I think my mask of sanity is about to slip.

One of my projects for the wedding is making masquerade masks for our ceremony guests. Most of them I added some personal flair to for each guest which has been fun! The idea came to us when we decided to host the reception/costume party as a "Vampire Ball." I have got a fair share of them done thus far and hope to finish them today. Here is a glimpse of them.. :)

Kenosha Theater Directions/Map

You will all be receiving this information with your invites, but in case it is misplaced, I have posted the directions and map for future reference.


Kenosha Theatre:

5919 Sixth Avenue
Kenosha, WI 53140
ph (262) 658-2355


Directions:

Take Interstate 94 into Kenosha County and Exit on Highway 158. Head east on Highway 158 until it ends at Lake Michigan. Turn South on 6th Avenue and go 6 blocks to the intersection of 6th Avenue and 59th Street. Jog around the island at this intersection. Be careful not to angle off on to "6th Avenue A" but head due South on 6th Avenue. The Kenosha Theatre is the second building on the left once you come through this intersection. If you look up and see a highly ornamented facade and two bell towers, you know you're at "The Spanish Castle" which is the Kenosha Theatre.

Hotels in Kenosha

If you are traveling to Kenosha for the wedding and plan to drink alcohol at the reception but do not have a designated driver, we hope that you plan to stay at a hotel within the area. Here is a list I put together of hotels in that area with Rate/Contact info so that you can plan accordingly for the evening. The BEST option I put as the first option, it is the cheapest and is literally within walking distance of the theater.

1. Best Western Harborside Inn: [2 Minutes from Theater]
5125 6th Avenue, Kenosha, Wisconsin 53140-3403
Phone: 262/658-3281
Rates: Standard Room for 1 night- $90.00

2. Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites: [2 miles from the theater]
7887 94th Avenue • Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin 53158
Phone: 262/942-6000
Rates: Standard Room for 1 night- $94.00

3. Radisson Hotel & Conference Center Kenosha: [4 miles from theater]
11800 108th Street, Pleasant Prairie Wisconsin 53158
Phone: 262/857-3377
Rates: Standard Room for 1 night: $119.00



If none of these appeal to you and you want to look at more options here is a link to a list of other hotels:

http://www.google.com/search?q=kenosha+wi+hotels&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

Vampires In Love

Jeffery & I portrait.

Jeffery and I have made some MAJOR head way in the last month! We have completed 98% of our shopping for materials, we are just about done with all the invites and hope to have them mailed out by THIS Friday and we have both our wedding bands and outfits. We have what we plan to rent figured out and just need to put the money down for it which we hope to do next week and all that is really left at this point are the random little things here and there that you kinda forget along the way which wont be hard to complete.
It has been a bit stressful and times, but I have to say that I would NOT have done this any other way. It has given us complete control of how WE want things which in my opinion is a lot better than leaving it up to a planner who might really not share the same vision and mess it up. Not to mention we are both very creative people, so being able to work on the things that we have planned for the wedding has not only been FUN, but has given us creative release. I wont give to much away, because I really want some of the things to be a surprise, but I will say that I have made the center pieces and that thus far was my favorite thing to work on. I was a bit nervous at first thinking whatever I did would look like shit because I never had made a Halloween wreath before, but once I got started and the ideas came it was a lot of fun to put together! I am also GLAD we are getting as much done as we can this month to free up time to enjoy the Halloween season next month! :D I am very excited to be apart of Haunted Wisconsin this year and will enjoy going to all the haunts and having the chance to put in my 2 cents about them on the site! :) I am also very excited to start Halloween shopping and decorating the apartment! I just simply LOVE this time of the year!
Our wedding has been the main focus this last month however and we both are getting more and more excited for it as things start to come together. It is going to be pretty damn epic! :D

Progress thus far...

Things have been moving forward these last few weeks, Jeff and I have ordered our outfits for the wedding and our wedding bands. The wedding bands shipped out on Friday the 13th [fitting ;) ] and we got them last week. For the unveiling we went to our favorite cemetery after eating at our restaurant, Mama Mias, and to the spot where Jeff proposed. It was a pretty magical evening the way the sky turned a stunning shade of orange, purple, pink and dark blue at almost the very moment we tried them on for the first time.
My dress should arrive within the first week of October, and I can’t tell you how excited I am to see it in person! I think it’s a stunning dress and it’s hard to decide how I want to accessorize with it because I would hate to do to much to take away from the dress itself. Since we are getting married on our beloved holiday, Halloween, I feel I should play with that a bit, maybe some Halloween tights or a few bats on my jewelry or in my hair? I have not decided completely yet on what I am going to do, but I do feel that pearls would work with my dress and I am seriously considering wearing my grandmothers pearl necklace, who sadly has passed and will not be in the audience like I so had hopped she would be.
As things come together, I feel a odd mixture of stress and relief. We have completed our design of the invites and just need to start making them and sending them out which we hope to start next week. I am very excited to get them done and mail them, it is the one thing that keeps in the back of my mind all day.
So what is left? I need to come up with an idea of how to decorate the tables and some areas around the theater. This theater stands alone as a simply breathtaking backdrop and has a lot of atmosphere, so again, I am trying to tie the Halloween elements into the wedding degore, but I don’t want to do to much that it would distract you from the theater. We plan to use a lot of candles and of course there will pumpkins, that much I am sure of! I am sure there is plenty more to plan, but for now this is the main focus. I am also trying to complete our guest photo book, mostly while I am work so I can still enjoy the evening free of wedding stuff, and Jeff has started to create our film as well as some added ones that we plan to play throughout the night.
Overall, things are getting done and we look forward to the wedding more and more each day as we discuss ideas and plan what we will do! Things are starting to get very exciting!

Aloha Maui!

I am SO excited right now! Jeff & I have booked our Honeymoon at the Hotel Wailea, [http://www.hotelwailea.com/] a STUNNING and very romantic luxury hotel on the west side of Maui. We have both been doing a lot of research on what the island has to offer and have a pretty epic trip planned already.
We are very excited to go to Haleakala National Park and hike up to the volcano's crater to see the milky way and sunrise! We plan to drive along one of the most beautiful roads in the world to Hana, which has several beaches and waterfalls along the way, and of course this will be in our Mustang convertible that Jeff specifically has requested! ;p We hope to go Whale watching [if it is the right season for that] and of course scuba diving as well so that I can swim with the manta rays! :)
We may have a lot of adventure's planned, but we still also plan for plenty of R&R and relaxing days at the Spa that our hotel is famous for!

I feel truly blessed to have such an amazing man that loves me so much and treats me so wonderfully. It honestly brings tears to my eyes. We have been together for a long time and have walked through many twists and turns in our relationship, but we have always had this amazing bond, and undying love and respect for one another. We are the greatest of friends and I honestly believe from the bottom of my heart, true soulmates.

As the months go by and we plan for more and more, I realize everyday that this is the guy who I will be with for always and there is no greater feeling than that for me. We plan to celebrate our love this fall in all the ways we can, a wedding and honeymoon is not cheap... but it really is not about the expenses, but how we will enjoy it together as a couple. Hell, we could not have a honeymoon at all and get married by Elvis in Las Vegas and I would be okay with it as long as we were together, but the fact that we have saved EVERYTHING possible to celebrate our relationship over all these years just shows how devoted we are to one another and it gives me such an amazing feeling to know I have that kind of love and devotion from him and he has it for me as well. <3

Memories

Jeffery and I went to visit the theater today and get a better idea of how things will work out come this Halloween for our wedding! It sounds like Jeff Bass, the owner, is going to be doing some work on it this summer which will help when we get in to clean and set up; as well as having a volunteer day in May to do some cleaning that we plan to attend. He also gave us a lot of impressive information about the theater and it's history, like how the Kenosha theater was the second theater to play a film with audio and it created quite a buzz. Recently, he was excited to find many fantastic photo's that Life Magazine did back in 1938 when that picture played. Here is a link:
http://images.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=Kenosha+theatre+source%3Alife&btnG=Search&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=&start=0

All in all, it was a great meeting and it was wonderful to see the theater and it's beauty that even in it's condition you can still find plenty off. It hold's a strong atmosphere and it is very exciting for us that we will be creating another memory within it's walls that has held so many for many years. :)

Kenosha Theater webpage: http://www.kenoshatheatre.org/history.htm