Sunday, October 17, 2010

The Unfreezing of the Monies

It's been a while since I've posted anything about the wedding and that is because there hasn't been much to report. School has pretty much taken my focus over the past couple of months and due to my enormous tuition bill this time around, wedding money has been put on hold. So in order to avoid stressing about the freeze on my wedding budget I have pretty much avoided thinking about the whole thing. I don't like to get my hopes up in case plans don't work out. However Kris and I have put the deposit down on the space so I feel like things are going to happen...or we are out three hundred bucks. Either way it is more promising than before and since my tuition has been handled money for the wedding will be more forthcoming.
The majority of important wedding decisions have mostly been made so paying for them is the next step. And while parting with a significant amount of money is always nauseating for me I can't help but be exited that we are finally making things happen. I mean we signed a contract for heavens sake. That alone makes it feel more concrete. Not that my marrying Kris was ever in doubt I just had a couple of personal concerns about the actuality of having a wedding.
At this point all my bridesmaids have been notified so I can finally post their names in a concise list so anyone who is reading this will finally know. My bridesmaids consist of my sister; Tory and Elaina, my best friends Natalie and Amanda, and my soon to be sister Kelsey :). Victoria is my maid of honor due to the fact that she is pushy and violent and I feared for my safety. If you couldn't tell that was a joke...mostly.
At this point the wedding party is locked in with the notable exception of our flower girl. We wanted my cousin Macee to cutesy up the proceedings by walking her sassy self down the aisle. Unfortunately for use she is staunchly refusing even after months of persuasion and in some cases pleaded. Nothing is cracking this kid! Not the promises of walking with the ring bearer my little cousin Brody who is her favorite person or a gift of puppies. Seriously I tried to give her Jayda in exchange for her cooperation. Well not give her away, but play time was definitely on the table. Macee is firm in her five year old decision. The one time this kid makes a decision that isn't about candy happens to be one that affects my wedding. Go figure. I don't know what to do with her. One thing is for sure I'm not dragging an unwilling child into our wedding. My other option is my cousin Joanna who is nine and is a pro at flower girl-ing. I was going to have her as a jr. bridesmaid, but we shall see how this plays out.
This will be the abrupt end of my post because I am sleepy.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Check, Check, and Check

There is one thing more to be said about Kris' presence in my life. He is a decision maker and since he has been home many wedding decisions have been made. BAM! Venue! POW! Guest list! KAZAM! Music for the bridal march! I've loved having his input. I don't know why people think that girls are just born with the innate knowledge of wedding planning. Having Kris along for the ride makes me feel as if the success or failure of this event does not rest solely on my shoulders. I have a partner in crime.
First things first. We have settled on a venue and it came at exactly the right time. Kris and I had spent the day venue hunting and it had been a major bust. I was ready to completely give up and I told my patient fiance as much. I was tired and cranky and disappointed with our current options. Kris put me down for an afternoon nap and prayed that I would wake up in a better mood. We had one last venue appointment for the day and I desperately hoped that he would not even bother waking me up to make said appointment. But never let it be said that Kristopher Joseph Kuss is a coward because wake me up he did and thank goodness.
Capps Cove is a Bed and Breakfast complete with a rustic chapel that I fell in love with almost instantly. Miraculously it also fit in our budget. The reception space was included in the cost and is a charming barn space. I know, I know, you guys want to see pictures. I shall oblige.























And an idea of the reception space:


Just a peek I don't want to spoil the big wedding day reveal. Anyway so Kris and I loved the feel of the place, the simple beauty, and the price. We settled on it right away. We also have pretty much complete freedom over how we arrange and decorate the spaces. There is only one down side. It only holds 100 guests. Needless to say Kris and I sat down as soon as we got home and massacred what had started out as a monstrous guest list of upwards of 300 (I have a LARGE family). I do hate leaving so many people who we love out of our celebration, but we loved the venue and we loved the idea of not bankrupting my parents. I am also glad to be crossing things off the list.
Since settling on the venue and locking down the general look of the wedding I have changed my mind about wedding colors, but I found flowers that I adore. Things are moving forward in kind of a sideways manner. I don't know if that makes sense to anyone but me...oh well.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Moving Forward

Finally! Finally something wedding related has come to fruition. Okay, Okay its not like I'm super on top of the planning game, but I do have a list of venues to visit and our save the dates picked out and now I have my wedding dress and veil. It all happened so suddenly. I took my dad to look at a dress that I had been seriously considering as THE dress, but before we went to look at it I decided to pop in to another dress store that had been closed the day that I went to Cullman. I knew the minute I put the dress on that it was meant to be mine unfortunately with a 1200 dollar price tag I quickly saw my dream dress slipping away. Turns out the store was going out of business and the owner was selling her stock 50% off! I know what you are thinking. Buying a dress off the rack is a little iffy (and I shouldn't be so happy about this store closing. I do feel sorry for the owner). It has been tried on by other people and is probably dirty with a makeup smudge here or there. Nope! Not at all. She had only received that dress a month ago it was a brand new style and had been used primarily as a window display. There wasn't a bead out of place. Daddy bought the dress I bought my veil. Done and Done! Well except for the alterations, but lets not nitpick.
It is such a relief to have something go right. It's starting to feel like this wedding is really going to happen. Standing a year down the road from the big day can make it feel more like a fairy tale than an actuality. Logically of course I know that Kris and I will eventually get married, but owning my dress is a tangible truth. The wedding ball is rolling! The dress was kinda my most motivating task and now that I have it I'm ready to elope ;)

Sunday, July 11, 2010

To Be Married...

As with many things definitions alter as you change and move through different phases in your life. It is the same way that a bible verse can speak to you in different ways depending on your current circumstances. At this exact moment being married means never being an ocean apart from the man you love, it means not counting forward seven hours to see if you'll get to talk to him today. It means heat and skin and kisses that aren't blown through a computer screen. It sounds lovely. Today I am struggling not with wedding planning (because lets be honest its not like my procrastinating nature is making much headway in that department)but with separation.
Before I met Kris I used to be semi independent. I know that is hard to believe, but it's the truth. I never felt this overwhelming desire to be with a person at all times. It's a wonderful and terrifying feeling to be drawn so strongly to a person and to want nothing but their continued happiness and company. Kris is my best friend, but he is so much more than that. He is half of who I am. I am my best when I am with him. So you can imagine how upsetting it is to spend the summer as less than my best.
We are not complete strangers to separation, but this is the first time that we have been apart and I didn't have the guarantee that school would resume and Kris and I would continue on as we always have. I won't see him in the caf, I won't visit him at the house, we won't do homework together, I won't take naps during the day just so I can stay up late with him after rehearsals. The summer will end and the separation will continue. I have never known Mobile without Kris and I'm scared. I know that I have to let go of the way things were to make way for a permanent life with him, but that doesn't mean that I'm not devastated over it. I don't know what else to say. I don't need comfort or promises that this last year will pass quickly. I know myself better than that. If summers without Kris feel like years then these next two semester will be as if time is running backwards instead of forward. I know that being apart isn't the worst thing that has ever happened to a couple...but I can't seem to put it into perspective.
I miss Kris.

Monday, June 28, 2010

Wedding Dresses...Can I Have Four Please?

Today day I learned the fine art of squeezing every minute out of an hour. I had a doctors appointment in the wee hours of the morning (8:30) which I didn't get out of till ten o clock, then I went 40 minutes across town to look at some wedding dresses only to rush back home just in time to get to work by 2:00 where I closed. My mom has been getting antsy lately because of how slowly things have been moving wedding wise. I told her not to worry because we have plenty of time. It doesn't help that we have been understaffed at Payless this last week causing me to work double my usual amount of hours. We need to have the venue nailed down by next week which would take a miracle considering the fact that I am still working pretty regular hours and I am using one of my off days to drive down to Mobile to look at an apartment. There is good news however in just one short hour I will get to see my best friend who I haven't seen since the beginning of May! I miss her and am thrilled that she will be here soon and I catch her up on all the wedding stuff and get her opinion on some dresses.
Following my stream of consciousness, today I may have found my wedding dress. I'm 90% sure its the one for me. I'm taking my dad to see it Friday and I'm hoping the other 10% comes from him. I don't know if you know this, but wedding gowns weigh approximately a million pounds. I fell in love with this one when I put it on and I did not feel as if an elephant was sitting on my chest or as if I was walking in mud. It is chiffon meaning light, flowy, and free. I feel like a butterfly when I'm wearing it. I feel like someone should be playing a harp when I put it on (which I did three times today at the dress shop). I could probably fly in that dress if I tried hard enough. Okay, okay, so I'm exaggerating that does not lessen the awesomeness of this dress. There is one more place that I need to visit on the recommendation of a friend, but it is going to be a hard one to beat. It's kinda the Karate Kid of dresses. I'll let you know how that progresses.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

The Beginning

To tell the truth I haven’t been engaged very long, but it is still longer than I would like. Two months doesn’t seem like much to those who are reading this (if anyone is), but to someone as besotted and impatient as I am two months is frustrating and a whole year…Well a year is agony. A year is exactly how long I must wait to become the wife that God has called me to be. It will be a year of phone calls, text messages, skype dates, and even letters; a year full of uncertainty, loneliness, and forced distractions that will culminate into the happiest day of my life. Dear Lord why can I not just wake up and be married. However, since it does not seem as if I will go into an engagement coma anytime soon, I must spend the time apart planning a wedding while finishing my last year of undergraduate studies.

A wedding is something I both desire and dread. Weddings are for details people one of which I am not. It is overwhelming standing at the beginning of the process and looking towards next June. There are so many decisions to make from now to then. Did I mention that decisiveness is not one of my strong suits. Does anyone want to plan this wedding for me? I would greatly appreciate it. What? No takers? Did I mention you won't be paid for your time and effort and that you will have to work within a tight budget? That's what I thought. Oh well looks like it is up to me and my lovable but sometimes overbearing family. It's going to be a crazy ride.