Liz + Kevin
June 22, 2012
Caternia

Occupations:
*Liz: student and psychiatric technician
Kevin: software architect


How the couple met:
*We met on dating website called OKCupid after my sister discretely set up a profile for me and did a little micromanaging of my love life for a while.  That being said, she got me involved pretty soon and by the time Kevin wrote me, I was managing it on my own.  However, it took me like a month to write him back initially because I didn't have a computer and used my phone to access the site, but I had dropped it in pedicure water so it was super dysfunctional.  By the time I wrote him back, he already assumed I just hadn't given him the time of day.  Thank goodness I finally responded! haha!

How he proposed:
*He proposed to me exactly a year after he initially wrote me on OKCupid.  It was very ellaborate, actually! But, to sum it up, he basically planned a huge scavenger hunt leading us (through my discovery) to all of the places we went during our early dating.  At each venue there was a friend or family member we knew who surprised us there and we got to spend time with before they gave me the next clue.  The clues were puzzle shaped pieces from a big picture collage he made of us and on the back side he wrote the clue... they came in "top secret" envelopes.  There were a total of 6 stops.  On the 5th stop, we went to desert star playhouse, which is where we went on our first date, and we arrived right after intermission so the show was going on, but we were the only ones in the hallway.  When we were walking in he stopped me and said, "You were about here when I first saw you." and then we walked down and he said, "And I don't know if you know this, but it was a year ago that I wrote you for the first time on OKCupid and that was a decision that changed my life... so I have a question for you..." and then he got down on one knee, pulled out a beautiful ring and said, "Will you marry me?".  I was tearing up and couldn't speak for a minute, but when I could I said, "of course!" and then we hugged and kissed and cried for a long time in the desert star hallway.   It was such a beautiful moment!  After we got back to the car, I got the final puzzle piece and the clue said, "now lets go eat where we first had dinner".  We went downtown to dinner and turns out he had invited all of the friends and family that had been involved in the days events to meet us there to have dinner with us to celebrate! It was such an amazing way to finish up the night and it was all so thoughtful!

Bridal shower/Bachelorette party:
*My mom and niece threw my bridal shower and it was so lovely! Just a bunch of friends and family.  Yummy appetizers and fun but simple games.  My favorite part was when everyone introduced themselves, told how they knew me and one of their favorite memories with me.  It was so nice.  We also did a version of an Austrian tradition where there are an assortment of cookies for guests to select and take home with them.
*The bachelorette party was pretty crazy!! My sister and her best friend (who has become one of my best friends) got a huge suite and the grand america hotel.  We checked in early and spent the day by the pool just relaxing and sun bathing and it was so wonderful for stress relief.  We then got ready and had a pre-party in our suite for anyone that wanted to come.  We had some girlfriends come and we played silly bachelorette games and laughed and talked.  We had scandalous temporary tattoos that we put all over us all to get ready for our night out on the town.  We went to have dinner at Maxwells downtown and had a delicious dinner.  Maxwells is really fun because it sort of transforms to a night club the later it gets, so we just transitioned with them there.  We had a big booth reserved and just drank, danced and laughed the night away.  I also had a ton of bachelorette dares to complete and prizes to give out to those strangers that helped me out, but it definitely pushed me outside my comfort zone, but was really fun!  The next day we got up early and spent our last hours back at the pool before we had to return to reality, but it was just heavenly.
Also, one of my best friends just moved to portland and so had to miss the bachelorette party, so we are having another bachelorette party with just my nearest and dearest friends on the 19th and we are just going to go to dinner and out to sing some karaoke.


Bachelor party:
*The bachelor party has not happened yet, but a close group of Kevin's friends will be first going to shoot guns and then they are going to go to a pub/bar for dinner and I cannot say what other shenanigans will be happening.  That is scheduled for the 20th.  Kevin's best friend and cousin is coming into town and he is throwing this party.
Ceremony Place: Caterina

Date: 6/22/12The bride's wardrobe details: I will be wearing a maggie sottero asymmetrical gown and green "Toms" shoes.

The groom's wardrobe details: Kevin has a new charcoal suit and he will be wearing with it a shirt, tie, vest, and pocket square. 


Reception Place: Caterina

Wedding music: Clair de Lune, Somewhere over the Rainbow, DJ will be with complete music

First Dance Song: "Settle Down" by Kimbra.  We are actually going to do a sort of cha cha to it and then break into a fun dance.  We are hoping to get organized a kind of flash mob to happen during the first dance.

Menu: Dinner will be a choice of fettuccine with Julienne vegetables in a carrot ginger broth, butterflied chicken breast with asparagus and artichokes in a lemon sauce or filet of salmon in a mustard and cognac cream sauce.  There will also be a wedge salad, potatoes, daily vegetable and bread and dipping sauce served with every meal.
For the reception, our appetizers will be Bruschetta,  Melon E Prosciutto, and bite sized zucchini filled with a meat ragou.

Cake: Cake will be done by Carrie's cakes.  The flavors will be lemon lime and raspberry swirl.  Caterina will also have a gelato bar to compliment the cake.

Colors: Charcoal, pistachio green and hints of pink

Theme: Simple elegance

Flowers: wide assortment.  Variety throughout the entire venue as well as wedding party flowers.  Some of the flowers are lilies, orchids, roses, tulips, mums, dusty rose and pewter pots
Décor elements: a fun puzzle piece guest sign in magnet board to tie in our proposal.  chalk boards.  
Unique details: We are having a photo booth that we are creating for our guests.  We are having props available for them to be able to just have fun and let loose with funny pictures.  We are hoping to have an eyefi card set up so that the pictures taken can get sent directly to our website and we can have a slideshow going of the current pictures being taken.  We are also hoping to include their pictures in our thank you cards to them.





































































Rings: Shane Company (Liz), Morgan Jewelers (Kevin)
Invitations: Jaffa printing
Rehearsal dinner: BBQ at my sisters house in cottonwood.
Guest book: Self made with help from my friend, Elise Airmet.  Puzzle magnet board
Photography:Opiefoto (the big day), Elise Airmet Photography (Bridals), Bill Kershisnik (my brother) (Engagements)
Bridal gown:The Perfect Dress (Maggie Sottero)
Alterations: Lydia and The Perfect Dress
Groom's Tux/Suit: Nordstrom (Hugo Boss)
Flowers: Persimmons Floral (Megan Dunford)
Decorations and rentals: No rentals, all provided through Caterina and Persimmons Floral.
Catering: Caterina
Cake: Carrie's Cakes
Venue: Caterina
Entertainment/Music: Jamelle Avei (ceremony song), Bill Nicholls Jazz Trio for during dinner, Complete Music for DJ