side notes: speaking of weddings

on the subject of weddings,
chris and i just celebrated our
first year wedding anniversary! [and
nine whole years together!!]
time really does just fly by!

well i don't want to get into every
detail of that day because those were
special moments between us two...

let's just skip to the part where
we ate our year old cake! because,
ya know, everyone loves cake! :)

one of the main things i was worried
about was my cake toppers. i made my
own pinwheel toppers, so the baker just
stuck them into the top tier. well,
that decision left holes in the
top of the cake. i figured that would
totally just dry the entire cake
out during preservation!

we were both very anxious to try it,
i mean, one year old cake? uh ew! lol!
surprisingly, the cake was still really good!
i think the thick layer of fondant
kinda helped lock the moisture in!

the first bite was kinda dry. but that's
because it was an edge piece.
i cut into the middle and it was like
a new fresh piece of cake! yummy!

lucky for us, the venue sealed it
up properly and squared it away for us.
[who knew a cardboard box and
some saran wrap would keep it delicious!]
it then sat in our freezer for that
very short year waiting for us to dig into!

the funniest part was chris and
i chose four different flavors for
the tiers and we couldn't remember which
flavor the top tier was. we eventually
figured it was the monster cookie cake because
we saw some m&m's hiding in the cake. lol!

the flavors were:
a. monster cookie
b. lunchbox [yellow cake w/ chocolate
frosting, because chris likes simple]
c.hazelnut nutella
d. chocolate peanut butter cup

i decided to get creative and remade
the toppers [the originals got
ruined, but it was expected since they
were just made of paper, and the holes on
the top made the cake look ugly so
i had to cover them, lol].


here's a picture of the top tier
with the pinwheel toppers:




here's a picture after i cut it and we ate it:



what a fun way to celebrate something
so special! we didn't even want to throw
the cake away! we were sad when we did!

stay tuned! more photos and info
on the cake coming up!

"the big picture"

the first chapter of the
'wedding keepsake book' begins with
'the big picture.' this allows
you and your soon-to-be husband to write out
and talk about all the things you
both envision for the wedding.


"the big picture"



this chapter includes a small area
to write out your dream wedding ideas,
a place for your wedding contacts, such as
the caterer, photographer, etc.

the next part is
my favorite part of this chapter...
the long engagement and short engagement
checklists. the long engagement checklist
starts at a year out and the short
engagement starts at six months out.

some of the items on those lists include:
-send save-the-date cards
-meet with officiant to plan ceremony
-choose table linens and napkin treatments
-schedule rehearsal time and rehearsal dinner time


there is also a "mock" schedule:



i thought it was very helpful to
see how a wedding should flow to create
a smooth and stress free wedding night!
although, the dj we booked took care of
a lot of the flow of things, thank you, cubbie!

[if you are in the des moines area or
surrounding area i would highly suggest
'select entertainment'as they are amazing at
what they do as a dj, photobooth company
and wedding organizer, but more on that later]!
here's the website: select entertainment

last but not least there is a
wedding day emergency kit list!
which was super awesome to me! that
someone could think about that!
although , i didn't pack one-- but turns
out i didn't need it anyway because
the reception site had me covered!
greatest wedding team my husband and
i could ever have!