landlocked bride | midwest wedding inspiration

So, it’s been a while since the last “My Wedding” post, but with the recent mailing of our invitations, I wanted to share the design the Pilot and I came up with after months of tweaking and re-designing.

Our invitations were one serious labor of love. I re-designed them multiple times, a little more satisfied with the design with each revision. And, with a welcomed epiphany earlier this year, we settled on a final design. One that was art deco enough for us both, but still minimalistic.

We took somewhat of a different approach with our invites – opting to go a tad less formal with the wording. I love the formality of a wedding, but our wedding is no black-tie affair. For one, my parents like to go by their first names, and for the most part, The Pilot’s do as well. No “Mr. and Mrs. Pilot” in this family. And, because both parents so generously split the cost of the wedding, we made sure to include them both. And, my favorite part? They are red. A bold and gorgeous shade of red.

In sticking with our eco-friendly goal, we printed front and back. Using the back of the main invitation to include the reception details / times / address. As for the design, I mirrored the front and reversed the colors, using red for the text on this side.

Second best part? 100% Recycled Cardstock. Score.

I’ve asked for one thing as a wedding gift from my future husband. Most girls want a pair of diamonds or jewelry of some sort. However, I want a few sweet photos that look like this:

Image courtesy of James Christianson Photographer

So…..I asked for these:

Bulgari

It’s strange, I know. But I LOVE sunglasses. Like it’s my job. I have a million pairs floating around my house.

Was there one accessory you just had to have for your wedding day?

So, remember back when I was trying to figure out what our “favor” could be? Well, the original thought was to incorporate some sort of eco-friendly element into it, but it just seemed contradictory to give away a favor and have it be “green.”

And, all of you wonderful readers shared with me your thoughts on what we could do. So, first and foremost we fully plan on purchasing carbon offsets to make up for the ecological impact our wedding will have. Several past bees have gone this route, helping to invest in renewable energy, reforestation and energy efficiency.

In conjunction with our carbon offset purchasing, we went on the hunt for something fun for our guests. The obvious choice? A photobooth, of course.

The Pilot just wanted a photobooth, so I did the work of finding a company we liked. There are quite a few photobooth companies in St. Louis, all of which I have heard do a great job, but I quickly fell in love with the work (and the actual booth – it’s a great sleek and modern one) from CI Photobooth.

Image courtesy of CI Photobooth

The owners are fantastic, but they also offer a several options to make your event fun. You can pick from their backdrop collection, have them supply fun props for your guests, and they’ll even use a custom logo/design for your prints. Plus you’ll get a DVD of all the photos from the event – which I puffy heart. And, that’s not even all of it!

Did you book a photobooth for your wedding or are you creating a “fauxtobooth?”

The Pilot and I got engaged over a year ago (February 15, 2009 to be exact). For the average bride, picking a wedding date would have involved a one-year engagement, which if we had gone that route, would have us getting married about now. But, I’ve always wanted a Fall wedding, for a few reasons. Mostly because Fall in the Midwest is G-ORGEOUS. The colors are fantastic (see: engagement photos).

Images courtesy of Lisa Hessel Photography

While we could have gotten married in Fall 2009, a 9 to 10 month engagement was too short for me. I wanted some time to enjoy the engagement and time to plan without pulling my hair out (because I totes would have). The Mr. was game for what I wanted, so there were no complaints from him. The obvious decision? Wait until Fall the following year (Fall 2010). Not only did this give us time to really plan, it gave us time to enjoy our engagement, and get first pick on a lot of the vendors in town. Most places in St. Louis book up fast within a year. So, with a 17 month engagement, we had quite the lead time ahead of most engaged couples in the area.

I’m not gonna lie – it has been a long ride, but it’s one I have fully enjoyed. We’ve really had time to comb over any big decisions. And, I’ve had time to meet with our booked vendors on multiple occasions to get a lot of the details taken care of early on. All adding up to practically no stress.

Yes, we’ve had our highs and lows of wedding planning (and I’m not referring to goods and bads, arguments and make-ups. I’m talking being really busy at times and bored out of my mind at times). The entire process has been pretty bi-polar (okay, mostly bi-polar). We spend a few months really hashing out details and vendors, and then spend the next few doing absolutely nothing at all. It’s a bit confusing, but I would not change it for anything.

Was your engagement long or short? Were the seasons a factor in your decision to wait?

Since the moment the Pilot and I got engaged, we have been racking our brains to find the perfect rehearsal dinner venue. Now, to most couples, this is probably the least of our worries, but we really wanted to find a spot that is unique and/or different, something a St. Louis tie. There are a lot of places in town where many couples have their rehearsal dinners, but we were looking something else.

Choice #1:

The first and obvious choice for us was Sage.

This particular restaurant is a big favorite of mine and the Pilot’s. And, a big plus? They have a large private space on their second level, which is devoted entirely to private events. We loved the idea that we would sort of have our own little party area. Sage was opened a few years ago in the historic Soulard neighborhood in downtown Saint Louis. It look over the same location where Lynch Street Bistro was housed. The restaurant is literally a 5 minute walk from the front doors of the Anheuser-Busch Tour Center (and, you can trust me – I used to be a tour guide there).

And, on to the food. Oh, man is the food good. It’s pretty American, but they really try to keep it seasonal and local (big bonus). Not to mention, the Pilot loves their chili and tuna, and I’m quite fond of their pulled pork sandwich and Amber Bock onion rings. Now, if I only had pictures to share, because, they would so make you hungry. The lunch and dinner menu, although not huge, is filled with deliciousness. As for dessert – they offer little dessert shots. My favorite? Pumpkin gooey butter cake (and for you non-Saint Louisans – here is a little background on Gooey Butter Cake, only one of the best desserts ever).

Choice #2:

Lucas Park Grille. We originally considered this one as one of our top choices, but quickly nixed it considering their dinner menu can be a bit pricey. And, considering all of the fiance’s family and most of his friends would be traveling, our rehearsal dinner guest list is a tad larger than normal. We put this one on the back burner, until not too long ago when I decided to bite the bullet and ask about their availability, and private event menu and capacity. One of the bonuses for this post, is its location – down the street from our reception venue, which means only about 4 miles from each of the hotels we picked. Downside? Washington Ave. gets pretty busy on the weekends – making parking not super ideal.

Choice #3:

The last choice? Canyon Cafe. While it is a local restaurant, there are a few around the U.S. (so some of you may have eaten there before). They serve a great menu of Southwestern food. AND they have some of the best margaritas – so much so, that they limit you two 2, they’re that good (and that heavy on the alcohol). This place is practically a staple on the list of places me and my college girlfriends meet up at. Best part? They have a little room you can use for parties – which was a must-have when choosing our rehearsal dinner locale. Only problem was that it wasn’t so close to the hotels we chose.

The Decision?

As luck would have it – they can definitely hold all of us AND turns out, their private event menu is beyond reasonable (and includes dessert). Plus, they have valet parking – making everyone’s lives a tad easier.

Makes me hungry just thinking about this.

Where are you having your rehearsal dinner?

Because we decided on envelopes for our save the dates, we had to figure out a way to address these puppies. There was no way I was handwriting anything. And, I surely did not want a plane label. So I searched for ways to create a wrap around label. I mean, they’re all over the place, but considering we wanted to mail these out pretty soon, I was working with a short timeline. Which left me with very few choices.

My mom had purchased what she thought were Avery 5160 labels (you know, the traditional, 3 across, 10 down labels). When she opened the box, they were the 2 across, 10 down type. So basically, longer that the 5160 labels. How convenient? I picked them up from home one night, and downloaded the Avery DesignPro program. I was not about to figure out if Photoshop could do a mail merge of about 200 addresses, and Word only gives you so many options in terms of design. DesignPro, is like the easy, free (and extremely low tech) version of Photoshop with a mail merge.

So, with a little magic and inspiration from our Save the Dates design, I crafted a wrap around:

Boy, did this make the addressing process entirely too easy. I already had everyone’s address in an Excel file, so it was a matter of merging the two files together. Taking off the labels (and stamps) from their backing sheet, and sticking them on the envelopes!

After a marathon sesh of label/stamp sticking, we were ready to mail them off!

How did you address your save the dates?

P dot S, I promise the reveal is coming!

What sucks was that I spent countless hours designing our Save the Dates. Countless, people. I’m a perfectionist, and so it took me about 15 plus tries to design something that I was pretty happy with.

Design One: Bleh. Was based on an invite design I did back in April 2009 (yes, you read that correctly, almost a year ago).

Design Two: Update of design one. Do you see a trend here?

Design Three: I decided to play off of a Frank Lloyd Wright wall stencil I found (the Mr. just loves the work of FLW).

I seriously have about 4 or 5 iterations of each of the above designs. I originally thought I wanted something edgy, but each time I designed something, the result was something more simple (hence why the three fairly art-deco-y designs above).

On top of that, I would spend endless amounts of time swooning over all of the save the dates I found online and from which I wished I could get inspired. So, what did I do? I walked away. For six months (wha??). Yeah, I totally forgot about them for six months, until we had our engagement photos taken, and I realized we should use one of those pretty little photos with our save the dates. Duh!

How long did it take you to pick out or design your save the dates? (Hopefully not six months, like me).

I super big puffy heart breakfast. I *must* eat it every morning or I am one crabby lady (just ask the Mr.). I especially love breakfast for dinner. There is something so backwardsly delicious about bacon, eggs and hash browns at 7 p.m.

Plus, I seriously like puff pastries (see: croquembouche), particularly for breakfast. So, it’s no surprise that I fell in love with the idea of a Donut Truck the second I saw this:

Image courtesy of Jen Fariello via Classic Bride

Deli trucks and taco trucks are making appearances at weddings, too (just ask Miss Stripes). But, I cannot help but have a hankering for a delicious donut. Especially at midnight, after a night of partying and celebrating your marriage.

Now the problem is finding a Donut Truck in St. Louis…

Was there anything you stumbled up on in your planning that you *wanted* to make work, but just didnt?

One year ago today, the Pilot proposed to me.

Which reminds me – I’ve never actually told you how he proposed, so here it goes! And, of course, photos are included!!

Last January, we had planned a trip to Colorado for some skiing and to visit some friends of ours. We were both pining for a visit to the Rockies, but the Pilot had a hidden agenda for this trip – a proposal! His initial plan was to propose on the first night while we were out snow tubing. Our flight arrived a bit late, so after driving from DEN to Keystone, a delicious Mexican dinner and countless hours of catching up, we never made it out to go snow tubing.

The Mr. had to come up with “Plan B” – to propose on Saturday while we were on the slopes. Unfortunately, I took a pretty big spill mid-day and was not feeling up to par (Side Note: Always wear a helmet on the slopes – it’s what saved me from getting a concussion).

To an improvised Plan C he went. On Sunday, I decided to take a half-day snowboarding refresher course in the morning. It had been nearly four years since I had last been on the slopes, so I was not game for hurting myself again on Day 2. After dropping me off, the Pilot shared the news with our friends that he was going to propose. They spent the first half of the day skiing/snowboarding and scoping out the perfect spot for him to pop the question.

Mid-afternoon, we all took the Keystone Gondola up to the summit to enjoy some lunch. On the way up, my mom had called to “check in.” Really, she was calling to see what was up. The Pilot had told my parents he was going to propose on Friday, so she was getting antsy as to why I had not called her yet with the news.

This photo was taken just moments before the proposal!

Anyway, after lunch, we all headed back out for our last run of the day. My friend A (who also happens to be a bridesmaid) managed to get my camera from me by offering to get some action shots of me snowboarding down the mountain. By this point, I was still completely clueless, so I offered her my camera so she could snap some photos (all of the photos I had taken up to this point did not have me in them).

Our friends plopped down at the top of run to strap on their snowboards, but I opted to set up on a more flat spot so my snowboard wouldn’t take off down the mountain. Oddly enough, a few weeks prior, I had purchased new snowboard bindings, which had been giving me trouble all weekend, requiring someone to help me strap my boots into my bindings. The Pilot had begun to take off his skis “to help” (or so I thought).

The Pilot about to pop the question!

He sat down next to me (instead of helping me with my bindings) and pulled the ring out of his coat. While all of this is happening, our friends are behind us snapping photos of the proposal, and I’m extremely focused on trying to get my bindings locked. He managed to get my attention and went into a spiel about starting our lives together, most of which I don’t remember (sorry honey!). I started crying and shaking a bit, but of course said “YES!” The sun was setting over Keystone, and my best friend asked me to marry him while we were at the top of the Frenchman ski run. It is definitely a day I will never forget and only strengthened our love for the State of Colorado.

Ring on the finger action.

A snowboard shot of the ring.

The happy couple!

Sunset at Keystone.

Ring shot from the car ride back to our condo.

**All images are personal and taken by a friend.**

To the Pilot – Happy Engage-aversary! And, a big THANKS for picking such a beautiful location to start a new chapter in our lives!

So, after submitting my application a few weeks ago, last week, I was contacted by the fabulous Mrs. Penguin and was accepted to be a part of the great blogger bride and wedding community that is Weddingbee.  Now, to address some questions that I am sure are running through your mind:

1.  What is my Weddingbee Character:  Miss Argyle

2.  What does this mean for Landlocked Bride:  Landlocked Bride will still exist!  I will continue to share inspiration and highlight Midwest vendors and real weddings.  I could never abandon my readers!

3.  What about the “My Wedding” blog posts?  All “My Wedding” blog posts will now be found on Weddingbee.  You can follow them there, and the “My Wedding” tab at the top of the page links directly to my Weddingbee feed.  The link will not work until probably mid-day today, so just keep a look out!  For a few weeks, past posts will be featured to get Weddingbee readers up to speed on “Mr. Argyle and I’s” wedding.  And then new posts will be featured.

If you want to know more, just me know!

And, stay tuned this afternoon for a great Vendor Spotlight feature of an up and coming photographer!