hitched!

Kenny and I were married this past weekend, on 9/18/2010. It was gorgeous. Here are a few photos from guests (haven't seen the pro photos yet!):

Hair! I loved the way it turned out but it began falling apart almost immediately. It was a problem all night long, so that was unfortunate, however I just rolled with it and had about 50 bobby pins holding it together by the time the night was over!

Walking down the aisle with my dad. I held it together all through the ceremony but later on when my dad was making his speech, I absolutely lost it.

Kiss 1 :D

Kiss 2 :D :D :D

We are really looking forward to the honeymoon, which we leave for this coming Saturday. I am working a short week and so is Kenny, and we both have Friday off to pack!

Thank you to all of our friends and family members who came and celebrated with us. Some of my family came all the way from England, and Kenny's family came from all over NY and as far away as Maryland. We had an absolute blast.

If people actually read this blog, I will keep it up with stories of our adventures as a married couple.

hair inspiration

How beautiful is that?! I love it. I think it will go with my soft, romantic but somewhat structured dress well. My hair should do well in that kind of an arrangement, too.

So this is my hair inspiration :D

47 days to go

The Knot kindly informed me that we have just 47 days to go. I have gotten a lot done recently and of course have neglected to write about any of it here!

Most importantly, the invitations went out about three weeks ago and we have already received quite a few back. I am updating our Excel spreadsheet every time more RSVP's arrive. I am also keeping track of what everyones' meal preferences are. Though dinner will be family style (platters of food on the table), the caterer still needs to have an idea of how many people want the chicken vs. beef. We also have a vegetarian option, and a few guests need gluten-free meals, which our caterer is happy to accommodate (they are so awesome :D).

The bridesmaids dresses came in this past week and I got to see them for the first time this past weekend. They are so lovely. Jenny, my maid of honour, got a dress that is a bit different from the other four and the five dresses together look amazing. I am so excited, the wedding party is going to look incredible!

This past weekend, my maid of honour Jenny and one of my bridesmaids Samera threw me the best Bridal Shower a girl could ask for. They went all out! It was held at Jenny's home and they set up a nice big tent and had tables with linens and chairs. I appreciated their hard work so much. They really outdid themselves. All of Kenny's sisters came, along with his mom. My mum came, as did my brothers lovely girlfriend :D Many of my college friends also came, and a good family friend from MA. I was really so flattered by how far everyone traveled and also their generosity. I got some great gifts, including some of the chinaware we had registered for, some lovely new towels, a really cool frog prince sculpture from Kenny's cousin who traveled all the way from Denmark, and an ice cream maker!!!!!! My mum also got me some very fun and flirty Victoria's Secret items ;)

Kenny and I have an engagement session with our photographer on Wednesday that I am really excited about. He'll make a guest book using the photos that he takes to lay out at the wedding for guests to sign.

Other than that, I'm just thinking about wedding songs. We also have to meet with the officiant and figure out the ceremony details, in addition to having a final catering meeting (yumm!).

pillows, baskets, and garters!

I consider this the "fun" shopping.

My flower girl basket (it will be in lapis, not black, to match the groomsmen):

My ring bearer pillow (it will also be in lapis):


Both are made by AllForYou on Etsy.

And finally, my garter set:

This is made by Belles and Crystals, also on Etsy.

Wedding invitations: check!

I have had my invitations designed but on hold while we sorted out the closing on our home. FINALLY, after sixty days of utter nonsense, we closed on our house this week so I ordered the invitations tonight! The hold up was because I didn't want to have the return address printed on the envelopes and then have the house fall through.

Anyway, here are the invites that I chose!

Just under three months to go

Long time, no blog. Kenny and I are buying our first house, which has turned into a three month long process. Remind me never to buy a house again, please.

With all the house drama, not too much has been happening with wedding plans, but I realized on Friday that we were three months away and really we don't have any time to dilly-dally.

Flowers have been on my to-do list for a long time but part of me couldn't even get excited about them. They're expensive and they die within a week, but eventually I came to terms with the fact that I needed to sort it out sooner than later. I made an appointment with a florist at Whole Foods, which is a high-end grocery store chain that specializes in organic food. Their flowers are beautiful and being a grocery store, the prices are more reasonable than an independent florist.

I sat down with the florist yesterday and we talked for a good hour about everything. Here's my bouquet inspiration:

The bridesmaids will have similar bouquets but not as flashy. The groomsmen will have lavender rose boutonnieres, and Kenny will have a white rose boutonniere. Parents and grandparents will have white rose corsages/boutonnieres. I think everything will come together really nicely!

She's also pricing out some very simple centrepieces for me, based off of these photos:


I like the flowers submerged in water with the floating candle and river rocks, and then I like the mirror on the table with the tiny candles around the edge, so I will combine the two ideas. Having the mirror on the table essentially doubles the amount of light that the candles throw off, and I think the effect will be magical when the sun goes down at our reception.

Finally! A ceremony venue resolution.

Ok, so I'll admit I had a quick thought of "why didn't we just elope?" when I learned that our original ceremony venue wasn't going to work. I feel like my mum spent all of last week on the phone talking to people about possible other locations to get married and blocking out hotel rooms. Today, Jenny, Samera and I went down to Mystic to scout out some hotels and also to look at the Inn at Lower Farm, a quaint B&B that does weddings, too.

Mary at Lower Farm was so gracious to allow us to stop by and see the property, and also peek in on one of the guest rooms. The grounds are gorgeous and the house is so amazing inside (especially the kitchen! All three of us were drooling over the kitchen and adjoining full-size hearth in the dining room!). I could imagine myself walking across the field where the ceremony would be held to meet Kenny. I instantly felt better!

So the ceremony will be there, and I can't wait to see what the Farm looks like when all the flowers are in bloom.

We also looked at a few hotels, and have finalized which hotels to block out for our guests. If you're a guest, check out the Wedding Information page for more on which hotels we've blocked rooms at, including rates and distances to the ceremony/reception venues.

In addition to the ceremony venue and hotels, we also checked out a florist! It was a busy day! I have to set an appointment and go back and hammer out all the details with the owner of Mystic Florist because it is apparently a two hour ordeal and we didn't have time for that today! I am excited to decide which flowers we'll use in the bouquets.

Other than that, Kenny and the boys went to the tux place this past week and sorted out their tux arrangements. They are going to look so handsome. I had to work but thankfully Jenny and Samera went with them to keep them on track and make sure they didn't come out wearing hot pink vests and wing-tipped shoes. I'm assured that they haven't arranged anything too frightening for their wedding finery.

Bon Voyage, Save-the-Dates!

I sent off the save-the-dates today and boy did that feel good. They were delayed going out while my mum sorted out all of the hotel arrangements. Most of our 140+ guests will need to stay overnight because they will be traveling a long way (some coming from out of the country, even!) so blocking out hotel rooms was important to do. I had started the process a few months ago but got frustrated that no hotel seemed to fit exactly what we needed. Some wanted a deposit on all the rooms, some were too expensive, some just plain wouldn't block rooms, etc. When my mum went to finally book rooms, unfortunately a lot of the availability was limited. She persevered, though, and managed to book almost 70 rooms in a few different hotels in the area, so I'm glad that's all sorted out!

I included info about hotel bookings in with the save-the-dates so that our guests know which hotels to call.

We have also made some progress on the ceremony venue fiasco. I am going down to Mystic on Saturday with two of my bridesmaids to look at a beautiful farmhouse venue that is situated on exquisite grounds with flower gardens. The owners have been very gracious so far on the phone and I am looking forward to meeting them this weekend. If I decide to change the ceremony venue to the Farm location, I will just let the Lighthouse know and we will be all set.

Also this week I have been talking with officiants in the area, but nothing has been set yet.

So it's been a busy week! In addition to all this wedding planning, Kenny and I have been looking at houses to buy and made an offer on one yesterday, so now we just get to play the waiting game and go back and forth with counter-offers. I am not too excited about that process but once we are all moved in to our very first home, it will be worth it.

Ceremony Venue Headaches

Personally I've never heard of a ceremony venue that doesn't allow chairs or flowers, but that is what our ceremony venue is telling us is the case. Does it say this in the contract or did anyone ever say "hey, you know your guests will have to sit on the grass or stand the whole time, right"? No, but I am just glad I'm not finding out about this on September 18th. Good thing my mum even called to ask for a recommendation for a chair rental company, because otherwise a major meltdown I mentioned above would have been imminent on my wedding day, and seriously, who wants to cry over chairs or the lack thereof?

So now we're on the hunt again and thinking about changing the ceremony venue. We're looking at a couple different places, and this weekend two of my Bridesmaids and I are going down to Mystic to scope a few possibilities out. We'll also be looking at hair salons and florists.

My life has gotten exponentially more insane because Kenny and I have been house-hunting and this week we'll most likely put an offer in on one that we've fallen in love with. Bring on the endless documents to sign our lives away to!

In other news, the entire town of Mystic apparently has no more hotel availability for blocking out rooms, but my mum has spent literally days on the phone calling around to every possible hotel in the area and has managed to book 50 rooms. Since 90% of our guests will need to stay overnight, this is a huge relief. I never thought hotels would be so packed this early for a date that's past Labour Day.

So if you're a bride-to-be planning a wedding, make sure that you can have chairs for your guests to sit on during your ceremony (I wish I were kidding) and block your hotel rooms asap.

The Save the Dates are Here!

I LOVE the way they came out. These were ordered through VistaPrint, whom I've worked with on a few projects. I would highly recommend them to anyone.

Gift Registries

Kenny and I attended a "Sip & Scan" event at the nearest Macy's location last night. It was a good way to kick off our registry experience, because to be totally honest, I was intimidated by the thought of having to create a gift list.

Macy's provided appetizers and lots of consultants to help us through the process. We checked in, got a scanner and list of recommended gifts, and were sent on our merry way. We were there for almost two hours scanning stuff. It was hard to get started but once we scanned a few things, we started enjoying ourselves.

The cool thing was that after we were done, we handed the scanner in and the consultant uploaded all of our choices to the computer. She then printed out an updated list of gift categories that we didn't have a lot chosen in, so that we know what we need to work on or register for at other places.

We didn't register for everything at Macy's, because we also want to register at Bed, Bath, & Beyond and also Crate & Barrel.

If you want to check out what we picked, here's our page!

Finally!

Here is the finalized design for our Save the Date's, which will be printed on magnets and sent out to our guests. I am soooo glad to finally have these things done. My mum has graciously offered to deal with ordering them and sending them out, which is a huge weight off my shoulders, since I really ought to be looking at invitations soon and they are going to drive me crazy.

Goals for this week

Visiting Kenny's family in NY this past weekend was good because his family delivered a much needed kick in the butt to get going on this wedding planning. It's funny that we had a rush of bookings (caterer, photographer, venues, etc) in the fall and then we have done nothing recently. His family was mostly concerned about the save-the-dates, which I wasn't even keen on doing until I realized how many people want them. My mum has graciously volunteered to be in charge of the save-the-dates project and I just recently gave her the finalized guest list, so I am hoping they'll be sent out soon. Kenny really wants to do magnets that people can put on their fridge.

During the 4-hour drive home from NY last night, we set goals for ourselves. September seems like a long way away but it's really not, and it will be here before we know it. We decided we really need to book the rest of the vendors (like, yesterday) and Kenny also needs to ask whom he wants to be his groomsmen and start looking at tuxes. We also need to block hotel rooms, since that information will be included on the save-the-dates so that guests can book their rooms and plan their trips.

This morning I got right to work and booked the DJ. Neil Roma from Spin Enterprise came very highly recommended, and has worked at our venue many times before. The thing I liked most about our reception venue (the Mystic Yachting Center) is that they are very selective with the vendors they work with, and make recommendations only for people/companies that deliver a great product for a great price. At least now I know our guests won't be sitting in silence and staring at each other for the entire reception :) and instead will be entertained with a good selection of music.

Kenny's task for this week is getting the hotel rooms blocked, and arranging transportation for our guests from the hotel to the reception site, since there is limited parking at the Mystic Yachting Center, and we'd feel better if people weren't driving after a long night of partying, anyway. I had called various hotels back in September and didn't end up booking any of them for a number of reasons that I have briefed Kenny on so that he can deal with them. I am confident that he'll be able to get the rates we're looking for and breakfast for our guests.

Rings!

We picked our rings up this morning!

Thinking about hair

I am very excited because this weekend we will supposedly get to pick up our rings when we go to NY to visit Kenny's family. I am really looking forward to trying my wedding ring on and seeing how it goes with my engagement ring. Kenny is excited to try his on, too (I think). :)

I got my hair cut yesterday and briefly discussed with the stylist what kinds of styles I had been thinking about for the wedding. I have long, thick hair that can't decide if it wants to be wavy or straight, but with the right styling expertise and products, it can really go either way. I am leaning towards wearing it down with some romantic loose curls, maybe with a half-updo to support the veil. Hopefully I will have some time this week to look through a few online galleries and see what I like!

rings and dresses

Kenny and I are in New York for Christmas, and yesterday we ordered our wedding bands from a family friend of his who is also a jeweler. We picked out exactly what we wanted, and the jeweler (who is the same person Kenny bought my engagement ring from) is going to order it in our sizes.

I picked out an 18k white gold band with .56 carats of diamonds going across the top. It's gorgeous, and it compliments my engagement ring beautifully. My ring can be re-sized, but he said he'd prefer to order a new one that's already the correct size so that he doesn't risk loosening any of the stones like he would if he re-sized the other one. Kenny picked out a two-tone 18k yellow gold and 18k white gold band, and that style cannot be re-sized, so it must be ordered anyway.

We got a fantastic deal on the rings, almost half off retail price (yay for knowing people in the business!).

I haven't updated about the catering, but we went down to CT for a meeting with Cloud Nine Caterers last week. We talked about menus a bit and had a tasting (the food was delicious). Now we are just trying to work out a menu that is in our budget. I really like Cloud Nine because they handle the food, the cake, the alcohol, AND all the rentals, so my life is really easy.

After the rings and the caterer are all set, we just have to pick a DJ, decide on flowers and centerpieces, rent chairs for the reception venue, and set up hotel accommodations for out-of-town guests.

For my bridesmaids dresses, I have decided to give each of the five girls a swatch of fabric that I have already picked out at a local fabric store, and then they can go and find a dress that is as close as possible to that colour. Some people think I am crazy for doing this, but honestly, the bridesmaids dresses were what I stressed out over the most for some reason. I wanted to find something pretty but that wasn't too expensive and that the girls would want to wear again, and to do that for five people is really difficult. This way, they can hopefully find something at a department store and pay a lot less for it than if they ordered it through a bridal shop. Best of all, my Maid of Honour, Jenny, is going to be in her brother's wedding earlier in the summer, and they have the same colour dresses. I told Jenny I would be totally fine with her wearing the same dress in my wedding. It looks really lovely (she showed me a photo online), it's the right colour, and that way at least she'll get her money's worth!

We have a photographer!!

I am SO thrilled! I was starting to wonder if my dream photographer existed when I came across the website for James Hazelwood Photography. James' images had my attention and admiration immediately and I could not be more excited that he has agreed to shoot our wedding next September.

His style is a mix of the classic wedding photography (portraits, posed family photos) and journalistic photography ("following" the bride and groom for the day and "documenting" their wedding). It is exactly what I have been searching for. Kenny is really happy with our decision, also. My mum is happy because James is a member of several professional photography organizations just like she is.

Proper Introductions

I never really considered that there might be some people whom we don't personally know reading this blog, and now that I know there are, I thought I'd introduce us a bit more thoroughly.

About Kenny:

Kenny in Newport this past summer.

Kenny is originally from Long Island. He is extremely athletic and grew up playing soccer and wrestling competitively. He has three sisters. He came to Rhode Island to attend the University of RI in Fall 2005, and graduated in Spring of 2009 with a BS in Kinesiology. He is considering Grad School but in the mean time is buffing his resume with his work as a Cardiac level EMT and also as a Cardiac Rehab Specialist at our local hospital.

Other than working, he spends his time surfing, practicing at the shooting range (he's an excellent marksman), spearfishing, and hanging out with his friends. He loves football and is slowly turning me into a Jets fan (we went to a sports bar last night all dressed up in our Jets stuff and got some really nasty looks. New England fans don't easily forget a good whopping like the one they got from the Jets a few weeks ago). He will sometimes ride the horses with me but lately he has been so busy that we haven't gone riding together in ages.

About Kate:

Me (left) with my Maid of Honour, Jenny

I moved around a lot as a kid so I'm not sure where I'm "originally" from, but I was born in Hong Kong, grew up for the most part in the Cotswolds region of England, lived for three years in the beautiful Annapolis area in Maryland, and then moved to Massachusetts. I have one younger brother. I started riding horses when I was three years old in the UK and much to my parents' disappointment it turned out not to be a passing phase. I am still horse crazy and showed Hunter/Jumpers competitively all throughout grade school. I was also always infatuated with art, so it was only natural that I go to college for art and design.

I came to Rhode Island for school in 2004 and graduated in 2008 with a BA in Fine Art and concentrations in Photography and Digital Design. While in school, I rode for a semester on the Equestrian Team and also volunteered all four years on the campus ambulance, reaching Lieutenant status the beginning of my senior year.

I now work for URI on a Federal grant where we are developing a curriculum of courses for University and EMA officials from around the country to take to help them create disaster plans for their individual institutions. Many Universities and Colleges don't have disaster plans and if they do, they are often not very comprehensive.

I also have a small design and photography business, Polar Square Designs. I photograph weddings throughout the summer through a company I work for that is based out of Boston, MA.

About Us:

Us during one of our crazier moments, right before jumping out of an airplane at the Newport Skydiving Center this summer.

Kenny and I met at EMS when he was a freshman and I was a sophomore. Neither of us expected to fall in love but we turned out to be perfect for each other! He proposed after three years together in Narragansett, RI on a beautiful rocky outcropping with the waves crashing around us. It was so perfect and romantic.

The night he proposed to me, we came back to the house to find that all of our friends were waiting there to congratulate us!

We did not actually start planning the wedding until he had graduated but at this point we are well on our way in the planning process!

Bridesmaids

I am so excited about the group of girls I am privileged to have as my Bridesmaids.

Jenny is my Maid of Honour. We have been close friends since my freshman year at URI and she has always been there when I needed her. We took the EMT class together and sang Mandy Moore's Candy more times than I can count while driving back and forth to Lincoln RI three days a week. We enjoyed many late night get togethers and Kenny and her boyfriend John are also good friends. They are the quintessential double date couple and the four of us always have an awesome time together.

Sarah is my best friend from high school and while we haven't remained as close during college, I still value her friendship more than anything. I love her sense of humour and whenever we chat on the phone it's like we never even lost a day. She lives in Boston and is a huge Red Sox fan and I am so happy she's going to be able to be a part of our wedding.

Samera is another close girlfriend from college whom I met Freshman year through URI EMS. She is so much fun to be around and always amazes me with her perseverance and passion. She is super organized, which will come in handy when I am going crazy during the final week!

Kaitlyn is another really good friend from URI who is now all the way in Colorado going to med school. Our whole group of friends is SO proud of her for following her dreams, even if she had to go all the way to CO do to so. We miss her dearly and I am SO happy she can be a Bridesmaid!

Kristen is one of Kenny's sisters. She currently lives in the DC area and Kenny and I went to visit her last summer. She is one year older than me and we have a lot in common. I really wanted to include her in the wedding party and I am thrilled that she can do it.

I sent each girl a card with one of these paper fold-out people chains. Each little "person" represents one of the bridesmaids. From L to R we have Kaitlyn (she loves surfing), Samera (she loves soccer), Jenny (she is always wearing adorable dresses and is a RN), Sarah (she is showing her team spirit by wearing a little Red Sox hat), and Kristen (she is an athletic trainer at GWU).

I couldn't ask for a better group of girls. We are going to have the best time and make some fantastic memories.

Ceremony Venue...check!

Wow, we are on a roll. This week not only did we secure our reception venue, but we also found the perfect spot for the ceremony!! We decided on the Old Lighthouse Museum in Stonington, CT. I came across it by chance on the internet and immediately loved it, so yesterday Kenny and I drove down there to check it out, and then today I sent out the deposit!! I can't believe it. I feel so accomplished!

Here are some shots I got of the Lighthouse building and grounds:

The Lighthouse!

This is the view from the back yard.

We will set up the ceremony right on the waterfront overlooking the Little Narragansett Bay. Let's hope for good weather because the only downside to this location is that there is no rain plan!

The Lighthouse is about 15 minutes from the Mystic Yachting Center (where we are holding the reception) so here is our tentative time line:

4:00 pm: Ceremony
4:30: Ceremony ends, wedding party leaves to take photos
5:15: Cocktail hour begins at the Mystic Yachting Center
5:30: Wedding party returns, visits with guests
6:00ish: Reception begins (paaaar-ty!)
10:30: Last dance

On top of that, we have more or less decided on a caterer. Cloud Nine Catering in Old Saybrook, CT can do everything we need, and under the budget!! Woohoo!

Kenny has taken on the task of finding a DJ and coordinating the cake.