The Count Down Is On

We are officially under the four week mark. How did that happen??

The shower was August 13th. It was held at the new NICC Student Center with Lynch’s catering. It was a beautiful shower with lots of wonderful people. As I sit here and write I am enjoying some popcorn in a properly decorated popcorn bowl that we received as a gift. There are many popcorn recipes – yes, from a new cookbook. I might just have to have a girls movie night with a popcorn bar! All of our family and friends are so generous and loving. Thank you cards are in progress as a small start to our appreciation. I hope we can reciprocate that at some point during our married lives. Here are a few pictures from the shower.

We got a lot of new stuff for the kitchen. From spatulas, and bowls, to cookbooks, and a new food processor. Oh, and a cake leveler! I have decided I want to be the next pioneer woman. How fun would it be to test recipes and ingredients and share the process with people? The best part of cooking is the eating. Perhaps a new blog might be in order after the wedding.

The girls and I had a spa day at Eclips last Saturday. Really ladies, we should treat ourselves like that more often! We had facials, massages, pedicures, and manicures. It was delightful. Thank you to all the girls that joined me!

Some of our table decorations will include boxes that were made by Mason (with a little help from Justin, Terry and Carter.) We lined them with some burlap and filled them with hen and chicks from Chad’s aunt Linda’s yard. I am not sure how long I thought this process would take but it went very quickly and I am so pleased with the results. And the best part – the boys got to help and they are really proud of them too.

So, at this point my need for organization is in overdrive. We are storing a lot of stuff in our humble little abode. I have taken to moving boxes of stuff from one room to another and sometimes just to a different corner or wall. Fruitless I know but somehow it makes me feel better. It will feel good to reclaim our bedroom someday soon.

I have a “master” binder and notebook. I get a lot of flak for the binder but trust me it is all in there. The notebook holds my random thoughts and to do lists. All the big things are taken care of. I have had the final fitting on my dress. My mom will pick it up from Bridal Productions the week of the wedding and store it at her house until the big day. Catering, cake, decorations, bridal party gifts, band, check check check check.

The biggest thing I have put off? Music for the wedding. Our selection for ceremony songs was limited. During the prelude and postlude we have more options. I guess I just don’t have a strong opinion on any of it so I keep putting it off. However, I probably need to get information out to those that are assisting us with music! I am off to make those final selections now…

In the Blink of an Eye

My eyes are green, Chad’s brown. Ironically these are also our wedding colors.

Time is starting to really tick by. I am glad we have so many things done or in progress at this point. A couple of weeks ago we met with the guys in charge of music and all around entertainment for the reception. This is the same group that entertained at the previous two Wiltgen weddings so we are in good hands. And, I love the name of the band – Slap and Tickle.

Mason has started to make boxes that we can plant some hen and chicks into as decorations. This may have been a bit of a larger project than predicted. He is using barn boards to build the boxes and we will line them with burlap before adding the plants. The plants are being well cared for in Chad’s Aunt Linda’s yard until we are ready.

Invitations went in the mail last week, so far only two have come back! Programs are being worked on at Letterwerks and should be done soon. They will need a little assembly so I guess we will have a girl party soon. Some beverages might be in order for that.

I cannot believe the shower is this weekend already. We have so much done already but I am sure the weeks to come will still be filled with a flurry of activity.

The Glass Slippers

So, as much as I feel like a girl should have some secret weapons on her wedding day, let’s face it I just don’t work that way. I am so excited for the shoes which I plan to wear all day with my dress. Really, I feel like a kid that can’t wait for the first day of school so I can wear my new shoes.

The shoes are still “in production” but once they arrive I will have a hard time keeping them off my feet. Maybe I should strike a deal with the delivery guy and have him keep them until the week of the wedding!

Chad and I are big Iowa State fans so after the wedding I will have some sweet game day shoes!

Better Late than Never

I know, I know. It has been a really long time. We did so much right off the bat so we were able to slow down a bit. Also, my sister got married last month and I guess time just flies when you are having fun.

We are now nearly two months away from the wedding. Here is what we have been up to!

The shower is on August 13^th. It will be held in the new Student Center at NICC. Invites will hopefully go out next week but here is a sneak peak. Letterwerks has been doing all of our printing and designing – they are so easy to work with and very accommodating. (See invite above)

I found these awesome green buckets. Happiness Is only had one in stock but they were able to order two more for me. We will use two of the buckets at the buffet lines for the reception and one will be filled with snack mix for guests to enjoy. FYI, you can get nice scoops in several sizes in case you are curious. And again,

Letterwerks did the lettering on the buckets. I think this is my favorite thing so far! Somewhere along the line I thought it would be nice to wrap the silverware – probably because I found these awesome buckets. We ordered a case of napkins from Bargain Outlet and I got the ropy stuff from The Country Garden. The kids and I wrapped 150 pieces of silverware one night at home last week. Yesterday, my mom came to our rescue and took us out to her place and we finished wrapping and tying all the silverware.

And, last night Sister Amy came over and we were able to get our “place cards” done. Since we have ample access to rock Chad and the guys went to one of their quarries and picked out the rocks. As I sat wiping them off they guys suggest using the air compressor to blow the dust and dirt off them. I had picked up some paint at Ace Hardware and put Amy to work. I had purchased brown and green paint but as you can see we just used the brown. No little pieces of paper telling you where to sit at our wedding – look for your rock. Well, the head table and parents anyway.

Our cake was ordered a while ago from Pinter’s. I just got the glass cut for the cake stand last week. The cake is a bit larger than the stand thus the glass. Chad’s mom, Dianne, had this plant stand that she let me paint and it will be topped with a three tier cake. Lemon and Chocolate are the flavors.

Most important, and exciting – all the dresses are in. My dress fits really well and I have already had it on twice. I’ll try to stay away for a while now. Though the girls at Bridal Productions are pretty accommodating. The bridesmaid dresses were ordered by picture only since they did not have what I was looking for in the store. Boy was I glad to see them and even happier to know that I liked them in person as much as I liked them in the picture. Trisha – our usherette sent me this text yesterday. “Just picked up my dress and I love it! Fits great, covers nicely and I love the color.” As an usher her dress is brown and the bridesmaids are green.

Chad and I also went and ordered wedding bands. What girl doesn’t love a jewelry store?? The Wiltgen’s are good friends with the owners of Mark’s Jewelry in St. Lucas so that is who we have been working with.

Old, New, Borrowed, Blue

So my first question is – do people still do this?

I have no idea what I will do for any of it other than the new. Of course the dress, shoes, and whatever I decide to put in my hair will all be new – that’s the easy one! I've joked about getting blue contacts for the day but I am kind of partial to my green ones even if they are not quite normal.

I have a necklace that belonged to my great grandma Inez Harvey. The necklace was given to her by my great grandpa Warren on their 25^th wedding anniversary. They were married for 75 years before grandpa passed away. I am honored to have the heirloom. I have taken it to a jeweler who informed me that it was basically costume jewelry and therefore not worth much other than sentimental value. Which I am more than ok with.

I have not had the opportunity to try my dress on with the necklace myself but I am already contemplating if it is a suitable combination. I am contemplating having the necklace made into a bracelet. The up side being that I would wear it more the down side being I am not sure how I feel about altering the original piece.

I’ve been trying to think of some clever ways I can help my sister with her June wedding old, new, borrow, and blues. She has had a pair of shoes dyed blue to match her bridesmaid dresses, of course her dress is new but that leaves open the old and borrowed. I offered the necklace to Bre Anna for her wedding but she is not happy with the way it looks with her dress. She is contemplating a set of pearls from KD Rae Jewelry and even without seeing them I think they would look beautiful with her dress.

In other wedding news we have finalized the tux choices. We are getting the tuxes from Amundson’s and they will be brown. While there we purchased a pair of brown socks for everyone on the tux list (except for Carter because he is too small.) I have gotten a lot of flack for doing so but at least everyone will be well coordinated.

We have also pretty much secured wedding party gifts. The ladies will be getting hand crafted jewelry from KD Rae Jewelry and embroidered travel bags. The guys will be getting embroidered travel bags, socks, and possibly one other item that is still a work in progress.

We met with Elisa Pinter at Pinter’s Gardens and Pumpkins about the cake on Saturday morning. Guests will be enjoying lemon and chocolate cake. We opted for a three tier cake and 7 sheet cakes. We will serve the top layer of the cake to the head table rather than freezing it for a year for us and testing our memory a year from September! Oh, and we can also order the burlap I have been wanting from them too!

We are registered at the Perfect Edge. I love the work they do and I know I will want wedding pictures framed. We have other plans for registering as well but that is as far as we have gotten.

Save the date magnets have gone out and continue to go out. I had several typos on addresses and too many of you have moved around! And Chad comes home about every other night wondering if so and so was on the list. When the magnets are gone they are gone! I told him we should have just run an ad in the local papers.

I have added (or will soon add) a few boxes to the right: Wedding party and Registrations.

I welcome input on the old, new, borrow, blue stuff!

How I Met...

This is a blog about meetings.

First of all my dad and his wife Kwang met Chad’s parents last Friday night. We had a nice dinner at The Oak’s – the fish soup is amazing, you must try it! Those of you that follow me on facebook may have seen my post inquiring on dinner suggestions. Dad is new to facebook and when he saw my post he called and said that I had put his fate up for vote on facebook. Of course he was laughing, he finds facebook to be a little surreal at this point. He referred to last Friday night as “meeting the Fockers” though trust me there were no incidents and it was a nice night.

Now, as for the night that Chad and I met. Some of us were planning a night out for a local comedy night. I was the only “single” so I bought two tickets insisting that I was not going alone. The week of the event I was still dateless and not happy about it.

I met my mom and sister at Barney’s one night and while we are all chatting with Trisha I expressed my frustration. I was asked if I was willing to go on a blind date and thought what the heck. Trisha texted a friend and asked if he was available and willing to go on a blind date. She took my picture with her phone and sent it to him. His reaction was any relative of hers is good enough for him. And so I had a date.

When Friday approached I must admit I was a bit nervous. And I had a horrible headache all day and was taking aspirin every time the clock allowed me to. After work I went to Nikki’s – oops Thing One’s – house to get ready. You know how girls are! At some point Trisha informed me that I had to call Chad. So I worked up the nerve to call him and I was actually a bit relieved when I got his voicemail. (Knowing him now I would expect to get his voicemail!) A few minutes later he called me back and confirmed our plans for the night.

Nikki and Brandon and I went out for supper at Americana Grille before comedy night. As we were finishing up eating Trisha and Chad arrived. Chad was very handsome in a red plaid shirt and jeans. We shook hands and I remember feeling like now what? We found our seats at Club Pyramid and settled in for a fun night. We all had a few beers but they were not going down too smoothly for me. When the comedian was done I ended up going back to Calmar with Trisha and Chad. We went to Tanks and I felt like I was the new girl with the local yocals Trisha and Chad.

We were at a table chatting and I had a water – which I spilled all over the table. Chad jumped right to action and cleaned it up. Suddenly I leaned over to Trisha to tell her I did not think I was feeling very good. And I was right. I ran up to the bar to ask Tank where the bathroom was and made it there just in time.

Night over. Fun over. What a first impression! Trisha and Chad took me back to Decorah to my car and home I went. I have since learned that taking aspirin all day means I should not partake in alcohol that night.

Neither Chad nor I remember who called who after that first date. We met in Burr Oak right away Saturday night. It was crowded and I remember anxiously waiting for Chad to arrive.

Second meeting successful.

Turns out that Chad and I had enough mutual friend that we joke it was just a matter of time before we met. And as they say the rest was history. In just over five months I get to marry my best friend.

Decoration Detail

Mason has been busy working on some decorations for the wedding. He has done a great job too!

This sign will be put in a pail full of sand and wrapped with burlap.

Chad and I will hang on to these signs so we can pose for a picture for wedding thank yous.

We have more wood to work with so there are more projects in store!