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They’re good for building Lego people and doing mock-ups of one’s weddin’ cake…
OK, well maybe not for everyone, but this last Saturday that was our plan o’ action. Remember how Sweetie Scone surprised me with a cake topper? Here’s a picture of the evidence:
(Personal image / And yes, they really customize the box!)
If you have the urge to customize your own cake topper (or any other Lego project), you will want to go directly to their website and select the Design byME section. From there you can set your imagination free, place your order, and wait for a little box of fun.
I tried my hardest and was only able to create one STD via Vistaprint that I was OK sending out to friends and family. A graphic designer I am not…
I kept it simple and typed everything directly into Vistaprint’s program. (In the end I probably complicated things more than necessary, but such is life.)
So here they are:
Personal photo
I am feeling very cakey right now, probably because it isn’t on the menu plan and I really would love a bite. So let me share some more cake ideas with you…
Early early into our unengagement I came across Lego cake toppers. Let me pause here: both Sweetie Scone and I were giant Lego nerds growing up, so these were just too fun not to look at in Fall 2009.
Image via Etsy / From Folded Fancy Creations
Well one day I came home from school and Sweetie Scone had a surprise…she had custom designed and ordered our very own Lego cake topper! (FYI, it was less expensive than buying one on Etsy.) Our cake peeps are still in pieces waiting for their grand entrance.
“Circle-square,” she says…Sweetie Scone is pretty opinionated about the shape of the cake. It needs to be a square-circle-square, kind of like these guys:
Image via The Knot / Photo by Carrie Patterson Photography
Featured on Weddingbee
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
“Make an elegant invitation statement without the fuss. Stylish invitation sets with matching envelopes, reception and response cards included.”
When we first were unengaged we had all the time in the world (cue maniacal laughter).
We knew once we had moved into the officially engaged stage (pre-reqs and rings checked off) that people would want to know when this party would kick off, so we started talking dates. Here are all of the factors running through our heads:
OK, well maybe just the cakey cake part. There are so many beautiful cakes available now! We aren’t constrained by limitations of the imagination. When I was growing up, oh how I thought this was beautiful…
Image via Wedding Cakes for You / Cake by Lorelie Carvey
Today, not so much. I could totally fall for this lovely lady. (Cakes are people too, you know.)
Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
We were in a bit of a travel haze when we walked into the house of baker number one, Margie. Apologies because I didn’t bring my camera…so let me paint a picture.
The door opened and the house smelled like freshly baked cakes. After escorting us to her dining room table, she and Sweetie Scone chit-chatted a bit about Margie’s daughter-in-law (a college friend). There was an unassuming white cake box on the table and a couple of photo albums. Prior to our meeting Margie had asked what kind of cake we liked from her list; the list didn’t include my favorite (butter yellow cake, mmmmmmm). We asked if she was able to do butter yellow, and she said she would work on it. Now let me tell you, the fresh-baked-cake smell was butter yellow cake—I knew in an instant the smell. (Word to the wise, I bake by smell. No timers are used in my baking, so I know a thing or two about the smell of cakes.)
The unassuming white box opened, and we found six very large cupcakes (pupcakes if you are my niece). Two red velvet, two butter yellow, and two chocolate large-and-in-charge pupcakes. We cut them in quarters (because they were no small thang) and tasted the different options. She nailed the butter yellow cake, which was from scratch. The cakes were all light and moist. We then tossed them in the trunk of the car where they rested for 36 hours or so until we got to a friend’s house. Around 10 PM the next night we busted out the cupcakes that had been sitting in an abnormally warm trunk, and they were as good as they were fresh out of Margie’s oven. Strangers that did not know her said they were great. There was only one thing I wasn’t super excited about—the frosting was flavored with amaretto, and I prefer vanilla, which she was totally open to doing. Frosting question: Is flavoring completely regional? What flavoring do you like for your frosting?
We have been talking about our July 2012 wedding for, oh, about 21 months now, and somehow our parents still wanted to confirm the date we are getting hitched. So we figured we might should send out STDs. (Does anyone else feel like they are in 10th grade health class when discussing STDs?) Which brings us to the whole “What do we want it to look like?” question. Initially we had hoped to use our engagement pictures for the STD, but when our July 2011 planning trip was pushed to October 2011, thanks to the working/living changes, we had to come up with an alternate plan.
For a quick peek into how we make many decisions, it goes something like this:
Here is the pared down list of STD options for your enjoyment:
Image via WeddingWire / Design by For Wedding Sake on Etsy
By the time we got home from our third and final planning trip, we had decided that if the official quotes were vastly different then we would go with the least expensive, and if the costs came in close together we might cry. To preface this let me say that both Olive Catering and Scrape the Plate put together awesome menus, and we would be elated to include either Olive or Scrape the Plate as a vendor…
We received both quotes within days of each other, and they both included creative twists to delicious food. Both caterers use food that is in season and as local as possible (fresh and tasty, mmm)…
Drum roll, please… When we looked at the final numbers there was a clear winner. Scrape the Plate Catering! They came in significantly lower for family-style service. We are pleased to announce that Scott Hale with Scrape the Plate is our caterer. Ironically he is the only gay vendor that we found to use on our actual wedding day (which is neither here nor there, and we LOVE every single vendor we have chosen to work with). Scrape the Plate has catered for American Idol and local Human Rights Campaign events; we feel absolutely amazed that we get to work with Scrape the Plate!!!
Would you like to know what we will be munching on?
With the first caterer out of the picture, we went back to the drawing board and located three caterers that were highly recommended and seemed to have food styles in line with ours. On a quick trip to Kansas City we lined up meetings with each of them.
First up was Olive Events Catering. Their kitchen is out in the country facing a private pond, and it feels really welcoming. We met with Marisa and Nicole. Marisa is the owner and Nicole is the event coordinator.
Let me tell you, these two ladies were FANTASTIC. We were welcomed with a fully dressed table and flights of tasty bites prepared right in front of us. After we had tasted the nummy nummy bites, Marisa and Nicole sat down with us to brainstorm. Seriously to brainstorm—there was no printed menu to select from, but there was pen and paper. Marisa and Nicole are both very creative and came up with some fantastic ideas that definitely matched our style and the palates of our guests.
Here are some picks of the tasty bites. (We got kind of distracted after that.)
Personal image / Food by Olive Events Catering
Since the beginning of the new year, I have been reflecting back on 2011 and it has made me start to think about the people that will be missing at our wedding. This might be a bit heavy, but reflection has a way of doing that to me.
Loss is something I have dealt with most of my life, and while the initial sting of grief has dissipated I still wish I could celebrate with my loved ones, especially my brother and my cousin.
My brother was my closest sibling in age, he was my big brother and my partner in crime. Twenty-one years ago we lost him; it shook my world and gave me a whole new perspective on life.
All photos are personal
Just going to break a few things down. Here we are, a West Coast same-sex couple getting hitched in the Midwest. We were a bit worried about how people would react to our relationship and the concept of our marriage in the Heartland.
We fully appreciate that not everyone is in love with the idea of same-sex marriage, and honestly that is fine because everyone is entitled to their beliefs. But we do care that every vendor involved in our wedding is open to the concept, and we hope our guests are down for it, too.
So we tested the waters: we started telling friends and family. The shocking part—when we told people on the West Coast the response often was “But that isn’t legal, right? So you aren’t really getting married.” The Midwest response: “That is awesome. It is going to be a great party, We love you guys!” It wasn’t an across-the-board response on the West Coast, but it was in the Midwest. We absopositively did not foresee that difference.
After the engagement was “official” and we had moved into a bigger place and life had started to settle in a bit more, we decided to “think” about getting a dog. Sweetie Scone and I both missed having a dog, and she wanted some company. (She works from home/her mobile mechanic’s van.)
We talked about what kind of dog would be a good fit—not too big, not too small, just right (ah, Goldilocks). A small/medium-sized dog that liked people would be perfect. So one Sunday in August 2010 we walked into a Petco during an adoption event. We hadn’t even finished walking through the doors when I spotted a white fluffy dog that looked to be the perfect size. When we approached him he was friendly; they offered to let us take him on a walk so off we went. It seemed like he had no issue with other dogs. He was sweet, and we decided we could love him. WE HAD NO IDEA HOW MUCH WE COULD LOVE HIM, aaaaaahhhh. Oh, and my parents love him. (Like, they threaten to keep him when he comes to stay with them.)
He is our dog-child, and my parents call him their granddog. He went from the streets to an unhappy foster situation to being overly loved by everyone—seriously, the dog trainer, the vet, the family, our workplaces. He is loved, not sure if you can tell.
Would you like to get to know him better?
All photos are personal.
Day 1
When we started dating I was working full time, I had just signed up for a few brush-up classes prior to applying for MBA programs, and I was studying for the GMAT. It was a fun time, let me tell you. We were seeing each other almost every day of the week, and I was traveling for work, studying, and falling in love. Sleep was not in my future.
I have always known that I wouldn’t do well having to give up my personal aspirations for a relationship; it has ended a relationship or two in the past. So I was very clear with Sweetie Scone that I would be entering a nighttime master’s program the following fall while continuing to work—Sweetie Scone being the rock star she is said she wanted to hang in there with me.
Anyone else miss Saturday morning cartoons?
Video via YouTube
I love planning and organizing events, but I am usually at my best behind the scenes. When I have to be in the scene, I may or may not have a tendency toward a frenzied state (that I would like to avoid experiencing during our wedding weekend), so we decided we should look into a day of coordinator. I searched and searched, and found that many of the DOCs in the Kansas City area get pretty decent coin (well earned) for their hard work—more coin that we had budgeted for a DOC. So I started looking into a few newer people to the industry, and one day while I was reading Good Earth Florals’ website I stumbled upon “I Do Savvy” and Jen Meyers. In my research there were a couple of seriously glowing reviews from other vendors and from couples that really peaked my interest. So I sent her a pretty detailed email. We talked on my (cough cough) “lunch hour,” which turned into two hours…
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