Mrs. Skunk, AtlantaAge and Occupation: 23, Post baccalaureate studentFiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Mechanical DesignerEngagement Date: February 13, 2011Wedding Date: November 2011Venue: Neverland Farms About Me: I’m a Georgia peach born and raised in the dirty dirty. I love reading, baking lots of sweets and forcing them on my friends, and most of all, rock climbing. I am in the process of applying to graduate school in physical therapy and I work at farmers’ markets around town selling bread for a local bakery. The mister and I met while rock climbing just over two years ago and have been inseparable ever since. Our climbing friends mean the world to us and have played an integral role in our relationship. We’re planning a barnyard shindig filled with good food, good friends, and lots of love.
So Mr. Skunk is out of state on a work trip. When we got notice, we were right at 10 weeks out and knew it was about time to pick out menswear. My groom knows he wants to wear a vest, but I want him to look different from the rest of the guys…a little mo’ special. I know I definitely want it to look pretty casual, so sleeves rolled up will be a must.
Miss Kettle, Chicago, ILAge and Occupation: 26, Non-Profit Donor Resource CoordinatorFiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Musician & TeacherEngagement Date: May 29, 2011Wedding Date: February 2012Venue: Patrick C. Haley Mansion, Joliet, ILAbout Me: I'm a city girl who loves a good escape, so I'm planning a Chicago wedding outside of the city. I've been described as a quirky yet down-to-earth drama queen who loves fiercely. I used to be a scientist, but now I'm learning to navigate the world of non-profit organizations. I love cooking, blogging, shopping, and music, and movies (Hans Zimmer is my favorite movie composer). Mr. Kettle and I had a short courtship and now we have a happy home with our cat-who-thinks-she's-people, Belle. We spend our days and nights with good food, live music, video games, family, and friends. Our wedding has become this wonderful excuse to bring together hundreds of people we can't bear to be without.
In a previous post, I talked about Mr. Kettle and his journey to get clothes for the men in the wedding party. I talked about the ascot he wanted to wear and how I was very much against it.
I put up a poll and asked if you all thought he should go with the ascot or not. Some people put up some comments that were…harsh…to say the least. Ouch, guys. You know Mr. Kettle reads this blog, right? As well as his mother, Mima Kettle. You can’t say those things like we’re having girl time over martinis. But I digress.
Most of you seemed to think he should be able to wear what he wants since that’s what I’m doing. I don’t necessarily agree with that because he and I have lots of input regularly on what we wear from day to day. I checked with him to make sure he was OK with my dress length, color, and style. Believe me, if he’d wanted me in an all white trumpet gown with a ten-foot train and I didn’t look terrible in it, that might be what I was wearing. But again, I digress.
The hive voted on the poll, and over 100 people gave their opinions. It was about even, but now it keeps creeping in the direction of…ascot! I have to say at first this didn’t make me happy. Mr. Kettle and I got into two to three pretty heated discussions about it. It wasn’t even about the ascot (at least not on my end) but the tux in general, as well as communication between him and other male members of the wedding party. It was bad—real bad.
I think after he and I got into it at Mima and Poppa Kettle’s house this past Sunday, the dams broke. He realized he was kind of being a jerk. I realized I was kind of being a jerk. We both stopped our jerkiness and came to a compromise.
Miss Petit Four, San Antonio/Isla MujeresAge and Occupation: 25, Technology teacherFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Math Teacher and Football CoachEngagement Date: Feb 13, 2010Wedding Date: March 2012Venue: Zama Beach Club, Isla Mujeres, MexicoAbout Me: I am a polka-dot obsessed, destination wedding diva living and loving in the great state of Texas. I am an island girl at heart and I visit the beach as often as I can. I am a wannabe DIY goddess, but that doesn’t mean I won’t give it my best shot. I love pearl earrings, the color pink, and ruffles are a part of my everyday wardrobe. My wonderful fiance and I are planning a destination wedding with our closest family and friends and we’re leaving a trail of glitter in our path!
Mrs. Seal, San FranciscoAge and Occupation: 25, Personal AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Sales and Support SpecialistEngagement Date: December 12, 2009Wedding Date: November 2011Venue: Sts Peter and Paul Church/The Bently ReserveAbout Me: I am a goofy, wannabe crafty, well-intentioned Renaissance Woman (OK, perhaps "aimless wanderer" is a more aptly suited term for me, but hopefully you get the point)—basically I dabble in just about everything and pride myself in such. Without warning, I occasionally breakout into soulful improvised songs and interpretive dances and there's just no stopping me! As so many others before me, planning our wedding has unearthed a deep, intense passion for all things bridal and I secretly fear the day it will come to an end. Mr. Seal and I are quite the pair and life with him by my side is extremely rewarding—I am so thankful to have found him. Together we are planning a black-tie San Francisco affair for 250—light on the stuffiness and with lots of extra Seal-y flair.
Ugh, I’m fighting one of the nastiest colds in the history of nasty colds, but if one good thing has come of this beast…it’s been my productivity. I know sickness and productivity don’t normally go hand-in-hand, but I am one busy bee and this has forced me to stay home and take it easy. (”Takin’ it easy” for me = working on my DIY projects in my PJs all day.)
As perhaps you recall, Mr. Seal isa hugeYankees fan; as such, he’s often seen sporting a Yankee hat from his (not so varied) collection:
Miss Kettle, Chicago, ILAge and Occupation: 26, Non-Profit Donor Resource CoordinatorFiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Musician & TeacherEngagement Date: May 29, 2011Wedding Date: February 2012Venue: Patrick C. Haley Mansion, Joliet, ILAbout Me: I'm a city girl who loves a good escape, so I'm planning a Chicago wedding outside of the city. I've been described as a quirky yet down-to-earth drama queen who loves fiercely. I used to be a scientist, but now I'm learning to navigate the world of non-profit organizations. I love cooking, blogging, shopping, and music, and movies (Hans Zimmer is my favorite movie composer). Mr. Kettle and I had a short courtship and now we have a happy home with our cat-who-thinks-she's-people, Belle. We spend our days and nights with good food, live music, video games, family, and friends. Our wedding has become this wonderful excuse to bring together hundreds of people we can't bear to be without.
Alternate Post Title: Clothing The Kettle Men. I chose this title because one of my favorite moments in The Hangover. It makes me think of Mr. Kettle because he’s morally opposed to wearing pants when he doesn’t have to. I alluded to that in a comment about MOH Sis in a previous post. Our wedding is such an occasion for which he must wear pants.
Watch the clip here. Around 2:43 is when the pants funniness begins.
Needing to have pants for our wedding, Mr. Kettle went with his best man to find tuxes for the males in our wedding party. There are a lot of males in our wedding party. There is: Mr. Kettle, my best man, his best man, my two guy attendants, and his eight groomsman. Oh, plus both our fathers, two ushers, and two ring bearers. That makes 17! Yikes!
Okay, hive, I just had to get that out. I’m calm. Read more…
Mrs. Cannon, Toledo, OHAge and Occupation: 27, Financial AnalystFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, AssemblerEngagement Date: February 28, 2011Wedding Date: September 2011Venue: Epworth UMC & Ward PavilionAbout Me: I'm the curious combination of being a go-with-the-flow, laid back, obsessive planner. I try desperately to stay as busy as possible at all times (and am succeeding big time right now!) My biggest loves in life are Law & Order: SVU, Community (the show, not the concept, although I like that, too), ice cream, white cheddar popcorn, beer, hiking, knitting, decorating, writing, being outside, spending time with friends and family and musical theater. Mr. Cannon is pretty sweet, too. We've had a lot of fun traveling and having adventures all over the country, but have finally moved back near our hometown to settle down. We're planning a low-key, colorful, fun wedding and an awesome-to-the-max reception.
I had to go back and make sure I hadn’t posted about this already, because I’ve been meaning to for a while. We finally got Mr. Cannon a suit a few weeks ago! It was an arduous task, not only because we were having a hard time finding what we were looking for in the right size, but also because Cherry Bomb was very on edge throughout our search. She doesn’t usually nap, but on that particular day, she had gotten up early and was a complete wreck by the time we were shopping. There was a tantrum in nearly every store in the mall until I lulled her into a nap while bouncing to the dance music in Express. While I was glad she was finally asleep instead of yelling, it left me carrying around twenty-some pounds of toddler dead-weight for the rest of the afternoon since I hadn’t bothered to bring in her stroller. In other words, buying this suit was not my favorite shopping trip.
Luckily, by the time Cherry Bomb passed out, we had found what we were going to get, and it was just a matter of going back and buying it. We were looking for a grey suit, pink shirt and black tie. Mr. Cannon got his shirt and tie at Express, and got his suit at Macy’s. The suit was on sale for a good price, and we are very happy with it. The pants definitely need some hemming and the jacket could use some alterations, but I think it’s a pretty good look! Read more…
Miss Kettle, Chicago, ILAge and Occupation: 26, Non-Profit Donor Resource CoordinatorFiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Musician & TeacherEngagement Date: May 29, 2011Wedding Date: February 2012Venue: Patrick C. Haley Mansion, Joliet, ILAbout Me: I'm a city girl who loves a good escape, so I'm planning a Chicago wedding outside of the city. I've been described as a quirky yet down-to-earth drama queen who loves fiercely. I used to be a scientist, but now I'm learning to navigate the world of non-profit organizations. I love cooking, blogging, shopping, and music, and movies (Hans Zimmer is my favorite movie composer). Mr. Kettle and I had a short courtship and now we have a happy home with our cat-who-thinks-she's-people, Belle. We spend our days and nights with good food, live music, video games, family, and friends. Our wedding has become this wonderful excuse to bring together hundreds of people we can't bear to be without.
Anyone want to say this post title three times fast? It’s hard. Hehe, I crack me up.
OK, hive. It was quite the journey to our current color palette, but I’m very happy with how it turned out. I’ve alluded to our colors here and there and mentioned some changes we went through. Ultimately, I’m very happy with how it turned out.
When Mr. Kettle first proposed, I was thinking blue. Like a nice, happy royal blue.
Mrs. Parasol, San Ramon, CaliforniaAge and Occupation: 25, Non-profit writer, editor, and bloggerFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Law school studentEngagement Date: December 19th, 2010Wedding Date: September 2011Venue: Bent Creek Winery (Livermore, California); Reception: Family Residence (San Ramon, California) About Me: I am a California girl at heart. I love the outdoors, sunny days at the beach, and hiking in the woods and mountains. I also love good books and am fresh from completing my Master's degree in English and Comparative Literature in New York City. Living in NYC was an amazing experience, and while I'm glad to be back on the West Coast, I'm also thankful that my two years back East gave me an opportunity to explore new places, make new friends, and indulge my passion for Broadway shows. Oh, and I received a pretty awesome proposal from Mr. Parasol in Central Park. Above all else, Mr. Parasol is my biggest cheerleader and my best friend. But even though I'm thrilled to be marrying him, I wasn't always totally on board with this whole wedding thing and at first, I wanted to run off and elope. I've finally been convinced to throw the wedding I never thought I wanted, and so now I'm busy planning an intimate September wedding filled with DIY details. Along the way, I'm slowly learning to appreciate, perhaps even love the wedding planning process.
So I mentioned briefly that last week was a particularly exciting week, wedding-attire-wise. The highlight was definitely my dress fitting and, yes, I finally managed to take a few pictures, so those will be coming very soon (I promise!). But Mr. Parasol and I also went shopping for a tie to complete his wedding-day look, and then we started looking for a suit for Brother Parasol.
We had originally planned to just go to Macy’s for all of the dudes’ duds, but on the way we saw a Saks Fifth Avenue and thought, “Hey, what the heck. Let’s look there, just for fun.” I have no idea why we thought this would be fun; none of us had ever even been to Saks before. But maybe that was the appeal. In any event, we put on our best behavior and headed into a really fancy schmancy store.
Mr. Parasol browsed their enormous tie selection, and he actually found several that he liked. A few were ridiculously expensive but, surprisingly, some were very affordable. Some of his favorites were actually on sale for cheaper than anything we’d find at Macy’s.
Here are a few that made it into the dressing room:
Mrs. Cucumber Sandwich, Washington, DC/Cape May, NJAge and Occupation: 28, School CounselorFiance's Age and Occupation: 40, Collegiate AthleticsEngagement Date: March 27, 2010Wedding Date: October 2011Venue: Congress Hall HotelAbout Me: I am a school counselor who spends my day wrangling children and my nights attempting to be creative with wedding projects. My enthusiasm for each of these activities far surpasses my skill. Thank goodness Mr. Cucumber Sandwich is there to pick up the pieces and be the voice of reason about my DIY tries. I have an obsession with terrible romantic comedies (‘From Justin to Kelly’ anyone?, anyone?!?), competitive Scrabble play, and hot dogs. I could eat astronaut ice cream for every meal and can’t seem to resist buying more shoes. Our wedding is going to be a true hodge podge of semi-destination, tradition, Yuengling, New England charm, with just a dash of ‘Jersey Shore’ thrown in. It has been six years in the making and I can’t wait to marry my best friend.
The groomsmen-suit search is turning out to be a disaster. Who knew that you can’t rent gray suits or gray tuxedos?!? All right, that might be a little dramatic, but the pickings are slim. Almost everywhere either has a tuxedo in a light gray or nothing. I thought we had a suit picked and prematurely crossed groomsmen suits off my to-do list, but now it looks like we are back at square one.
I left Mr. Cucumber Sammie (mistake number one—love you, sweetie) in charge of finding the suits since he has way more experience in this area. He searched all your typical sites like Men’s Wearhouse and JoS. A. Bank. After a night of looking, he declared the suits found. Men are so efficient. We made an appointment to see the suit in person at JoS. A. Banks this weekend.
As it turns out, even though we had an appointment to see the suit, they didn’t have it in stock. The salesperson just gave us a book of pictures of the various rental options. We were told that we would have to order it to be able to see it in person. Call me crazy, but that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Pressing on, Mr. Cucumber Sammie decided he liked the suit and we would just move forward with ordering it. The suit in question:
Mrs. Cucumber Sandwich, Washington, DC/Cape May, NJAge and Occupation: 28, School CounselorFiance's Age and Occupation: 40, Collegiate AthleticsEngagement Date: March 27, 2010Wedding Date: October 2011Venue: Congress Hall HotelAbout Me: I am a school counselor who spends my day wrangling children and my nights attempting to be creative with wedding projects. My enthusiasm for each of these activities far surpasses my skill. Thank goodness Mr. Cucumber Sandwich is there to pick up the pieces and be the voice of reason about my DIY tries. I have an obsession with terrible romantic comedies (‘From Justin to Kelly’ anyone?, anyone?!?), competitive Scrabble play, and hot dogs. I could eat astronaut ice cream for every meal and can’t seem to resist buying more shoes. Our wedding is going to be a true hodge podge of semi-destination, tradition, Yuengling, New England charm, with just a dash of ‘Jersey Shore’ thrown in. It has been six years in the making and I can’t wait to marry my best friend.
Thankfully groomsmen don’t need as much time for attire as bridesmaids, because we have been moving slowly on this one. There used to be only one option for guys at a wedding…the rental tuxedo! I am so excited that Mr. Cucumber Sammie can have his pick of outfits now and doesn’t just have to stick with the tux.
Mrs. Teacup, Santa CruzAge and Occupation: 34, Pharmaceutical SalesFiance's Age and Occupation: 41, Ditto! (For a different company)Engagement Date: October 1, 2010Wedding Date: October 2011Venue: ceremony in our family's Catholic church in Watsonville; reception at the Santa Cruz Beach BoardwalkAbout Me: I’m learning to embrace my true spirit as GIRLY GIRL after previous careers in the Navy and consulting for the government. My favorite hobby is SLEEP, with dancing HULA a close second. An INTROVERT in extrovert clothing, I’m questing to UNDO 34 years of TYPE A conditioning. Constantly processing the details of our upcoming nuptials, peek into this late blooming bride & groom's roller coaster ride to the altar. Giant Dipper required, sold separately.
I’m excited to share today’s post because it’s the first of many opportunities to gush over the greatness that is my future husband. You see, it’s Mr. Hot Tea who demonstrated how to make a wedding decision. With ease. And good judgment. And without changing it three times over. (Can you tell I’m a teeny bit envious of his natural ability in this department?)
After several months of struggling with venues (And color palettes. And themes. And flowers. And can you see how much I was not enjoying wedding planning at the time?!), I decided it was time to punt the planning over to Mr. HT. I thought for sure that dressing the men would buy me few weeks of sanity while he was in charge.
So on a rainy Tuesday in February, Mr. HT lovingly agreed to share our weekly date night with a third wheel. We trudged over to our local Men’s Wearhouse where I secretly hoped to meet this man:
Mrs. Pony, Bloomington, ILAge and Occupation: 25, AttorneyFiance's Age and Occupation: 34, AttorneyEngagement Date: March 22, 2010Wedding Date: September 2011Venue: Mackinaw Valley Vineyard; Bloomington Center for the Performing ArtsAbout Me: I found my Southern counterpart in law school and since he popped the question last March, we have been busy graduating, job searching, bar taking, and wedding planning. My loves include must see TV, magnets, quotes, anything green, my car, fun socks, the Cubs, and my Mr. Together we love wine, playing outside, and exploring the world together. Stay tuned to see our Midwest wedding full of Southern charm, vintage flair, lots of DIY details, and a whole lot o’ wine.
Once upon a time when Mr. and Miss Pony started upon this wedding planning journey, Miss Pony told Mr. Pony that he could have full control over his wedding day attire. Knowing that Mr. Pony has solid fashion sense, she relinquished control over this decision and waited for Mr. Pony to show her some amazing fitted suits that would show off his long and lean figure.
Meanwhile, Mr. Pony made the lazy easy decision to rent tuxedos from a national chain store without so much as entertaining the idea of what the Pony wedding colors are or doing any form of research whatsoever. Read more…
Mrs. Magic, Chapel Hill, NCAge and Occupation: 30, Licensed Clinical Social WorkerFiance's Age and Occupation: 30, ResearcherEngagement Date: December 1, 2009Wedding Date: October 2011Venue: Barn at ValhallaAbout Me: I’m a tall drink of water (5’10”!) and a Southern bride with an enormous appetite for Mexican food, good deals, anything French, and all things wedding! By day I am lucky enough to work with individuals with autism and their families. By night, I’m even luckier to be able to spend time hanging out with awesome friends, crafting, shopping, thinking about exercising, and kicking it with Mr. Magic and our two cats. I tend to have sudden, intense cravings that will not be denied (seafood enchiladas! new jeans!) and I’m prone to being a disorganized mess of anxiety and stress. After waiting (and waiting!) to get engaged, I am finally planning the colorful, fun, fabulously awesome Fall wedding of our dreams. In an effort to share the fun and craziness that is wedding planning, I’m gonna blog about it for y’all---the good, the bad, and the pretty!
I just had one of the most bizarre experiences of my lifetime. I went to Men’s Wearhouse with Mr. Magic to pick out a tux.
OK, wait. Yes, we did the whole suit versus tux debate. I basically had no opinion, and just wanted to check it off my huge Post-It note wall list. Many of the guys in our bridal party did not have black suits, and Mr. M thought it would be cheaper to rent tuxes than buy suits. Maybe this isn’t wholly true, with all the suit deals around, but since Yours Truly (you know…me) would have to hunt down the sales, I was fine with renting tuxes.
In my new, slightly reckless and increasingly impulsive
Mrs. Macarons, TampaAge and Occupation: 26, Graphic DesignerFiance's Age and Occupation: 34, Renaissance ManEngagement Date: September 12, 2009Wedding Date: September 2011Venue: Lange FarmAbout Me: I'm creative at heart and a graphic designer with an unhealthy obsession with type. I love roller coasters, spicy foods, and a good glass of Crianza. We’re planning a soft and lovely vintage-meets-modern wedding in a state that’s known for its beaches, glitz and glam. I have a ton of DIY projects and lots of little details I’m dying to share and can't wait to celebrate with our closest friends and family.
We were just about squared away on the groomsmen’s attire except for the ties. While I have a soft spot for paisley, Macs can’t stand it. All the check patterns we found reminded me of Easter, so that left us with stripes.
This first one was pretty close color wise, but skinny ties just look funny to me on really tall men. Men’s Wearhouse had another Calvin Klein but it was an online exclusive and, at $60 a piece, I didn’t want to spend that much on something I couldn’t see in person.
Mrs. Parasol, San Ramon, CaliforniaAge and Occupation: 25, Non-profit writer, editor, and bloggerFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Law school studentEngagement Date: December 19th, 2010Wedding Date: September 2011Venue: Bent Creek Winery (Livermore, California); Reception: Family Residence (San Ramon, California) About Me: I am a California girl at heart. I love the outdoors, sunny days at the beach, and hiking in the woods and mountains. I also love good books and am fresh from completing my Master's degree in English and Comparative Literature in New York City. Living in NYC was an amazing experience, and while I'm glad to be back on the West Coast, I'm also thankful that my two years back East gave me an opportunity to explore new places, make new friends, and indulge my passion for Broadway shows. Oh, and I received a pretty awesome proposal from Mr. Parasol in Central Park. Above all else, Mr. Parasol is my biggest cheerleader and my best friend. But even though I'm thrilled to be marrying him, I wasn't always totally on board with this whole wedding thing and at first, I wanted to run off and elope. I've finally been convinced to throw the wedding I never thought I wanted, and so now I'm busy planning an intimate September wedding filled with DIY details. Along the way, I'm slowly learning to appreciate, perhaps even love the wedding planning process.
This is something I have learned through planning our wedding. I used to think that all men’s suits were pretty much the same. I mean, a suit is just a jacket, shirt, tie, and pair of pants, right? How much variation can there really be?
The answer, as I quickly discovered, is: a lot.
First, there’s a plethora of colors to choose from. Suits aren’t simply limited to black; in fact, the time of day a wedding takes place can even dictate the most appropriate color (and style) a groom should wear. Here are just a few of the options today’s grooms have:
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
