Meet the Juror!

Hello again Beautiful Person! I'm back to post interview number two for the 2011 Bunny with a Toolbelt Engagement Story Contest! Next up is Kimberly Farris aka Gator Bride.

Bunny with a Toolbelt: How did you start your business? Tell me about what you do specifically that makes your business unique?

Gator Bride: My business actually started, in the very beginning, from a cake topper I commissioned from Hilary! Way back in Spring of 2009, I commissioned two little toppers, one a knight (for the groom), and the other a gator (for me, the bride), after our alma maters. That summer I started a wedding blog, Gator Bride, to have a place where orange and blue lovin' college Gator gals could come and share their Gator weddings. I also documented my wedding planning process there too (which later had me blogging as Mrs. Dolphin on Weddingbee).

From there I launched Gator Bride Designs, a wedding stationery design company for the modern DIY bride. And now, our newest venture, is in wedding videography with Gator Bride Videography!

One of the things I (and my husband) pride ourselves on is providing affordable modern design, and non-cheesy wedding videography, to budget brides!

Who knew so much would develop from such a cute little wedding topper?

Bunny with a Toolbelt What do you like best about being part of the wedding industry?


Gator Bride:I love how the wedding industry is constantly changing and evolving. Every few months there is a new wave of brides, with new ideas, new definitions of what a "wedding" is, they are constantly keeping us, vendors, on our toes! I also love the energy of the wedding industry. Everyone is so happy, excited and chomping at the bit. It's wonderful!

Bunny with a Toolbelt Tell me a story about one of your favorite interactions with another human that came about because of your wedding connections.

Gator Bride: Favorite interaction? Hmmm. This is tough! Through my wedding stationery design company, I've interacted with so many wonderful brides. I think for me, something that makes me feel so amazing, is when brides tell me how much they love my designs and send me pictures of my designs in action at their weddings. That is one of the biggest rewards- helping someone's dream come to life, and seeing it so beautiful placed.

But really, I guess my favorite interaction was the interaction that started our wedding videography company. I had blogged about a few videos we made for our friends/families weddings, and expressed my absolute love for capturing weddings. A few days later I received an e-mail from a local bride asking me if we could capture her wedding! She didn't have much of a budget for videography, so she couldn't afford a professional videography (as they are several thousand $), but didn't want a random guest doing it either. So she hired us! We jumped at the opportunity, updating our gear, practicing every weekend, at every event we could get our video lovin' butts to. And, it paid off. The bride was overjoyed after receiving her highlight reel. She was so incredibly happy. And you know what? That's what it's all about for us. The pure joy our client's receive. I just love it. :)

Bunny with a Toolbelt: What's your own personal engagement story?

Gator Bride: Our engagement story isn't all that exciting. No really, it isn't! My husband and I had been together 7 years before he proposed (since high school). I knew it was coming, as we had picked out the ring together, on a whim, one afternoon. I just didn't know when. My husband kept stringing me along. I never knew when and how he was going to propose. Then, on Valentine's Day, after dinner, he did it.

We were at his apartment (at the time we were living in two different cities), and he got super nervous. Now, at this point, I knew something was up because my husband is never nervous. He started talking about how much he loves me and how he always knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. And then he said those magic words, "will you marry me."

Which I had no idea why he was nervous in the first place, as he knew I was going to say yes. I picked out the ring, for goodness sake!

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In the next few days, I'll post the final interview with our third esteemed juror! Click here to see the contest rules--there's three weeks to get yours in!!

Wedding cake topper contest - entry #2!

Hey Beautiful Person! Remember our wedding cake topper contest? (Click here for details!) We have our second contestant to tell you their engagement story, Courtney and Michael! To illustrate their story, they wanted me to include images of custom University of Florida gator toppers I've made, since it's their alma mater too! (You can see all the sports cake toppers I've made by clicking here.) Take it away, kids!

Michael proposed in his apartment on a random sunday evening, with the sounds of his roommate microwaving a frozen dinner + an espn commentator reviewing the week's sporting events drifting through the air. when i said yes, he gave me the ring and a birthday cupcake -- not because it was my birthday or my favorite cupcake-- but because it was 'the only one left that looked good, at the only cupcake store open on a sunday.'

as the microwave timer beeped and as i pulled off the unnecessary birthday candle, i realized it my perfect engagement.

together for more than 5 years, i had ample time to think about our proposal. we dated long distance for 3 of the years [while michael was in d.c. for law school + i stayed back at uf law]. while apart, i would daydream [probably way too often!] about being finally being back in the same state and marrying him. however, that sunday evening it was the last thing on my mind.

i had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad [work-related] week. law school, the bar exam and all other general life frustrations paled in comparison to the week. and after feeling like i couldn't get anything right -- feeling like despite my very best effort l was just going to fail -- he showed me that it didn't matter. he was going to be there for me each & every time i feel like this. it was an amazing gift.

i know from the outside, our engagement seems to lack fanfare, glamour and romance. each couple has a wonderfully different path. to me, choosing to marry michael -- choosing the one human on the planet to be my ultimate life partner, to be my sounding board, and to be my picker upper when i fall down-- was enough fanfare. michael + i are so different [i seriously once made a venn diagram of our interests and the only place our circles overlapped was pizza, jeopardy! and the beatles (you know, the 'big stuff')], yet we work together. our path led us to that sunday evening last october, with its espn-created background music + celebratory cupcake. michael was there for me that day - and will be until the end.
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Stay tuned this week for interviews with our three jurors! This contest is open for another 12 days, so get your entry in for a chance to win one of two custom wedding cake toppers made by yours truly!!

do gators eat bunnies?

Yet ANOTHER set for my fans in Florida!

Another Florida Gators commission!

I seem to be amassing quite a few fans down in Florida - here's the latest in the series of wedding cake toppers for what must be the most enthusiastic sports fans on the planet! What's that...you didn't see the others? Look in the Bunny with a Toolbelt online photo album of wedding custom cake topper commissions for the sports section!

and speaking of gators...

I had yet another Florida Gators fan come out of the woodwork asking me to do a custom cake topper for them. Er...wait...I guess it's not a Gators fan in this case. The bride is a Seminole and wanted to surprise her sweetie with this number on the groom's cake.

gone fishin'

This was a commission from another one of my Florida Gators customers--I'm so pleased with it--I just hope it makes it across the country in one piece! It's for the Groom's Cake, actually, combining the groom's love of Florida Gator Timmy Tebow, and his fondness for fishing with his German Shorthair Pointer.

gator brides unite!

The gal behind my very first Florida Gators wedding cake topper commission has her own blog, and she's used the figure I made her as her logo. If you're a fan of either the Florida Gators OR unique wedding blogs, click here and see what this one has to offer.

another gator commission

Last week I had one of the most challenging commissions ever--a bride-to-be, Kari, saw the Florida Gators + UCF Knights wedding cake toppers I made last spring, and wanted her own version for the groom's cake. Her hubby-to-be, Andrew, is not only a University of Florida alum, but also a fan of Coldplay and the video game Halo, and she wanted to surprise him with a custom cake topper that encompassed all three of those interests.

After several discussions of how to visually interpret that without logos, she sent me this drawing she did of the piece she wanted. The final outcome really made me happy--hope he loves it too!



Kari works for a bridal boutique in Gainesville, Florida so she's well versed on how to put on the best wedding ever. She even has her own wedding blog that chronicles all of the things that have gone into her own preparations. I love it when people share their experiences this way and loved finding out a little more about the person behind this crazy commission. Click here to read her blog Kee to Your Heart.

Before I go, I have to share this great wedding invitation video that Kari posted on her blog. Super cute!

Stay tuned for more limerick contest entries!

It must be Mascot Love!

Here's another fun commission I did for a couple who met while he was attending University of Central Florida (the Black Knights) and and she at the University of Florida (the Gators.) They saw my gator bride and groom couple and we tossed around a few ideas before settling on this design for their wedding cake.