Senior Picture in the fall of 2007. Photo by Kelly of Kelly Kuntz Photography.
Name: Gretchen Heitstuman Kramer
Age: 20 years old
Occupation: Sophomore at Washington State University- Go ‘Cougs!
Major: Journalism (?? this might be changing)
Interests: Music, men, college athletics, all things 'Cougs, her friends and sorority
Surfing over Spring Break, 2006, in my grad school apartment in Lexington, Kentucky.
See those long legs of hers? I'm jealous.
She’s my only sibling, and one I waited six and a half years for. The large age difference between us definitely put us at odds for a long time. When I was 14 she was 7, and we were into totally different things. But as we’ve gotten older, we’ve gotten closer.
For me, she’s the only person I can turn to sometimes who knows exactly how I feel, and what the story is behind it. We lived in the same house, with the same parents and many of the same outside influences, and that shared experience makes her as close of friend as I have.
Why rent a hotel room when you can sleep on an airmattress in Courtney's apartment?
We’re also very different. I’m 5’ 5” tall with brown eyes and hair; she’s 5’11.5” inches tall with blue eyes and blonde hair. I’m into “Old Shit” and she’s more pop culture. She’s friendlier and more outgoing than I am, but I might be a little more self-assured than she is right now (but I was totally insecure at 20 years old too). She’s better at hair and makeup, and actually taught me the little I know about putting myself together. She’s a better friend to me than I am to her sometimes.
Wow! Our noses look alike in this photo!
Originally, DJ thought that three attendants apiece was the ideal number of people in a “wedding party”. He named his three quickly, but for me it went from Gretchen to twelve people in the blink of an eye. And I’m not a twelve attendant kind of girl. So I suggested demanded that we keep it to just our siblings. His brother and my sister. Simple, easy to coordinate, and with the added bonus of being super awkward! (Imagine Lucille Ball next to say… a punk rock Bill Gates).
Photo again of Kelly Kuntz Photography
In writing this right now, I just realized that I never formally asked Gretchen to by my Maid of Honor; it was always just an understanding between us. And there’s no one else I’d want to be around for the day. She’ll make me laugh, divert stress, and might even do my makeup, like any good littebig sister should!
See why I call her my LittleBig sister? We're standing on the same step... she's taller than me. She calls me her BigLittle sister.
Right after getting engaged in August I started looking for dresses for Gretchen. Weird, right? I mean, usually people choose the bride’s dress first. Well, I was hoping to score a sweet summery dress for cheap at the end of the season. And I knew I wanted to use some version of blue as a color. Preferably a deep, dark, rich sapphire-ish blue.
I started with JCrew, and had marked these two dresses earlier in the summer:
JCrew "Delores" Dress in a silk taffeta (?).
JCrew "Loreli" dress in the same material (maybe it's watered silk?)
But by the time I went to buy them, I couldn’t find them on the internet. And we were headed towards Eastern Washington over Labor Day, which is when I wanted GK to have a chance to try something on. So I kept looking.
I stumbled onto Nordstrom’s website, expecting to not find anything I could afford. Or that a girl like me would fit into. Suffice to say, after searching by color I was pleasantly surprised! Check out Gretchen’s dress, which she looks fantastic in, by the way!
A-Line skirt is flattering, strapless, and dark blue!
It hits Gretch in all of the right places!
We haven’t figured out what she’ll do for shoes or accessories yet. Maybe a strappy silver heel? Or is that played out? Frankly, I don’t really care; as long as she’s comfortable and confident in it! And able to dance.
Who’s with me on the “less is more” theory of wedding parties? Is the silver strappy shoe played out?
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