Shaun and Chole

Ruth Parbel, in Grand Rapids, MI, took our engagement photos.  She also made us an amazing little album that included all sorts of quotes from the cards Shaun used to propose (see story at end of bio).  She's amazing, she made my fi and I really comfortable, and really captured "us".  Which is amazing, because anytime someone pulls out a camera, Shaun goes into instant cheese mode, winking and pointing at the camera.  Fun for candids, not so great for portraits. 

The Venues:


The ceremony will be at the church I grew up in. Hopefully!
Since I no longer live in MI, and am not a parishinor, I can't actually reserve the church until Jan. I try not to think about what will happen if someone else decides they want to get married there that day....    
Update 9/1/06:  I talked to the priest when I was intown in August, I will know October first if we have the church for sure!!!!
Update 11/16/06:  Good to go on the church.... now just to get the thumbs up from our priest that he will travel to MI to marry us.  Definately an added expense, but something we feel really strongly about.

The Reception will be at the Pinnacle Center in Hudsonville.  Right now I don't have any pictures but you can click here if you would like to see a 360 degree room view.  

My two favorite parts of the reception venue are the deck over looking a pond, and the sound system...
Ok, I admit, the only reason I'm excited about the system is because Shaun is so excited....
   

Flowers and Decor:

General color scheme:
 
I love, love, love the combination of blues and greens.  
And I want to incorporate some sort of patern like this one that bd_bride used in her stationary.

This is the paper that I am using for a belly band on the invitations, I found it on clearance and got enough for 175 belly bands for $9.42!  I'm looking for either more of this paper, or a pattern that would compliment it to finish the Programs.

       

I collect green glass, so we are using it on the tables at the reception. 3 or so smallish pieces
with an Arnie's Torte cake, on a cake stand in the center.  For place/table cards we are using
small votive candles covered in leaf green vellum paper from paper and more.

Church doors:


I want to hang wreaths like these from Southrngal on the doors to the church.

Centerpiece Inspirations:

                    

I really like an eclectic table. No one table at the reception will look like another, and each will be a collection of pieces.  Hopefully we will be able to work either blue tableclothes or table runners into the budget.



Bouquet inspirations:
   
I really like the look of all green and white flowers.  Hopefully, with the cold spring we have had, Peonies will still be in season come the end of June.

DIY table Numbers
Shaun and I decided that we needed a little more "Cardinals" in our wedding than just my garter.
Our solution was to make these 18"-ish numbers out of foam core, which we will take to Busch Stadium, Taking photos of us holding the numbers up around the Stadium.  I'll post some samples after they're done.
 
Shaun actually painted these one night while I was at a GTG.  He's the best.

The girls dresses:

The Inspiration:

I love these dresses from Gonnabeagoody

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I'm wasn't really concerned with all the bridesmaids wearing the same dress, so I picked a designer (alyce designs) and a color (it's called cornflower, but is a very pretty slate-ish blue) and the girls picked out their own dress.  The website colors are WAY off... here is a photo of the swatches with hydrangeas:



Flowergirl dresses:

My sister in law found these in the Wooden Soldier Catalog.
The girls won't be tying the sash in front, and probably will be wearing flower crowns instead of the flowers in the bow.
The customer service at Wooden Soldier is A+/Excellent!

Kissing Balls-
DIY- sorry for the weird pic including Shaun's feet.  
He refused to be in the picture, but I guess I snuck him in!

My dress and accessories


my dress is a mori lee, it is simple and perfect for me.  


I am going to try and make this jacket to wear for the ceremony and the first part of the reception.  It's actually a Monique Lehullier, and I have loved it since the moment I saw it... I just can stand the thought of spending so much money on it!

Once we start really dancing, I want to be able to take the jacket off and just wear the sash.

Pictures from my first fitting:
Cecelia Coleman is doing my fittings and making my jacket.
   

 

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue
(Top left)  Something Blue: This is a picture of the fabric of the dress, the lace of the Jacket and the blue chiffon sash.  
(Top Right) Something Old: I will probably wear and throw this Cardinals garter its new, but I will also be wearing the
garter that each of my Aunts and Cousins on my mom's side has wore for their weddings.  
(Bottom Left)  Something Borrowed: Shaun's Aunt is lending me this two piece pin that I will be wearing in my hair.
  I'm not sure yet if I will wear all of it, or just half in my hair.  
(Bottom right)  Something New:  ::sigh:: I love my shoes.
        
   

 
And the runner up for favorite accessory....


Hair:

        

Paper items:
will you be my bridesmaid card:

When I made these cards I thought I would be going with green and pink.
Inside I put a poem that a personalized for each girl.  They loved them!!

Save the Date/Christmas Card with Magnet:





And on the flip side of the front (top of the inside?) we attatched these magnets
 with glue dots and included our wedding website:

I designed both of these in PhotoShop and printed them through Vista Print

Not exactly paper, but...
Map from our website:

Invitations:
inspirations:

   

The first invitation is from OKCBride
and the second is from a invitations website.

Our Invitations:
We ordered our invites through Carlson Craft at The Wedding Store Saint Louis.
But, I needed to add my own flair, so we added the belly band and the vellum envelope.
These pictures are from the day they were delivered.  I still haven't settled on the final "look".
I probably won't put the return address label on the back, but instead we'll print it right on the the envelope flap.

  

 

My Aisle File:
I kept going back and forth on weather or not I wanted to send one out.
I ended up so confused on who I told what to, that it just seemed to be the best plan.
The girls LOVED them.  The teased me a little, but everyone really appreciated the update.
 

Misc. things:
Shaun and I went on a little mini-vacation in December to the wineries in Hermann, MO.  We stayed at an AMAZING COTTAGE.

As a surprise, I made an iron on and put it on the butt of some cute hipster underpants....
sorry if thats tmi, be glad I didn't include a pic., Here the iron on:


He frickin' LOVED it... as a person who isn't on the knot all day, he had never
seen anything like it... the look on his face was PRICELESS!!!

The Honeymoon:
First 6 nights at El Dorado Royale, About 20 Miles South of Cancun.
Give us a few days to shake of all the stress of the wedding and the planning




THEN, 3 nights at the Luxor in Las Vegas, Nevada!!!
About the same time we set the date for our wedding, a group of friends decided to plan a huge trip to vegas.  
We will be meeting up with 10 other couples, for us, its the perfect way to end the honeymoon.



 

Bridesmaid gifts:

I will probably make each of my bm one of these bags.  I sell them on my etsy website.

I purchased a lot of 8 ivory wraps from ebay seller PurseLover128.  I got such a good deal on them!  The ended up costing about $8 each.  The Bouquet Charms are from ABC Trading in Chesterfield, MO.  Also a great deal at $3 each.



Our Rings:


The rings are from Neusteduers, in South County, St. Louis.  
Shaun swears he will never buy jewelry anywhere else again.

The gangs all here...
here are some of the people who we look forward to
surrounding ourselves with that day


Angela, my sister & Matron of honor.  Its a goofy pic from the shower, she's explaing a book that she got me which had space for everyone there to leave me marriage advice, a Very cool keepsake.

Julia. This photo is from the family portraits I did for her last year. Her son cracks me up!


Jarfy-bridesmaid.  Freshman year we got paired up in the dorms.
This photo is from when we backpacked in Ireland a few years ago.

Colleen-Bridesmaid.  We've been friends since
we were freshman in High school.  We talk almost every day,
but this St. Patty's was the first time we were in the same
city in a year and a half!!!

Mark- best man.  He and Shaun have been best friends since
first grade.  This pic is a result of not eating before a wedding,
and having to kill time before the reception.  We went to the
Pheonix and started drinking.

Bill (& shaun) Groomsman.  At Bills wedding, he and Shaun
broke into an impromtu Young Frankenstien dance.
HI-LARIOUS!
(the canes are shaleleighs from Ireland)


Stever-groomsman. Sorry about the weird photo, it was taken at Russ and Jimmys.
Any South City folks ever heard of Russ and Jimmys?


Jason-groomsman. Local rockstar to you... Groomsman to us. :)


Elle-flowergirl or Horse shoe presenter and my neice.  
She's 5, but is so shy when I asked her to be the flowergirl, she said "no".  
So, we'll see, she may not make it down the aisle, but thats ok too.

Lili-flowergirl and my neice.  She's 3.  
Her and Elle are sisters.  
I hope our future children are as beautiful as these two!


T.J.-Usher.  I can't believe my nephew is a senior in high school.  
He is seriously one of the best kids ever.


Mother of the Bride - old lady to some, rockstar to me


Parents of the Groom

Jenna- One of the candle lighters, and my oldest niece,
She will wear a dress similar to the bm's, and walk with
my nephew Aaron (below, far right).

The master of the house...
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He's one big ole ball of love.


I just love this story...
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For months I had teased Shaun that he would never be able to suprise me. Well, all this teasing put him on a mission to give me the suprise of my life!

On February 2nd, I returned home about 10pm to what I thought was an empty apartment. As I approached the front door I noticed a small yellow index card with a note on it taped to the door just over the door knob. At first, I was nervous, thinking someone, knowing Shaun was out, was leaving creepy notes for me. As I read the note, my stomach did flips as I realized what was really going on.

The note read: Chole, I've been thinking about how much I love you. Follow this string, and I will tell you all about it.

I opened the door, to an apartment filled with candle light. The string, which had been taped to the front door ran all through our apartment. About every three feet or so there was a note, a candle and sometimes a little gift like flowers and a glass of wine. As I followed the string I kept calling out a emotional "HELLO???" but Shaun was worried if he answered, I would come directly to him, leaving my string behind. By the time I got to the last note, taped to our closed bedroom door I was absolutely overflowing with emotion.

The final note read: But most of all, I love you because....

I pushed open our door, and there he was on one knee in front of the fireplace. The room was filled with candles, and he held out the ring and said

"because I could never live with out you. Will you marry me?"

I stood in the doorway, unable to move, unable to speak, unable to do anything but cry. As Shaun tells the story, after many hours of waiting I finally squeeked something and he took that as a "yes". We toasted with our favorite wine, and called friends and family to tell them the great news.

Grand Rapids Shower
March 3, 2007
also known as the weekend it wouldn't stop snowing.

The first picture is of the carrot cake that about gave my sister a short stay at a mental hospital.  I requested carrot cake, and she took her job as shower hostess, very seriously, so she called every bakery in Grand Rapids looking for a carrot cake that they would decorate with more than carrots, to her dismay, the most they would do was lettering.  I thought it was great (it tasted amazing) but the cake expierence made me glad that I was only 11 when she got married, I'm sure it was a very stressful time in her (and those around her) life. :)  The next pic is the amazing spread Gracewil put out for us.  They went well beyond what my sister had arranged with them.  For all the stress she puts on herself, the details really speak for themselves.  The tables were decorated in candles and smooth stones with vases of branches and Grasses and these little green ball thingys.  The last pic is me opening the gift from my mom.  She made a memory box for all of my wedding keepsake stuff, on the top it is embroidered with our names and wedding date, and inside she had put our champainge flutes, a hanky/bonnet that I wore as a baby and some other small items.  The whole morning was so nice, I was really nervous, and uncomfortable about the whole thing, but I left feeling overwhelmed my my huge family's love.  It was just wonderful!!


Vendor Information
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	Ceremony Location - St. Mary's - Marne, MI
	Reception Location - The Pinnacle Center, Hudsonville, MI
	the perfect choice for us! they have made everything very easy so far!
	Caterers - Two Chef's, Hudsonville, MI
	Cake Creator - Arnie's Bakery, Grand Rapids, MI
	The link is to the Arnie's dessert menu. We are having all 6 of their fantastic torte cakes, (listed on the second page) and using them as part of the centerpiece.
	Florist - Shelly's Designs, Grand Rapids, MI
	Photographer - Ruth Parbel Photography, Grand Rapids, MI
	I used to work for Ruth. I love her. She doesn't do many weddings anymore, but she is AMAZING.
	Disc Jockey - Kevin Dreyer, Phantasm DJ's, St. Louis, MO
	Actually they are in St. Louis. But Kevin is a friend of the FI's from way back, and this is the company he started as a senior in HS. The Pinnacle Center actually has all the equipment (they provide a dj with the room) but we couldn't think of having anyone but Kevin MC.
	Jeweler - Nancy at Neustaedter's, St. Louis, MO
	Nancy rocks my face off! Which is funny, bc the first time I met her, I wasn't so impressed. Long before we were engaged I had stopped in bc Shaun asked me to check out a certain ring. Well, Nancy pretended not to know what I was talking about, and had me try on various rings, she slips in the one he was talking about, and also figures out my size by watching which ones fit me. All because she knew how much Shaun wanted to surpise me. Plus, every time I go in to get it cleaned she ooohs and ahhs over it. Shaun swears he will never buy me jewelry anywhere else, and I am definately ok with that. :)
	My Dress - Clarice's Bridal, St. Louis, MO
	Now I too am a Katie Creech groupie. I had so much fun (I was not looking forward to dress shopping at all ) and Katie took the 5 pages I had tore out of magazines and found the perfect dress for me. I swore that I was not going to have that "moment"... I'm too picky... but I did. Tears and all.
	Hair Stylist & Make-up - Vicky Purvis -- Annabella's, St. Louis, MO
	She is my fi's aunt and does my hair here in St. Louis. I love this woman, she takes good care of me and my finicky curls. I think she is almost as excited as I am about Shaun and I getting married. She works at Annabella's salon on Union in So. county. If I were getting married here in St. Louis, I would have LOVED to go in on my wedding day, everyone there is so nice, and really helpful in finding your style.