Love at first bite

This Sunday we went to our second cake tasting. This time with Sweets Bakeshop in St Paul. We first met Ly, co-owner, at the Independent Wedding Fair last month. She was so sweet and her cupcakes were so adorable, we set up a tasting on the spot. (It didn't hurt that they also have beautiful macarons, my favorite treats, and Ned had already told me we could have macarons at our wedding.)



Once at the shop, we were allowed to fill up our plate with amazing mini cupcakes, macaroons and brownies. Ly left us alone to try everything and gave us a sheet with all the flavors on it and space to write down our own thoughts on each one. Ned and I got to work on the most difficult task of eating all the goods!





Two cupcakes in and we were hooked. The cupcakes were so moist, the frosting so light. But unlike with our first tasting, Ned was actually wowed. The flavors were delicious. They had so much flavor for something so tiny. With the exception of the red velvet/Southern Belle and the triple chocolate, we weren't disappointed at all. (The red velvet was too heavy/didn't enjoy the cream cheese frosting mixed with white chocolate and the triple chocolate was too rich.)

Ned accidently ate way too much at the tasting and I was worried that the nausea was going to ruin the tasting experience altogether, but thankfully it didn't and we were able to book our baker this week! We've already narrowed down the flavors we want to go with, now we just need to decide on how many and what flavor of macaroons.

A few other photos from our tasting...








(All photo credits: me)

- Gan

Posh

I just wanted to post once more about how wonderful my dress experience at Posh was. But not only that, I ran into Tina (one of the sales girls that helped me) at the International Market Square wedding fair and she ran over to me and gave me a big hug. It was such a sweet moment.

I was flipping through the Resource Guide in the back of the newest Knot Minnesota magazine just now and saw the Posh profile. Their description in there couldn't be more right on. My experience is something that I will remember forever and I cannot wait to put my wedding dress on again.

"Your visit to Posh Bridal Couture in historic Semple Mansion will be unlike any other bridal salon experience. You'll receive our undivided attention with every detail to ensure the dress of your dreams is the one you are wearing when you walk down the aisle."

So very true.


(Photo credit: Posh)

- Gan

Ned is smooth

Yes, he is one smooth guy. I'll have to tell the story of how he got his first kiss on our third date some time. But what I'm really talking about here is fondant. Yes, I'm talking about cake again. Ned loves the smooth fondant look so much. But where he is all smooth, I am all texture. (Wait till you see my wedding dress!)

We've been trying to collect ideas of what we like and it's funny how different our tastes are sometimes.

This is me:


(Yes, I know this one was done with fondant, but I would love it with creamy frosting.)

And this is Ned:



What I've been thinking about, is that if we do cupcakes, maybe we can do a combination of smooth and textured? That way we both get what we like and I think it'll make for a beautiful display.

Something like this:



- Gan

Coverage

This post doesn't have to deal with tattoo covering this time, but my upper body that is going to get quite chilly as the night goes on. See, I'm one of those people. The kind that is always cold. The kind that is always asking to have the heat turned up. I can never seem to get warm unless I am lying out in the sun, which, living in Minnesota, doesn't get to happen all that often. In the winter time we have to keep our thermostat in the mid 70's just to keep it semi tolerable for me. Everyone else I know can somehow manage with theirs in the 60's. I'm sure they save on their heating bill, but how they can last through the winter, I do not know.

Now that I have my dress purchased, I've been thinking about how I will keep myself warm as the evening sets in. I bought a strapless dress, and even though I am having off the shoulder short sleeves added on, I'm going to be freezing. Our outdoor ceremony will thankfully be during the afternoon, but in MN, who knows what the weather will really be like that day. And even though our reception will take place indoors, I know that Ned and I are going to sneak off at some point to have some evening city shots taken. Brrrrrrrrrr!

I saw this cute post on Green Wedding Shoes about bridal sweaters and it totally got me thinking that I should get myself a little knitted shrug or cardigan for the wedding. Something that I can cuddle into as I get cold or we are out running around downtown taking photos. I started searching Etsy for some pretty ivory shrugs to choose from since I know that I can't knit myself something, and these are the ones I have found so far:


This is adorable, but would not keep me warm at all. I just had to post it because it is so pretty. It's from Magical Laboratory of Fashion and they have a bunch of beautiful things.


I also liked this one from Mucar, but again, not gonna keep me all that warm with the short sleeves.


These are also pretty, but not really my style or what I'm looking for. From reflectionsbyds and moocow.

These two are also from reflectionsbyds and are the two that I like the most so far.




But after looking at all the beautiful ivory shrugs and cardigans, I started checking out the beautiful color ones and now I can't decide if I want one to match my dress, or a bright one to match my shoes!

- Gan

Ate our weight in cake

(Photo credit: me)

Well, we didn't really eat that much cake, but we ate a lot! Sunday was a busy wedding day for us. We had a meeting with our florist, a wedding fair at International Market Square and our first cake tasting. I'm kinda lost on the whole cake thing. How does one choose their wedding cake?

When Ned and I first started planning, I was thinking cupcakes because, well, I love cupcakes. Everything about them just screams cute. But Ned really wanted a wedding cake. When else do you get to have an enormous, elaborate cake? Then there was this whole moment where we went of on that pie kick. I love pie. Ned loves pie. They ate lots of pie in Pushing Daisies. I even found this incredible pie shop in Stockholm, WI that makes the absolutely most delicious pies. How cute would little individual pies have been?





But then I slowly started to move over to the cake side of things and when we were at the wedding fair at FIVE, Ned saw some beautiful wedding cupcakes and he became sold on that idea. Not that there is anything wrong with pie, but we weren't sure if everyone else would love wedding pie as much as us. Ned and I are both pretty flexible though and if one of us was leaning strongly in one direction, the other would be ok with that. If Ned said he HAS to have cupcakes, then I would be like, sure, why not?

The only thing we are differing on is fondant. We both love the look of it, but only I can say that I dislike the taste. Ned has never had real fondant. I've spoiled him with delicious marshmallow fondant that is yummy and tastes nothing like the real stuff. He's really into the idea of fondant covered cupcakes or cake right now, but has no idea what it tastes like. Fondant is beautiful, but really, is it edible? I always have to pick it off. And fondant cakes aren't cheap. You are paying for the look, but not something everyone is going to enjoy eating.

Not only do we need to decide between cake or cupcakes, but also between some sort of frosting or fondant. Oh, and then we need to decide between millions of flavors. Red velvet? Georgia peach? Amaretto? Bailey's Irish creme? Lemon raspberry? Yep, I'll take all of them. Can we just have a 15 tier wedding cake?

- Gan

Unmatched bridesmaids dresses take 2

One of my bridesmaids, I wont say which one *wink*, was asking me if I was sure that I didn't want to pick out their dresses. If I was sure I didn't want them all to match. I asked her if she really wanted me to do that. I had no idea what I was looking for in my own dress to begin with and that was taking into consideration my body, my style, my taste. How would I even begin picking something out for all of them?

I've been really open with their choices. I'm trying to be supportive and considerate about what they like and their own personal styles. I don't know why she thinks I'm going to go all bridezilla over this and change my mind later. She keeps saying, "Well, that's what you say now." But really, it's how I feel. I won't be changing my mind about this. I do not like the matchy matchy look at all. It's not me, but if for some reason they all picked the same dress, that would not bother me either. If they want my opinion on something, I'm more than willing to give it. Maybe I need to take a bigger role in helping them choose? I'm planning to schedule a day where we can all go out and look at dresses together and the girls can try some different ones on. I just know that what I like and my style differs a lot from theirs. What I might feel comfortable wearing might not be what they feel comfortable wearing. I'm really not someone who thinks, "Oh my god! That dress is so ugly and she looks horrible and it's going to ruin my pictures!"

And just to prove my point about how cute unmatching dresses are, check out these adorable photos.


(From Ashley Brockinton Photography. Seen on http://everylastdetailblog.com)

These dresses aren't all the same length, style or even shade and they look so pretty and sweet.


(Originally from Green Wedding Shoes and Our Labour of Love. Seen on http://www.rockmywedding.co.uk/)

Again, different styles, colors and lengths; still very beautiful.

(And this entry was not to call out my wonderful bridesmaid, but just to show off some lovely photos and give more inspiration. I know my bridesmaid loves me and I love her.)

- Gan

The story of a girl and her wedding dress

Once upon a time there was a girl searching for the most beautiful dress in all the land....

I wanted to write this entry when everything was fresh in my mind. When I was all excited and buzzed over finding THE DRESS. Yep, thats right, I bought my wedding dress this weekend. But it's good that I waited and I can put down all my thoughts coherently. I don't know if you would have even been able to understand my excited gibberish from this weekend. It would have gone something like OMG!!1!!!11!IFOUNDMYDRESS!THEDRESS!OMG!!!11!IMCRYING.BUTSOSOSOSOSOSHAPPYANDEXCITED!

Really, I was waiting to get some photos back from Robyn that she had taken. What good is a blog post without the photos? I also was a little bummed out about some blogging news I got last week and it kinda threw me off my game, but oh well. Time to move on. And I'm really happy with my blog and in the end, I'm just doing this for myself. I love if others are enjoying it and reading it, but I started it for me and Ned and that's what I need to remember.

So you wanna hear about my dress? Really? Because it's amazing. And perfect. And beautiful. And it makes me feel like a million dollars.


(Photo credit: Tina from Posh)

I should start at the beginning which was some time last week. Well, maybe even before that. If you remember, I was planning on having my wedding dress made for me. After one very horrible experience and searching the internet to find dresses I liked, I figured there was no way I would find something in a store that I liked. But even though I was planning to go shopping again a couple weekends ago, I was still putting it off. Thankfully, I have Rue constantly pushing me and reminding me to get things done.

After a dozen texts/emails/calls from Robyn telling me I needed to set up an appointment, I finally got around to making some calls. Unfortunately, or for my sake, fortunately, none of the first shops I called had appointments available for this weekend. I was able to set up an appointment for a couple weeks out for The Wedding Shoppe. No one was answering the phone at Grace and my voice mail wasn't immediately returned. And there was no way I was going back to Brides of France.

Then Robyn suggested I look up this place called Posh Bridal Couture that she happened to run across an ad for just by chance at a salon. It's a couture shop in the Semple Mansion and in the ad they had a dress in the exact style she knew I would love. Ok, so a couture shop in Mpls with awesome dresses....yeah, probably not going to have anything in my size. Or, that's what I was thinking. And again, I'm pretty average when it comes to clothes. I can wear a medium to large top from a normal department store and my dress size is usually a 10/12. I don't mind admitting that. I'm considered fairly average. But....wedding dresses run incredibly small. I was told at the shop that how they do the sizing is to take your normal dress size and add 4 sizes to that. That's your typical wedding dress size. Nice, huh? Lets make all the brides feel really fat in what's supposed to be the most important dress they will ever wear. Frustrating.


(Photo credit: Robyn)

To get on with the story, I looked up Posh online and after checking out some of their lovely designers, I thought what the hell and gave them a call. Marie answered the phone and I was immediately hooked. Not only did she reassure me that they would have dresses in my size to try on, she was so amazingly friendly and as luck would have it, had an appointment available for Saturday morning. I booked it.

Now here is where I start getting overly gushy and go on and on about just how amazing my dress shopping experience was. I am so lucky to say that I had that wonderful and beautiful dress experience that you see in the movies. The experience that little girls supposedly dream about, but I never thought would be me. Remember, I love dresses, but wedding dresses? It's not like I ever sat around and imagined what mine would be like. And wedding dresses scare me because, wow, they are expensive and beautiful and everyone is going to be looking at you on that day. But I am so happy to say that I had that magical experience that brought tears to my eyes. But again, I'm getting ahead of myself.

Saturday morning Robyn picked me up at my house in Minneapolis and we headed over to the Semple Mansion. It turns out that Posh has only been open since November and that is why I had never heard of them before, but they are located conveniently inside the mansion along with some other businesses. We were lucky to be the only customers inside the shop at this time and we were greeted with comfy slippers, champagne and fancy cheese and crackers. (I have to add that they don't skimp on that champagne either!) I was also lucky to have not one amazing sales girl helping me, but two; Tina and Stacey. They were both dolls. I really need to mention here just how incredible they made my experience. They were sweet, considerate, non judgmental, not pushy, not fake and they really listened to what I was looking for and what I wanted. They got to know me as a person. It really felt like they wanted to find me the perfect dress that not only looked good on me, but showed off who I am.

So...caring sales girls, champagne, beautiful dresses, what else could make this even more wonderful? The shop itself. It was like out of a fairy tale or something that you would see in a movie. From the chandeliers to the textured wallpaper to the gorgeous couches to the plush rugs to the tin ceilings...everything was beautiful. I don't even think photos can do this place justice. It's just something you should experience for yourself.



(Photo credits: Robyn)

Now to get back to my dress. The girls asked me about myself and what I was looking for and Robyn mentioned the dress from the ad she saw. Tina knew exactly the one and brought that in along with a bunch of other gorgeous dresses. Of course though, it was the one that Robyn suggested that I tried on first and it was THE DRESS. I glowed. I teared up. I laughed. I didn't want to ever take it off. It was perfect. But, like a good girl, I tried on other dresses. There was another contender in the mix, but as lovely as it was, it wasn't the same. Marie was incredible and put together a good offer for me. Even knocked off the price of some alterations and since it was a trunk show, I was offered 10% off if I purchased that day. Wow. Tough decision. Luckily I had Robyn with me to keep me thinking straight. She encouraged me to go to some other stores to try on more dresses before buying the most perfect and beautiful dress in the world.

And off we went. I could not stop glowing. I could not stop talking about the dress. It was beautiful and perfect and...over budget. Ugh. Even with the discounts, it was more than I wanted to spend. Total heartache. So Rue and I went to another shop and there was nothing there I could bring myself to even try on. I remembered Hallie mentioning a couture shop to me that is located in St Paul so I quickly called them up and asked if they had any time available that afternoon. Incredibly enough, even with their Vera Wang trunk show going on, they could squeeze me in.

I need to mention that during all of this, I called Ned and told him about THE DRESS. I told him it was over budget, but just how amazing it was and how it made me feel. His response? If it made me happy and if I knew it was THE DRESS, then I should buy it. He even offered to pay the deposit for me. Seriously, best fiance ever.

Back to trying on dresses. Brilliant, lovely dresses. Vera Wang dresses. And yet, they didn't compare. Wow. I thought that if I ever fell for a dress of the rack, it would be a Vera. But nope. All I could think about was MY DRESS. Thats how I was thinking of it by then. Mine. Like it had been designed just for me. What were the chances that Rue would see it in a magazine while getting her eyebrows waxed? What were the chances that they would have an appointment open for that Saturday? What were the chances that they would have that dress there for me to try? Everything just fell into place and I fell in love.


(Photo credit: Robyn) (No idea what I'm looking at here.)

Is this getting too mushy for you yet? Because really, I could go on and on and on about this dress. But to make a very long story just a tiny bit shorter, I bought the dress. After trying on the Vera Wang dresses I knew that it was the one. Robyn and I rushed back to Posh to make the purchase. Again we were treated to more champagne and tons of hugs and I got to put my dress back on and Robyn took a million photos. Photos that I will not share. At least, not until after the wedding. Call me old fashioned, but my dress is going to remain a secret from Ned until the day of. Which really wasn't a big deal to me before, but then Robyn drilled it into my head that I should not ruin the surprise. Poor Ned.

The end.

- Gan

Check, check and check!

(Photo credit: me)

It's so awesome to get things checked off of your to do list. It makes you feel so accomplished. Ned and I had a very wedding-y day that lead us to checking off quite a few things from our list. I'm so proud of us.

Today was the first Independent Wedding Fair in Minneapolis. Normally I go to the wedding fairs with Ama***, but this one I wanted to take Ned with me because it was held at FIVE Event Center- the venue where our reception is going to be. We love our reception venue so much that any excuse to hang out there is perfect. We got so excited over the venue all over again. They have such a great space and I love being there. Not to mention the most amazingly friendly staff.




(Photo credits: me)

The fair itself wasn't that big of a deal. I mean, it was really nice, don't get me wrong. And honestly, I probably enjoyed it a lot more than the huge crazy fairs held at the convention center or wherever with all the vendors pushing stuff at you and getting you to sign up for junk mail that never ends. But there wasn't a lot there. If you want to get a huge selection of vendors with lots of things to try and check out, then this really isn't the fair for you. But for us, it was great. Not just for 1 reason, but 3. We found 3 new vendors that we want to book! How cool is that?

We still need to meet with them and discuss the finer details and everything, but we found a florist, event planner/decorator/coordinator, and a baker all at this fair. I had found a florist and a baker at previous fair that I wanted to check out some more, but the vendors today blew them completely away. Especially the florist. Some of her stuff took my breath away. Her style fits me perfectly. And we even booked a tasting with the baker for later in the month.

Seriously, look at these bouquets! The colors and textures are incredible. I love the use of the green feathers in the first one and the grass in the second. She really has some neat ideas. I can't wait to meet with her again and see what she can come up with for our wedding.



(Photo credits: me)

Another fun thing about the fair was getting to chat with a vendor we already have booked that was there- The Original Traveling Photo Booth. I just adore these guys. I'm so glad we already have them booked. I also love any chance I can get to use their services. Ama and I have at a couple of the other fairs and at The Knot party last fall. This was the first time Ned and I got to use their photo booth together.



And one last check for us today. After the wedding fair, we swung by Patina, a favorite store of mine, and picked up our wedding cake topper. I don't have a picture of it at the moment so it'll have to wait for another post.

***I usually go to the wedding fairs with Ama because we have so much fun doing it together, not because Ned isn't interested. He is enjoying the wedding planning as much as I am and is totally up for going to any wedding events that are going on.

- Gan

Mmmmm babies

I have a confession to make. I haven't been working on the wedding this week. I've been distracted by work as there are a lot of issues going on and also another project has been taking up my free time.



I've been working on a baby shower for a long time friend of mine. I thought another friend of hers was going to throw it, but when I found out she had no plans to, I jumped at the chance. I love my friend, I love babies and I love planning parties!

She is due the first week of March and I'm planning an adorable milk and cookies baby shower with an animal theme for the end of February. I know this isn't wedding related, but I just wanted to show off these incredibly cute invites I put together with craft supplies I already had. The image was from a Google search and I feel terrible that I can't remember who the artist is. (But as soon as I do, I'll share her name.) The fonts are the same ones I used for our engagement party invites. These were really easy to put together and I'm glad I have a ton of craft supplies stockpiled for such a situation. Didn't have much time or extra cash, but I think these turned out wonderful.



I can't wait to meet her little boy in a few weeks! Tomorrow I get to go squish Hallie's new little one some more. Have to admit, with all these babies around, I've got a bit of the fever.

New wedding website!

NonPareil is actually a beautiful online magazine dedicated mostly to stylish DIY wedding projects. Here, they can explain it a little better:

"Nonpareil Magazine is the result of a collaboration between Maddy Hague of the Inspired Bride and Kristen Magee of Paper Crave. Nonpareil is an online magazine that approaches weddings and other occasions with a focus on hip, stylish, do-it-yourself projects and inspiration, and our goal is to awaken your creative side and to help you plan a beautiful wedding in a more accessible way.

At Nonpareil, we’re always looking for fresh, talented vendors and creatives to contribute do-it-yourself inspiration, craft tutorials and projects, printables, templates, and tips and tricks for weddings and other occasions. If you’re interested in contributing, please see our submissions area. We look forward to hearing from you!"

This is just genius! Amazing tutorials and downloads all in one space so you can DIY your wedding (or other fabulous party) all you want! I can already tell I'll be using this site a ton over the next 8 months. Hopefully I'll even be able to contribute a project or two.


(Photo credit: nonpareil)

- Gan

Not sure I'm ready for this

I decided that this coming weekend I'm going to try on wedding dresses again. I got my W2s last week and immediately filed my taxes. According to TurboTax, they have already been accepted and I should be getting my return direct deposited any day. That means it's definitely time to try this again. (Notice the lack of exclamation points here.)

The last time I attempted this it ended better than it started, but it was still pretty hard on me. You would think this would be my favorite part of the planning as much as I love dresses, but it's emotionally and physically draining for me. I wish I had a fairy godmother who could just wave her wand and stick me in a beautiful dress.



Unfortunately, I don't have a fairy godmother and I have to actually go to shops to try on dresses. I do plan on having my dress made for me, and in my head I have an idea of what I like, but I need to try on dresses with a similar style to see if I will actually look good in it.

If you had asked me 10 years ago what I imagined getting married in, it would have been something like this:



5 years ago it would have been this:



Now I have a completely different style in mind. Something fuller like the first dress, but different cut, different top, different material. I wish I had some pictures on this computer to share, but I'm at work and I also want to check with Ned before posting something like that. I guess I don't care if he sees my dress before the wedding, and I'm sure he would be fine with it, but I also don't want to ruin the surprise.

- Gan