Violet Dude and I are currently on a search for vendors. Since we are still a while away from our wedding and we’re both currently going crazy with school, it’s been a weekend thing for the last couple of weekends. We’ve gone to one venue and interviewed three different photographers.

The venue was pretty awesome, but he definitely wants to go see a few more just to compare before we settle down…which is understandable. The three photographers were all very good, we liked some more than others, but I enjoyed meeting with all of them.

Here is where my problem is, I’m just too nice. We have one more meeting with one more photographer, even though I’m completely ready to sign with one of the ones we already interviewed. I don’t know if I should go through with the meeting and give the other photographer a chance, or if I should just cancel the meeting and go with the photographer we like. I also am getting sick to my stomach just thinking about when I’ll have to e-mail the other two photographers and tell them we aren’t going with them. I absolutely hate the feeling of disappointing people, and although that’s just part of their business, I honestly hate the idea that I have to tell them we aren’t choosing them. With an unlimited budget, I would choose all of them, but that obviously isn’t an option.

So, for those of you who, like me, hate making people sad or disappointed…how did you write your rejection email? Did you give a reason as to why you weren’t going with them or did you just say you had chosen someone else? Put me out of my misery, please!

The venue that Morning Glory Bear (MGB as I will put him for short) and I picked to have our ceremony and reception is a nice waterfront venue tucked back in a neighborhood. It actually used to be a crappy little restaurant/bar and the catering company bought it and completely gutted and remodeled the place. I love the view and it will make for some great photo ops, but I’m worried about the lack of variety and creativity available for pictures after the ceremony. Since 75% of the venue is physically on the water (see below for picture) it’s literally just the docks for pictures. There’s no beach or really anywhere to go on-site to make for different pictures.

Copyright Cesar Chavez Photography

So, basically MGB and I talked about going offsite after the ceremony to take our bridal party/family pictures. Luckily, there is a nice park about 5 minutes away with a beach, pavilion and another dock to take pictures at. I was worried about finding somewhere that was close enough to not take time away from the reception time and was pretty enough to allow the photographer some creative leeway. In my nervousness to make sure everything goes according to plan, I don’t want this to end up being chaotic! I still want to do pictures at the venue on the docks, especially something like this at the end of the night.

Copyright Theresa Choi Photography

Are you doing offsite pictures after your ceremony? If you already did, how did it go?

We are nearing the 8 month mark! With each day that passes, I am getting more and more excited. And also realizing all of the things we have left to do. Even with that thought, I still feel like we’re pretty ahead of the game. Speaking of a game, that is the same thing that is putting a bit of a damper on our rehearsal dinner plans. Let me explain…
A few months ago, Christian Morelein, a local Cincinnati beer brewery, announced that it was opening a brand new Lager House downtown at a new riverside development called The Banks. As soon as we heard the news, Apricot Dude and his parents immediately investigated as we are all huge Christian Morelein beer fans, plus the location would be fantastic for a rehearsal dinner. Sure enough, we managed to contact a manager and discuss some options. They will have private dining areas and a full dinner menu. It sounds like the perfect place! Great location, fun atmosphere, good beer and good times!

Lager House model- coming 2012!

However…there are a couple catches. The first is that it doesn’t open until February. We are already planning on going to test it out but that leave just a few months to find a new place. I know we could, just could potentially not be the place we dreamed of! The second issue-and the main dilemma- is the issue of there being a Cincinnati Reds game on the same evening. The Lager House is literally right next to the stadium. While this wouldn’t pose an issue for seating as we would have a private reserved area, the biggest issue would be parking. Parking prices on game days are jacked up and we wouldn’t want our family and friends paying a ton of money or having to walk 5 miles. This is a big issue that we are seriously concerned about. The good news: we have a while to work it out. I hope it works out!! I’ll keep you posted on our decision.

Greetings to everyone!  I’m so excited to be blogging for Bridal Buds!

Well Mr. Pom and I have been engaged since the beginning of May and will be getting married early next June.  I’m pretty positive that up until a month from the wedding, planning anything with his input will be “too early.”  And I will be trying to “plan too much out ahead of time.”  Anyone heard those phrases yet?

All joking aside though, we got engaged on Lake Winnipesaukee, where we have been going for three years for a half marathon I run.  Since the lake holds a special place in our hearts we decided to also get married there.  We picked Naswa resort because it had the perfect combination of laid back/tropical and just enough formal air about it.  As an aside, the first place we thought about getting married at was actually to be torn down the following summer, oh the joys of wedding planning!

So why am I telling you all of this?  Well, and I’ll get into the dress buying more in a later post but, in my opnion you MUST pick the venue before you pick the dress.  If I had been nuts enough, and I was on the verge, and bought the dress that was oh so cute but which weighed 20 pounds and in which I couldn’t raise my arms in I would be pretty peeved because upon seeing our location the dress would not have fit the setting at all.

So here it is, in all of it’s glory, Naswa resort where our ceremony and reception will take place!

Have you experienced any issues with buying a dress BEFORE picking the locaiton?

I can’t believe it’s been a year since Aladdin and I have been engaged! We opted for an extra long engagement, partially by choice, partially by necessity. Right before we got engaged, my wonderful future sister-in-law was proposed to. Unbeknownst to me, it is a Filipino superstition that two siblings cannot be married in the same year, which means Aladdin and I would have to default to 2012. Truthfully, I love being engaged – it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me! In retrospect, I’m thrilled that we’ve had so much time to truly map out the details and how we want this wedding to reflect us as a couple. With what seemed like ample time, I’m beginning to feel the tick..tock.. of the days flying by and our wedding nearing quickly. I’m relieved to say that we have had our venue for quite some time, so that has stress has been alleviated. We fell head over heels for  the Spanish architecture of the breathtaking Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables. Doesn’t it just transport you from the US to some European Villa?

Alright, so by now you know a little more about Apricot Dude and I. Now- let me share to you where we are at with our wedding plans. After all, this is what I’m here to talk about! Here is a little information on our church and reception site….

Our actual wedding will take place at Saint Francis de Sales Catholic Church. (The church we currently go to does not have the capacity to handle a wedding over 200 people in their chapel.) Here is the catch; I’m not catholic. But I have always dreamed of getting married in a huge church with beautiful stained glass windows, long aisle, etc. I decided to make the choice not to become Catholic so we took our chances and starting looking around at churches. We found some that were too small, too big, too expensive….and then we heard about St. Francis de Sales through a friend of a friend and decided that this was the church we wanted to become husband and wife in.

So you’re probably wondering how we pulled this off…well, all we did was call and ask if it was possible and they said yes. We simply have to provide our own pastor and go through Pre Cana classes. So my advice for those who are not sure if something can be done; simply ask. You never know- they might say YES!

I absolutely adorable our wedding reception venue. After much searching (which I will discuss in a later post), we finally found the Glendale Lyceum. The term lyceum, in case you were wondering, means a hall in which public lectures are presented. The Glendale Lyceum is actually a private, social club who also rents the venue out for wedding receptions. My favorite part about it is that it was built in 1882 and has lots of history. The décor has been modernized but it still has that old-time feel to it. There are many different rooms including an outdoor patio which will be perfect for our June wedding. Another selling point for us was the amazing staff. They were so attentive to us even during our search process. It really is nice to work with people you like!

Here are a few pictures of the Lyceum. I can’t wait to dress it up for our day!

We also have a few other things already set…our photographer, videographer, band and my dress! All of these I will discuss in separate posts at a different time. But for now…think about my advice and just ask if you don’t know the answer. It seriously might surprise you!!

The other day, I happened to attend a bridal show hosted at the Disney hotel.  I’ve been to 6 bridal shows, and this one was definitely the most elaborate.  Since I was able to get a chance to attend this gorgeous bridal show, I also got to take a sneak peak of the reception/ceremony areas.  The cost/person isn’t as bad as I thought it was.  It’s actually more reasonable then having your wedding at a ritzy 5 star hotel.

Disneyland’s Reception/Ceremony Areas

Surprisingly, the cost of holding your wedding at Disneyland isn’t as bad as I thought it would be.

#1 The Grand Ballroom

#2 Sleeping Beauty’s Room…my favorite!

The Ceremony Area: Rose Garden

If you decide to have your horse drawn carriage to drop you off at the ceremony area…it would stop where this picture begins.  Definitely something to wow your guests!

Disney Themed Lighting on the Wall

Cinderella’s missing slipper!

How's this for your backdrop?? =)

The day we got engaged the questions about wedding details started coming at us from everywhere. I’m sure any newly engaged woman has experienced this and sympathizes with the overwhelming feeling we had at the beginning of our engagement. Of course I loved, and still love, telling our proposal story and showing off my ring but I wasn’t expecting all of the wedding questions so soon after we got engaged.

Needless to say it got us thinking, so we started off 2011 in full wedding planning mode. Before we started visiting wedding venues I wanted to work out some of the details so Mr. Man and I started trying to answer some of the basic questions. We both want a small wedding so that decision was easily made. Then came the debate of getting married locally or having a destination wedding. Charleston is one of our favorite cities so I started doing some research on venues and of course I found beautiful plantations and so many wonderful unique venues. The problem came when we started to look at the travel costs for every wedding planning visit and for our guests. I just couldn’t imagine not being able to take care of something important right away in person, being that Charleston is about 5 hours from us. So Charleston was out of the question and we decided a local wedding would be the easiest for both us and our guests.

Now that we knew we would be getting married around Greensboro we needed a date. We decided that since the fall is our favorite time of year we wanted a fall wedding and October seemed like the ideal month because the leaves would be changing and we would have beautiful colors. This fall seemed like it would be too soon for us, and as you’ll find out later a lot of venues were also already booked, so we decided on fall 2012. Working out all of those details came pretty easy but that all ended when we started looking at an exact date. Below are a few questions that we worked through and that I hope will help you choose your perfect wedding date.

1. Is there a major holiday the weekend you want to get married?
2. Are there any events going on in your area that weekend? (major city events, university homecomings, industry events, sporting events, etc.)
3. How will this affect your wedding day plans and your guests?

Picking a date in October was challenging for us because of Halloween, a local university that brings in a major crowd for their homecoming and furniture market, a large industry event in our area that books up every hotel in town. Finally we decided on October 20th, 2012 in order to avoid all of those events and to hopefully get nice fall weather and beautiful leaves.

I’d love to hear from you all, what were the first decisions you made when you started planning your wedding?

After 5 different venue visits, lots of number crunching, tedious contract editing, and numerous other important decisions: Olive Dude and I officially set our date (6/9/12) today. Woo!

Olive Dude and I weren’t particular about what date we got – we just wanted something in June. BUT – two cool things about the date we got: (1) It is my great-grandmother’s (who passed) birthday. She was VERY religious so Olive Mom’s side of the family thinks that it’s a great blessing, and (2) I’m a weird person and figured out that 6+9+12=27 … the 27th is Olive Dude and my “unofficial” anniversary date in September, and a lucky number for both of us.

To be honest, I did not find the process of picking a venue to be enjoyable at all. I think that’s mostly because at first, I wasn’t sure what I wanted and thought I liked things about certain places, but really didn’t. I figured that the place didn’t matter as much as the people and the celebration – a thought that Olive Mom was NOT in agreement with (and, to relate to my earlier post about ‘loving’ two places – 1 got nixed due to a lack-luster Plan B, and Olive Mom did not like the other for it’s price)

It is true though, that when you walk into “the place” – you just know. And, that’s how Olive Dude and I felt when we walked into The Chesapeake Bay Beach Club.

We will have our ceremony in a “sunken garden” that is on the water and has a view of the Bay Bridge. Cocktail hour is on a weathered “boardwalk” patio, and the reception is in a room with HUGE bay view windows. I’m so excited about it – and to let the more fun parts of planning begin!

After we tie the knot, Apple Sauce and I will make our exit out of the ceremony space and … into the next room. Our ceremony, cocktail hour and reception are all in the same venue. While this is super convenient for our guests — no one has to worry about driving to and finding parking at a second location — it makes it hard for us to get that classic wedding photo op. You know the one: where the bride and groom emerge from the church under a shower of confetti and make their way to the getaway car.

Credit: sparklersonline.com

My week, so far, has been all about finding unique ways to dress up our indoor mini recessional. Here’s what I’ve come up with:

At first, I was all set on using big felt Valentine’s hearts. Yes, the ones I snuck into last week’s Valentines inspiration board. I’d planned to have them tucked into cones of sheet music that were lined in rustic boxes for guests to take as they walk into the ceremony space. I couldn’t wait to be married and then showered with these gorgeous graphic hearts!

But alas, after re-reading my venue’s contract, it turns out that confetti of any kind is strictly prohibited, or suffer the consequence of a $300 cleanup fee. So, someone PLEASE steal this idea and then post the pictures! Onto the next idea…

Sparklers are out, of course, because we’ll be indoors and um, FIRE!

Bubbles are cute, but I think they’re a little too precious for our “Old Brooklyn boardwalk” style of wedding. I mean, were bubbles even invented in the 1920s? (Yeah, they probably were.)

And then it hit me: pinwheels. They perfectly evoke the fun, colorful vibe we’re going for, they don’t require any cleanup, and there are a million places to find them on etsy! Guests can hold them up, wave them, spin them and bring them home for a fun carnival-like souvenir. I found these adorable handmade pinwheels below by etsy shop owner petitsmetier.

What do you think?

Of all the “firsts” one may hear they need to do to start planning a wedding, for me I first had to decide on my venue. This was made difficult be the lack of a decision on a location. As mentioned before, a local wedding was out. We tried and my stars would simply not align for this to work. We began to consider a destination wedding, the destination being the most beautiful beaches in the contiguous United States. The Florida Keys are the destination of consideration, and they are magnificent. They offer some incredible Gulf sunsets, Scuba diving, fishing, other water sports, and endless entertainment for nature lovers. The local, laid back atmosphere leaves nothing to be desired. And in contrast to some other blue water beaches, you can drive to these (or hop on an inexpensive flight to Fort Lauderdale or Miami)!

Freesia Dude and I actually spent the week following our engagement in the Florida Keys. We took a road trip and stayed in Key Largo, Islamorada, Key West, and Bahia Honda Park. We contacted a wedding coordinator (Keys Dream Weddings) to begin helping us with the unknown world of destination wedding planning. Immediately she directed us towards two venues, a small hotel called Coconut Palm Inn, and a beautiful private residence. Initially, we were drawn to the residence due to the unique location and that it has some of the most beautiful landscaping in Florida (truly, it is award winning!). However, it slowly became apparent that this would not work within our budget and our eyes turned to Coconut Palm Inn…

The owner of Coconut Palm Inn has worked with our coordinator before. We worked the numbers and found that this option would work amazingly well. In addition, many of our family and friends would stay at this hotel encouraging them to get to know each other but also allowing everyone their own space. While we were considering this option, we learned that another party was attempting to reserve half of the rooms for the weekend that we were trying to book. Nervous of the committment, yet excited about the prospect, we decided that Coconut Palm Inn is the perfect location and venue for our wedding! We contacted the Inn and they seemed almost as excited as we were, what a perfect match?!? July 4th at Coconut Palm Inn, Key Largo, Florida. Done.

My sister got married two years, almost to the day, before Freesia Dude proposed. She and I are rather close in age and in friendship. I was her MOH and she is mine. The day she got engaged was the day that I started paying attention to all those details at weddings that one does not usually consider. From my point of view, she handled the whole process like a champ. She had every bit of it under control and turned out an amazing wedding that totally encompassed the personalities of her and her new husband. It took around a year to plan her fairly sizable wedding. During her planning, I decided that if when my day came I would do a destination wedding and if not, it would be small and simple and DEFINITELY not take longer than a few months to plan.

One of the first questions I was asked after becoming engaged was whether I would have a destination wedding. Immediately I said no, I would miss out on several things that I will only get to have one chance at. I had set in my mind that I would plan a wedding on the Texas beaches that Freesia Dude and I both grew up on.

I dreamed of a ceremony on the beach at sunset, in front of a beach house that would hold the reception. A small number, around 50 or so of our closest friends and family, would make a fabulous, yet not overwhelming, party. After all, socializing does make me tired! (My apologies, this is a small joke from my family that originated during my brother’s engagement to my now sister-in-law. After attending a couple of wedding preparation events, I returned home exhausted and explained that “socializing makes me tired”, it has stuck ever since.) So a quaint wedding on the beach had my name all over it….until I began to consider who those “50-ish guests” would be, and where there was a beach house on the Texas coast that did not have a septic system that would be massively overloaded by 50 people! (again, my apologies, this time for the unsettling example)

Freesia Dude and I began looking between Galveston and Surfside Beach. This land is not within city limits, allowing us to hold fireworks which would be nice as we were hoping to have a July 4th wedding (this will be our 5th “dating-anniversary”). Also, it is less crowded, but has fewer homes. While searching we found a couple houses that looked like they might work, so we took a Saturday drive to the beach to take a look. The first house we drove to was filled with quite a buzz and, judging by the white tulle draped on the railings, we suspected they were setting up a wedding!

We decided to walk up and ask if we might look around, trying to be as non-imposing as possible. Turned out that the people were renters (like ourselves) that were, in fact, setting up for their daughter’s wedding that evening. They welcomed us to look around and showed us all of their hard work. The house was looking amazing! I’d have hired them if I could! Freesia Dude and I both loved it and left the house to call the owner. When we got in touch, I asked if the home was available for our wedding and she said no. Apparently, too soon before the date that we wanted to schedule, another couple had booked the house for a wedding and the owner refused to book two weddings so close to be courteous to her neighbors. While a very considerate and just reason, I was miffed and heartbroken. Probably more the latter.

The owner offered the house if we could move the date back a couple of months, but we couldn’t. Freesia Dude and I picked this date out of a fairly small range of available dates, and she could not fit our window. I fought for July 4th because I love the idea of getting married 5 years to the day after we began to date. Aside from that, I think it’s a fabulous day to have an anniversary every year!

So the search continued. and continued. We made more trips to the beach, visited with a couple of other beach house owners that were happy to have us. Unfortunately, we could not find a way to hold a wedding at their homes due to small, but unavoidable, technicalities. We even checked out the Stahlman Park Reception Center. While it was very nice, it was a bit large for our small group. We called anyways only to learn that the Surfside Police take residence at this site for the July 4th weekend to keep a close patrol on the beach goers.

Galveston was next. Inside city limits, no fireworks, more crowded. We considered adjusting the date if we found the right venue. Next, we learned a lesson. After finding several very nice looking homes right on the beach that looked perfect for our wedding and reception, we learned that all of them are owned by a rental agency that essentially hung up the phone the second I mentioned the “W” word. They wanted nothing to do with weddings.

While there are many, many other options in and around the Galveston area, I had my heart set on the beach. I felt stuck in a planning rut, considering one at a time each of the things that I felt was a must, even the beach. Freesia Dude saw me and decided it was time we got out of this planning rut. Briefly, during our Texas beach planning, the thought of holding our wedding on a beach in the Caribbean flitted through our minds. We almost immediately dismissed it as we felt it was too distant. However, stuck without any ideas for a wedding location, which at this point was the pinnacle determining everything, we began to consider the Florida Keys…

Now I might be jumping the gun a little bit here because I know I will have a long(er) engagement if I want to wait for a warm-weather wedding (think Summer 2012) – but is it bad that even though I don’t want to enter a knee-deep plethora of excel sheets at this moment – I want to have a date and venue ASAP?

I guess I am just so excited for the planning process and once there is a date, it makes it feel more “official”.

This may be a little extreme, but funny to say the least

I know that I want to get married in Maryland, not my home state of NJ. I’ve found about 5 venues that look really, really great online and that I want to go see. Olive Dude and I are both Catholic, but made the initial decision to have the ceremony and reception at the same venue and not get married in a church. I happen to have a cousin that is a Catholic priest, and I am hoping he will marry us as long as we take the required classes leading up to the big day.

So – all that being said – I’ve set a goal. This weekend I am going to call all of the potential venues and give them a mini “phone-interview”. Based on the questions I ask, I am hoping this will narrow down my search of places that Olive Dude and I actually visit.

Here is where I need your help!

• What were some of the most important questions you asked your venue contacts?
• How can I make sure I get all pricing up front and know of any “hidden” fees ASAP?
• What made you choose your venue?
• And – Blossoms – were there any surprises (good OR bad) on your big day because of your venue?

Thank you all in advance, and any help would be much appreciated!

Inspired by Magnolia Bud’s post about her ceremony venue, I wanted to share with you where we will become man and wife.  A bit of background.  It was only a short time ago that we learned that we would be able to get married where I dreamed of having the ceremony.  We themed our wedding around this location and believe me, I’ve already thought of the pictures!  There were some political changes and the like so we had to wait to get confirmation on the site.

Without further ado, here is where we will exchange our vows.

Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse

That pier is my “aisle.”  The ceremony will occur during the late afternoon/early evening so the view will be more like this:

Photo Credit: Moving Art Productions

The husband-wife team at Moving Art Productions will be shooting our wedding as well so I am super excited!

What do you think?

The building which my reception will be in is quite frankly, the shell of a building. Getting married in rural Nebraska has presented us with some challenges, one of the biggest being venue (another would be accommodations, but we’ll get to that later!). I had really wanted to hold the reception in a rustic barn, but weather and restrooms were our worst enemies. So we have happily settled on the building where the local county fair is held every summer. It too is rustic, but of a different variety.

Basically, it’s a giant room with a concrete floor, exposed beams and tin roof. As you can imagine, I am having a terrible time visualizing what it will look like when I’m done with it. For anyone who is struggling like me, I really suggest using your online sources for creating seating charts. I took the huge space I was working with and designated areas for dancing eating and drinking…and set tables around. Now I can start to see the environment take shape.

I’ll have to take before and after pictures so you see exactly what I mean!

What resources do you utilize in helping create the environment at your venues?

I just realized that although I shared with you our reception venue, I haven’t shared our very beautiful ceremony venue – a church. Now I don’t have photos of it taken by myself, but I find that this tells the story pretty well:

{Source for all above photos}

Minus the tulle bows on the pews, that’s pretty much our wedding My favorite thing about our church is the ornate, “dome” ceiling. It’s so gorgeous. My close second, however, is that we, and all our guests, can walk from the church to the reception site, which is literally the next building over.

So this means that after this…

… we get to do this, with all our guests…

… walk from the church …. (isn’t that an awesome shot, with the cyclists? what a coincidence!)

… and then arrive at our reception venue!

Where are you getting married? How did you choose your ceremony venue?

Funny story about choosing our Reception venue. I called, just to visit it, in October 2009. The owner informed me that he only had ONE Saturday date available for summer 2011! I almost fell off my seat. One date left… 20 months before?! I understand it only has two reception halls – the one we chose, and an outdoor one under a tent, but still. 20 months out, and practically all booked? Sheesh.

The one date available? The “dating” anniversary date of Mr. Magnolia and I. I’m serious! The coincidence was too much. We visited formally, fell in love with it, and booked, one rainy, gray day in October 2009.

Here is our gorgeous venue: Le Chateau Saint Antoine -

As you can see from the photos, the dining room has a very elegant Victorian feel to it. It has an outdoor terrace attached to the dining room which “belongs” to our party for the reception. Cocktails will be held under this gazebo. The Chateau is also right across the street from a river, so many photos will be taken there

We revisited the venue this summer (2010) with my family. This is a personal photo of myself, my father, and my sister in front of the Chateau. They’ve cut down the large trees from the original image so you can see the Chateau better.

So there you have it… we’re getting married on our 8 year “dating” anniversary. And if we hadn’t had that long engagement, there’s no way the Chateau would have been available for our wedding.

How did your reception venue search go? How did you pick a date for your wedding?

If you live on the East Coast you know that the beginning of the month was a rainy one.   There was flooding everywhere and brides who had a wedding that weekend were obviously freaking out.  It reminded me how important it is to have a Plan B for your ceremony/reception if you’re having it outside.  A wedding I was supposed to attend was being held under a tent in the back yard, on the water.  The ground was so wet that they couldn’t get the tent to stay in the ground on Friday, and there was no way that anyone could stand in high heels, let alone dance in flooded grass.  What surprised me though was that the bride didn’t have a Plan B!  She had not prepared herself for Mother Nature.  So at the last minute, 24 hours before her wedding she was unsure on where she was going to put her guests after the ceremony – and where she was going to celebrate.

Luckily everything worked itself out; the rain did subside on Saturday – and they had a beautiful day – but I can’t help thinking – why do some brides not have a back up plan for bad weather?

Photo Credit: OnceWed.com

Do you have a Plan B? And if not, why?

After much consideration of our budget and our original plan of having a New Year’s Eve wedding, we could not make it work.  To us, we had the perfect date and the perfect venue.  If I had a money tree, it would have been perfect.  Getting back to reality, we decided to take a step back and re-evaluate everything.  Good thing we did because we found the quirky venue we were looking for with a price that a penny pincher would love just by getting out of DC  proper!

Now, we have a NEW date of September 17, 2011 in a NEW location of Alexandria, VA.

We didn’t have a date that was particularly “special” to us so when I accepted that the NYE wedding wasn’t going to work out, I was open to picking a date that the venue AND our planner had availability on next fall.  Did you get your first pick of dates? How did you choose your wedding date? What makes it special?

Finally Lilac Dude and I have a reception hall… and a caterer!

We finally decided on Windsor Hall in Canton, Ohio. It’s a 15 minute drive from the church, has the space we need, and fits well within our budget.

Take a moment to enjoy a couple of Lilac Dude’s pictures of the place empty and not set up for a wedding.

I’m so relieved to have this taken care of!

]]> http://www.bridalbuds.com/2010/09/we-booked-a-reception-hall/feed/ 1 http://www.bridalbuds.com/2010/09/bridesmatron-recap-wedding-venue/ http://www.bridalbuds.com/2010/09/bridesmatron-recap-wedding-venue/#comments Tue, 14 Sep 2010 11:24:51 +0000 Periwinkle Blossom http://www.bridalbuds.com/?p=16643 Here comes my in-depth recap of my bridesmatron experience!  My friend Green’s wedding ceremony and reception took place at the beautiful Flowerfield property in St James, Long Island, NY. The ceremony began at 10:30am and was held outside around a beautiful white gazebo: While the bridal party took some photos with Green & her Groom [...]]]>

Here comes my in-depth recap of my bridesmatron experience!  My friend Green’s wedding ceremony and reception took place at the beautiful Flowerfield property in St James, Long Island, NY.

The ceremony began at 10:30am and was held outside around a beautiful white gazebo:

Source: http://www.flowerfield.com/

Source: http://www.flowerfield.com/

While the bridal party took some photos with Green & her Groom on the property after the ceremony…

Source: http://www.flowerfield.com

Source: http://www.flowerfield.com

…the guests moved inside for cocktail hour, which was held in an indoor atrium.

Source: http://www.flowerfield.com

Everyone then headed into the Ballroom for some great food, drink, music & dancing!  Since the reception was held in the afternoon, guests caught views of the beautiful gardens out of the many windows of the ballroom.

Source: http://www.flowerfield.com

The quality of food and service at Flowerfield was excellent!  The gardens are gorgeous and perfect for a spring or summer afternoon wedding.  I haven’t seen any of the professional proofs from Green’s wedding yet, but with such a picturesque setting I’m sure they’ll be gorgeous!

Have any readers out there attending any weddings in Long Island?  What is your favorite Long Island venue?  Has anyone attended a wedding at Flowerfield before???

It was a whirlwind experience to create a concept from start to finish. I did it! I was able to pull together a gorgeous wedding with my husband. The first image is the view of our ceremony. A third of our ballroom was decorated like this. The blue, purple and pink flowers accentuated the tiffany blue. I just love our aisle centerpieces and archway. The centerpieces were then transferred to our guest tables and the archway was moved to decorate the cake table (see picture #2)

My brother decorated the flower petals displayed all over the aisle. He volunteered to help the florist and I must say that everyone was impressed with him. The tiffany blue sash wrapped around our chair covers just gave that elegant touch that Towie Bear and I were aiming for.

We felt the romance and the serenity in the room. It was a beautiful ceremony filled with love and bliss. I am looking forward to sharing many more pictures. I am patiently waiting for our photographer to send us the pictures. Be patient with me, I will share more images of our amazing day.

It had rained for 2 weeks before our wedding and given that we were having our ceremony outside we had to ensure that the grounding was safe (especially since I was definitely rocking 4 inch heels AND we were having some older people there that we did not need falling down).  Also – a lot of the beautiful grass had washed away right in the area where I would be walking down the aisle.  After thinking of all of the things we could use, from stone slabs, to literally offering to brick the entire thing for the venue – my dad had discovered 75% off carpet at Lowes.  Yes, it sounds weird – and I was very reluctant at first – carpet outside?  However he assured me that it was within my color scheme, and would work out perfectly size wise and everything.

I now present you with my carpet aisle (no judging, please, haha):

(Photo by Tom McCall Photography)

Are you doing anything out of the ordinary you are a bit weary about?

When Calla Lily Lovebug and I first got engaged we were on vacation. It was lovely and amazing and everything you want for an engagement, right? The only problem (and I so use the word problem lightly here) was that it was all such a fairy tale. We’re at the beach, just got engaged, no obligations, no work to go to, no school to worry about, essentially: HEAVEN!

Lovebug proposed on a Wednesday and we went back to reality on Monday. It was a lovely fairy tale. Here, let me show you:

Ahhh, memories I’ve always told myself that I would never be a bridezilla. And it seemed that this would be perfect. He proposed two years in advance of when we had discussed getting married so we had all the time in the world to plan! Right?

Well it seems that as soon as the fairy tale was over I went into some kind of hysteria about finding the perfect location for our wedding. One might think that I would be more calm and cool given the time frame. One would also be wrong. I have no idea why I got so crazed about this, but I did.  After one measly week of looking at venues I was so worried about where we were going to get married. Looking back, it’s pretty frickin’ ridiculous.

Here’s a sampling of the hysteria I went through and the places that I looked at.  Lovebug and I wanted to get married outside. Since we’re both from the same area, we wanted to get married in the D.C. area, preferably not too far from Southern Maryland.  I looked into a couple vineyards in the area, most notably Ingleside Vineyards in Virginia and Running Hare in Maryland. Both of these options are completely gorgeous and if you’re looking in the D.C. area, I would highly recommend. They didn’t seem right for us as a couple, however, because Lovebug doesn’t drink. It would have been a selfish choice on my part.

In my craziness, Lovebug found a helpful website that included lists of great places to check out in the area that seemed to fit our style.  Finally, a friend of mine who is organizationally talented sat down with me and made up a spreadsheet with all the venues I had in mind. I would seriously recommend this to any and everyone. The spreadsheet included things like the venue name, price, capacity, time allotted, distance, things included with the venue (like linens, tables, catering, etc.), whether or not a tent was included, and what the plan B was if it rained. It was an amazing lifesaver.

The places we ended up seriously considering were Mount Vernon, Sotterly Plantation, Woodlawn Plantation, Old South Country Club, and Mount Airy Mansion. I set up times to tour the places, starting with Mount Vernon.  We loved Mount Vernon but had a few problems with it.  First, the ceremony site, while beautiful could only hold 120 guests, a bit too tight for our 180 guest list. Also, the plan B for rain was in the auditorium, not exactly picturesque. Let me say though, that the food was amazingly yummy. The restaurant does a great job.

Next I had set up to see Woodlawn Plantation and Mount Airy.  When I called to set up a time to see Mount Airy, the woman there, Mary, said that she had to have me come before I went to see Woodlawn because she just knew that I would be “wowed.”  So my mother and I popped in over there just to quickly look before heading to Woodlawn.

Wow. I knew immediately that this is what I wanted for our wedding.  No other venue could have been more perfect. The plan B for rain was absolutely breathtaking and the mansion itself is just wonderful. When my mother and I left there, we both said there was no point in going anywhere else.  We did honor our appointment with Woodlawn, although all I did was think about Mount Airy the whole time.

Lesson learned: stop freaking out about something that will work itself out in the end.  Hopefully, I take this wisdom with me throughout the rest of planning.

One thing I have absolutely loved about BridalBuds is the feedback I have gotten from everyone! I had so many questions along the way, and my wedding colors were probably one of the biggest dilemmas I faced.  After much thought, I ended up going with Coral and Turquoise/Tiffany Blue.  I was pretty excited about our colors given the room we were working with, and the amazing natural light that filled the room especially during the sunset. Of course with all the candles we had, it was just as beautiful at night.

Here are a few pics of our decor, with a special thanks to Charlene Lopez at the Key Largo Hilton, Blooming Design and Events and Edda’s Cake Designs for making our wedding an absolute dream.  The creativity that went into designing this amazing scene was well beyond our wildest dreams.

Our wedding cake… I couldn’t stop starring at it, I was just so obsessed with it!

I loved this centerpiece design because I felt like it was bright, colorful and refreshing.  We had floating votive candles in blue water, a few smaller floral centerpieces and a larger center floral design with a round style vase floating in a square vase.

A view of the amazing natural light.  I had originally wanted white chivari chairs, but due to budget constraints went with the white wood folding chairs… personally I thought they still looked great!

Close up of the incredible centerpiece!

A bar shot

And just because I love it, one more close up of the cake!

Thanks to Emily Harris Photography for capturing every single detail so I can relive it every day!

Thanks to the Key Largo Grande for providing a vision and such an amazing backdrop for Blooming Designs and Events to work with! And last but definitely not least, thanks to Edda’s for a beautiful… and tasty cake!