My First Blog Post

So I am excited to finally get my blog up and running!! I have so many family and friends scattered around the country that this is a great way to keep everyone informed.  Getting engaged helped get me motivated.

So I am excited to be the future Mrs. Betts (hence the title of the blog) and can't wait for October 19th, 2013!  Many people thought I was crazy to wait a whole year to get married but I have always wanted to be a fall bride.  After I got engaged I quickly started thinking about my wedding (not that I haven't been planning it for years).  If you know me you know that I never wanted to have a big production of a wedding and wanted to spend the least amount of money as possible.

Ceremony

I knew that I wanted to have a small ceremony with just parents and siblings and knew that I wanted it to be outside.  At first I was thinking the Overland Park Arboretum and Botanical Gardens but it is just too far south of where I live now.  I haven't decided for sure but Jason and I are now leaning towards the outlook point at Weston Bend State Park in Weston, MO.  It is close enough to us and we love the view overlooking the Missouri River.

Bridal Party

I know I might have some disappointed friends out there but Jason and I have decided not to have a bridal party.  I have amazing friends that I want to be at my wedding to help celebrate and have a good time and not have to worry about wedding party duties.

Reception   www.cellar222.com

As I started to look for reception sites I was quickly disappointed in the outrageous prices out there.  No wonder people go into debt trying to plan a wedding.  Personally I believe that my wedding can be just as special without spending a fortune on it.  As I continued to look around for reception sites, running off to Vegas started to look better everyday.  We looked at a few places and they were all beautiful but paying some of those prices for just an empty room frustrated me.  The other problem we were running into was that apparently October is the new favorite month to get married in Kansas City.  So many places didn't even have October dates available.  I couldn't believe it especially since I was calling over a year in advance.  Were people booking their sites before they were even engaged?  When we walked into Cellar 222, I loved it from the start.  It was small and intimate and the decor was so amazing that I knew that I would not need to spend an enormous amount on decorations to "spruce up" the place.  I still do believe that the price is crazy but compared to all the other places out there, it was actually reasonable.  Scott, the event planner of Cellar 222, was so friendly and you could see that he really enjoyed his job.  We decided on October 19th only because it was the only date available.  I originally wanted October 12th because Iowa has a bye week that day.  It is pretty sad that I am planning my wedding around the Iowa football schedule.  I am okay with October 19th because it is not an Iowa home game and I don't want to make some of my season ticket holder, family members choose my wedding or the game.

Dress

This is not my dress.  Just inspiration.

Crazy I know, but I already have my dress.  My parents were in town for a week and my mom and I decided to go check out dresses at David's Bridal.  I have never wanted to spend a lot of money on my wedding dress especially since most end up in a box for years after.  I also decided I wanted a short, tea length dress so that it would be more practical for a "party" like reception.  I fell in love with a couple dresses at David's Bridal but LOVED one dress once I put some red shoes on with it.  I fell even more in love with it when they told me the price was $199!!! My mom and I both said "We'll take it!!" when she gave us the price.  I am still thinking I will go with red shoes but haven't completely made up my mind.  

Flowers/Decorations

I have decided to only have a bouquet.  Flower prices are crazy for something that barely lasts the whole night.  I am going to have lots of fake pumpkins, leaves, and other fall decorations.  I love fall and will use everything from my wedding to decorate my house for years to come.  I have already picked up some things when they had all the sales on fall decorations after Halloween.  Thanks to our friends, Craig and Sarah, we have plenty of beautiful vases to use that came from their wedding in 2010.  I think they were happy to get rid of the boxes from their basement.  

Dessert

I have decided not to go with a cake and am going to have a dessert bar.  I have many friends who are amazing bakers that I am hoping to recruit to make fall desserts for my wedding.  So all my friends who are bakers out there beware I might be hitting you up to make something for my wedding.  I am hoping to have an assortment of small bites of common fall desserts such as apple crisp, pumpkin bread and pumpkin pie. 

Food/Drink

We are hoping to pick a caterer soon and look forward to the tastings!  We are thinking of going the appetizer route since we are planning on starting our reception around 7:30.  We will be having beer and wine only because of my many nights working at the Surf and Sand Resort. I decided early on that I would never have hard alcohol at my wedding. 

That is all we have for now.  I am looking forward to keeping you updated on our wedding plans.