Viva Carolina

Carolina Herrera. While I enjoy extravagance just as much as the next bride (ok, maybe I don't), my dream dress could pay for our honeymoon. And I'm not talking a Carnival Cruise departing from our home port of Tampa. I'm talking a Celebrity Cruise around the South Pacific, and maybe even a dive or two in Bora Bora.

So I called upon my second two favorite designers. I love their work first and foremost because they are wonderful seamstresses. (How can we forget that fabulous clown costume, a custom peice designed specifically for me as I laid down spread-eagle on a peice of material while my mom traced around me. Elastic on the arms and ankles and voila! If that doesn't just scream couture!)

I also love them because they are free labor. And while one sewing machine is good, two is better. And a surger is just the icing on the cake. (Hmmm... interesting. The one that owns the surger IS actually the one who will be icing the cake. Like how that works out?)

Let Us Make Cake

Why buy cake when you can make the yummy deliciousness yourself? If Martha can do it, then so can we. Cindy and I attempted our first-ever fondant cake. And it won't be our last. Though we're still working out the formula for the exact shade of pink. We're thinking polka dots. Lots of them. And other things too.

White cake. Yellow cake. Chocolate cake. Lemon cake. Red velvet cake. That cake with the funny little sprinkles in it. Why pick one when you can have them all?

So what if it's been a month and the kitchen is still coated in a light layer of confectioner's sugar? We made cake! And we're pretty good at it, if we do say so ourselves.

Let Them Eat Cake

Ah cake. Wonderful wonderful cake. I love them all. I want them all.

Think Pink

The inspiration board of all things pink. Yes, even Restoration Hardware bed linens made the list.

Steve Selects the Theme

Back in August, Stephen got a hot tip from one of our engaged coworkers that Michael’s had Martha on sale! We strolled on over around 8:30 on a Friday evening, and by the time the store closed at 9, we had not only the complete Martha Stewart Water Lilies Wedding Collection, but a color and a theme as well. All selected by my wonderful groom. What can I say, he has good taste.

The Venue

Tackle the hard-to-get things first. In this case, the venue. I honestly can’t even remember how we stumbled across the Lake Mirror Complex in Lakeland. Somewhere on the internet in one of my zillion venue searches. I do know that it wasn’t easy to find, and it isn’t highly publicized. Steve and I drove out there one Saturday and knew it was the place (It was actually the only place we visited). Turns out, it’s a lot more popular than theknot.com would lead you to believe. When I called to book it, they were all filled up – for every Saturday for the next TWO years. I said how about a Friday, they said how about April 3, I said where do I send the check? Venue: done.

Welcome

I adore Martha Stewart.  She is a woman of many options, and I love options.  I find it delightful that if one of her products at Michael’s costs $19.99, the very same item costs a mere $9.99 at Walmart.  And if you’d prefer an even less costly route, simply buy the materials at Michael’s OR Walmart for $.99, and make the item yourself using her downloadable instructions from her website free of charge. (How have people not caught on to this?)  The woman is a genius. She’s marketed the very same product to three different audiences: the women who pay to say “It’s Martha Stewart”; the women who wish they could afford Martha Stewart; and the women who want to be Martha Stewart.  (I’m in the last category, for those wondering.  And let’s face it. You are too. Otherwise you wouldn’t be here.)

That being said, welcome to The Sugarcain Project, otherwise known as “Kate & Steve: The Wedding”, otherwise known as “The Second Largest Craft Project of ALL Time.”  The first largest project being my Junior Prom, of which I was Co-Chair.  Basically the same essential requirements (theme, colors, decorations, food, etc…), except I had to either sacrifice the integrity of my ingenious ideas for the sake of committee “compromise” or waste my invaluable time convincing others to go with my superior décor ideas (as if their beauty didn’t speak for itself!)  It will be much easier this time, as I retain complete creative control.  Not to mention a smaller scale venue and a tenth of the audience.  (But let me just say that the wall-sized sunset behind the 10 foot silhouette of the Taj Mahal was totally worth the three days it took to dye the 100 yards of muslin to various sunset hues. Ah, memories!)