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| Leading up to our wedding |
| We've made these pages to keep you informed as things progress. Whether that be to show the invitations or let you know where we are registered. We'll start things off from the beginning with how we met. |
| Sometime in March 1998, two people were chatting on their computers with people from around the country. Little did they realize that soon they'd be talking to each other and meeting in person soon. That is what happened to us, Kevin and Kristin. I couldn't tell you the exact day that we started talking, but it was Kevin who started talking first. Maybe a week or so later, we decided that we wanted to meet. So Kristin took the drive from St. Paul down to Kasota to meet Kevin on March 28, 1998. Fate stepped in that weekend and when Kristin was going to leave to go home, a tornado struck a few miles away and forced her to stay another day. As they say, everything else is history. That July, Kevin flew out to Montana with Kristin to meet her parents. After we returned to Minnesota, Kristin packed up and moved in with Kevin and transferred her job to Mankato. In August, we found out we were pregnant and very happy about it. Then April 26, 1999, we were blessed with Trevor Jon. That July we were engaged and set the date for June 23, 2001. Needless to say, we didn't wait that long for reasons to long to tell here. So January 21, 2000, we were married at the Mankato courthouse by the justice of the peace with Sandy VanEman, Kevin's oldest sister, and Randy Hamman as our witnesses. We still wanted to have the wedding the following year like we had already planned so we could share the day with family and friends. Plus I really wanted to feel like we had a wedding day with the dress and everything else. That leads us to now with the planning. |
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| Choosing the bridesmaids wasn't a hard choice for me. I knew who I wanted right away. They are Kelli Amell and Christy Clausen. They are both sorority sisters of mine from college and have remained close friends since. Now, picking the groomsmen was a long ordeal, at least for me. Kevin says he knew who he wanted all along. It just took him until March of this year, 4 months before the wedding, to ask them. They are Rich VanEman and Randy Hamman. Rich is Kevin's brother-in-law and Randy is a good friend from work. Randy was also one of the witnesses to our actual wedding. |
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| The dresses were the next step in the planning. Can't say too much about mine except it was the 4th dress I tried on. I fell in love with it right away and didn't look at any others. The bridesmaids were each allowed to pick out their own dresses. We had decided that purple was going to be the color used throughout the wedding so the dresses only needed to be a shade of purple. Picking their own dresses allowed for me not to have to try to find one that would flatter both of their body types and wouldn't be too costly and they could wear it again sometime. Kelli picked out a dress with spagetti straps and had a sheer material over the whole dress. There were only about 5 different colors it came in and, thankfully, rasberry was one of them. It's a very pretty, muted color of purple. Christy picked out a dress that had the same sheer material for straps but didn't have it over the whole dress. The one picked out was able to come in many colors, but lavendar was the color that matched Kelli's the closest. Then when Christy went to go in for the first fitting, we found out the wrong dress had been ordered. Right color, wrong dress. Needless to say, she tried it on and we ended up liking it better than the other dress. |
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| Then came the many vendors needed for the wedding. We started with the minister. Being as neither of us were members of a church and the wedding is going to be about an hour from our house we looked at who we knew. Christy's father is a retired minister so we took that route first. He declined being as he is retired and has said no to others and didn't want to say yes to us and no one else. So then we looked at a close family friend of her family who is a minister, George, in the town we are getting married in. I knew him also so we decided to call him and he said he would be more than happy to do the ceremony. Now for the photographer. We picked Brenda Anderson with Prairie Portraits. Brenda is a cousin of my cousin, whose place we are having the wedding at. She does excellent pictures and her rates were very reasonable. To see some pictures that she has taken click here. The quality of the scanning isn't the best though. Next we were able to get some ideas from her about florist and caterers. For the florist, we went with Emotions out of Austin, MN. For the flowers we are going with a variety of purple flowers for the bouquets. For the men, they are having lavendar roses, my favorite flower. The bouquets then become the centerpieces for the head table. The centerpieces for the guest tables are a rose bowl with a floating singe lavendar rose. A small tribute to my Grandma Em, who usually had a rose floating in a bowl on her kitchen table. For the caterer, we went with The 7th Rib out of Racine, MN. The sample menu they sent had some great things for very reasonable prices. In the end, we decided to go with a buffet of hamburgers, brats, chicken and potato and fruit salads. Next we decided on Lyon Communications for the entertainment at the reception. He is a dj out of Austin, MN. For music during the ceremony, we are renting a pa system and playing a cd of mixed love songs while people are arriving and after the ceremony. Then we had to figure out what else we needed to rent. We are having the whole thing at my cousin's farm outside of Brownsdale, MN. So we had to rent tables, chairs, a gazebo and a port-a-toilet. For the gazebo and chairs we went with Balloons of Joy out of Stewartville, MN. The rest from Rent and Save out of Austin, MN. For the cake, we found a lady out of Grand Meadow, MN. She has her own little shop, Susie's Sweet Celebrations. We are having a 2 tiered cake with the bottom a fake cake. The top is real and then we have a sheet cake for guests. It really cut back on the cost also. |
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| One of the last details was to pick out the tuxes for the men. We went to Matt J Graif out of Mankato, MN for that. They are going to have a 4 button jacket with a white shirt under. The vests are lavendar and the ties are also lavendar. We didn't go with bow ties, but the traditional tie instead being as it is more of a relaxed, semi-formal ceremony. Kevin and Trevor, as the ring bearer, will have white ties and vests. |
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| The hotels that are available for out of town guests are in Austin. That is about 5 miles from the wedding and reception cite. Here is the list along with their addresses and phone numbers. Americ Inn 1700 8th Street NW 507-437-7337 Holiday Inn 1701 4th Street NW 507-433-1000 Super 8 Motel 1401 14th Street NW 507-433-1801 |
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| We have also finally registered. We decided on Target and went and picked out what we need or want to upgrade around the house. It was a little bit of a chore being as we are already married and have most of what we need or want. We did manage though to pick out some things to choose from. You can see our things online and even purchase them that way. If you do purchase something online, you are asked to call 1-800-888-9333 and have them update the list so things aren't bought by more than one person. Also if you purchase online, you need to give them an address to send it to. If you want it sent to us, here is our address. Kristin & Kevin Klocek 109 10th Avenue SE Waseca, MN 56093 |
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| After the wedding, my mother is going to be staying with Trevor until Thursday so that we can get away for a few days. We are going to go to Duluth, MN, and stay at a bed and breakfast there. It is the Olcott House. The first night there we have to stay in a different room being as the one we wanted wasn't open. Then the last 2 nights we will be staying in the carriage house. We are really looking forward to the alone time. |
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| Thank you for visiting us and joining us in our celebration of our marriage. |
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