We're alive...really, I swear.

So it's been a while since my last post, and honestly I've been having difficulty getting motivated to start back up again. But at the request of a few people (Kristie to keep her entertained at work, Ange I assume for the same reason!) I will attempt to start writing again.

Before we get into the actual wedding events, I want to go back and post about a few projects that I did that I wanted to keep secret until the wedding. So let's talk about out of town bags.

Out of town bags (or OOT bags) are usually left in the hotel rooms of guests that travel from out of town to attend the wedding. We decided early on that we wanted to do a Detroit theme for our OOT bags. And luckily Detroit has a number of things that were perfect for the bags:

1. Faygo Soda - 2 bottles
2. Better Made Potato Chips - BBQ and Regular
3. Germack Peanuts - Lions, Tigers and Red Wings packages!
4. Sanders chocolates - 2 per bag

I was so excited when we found the Germack peanuts in the Detroit sport teams. They were even more perfect that way!

All the bags lined up and ready to go!

We also included a note thanking everyone for making the trip and a short paragraph on each item inside the bag:

Welcome to Detroit!

We want to thank all of you for joining us on our special day! We are very blessed to have each of you in our lives and we are so happy that you are here to help celebrate with us! It is an honor to have you here in Detroit…the city we fell in love….and the city we begin our journey as husband and wife! Please enjoy a taste of Detroit!

With Love - Gary and Kate

Faygo Soda
Fiegenson Brothers Bottleworks, or Faygo, was founded in Detroit in 1907 by Russian bakers Ben and Perry Fiegenson. The original flavors of grape, strawberry and fruit punch were based on their own recipes for cake frosting.

Better Made Potato Chips
When the Cross and Peter’s Company was founded in 1930 by Cross Moceri and Peter Cipriano, their main goal was to make a better potato chip, hence the brand name Better Made.

Sander’s Chocolates
Sanders was founded in 1875 by Fred Sanders and began as a single retail shop in downtown Detroit. Sanders candies, dessert toppings and other items can now be found in stores nationwide.

Germack Nuts
The Germack Pistachio Company got its start when Frank Germack Sr. moved to Detroit and established the company in 1924. Today, it is still located in Detroit’s Historic Eastern Market and is still owned by the Germack family.

And there you have it! Of course it looked a lot prettier in fancy fonts and on our colored paper but you get the idea. I was pleased with the way everything came together and I think all of our out of town guests enjoyed them as well!