The Adventures of SB. Kykes: First thing's first

Our blog's two golden rules:

1. I will not reveal details such as exact date, location and personal info that can easily get exploited and used for malicious purposes.

2. I will be posting images that I've taken as inspiration from other blogs, websites, etc. I haven't been keeping track of where they came from (much to my regret) so my crediting will suck. I'm sorry. If you are the blogger or website administrator that I've "borrowed" images from, please feel free to contact me and I will credit you to the best of my abilities.

If I could, I would totally divulge all my details to the nitty gritty but then random people might show up...so to compromise, I decided with hubby-to-be that we will be careful about what we (and by we I mean mostly me) write on this thing. Don't worry, it'll still be a lot of fun and I promise that you won't be bored with the blog. Note to those who are aware of the nitty-gritty details: please refrain from commenting on exact location, date and other personal information that neither Brent nor I have divulges because then that ruins the whole point... :) Thank you!

For example, I can tell you: OMG BIG NEWS!!! We're putting down our deposit for our venue tomorrow (but I can't tell you where). I'm super excited because this will be our first major purchase toward our wedding (we can count wedding binders, dividers and calendars but those weren't EXTREMELY major purchases). Needless to say, we are very, very excited to fill out paperwork and make our date official! We've done a bit of research on locations and we had very close second and third options but overall, our original choice had the biggest bang for our buck and has the most sentimental value. Just incase you want to compare price ranges, Kahala Resort is by far the more expensive at about $20,000 just for the reception site on a Saturday. In contrast, the Hawaii State Art Museum (HiSAM) is about $2,400 site rental for a maximum of 5 hr and would have been an awesome place to have our reception except they only allow you to set up after 4p (we were trying to get the wedding started at around 3p). The Oasis World Estates' Ocean Front Oasis by Kathy Ireland Weddings was another off-site option at $4,750 for 12 hr but they ask that you go by their recommended vendors' list (for catering, parking and rentals). Since Brent and I are looking for alternate arrangements in these areas, it would have been counter to what we wanted. So overall, our venue was the best choice for us.

As far as our budget is concerned, we are still working out everything but I'm challenging us to go under $12,000 (our realistic budget is $15,000). I'm confident that it's possible because I love me a DIY-vintage chic-family ties wedding. I've been doing quite a bit of research in initial price listings and have since gone back to the budget sheet to see where we can save and where we can splurge (which I'll start talking about in another entry). I'm excited to see everything come together on our big day but right now I'm mostly ecstatic about putting in our first deposit!

I'll be posting inspiring images that may or may not have anything to do with my posts for that day. Enjoy!