Welcome to the unofficial diary of Candid & Kate, where we're dishing up candid memories and a couple hot takes. You'll also find a lot of practical and often personally vetted wedding advice/tips on here too, but I'm guessing the hot takes and candid conversations are what will keep you coming back for more.
A little about me? I'm a former Minnesota bride turned wedding content creator. You heard that right - I'm a product of the bride to wedding vendor pipeline. Do you think it's better to be part of the 'not a bride to wedding vendor' pipeline? Does it even matter what pipeline a wedding vendor comes from if they're passionate, they love their clients and they're damn good at what they do? Maybe we'll explore that one at a later date.
As you might have guessed, my name is Kate. Some people call me Katie but my best friends and family call me Kate so when I started posting wedding content on social media I chose to go by my cozy bestie name... it just felt right. I was born and raised in Minnesota, married at The Edward Ann Estate at Bavaria Downs in Minnesota and now I'm focused on capturing fabulous wedding content at beautiful weddings in you guessed it… Minnesota. I've been known to take on a few exciting destination wedding opportunities as well but Minnesota has my heart and so many incredible couples that align with my style of wedding content so I've been lucky enough to fill most of my schedule in my home state.
I got into wedding content creation after building a community of over 100k brides, wedding vendors and new friends on Tiktok while sharing content around my own wedding planning process and tips I learned along the way. I've since switched to sharing uhm... whatever I feel like over on that account so if you want to check it out be my guest (@Engelthang - we're doing a kitchen remodel and getting a puppy this summer so juicy content incoming). I fell in love with content creation and helping couples through the wedding planning process during my bridal era so I was absolutely tickled to find a way I could combine my passion for content and weddings to stay in this wedding world I had become so enamored with.
Anyways, enough about me, we have to address the dying art of blogging. In the wedding arena blogging seems to always be boiled down to a necessary evil for the chance to rank on the coveted top page of google. For reference... we're talking about blogs by individual wedding vendors here, NOT Vogue Weddings and those other huge media machines out there. So I was thinking about it the other day and it turns out that I have yet to meet a single wedding vendor that discusses any other primary reason for blogging other than SEO (aka googleability but don’t fact check me on that). Probably by pure coincidence, I have yet to meet any wedding vendor that seems to actually enjoy blogging which is a bummer but I get it - sometimes we have to do things we don't like to get the results we want.
I'm a firm believer that if you're not having fun, you shouldn’t be wasting your time on it. SEO is cool but if you hate blogging there are definitely other ways you can get your name out there. Thankfully I love weddings and I love creative writing so I feel like I'll quite like wedding blogging. So while we now know blogs are good for this thing called SEO, I want to make a blog that's good for you. I know that's a pretty bold statement considering my readership will probably be 6 people but if those 6 people are planning a wedding and I can make them feel a tiny bit better about something than this whole blog was worth it. Blogging might be a dying art but honey we’re doin it and we’re gonna have fun with it.
All that said, here’s my promises and stipulations as the newest wedding blogger in the industry so you know what to expect going forward:
This is not ChatGPT-produced programming. There’s a real human, with real wedding experience and a real personality behind every post on this blog, so even if none of it's funny, please leave a little haha in the comments now and then :’)
I don’t know everything and I’ll never pretend to. I’m a meticulous researcher and a hyper-fixater so while I might have a lot of useless knowledge and plenty of special interests, I’m living life and figuring stuff out for the first time just like you - feel free to call me out if I get something wrong… I’ll give you an editor credit.
The hot takes will be fair. This is not Lady Whistledown’s Society Papers… we’ll share relevant wedding industry takes and some personal opinions but you won’t be finding a list on why hiring XYZ wedding vendor will ruin your life although I did read 3 of those articles while researching for this launch (you might be able to guess what type of wedding vendor those lists were about lmao <3)
There are no stupid questions here. Like I said, we’re all doing life for the first time and we’re all curious little beans. Feel free to email me, DM me or leave a comment if you ever have any questions you think I might have some insight on - I love to help where I can and if I can’t I’ll always try to find you someone who might be able to.
Any affiliate links you might run into on this blog are not paying my bills (yet LMAO). Look, I’m a good influence but a terrible influencer. I might share affiliate links here and there but making $1 commission isn’t the purpose of this thing. Just know you don’t need to go through any links I share to purchase anything if it’s against your belief system and it’s not keeping a roof over my head either.
I will blog… when the spirit moves me. I can’t commit to a schedule y'all - I already have 2 jobs and I have to try and see my husband once in a while too. I can tell you that I already have a list of about 10 topics I want to write about for you and I’m already having way too much fun with this one. Okay... you know what - If you hype me up and beg for more maybe we can pump out the goods quicker but that’s on you babe, not me!
I am not a wedding planner. I say this because one time someone who found one of my videos on tiktok asked if she could send me a wedding question. I said of course, my dms are open! She proceeded to email me a… you know what let me just show you the list I don't even know how to describe it
THE LIST OF WEDDING QUESTIONS I GOT BACK IN 2022
Happy Saturday
This is the timeline 2023 is moving in to our apartment and 2024Â wedding.
Our theme is The Nightmare before Christmas
Our favorite site is Amazon
should I go on Amazon and
get all The Nightmare Before Christmas
items there or go to a Halloween store?
I've heard of engagement/
bridal boxes what are they
and are they worth it?
I know you do matron/maid,bridal,
junior bride, flower girl,
best man,groomsmen proposel boxes,
but can you give one to the Officents?
Gifts,who do you give them too?
Parents
Matron/maid/bridesmaids
Junior bride/flowers girls
Bestman/Groomsmen
Groom
What favors for the guests will go with the theme?
I've seen the Voice Mail
vintage phone instead of the regular
guest book,which is better?
I know the first look with parents and
bridesmaids but I thought you can't see
the groom,
only until you are walking down the aisle?
My dress will be black and white
(I found a bunch on TikTok)
I'm going to print them out
and when the time comes put
them in a binder with dresses that
I like for my girls and my mom.
I can't wear heels,what is another option
flats or boots?
Maton and Maid of Honor Lite Red
Bridesmaids -Dark Red
Flower girls- White with Red belt
Junior brides(black and white like me)
My boyfriend/fiancee loves to match
so I'm thinking Black jacket/pants with white shirt
Best Man/Groomsmen Im thinking
Grey jacket/pants and red shirt.
Flowers -Purple and Pink
(in honor of my grandmothers)
We will have the memorial table and candle
for his mom,grandma and aunt
and my grandparents and nana
I found a venue that can do both the
ceremony and reception
(inside of course)
They can even do Engagement party
and Bridal Shower.
They do Italian food(we are both Italian),
but my fiancee is also part southern
They have signature bride and groom drinks
and dinner plate.
They say you can make any request
so I'm going to bring a binder for the venue
for the ceremony,cocktail hour and reception.
The bridal party entry I thought I had down,
but now I'm re-thinking it lol.
Person who introduces Bridal party
(It's not the one who is going to be singing,
it's another person)
Parents of the bride entrance-Got it
Junior bride/flower girls entrance -Got it
Father/Daughter-Got it
Groom's dance
That's up to my boyfriend/fiancee
either his aunt or
another person he sees as a mom
First Dance -Got it
My friend is a wedding decorator
(with her husband),
she is our toddler teacher at school,
I am the Pre.k Teacher.
Another friend of mine makes
custom made items(mugs,tumblers).
A mutual friend of me and my boyfriend/fiancee
owns a photography company with her husband.
My hairstylest does hair and make-up.
My friend since highschool is a singer
(reception got it)
I sing in my choir so my choir director and the
rest of the choir and my boyfriend/fiancee's
church they call their choir(worship),
so they will be doing the music at the ceremony.
I hope this is not too much.
Thank you
This is exactly how it was written. This is the list. Hey maybe it gave you a few things to think about if you're planning your wedding. The moral of the story is, If you are ever this lost don't email me... hire a planner instead. Actually, hire the planner before you’re this lost. Also, if you are hosting a wedding I strongly urge you to get at least a coordinator. You will find that to be a recurring theme from me - planners are the glue that holds this industry and your timeline together and this is the hill I will die on. Okay fine - I’ll write a blog on my favorite wedding planners in Minnesota… twist my arm.
So that’s my first blog folks. What do you think? Should we hang it up before we're in too deep? Do we need to pretty it up a bit? I know there weren't enough pictures- I'm sorry about that but I'll try to load it up next time. Anyways, I’m using the comment section to determine my fate so don’t be shy now.
xo
Kate
Candid & Kate Owner
Your Favorite Wedding Content Creator
Blog Queen
Future puppy mom
The email😠I felt like it was a poem! So excited for more blog posts :-)
Can’t wait for all the hot takes to come! <3 Becca