It's Everywhere!!

I noticed today that weddings in general, and mine in particular, have gotten into every little bit of my life! As Halloween (my very most favorite holiday of the year! (besides, of course, my birthday!)) crept closer and I had to think of a costume idea, zombie bride was my first thought! Then,  I figured, in an attempt to be less blatantly wedding obsessed I would go as this:

Its a wonder what cut up t-shirts and hot glue can do!
 Also I am a little ashamed to admit I am wearing an
adult romper... In non costume form I would not
recommend these for people over 3 year old.

That's right! I was a bee! A only-slightly trampy-but-not-really-considering-its-Halloween-Bee! Thanks to you you all, I though it was a clever idea. And thanks to all the wedding crafting I had been doing, I found it pretty easy to whip this bad boy out at the last minute. Have you ever noticed that the more creative things you do, the more creative you get?

It wasn't just the costume that was wedding inspired!

I also got a white pumpkin. I had always thought they were kind funny but now, as a bride-to-be, I could not resist the call of the white pumpkin in the pumpkin patch.

Sooo Bridal.

Have you found your bridey-ness (promise it's a word) seeping into unexpected areas? What are you doing about it?

Be Prepared

Mr. Aardvark and I just got back from our pre-Cana, or marital prep class required by the Catholic church. For us, it was a one day workshop with about fifty other couples. We heard people speak about things from conflict resolution to commitment and everything in between.  Going into this class I had no idea what to expect. As such, I was pretty nervous. However it was a totally enjoyable day, and a nice way to spend a Saturday (aside from having to get up early to drive a few towns over). I did not look very hard, but was not able to find a breakdown of what to expect. So for your reading pleasure:

It started at nine in the morning, in the church basement. We were fed (yay food) and did a little ice breaker: line up by wedding date. I have to say, I knew April was coming fast, but it hit hard when we were clearly in the early part of the line up. I'm talking first quarter here people! Holy smokes this thing is happening AND SOON (not as soon as the handful of couples getting married on 11/11/11 or 11/12/11, seriously guys, way to wait until the last second to take the class! (just kidding, but I was nervous for them when they said their dates!))

The rest of the day was split between hearing couples who had been married awhile (30+ years) talk about things like commitment and communication, and working on a little work book where we would fill out question about our relationship and marriage on our own and then share these answers with each other. That was one of my favorite parts of the whole day. Mr. Aardvark does not verbalize his feelings very often so to read some of his answers to these questions was very touching. We did not use the whole booklet during the class but I would really like to read/fill out the rest of the question individually and share them on our own time.

There were also little breakout session. You could pick from a few options and these were smaller group discussions. We went to one on parenting which was interesting (a couple talking about some of their challenges and favorite parts of raising kids) but maybe not super helpful. The other break-out was on dealing with in-laws which was really not useful for us. It was all about creating distance from your parents and starting your own families. I think the guy said "Cut the apron strings" about 20 times... but Mr. A and I have been on our own for years before we met sooo those strings had been cut...Oh well.... We did get to hear some funny stories.

One of the most interesting parts, for me, was the couple  that spoke to us about NFP. That is Natural Family Planning or the form of birth control the Catholic church finds acceptable. This is an extremely personal topic and I by no means have the answers for you and your relationship (heck, I am still trying to figure out the answers for me!). Family planning is different for every couple and every situation.  I have been on (and off) the fence on this topic for awhile. I've heard the the jokes (what do you call couples using NFP? Parents.). I am currently using hormonal birth control so clearly we are not following the rules there.... But, for the first time, I heard some really well reasoned, logic based arguments that made NFP sound appealing.

Mr. A and I plan to have some kind of child/ren at some point, but we had not really considered NFP until this couple brought up the following points:

~ NFP differs from other forms of birth control because it "respects fertility". It does not mean that you should only have sex to make babies or that you need 10,000,000 kids.
~ It promotes a better understanding of what is going on with your body and cycle. (this is a HUGE plus in my book)
~Linked to the previous note, it also helps track/detect any potential health issues.
~Improves communication between the couple. (Like a high stakes game of red light/green light)
~Allows the couple a chance to find other ways to physically express their love. (Was I impressed the church was promoting this? Yep!  Was it awkward to hear about? A little....)

Mr. Aardvark and I have not decided for sure but I am much more open to trying this method than I was going into the meeting today. There are some things in the literature that I strongly disagree with. There are some viewpoints that seem painfully outdated. However, I am trying to keep an open mind an blend my Catholic faith with my world view and ideas on social issues. It is a learning process and we will be taking things one step at a time.

Personal Photo

Speaking of steps, since this is a wedding related event, I wore my non-wedding-bridal-shoes! And I have to say, they kinda hurt my feet! At least the look good! Glad I will not be dancing the night away in these on my wedding day.

Engaged bees, Have you had you pre-Cana class? Was it what you had expected?  Married bees, what are your thoughts on NFP? Is anyone using it? Thoughts on that?

Sour Puss

I was browsing through the weddingbee boards when I stumbled on this post. It was a simple "Thank You" to Pronovias for having their models smile in pictures. This is something that has been on my mind for awhile... Especially while paging through wedding magazines, I have noticed that many of the models look downright sour! On top of that the ones that don't look mad, often look down right ridiculous!

Now, I understand being "artsy" and "high fashion" but come on... these are dresses for WEDDINGS! These women should be HAPPY! Or, at the very least not totally angst ridden. I should preface by saying that I have nothing against the designers or dresses pictured below.

Without Further Ado, a collection of the funniest/oddest/unhappiest beautiful ladies and what I imagine they are thinking:

"I have to get my hands untied so I can get to my wedding! The evil Count Weddingwrecker will be sorry once I get out of here!"



Image from Kleinfeld



"Oops! I tooted"  or  "I think I slipped a disk!"



Image from Kleinfeld

"Alas...Alas I cannot crane my head any further at this awkward angle...Surely my wedding will be ruined."

Image from Kleinfeld



"I knew I should not have taken Lunesta last night... How am I going to sleep walk my way out of this Forrest and back to the wedding?"

Image from Kleinfeld



Of course, angsty brides aren't the only ones having all the (lack of) fun! There seems to be a trend in Mother of the Bride models to wear and expression of thinly veiled disdain.

"I can't believe they went with grey suites after I told them I liked Navy..."



Image from The Rose Dress



"You're happy with that hairstyle?"

Image from David's Bridal

" Oops I tooted!" (I know I should not have used that one twice.. )How about this one, "What do you mean there was fish in those crab cakes?!"

Image from The Rose Dress

This was all well and good, for a laugh, but seriously bridal brands, what's with all the sour pusses?

Have you noticed this? Have you ever had a "high fashion" picture turn out more silly than serious?

I Smell the Smelly Smell of Something that Smells Smelly.

I do deeply apologize for the Spongebob reference in the title. I don't even like that show. Truth be told I should have come up with a prettier title for this post, because it it about something that I think is really..well.. beautiful.

Wedding Fragrance.

A few years ago I was at a Mary Kay party with a friend who was engaged. The consultant gave her a tidbit of advice so amazing I knew I needed to tuck it away for future use. She said that sent is the sense most strongly tied to memory and emotion. As such, the bride should wear a fragrance on her wedding day that she has never worn before and then, forever after it will become her "wedding fragrance" and every time she (or more importantly the groom) gets a whiff of it they will be magically transported back to that beautiful day.

It did not take me long to realize this was, of course, totally true! For me, the smell of solvent, and rubber takes me back to my childhood in my dad's bicycle shop, the smell of garlic bread and old books is my grandma's house, and Victoria's Secret Love Spell is totally the girls' high school locker room.

I knew I wanted to find something that was different from my daily fragrance which is Amazing Grace by Philosophy.

Image from Sephora

This is a very soft, light, clean fragrance with just a bit of floral. It is perfect for me for everyday because people often think is smells like soap.

On my wedding day however, I wanted something... More. Something stronger and more sexy that is not over powering or slutty. (Can a smell be slutty?) Something that was bold but feminine and a distinct break from my everyday. I thought this would be a daunting task, but it was surprisingly easy. I got a bunch of perfume samples in the mail one day and one of them stopped me in my tracks. According to the packaging,

"the fragrance opens with energetic citrusy accords and dries down to a daring yet wearable cloud of complexity that smells of fruit, woods, granite, and salt."

I was really everything I had been looking for. Hive, my wedding fragrance would be, Womanity.

Image from Sephora

I may have also been influenced by their awesome bottle!

A few weekend's ago when I went down the Chicago, I picked some up at one of my all time favorite I-could-spend-way-too-much-money-here stores, Sephora.  Sadly, my logical brain won out and I did not get the huge bottle pictured above, but a more reasonable sized (I mean, I will only be wearing it for special occasions) and less badass one below.

Image from Womanity.com

I have to keep telling myself that it was not worth doubling the price to get the cooler bottle.... the contents are the same. And I am SO happy with them!

Do you have a wedding fragrance? What is it?

Well.... Suited??

Hive, today we checked one of the biggies off our wedding to-do list... but it did not go at all as I had imagined. We got Mr. Aardvark's suit ordered. YAY.

However we have no pictures!  This is not because I did not take my camera, or because I failed to take pictures... It is because we ended up ordering a suit based on a swatch of fabric and a couple of questions. It didn't hit me until after we left that we never even saw what this suit would look like! Madness!

To rewind a bit, we are not going with tuxedos for our guys. Mr. Aardvark is wearing a suit. (Hopefully 3 piece.) His groom's men will wear some sort of vest and pants type set up. We are still not sure what our dad's will wear. It has never occurred to me that they would wear something besides the same suit they wear to all of their fancy obligations.... But maybe they should.

I digress. Mr. Aardvark is a bit taller than average and quite a bit leaner than average. Here is a little reminder:

Seriously this boy has more legs than a
bucket of fried chicken...

His pant size is 32/34 and is suit size is a 38 Long. I had never shopped for Men's clothing before I met Mr. A, but as it turns out, these sizes are not easy to come by. We (I) had been doing a lot of online research and really liked the slim fit suits of J. Crew and similar brands.

Can you say dreamy? From J Crew

Also J. Crew 

Now, both Mr. Aardvark and I wanted to see what some suits looked like on him before buying. So, after lots of online research, we decided to go forth, today, in search of a haberdashery (I love that word). However, situated in rural Wisconsin as we are, there is not a J. Crew on every corner, so we trucked off to the nearest town of reasonable size and did a bit of shopping. We did not have much luck. 

I will say that I was pleasantly (?) surprised to find Kohl's had a few nice options that were even in his size, and, 100% wool! 

Part of the Mark Anthony collection at Kohl's

I am sorry I did not get  a picture of Mr. Aardvark in this suit, but my inner clothing snob told me to leave  the camera in car when we ran in... That same snob had a hard time wrapping her mind around the idea of Mr. A's wedding attire being merchandised across the aisle from blenders... I filed it away as a back up plan in my head in case we didn't find anything else. I am still amazed/impressed at how good it looked and how reasonable the price. If you are looking for a stylish suit on the cheap, check them out. 

After a long day of shopping and no luck finding what we wanted we were ready to turn in for the day. We were on our way home and decided to stop for a late lunch (early dinner?) in the (very) small town Mr. Aardvark works in. Right next to the restaurant was quaint little shop. Watson's Street Wear.

Photo from Google

To be honest I was a bit skeptical that we would find anything here. It appeared to be mostly women's clothing and jewelry. However, when we went in they had a nice little selection of suits in the back. None of them were really what we were looking for, or the size Mr. A. needed. 

However they were kind enough to show us some of their swatch books from various brands they could order. As an added bonus any tailoring was included in the purchase price. We were able to pick a fabric and then it was just a few quick questions: "Pleated or flat front?" "Flat." "Two or Three buttons?" "Two." And most importantly, "What size?" We were able to get him a 38 Long which is very exciting and should save the tailor a lot of work! They also said that with the included tailoring, they would be able to ensure it was the slim fit look we both liked.

They did not have any vest options, but I am pretty sure we will be able to figure something out. Maybe he will get one to go with whatever the  groom's men wear or maybe he will not wear one. We'll have to see.

They wrote down all of Mr. Aardvark's information and said the suit should be in next week! Score! We were both pretty excited and skipped next door for lunch/dinner. Then it hit me....wait... Mr. Aardvark! We never even looked at a picture of what your suit will be. Mind. Blown. 

I have every faith that it will look great but it was just a very stark illustration of the difference between the shopping habits of men and women. He just bought the outfit for one of the most important days of his life sight unseen. Madness! Between that and the whole peeing standing up things guys get off way too easy sometimes.

Now here is where I need your help. For the vest:

A) Find one that matches

B) Find one that co-ordinate since a perfect match would be hard to find and close-but-not-quite stinks

C) Forget the Vest

D) Some other amazing idea that I will tell you all about in the comments

Thanks!!

Wedding-ed Out

If you are any thing like me, (and I am guessing you at least something like me because you are reading and enjoying this wedding blog) you can look at wedding stuff for HOURS. Seemingly endless hours of websites, magazines, blogs and pictures and just absorb it. Soak in all the frilly, glittery, lacy, shiny goodness like a bridal sponge.

I like to obsess over dresses (even though I have chosen mine and could not be happier). There is just so much diversity! Maybe I should just start wearing wedding dresses exclusively. I am pretty sure (finances aside) I could wear a different one every day for a year, and love them all.

Image from Kleinfeld Dress By Pnina Tornai

Image from Kleinfeld Dress By Pnina Tornai

Image from Kleinfeld Dress By Romona Keve

I like to obsess over shoes (clearly, I have 3 pair for myself and am still looking for the bridesmaids). I have written multiple shoe posts about my own wedding footwear and sent way too many e-mails to my bridesmaids with links to shoe ideas for them! This is a little snap-shot of what the inside of my brain looks like a lot of the time:

Image From Zappos Shoes By RSVP

Image From Zappos Shoes By Fitzwell

Image From Zappos Boots by Stetson

Image From Zappos Shoes by Seychelles

I even like to look at flowers, even though I really don't care if or what kind we have at our wedding! They are just so pretty!

Photo by Nick Radford on Green Wedding Shoes.com

Photo by Abby Grace on Green Wedding Shoes.com

Sigh... Just lovely.... 

However, I have found, about 104 pages into to a google image search for "Weddings" or 57 clicks through any of my many favorite blogs, some snaps. A little switch in my brain goes from "I-NEED-WEDDING-IDEAS-ALL-WEDDING-IDEAS" to ehhhh... it all looks the same". At this point I have found the only cure is to 

A) Switch from flowers to jewelry or from veils to shoes

or

B) Get up and do something totally un-wedding related. (Whhhat? Madness, I know.)

I have found A only works for a short term fix and my attention span shrinks with each new category. B is really the best bet and after a break I feel like a bit more of a person and not a wedding-bot.

Have you gotten wedding-ed out? How do you cope?

Today in History....

October 18th is kind of a big deal day. For one, in 1867, the united states took possession of Alaska



Image Via US-Nature.com



Sooo pretty.... BUT something ELSE happened on Oct. 18th 141 years later in 2008. Mr. Aardvark and I had our "first" date. We have spent the last three years getting to know each other, falling in love, and planning our lives together. We celebrate this day as our date-iversary and not the real first date because that one is too close to Halloween (and Mr. A still claims this date as our first.)!

The last three years have been the shortest and the longest all at once. It seems like a lifetime since we were driving all over the place to bike races and I was a student. At the same time, all that seems to have gone by in the blink of an eye. Three years is not a very long time, but it is long enough to change your life forever! Mr. Aardvark, I cannot wait to spend the next three years, and every group of  three years after that, with you!

On that "first" date, as I was driving away from his house, wondering if he was a giddy as I was this song came on the radio and I thought it was perfect:

"If I'm crazy than it's true, but it's all because of you, and you wouldn't have me any other way"

And to top off this sappy date-iversay post, our first picture together.... No it was not on that first date... but it is still one of my all time favorites!

Pretty Maids All in a Row: CHICAGO WEEKEND!!

Holy Smokes. That is really all I can say. I am exhausted and SO happy and excited. Last weekend my ladies all came out from the far corners of the world (ok maybe the far corners of the Midwest) and hung out in Chicago, dress shopped, took in a Second City show, and ate some Ahh-MAZING food.

I had previously imagined these ladies would all finally meet on the Friday of the rehearsal dinner and that would be that. Maybe two or three at a time they would get together and shop for bridesmaids dresses in Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Michigan or Wisconsin. But, as I stated earlier they all magically synced up their calendars and converged on Chicago this weekend. It was so much fun! All of my bestest girl friends in one place at one time. It was like a sneak-peak of the All-my-favorite-people-in-one-place-awesomeness that I have heard about weddings.

Here is one of the first (and for sure not last) pictures of the six of us:


Left to right: Bridesmaid OT, Bridesmaid Flossy, Bridesmaid Red,
Bridesmaid Sis, Me, and MOH MD Thanks Mama MD for taking
this picture (she drove Sis down and took the chance to catch up
with her daughter (MOH MD) and I and meet the rest of the crew)

 The picture above was taken at Quartino, if you love food, and are in Chicago, you must eat here. I should also warn you, that it will be hard, but you MUST save (or make) room for dessert... I am still dreaming about that chocolate cake.

The trip originally started out a a bridesmaid dress shopping blitz. Then, at the last minute, I decided that everyone could wear whatever Navy and knee-ish length (I told them somewhere between floor length and whore length (then I was very proud of myself for making a clever rhyme)) dress they wanted. I mean, I would like to thumbs-up or thumbs-down it, but they could pick and brand, fabric etc. This weekend we got 2.5 out of 5. Once everyone has their dresses I will show you. Some have to be ordered as they are coming from a bridal salon, (thus the .5 dresses)

I was totally on the fence about mismatching but seeing my girls in all different Navy dresses sealed the deal. It just looked SO classy and elegant! I can't wait to show you.
Oh, you can't wait either?? Ok, ok.... I will give you a sneak peak. Sorry for the crappy phone picture...we were trying to be sneaky.... But this is Sis and half of OT in dresses that neither of them ended up with but were lots of fun to try on (yes, those are sailor buttons on OT's Dress) :

Funnily enough, despite the research and the five girls' mutual like of the dresses I had posted earlier none of them are going for any of those. I totally love the ones that have been picked so far and I am stoked for the rest to come in.

I fully anticipate that this will be the only time everyone is in one place at one time before the wedding, but it was one of the most memorable and enjoyable weekend I can remember (and I have had some fun weekends!) To top it all off the girls (who for the most part had not met before) got alone like they had been lifelong friends. We were all chatting and cracking up when we weren't stuffing our faces with amazing food.  I am so fortunate and blessed to have such a great group of friends.

Did all of your bridesmaids know each other? If not, how/when did they meet? Are you having mismatched dresses?

The Venue That Wasn't: Episode 2 Leila Arboretum

This is the second installment of my little "Venue That Wasn't" Series. For this venue, I wanted to show you all Leila Arboretum. Seriously one of the most beautiful places in Battle Creek. In the spring, it is bursting with new flowers and green everywhere. In the summer the trees are lush and beautiful. If the fall it is a mid-western dreamscape of orange, yellow and blue, and in the winter it is a marshmallow magic land of rolling hills and sledding.

Ok, enough yip-yapping! I will show you pictures!

When you come up the main drive, this is what greets you.

Then their are paths and hills and gardens everywhere. Truly beautiful!

Some modern art.....



Beautiful Views

And this is what you see as you drive out. Stately isn't it?

*All photos from the Leila Arboretum Facebook page.


I have attended a handful of beautiful weddings at the Arboretum. They also allow receptions, but we decided not to go that route for a number or reason.
1) We were getting married in a church so this would be a reception only site.
2) There would be LOTS of renting involved (floors, tents, heat lamps etc.)
3) Early April is kind of a no-man's-land plant wise in Battle Creek, there is no snow but things aren't quite green yet
4) The largest reason we could not hold our reception here was that they do not allow alcohol. This was really the nail in the coffin of this local for us. We don't drink much, but our friends and family would be a but surprised and disappointed at a totally dry wedding.

That being said, if you are looking for a non-alcoholic, beautiful, outdoor site in a more weather-predictable time of year, I could not recommend this more! SO lovely... Maybe we will have to bop down there for pictures during our "gap-time"

Did you have a venue that wasn't?

Pretty Maids All in a Row: N'Sync

Nooo... I am not talking about the band.. . (then why did you spell it that way Miss. Aardvark? Because it was fun that's why!)

Photo via Amazon.com

I am talking about my AMAZING bridesmaids. They have some how managed to  sync up their calendars and are all coming together this weekend to dress shop in Chicago!! I am beside myself with excitement. The idea that they would all be in the same place at the same time before the rehearsal (or even before the wedding) was a far away dream. But on Friday, that dream, that far away hope, will be made real!

First off, to the Aardvark bridesmaids, a big ol' THANK YOU! I mean this could not be an easy feat! Check it:

MOH MD is as her name implies in med school. I have never been in med school but from what I see on TV it is fairly time consuming...

BM Red works like....60 hours a week...also lives about 12 hours away in the great white north.

BM OT has just finished her masters and is working as an occupational therapist intern at a big hospital... A sweet gig that she just started...and she  is taking time off to make the trip....

BM Flossy is in dental school... based on what I've heard this too is fairly time consuming.....

And BM Sis is a sixth grader! (ALREADY!?) Yup... middle school... don't even get me started on how rough that can be!

As you can see, my chicas have a lot going on if you don't count my wedding. These ladies have all taken time out of their (very busy) lives, and made decided to come to Chicago (woohoo road trip!) to have a girls weekend. I am blown away by this and so excited to have such great friends!

Have your bridesmaids done anything that has blown you away?

Time Warp

Ok, I may or may not have a problem with my brain running away with thoughts faster than I can sort them into orderly piles. However, I was at work yesterday, in a timeline meeting, and realized it was almost APRIL!!! AHH!! How did that happen!?


What's that you say? It's only October and that is not really April or anywhere near April for that matter?? Well I think you are mistaken, the whole rest of our engagement can be broken up into pretty small chunks And everyone knows small chunks go by WAY faster than big chunks of time! Would you like me to prove this? OK:

-Starting this week: Bridesmaid weekend (more on this to come I am SO stoked. SO so stoked to see all my ladies)

-The following weekend:Mission Find a Suit for Mr. Aardvark....Also, Mr. Aardvark and my three year date-aversary.

-Then our Pre-Cana class the next weekend. As well as a little thing I like to call MY FAVORITE HOLIDAY EVER AKA HALLOWEEN.

-The weekend after that we are going to Michigan to eat cake and other wedding food and watch mama Aardvark do a mountain bike race (yeah she is pretty badass (can I say ass on this website? ooops! I just did. Twice.))
            Also this is Step-mama Aardvark's birthday weekend!!

-Only two weeks after that is Thanksgiving

-By then it is nearly December and the second week of December Mr. Aardvark and I are taking the first real vacation we've had since I was in College.  (Also there are a heap of birthdays in Early December, including: Mr. A, Grandma A (who actually goes by "Grandma A" or just "A" in real life so that is a fun blogging/real life moment) and Bridesmaid Red and FMIL Aardvark)

-By the time we come back we'll be this close to Christmas. THIS CLOSE! (BTW, what are our plans for Christmas??? I have no idea yet! Ahhhh!)

-New Year's

-Then its January and that's when things "get real" I have "Send Invites" written in my planner that month...(Thinking about it now that may be a bit pre-mature but I will have to reevaluate that.)

-February comes screeching in with its shortened time frame (29 days this year) and has Valentine's day, and Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent. Since our wedding is right after Easter, I view Lent as the final countdown to the big show.

-March will be packed with all kinds of last minute wedding madness and then.....

BOOM: APRIL !

See... Right. Around. The Corner.

Maybe I should take a chill-pill. But this could be good. I have lots of crafting yet to do and this little time line-crazy session has kick-started me into GIT 'ER DONE mode.

Have you had any flash-forward-freak-outs? What do you do to calm yourself?

FOOOOOD!

So I just got an e-mail of the menu from our contact at Arcadia. All I can say is YUM-O. I don't know how I...rather Mr. Aardvark and I are going to pick and choose from this list! Seriously!

We are having a buffet style dinner and are picking food off of the regular menu (the menu they have while they are a restaurant and not my wedding reception venue).

One of the appetizers is called the "Garden and Goat Quesadilla" and this is how it is described:

pesto

mushroom

fresh salsa

Umm, hello? That sounds amazing! Also I love the name so that will probs have to be on our "For Sure" list. Not into goat cheese? They have AMAZING pepperoni rolls that I could eat all.day.long.

Their pulled pork and brisket are also STUPENDOUS! I am not really sure how I will choose one type of BBQ...Maybe I will have to flip a coin.

But best of all are their pizzas! So Good and so many choices... Now, I know you are thinking what I am thinking right now... Aardvark, Pizza???? At a wedding??? Surely this will happen:



 And surely, it would, BUT, I have thought of this and asked our fantastic chef to make the pizzas into fun little calzone-y type things! So, no mess less mess!

Now, let me tell you a little about the pizza they offer like the Tuscan:

Arcadia’s pizza sauce

· roma tomato · caramelized bacon ·smoked chicken

(yes you read that right... Caramelized.Bacon.)

Or the Margherita:

olive oil

Or Mama Aardvark's favorite: Green Goodness

pesto

· zucchini · green pepper · fresh spinach · artichoke heart ·green olive

And these are just a few! Clearly Mr. Aardvark and I have our work cut out for us!

As exciting as all of this is, one thing I am SUPER-DUPER excited for is our midnight (10:00pm) snack. A baked (or mashed, still undecided) POTATO BAR!! This is where I need your help, foodie bees(and any potato loving bee), what is the best thing you have ever had on a potato?· goat cheese· roma tomato· basil · fresh & shredded mozzarella· fresh rosemary · roasted garlic · mozzarella· sun-dried tomato · red onion · fresh spinach· mozzarella · goat cheese: side of jalapeno· sour cream · green pepper

The Venue That Wasn't: Episode 1 The Birch Gallery

There are so many nice venues in South West Michigan, and I am really a sucker for "what-if-ing" So I thought I'd start my own little mini series for a number of reasons. 1) It may be helpful to other brides who are still in the midst of their venue hunt. 2) These little walks down "what-if lane" will help me re-affirm my venue choice. (not that I need much re-affirming I am very happy with both venues, I just thought it would be fun!)

So for this the first Episode, I would like to introduce you to The Birch Gallery.

This beautiful place would FOR SURE be where I got married if, we could have a Catholic wedding outside, we were getting married in the fall, when the weather is a bit more predictable than April, and if the majority of ours guests were not from out of state (read need hotels), we weren't having 200 guests (give or take 50). Alas, all of those things are part of our wedding reality, for that reason, we will not be getting married here.

This picture is lovely but doesn't quite do it justice. This local happens to be my mom's back yard. That's right. She lives in the beautiful space. Its a little hard to see here, but there are two  lines of birch trees with two smaller non-birch trees at the end.  So perfect for a wedding! (As a side note the man she purchased the house from was an arborist. and he is the one who referred to this space as the "Birch Gallery". I do not think either my mother or I are fancy enough to have come up with that name...) Would you like some more pictures to get a better idea of how cool this is?? OK!

This photo is standing on the far side of the Gallery looking towards the house. On the far left  left are the two trees that would make the altar area.

Here it is in the fall! So pretty! Still having a hard time seeing this a a potential wedding venue? (cue magical twinkley music)

TADA!

Maybe those benches would be hay bales? Maybe there would be twinkle lights over top? Maybe we would have a blue grass band play! and BBQ and a bon fire and ponies and dancing and.... and I think that would be more than enough.....But alas... it will not be so. Maybe for a vow renewal?

Do you like to play the wedding what-if game? are you already making plans for a vow renewal ceremony?

Shower Cake

Ok, so...I have not had a bridal shower yet, and I am not planning one for anyone (at this time)... However, I made this cake this weekend and thought is was SO girly and delicious that I had to share it with you, and, since this is a wedding blog, I figured I had to make it wedding-ish somehow so...TADA! Shower cake*.

Super easy-peasy just this side of totally box cake.

Step one, buy and bake a box of Funfetti cake according to directions on the box for the two nine inch round pans.

Image from Meijer

I guess you can use some other white or yellow cake mix, but really, why would you? Also I should note, I really like to use butter instead of spray non-stick.... Just works better.

Next, let the cake cool... Really... I know it may feel only a little warm.... and you're sure it will be fine. But it won't. Please, please let it cool all the way. 

Next take the cakes out and put one top side down on a plate. (this ensures that the side you put against the other cake will be the perfectly flat side that was on the bottom of the pan)

Then, Spread two snack cups of lemon pudding on top of cake one. Yes, it has to be the cups... the pudding mix is just not as lemony and that won't do.

image from pku perspectives

Stack cake two one top of the pudding and cake one (this cake should be right side up so the flat sides are together)

Now for the fun part! Make whipped cream!
         1) Pour 1/2 pint of heavy cream into a chilled bowl (not a plastic bowl)
         2) Beat with electric mixer until frothy
         3) Add two big spoonfuls of powdered sugar
         4) continue to beat at medium to high speed until stiff peaks form (aka until it looks/feels like whipped cream)
      
Lastly, frost the cake with your freshly made magic, I mean, whipped cream. If you are feeling really fancy, put some of the whipped cream in a zip lock bag (with food dye?!), snip a corner of the bag off and pipe it onto the cake in a decorative manner.  And TADA!!

Personal photo

So fresh, light and easy! If you are really fancy you can use one of those frosting bags instead of a zip lock. Clearly I am not that fancy. 

*Shower cake can be used for bridal showers, baby showers, any day that you happen to take a shower, or any other occasion when your life would be brightened by cake. 

Did you stumble upon any great wedding ideas simply by looking at what you have on hand?

Dress Not-Shopping

Hive, I have some bad news for you. *deep breathes* I will not be showing you my dress before the wedding.  I am so, SO, so sorry. But trust me, I have lots of posts about it up my sleeve for after the big day!

You see, I am having my dress made. Confession time: I purchased the dress pattern WAY before Mr. Aardvark and I got engaged (like over a year before).  We were pre-gaged, and I had a bad habit of looking at dresses online. It was during this time that a stumbled across a vintage dress pattern that stuck in my head like a popcorn kernel between my teeth. It seemed perfect! Everything I was hoping for in a dress. Due to the fact that we were not engaged...I did not buy it right away. However, a few months later, at the fabric store, there it was, and  on sale too! So I bought it, and then went about my life for a year or so.

Fast forward to our engagement. I hit the internet hard looking for dress ideas. Nothing really seemed to knock my socks off. Then I remembered the pattern. I dug it out of my craft box and fell in love all over again. It seemed a little odd, giving up on dress shopping before even going dress shopping, but every time I looked at that pattern, it seem so much more perfect than any of the dresses I found online.

Was it totally crazy to just have the dress made? Just jump right into it without trying others on? Yes. Is that what I did?  It sure was! But not without some due diligence.

I was really looking forward to the whole dress shopping thing with my mom, step mom, and/or a best friend or two. But having my dress made, being the only one to have that dress, it all seemed so appealing. I called up my mom to get her thoughts. Being her only daughter I did not want to rob her of any dress shopping experience she may have hopped for. Her reply was simple and so typical of my mother. "You know more about what you want to wear than I would, and are way more informed on dress styles than I am. If you have found something you like go for it, and I'm sure it will be beautiful." And with her blessing, I was off to find someone to make it.

Now, I can sew, but I was not comfortable making my own wedding dress. I looked up local seamstresses and stalked all of the reviews I could find before deciding on a seamstress who specialized in wedding gowns. I met with her, and she was the sweetest lady. We chatted for awhile and shared ideas and then talked prices. (Dun Dun DUNNNN) It turns out my dress would be totally affordable, exactly what I wanted, and made to fit me perfectly. It was almost too good to be true, but it was true and I was (am) thrilled!

If you have read this far, you are probably really perturbed that the dress post is so sadly lacking in pictures. Well, I hear you, and so for your viewing pleasure, the only dress that almost changed my mind about buying a dress from a salon.

Maggie Sottero AD3395

I still think its stunning. If I were going to be married in my plan-A church (small and casual) and not my plan-B-for-better church (large and traditional)  this would still be in the running. However The wedding has gone a different direction and so has my dress choice. Such is life.

Did you dress shopping experience turn out differently than you ever imagined? Are you having your dress made?