Our decorator

One highlight of our day was meeting with Pat Hanson of Silk Expressions. We realize that we need help with dressing the reception hall ceiling and creating centerpieces. Creating a simple, elegant, and comfortable ambience without breaking the bank is the big picture goal. After pouring over many resources we settled on two different centerpiece ideas, picking just one was too hard. Think floating flowers, candles, and mirrors. Anyway, Pat is a super spunky lady with an amazing studio. Curt and I were completely blown away by her set-up. And she's really nice.

Busy day with vendors

Today we met with two cake vendors, a reception decorator, and the reception events coordinator in Mankato, MN.

Our stops:
1. 9 am with Walmart to sample their cakes.
2. 10 am with Cafe Ambrosia to talk about cake and or cupcake options. No samples were provided.
3. 11 am with Pat Hanson from Silk Expressions.
4. 12 noon for a recovery snack at Panera
5. 12:30 pm with Irene, the event coordinator at Country Inn and Suites.
6. 2:00 pm at the Mexican Village for a late lunch with Brent and Shanna Wood and Doug and Bev Wood.

Needless to say we are wiped out from the adventurous day. But it was so much fun driving around as a team to meet and plan out some details for the big day!

The Tuxedos!

Above is a picture of an option for what our dads will wear. It is the Chocolate Calvin Klein tuxedo with mocha colored accessories. We might put them in black tuxes too.
Above is a picture of Curt standing next to the outfit for the groomsmen and ushers. Curt is also modeling the color of his tie and holding a swatch of the bridesmaid dresses. I carry the swatch with me everywhere!

This is what the handsome groom will be wearing. The pictures were provided by Savvi Formalwear in Southdale Mall.

enron: costly price of privilege

tonight curt and I watched Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room. it was a free rental from the Movie gallery. our other options were Amelie and Far from Heaven.

bad things happen when people with no moral compass are in positions of power. of course there are usually two sides to a story. it's amazing how this corporate scandal took shape and got so out of hand.

in other news, it is finals week at my school. I hope my 9th graders are gearing up for all of their exams. and today i was really wishy washy about our choice of brown tuxes. but Curt was very reassuring. i'm still sticking with the haute chocolate!

christmas cookie contest

a group photo of the 1st annual Mai sibling Christmas cookie contest. participants from left to right were christine mai, calvin mai, curt wood, carolyn wieland, and josh wieland. we were missing one Mai sibling, christopher mai. we think he was afraid of the fierce competition and decided not to show up. anyway, the duo of Christine and Curt walked away with Overall Cookie winner and Presentation winner.

yummy wedding party

check out the color scheme for the guys' clothing:
the tuxes are called chocolate with latte and mocha colored accessories. chocolate? latte? mocha? sounds very yummy to me. the wedding party could be a walking advertisement for Starbucks or something.

1st list

Here is a current list of things we have figured out so far related to the wedding.

Date: November 10, 2007 in Mankato, MN
Ceremony and officiant: First Congregational UCC of Mankato, Pastor Al Thompson
Reception: Country Inn and Suites Hotel and Conference Center, Mankato
Bride's Attire: Dress by Essense of Australia from Vowed in Elegance Bridal Boutiqe, Mankato (vowedinelegance.com)
Attire for Bridesmaids: Dress by Bari Jay from The Wedding Shoppe, St. Paul
Attire for the Men: Tuxedos by Calvin Klein from Savvi Formalwear of MN, various locations (savviminnesota.com)
Photographer: Becca Dilley Photography, Mpls (beccadilley.com)

swimming video

this past saturday i participated in an underwater swimming video session at the good ole Chaska Middle School pool. it was fun! just so you know my sister (carolyn) and I have decided to give the triathlon thing a try. our debut will be at the heart of the lakes tri in annandale, MN. Curt's dad, brother, sister-in-law, along with carolyn's friend rebecca are also going to compete too!

anyway, it was horrifying to watch the video footage afterwards. the session was also made interesting by our experience with the crazy showers in the locker room.

the budget

it would be great to keep the cost of the total wedding (from attire to invitations to rehearsal dinner, etc) under $10,500. even that total seems very expensive to me. what is kind of cool is that we have control of how we want to manage the budget. We will keep costs low without skimping on things we feel are important for our guests and family.

right now we are trying to have a personal friend assist with flowers. and we might just end up using an Ipod with home speakers for the night entertainment.

fellowship of the ring

the circular shape of a ring is very interesting to me. there is no beginning or end. the promise of everlasting love is such a grand thing.

speaking of rings...i've failed to talk about my engagement ring. It's perfect. It's a single, square, princess-cut diamond. The band is white gold. The entire thing sparkles yet is simplistic with a very clean design. Curt did a wonderful job picking it out.

For Curt's wedding band I think we are going to stick with something that is also simple and silver colored. No bling-bling for him. White gold is probably the metal we will choose. It would be interesting to research other metal options such as titanium. We shall see.

the Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Curt finished watching the Lord of the Rings trilology! We started with the Fellowship of the Ring on New Years eve night. At first Curt was sort of hesitant and slightly uninterested because the thought of watching dwarves, elves, and hobbits for three hours was not a pleasant one. But he was very open to experiencing it. Curt watched the Two Towers this past week while recovering on the couch from a nasty struggle with the stomach flu. This seemed to peak more interest in watching the final one in the trilogy, The Return of the King!

We ended what seemed to be a busy and draining week with a Friday night where we enjoyed a papa john's pizza and the Return of the King. Pizza and a movie, a simple yet tried and true combination!

Curt is 99% recovered now. Today we are going to partake in a swim video/mini-clinic. This means that he will tape my swimming from underwater. This makes me slightly nervous. Look for a wrap-up of the morning activities on Curt's blog.

pre-ceremony snacks

Possibly a roast pig!?!?

Okay, it's just an idea. Let me explain. The church has a wonderful reception area that we would like to use to provide pre-ceremony snacks consisting of fried rice, egg rolls, some cheese and crackers, punch, and possibly the customary roasted pig. It would be great to have a twilighty ceremony with lots of candles. We are thinking of having a 4 pm or 4:30 pm ceremony start time. But we don't want to rush the dinner reception events either. Regardless, it would be fun to provide some snacks before the marriage ceremony begins to promote bonding and to tame hungry bellies.

I personally am not a fan of eating a roasted pig, although having something like this on display would provide some shock-an-awe value. The pig in the picture looks completely scorched! Kind of frightening.

ceremony location

The ceremony will take place at First Congregational UCC of Mankato. This is the church that Curt attended while in Mankato and his parents, Doug and Bev, currently attend. Pastor Al Thompson will marry us. I don't know very much about Pastor Al, but hope to get to know him and share with him our vision for the ceremony and dreams for the future as we meet for our marriage preparation.

In my opinion the building itself is very beautiful with open and bright spaces. The backdrop and area around the church provide comfort with a natural landscape of trees and a habitat of critters. During thanksgiving we took a stroll around the area. It was fun to check out the living and breathing things out there. A nice area for possible pre-ceremony and post-ceremony pictures!

The altar is apparently undergoing some renovation. It's getting a makeover!

Ctadium Court Mankato, MN 507-387-6592
www.mankatoucc.org

reception location

We are excited to converse, dine, and possibly get our groove on with beloved friends and family at the Country Inn and Suites in Mankato, MN. The atmosphere is warm and cozy. We meet with Irene, our event coordinator, on January 27th to initally discuss menu design and event timeline. Maps and information about lodging for special out-of-town guests will come when the time arrives!

gerber (gerbera daisies)

Ahh...gerber daisies. The choice flower to infuse color into our chocolate brown clad wedding party. They are whimsical, fun-loving, and richly vibrant. It will be difficult to pick colors especially when they come in such a wide spectrum of pinks, oranges, reds...even whites and purples! At www.fwxflowers.com you can view the wide array of choices!

germs!

First me, now it's Curt. Yesterday during school I felt ill and subsequently vomitted into the garbage can while my kids were still in the room. Despite an immediate rush of dizziness and sweat I did feel better. The school nurse wouldn't reason with me and made me go home for the day. I feel good, but Curt is feeling very sick today. He vomitted twice tonight. Once while laying in bed and the second time while trying to hop in the shower. The ill feeling came on very quickly for him too. He hasn't been this sick in a very, very long time.

I did learn a valuable lesson though today. It's extremely important to have these three items readily available at all times: 1. Sprite 2. Chicken Noodle Soup 3. An old ice cream bucket or disposable container to catch and retrieve vomit.

This will be the place where I journal about the wedding planning process. It's been very exciting and lots of fun. I feel very fortunate to have the support of family and friends. We actually have a lot of the major details figured out. I'll tell you all about them in a future post!

Welcome to the Dream World!!

Going to the Chapel of Love!