Books, cats and midwestern charm.
Today’s the day. Soon we’ll be saying our vows, cutting the cake and getting down to “Electric Love.”
I won’t lie to you – I’m nervous as hell – but I also know it’s going to be great.
Keep up with us (and all the other couples using the hashtag) with #blueribbonwedding. I would have loved #theweddingthatmademilwaukeefamous, but that’s just too damn long.
With only five days until the big shebang, you can bet stress levels and tensions are high over in this cabin. It’s been a marathon of meetings, crafts and mini-meltdowns for a while now and you bet there’s still more to come.
But it’s time to take a step back for a few minutes just bask in something I really enjoy and treasure: troves of old family photos.
See, I had this great idea to take old wedding pictures from both our families, pop them into frames and use them as table numbers. It’s a good idea. You can take it after this weekend. So while place cards took a good eight hours, painting signs a good twelve, this project was simple and I got to see some A+ 1940s and 1950s wedding garb.
I live for these old photos, especially the formality of the 1940s (and earlier) shots. They are pure class.
So that’s all for now, folks. I’ve got a ceremony playlist to hammer out and another sign to paint.
Last week, Michael and I took a break and headed to Grant Park for our engagement pictures. Yes, I know the wedding is only ten days away but Michael and I aren’t known for our modeling so we figured we could use all the practice we could get.
And let me tell you, Bobbie from Roberta Rae Photography + Design is AMAZING.
Just look at that. I mean she killed it. If you want to see more, check out her Facebook page. She has a few of us and dozens of other adorable couples and families.
I’ve got a little sales pitch for you all that I’ve been mulling over for some time. Now, almost two years ago now (holy cats), I made what I’d say was a darling little stitchery for a friend’s wedding. It was cute, had the bride and groom’s names, the wedding date and the best font of 2013: Lavenderia.
See what I mean? Not too shabby and a nice little trinket to commemorate the day that’s not champagne flutes or some cake cutting knife etched with the wedding date (not that those are bad). So when my friend Amanda got married, I figured why not make her a little ditty. And I had a blast doing it.
These projects combine a lot of things I love: embroidery, typography, design, cool people. So I’m figuring, why not try to drum up a little business stitching away peoples’ wedding dates or baby names or even quotes (I just got commissioned at work to embroider a quote from They Live)? For a reasonable price, I’m open to designing you and yours a meaningful little hoop-full.
If you’re interested, shoot me an email at heycabininthecity@gmail.com
Until then, I’ll be whipping up a belated wedding gift for my pal Kat.
As Dorothy Zbronak once said over cheesecake, “If mothering was easy, fathers would do it.” Not to get down on dads – I love my dad – but my mom puts up with far more of my nonsense and dramatics than my dad could ever hope to handle. And I love her for it. And I love her for everything else too.
Everyone says that they have the best mom, but I’m one of few (my sisters and bro) that’s telling the truth. Nancy Kaminski is the best mom. Her license plate on her old Buick read NBR1MOM; it’s that official.
So on Mother’s Day, I want to give a big shout out to this awesome lady who taught me how to embroider, bake, present a good case, and everything else good I know. So here’s to you, Mom and your awesome 80s self in this picture.
When it comes to wedding invitations, there are a lot of rules. Just search for “how to word an invitation” or “how to address an envelope” for weddings and there are millions of results (maybe). There’s a lot out there, and do you know what I learned after reading up on all of it? Do whatever the heck you want. Don’t want to write out “two-thousand and fifteen?” Don’t! Think writing “Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Stock” seems outdated? It is! So you write those invites however you want. I sure did. And look how pretty they are!
Like the save the dates, I got my invites from Elli. Like last time, they were perfect. Super easy to work with, accommodated customization requests and were super affordable. I’m not a paid spokesperson but, boy, I should be.
When it came time to wrap these all up, I had to take a step back. I saw so many cute ideas for binding all the pieces together and I was in the craft store, I was thinking oh, I could get some fancy lace and sew it around or what if I customized little tags and used velveteen ribbon. And then I had to take a step back. As much as I wanted my invitations to be pretty and memorable and fitting, I also needed to remind myself that in a few months, all of this will be in someone’s recycling bin. With that in mind, I put back the tags and the lace and wax seals. Instead I tied the RSVP and the invite together with twine and sealed the envelope with fabric tape (that stuff is seriously cool).
It took me six hours and two trips to the post office, but I got them all out. Did you know that if the envelope is lumpy (thanks, bakers twine), it’ll cost you an extra 21¢ for every invite. So if you’re thinking of some adorable stamp scheme (which I wasn’t – I mean Johnny Cash stamps, people), keep in mind that your perfect flower stamp will have an Honest Abe slapped next to it. Word to the wise, people. Post office stuff.
Whoa! Wedding planning can be a real trip. I’ve got people asking me about colors, themes, who’s in the party and on and on; because I’m a totally ill-equipped super chill bride-to-be, I have very few solid answers. It’s not like the whole shebang is only in 100 days or anything (it is exactly 100 days away).
But I will admit, maybe some ideas came together when Michael and I ordered these sweet save the dates from Elli (they did an awesome job, got us proofs in a blink of an eye, and we got them in the mail in just a few days – highly recommend).
I had a whole Pinterest board dedicated to stationary, and I sat down with Michael and told him to pick a card any card. He wasn’t entirely into that, so I narrowed it down to three and he picked from there. I say good choice. Even though we’re not having a woodsy wedding, I feel like these work. They have the 1960s National Geographic feel along with some Lost Type action. Plus, I feel like they are Lisa and Michael which is really the whole point. Also shout out USPS for making Johnny Cash stamps – every old man in my family is happy now.
Wedding planning is hard, you guys. And it’s especially hard when you have less than five months to do it. I mean holy cats is it a headache. Guest lists, invitations, dresses and caterers – just ugh. Like did you even know that with some caterers the flatware and china is an added cost? Or that dresses take something like eight months to be ordered? I’m convinced it’s all a beautiful lacy racket.
Fortunately, though, picking a venue was a piece of cake: a total one and done situation. Michael and I will be getting married at the Best Place. Seriously the Best Place at the Historic Pabst Brewery, and it is awesome.
For you Milwaukee folks, the above photo is pretty well known. I’m pretty sure you all have taken a pic of this sign before. I’m so sure because when my friends and I visited Jackson’s Blue Ribbon Pub for lunch one day, all four of us pulled out our iPhones and snapped one like a bunch of basics. It’s all with good reason though because this place is beautiful in that old world meets industrial meets German way.
This was such a simple decision because besides being affordable, available and perfect, Michael and I have a tiny bit of history with the place. When we first started dating back in 2011, nearly every week we were out taking pictures with an armful of film cameras, and we took these around the Pabst Brewery that summer.
The area looks slightly different now. It’s been cleaned up a bit and doesn’t look as foreboding, but it retains all of it’s old school Milwaukee charm, which is my favorite kind of charm.
I’m pretty thrilled about this whole thing, even if I can’t figure out catering or decide on any sort of color scheme.
And if you want to visit the old Pabst Brewing area, do it! You can take a tour of the facilities, have a drink and head across the street to Jackson’s Blue Ribbon Pub for some eats (you better get that Bavarian pretzel).
Whoa. I feel off the face of the earth for a while. Now that we’re practically halfway through January, I figured I should get my butt back in gear.
Not to bore you with a much belated new year post or anything, but this new year is going to get crazy, you guys. For those of you reading this who aren’t my mom, I’ll tell you that we weren’t planning on getting married until something like October 2016, but due to some unforeseen circumstances, we decided to move that date up to sometime mid-this year. So we’re living in the fast lane right now.
That all being said, I hope you all don’t mind some wedding-related posts thrown in here and there. I’m sure I’ll be tackling a DIY or two (or a million). Until then, I’ll be browsing BHLDN.com like it’s my job.
Do you all have your Christmas shopping done? What about your wrapping? I’m crossing my fingers that you Milwaukee-area folks are last-minute shoppers because I’ll be wrapping gifts to raise money for the Wisconsin Humane Society this Monday at the Mayfair Barnes & Noble.
I adopted my cat Zara from the Wisconsin Humane Society eight years ago, and I’ve been volunteering as a cat socializer for the past three. WHS is a wonderful animal welfare organization with three locations in Milwaukee, Ozaukee and Racine Counties. I’ve seen first hand the good work they do and the wonderful people that care for the animals there. I can’t think of a better organization to receive your charitable contribution this holiday.
So swing on by Monday morning and say hi, or come in anytime through Christmas Eve; there’ll be WHS volunteers there to wrap your gifts all week, and of course we’d appreciate your support!
And happy holidays from Zara and me! (She just loves Christmas.)