Finally, we have a date! We are getting married next October. I cannot wait. The “realness” has set in. When you’re looking for venues, and trying to compare apples to apples based on what each venue offers, it’s really hard!

BOoKing A VENUE

Without a venue, you don’t really have a date. Lots of people kept asking, “When’s the wedding?”...”Have you set a date?”...”When are you getting married?”....every form of the question fell on my ears. But, you absolutely CANNOT set a date until you’ve spoken to a venue about their availability and placed your deposit. One of my biggest fears was that I would choose a date, get my heart set on it, then find out it was already booked! Talk about avoidable heartbreak.

At the beginning of October we toured three venues in person on our trip to Florida.

All these venues were great in their own ways, but for one reason or another, we just decided to go in a different direction. And, by different direction, we chose a venue we haven’t actually seen. Now, before you tell me we’re crazy. We “sort of” saw it. You see, the venue we chose is undergoing a total renovation. Maybe our wedding theme should be “Fixer Upper”. Hahah! But, we did a drive by of the location during our trip. There wasn’t much to see. ;)

WHY WE CHOSE THE CLAY THEATRE?

The Clay Theatre in Green Cove Springs is an old theatre that is being transformed into a wedding venue. It is going to be completely magical. A lot of what is on the wedding venue market is rustic, barn, etc. But, that just isn’t “us”. So, the fact we were able to find this place not too far away from where we met made perfect sense. Deep down inside I’m an old woman, and there’s some part of my soul that is always drawn to things of the past.

We are keeping up with the progress they are making on the build through their Instagram account, and via the owner Andrea Vallencourt. I’ll post some of the architect renders down below. It’s amazing to see how quickly things are progressing, and they are set to be finished by April - accepting events in May 2019. Andrea is great at getting back to me with any of my crazy bride questions, and has even reached out to get her brides opinions on design changes! It makes us totally feel like part of the process.

20180918_clay theatre front perspective.jpg

GETting A PRO

Another big step we took was hiring a wedding planner. Hiring a wedding planner when we are planning a wedding from states away was the only way to guarantee my sanity. Francesca Cooper of The Eventful Gals will be helping us plan our big day. She’s already helped us so much by starting with a budget analysis.

Tip: You need to know where the money should go before you start spending it!

WHY WE CHOSE THE EVENTFUL GALS?
To be completely transparent, Francesca did not come to me by way of recommendation (although you can read plenty of great reviews HERE). We met in true millennial fashion - on Instagram. Not too long after Kyle + I got engaged, I followed a few hashtags on Instagram like #jacksonvillewedding and #jacksonvillebride. Her account popped up, and I loved the style she was able to achieve for her brides. I have to say, if it wasn’t for her I wouldn’t have even found the venue! She pointed me to The Clay Theatre, and I couldn’t be more grateful! After our first call, I had complete confidence that she would help our big day become something all will remember.

WRITing IT DOWN

I also decided to get an Erin Condren wedding planner. While I do have Francesca at my side, I am a project manager by day. I live and die by my day planner. It helps keep me organized, and I love writing stuff down. Not only that, but I plan to use this as a keepsake of memories with little notes and photos. I think it will be really fun to look back on over the years.

Those are the updates I have for now. I’ve started trying to think of colors/theme/inspiration, but I really want to chat with Francesca about our vision. Hope you all are enjoying these updates!

Xo,

Kimberly

IDK who we think we are, but we are no longer spring chickens! We bought 3-Day wristbands for Weekend 1 of Austin City Limits Music Festival (ACL), and I’m already regretting my poor, FOMO-driven decisions.

This will be my fourth year attending the festival, and I’m already tired. If you’ve been following along on Instagram Stories, you know I’ve been a hamster on a wheel lately. But, I digress. We’re going. All three days. Let’s make it happen!

I thought there no better time than the present to share the knowledge I’ve picked up over the years, and what my top picks and hangs will be for this time around.

Let’s get into it!

FOOD

Here’s the thing. You NEED to eat at festivals. Duh, right? But, when you’re hopping from stage to stage, it’s easy to forget. If it’s like years past, we’re all going to be baking in the hot sun for hours on end. You need to keep your body fueled (and hydrated). Basically, you need to eat a filling meal, so that you’re not standing in line every hour for a snack - missing valuable music time!

Below are my top picks for meals and snacks this year.

MEALS

FLYRITE - I’m SURE they’ll have some of their DELICIOUS chicken sandwiches - which are perfect, handheld food items. Snag your sammy and find some shade!
FRANK - Again! Quick, easy, delicious hot dogs perfect for bouncing from stage to stage. I hope they have their pretzels too because they are a must-have snack!
CHI’LANTRO - THE KIMCHI FRIES! You’ve heard about them, and YES you must try them. They are totally a meal themselves because they are so filling. Their website describes them as “your choice of protein, caramelized kimchi, cheddar + monterey jack, onions, cilantro, magic sauce, sesame seeds, sriracha on a crispy bed of french fries”.

AFTERNOON PICK-ME-UP

JUICELAND - An Austin staple. Also, juice keeps you hydrated when the sun has no mercy! Not sure which ones they will have available, but for me, as long as there are no beets - it’s considered a winner.
HIGHBREW - This is hands down my favorite canned cold brew made right here in Austin. I love the “Black & Bold” variety. No sugar. Just caffeine, baby!
MMMPANADAS - Portable deliciousness wrapped in dough. They even will be offering gluten-freen and vegan options. Empanadas make a perfect snack.

DRINKS

There will be drink stations all around the festival. But, here are some fun places to check out. Also, don’t forget the H2O - especially if you’re traveling from out-of-state. The quickest way to ruin your festival experience is dehydration.

ACL WINE LOUNGE - This setup will be located right behind the Homeaway stage for reference. It is sponsored by Campo Viejo and will feature lots of fun drinks like frose and spritzes all under some shady delicious oak trees. BLESS!
BARTON SPRINGS BEER HALL - Love sports and music? Not to fear. Between sets you can catch your favorite teams play on the jumbo screen and wash down the win with a cold brewski.

FUN THINGS

There is actually a ton of fun things to do within ACL beyond the main stages. Lots of brands will be out repping and doing giveaways and handing out free swag.

SILENT DISCO - Sometimes you just wanna dance. Each day of the festival head to the Tito’s Handmade Vodka Stage from 8-10pm. You’ll be given a special ACL Fest-supplied pair of headphones and can groove to three DJs.
AMERICAN EXPRESS EXPERIENCE - Last year, we had a great time cooling off in this area. The ground floor is GA, but the top floor was not. However, it hosted some killer views of the American Express stage and we escaped the sun and charged our phones. To get into the top floor, we had to show our American Express card. You may have to register the card for cashless spending this year according to the ACL website. I’m hoping I can just flash the card like last year because my AMEX is through work and I don’t think my company would appreciate sponsoring my food and drinks all weekend! Haha :)
ART MARKET - Separate from the ACL Merch tent, this area offers goods and wares from artisans from all over the world. Some merchants to check out are Austin Art Garage and Teysha.

WHAT TO WEAR

Rain is in the forecast for Weekend 1, and it’s usually HOT! My best piece of advice is to wear comfortable shoes you don’t care about getting dirty. The dust or mud is sure to happen and you might as well be prepared to get gross.

A rain poncho can’t hurt if it does rain. Usually they fold up really small, so they can fit in your bag easily. Speaking of bags, KNOW THE RULES - which you can find HERE. Not all bags are permitted, so don’t be that person at the gate! Lockers are available near the front of the festival if you want to pay to stash your stuff and not haul it around.

Don’t forget a hat and sunscreen! Otherwise, I’m no fashion blogger. Wear what makes you feel happy, mmkay?

The sunscreen I’ll be wearing this weekend is Coola Sport Face SPF 50 White Tea Organic Sunscreen Lotion. Pricey, but your skin is ALWAYS worth it.

Don’t be me. Don’t wear a sweater! I think it was “kind of” cool, but the sun roasted me!

GENERAL INFO

I highly recommend downloading this map of the festival to your phone before you go in: DOWNLOAD HERE
Screenshot the lineups / stages because it will save battery power on your phone if you’re just looking at your image gallery - versus loading up the page every time you need it.

Bring a battery pack. Nothing is worse than walking home from ACL because you
can’t hail a cab or call an Uber. Speaking from experience - unfortunately.
Save your name and alternate number or contact information on your lock screen. If you lose your phone, you have a better chance of getting it back quickly this way.
Bring an empty water bottle to refill with water once you’re inside the festival. You cannot enter with any liquids in your water container, but on the map linked above you’ll see Camelbak Hydration Stations scattered about the park.
Register your wristbands, so you can go cashless! All your wristband questions can be answered HERE!

Who are you looking most forward to hearing at ACL?

I’m looking forward to hearing Paul McCartney and Khalid.

Low key one of my favorite parts of Austin City Limits is all the “unknown” (at least to me) artists because I’ve found some really great music just by listening to some of the lesser known acts. So, that’s what I’m looking forward to MOST. If you see me at ACL, please come say “hi”. I may barely be functioning or spazzing out on caffeine to keep me awake all weekend. But, I promise you I’d love to meet ya!

Hope you have a fun, safe ACL Fest!

Xo,