KJT1985's (Katie's) Planning thread - long, of course

Preface: Sorry in advance, this is going to be really long. Apparently I took photos of EVERYTHING.

How we met

It was my senior year in college, fall semester. It was the toughest semester I’d had. While putting off studying for a test I was watching tv and saw a commercial for match.com. I laughed and figured the people using the website would never be as good looking as the people on the commercials. Wanting to procrastinate more however, I got onto the site and signed up. A few days later Kevin contacted me. At first I was skeptical but finally agree to meet him after we emailed back and forth for awhile. He was also just bored and killing time since he’d move to the states from Canada for work a couple months prior and was alone and bored frequently. Now it seems weird that we met this way I haven’t known him all my life. He knows me better than anyone and it seems like he’s just an extension of myself.

The engagement

After a year of dating I moved to another state to pursue my master’s degree. We did long distance for a year when he was finally able to get a job near me. We moved in together in Sept of 2008. My fiance randomly decided to go on a picnic in October 08 when the weather is turning cold in Colorado (where we were living). All that day he was after me to hurry home so we could go. Immediately upon walking in the door he says to me, "Why is your hair up?!". I told him that she didn't have time that morning to take a shower. He then told me that I had ruined the picnic and that's when I knew something was up. He had EVERYTHING ready for the picnic and was just sitting there waiting for me (he's usually not so helpful).

It was 45F (7C) that day. We ended up driving about an hour up to Estes Park, Colorado and sat at a picnic area by lake Estes. On the way up there he was dancing retardedly in the car and said "if you're lucky you'll get to see me dance like this for the rest of your life". Then he asked me "for future reference, when I propose do I have to be down on a knee?" Obviously he's not good at hiding things and this is the point where I start to feel sick (with anticipation). I wrapped myself in a blanket and was wearing flip flops (cause he wouldn't let me take two minutes to change my shoes at home) while he was building a make shift fire to cook chip dip on. It was freezing and in Kevin's words - the picnic didn't go as he had planned. He told me that he had something to make up for it though. We drove back to our house and Kevin gets the gas fireplace going (which I had been asking for). He made me hide in the kitchen while he did this but I could hear what was going on. So we sat by the fire sipping wine in the dark. I could tell he was a little on edge. At one point I commented that I loved him - his response was "I hope so...". He then pulled out the ring box (which I had seen him move from his jacket pocket to his jean pocket earlier) and asked me if I knew was it was. In shock, I said no. He opened it and asked me to marry him. After MUCH crying, I said yes.

The ring

The wedding

I think I picked our colours before we decided on anything else, pink and green. We picked February 23, 2010 as our wedding date and eventually chose Breezes Runaway Bay (Jamaica) as our resort (definitely the toughest part!!). We have 30 guests coming! My bridesmaids got their dresses before I decided on mine. They chose their own knee length dresses in “clover†by Alfred Angelo (seen later in pictures). My MOH will wear a pink knee length dress but has yet to find it.

The Honeymoon

After spending a week with friends and family at Breezes Runaway Bay, we’re flying to Puerto Rico to go on a 7 night southern Caribbean cruise with Carnival! I haven’t been on a cruise and I’m super excited!!

The dress

Wow this was tough. I’m so indecisive and had a REALLY hard time with this part. I tried on about 200 dresses and only one stood out in my mind but it was $1200…something I knew my fiancé would NEVER go for since we’re paying for this all on our own and just bought a house. I ended up purchasing two sample dresses on ebay for a total of $500. However I wasn’t in love with either and after a few months neither fit  I’ve sold one and am still trying to sell the other. However, I kept obsessing about the Maggie Sottero dress I fell in love with and after reading some reviews of replica dresses from China, ordered one from eBay Store - gianinarbridal: wedding dress bridalgown, party evening or bridalmaid I’m so in love with it and am glad I didn’t settle (though I would have LOVED to have had the real thing). I paid $180 including shipping.

The wedding bands

Mine with E ring:

I wouldn’t think it but he’s pretty obsessed with sapphires (Not his birthstone but is mine!). He looked at many rings with sapphire accents for me but decided they just didn’t look right. Instead, he’s getting sapphires in his ring! His band:

The Save the Dates

We did boarding pass save the dates. I got the template from a lovely lady here on the forums (forget who, SORRY!) and just bought the materials at Michaels/Office Depot.

Invites

I ordered a semi-DIY pocket fold kit from ww.cardsandpockets.com and LOVE them! Such an affordable option for pocketfold incvites!

Odds and Ends

I ordered my bridesmaid jewelry from an etsy seller. Wild Orchid Gems by wildorchidgems on Etsy

I also couldn’t justify spending tons of money on real flowers from the resort so I had another etsy seller make my flowers. They were only $130 total! Etsy sellers store: Custom wedding flowers bridal bouquets and more by jdleggans

I purchased my veil from an ebay seller for only $16. My headband was purchased NEW-secondhand (bride who’s wedding fell through) and is $99 at Davids bridal but I paid $30 for it.

Veil: eBay Store - Venus Veils: Bridal Tiaras, White, Ivory

My earrings came from overstock.com It’s how I’m getting my “something blue”!

Shoes – the idea was definitely stolen from another bride (FutureMsMoulton) They are SO much more sparkly in person!

We ordered luggage tags with personalized “stickers” as our guest favor. These were mailed out ahead of time with a “welcome booklet”. These came from Wedding Favors, Bridal Shower Favors, Wedding Favor Ideas and Gifts and were $1.20 each. The booklet was done pretty quickly and cheaply so it’s not the nicest but it’ll do. I used report covers from Office Depot – 6 pack for $1.97!!

I purchased our guest book from Welcome to the Guestbook Store! Guestbooks for Every Occasion!. I love the idea that it’s more interactive and will be something fun to go through in the years to come. I don’t actually have a photo of this, maybe I’ll try to get one tonight.

I purchased raffia fans from Oriental Trading. These will go on each chair at the ceremony and i'm still debating on whether or not i'll do programs. Again, need to get a photo tonight.

When I had my dress hemmed I had the seamstress save the material. Yet another etsy seller used it to make a miniature dress on hankies for the moms as their gift. I think they’re too ADORABLE! $35 for two hankies. Originals By Barbee by OriginalsByBarbee on Etsy

Pre-wedding AHR

Since my fiancé is Canadian, my future in laws threw us a pre-wedding reception for his side on November 21, 2009. I got my dress off amazon for around $70 and here you can see the bridesmaids dresses.

And me with my wonderful fiancé…

Chair sashes came from wedding linens direct home page. I loved the quality and they were so cheap. $104 including shipping for 100 satin sashes!

And for the AHR centerpieces we did drowned flowers with floating candles. All parts were bought from Michaels.

Thank you SO SO much for reading. NONE of this could have been possible without the wonderful ladies of BDW. I got so many ideas, links, and resources from you all. Good luck with your upcoming weddings! See you on the forum!

Katie

What an amazing planning thread!!! You were smart with all your purchases and your dress is lovely! Good luck you are going to have an amazing wedding

Thanks!!

And, that brings up a good point. We had a really small budget so I kept a spread sheet of ALL my expenses - even if I bought something I didn't end up using, it's calculated. So far we've spent $8,509 on EVERYTHING, including our two week vacation. We still have to buy the guy's gifts and pay for the girls hair (but the girls got tote bags, tanks, sandals, and a book too). After calculating gifts from the pre-wedding AHR we're at $3,309 net cost. Not too shabby in my opinion, our goal was definitely to keep it low cost.

Great planning thread. Cannot wait to see the wedding pics!

Thank you for sharing all of this wonderful details. It's great!