'Til Death Do Us Part

Wedding Album Is Done!

2008-07-02T23:30:00.000-07:00

Wow! This only took me two years to complete, but here it is our wedding album:

http://home.comcast.net/~jamwaite/StriplinAlbum/

Trash The Dress!

2007-09-06T18:30:00.000-07:00

I posted these on my photo blog as well, but thought they would also be a great addtion to the wedding blog... what to do with your dress when it's over!! Trash It! My friend and fellow photographer photographed me running through a fountain.... it was loads of fun! If you are interested in having me photograph you "Trashing Your Dress" Check out my website and give me a call http://www.crystalinephoto.com

Mother's Day

2007-05-13T15:33:00.000-07:00

For mother's day just thought I'd post a photo of my mom and I! Miss you, and hope you're having a wonderful day!

Wedding Photos

2006-10-07T23:06:00.000-07:00

The day was perfect! If you would like to see more of our photos Click Here!

Photos from Shower & Bachlorette Party

2006-10-07T22:56:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure I want to post many more photos from that evening... a little bit of debauchery was had by all! I know cameras were forbidden on the guy's trip... maybe should've done the same as there were some very funny one of me at the piano bar! Anyways, thanks again to all who came out to celebrate my last night as a free woman! Next I'll be posting some photos from the actual wedding... I've been so busy lately catching up on my own work so it will be a while before I get my actual thank you cards & prints out to anyone!

D DAY Came and Went!

2006-09-15T21:11:00.000-07:00

Can you believe the wedding day came and went already? I didn't have much time for blogging in the last few days before it... oh well! It was absolutely fabulous! A few things went wrong, but not on the actual wedding day. We got rained out for the Rockies game, we were rained out for the rehersal dinner in the backyard so everyone crowded in to our house! One of the groomsmen ran into trouble with the law right before the rehersal dinner (It was straight out of a movie!) and I had to bail him out! I laughed hard at that one... even though I'm sure he's bummed about it, I hope he isn't upset over the sh*t we gave him about it!
The day of the wedding it rained before the wedding, but it was perfect besides the rain soaked golf course for the wedding (my dress got a little muddy) but Katie and the Tide Bleach pen came to my rescue... I'm buying one of those to put in my photo kit for weddings I photograph! I maybe should not have spoke to my grandparents on the phone right befor ei walked down the aisle... because I was sad and happy the entire way down, but I couldn't stop crying through the whole ceremony... consequently I remember very little... can't wait to see the video! This also had an effect on everyone there as it looked to me like almost everyone else cried as well. Our officiant, Diane held a cell phone so my grandparents could hear the ceremony. She did a wonderful job! Amanda and Kim played all the songs including the one Amanda wrote especially for us... a real tear jerker! We had a wonderful group photo afterwards of everyone at the wedding... then straight to the reception! The food and service was top notch! I couldn't of asked for more! The cake by Iced Dreams was fabulous. So were the flowers by Babylon Floral. The toasts given by Fred, April and Cindy, Faith, & Katie were awesome! And everything was just perfect including dancing to the sounds of the Freddi Henchi Band and even our mini after party in Golden at the Buffalo Rose Bar and our stay at the Table Mountain Inn. As soon as I get some photos back I'll post them! Thanks to everyone who attended! It wouldn't have been a party without ya! Hope you all had fun!

Pillows & Baskets Arrived

2006-08-23T11:24:00.000-07:00

So far I have not had bad luck buying anything off the internet! I received the custom made baskets and pillows that ordered from an ebay seller that I didn't purchase through ebay... it saved me a little money and she made them to my specifications... and they are perfect! If you are interested in checking her out search for suzekate on ebay or email her at suzerup@aol.com I highly recommend her!

Bachelor & Bachelorette Parties

2006-08-23T09:20:00.002-07:00

After much thinking we ended up deciding to have our stag parties the same evening... it was the only way to accomodate out of town guests as well, the date set is Wednesday, Sept. 6th before the wedding... so there will be time recouperate afterwards! The girl's are starting out with a shower at Breckenridge Brewery downtown... info forthcoming, and then we will be bar hoping afterwards... who knows where we'll end up. April Johnson / Moore is the Maid of Honor and is planning it with Katie Hemmerlein one of the bridesmaids... invitations should be going out soon! Fred Lewis, Best Man is planning the guy's night out... not sure what the plans are... rumors are they are taking a party bus to Black Hawk & Central City to go gambling... not sure though, so info is forthcoming on that as well... email me for their contact info....

Dress Rehersal Venue Change

2006-08-23T09:09:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to let everyone know that we found out that Rolling Hills has booked a wedding on the Friday evening before our own so we can not have the rehersal there... well, we could, but it would be rushed, earlier and we'd be interfering with another wedding and I don't want to do that... so we've decided to move it to our backyard BBQ, catered by Hoke's BBQ... we will do the rehesal at the same time 5pm on Friday at our home and then have dinner afterwards around 6pm. We are set up for food for approx 50 people... planning on everyone in the wedding party attending plus their famlies and all out of town guests. I've thinking there will be lots of food left... so if anyone who is invited to the wedding from here feels like stopping by as well please do so! T-minus 18 days and counting!

Coors Plant VIP Tour

2006-08-20T00:34:00.000-07:00

Concerning the VIP Coors Plant Tour Scheduled for Friday, September 8th before the Wedding Rehersal.... All Out of Town Guests as well as The Wedding Party are invited to the Rehersal dinner/ BBQ at our house and dress is casual.

Coors Plant Address: 13th & Ford St. Golden, CO

I just spoke to Chris our friend who works at Coors about the VIP Tours he is lining up for us during the wedding and I found out some things I didn't know before so I thought I'd go over it with everyone. We need to know for sure in advance who is all going to go on the tour... they need exact numbers to set up the tour, apparently they are really strict about showing up on time and with their rules. This is not the standard tour that everyone can take this is an actual tour down in the plant with hard hats and you go throught the entire plant and it is approx. 1 1/2 hours long with time afterwards to drink free beer! So anyways here are the rules:

1.) Everyone on the tour must be over the age of 21, so this means no kids are allowed. If you want to take the standard tour that they run all the time while we're are doing the VIP tour you are fine to do that kids are allowed on those tours which you can set up the day you arrive. Or feel free to do something else that day... I have a park pass for Rocky Mtn. Natl. Forest if anyone wants to set up a car pool for that.

2) No one can wear shorts, or sandles etc. Everyone is suppose to wear steel toed shoes... (Chris said that you can get by with tennis shoes, but that they make you wear some sort of thing over them) The best dress is jeans, shirt, and work boots.

3.) And everyone must be on time who is going.... those who do not show up on time run the risk of screwing it up for everyone else because if you book the tour say for 20 people and only 10 show they could cancel your tour.

With all that being said I need to know ASAP who all wants to go as Chris says Fridays book up fast... we had another snag with the rehersal that evening as well.... so we will not be able to do it at Rolling Hills, more than likely we will be doing it in our backyard with the rehersal BBQ... so tenatively I'm planning on the tour starting close to 1 pm... which gives us enough time to do the tour pick up our rental chairs & tables, etc. for the dinner that night... have the rehersal.. then dinner and hanging out!

So let me know really early in the week this week if you would like to do the tour... it sounds actually pretty exciting compared to the standard tour and I'm really looking forward to it! If you are bringing kids and still would like to go let me know and I may be able to arrange a babysitter for the afternoon.

It's almost here... can't wait to see everyone!

Love,
Mike & Jamie

Flower Baskets & Ring Pillows

2006-08-15T20:49:00.000-07:00

Ordered Ring Bearer Pillows and Flower Baskets... I found a lady on ebay who offered me a deal for two of each. I didn't order it through ebay rather from her directly... so that was a risk... but I'll let you know how it turns out!... Going to do the style on the left with ribbons on the right!

Tuxedo Rentals

2006-07-27T22:37:00.000-07:00

So another awsome job completed by Men's Warehouse! The tuxes there are made and altered to fit you perfectly... so often at weddings I see the jackets just hanging on the guys! These were perfect!

Ok... more wonderful and exciting news... Mike and I have finalized everything for the tuxedo rentals. If you live in the Denver area all you need to do is go to the nearest Men's Warehouse and get fitted for your tux. They need a $20 down payment towards the rental... the rentals themselves with everything are going to be $60 as per the coupon I got at a bridal show.
For everyone out of town you should get measured by someone, preferably at any tux rental location... they can do this for you and get back to me.

Here is all the info you need to know ~
Group Name: Striplin/Waite
Group Number: 861888
Group Fitting Deadline Date: 8 - 26 -06
Group Pick Up Date: 9-7-06

- All members need to be fitted by the the deadline date which is 14 days prior to the wedding.
- Members not fitted by this date will be charged a $20 rush fee.
- All members must be able to to pick-up and try on their garments by the group's pick up date which is two days prior to the wedding, to ensure accuracy of the order and proper fit.
- All tuxes will be picked up at the Westminster store located at 8801 Harlan St. next to the Westminster Mall.
- All members must pay a $20 reservation fee to put towards their rental fee at the time of their fitting
- Any party members that may be difficult to fit should be fitted as soon as possible to help us overcome fitting limitations.
- Shoes have also been selected so they are required.
- All tuxedos are to be returned the day after the event.

The groomsmen, ushers, & ring bearers are all wearing copper vests with a black tux.
The fathers are wearing sage green vests with a black tux.

Here are the names of the locals who need to go in:
Tristain Johnson
Fred Lewis
Matt Kippenberger
John Wilson Cook

Here are the names of the out of towners that I need to get measurements from:
Grant Striplin
Dock Striplin (Possibly you could stop at a Men's Warehouse while on the road)
Blair Waite
Riley Waite
Jon Stratton
Ricky Scott

This is what we need -
Weight:
Height:
Coat Size:
Shoe Size: (If possible try on dress shoes)
Chest: (Tape Should be underneath arms & over largest part of chest)
Overarm: ( Measure over the arms with the jacket off, across the largest part of the chest and upper arms)
Waist: (Measure just below bellybutton where dress pants are usually worn)
Hips: (Mesure across largest part of seat and thigh)
Outseam: (Measure from top of hipbone to just where shoe heel meets sole.)
Shirt Size: Neck - (Measure around center of neck, adding a half inch to the measurement to ensure comfort) Sleeve - (Measure from center of top of back, over shoulder and down to wrist.)
Important - Measure twice to be on the safe side!

For all the out of towners - you can either email your mesurements and I'll get them in for you with the deposit or you can call it in 1-800-776-7848 or 303-650-1900

Let us know if there are any issues or questions... thanks...

Jamie & Mike

Class Reunion

2006-07-25T22:54:00.000-07:00

Ok... so I wasn't going to go to my 10 year high school reunion, but I've been so stressed out lately about getting everything done for the wedding, plus trying to run my business that Mike just said get the heck out of here! So I decided to bum a ride with Jen Larsen from high school... she just recently moved here! I really like her... never really hung out with her until now, but I can see us having a life long friendship! Yeah! It ended up going ok... we kind of made our own fun... ie. bloody mary's on the parade float, endless bar hopping, and meeting up with old friends! It wasn't that bad.. it was a little weird! Now I only have 42 days left until the wedding! Can we pull it off??? I guess we'll see... Here's a photo from Jen's cam of all who came to the reunion ( a few people snuck out of there)

We Have Our Rings!

2006-07-08T13:25:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited... kind of in a bling bling blur right now. Mike and I bought our rings a couple weeks ago and they sent them out for sizing... we went and picked them up today... I've never had so much sparkle on my hand before! Our rings are absolutely perfect! Exactly what I wanted! I'm not going to post any photos of them... you'll just have to see when you see me next!

Invitations are in the mail!

2006-07-01T11:47:00.000-07:00

So this thing is really happening! The invitations are in the mail! I'm still collecting addresses on a few people, but Mike did an awesome job of calling everyone the other day and getting most of them! Please, Please, Please RSVP... either by our website or by mail. We need to know what everyone wants to eat for the chef.
The boys need to get together soon to look at tuxes! Almost everything else is done... ok.. not all of it... but getting there!

Shoes and Plans!!!

2006-06-09T01:00:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Katie we have a shoe picked out.... It's the Brittany style shoe from David's Bridal... As soon as you can I need everyone to order their shoes!! I'm thinking we should have them dyed a bronze color if it is available. Katie says it takes a few weeks to get these in so I need to get my butt over their as well and get them ordered.
I think I have a florist and a cake person figured out... I'm not posting info about them until I lock them down... so that means all the major services are taken care of... my invitation arrived this week so I'll be mailing them soon and trying to figure out the rest of the details while I'm editing all of this dance recital stuff.... ahhhh....this wedding is coming up too fast!

Bridesmaid Dresses... Decision Made!

2006-05-25T15:40:00.000-07:00

So that wasn't too bad... April and I found a dress we liked.... it's only $97.00 So not bad... we're doing this exact dress only in sage green, but with the same bronze ribbon. Orders need to be placed no later than Wednesday next week in order to get them back in time for the wedding! Thanks again girls for being a part of my special day!

So this is how the bridesmaid dresses and umbrellas turned out... they still looked really cool with standard dresses. Not bad for dresses that were only $97.00 and I've seen some really horrid bridesmaid dresses before!

Engagement Photos Taken!

2006-05-23T15:45:00.000-07:00

Heather Hoffman assisted us today with taking some engagement photos! They turned out really cute and I put together an unique guest book with the photos and ordered our invitations for the wedding so I can't wait for everyone to see them!

Our new nephew has arrived!

2006-05-06T18:12:00.000-07:00

My brother, Cad & his wife, Laura had their second son today... They induced labor on Friday and he was not born until Saturday around 2:30pm! His name is Cian Waite He weighed approx 7 lbs. and he looks like an exact copy of his older brother Riley Gordon Waite. How exciting! Wish I could of been there like I was for Riley's birth! Can't wait to see him! I'm glad everything went well and he was a healthy baby!

More Random Stuff...

2006-05-03T21:34:00.000-07:00

So wasting time as usual... I found a website that compares your face to the faces of celebrities to see what your closest match is... here's what I found for me...

1st Tara Reid

2nd Keira Knightly Strange, but a photo of her looks like one of my mom in high school

3rd Julianne Moore.... never thought that.. hmmm...

Also matched with -Sally Field, Lindsey Lohan, Julie Andrews, Kelly Clarkson, & Charlize Theron... woo hoo... I'm feeling extremely good about myself right now!

Mike matches up with...

1st Ian Sommerhandler

2nd Bing Crosby

3rd Prince Harry of Wales

Other matches... Jennifer Love Hewitt came up a couple times, Tim Allen, hmmmm

If you want to check it out... http://www.myheritage.com/

We have someone to marry us!

2006-05-03T20:36:00.000-07:00

We met with an officiant today. Her name is Rev. Diane Reiss. She is a retired minister that offers counseling and marriage cermonies. She has also quite a bit of interest in art... so we immediately hit it off! Her home was filled with her original paintings and sculptures. I was really impressed and now after meeting with her and discussing options for our ceremony I feel completely at ease! She is going to be great and will fullfill all the want we have for a nondenominational / spititual ceremony! I'm getting excited all over again! If you are in need of a minister for your wedding check her out http://home.comcast.net/~revreiss/

Another one bites the dust....

2006-05-02T20:15:00.000-07:00

Well, the excitement around here lately has been our visits to Home Depot & Lowes... We've been busy working on our yard... and it's amazing we finally have dark green grass this year. This is thanks to a sprinkler system we bought off Faith & Steve before they moved to England , our rigorous watering efforts, and Chem Lawn! We still have some bare patches, but we've been seeding the heck out of it!
Mike wanted to do a "zen" garden in the backyard so we decided to use a space where nothing was growing... not completely Asian, but it matches the decor of our home. We laid down some inexpensive yard border, red wood chips, bought & planted some ferns, laid some flagstone we had leftover from the front walkway and moved the iron table & chairs that I also got from Faith & Steve in the corner... looks so much nicer. Then as a cheap fix to our ailing deck I decided to paint it to match the wood chips... wow what a difference! We propped some more boards under it to hold it up and hopefully it will hold for a couple more summers... it wasn't in the budget with the wedding to replace it this year so we're making due.
We're well on our way to having a nice backyard for our BBQ rehearsal dinner before the wedding! Yeah! Only a few more outdoor projects left!

Dress is Here.... Umbrellas Here... Etc.

2006-04-26T23:32:00.000-07:00

My dress came in last month, but I'm still not sure about it... Mike thinks it is a little plain and I'm not happy about the sash because it doesn't look like the photo, but it is well made and fits... except for it is a little long so I'll need to have that altered. All in all not bad for $89! I guess I'll make up my mind about it soon.... April (MOH) will be here next month so maybe we can get the color scheme finished and bridesmaid dresses ordered. I also received the lights and umbrellas I ordered. The umbrellas are way too big... so I will be sending those back for an exchange of smaller ones, but the lights are cool. Next on the agenda.... ordering the centerpieces... locking down a florist and a baker as well as setting up accomodations. I met with a really nice floral lady who is really resonable, but she isn't too sure about the flowers I have picked out and how they will stand up during the ceremony... so we'll see! I've been also looking for bamboo arbors and I think I found one! It will be great to put in our backyard after the wedding!

So this was another one of those things that didn't come as advertised.. I thought I'd get an arch that was stained this mahogony color like in the photo, but to my surprise it had just a clear lacquer on it... it was pretty expensive as well... not the actual arch, but the shipping of it here from Washington state! But to my surprise after Arthur from Babylon Floral did it up it looked amazing! It wasn't what I originally imagined, but he took all the ideas from my blog and brought it together... right down to the copper accent sway across it! Amazing!

Bridezilla Lives!!!

2006-04-16T19:16:00.000-07:00

So I'm feeling just a little stressed about everything left to do for the wedding and coming up with the money and time to do it. Why, oh why, do I want such a fancy wedding and why, oh why has Mike been encouraging me! I think it's the fact that I'm inidated with weddings on a daily/weekly basis for my job! I live 300+ miles from any family member that can help. One of my best friends moved to England and the other isn't here yet. Not to mention I don't want to force anything on to anyone for this wedding... so I've been reluctant to ask for help! I've got all these ideas... but I'm feeling overwhelmed by them! I guess I have to take it one day at a time and try to stretch it out. I'm almost caught up on wedding work for my clients again... so maybe I can work on some of my own... this week's to do list: Call hotels for rates, schedule cake testings, and work on slideshow.

Searching the web for bridezilla brought some humorous links:
CBS Story
Going Bridal.com
Emotionally Engaged

One project off the "To Do List"

2006-04-08T14:43:00.000-07:00

We finally painted the kitchen! Mike has been wanting to pain the kitchen in Italian Tuscany colors since we moved in and we finally did it. Shortly after our friend Jon left for the coast we decided to take a personal day... for like the first time in months! And we're both sitting there thinking about all the things we had or needed to do and I said let's paint the kitchen... we want to have it done before the wedding... and so we did it! Every room upstairs except for my office has been painted now. I love how this turned out! The kitchen feels so much warmer now! Plus you may have noticed that we replaced the ugliest chandlier known to man and the kitchen and the hallway light fixture! Now all we have to replace is the kitchen floor... not sure if we can get that tiled before the wedding, but we'll see! Lotsa other projects left on the list! Faith also gave me the cool old windows before she left to England... which is weird because I had planned on searching for some before that anyways... it's going to look really cool when the vine fills in! Thanks bunches!

Amanda's Going to Preform!

2006-04-02T13:53:00.000-07:00

Amnda Capper and I got together finally today and she is totally going to perform during the ceremony at our wedding! I'm so excited! She has written an original song for Mike and I and will also cover the song that Mike had Fred play for me when he proposed!!!! I'm thinking I should have her do at least one more song.... so there is music when we walk down the aisle, something in the middle, and something at the end when we walk back down the aisle... so must think... she is sooo talented and she just became a mamber in a band that is awesome! They are having their first CD release party April 28, 2006 at Red & Jerry's in Sheridan, CO. So go and check them out! here is their website http://www.maricopamadman.com Photography below is by her incredibly talented boyfriend, Eric Page

Found THE dress!

2006-03-14T15:00:00.000-08:00

Well, I was pursuing ebay looking for inexpensive dresses and fell in love with one I found that was made special ordered!!! I'm taking a gamble on this one by ordering it straight from China... so we'll see how it goes. You send them your measurements and they make it to order! It cuts a lot of the costs. Total with shipping the dress is only $89 and it's gorgeous! I videotaped a wedding last year where the girl ordered directly from China via ebay as well and her dress was the most beautiful and unique I've seen so I guess we'll see... I figure we're still 5 months out so if anything happens I can still run to David's Bridal and pick something out. For some the most important thing having to do with their wedding is the dress for me not so much... so I can take a little chance on it. Stay in touch to see how it turns out! Here is their online store if you would like to see more of their dresses http://stores.ebay.com/Kanacca

Here is a photo taken of me at my wedding in the finished dress... you can see the difference between the photo of the dress advertised and what I got... and this was with extensive alterations. So even though the dress was really cheap through ebay. I had to spend quite a bit for alterations, but not over what I heard David's Bridal charges their clients for standard alterations... so I guess it's all how you look at it. The dress did not have any boning in the top area, consequently my seamstress had to put that in as well as suggested a heavy duty corset bra... but I guess you can see why... I'm a little chesty! :) The flowers did not match the embroidered flowers in the photo... they look more like they were ironed on patches. And the sash was weird it didn't really fit or look right around my waist... so the seamstress and I decided to sew it on the top of the dress... it actually looked really cool that way! All in all though it turned out beautifully! But I guess you have to be flexible!

Ceremony Music Search

2006-02-26T14:21:00.000-08:00

So again I almost forgot about finding ceremony music.... I have a couple ideas. While Mike was working at Elephant Bar in Lakewood, CO he met an incrediblly talented musician named Amanda Capper... who is still in the beginning stages of her music career. We hit it off immediately! I asked her last year if she would sing at my wedding and she said yes then, but trying to follow-up with her has been difficult! I think I'll give her another call in March and try to pin her down! In the meantime if you want to check out some of her work http://www.amandacapper.com

So can I tell you how amazing Amanda and her friend, Kim sounded that day! They had every song down that I wanted and Amanda even wrote us our own personal song... I cried so hard! It was awesome... I will sing their praises forever!

Thinking about floral......

2006-01-27T23:37:00.000-08:00

I absolutely love this bouquet!!!!
Do I need to say more?!

This one is nice, but doesn't have the same effect to me!

These are unique orchids, but not too sure about the color... I actually fell in love with the flowers used on this knot story about another Colorado wedding...

I wish I had just a close-up of my bouquet... this is the closest thing I had. My florist was awesome! Babylon Floral downtown Denver owned & operated by Arthur. He took all of my ideas to the next degree! He suggested putting feathers in it! Now who has feathers in their bouquet.... just me! He used a couple costume jewelry bracelets around the base (Stems) So the picture below is how it turned out!

My Photographer

2006-01-22T17:03:00.000-08:00

So being a photographer... I chose a photographer before I even chose a place to have my wedding... it was so long a go that I even forgot to mention him. I have a lot of friends who are also photographers and so is my mom, but that being said...I also know I want my friends to enjoy our wedding and not have to work. I met Lyndon while I was doing a video for a wedding this summer... I really like his style and he was just getting started in the Denver area. Here is his website http://www.shiningmomentphotography.com/ You'll see why I think he kicks A$$! So if I'm already booked for a wedding keep him in mind! By the way here is my website always a work in progress http://www.crystalinephoto.com

Look Out South Park!

2006-01-11T19:38:00.000-08:00

I found a website where you can create your own South Park characters....http://www.vexatori.de/zib/spstudio.html It's so cute! I made one of me and one of Mike! Anyone who knows us will get a kick out of these... especially the scarf on Mike!!!

April is getting married!!!

2006-01-11T18:15:00.000-08:00

I heard from April (my maid of honor) yesterday... and wow... her and Nick are getting married too! I guess we're all at that point in our lives where we're either married or getting married if we're in relationships. She sent me this picture of the dress she picked out. They are actually going to Jamaica to elope in March.... hmmmm... maybe I should've done that! : ) It's much cheaper and hopefully a lot less stressful since she has a lot going on right now... graduating from law school... planning a move to Denver... not to mention my wedding!!! The only thing is it came up so fast... we probally won't be able to attend, but I'm working on doing some kind of small reception with her sisters here in Denver when they get here! Good luck Apes! I can't wait to see you guys!!

Booked a Band

2006-01-07T18:07:00.000-08:00

Forgot to mention the amazing gift my mom is giving us for our wedding. She gave me the choice of either her paying for the honeymoon or the band; so I took the band. Some of you might think that was dumb, but not if you work in the wedding industry. Although there are a lot of great djs out there... I feel nothing sets a party off like a band! Mike and I have been together for quite a while and to me this day is more important than the honeymoon. I can't wait to have all of my friends and family under one roof celebrating with us. And to make it extra special we'll be having the Freddi Henchi Band! I met them photographing a wedding last September and they were awesome! They're a blend of rock, soul, funk, blues, and more! I'm sure there will be something for everyone... so I hope everyone can make it so they won't miss out! Here is their website http://fhband.com/
The band was better than I could have ever hoped for! It brought so many people together... my friends and family loved it! I even saw my mom and stepmom dancing by each other throughout the night... wow! There were some surprise moments... I wish we could of stayed all night listening to them!

Where does the time go??

2006-01-05T23:21:00.000-08:00

So I'm finally all caught up with the projects I've had going on all summer... until someone else wants to get their album completed anyways....and a new year is on the horizons! So I started focusing my attentions back to my advertising website http://www.blackhillsweddings.com I have some great new ideas for it and my mom, Mike and I are planning on a trip back to SD to have a networking/sales meeting. I've got almost all the plans worked out for that we're going to be holding it at the Songbird Cafe in Custer a new location http://www.songbird365.com it's awesome and singer/artist Bunny Sings Wolf will be preforming http://www.bunnysingswolf.com . All awesome news!! My brother, Cad needs help with getting a website completed that will showcase artists... so I plan to make another trip back there soon to help him with that. Right now he's hosting it on his own site: http://www.waiteinvestments.com So lots going on... not sure when I'll have time to plan this wedding we've been talking about!! Mike is finally doing his real estate sales!! Yeah! So I started working on a website for him as well...http://191528.yourkwagent.com/home we haven't bought a domain name for him yet. Luckily Keller Williams has some prefab sites!!And just keeping busy, busy & busy!

You got to be kiding me....

2006-01-04T22:50:00.000-08:00

Doing a search for wedding vows... (since we need to come up with something to say at this momentous event) I came to a site that said Jack & Jennifer's vows, Carrie & Austin's vows, when it said John & Marlena's Vows I realized what I was looking at... all the wedding vows from the soap opera "Days of Our Lives" Do people really have that much time on their hands that they copy verbatim wedding vows from a television show?! And what purpose does this serve?... ok I saw a good one in there:
Austin & Carrie's Wedding Poem
Said by Austin at the wedding that Sami interrupted in 1995 - (I love that they added that in)
I love you. Not just for who you are,but for who I am when I'm with you. I love you.Not for what you've done with your life......but for what you're doing to mine.I love you for making me good...and happy. And whole.Because that is what you do, Carrie.Without a word. Without a gesture. Without a doubt.Just by being yourself. Such a simple thing...but no one else in the world could do it.

If you feel inclined to read the vows thought up by soap opera writers http://www.bethsdayspage.com/days/vows.html#CandA

Holidays are upon us...

2005-12-24T13:06:00.000-08:00

I haven't been doing very much with the wedding planning lately because Christmas is tomorrow! It came up sooo fast I've been so busy with my business that I hadn't done any shopping for it until this week! Jon Stratton is in town visiting us this month... Mike is going to help him find a house to buy here. We finished remodeling our bathroom - minus the mirror we have to get... thanks to Jon or we'd still be working on it! And also had our annual holiday party.... whew... it was a lot smaller this year than the past years, but Mike was working on a shoestring budget this year. Everyone brought lots of wines and we had a lot of fun. I think I'll post the Xmas party photos first and the bathroom remodel photos at a later date.

Bathroom Remodel Finished!!!

2005-12-05T14:56:00.000-08:00

We finished our bathroom remodel right before Christmas with a little help from our friend, Jon.... ok a lot of help from our friend Jon! As you can see it still needs a mirror, but it is in excellent shape now! Yeah! I'm so excited... no more tile coming off the wall! Just in time for the Christmas Party!

Interesting Japanese Custom

2005-12-04T01:16:00.000-08:00

Okay... new idea... I really don't want to do a candle lighting ceremony since the wedding is outdoors and the candles always seem to go out from the wind at outdoor ceremonys... I saw someone mix sand together... kind of lame... so I thought we'd do the traditional sake ceremony or tea ceremony... Here's what I found out on a website about it:

The sharing of sake is one of the oldest traditional Japanese wedding ceremonial customs dating back to the 8th century. The sharing or toast of sake symbolizes a formal bond between the bride and groom.The exquisite miniature sized sake set consists of three flat cups escalating in size. Starting with the smallest of the three cups, the groom will lead taking three sips and then the bride. They will then proceed to the middle size and then to the large. At the conclusion of the sake toast ceremony, both families drink a cup of sake to signify not only the union of the bride and groom but the unity of two families. This beautiful custom is called San San Ku Do, which means "three sets of three sips equals nine".

I'm not too sure how my family will feel about doing a sake toast since we're not Japanese... Mike is a little iffy on this one as well... but I thought it would be unique!

Fortune Cookies

2005-12-02T01:26:00.000-08:00

I want to do personalized fortune cookies for our wedding favors... surfing around the net I came to this website http://www.badcookie.com It's really funny... you click on the cookie and it gives you a fortune... Check it out... Also found chocolate covered fortune cookies & different colored & flavored cookies.... omigosh... so many choices now!!!

More Centerpiece Ideas

2005-12-02T00:57:00.000-08:00

So this was sort of a last minute idea... all the orchids I bought for the centerpieces died... I thought I could make them last for 2 months... bad idea. I think there were like 4 or 5 left that ended up going on the headtable... Mike came up with this idea... we found the bowls on sale at Hobby Lobby, the rocks were at the dollar store and we bought the bamboo from a local asian market off of Federal Blvd & Alameda... great stuff over there! Then Faith thought we should put goldfish in them... so we bought feeder fish $.20 from Pet Smart and put two in each bowl... it was awesome and some lucky guests got to take them home with them.

So You take some Bamboo or a flower like an orchid or lily.... and you put it in glass cylinders with polished river stones... and water.... and you have a very simple yet Zen like centerpiece!!! Also going to include some more photos of bamboo arrangements I found!!!

Asian Centerpieces

2005-12-02T00:11:00.000-08:00

Ideas for the Asian centerpieces!!! This one is cool... found a cheap place for the bamboo trays... also found another site that uses rocks with it and I found a bunch of polished river stones at a store here in Arvada.

The Wedding Dress!!!!

2005-12-01T23:53:00.000-08:00

Okay, So I tried this dress on at David's Bridal a few months ago... and I can't seem to get it out of my head, but I think it is too lacey for the theme I have planned... They still have it in stock.... I even found a replica knock off of the dress on ebay for half the price.... what does everone think??? I also kind of like the one below that is a lot simpler.... it's made by an asian dress company and it is really cheap... with a cherry blossom design on it!

Bridesmaid Dresses

2005-11-27T23:37:00.000-08:00

So I have mentioned to all of my bridesmaid that I was thinking of having all my bridesmaids in tradional Asian dresses while I wear a regular bridal gown. Everyone seemed excited about it, but if you're not let me know... I want everyone to be comfortable!! These dresses are pretty inexpensive... most people never wear a bridesmaid dress again so.... I thought this would work out well and you may even want to wear it again... so far this is the first green dress that I've found... but I may include some others that I like to see what the girls all think....this one is from http://www.orienttouch.com Here are a few others on http://www.eaststore.com

Time to share my theme....

2005-11-24T23:17:00.000-08:00

So I guess I should let everyone know our theme idea for the wedding... I've discussed it with most of the bridal party and they seem okay with it, but maybe I should warn the others... Mike and I have always had a thing for Asian art, culture, food, design, etc. Therefore we're planning an Asian themed wedding... I've got lots of ideas... and if our budget permits we'll even have Sushi for an appetizer... so hold on to your hats South Dakotans!! Was doing some research today and found a website that sells the parasols I'm looking for... oh did I forget to mention... bridesmaids will have parasols instead of flowers... it will look really cool and yes, it will save us money in the flower department..... I can't decide whether or not I want a design or just a plain color parasol... I've got some paper lanterns already that are a deep purple and sort of a sage green... so I think that's going to be the colors of the wedding. Also found some string lights that are miniture paper lanterns.... sooo cool!

Can't decide between round lights or the box lights! They're both so

cute... what do you think???

So this I decided on the round lights... and not really knowing where to put them... I thought they'd look cool across the front of the headtable... awesome effect!

Bridal Show

2005-11-20T22:56:00.000-08:00

Went to the Great Bridal Expo at the tech center today with my mom and one of my bridesmaids, Faith. I've been to a lot of them because of my photography, but this is the first one I attended just for fun! And I think I chose a great one to attend! Their was an awesome fashion show of dresses and tuxes with real models instead of the typical stand-ins. They gave away great door prizes, however we were late so weren't able to sign-up for a lot of them. And there were some great vendors there... Probably found a cake lady in Ft. Collins! So if you're going to do even one bridal show I highly suggest this one... Check out their website http://www.greatbridalexpo.com

Holidays around the cornner!

2005-11-17T23:50:00.000-08:00

So I know holidays are just around the cornner.... I suppose we'll be too busy to do much wedding planning even though I want to get most of it done this winter before my busy wedding season starts... already having lots of calls for 2006 and starting to book up... My mom is coming into town on Sun. from South Dakota. I was hoping we'd be able to go to the bridal expo that day, but sounds like she'll be getting in late. Hopefully we can do some of the planning while she is here before Thanksgiving.... maybe I'll make a few dress shop appointments... hmmmm....

Cake Ideas .....

2005-11-16T01:11:00.000-08:00

From all the wonderful cake ideas below the cake above is what we ended up with! It was great! And tasted wonderful as well! Iced Dreams did a fabulous job!

So far this is my favorite cake design... and Mike's too!! Faith doesn't like that it is square, but that's one of the reasons we like it!! Can you believe that the flowers are made out of sugar??? Now I just have to find someone to make it for me!!! I'm also including a few other examples I found down below!

We booked a Location!

2005-11-12T01:36:00.000-08:00

I'm going to be be brief since I have a wedding site that explains it all, but we have been engaged since February 2005.... and our wedding is planned for September 2006... mainly because I am in the wedding industry as well and I myself am sooo busy that I haven't had time to plan my own.... I'm excited... little less than a year away and although it's really only one day in my life... there are so many things that go into planning a wedding that I thought I'd share my ups and downs with everyone! Along with my ideas on how to save money!

My friend works at this country club and I offered to take photos there this summer for the club's advertisement since the one they had were really bad.... so even though this wasn't a wedding that I was hired to photograph for the bride & groom I got some really excellent shots... Did I mention I'm a wedding photographer? Anyway, realized early on that this place was a smoking deal for Colorado... kind of a best kept secret! And now I have it booked for my wedding next year! Yeah! It's not the mountain wedding that we originally wanted, but I can still do the ceremony outdoors and have the reception at the same location... food is excellent and it has a great view of the foothills.... all within my budget!