I realized I haven't updated this in forever... I guess since I am planning a wedding in real life and arrange details for them professionally, and writing blogs about all this is part of my job, I should REALLY be better at it! 

I have been texting my MOH Amber (B)ack and forth (haha... punny) ALL DAY about the Bridal Shower! I am so excited it is almost here. I can't believe I almost decided to not have one, now that it is less than two weeks away... I am thrilled to get all the most important ladies in my life together!

Since I've only even ever been to ONE bridal shower (when I was about 9) ... I'm not exactly sure what to expect. However, with the crowd that will be there... we know it will at least be entertaining! 

Amber has been working SO HARD on all of this; so I just wanted to give her a quick "Thank You" shout-out as well. I don't know what I would do without her. 

Ok. I will update this again SOON, I promise! 

I have been trying to avoid this discussion for as long as possible (because I hate it and I know that these are the two of the most common points of tension when planning a wedding.) However, I think it is only fair, now that we are getting close, that I just come out with it.

First, Alex and I have decided that we will not be including any +1's on our invitations. Our wedding is going to be the most important, intimate and emotional day of our lives (thus far), and we only want to share it with those who are closest to us. Being relatively private people, we wouldn't feel comfortable meeting anyone for the first time (other than each-others family members) on our wedding day. We look at it like this, if we don't know a person well enough to know what name to write on the invitation, they wouldn't know us well enough to share in the intimate environment we hope our wedding will be. (Because of my job, I see so many weddings where the bride and groom's guests are literally introducing themselves in the receiving line! This has always stood out to me as something I would not be comfortable with personally.)

Secondly, Alex and I will not be inviting children under the age of 16. The absolute only exceptions will be my sisters and our niece. This was a very difficult decision for us to make. Anyone who knows us, knows that Alex and I LOVE kids, especially little ones. However, we have so many young cousins and second cousins, that if we invited them all, the wedding might as well be held at Chuck E Cheese. In order to be as fair as possible, we decided to just choose an age and solidly stand by it. We realize that this will be an inconvenience to some of our guests, as they will need to find a sitter in order to attend. We acknowledge this and definitely appreciate it.

We hope that our close friends and family will be able to understand and support these decisions. We are sorry for any inconveniences these may cause and hope that you will still be able to join us. However, when all is said and done, it is our wedding and we have a responsibility to ourselves to make sure it is as perfect, for us, as it can be.

I decided this card would be a nice way of sharing some of our engagement pictures. I am going to be ordering a lot of stuff from Shutterfly for my Wedding DIYs... What do you think?

I ordered my Wedding Shoes from ModCloth.com and they are here! They are SUPER adorable and surprisingly comfortable! I know I said I wasn't going to wear heels, but they are only about 2-inches and have a rounded, closed toe (so no pinching or rubbing.)

I am probably still going to switch into flops at some point in the night, but I think I at least stand the chance of making it through dinner in these! All the reviews online said they are "all day" wearable, though I am sure many of those reviews are coming from people who are used to wearing heels.

Next shoe-related mission, bridesmaid footwear!

It is time for these blogs to be less long-winded and more interactive.

If you're married, what kind of shoes did you wear on your wedding day?
Did you change into something else during the reception?

If you're not, what kind of shoes do you see yourself in on your wedding day!?

Comment Below!

Ok. So. I am fully aware that I am not the first person in the history of the world to have to pick out a wedding band, probably not even the millionth... but I am probably one of the top most indecisive people charged with the task.

I have spent tens of hours on the internet, searching feverishly for a band that would go well with my beautiful engagement ring. I have window shopped every single jewelry store in the county and many on the eastern side of the state. I have tried on at least 100 bands on my poor, poor finger. I have driven sales-woman after sales-woman completely mad. I have starred, green with envy, at woman who's engagement rings came with a matching band... or at least had one as an option.

All of that being said... I think my search is over. Yesterday I walked into Jared's... "just to look." After trying on about 20 rings, and then the same four over and over again... I bought one!

It fit against my engagement ring better than any other band I've tried, and even though I am not crazy about the look of a contour band... I have come to terms with the fact that they are the only thing that is going to work. It matches my engagement ring well, but not doesn't dominate it.

However, probably the biggest factor in me actually leaving the store with the ring was that they have a 30-day return policy! So, I can put it on every single day for the next two weeks and make sure I still like it every time (in true Kerri fashion.)

My local bridesmaid, Amber, and I went to check out dresses for her and my other bridesmaid Emily, the day I bought my dress. She tried a few one, decided which one she liked best and that was that for a while. We sent Emily try on the same dresses, Emily selected the same one as her favorite as Amber did. Thus, we were decided. Dresses were ordered to complete the seemingly painless process.

Problem: When Amber's dress came in it was horribly ugly. The fabric was shiny, and the dramatic refection of light from the dress made the color look... just... not the color it was meant to be. It was not at all what we had expected, being told that it would look just like the dress Amber tried on but "this color" (enter swatch of beautiful, non-shiny, mermaid fabric.) I immediately sent Emily a text telling her to hold off ordering her dress, to which she responded "I already did." Kudos to my bridesmaids for being so efficient in their dress-ordering... but I was afraid this was going to be a big issue. See, when you sign the receipt at David's Bridal, it says "all sales final." As in, no returns or exchanges. As in, you are stuck with this dress forever and ever.

Solution: I called David's Bridal the next day and explained everything that happened, very calmly and politely (as anyone in retail will tell you, is much more effective at producing a positive result.) The girl who answered put me on hold for the manager... when this happened my heart sank, I was dreading a complete shut down. (As anyone in retail will probably also tell you, it is pretty common to get the manager to tell people things they don't want to hear.) However, much to my surprise and pleasure, the manager agreed to exchange both dresses... even though Emily ordered her's from another store, she said we could correct the order in-transit!  Yay!

So, yesterday Amber and I went to try on Bridesmaid dresses.... once again. With the specific requirements of "NOT SHINY" (which is apparently the minority of their selection) we were able to narrow it down to three possible choices. Since we didn't have time to send Emily to the store again, and I am close enough to her body type, Amber and I both tried on the dresses.

After seeing them on, the decision was an easy one. The cut was actually very similar to the original dress, and, Guess what!? There are still pockets! (That was the major selling point of the first dress.... where would they keep their iPhones otherwise!?) This dress is also cotton, so it will be more comfortable and much more possible to wear again (which everyone claims their bridesmaid dresses will be, but hardly ever are.) In addition, I may have just found a dress for the rehearsal dinner from one of the runners-up. :)

So, now we just need to select the shoes and my bridesmaids will be good-to-go!

I spent this past weekend visiting Alex in the Poconos. While there I decided it would be a really good idea to go look for wedding shoes! (Not a good idea.) There is a 100-store Outlet Mall near our East house... meaning about 25 stores (at least) that sell shoes.

"What's so hard?" you might say... well let me give you a little bit of background on my predicament. About a year or so ago I saw the wedding pictures, of someone I do not know, that deeply effected my idea of "Wedding Shoes." The bride was wearing baby-blue Chucks. I loved it! While I'm not a huge Chucks fan... I really liked that she was wearing something both comfortable and unique. Being that I enjoy my height most when my feet are flat on the floor and that I tend to tip over... even in the most mild heel... I though this idea would be perfect for me! So... instead of Chucks I thought I should wear Pumas... since I've been wearing them loyally since the 8th grade.

However, by the time I ordered my dress and went back to the Puma site to order my flats (they were silver with sequins,) they were no where to be found! I was hoping that I could find them at the Puma outlet... but no such luck.

So.... I wondered around the outlets searching for a nice pair of flats. But, no dice. Now I am STILL set on flats for the reception... but I don't have a pair.

I would like to wear heels for the ceremony, and I DID find a pair of teal ones from Nine West that I LOVED. However, I'm not going to be able to wear high-high heels, if heels at all, if I remain set on flats for the reception. Reason being, I would have to get my dress hemmed for the ceremony then would be dragging it all over the floor for the reception. :/

I have no idea what to do about these darn wedding shoes... and don't even get me started on footware for the bridesmaids!

Sheesh. Hopefully Alex looks good in a brown tux or that will be another problem!

Wish me luck! 

Hokay, so. Let me bring you up to speed...

-Alex Gerthoffer and Kerri Cunkelman dated for about 5 years.
-On New Years Eve of 2010, Alex proposed to Kerri... she said yes.
-In March(ish) of 2011 they decided they wanted the wedding to be in May(ish) of 2012.
-In July 2011, Kerri bought her wedding dress.
-Later that month, Kerri & Alex booked the National Aviary for May 25.
-The first weekend of August Kerri created this wedding site.

...and now we are ready to start blogging all along the next 294 days until the wedding!