D-I-Y Didn't I Outsource... Inviting Our Wedding Party

Hive, I must tell you, the first two DIY projects I talked about weren't actually my first. You're never supposed to lie about your first, but.. I was ashamed. I was proud of what I did at the time, but then... well...

You look on Weddingbee and someone points out how something you just spent hours on was probably a terribly unimaginative, wholly unimportant, overwhelmingly uncreative waste of time and money. They weren't talking about you specifically, they were talking about your type of project. You hang your head in shame and vow never to speak of your first.

An amazing amount of creativity finds it way to the surface and you are overwhelmingly uncreative no more. Your unimportance suddenly is less whole and your imagination is far less terrible. The clouds part and you put out good work.

I did the Thank You wreath and the Save The Date Bunting in mid June and felt really proud of it. But as more time passed, I became less ashamed of my project from early June. I've decided to own up and show you my real first. So what if it's a terribly unimaginative, wholly unimportant, overwhelmingly uncreative waste of time and money? I worked hard on it and got my desired results.

So just what am I talking about hive? I'm talking about inviting our wedding party to join us in our wedding party. Even with our large number, we had already asked pretty much everyone except the officiants before we were engaged. So it wasn't a surprise to them what we wanted.

Still, I wanted something more formal. Something they could look back on. Something to seal the deal. And as much as all those beautiful hand-made wedding party invites I've seen around Weddingbee tugged at my heartstrings, I knew there was no way Mr. Kettle and I were about to hand-make 30+ invitations.

So I turned to my best friend for making stuff on my PC: Microsoft Word. I know, I know, why not upgrade to Publisher? Why not use any of the many programs that come standard on a PC just for that purpose? I'm a rebel and I like what I like.

I got on Microsoft Word and began searching for templates. After going through a number of templates, I found one that looked like it was close-ish to the right colors. At that time we were going for blue, not purple.

Also, I hadn't yet decided I was set so firmly against hearts in my not-Valentine's-themed wedding. Plus, I know I'm a sucker for straight lines and striped. So I picked a template and went about trying to make it personal for each person.

This basically involved changing the words to say "Bridesmaid" or "Bridal Attendant" or "Officiant". There wasn't a whole lot to do. We printed them off on this really cute and special fancy paper and I began folding. I left space on each one for Mr. Kettle and I to write a personalized message in it. We split it up according to who's family/friend was being included in the wedding.



Personal Photo: Oh yeah, four-fold Microsoft template. Don't worry, I wasn't under any delusions of creativity with this one.



Personal Photo: I did like the wording, even if I didn't come up with it myself. I did come up with that blue text box on the inside. That counts for something, right?

Personal Photo: These wedding bells turned out to be something that showed up in other places throughout the wedding. Two of everything is an unofficial theme.

We got the envelopes and stuffed them. This will be the only thing for the wedding I would dare hand-address. My handwriting is pretty terrible, so I wouldn't do it for more than 50 things. And all our wedding events have at least 100 people attending.



Personal Photo: Almost forgot to the show the front cover. I messed around with the color, but not much else.



Personal Photo: These envelopes are surprisingly amazing. And super affordable.



Personal Photo: I really liked this paper. The weight wasn't too heavy, and the color was fabulous. It's part of the reason I keep flip-flopping between pure white and creamy ivory for our wedding color.

Personal Photo: Sorry I had to cover up most of this. But I did want you to at least get a glimpse of my sometimey handwriting.

Not my most creative DIY, but our friends and family really enjoyed getting these in the mail. Seeing as how we'd asked most of them to participate before we even were engaged, this made it official for them I think.

How did you invited your WP? Was your invitation waaaay better than mine?

How To Be A Rebel Bride - Wedding Venue Edition

What is the best way to be a rebel bride when it comes to your wedding venue? Well it depends on a couple of factors. For me, it was all about avoiding the church.

Do NOT misunderstand my love for Jesus. He's the man. I'm very religious and one of my favorite things about Mr. Kettle is when he prays for us both while we holds hands. We both attend church and intend on raising our children in church. I love my church and am very active in it.

I just didn't want to get married in a church. Weddings at my church can be very beautiful.


personal photo of Kettle Friends wedding in 2009

 But this side-angled pictures doesn't show the whole shot. See that bright ass red cloth hanging over the pulpit? Those are all over the front of the church. Also, the wood color is too light. Also, the choir stand is up there and it just takes up useless space. Lastly, the stained glass windows, while beautiful, are not at all how I pictured my wedding ceremony.

Were we getting married in the summer, we'd definitely be outdoors in someone's garden. Even having a wedding in February, I wanted it in a garden atmosphere, just indoors. Momma Kettle and Mr. Kettle didn't love the idea of it not being in a church, but they accepted my vision and we moved forward without much discussion on the matter.

My pastor and Mr. Kettle's pastor had both done weddings at each of our proposed wedding venues so that also wasn't a problem. My pastor was actually excited about the possibilities of a wedding at one of the venues. The man has style. He's a Libra, why wouldn't he?

Once Momma Kettle understood my vision, we both researched wedding venue options. We picked places that had a garden feel even indoors in the winter. FSIL Grand and Mima Kettle suggested places that were already on our list, but got bumped up higher knowing multiple people thought it was a good idea.

The top three places we came up with were chosen because of location, matching with my vision, family agreement, and that extra factor of fitting our entire family's flare for the dramatic. We set up appointments to tour these places.

One Saturday, Momma Kettle, Mr. Kettle, and I piled into Mr. Kettle's car and drove to Joliet. With the traffic we were surprised with how quickly we got there, which boded well for our chances of decided to have our wedding outside the city.

Up first was the Jacob Henry Mansion Estate in Joliet, IL. Driving up to this place it looked idyllic.

Image: Jacob Henry Mansion



Personal photo: Main room where indoor ceremony would take place. Gets converted to tables and chairs during cocktail hour.

They don't have a lot of options for indoor ceremonies. Their big draw is the outdoor ceremony followed by the vintage reception. The three of us immediately noticed that wasn't exactly what I wanted. But we continued the tour.

We took a tour of the inside and saw how they have the place setup. It's lots of rooms that make it feel like you're having a giant dinner party using every room on the first floor of your mansion. The upstairs is for the wedding party to get ready.

Personal photo: The stairs and main foyer. Very, very vintage. For the Kettles, this wasn't a good thing.

Personal photo: a view from the other side of the foyer, showing the setup for when guests enter the mansion.

Personal photo: another of the rooms that would be filled with tables and chairs for our large wedding.

Personal photo: more tables and chairs.



Personal photo: I think this was the upstairs...



Personal photo: the room where the bride could get ready. I wonder if people used the bed...?

Personal photo: don't remember what this room is for.

Personal photo: more table, chairs, and vintage flair

Personal photo: this is definitely the upstairs. Seating for hanging out for the bridal party or cocktail hour I guess.

After the tour, we asked questions about price and accommodations. If I were at all interested in a vintage feel for my wedding, I would have stopped right there and put down a deposit. But that wasn't the feel I was going for. Wedding planning tip #1: Have a pretty solid idea of your wedding theme before you go looking at venues.

We thanked them for their time and moved on. Up next on the list was the Patrick C. Haley Mansion. It was about a five minute drive away from the Henry mansion.

While searching for venues, did you find something that would be perfect, just not for you?

Diving Headfirst Into Wedding Planning

I jumped quite quickly into wedding planning. I already had some ideas of what I wanted from discussions with Mr. Kettle and my mother. He and I discussed things like wedding size, bridal party, officiants, and of course, wedding date.

Momma Kettle and I had a special understanding about weddings. We'd been discussing what I might want for my wedding for years. This is, of course, without a groom in mind, but that's how we roll. We do what we want.


Us at the White House Blue Room right before Christmas. See all that leg out? Yeah, we're rebels.

 

The first thing Momma Kettle and I began planning was finding a venue for the wedding and finding a wedding dress for me. Also, we came up with a tentative budget (that has since changed 3 times).

A lot of brides I know, especially ones who grew up in my church, find they have a battle on their hands when it's time to discuss wedding venue. Some can't fathom, or aren't allowed by family, to get married outside the church. Others are stuck when it comes to reception because they don't want to make people travel too far.

I didn't have those issues as I expressed up front that I would be no means get married in my church. I'm very religious, but I just had a different vision for my wedding. I would still have a religious ceremony, but somewhere other than my church. Or Mr. Kettle's church.

Momma Kettle and I each came up with a list of venues and moved the ones that appeared on both lists to the top of our joint list. We talked numbers with Daddy Kettle and eliminated the ones outside our price range. We did the same process with finding a bridal salon for wedding dresses. And I showed my mother tons of pictures of wedding dresses so she would understand that traditional wedding dresses were out of the question for both my style and my vision of the wedding.

The first thing Mr. Kettle and I did was to confirm with our chosen people that they could actually be a part of our wedding. We needed to be sure that all 33 members were available. That's right, hive, I said 33. We had: 2 Best Men, 2 Maids of Honor, 2 Bridal Attendants, 8 Groomsmen, 6 Bridesmaids, 2 Junior Bridesmaids, 2 Flower Girls, 2 Ring Bearers, 3 Hostesses, 2 Ushers, and 2 Officiants.

We had a relatively short To-Do list to get accomplished within the first month. Find a venue, find a dress, and confirm wedding party. Also, we wanted to come up with our guest list so we could send out save the dates.

Personally, I really wanted to, and needed to, get organized. I had a plan for getting it done, thanks to Weddingbee. Two weeks before getting engaged I started my new job. With my very first paycheck, I splurged on a purchase. I could have gotten it for much cheaper, but it was soooo purty. Plus, it fit my ideas of how things should be organized. What did I buy?

Screenshot of Wedding Binder via Russell and Hazel

I could have put this together at Staples or Office Depot for half the price. But it was just sooooo pretty. I was very happy with my purchase. And it has kept me very very organized.

Up next I will talk about our whirlwind weekend of venue and dress shopping.

Did you dive headfirst into wedding planning? Were the people aroud you accepting to your vision of how things should be for your wedding?