Themes - Part Two

Bird, bird, bird...  bird is the word!

The Northern Flicker via the Audubon Society

Yep, that's the other theme I alluded to.  Any mention of this theme between myself and the FI is accompanied with light arm flapping on my part...  It's sort of become a joke that represents the silliness associated with all the crazy wedding planning bird bride brain stuff.


But, all joking aside, birds really are going to be part of our wedding day.

Our venue was the main driver for this secondary theme to our wedding day.  It is the newest reserve of the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania.  I don't know how many birds live on the estate, but I have to imagine there is a good number flapping about.

Another driver is the apparent reaction women have to things with birds - buy, buy, buy!  I recently read about this phenomenon on wedding bee and had to laugh because it is SO true.

My first bird related purchase was a set of stamps:

Cavallini Birds & Nests Set from amazon

I plan on using these to help make our stationary a little more cohesive.  Maybe an embossed bird on the invitation envelopes and a stamped bird on the directions/map insert?  I know they will be featured heavily as I get my paper crafting on.

My next bird buy (ah, alliteration) comes from an article in a wedding magazine (for some reason, the FI came home from the grocery one day with two wedding magazines for me - so sweet).

marthastewartweddings.com

The Baby Elephant Folio by the Audubon Society used as a guestbook, brilliant!  It fit so perfectly with our venue, I couldn't believe it.  I feel like this is a unique guestbook that will 1. incorporate both of our themes (vintage + birds = win) and 2. be a beautiful coffee table book that we can enjoy for years to come.  Plus, I sort of like the idea of something informal and "rule breaking" like writing in an actual book.

I haven't bought the book yet because the price tag is a little daunting, $115 seems to be about the going rate depending on the site.  But, I'm pretty much convinced that this will eventually be our guestbook.

Does it seem strange to have more than one theme for a wedding?  Are you planning to combine any unusual themes in your decor or stationery?

Themes - Part One

After picking a venue, the ideas for ceremony and reception decor became a bit overwhelming...  The 1830's farm house at the Conservancy screams for vintage touches.  It has bright, airy spaces that lend themselves well to so many of the vintage wedding pictures I've seen online.

From One Way Street Production

Seriously, it makes me want to buy a bunch of vintage furniture and have flowers in vases all over my house...  That would never actually work because my cats LOVE chewing on plants and knocking things over.  But, I think we can manage to make the look happen for a day (especially if it's not at our house).

So, vintage it will be.

But, what kind of vintage?

Flowers in mason jars or tea tins?  Bunting?  Lace?  Mix matched china?  Vintage luggage?

Vintage Suitcase Card Box from 100 Layer Cake

Some of these were instantly appealing to me - I won an American Tourister Tiara round train case on eBay and I can't wait to set it up with some lace and other small additions as our card box.

Other than that, I was kind of lost.  Then, I realized that I could combine the "vintage" with some of the Mexicana aspects I'd hoped to include.

I love the way papel picado looks strung up for a reception area.  It is delicate and simple and a nice way to incorporate traditional Mexican decorations.

From Painting Bunnies

Next, I saw some pictures of loteria cards used as escort cards.  I loved the colors and youthful feel to this.  And, the FI remembered playing loteria growing up - he was on board with this idea right away.

From Green Wedding Shoes

I stared scouring the web for loteria cards.  But, none of the ones I found felt right.  The colors weren't what I'd hoped for.  They were too bright and new.  Definitely not vintage.

From Amazon

Then, I turned my attention to etsy.  I found this gorgeous set:

From rowan tree design

The colors were perfect and the style of pictures was awesome. I bought a copy of the files and I'm so happy with them.  I reduced the size of the cards to 85% of the originals, put five images on a page and had them printed as invites by vistaprint.  The minimum number to order was ten and there are eight guests per table; so it seemed like a good solution.

I think they look great (personal pic)

Now, I just have to finish cutting the cards out and decide exactly how to present them at the reception.  I'm thinking about vellum envelopes with guests names stood up individually with mini clothespins.

Those are the first few items I've decided will incorporate our first theme: vintage Mexicana.  I still have a long way to go but I'm feeling better now that I have some direction.

Next up, our second theme and why it has become a bit of an inside joke.

Do you think a wedding needs a theme?

The Modern Bride

a.k.a. The Marriage of Technology and Weddings

(sorry)

Ahem, anyway, technology has taken over my life.  It's taken over many of our lives.  But, as a woman planning her wedding, I must say that technology has become my newest lover and fiercest enemy.

It all started with the engagement...  How soon is too soon to flip the switch on our facebook status?  How many people do we need to call personally before we can make it public knowledge?  We waited a day.  (As a side note - I'm so glad my fingernails were in reasonable shape at that time b/c that first picture of the ring on my hand will live forever, thank you timeline.)

Then, the research, oh the research.  WeddingWire became my first source for any potential venue and continued to be a help throughout the search for photographers, wedding planners, dress shops... pretty much everything.

The list of wedding blogs grew from occasional visits to Weddingbee to constant checking of an entire list on a very regular basis.  Want to see some of my other favorites?  If you must...

The Wedding Chicks
Offbeat Bride
Style Me Pretty (recently featured my venue, so they're even higher up on my happy list)
the Knotty Bride
Para ti Novia (a source for more traditional Mexican weddings)
Sparkle & Hay

And, while it's not a blog, what day would be complete without several visits to Pinterest?  I mean a lot of visits and a lot of random searching when one of the pictures on my home page flips a switch in my mind and leads to other trains of thought which would never have otherwise occurred.

Then, there are the shopping sites I've "favorite"ed.  If I didn't know me, I may look at the ridiculously long list of shopping sites and wonder what in the world kind of wedding this was?  A royal wedding perhaps?  Must be something spectacular to require all this stuff.

Finally, there is all the technology I have been using for personal stuff.  This blog, iDo Software (for guest lists, checklists, budgeting, etc.) and Wedding Window for our wedding website.  (Not to mention that we'll probably use some sort of online services for gift registry and all the honeymoon planning.)

Whew!  That's a lot.

It's easy to become distracted by all the shiny things like dreaming of what our wedding will look like online, etc.  So, that's the ugly side I guess...  Gotta stay focused on the important stuff (like ending up a married woman) and let go of the online crazy...  Well, maybe just stop comparing everything I decide with the things I see other people do and limit web visits a bit.

Who am I kidding?

*opens new tab*
*types in wedding related address*
*sighs contentedly*

Matchy Matchy

Does anyone else hear Heidi Klum’s voice in their head when they read those words?  Maybe it’s just me…

As I’ve turned my attention to invitations and stationery, I’ve been contemplating the whole idea of “matching sets”.

from letters2teampurple

I look longingly at the beautifully coordinated sets of invitations photographed and sent out by other brides.  I spend hours browsing letterpress and stationery sites for ideas and find myself drawn to invitations that match an overall look of a wedding.

from Wedding Paper Divas

I imagine my guests opening their heavily stamped envelopes and pulling out a "sneak peak" of our wedding day…  They will look at the gorgeous invitation, map, rsvp card and whatever else I manage to stuff in there and know that THIS wedding will be different, amazing, unique and the best ever!

(Seriously, I never really believed in “bride brain” until I started having imaginary visions like this on a regular basis.)

Then, I step back, take a deep breath or two and realize that I’m not the kind of person who will ever be able to pull that off…  I mean, I’m lucky if my clothes aren’t terribly un-matched in the morning (just ask the FI).

So, my goal, when it comes to creating the right set of items for that magical envelope, is just to get the overall feel somehow in the right neighborhood.  We’re trying to tie in some Mexican traditions like loteria and papel picado and have a very loose theme – but without an overall color scheme, the paper products have been a bit overwhelming.

As a last resort, I handed the FI a pile of samples from Cards and Pockets over the weekend and told him to pick the ones he liked.  He picked four colors.  I ordered two, have plans on using a third for the envelopes and haven’t quite decided on using the fourth (brown?  eh.)

This may seem somewhat random, but I did hand select those samples from the impressive selections offered awhile ago.  And, maybe those selections were based on a long ago abandoned color scheme from the early days of the engagement (when I still thought I could be normal enough to have a set of colors I could list off when people asked).  But, the colors were based on something...  hmmm.  

Anyway, the order shipped today and I’m hoping to get some serious proto-types started as soon as the package arrives.  

And, once I get over the delusion that I'm the kind of bride who could create a unified vision (a la the above inspiration board) AND manage to pull it off (without pulling out most of my own hair) I think I'll be ready to make more progress on our version of an "invitation suite".

Did you pick out a matching suite?  Or, were your ideas a bit more eclectic?  Did you want to DIY or were you hoping to spend less time on this part of the plans?

Hibernating

It hasn't been much of a winter so far.  I'm not complaining; I hate driving in snow.  But, the lack of winter weather has made it difficult to focus on all the wedding DIY projects I'd planned for my months of hibernation.

But, this morning, I woke up to SNOW!

And, it makes me feel like this:

Bears hibernating from wikipedia

I love when it's snowy and cold on the weekends (because I don't have anywhere I really need to be).

I plan on spending my day working on our invitation design.  Right now, I'm using this as the main inspiration:

Weddings by VIP

Since we plan on using papel picado in our reception decor, I thought these would be a great tie-in.  Plus, it's allowing me to make use of the Pazzles die cut machine I bought when we got engaged...  Eventually I plan on making a list of all the things I've bought with the hope of using them for wedding projects.  (The list will be longer if the Yudu screen printing kit stops being out of stock anytime soon...  screen printed OOT totes please.)

But, before I settle in to work on my design, I decided to make a hearty, cold weather friendly breakfast: Baked Oatmeal with Cranberries and Almonds.  I've been seeing a lot of these recipes posted on Pinterest (guess everyone is craving comfort food these blustery days).  I ended up using a recipe from Annie's Eats with a few modifications.

I used cranberries and almonds.  Plus, I replaced the maple syrup with agave nectar (when I realized we are out of maple syrup...  how did that happen?).  The cranberries definitely made it a bit more tart, but I love that kind of taste.

My breakfast...  Not sure the pic communicates the level of yumminess.

Now, back to wedding stuff...

... Kind of Different

That is the phrase I find myself quietly mumbling to anyone who asks about one of the traditional aspects of a wedding that we decided not to have.

How many in your bridal party?  None...
What are your colors?  We don't really have set colors...
What flowers are you having?  I don't know if I really want any real flowers at the wedding...

It's going to be...  kind of different.

I didn't realize the impact of some of my decisions until over the weekend.  I was at my mom's house, catching up on life and, of course, the wedding plans.  The subject turned to the cake.  I pulled up an example of an ombre buttercream cake I love (not sure about the color, but I love the idea).

from brides.com

She did NOT like it.  She asked about all the fancy tiers, columns and frosting flowers from the picture she obviously had in her head.  And followed up with a "how will people know it's wedding cake?".  Ok, people will know it's a wedding cake because they will be at a wedding.  But, the rest of the expectations?  I didn't foresee such an emotional reaction from my mom... about cake.

Similarly, she was upset that there would be no prayers at any time during the day.  (That one I expected.)  But, that was a decision that required a lot of debate between myself and the FI.  It was already made and I have no intentions of opening up that can of worms again.

The way I have viewed wedding planning is that there really are no rules anymore.  We can do whatever we want.  No one will care.

Apparently, that is the wrong attitude.  Apparently, our families have some ideas of what they want to see at our wedding.  Who knew?

So, my mom ended our conversation with a sentiment close to this "you can break these things to me...  just do it one at a time and let me have some time to recover before the next one."  But, how in the world am I going to know which decisions I've made go against her imaginary "my daughter's wedding" pictures?

I guess the moral of the story is that I should tread a little more lightly and not assume that everyone is on board with our less than traditional tastes.

Were you surprised by family and friends' reactions to your wedding plans?  Do you find yourself less traditional than you thought you'd be?

STD's for Everyone

Our Save the Dates will be going out this week!


All of a sudden, things feel extremely real.  It's like a pre-invitation...  People will know we're getting married (ok, they already know, it's not a big secret).  It's weird that something like sending out postcards can feel like such a big deal.


Maybe it's all the steps that go into each item.  For the STD's, we had to
1. hire a photographer (who included engagement photos in their package)
2. schedule and have an engagement shoot
3. wait for the pictures to arrive on CD (anxiously stalking photographer's blog for pics to show up)
4. design and order the STD
5. wait for the STD's to be delivered (anxiously tracking the package from the moment it ships)
6. pester parents for final guest list
7. order new printer because ours won't work on 4x6
8. wait for new printer to be delivered (should be today)

9. print addresses on STD’s (because the FI is against address stickers…  he picks the oddest things to have serious opinions on)

10. buy stamps and get those things in the mail.

That’s a lot of work and, more importantly, a lot of waiting.

So, without further ado, here is what we’ll be sending out soon (before the stamp prices go up, hopefully):

The FI did a great job on adding text to the front and I’m so appreciative of his help (even if he only did it because watching me struggle with Adobe Photoshop was driving him nuts).

Vistaprint did a great job on the printing and it was an amazing value – especially since I had bought a $60 for $15 Groupon a couple months ago just for this use.

I can’t wait for our friends and family to see them!

DIY - Sequin & Bead Flower

Last weekend, I worked to re-create a version of the bead and sequin flower I had fallen in love with, which turned out to be from a Laura Lee Designs handbag.  I spent a lot of time staring at the flower, working to "reverse engineer" it, without a physical version.  It was time consuming and difficult.  But, the end results were worth it:

This and all following pics were taken on my brand new Canon Rebel XS (thank you, woot).

It was tricky even starting this project without a DIY tutorial...  How dependent we've all become on the internet.  It's good because I usually feel like I can tackle any project, given a wireless signal and the right tools.  It's bad because I realized how hesitant I've become to try making something without explicit instructions.  And, this is definitely a habit learned later in life, I can't imagine what it's like to be younger and not remember what it's like not to have so much information a search string and click away.  But, I digress.

Here's how I made the flower:

I made a trip to Jo-Ann Fabric and looked for the items I thought I'd need to make the flowers.  I bought several colors of sequins in two sizes: 5mm and 8mm.  I also got some glass beads in a couple sizes and invisible and silver threads.  Finally, I picked out a couple loose sheets of green felt.

When I got home, I organized everything in a tackle box my mom bought me a few years ago for Christmas...  She said I'd find it useful for keeping small things in order.  She was right.

Ooooh, sparkly!

I didn't take pictures while making the first flower.  So, this morning, I decided to make another and take pictures of the steps involved.  I swear it had nothing to do with creating an excuse to use my new camera.

First, I cut out a piece of felt about three inches square.  The original flower had been made on a too small piece, so I erred on the too big side this time.

Then, I thread my needle with the invisible string and started to sew on the middle "stamen" beads.

I had decided to use two of the larger round beads, instead of the long beads I used in the original flower because the long beads were a bit too large for the small sequins.  I came up from the bottom side of the felt with my needle and thread on two of the beads.  I then went back through the bead closest to the felt on my way back through the felt.  This forced the top bead to turn sideways and locked the two in place.  I did this three times, all close to each other and ended up with this:

Next, I picked out my bead pattern.  I used two small, round beads, a small sequin, a large sequin, another bead and another set of sequins.  Finally, I added one last bead to the end because I realized in the first flower that it was difficult to get the second row of flowers where I wanted them when the first row's sequins were flush to the felt.  I pulled the needle up, close to the center beads, and thread the "petal".

The next part is probably the most difficult.  I let the beads slide down to the felt and held the thread taught, in the direction I wanted the petal to go.  I made sure the the sequins were laying the way I wanted and held them in place with my pointer finger on my left hand.  With my right hand, I put the needle back through the felt under the last bead, where I thought the middle should go once the thread was pulled tight. 

I slowly worked my way around the middle, adding the same number of beads and sequins to each petal and placing them in a way that looked good to me.  It is a subjective kind of thing.  I ended up with eight petals (the first flower had ten).

Next, I started adding the second row of petals.  I used the same pattern of beads and sequins as the first row, without the last bead.  I placed two petals between each of the ones on the first row, leaving me with sixteen outside petals.

Here's the end product:

That's it.  It probably took me about two hours total to complete this flower, but I feel like I could get through them a bit faster now that I know the process a bit more (and if I wasn't stopping to take pictures).

Not sure if I'll use these anywhere in wedding or, even if I did, how I would use them.  They'd probably need to be sewn to something, not sure how they'd hold up on a "stem" of floral wire.  Maybe a wrist corsage made with different sized flowers, tied with a ribbon?  Or, attached to a hair pin?  We'll see.

Either way, I'm glad I tried to make something without actual instructions available.  It was a great challenge and a lot of fun once I got some of it figured out.

Did you try to make something you saw and fell in love with without having any instruction?  Do you find yourself making things that you're not sure if/how you'll use?

Flower Inspiration

Since it's snowing and blustery outside (to the point where the FI's car door was frozen shut this morning... grrr), I think I may finally be ready to hunker down and work on some flower experiments this weekend.

I've already started trying to copy some of my favorites but don't feel any closer to deciding on what should 1. decorate the tables or 2. be included in my bouquet and the corsages/bouts.

So far, I've made kusudama flowers:

My first attempt w/ origami flowers, based on the instructions at Folding Trees

They are relatively easy but super time consuming.  I think I timed myself at about a minute per petal, and that's just the folding, not the gluing together portion (or the cutting of paper into the right sized square when you've bought something way too large).  Factor in the five to six petals per flower and we're talking about a LOT of time.

I had fallen in love with these after seeing some fun and colorful examples of bouquets on etsy.  But after making a few and realizing that the overall feel of our wedding was changing, I don't think these will be featured.  The only exception is that I might try to include them in a corsage for my mom because she ooooh-ed and aaaah-ed over them dramatically when she first saw them.  (Not sure if that was a mom being a mom or if she was really that impressed.)

Next, I moved onto coffee filter peonies.  My inspiration and instruction came from this:

From Brown Paper Packages

I love how simple these are.  Beautiful, classic and surprisingly realistic.  They are definitely still in the running and I've been testing out colored versions (dyed with food coloring).  I'm still not 100% sure because they involve a lot of floral tape, something I HATE using, but we'll see.

Finally, I ran across this picture recently:

From The Demoiselle

See that beauty in the lower right corner?  I decided that I absolutely had to figure out how to make it.  Then, after a lot of searching around, I realized that I was going to be on my own.  I couldn't find any tutorials or anything even close out there...  But, it looks simple enough, right?  Ha, ha.

I did make an attempt last weekend, after an excruciating trip to Jo-Ann Fabric (seriously, it took me FOREVER to find the sequins...  maybe because I've never, ever bought a sequin before?).

Next up, my learnings about DIY-ing without internet support and a tutorial on how to make (a reasonable facsimile of) the beaded sequin flower above.

Working Together

Planning a wedding is stressful.

Yes, it's exciting and fun and a once (hopefully) in a lifetime opportunity.

But, man, is it stressful.

One thing that adds to the stress is the working as a team aspect.  While I like to think of myself as a "team player", I know that I've been on my own, independent, for a lot of years.  (I used to joke with my friends that when I got married, I might let my husband live with me.)  Adjusting my way of thinking to include the opinions of someone else, someone whose opinions I'm going to have to listen to for the rest of my life, is really, really difficult.

There have been many occasions already where my FI has said "why do you ask for my opinion if you really don't want to hear it?".  He's right.  The last thing I want to hear when I'm excited about something is that it's tacky or not logical or some other variation of "NO".  I want him to smile and agree with me on whatever new discovery is the greatest since sliced bread.

This morning, WeddingChannel.com was running a discount deal for WedIt.  (If you want a videographer but don't think you can afford it and are willing to think outside the typical vendor box, definitely check them out: http://www.wedit.com/.)

As soon as I saw it, I wanted it.

Who hasn't been seduced by the beautiful trailers other brides post?  The fun/sentimental/wacky music flowing over the gorgeous wedding scenes?  Yes, please!

I emailed the FI and called the company to check on availability (our date was good to go).  Then, I felt a quick, painful deflation in my joy bubble as I read his email response: "I really don't like the idea, I just think the quality of the video will not be very good and we will have to inconvenience 5 guests."

What?!?

I'm not sure why I expected otherwise; they were logical concerns (some of which I had already had).  Of course, I instantly fired back with a few comments on how I thought some people (i.e. younger guests with the tendency to become bored easily) might find it kind of fun and how he should watch some of the sample videos.

Then, I took a few breaths and wrote a second email.  I wrote that he was probably thinking that I shouldn't have asked if I didn't want to know (again).  I also explained why I was so excited about the idea and how I had been hoping for some sort of video even though a videographer was definitely not in the budget.  Finally, I apologized and said "I love you".

He responded with a couple more concerns but left it at the typical end point these days: if you really want it, get it.

I bought the deal and did an internal happy dance.

So, did I acted properly in this situation?  Probably not.  But, I am trying to realize when I demonstrate this behavior and trying to do a better job of communicating why things are important to me.  I'm also trying to listen to concerns and have more grown-up responses than "but, I really want it".

It's going to be a long path, getting to a more cooperative state.  But, we still have 7.5 months before the wedding to work on it :)

My First Bridal Show

I feel like there should be a doll associated with this occasion...

From amazon.com

... but it would be scarier than that somehow.

Neither the FI nor myself are big on crowds.  We tend to avoid super busy restaurants and I love doing my grocery shopping late at night.  So, the idea of going to a bridal show, which advertises that it averages about 800 guests, was a little off-putting.  Would it be like this?

A job fair in China - from chinasmack.com

Originally, my mom was going to join me on Sunday afternoon, as I checked out the vendors at the semi-annual bridalevents.com show in Cranberry Township.  She ended up having a last minute conference call for work.  So, I had a few variations of the following conversation with the FI:

Me: I would really like it if you joined me at the bridal show but I understand if you don't want to go.
Him: ...  silence  ...
Me: Ok.  Well, let me know if you think you might want to go.
Him: ...  silence  ...

Eventually, about forty minutes before I planned on leaving, I said "you should probably get dressed now if we're going to go".  Awhile later, and we were both in his car, headed to the bridal show.  (Have I mentioned that I have the best fiance ever?)

We arrived right around 2:30, the scheduled time for the bridal fashion show.  This ended up being the happiest of coincidences.  We walked in to find something like this:

from a bridal show survival guide

Most of the visitors were politely seated, watching the bridal gowns, bridesmaid dresses, ballroom dancers, etc.  Meanwhile, we had completely open paths to every vendor booth.  We didn't have to wait to talk to anyone.  It was great!

There were not a ton of vendors I had planned on talking to since most of my vendor decisions have already been made.  We did stop for a couple of the tuxedo stores so that the FI could get some info.  I also spent some time looking at different bouquets and flower arrangements and talked with a few unexpected people...

I didn't realize that we could register online for Pampered Chef and earn "hostess" rewards for everything that guests purchased off our list (brilliant!).

Plus, I talked with a woman from Gifted Hands, a local gift shop, whose booth included a beautiful manzanita wish tree display.  Bonus, she gave me a $5 gift card - I can't wait to check out the store.

About an hour and a half later, all of the door prizes had been given out (we didn't win anything) and we headed back home.

I think that the bridal show would have been super useful (and probably way more overwhelming) before I had hired my vendors but it was interesting to see the displays and ideas.  I can see how the shows are a great way to network and I'm actually thinking about going to another one or two at some point (there's another nearby later this month) so that I can try to make up my mind about florist/no florist.

Either way, it was a lot of fun and I'm glad I finally got to attend a bridal show.

The Venue that Almost Wasn't - Succop Conservancy

After realizing how much of a financial crimp a wedding might put into our future, we prepared to tour a venue about forty minutes outside of the city.  My mom drove to our townhouse early on a Saturday morning and the three of us headed North to Butler.  We arrived for our 9:30 a.m. meeting and were already starting to sweat.  It was ridiculously hot for early September.  So, we wiped our brows and got ready to see what this non-city venue had to offer.

Meet The Succop Conservancy* (all pictures are from Succop's facebook page unless otherwise noted) :

The Conservancy's 1830's farmhouse

Succop Conservancy is a nature reserve owned by the Audubon Society.  It's fifty acres include walking trails, two ponds, the farmhouse, an herb garden and tons of amazingly beautiful picture spots.

We met with Nancy, who first showed us through the house.  We saw the upstairs areas, were we could get ready for the wedding, and the downstairs rooms where guests would enjoy a cocktail hour between the ceremony and reception.  It was all gorgeous, simple and vintage decor at it's best.

Then, we took a walk outside, to see some of the possible ceremony locations.

In front of the house is a popular choice.  Seats can face the house or towards a wooden arch supplied by the venue. (Pic from Krystal Healy Photography)

Facing the big red barn would be a fun alternative.

In the herb garden, facing one of the ponds, is another option.

Then, we headed to the event shelter, where the reception would take place.  It was simple, with round tables, wooden beams and white string lights everywhere.  This space could be used as is, with all the beautiful landscape as decor, or could be dressed up with color and additional lighting.

From Red Lotus Photography.  (with some serious up-lighting)

On our way back inside to discuss more details about renting the venue, we walked through the amazing kitchen and had a quick conversation with Pete from Medure's Catering (the exclusive catering company).  He was there, getting ready for that day's wedding, but was warm and relaxed while he took some time to answer our questions.

Finally, we sat down, looked through some photo albums and got an information packet with prices and some vendor options.  We found out that there would be no rental fee for the spaces, the costs are all included in the catering packages and on a per person basis (with a 100 person minimum).  We could put a temporary hold on two dates of our choosing, to get dibs, or put down a deposit to make it official.

As we drove home, my mom raved about the whole place.  She loved it.  The FI did not seem as impressed.  I later learned that he had some major concerns about an outdoor ceremony and reception.  Also, he was still pining over the Heinz History Center.  In the end, he left the final decision up to me.

Pros:
- Gorgeous, unique venue with lots of space
- Private place where there would be no other events at the same time
- We could buy our own alcohol ($$$ savings)
- All inclusive pricing package that included food, service, tables/linens/etc. and was way less expensive than all of the other venues
- Medure's Catering has amazing reviews online and Pete was extremely friendly
- Fun options like a fire pit for s'mores
- Plenty of space for games like cornhole or croquet
- No worries about where guests would park
- Extremely easy to find with only one turn off of Rt. 8

Cons:
- Farther out of the city than we'd hoped.  Visits for planning, etc. would consume a lot more time
- Hotels are not as convenient
- Far away from the airport (all of the FI's family will be from out of town, but many will drive in from Detroit)
- Outdoor ceremony and reception is a risk
- Exclusive caterer (not Big Catering)

A lot more time thinking through the options (and maybe a spreadsheet analysis or two) led me to call Nancy to see which 2012 Saturdays were still available.  I found out that October 27th had two holds on it and September 1st had one.  That was it.  Eek.

Ok - October 27th please...  A Day of the Dead  themed wedding got the FI a bit more interested and I could imagine the beautiful fall colors the landscape would provide.  A day or so later and I found out that one of the couples with a hold decided to take the date.

Only one chance left, September 1st.  What were the chances that we'd get it?

Well, we did.  September 1st, 2012 at the Succop Conservancy.  Our wedding finally had some direction; everything else could start happening...  It was less than a year away and it was time to get planning!

* It is pronounced "suck-up", we checked (several times).

The Venue Search Intermission

a.k.a. I wish I had one of these:

From The History of Money

After touring three potential venues and realizing that our original budget of $15K was a pipe dream, we had to take a step back and think about things.

So, to set the scene for the budget decisions that needed to be made, here are some facts to keep in mind:

- I am very comfortable financially at this point in my life.  I make a good bit of money.  I have no debt.  I have savings that would cover the entire cost of the wedding, even if it ended up being more expensive than I originally planned.  So, unless I double the costs, I could probably pay for it myself and take on zero debt.  (I think this might be one of the greatest positives I've seen in waiting till now to get married and I'm very thankful to be in this position.)

- The FI is pretty well set financially as well.  His savings account is a bit lighter because, over the last two years, he has bought a townhouse, a new (to him) car and one very shiny engagement ring.

- After the wedding, we hope to buy a house.  The townhouse can't be sold until December (the wedding is in September) because of the three year rule associated with the tax credit from buying it.  This means that we will need to have a good bit of money available for a down payment very soon after the wedding.

- I was not assuming that we would have any help from family.  My mother and father (divorced) have both mentioned, at different times, saving some money for my wedding.  But, I was very hesitant to ask for help (always been an independent type) and didn't want to make assumptions.

After a lot of thinking and talking and more searching for possible venues, we arrived at a decision.  We would tour one more venue, outside of the city, that was likely to be less expensive.  After that, we would either pick the new option or call up the Heinz History Center for available dates.

Even though it was going to be super expensive, we both loved the History Center.  The expense would be very high and would probably push back the new house at least a year but a wedding only happens once, right?  Even if it wiped out all of my savings, it would be worth it for the wedding that really reflected us, right?

Hmmm...

Since it was included in the Venues That Weren't, you know that the History Center wasn't the end choice... Up next, the Venue that Almost Wasn't.

Hold up! Wait a minute!

I was all set to come home and write a little bit about how my first three venue tours led to a serious bit of thinking about budgets, discussions with the fiance about what was really important for our wedding and a major change in the direction of the entire plan...

Then, I got home and found something in my mailbox.

(I tore into the envelope before I even thought to get out my camera...  So exciting!)

Engagement pictures!!!

First thing I noticed was the adorable packaging.  The note attached to the case said the following:
"The DVD case in your hands has been hand made using recycled Floppy Discs and love letters from the World War II era.  We hope you enjoy the old school packaging as well as the modern technology inside."

Adorable.

Then, I popped the CD into my laptop and reveled in the glory of beautiful pictures (quality of the pics, not necessarily the goofy couple included)...

We started at 21st Street Coffee, in the Strip District...  Where the barista made a heart in the milk foam.

Then, we headed across the street for some posing in front of the warehouses on Smallman Street.

Then a bit further down the street for some time with the iconic Acme Banana Co. (Maybe not iconic generally speaking, but I see a ton of this in e-shoots...  Can't always be the first.)

Notice the quick costume change?  Actually, it took forever and involved me dropping a large earring into a very disgusting sink drain, fishing said earring out with my finger and trying feverishly to wash it off enough not to feel like I'd get bacterial meningitis when I put it in my ear.

Close up of the boots I bought in Detroit over Thanksgiving.

Random parking lot shot.  That's normal, right?

And, lastly, train tracks, a kiss and a popped foot.  Now, that's iconic.

I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a bunch of cringing as I paged through the pics.  But, overall I was so pleased with the results.  I definitely have enough for facebook sharing, save the dates, our wedding website and mini moo's (if I go that route).

I realized that I like the pictures where I was more comfortable (read, in jeans) a bit better.  But, I'm really glad that we have a few dressier pics.  

I also realized that I need to get in gear with the fitness/diet aspects of my wedding prep because I do not want to have to build an entire wedding album based solely on those pics that don't show my many chins (actually, it's more like a single, frog type chin, but I digress)...  That is a topic for another time.

For now, I'd just like to give major props to Rodger Obley Photography and thank them for all the great pictures above.  I know they are going to do an amazing job shooting our wedding and I'm so happy that we hired them.

Now, back to regularly scheduled programming...

Venues that Weren't - Heinz History Center

When I showed the FI pictures of the events spaces at the Heinz History Center, it was the first time I'd heard him sound truly excited about our wedding.  The main space we'd probably want was the Great Hall, which has an industrial feel, with brick walls and dark steel beams.  It's a beautiful, interesting space that wouldn't need a lot of decoration.

Seats could be set up in the Great Hall for the ceremony, while the table, chairs, etc. get hidden behind large drapes.

Heinz History Center

Following the ceremony, guests would be taken upstairs to the Campbell Gallery for cocktails.  This space is similar to the Great Hall: lots of bricks and simple, industrial chic-ness.  Imagine this filled with guests, passed hors d'oeuvres, cocktails and lots of candlelight:

Heinz History Center

Cocktails would last for about an hour.  Meanwhile, the Great Hall would undergo a transformation and end up something like this:

From Christina Montemurro Photography

Amazing!

We toured the Center one evening after work and both fell even more in love with it.  The whole place felt like us: simple, kind of quirky and geeky (in a chic way).

Instantly, the other venues fell off the list.  This was, by far, the best.

Pros:
- We both loved the spaces.  It felt like us
- The rental fees for the faculty were reasonable
- There is a huge parking lot across the street
- There is a hotel across the street, super convenient for our out of town guests
- We would have help from the Events team, who really seemed to know their stuff.  We received so many helpful hints and ideas just during our short visit
- The Strip District is one of the most interesting parts of the city and there would be plenty of stuff for out of towners to check out
- The menu from the exclusive caterers, Common Plea, was impressive.  There were tons of yummy sounding items and pages and pages of options

Cons:
- The exclusive caterer's (who is not Big Catering) food and alcohol were way more expensive than we planned for - probably somewhere to the tune of $10k more than the venues we'd already seen

That was the only negative we could come up with.  Seriously.  We wanted it so bad.

Next up, a reality check and redefining the search boundaries.