KOTW: Sue-n-Kevin

mybestfriendsfuturemrs

Post your questions for the Knottie of the Week


Next week: Corinne2010

BridetobeJenG

Is there a moment when you knew Kevin was "The One"?

What will be your song for the first dance?

MrsBarstool2011

How long after you met on e-harmony before you met in person?

Are you still having your dress handmade?  Who is doing it for you and how is it coming along?

emarston1

What is your favorite DIY project for the wedding?

rcj2rcd

What has been your favorite part of wedding planning?

What was your favorite Halloween costume as a kid?

Sue-n-Kevin

Is there a moment when you knew Kevin was "The One"? Honestly, I think it was a bunch of things over the first few dates: he was a single parent (like me), taking custody of his daughter, (BIG points for that!) he had the same interests I did, and then we went away on one of my business trips to Petoskey only 6 weeks after I met him. He fit in with my coworkers, but in a laid back, "it's about her, not me" way that I liked. Plus, I already knew how fun he was.

What will be your song for the first dance? "From this Moment" by Shania Twain. Yes, it's typical and terribly corny, but it works. Because we don't live together due to our family obligations, it means, to us, "From this Moment On we are together" 

How long after you met on e-harmony before you met in person? I think it was about 2-3 weeks. I didn't correspond with anyone else. and his membership was expiring!

Are you still having your dress handmade?  Who is doing it for you and how is it coming along? Yes, I am making it. It's not coming along at all yet, LOL..... have about 15 more lbs to lose and keep off before even trying to figure out what size of the pattern to use. My best friend from HS made her daughter & daughter-in-law's dresses, and she said it took about 50 hrs total work for the more involved one. I have plent of time. We have similar seamstress abilities so I figure I'll start in the spring.

What is your favorite DIY project for the wedding? Of the ones I've completed, I'd say the jewelry I made for my attendants and myself. I love to make things from scratch, so when it's ALL my inspiration, it feels good. Most of what I'm doing, ie the paper things or centerpiece mockups I'm doing over the winter. I know I will definitely enjoy making my dress though, because I've always loved to sew, even when it gets frustrating, because it's always "one of a kind".

What has been your favorite part of wedding planning? Definitely the online shopping and finding things WAY cheap, LOL. Seriously, google is probably the best thing about the internet, better than email, better than anything I can think of.

What was your favorite Halloween costume as a kid? I remember being Wilma Flintstone (based on the old cartoons, not the movie LOL). I tore up a pillow case to look like her dress, then wore a chicken bone in my hair.

Julz629

Where will you guys (kids, too) live after the wedding?

How many people are you inviting?

Any wedding regrets so far?  Things you wish you could change?

How involved is Kevin in the wedding planning?  How about your kids?

Do you think wedding planning is stressful?

Sue-n-Kevin

Where will you guys (kids, too) live after the wedding? The house I currently live in. His house is too small & old, LOL. He's probably going to rent his house to his daughter, and if the market picks up, consider selling at some point.

How many people are you inviting? Max capacity for the hall is 100. We are on schedule to invite that many.

Any wedding regrets so far?  Things you wish you could change? At this point I sincerely wish I'd gone with an "all inclusive" banquet hall versus finding all the vendors independently. It's a headache, and in the long run, probably not saving us as much as I would have thought. It's not going to be the $5000 wedding for 100 people we'd planned on.

How involved is Kevin in the wedding planning?  How about your kids? Took him on a couple of the caterer appointments, he pretty much defers to me, in spite of the fact I want his input. He joked he only wanted "beanies and weenies in the backyard", but that's his level of caring about how sophisticated he wanted it LOL. He CARES, just not about the details. I run everything by him though, which seems to work.

My kids: son is too busy at grad school in DC  and too "male" to get involved; my daugther adds her 2 cents whether asked or not. She cares mostly only about what dress she'll get to pick out to wear, LOL.
His kids: I think they are interested, but we generally have too much other stuff to discuss with them that it doesn't come up often.

Do you think wedding planning is stressful? I'm a pretty laid back person, rarely stress about ANYTHING. I've honestly planned so many parties in my life (anniversary parties for my parents & my ex's, son's grad parties for HS & college, plus others) that party planning to me is not stressful. Being a single working parent I've learned to juggle a LOT. The only thing I'm concerned with right not, and I wouldn't call it stressful, is our finances. Between now and the wedding, less than 10 months away, we have to sock away an additional $1500 to $2000 to cover the vendors we want. Doesn't seem like a lot, but I just found out my healthcare plan is changing next year to essentiall catastrophic coverage ($5K deductible per person, $10K family), with a health savings account. Depending on how much I put in the HSA each pay period, medical bills may be competing with wedding bills..........thank GOD my kids are healthy!

sammichele

What are your top three favorite restaurants?

Any guilty pleasures?

Do you have Thanksgiving plans set in stone yet?

What are your honeymoon plans?  I think I recall you saying Europe?

Sue-n-Kevin

What are your top three favorite restaurants? (if calories are no issue):

Andiamo, Burger King (whopper, heavy everything), and Opus One (best meals I've ever had!)

Any guilty pleasures? Since you asked in the plural sense:
-watching old L&O SVU on the cable channels, since I didn't watch it many years ago, and it's on almost every night on some channel
-bags of roasted salted peanuts at Tiger's games (I eat the whole thing!)
-beer & wine, love them
-Costco sells these chocolate truffles at Xmas time, 2 boxes for $9.99 (I think). I was just there, they had them, but I fought the urge to buy them because I can't... stop...eating...them, LOL. I want to lose weight before my wedding!

Do you have Thanksgiving plans set in stone yet? Pretty much. Because I'm an only child, my parents are pretty flexible with our plans. They come over here whenever it's convenient and doesn't conflict with my ex's plans (so my daughter can be involved in his family gatherings) or fiance's plans. We'll have an early lunch on Thanksgiving at my house (I love to do the cooking!), then go to my fiance's Mom's later in the day, and visit with his out-of-town brothers & their families.

What are your honeymoon plans?  I think I recall you saying Europe? Yes, we are hoping we can do Europe. I looked at the calendar though, and we had wanted to take several days, like 10-14. However, the 10th anniversary of 9/11 would happen during that time, and we are thinking it all over. We figure at our ages (the youngest we'll ever be, LOL), we really want to see Paris & Rome.  Neither of us are sun worshippers, and I'm such a type A person, I'm not sure I could sit around and relax for multiple days, LOL. In our retirement years we can always drive around the US. We figure we have plenty of time to think this over. My most recent thought was a drive from northern CA down to San Diego, I've never seen the Napa or San Francisco area, and he's never seen LA or San Diego. We'll see.

Meg1036

What is your favorite childhood memory?

I know you're active on the August 2011 board (I lurk there, but don't really post): so how did you choose your wedding date, and what are you most excited for with an August wedding?

What is your favorite part of having children (and/or, share something about your kids if you don't think they would mind too much!)?

Sue-n-Kevin

What is your favorite childhood memory? Wow, there are so many to think about. Overall, I think it was when my parents owned a small trailer in a mobile home park out in Fenton area, on a lake (Tipsico Lake). They didn't own it long, maybe 3-4 summers (then had to sell because I needed braces for my teeth.......that's how poor we were!). But they were AWESOME summers, swimming, making friends. We'd stay there pretty much all summer while my Dad worked.... he'd take a couple of weeks vacation. They were so enjoyable that this past summer I looked into it, and the trailers are still there! Even though you buy the trailer, you don't own the land, and while there were a couple that were reasonably priced, we feared that we'd lose our investment if we bought one and the land owners decided to sell for condos or apartments or something.

I know you're active on the August 2011 board (I lurk there, but don't really post): so how did you choose your wedding date, and what are you most excited for with an August wedding? We picked it because the day after our wedding (8/28/11) is the 4th anniversary of our first date. We knew we wanted a partial outdoor wedding, because I love the summer and being outside.

What is your favorite part of having children (and/or, share something about your kids if you don't think they would mind too much!)? Again, so many things. I always wanted to be a mom, and I have not been disappointed in the least. My favorite part of being a mom is knowing that I have made these incredible human beings, they inherited part of my "me-ness", and will go out into the world and be their own people. They amaze me everyday with their uniqueness, yet I see myself in them in so many ways. There are no guarantees in life, you never know what you are going to get. But they are healthy, smart, and I couldn't have asked for a better gift in life than the two children I was blessed with.

Meg1036

Slight thread hijack: Sue, that answer to your favorite part of being a mom is amazing.

Sue-n-Kevin

Thanks. I mean every word. They were both unplanned and have made my life what it is today in every way.