STDs (hehe ... that's just funny)

That's right everyone ... Save The Date cards are going in the mail before April 1! That means this thing is actually happening ... turning back.

Here's a preview of what you'll be receiving in your mailboxes soon:
When I began planning this whole shindig I quickly realized how expensive anything wedding related can be. I just couldn't bring myself to spend heaps of money on Save The Dates and invitations, especially when I or any of my talented friends could make something far more awesome than some product pushed by the WIC (wedding industrrial complex).

I got the idea for this postcard one day as I was drinking a cup of coffee. I took the photo at Northwoods Coffee Company in Coldwater, Michigan where Jake is head barista. He poured that lovely latte art heart in the cup. Then, I wrote "save" and "the" on the dishes with black dry-erase marker, and "date" on the newspaper with a Sharpie. This is the un-edited photo.

Once I had the image in Photoshop I went to town. I first selected the latte art and made that into a separate layer. Then, I grayscaled the rest of the photo. Then, I boosted the color of the latte art to be vibrant but still have a vintage feel. Then, I blew out the contrast of the entire photo to give it a grainy and vintage look. I came up with a few other versions of this photos, but in the end Jake and I chose the black and white version. Here's a color version I did as well. I was going for a kitschy/indie/vintage look on this one as well.

I had such a good time making my STD cards, I'm thinking of opening up a shop on Etsy (www.etsy.com) for photography-focused STDs and invitations.

Okay, okay ... I know I told you guys I would write a post highlighting hotels, bed & breakfasts and campsites in the area ... and I will! :-) It's quite a research-driven post and I just haven't had time to put it together. And remember, if there's something you'd like to know about regarding the wedding or the area around Union City, let me know. I'd be happy to post about it.

Finding joy in the simple things

I had a light bulb moment a few weeks ago.

Browsing on Facebook, I came across a wedding that stopped me dead in my tracks. Gemma, who I met when I visited Tasmania in 2007, got married on the beach in January and the photos began popping up. It was beautiful. They had it on a small beach with no decorations, no chairs ... just love and blue waters.
Gemma's simple approach to her wedding celebration helped me realize that while planning all the details of a wedding is heaps of fun, in the end it doesn't matter what it looks. The only things that matter are the fact that you're surrounded by friends and family and that you're now married to your best friend.

I kept browsing through the photos of Gemma's wedding, falling more and more in love with the simplicity and beauty of it all. Finally I realized that this is how I want my wedding to be - simple, joyful and full of love and nature. Jake and I were already basically planning on these aspects being a part of our day, but now I see that I don't really care about centerpieces and table linens and whatnot as much as I care about everyone having a good time and sharing in our love and joy.

However ... I do totally dig Gemma's earrings. When I told her that she said she had an extra pair and promptly mailed them to me. Hooray!

So anyway ... that's what our wedding will be ... Love, joy, simplicity and fun.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

In the next few posts I'm going to be offering some logistical information for all of you who are trekking in from out of town to join us for the wedding. I'll do a post about hotel/campgrounds if you need a place to stay, local restaurants and cafés that are worth checking out while you're here, and a list of churches if you're staying for the weekend and would like a place to worship Sunday morning. If there's any specific topics you'd like me to cover, just let me know. I want to help you enjoy this weekend the best I can :-)

Progress, Progress, Progress

It's been far too long.

I apologize for my lack of blogging goodness. Things got busy at the beginning of this year and I moved it to the back burner unintentionally. But, all excuses aside, here I am and I'm back in the saddle.

Wedding plans have been smooth sailing for Jake and I. In the last post I reported that I had purchased my dress (which I'm uber excited about!). Since then, a few things have been decided:

• Florist is secured and we're meeting at the end of the month
• I added a bridesmaid (more about that later)
• Decorations have been purchased
• Honeymoon has been booked
• Officiant has been booked
• Invitations and Save The Dates have been designed

I'm sure there are more things on that list, but it's early and my brain isn't at full functioning capacity yet.

In the next blog post I'll introduce our wedding party. For now I'll share some inspiration and give you an idea of how our wedding will look.

Jake and I, being the pseudo dirty hippies we are, want everything to be laid back and fun and as eco-friendly and natural as possible. Here are a few inspiration collages I made depicting the "feel" of our wedding:





As you can see, lots of plants, lots of color, lots of garden gnomes. That's right ... the jolly little guys with pointy hats are making an appearance at our wedding. They were just calling out to me from the Hobby Lobby shelf ... "Buy us! We're 50% off!" I couldn't resist.


Another small piece of the wedding that came together during my mini-hiatus is the flowergirl outfit.

I ordered a custom-made crown from a seller on Etsy name Whichgoose. She is amazing. Based on a short description on the wedding, here's what she came up with:


::Edited:: I was going to post a photo of Lydia's dress, but for some reason it isn't working. Apologies.

*Side Note* If anyone can come up with a better title than "flowergirl" please let me know.

Well, I think that's enough wedding goodness for now. I promise from now on there will be more frequent updates. Cheers!

Could this be it?

Wedding dress shopping can be summed up in one word ... Agonizing.

I was beginning to hate trying on beautiful and expensive dresses ... which is something that should be fun.

However, this past weekend I went shopping yet again with my mom, maid of honor Adrienne and Aunt Ruth. Aunt Ruth said that no matter what, we were going to find the dress. I didn't believe her.

However, there must be something about aunts because I think I DID find the dress!



It's by a designer called Pattis Bridal. First of all, I love the skirt. It has pick-ups with a little bit of toule sticking out of the bottom. The mid section has a bit of rouching and beading. The top part has a wonderful and princessy sweetheart neckline. However, that part does have some embroidery that I'm not fond of. The flowers look cartoony.


The good thing is the embroidery is attached to English netting, which can be removed. So, my thought is this ... I'll have the seamstress remove that part and replace the netting with some colored toule ... like green maybe. Then, I'll repeat that color (with some other colors maybe?) in the toule that sticks out from the bottom of the skirt.

I will definitely follow with more photos.

Living in a Handmade World

I've always loved handmade things. There's something so organic and simple about an item forged by two warm hands. It just can't be duplicated.

That's why I love Etsy.
www.etsy.com

It's an online market for artists who create wonderful handmade items. You can find just about anything on there ... jewelry, photography, ceramics, clothing ... the list goes on and on!

I'm drawing a lot of wedding inspiration from sellers on Etsy. I'm mostly looking at jewelry for me and my ladies, but there are some other fun thing to be found as well. Here are a few examples...

Indie Crafting Madness!

You all know that Jake and I are all about making our wedding very unique, handmade and completely cool. However, where do we go to get inspired?

I'll be doing a few posts to give some insight into the behind-the-scenes action of Amy + Jake: The Wedding.

This is the first of those posts.

Indie Fixx
www.indiefixx.com



Indie Fixx is my go-to place for fun and indie craft ideas. They promote everything handmade and anti-commercialism. I first found this site when I started researching for our wedding and fell in love instantly with their kitschy cool projects and commentary.

They also have a very handy wedding section chock full of DIY wedding ideas and crafts.

And not only do they post DIY project instructions, they also highlight indie crafters. Plus, they have awesome giveaways. They're currently running this contest:

What better way to celebrate autumn than with an indie giveaway?

From Indie Fixx - "Autumn is officially here (at least for us folks in the Northern Hemisphere) and that means it’s time for changing leaves, pumpkin carving, trick-or-treaters, butternut squash soup, my black kitty to sit in the window and look spooky, giving thanks and cornucopias of indie goodies to give away!"

I'm particularly into the notebooks from crafter Ex Libris Anonymous

Head on over to Indie Fixx and get inspired!

Engagement photos are here!

That's right ... our engagement photos came in the mail Friday :-) I'm very pleased with how they turned out. I think Oliver captured Jake and I so well. We'll also be doing a photo shoot with our friend Adrienne sometime this winter ... just because photos are fun :-)

When and Where

I've had quite a few of you ask me about the date and place for our wedding.

The truth is .... we're not sure yet.

We originally planned to have it on Saturday, 1 August 2009 at our church, Victory Life Church, in Battle Creek. However, our church added a Saturday evening service which means no Saturday weddings. :-(

So now, we're in the midst of figuring out what we're going to do. We have a few ideas up our sleeve. I'll keep you posted on what develops.

Let them eat cake!

Attending a Christian college, I witnessed (and was involved in) quite a few weddings. And, being a girl who loves to plan events, I started making a mental list of do's and don'ts for my own wedding.

One thing I new I wanted was a tower of cupcakes rather than a traditional tiered wedding cake. Cupcakes ad a youthful and playful aspect to a wedding. Plus, it's less clean-up.

Luckily for Jake and I, cupcakes also turned out to be the cheaper route.

Meet our cake artist ....

Courtney Clark
owner and chef of Cake Nouveau in Ann Arbor, Michigan



Jake and I first stumbled into Cake Nouveau back in March completely by accident. Adrienne Johnston was up visiting and we decided to show her around one or our favorite Michigan spots, Ann Arbor. After a lovely cuppa coffee at Cafe Verdé, we walked to our vegetarian dinner destination, Seva.



On the way, we passed a funky little bakery that was selling St. Patrick's Day cupcakes, featuring Guiness flavored icing. We walked in the shop and I immediately fell in love with the place! It was colorful and fun and totally artsy. Then I noticed photos of the chef, Courtney, with Mark Summers from Food Network. Upon inquiry, we learned Courtney had competed in a few Food Network cake challenges. Rock out!

Jake and I didn't even think about having our cupcakes made by Courtney, assuming it would be way out of our budget. However, lucky for us, Cake Nouveau offers mini cupcakes! Score!



We will be serving mini cupcakes at the reception in up to six different flavors. We haven't decided on the final flavor palatte yet, but it may include:

• Key lime
• Brazilian espresso
• Chai
• Mango lemonade
• Chocolate mimosa

We love Courtney and her crew because they're creative and cool and very down-to-earth. When we met with Courtney to taste her work, she talked to us like we were old friends and our conversation ranged from music to movies to food. And one of the best things: Courtney and her husband served mini cupcakes at their wedding as well.

For more Cake Nouveau greatness, visit www.cakenouveau.com

Amy and Jake: The Wedding

We have the ring. We have the date. We even have the photographer and cake artist.

That's right, everything is falling into place for the event of the year ... Jake and Amy's wedding :-)

Thanks for visiting our wedding blog! This is your one-stop-shop for up-to-date wedding plans and ideas. Stay tuned for more info.

The Bride :-)