remotely.

Either Friday or Saturday night, I’m also hoping to take a trip down to Polson to hear Good Wood, our bluegrass band perform at a local bar & grill.

I’ll have all day Sunday to relax and enjoy the deserted park on foot and by bike until I catch the Westbound train Sunday night.

Oh my gosh, I am SO EXCITED! But since I only have one shot to do this in person, I’m kind of freaking out about making sure I’ve got all my bases covered. Miss Shortcake’s post about arranging her visit to Vancouver brought up all sorts of new things I hadn’t even thought to add to my list. I know we don’t have to finalize anything NOW (that’s what phone and email are for), but I still want to make sure I ask the right questions.

And my question to you then, dear readers, is what ARE the right questions? What do I need to make sure that I bring, ask, and do while I am there? Or should I just relax and enjoy my trip?

(Sources: 1, 2)
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I’d like my bouquet to play on our color palette (chocolate brown, burgundy, and sunflower yellow), possibly with some bright highlights in the red-orange-yellow spectrum. I’m imagining something mid-sized that will fit in my freakishly small hands and be easy to hold but large enough to make for some super photos. I want a more dynamic shape rather than a round, manicured bouquet. I think I’m going for that “fresh-picked” look; a little wild and less refined.

As for components? Well, they have to follow my rules for flowers, which means no roses, lots of colorful daisies, probably dahlias and chrysanthemums, and whatever wild grasses we can find for accents.

Have you seen any bouquets that fit the bill? What would you recommend for a September wedding?
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Now, I think we can all agree that buying a tux would be silly (unless I’d bought it years ago before going to five proms… oh the rental savings!) especially since I’m unlikely to get much wear out of it. But I don’t own a suit. I don’t even own a good suit jacket! A suit is something I could get some future wear out of, and as such I’d entertain the idea of getting a good one that I could wear for the wedding and beyond.

Wearing a suit instead of a tux does present some problems… there’s less to color-coordinate with groomsmen, bridesmaids and bride; no cummerbund or vest to be had, but I do get a tie instead of a bow tie. And buying a suit raises some questions: what accents can I use besides pocket squares and a necktie? And if I wear a suit, do I put the groomsmen in tuxes or rented suits to (hopefully) match?

What do you ladies think? Is a nice suit just as worthy of a wedding as a tuxedo? (Obviously we’re not having a black or white-tie wedding.)

And what if I wanted to get something made in dark gray instead of black? Is that too gauche?

From Miss Cherry Pie: I just realized while looking for photos to illustrate this post that except in the most extreme examples, I cannot tell the difference on-sight, between some suits and tuxes.According to Pricescope, “Tuxedos are always one button, there are two different types of lapels to choose from (shawl or peak, never notched–that would fall into a “suit” category), tuxedo pants never have belt loops…and there are many other details we would never even think of on an everyday basis! But there are many differences not necessarily noticeable to the non-discriminating eye that determine the difference.” Welp. The more you know…(Image Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4)

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Kristin writes:

I went up to Portland last Wednesday to check out a new (well, new to me, but very old) letterpress machine that was for sale from a gentleman who restores them to working condition. I’ve been very excited to meet this man for a long time and I finally had the chance to do it. Here are three photos of the printing press I subsequently purchased from him that will be used to print your wedding invitations:

I’ve been wanting to buy a larger press than the one I currently use for a while and this was just too awesome of an opportunity to pass up. I’m going up there to retrieve it with a trailer and pallet jack about two weeks after my boyfriend and I move into our new house. Your wedding invitations and other materials will be the first job it will print since it has been restored.

The type of press is a Chandler & Price 8×12 New Style Craftsman and it is dated as being manufactured in 1912. It measures approximately three feet wide by four feet deep by 4 feet tall and weighs in at approximately 980 lbs. I got to start it up while I was in Portland and it works beautifully.

After reading your post about how bottled coke makes you feel a sense of nostalgia over historic & traditional Americana, I thought it only appropriate (and exciting!) to share a very historic piece of Americana with you that will be directly responsible for the grunt production of your wedding invites. Isn’t it cool? I almost want to name it the way that some people name their cars…

Want to see what one exactly Kristin’s press looks like while running? Watch this video:

And here’s another one where someone’s actually feeding individual sheets and printing from photopolymer instead of lead:

Finally, I highly recommend this SHORT documentary on traditional letterpress:

I can’t wait to help Kristin break this baby in! I think we’ll have to make a video of our own.

Do any other letterpress enthusiasts out there have any paraphernalia to share?
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It’s sat mostly unused in a closet for the past ten years until I asked my mom for it last weekend. I’m going to give it a new life - in my wedding!

I’m not going to wear the hat for the ceremony or the reception because I really don’t want to take the “Western” element of our wedding over the top, but it will make a great accessory to use in some bride/groom or bridal portraits with the Polebridge Mercantile or Saloon. And I’ll surely break it out for dancing to the bluegrass band.

I just love this hat. I don’t really know its origins or significance and my mom has never shared. I assume it belongs to her because it’s quite small and just barely fits my head. It’s made of a soft felt and is stamped with the company name and “Helena, Montana.” Best of all, it’s a nice shade of light-brushed brown that matches my cowboy boots perfectly.

Here’s the original version of the above PhotoShopped picture so you can see the color:

What do you think? Anyone else thinking of wearing a hat at their wedding or in wedding photos?
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Kristin from Twin Ravens Letterpress sent us some paper samples and we spent hours mixing and matching. Finally, we decided. The invitations and RSVP cards will be cut with a deckled edge and letterpressed onto luxurious Rives BFK 100% cotton paper. The packaging for the invites will be made from Waste Not Paper in Khaki, Chocolate, and Red:

Our invite envelopes will be 5.5-inch squares in Khaki with a Chocolate Lining, and our RSVP envelopes will be 4-bar sized in Khaki, unlined.

Kristin will press the envelopes with a wheat design on the front and back flaps. We’ll have our addresses pressed onto the front of the RSVP envelopes and the back flaps of the invite envelopes, and then the guests’ addresses printed in the appropriate spots using Pantone-matched ink on a computer printer.

We originally wanted to send our RSVP cards as post-card, but the Rives BFK paper is too soft to survive the post-office machines. Instead, we’re creating two-sided RSVP cards with a complementary design. The front will ask the critical “multiple choice” questions and the back will feature a space for guests to share well-wishes or critical information:

Kristin suggested a variety of paper and ribbon sashes using our color scheme. We’re not quite sure yet which one we’ll choose, but I think they’d all look fabulous on the awesome enclosures she designed for us.

Our enclosure is designed to be both elegant and functional. It’s a typical tri-fold enclosure but instead of blank paper, it will feature information for our guests, including our Venue Details, Directions, Shuttle Information, Lodging, Registry, and Wedding Website Address. Here’s a mock-up of it will look like!

The top square is what the enclosure will look like closed, with a sash. Below is what it will look like with the sash removed and the top flap opened. The left side will showcase some wedding information. The right side may be blank with a letterpressed design, or it may have our wedding website information on it.

Finally, you can see what the enclosure will look like fully opened. The invite and RSVP card/envelope may be fastened with a clip to the back of the enclosure or with a removable adhesive.

Now we just need to come up with the final version of the text for the inside. I can’t wait to send these to print!

What do you think? Any more suggestions to guide us on our way?
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