Rachary Wedding

Eight Weeks What?

2010-01-21T10:37:00.002-05:00

I was just going to title this post "Another 9 1/2 Weeks" as a fun use of a movie title, and then I went and counted and it's actually 8 1/2! and not really much of a half, eight weeks and 2 days! so that's kind of insane.. in a good way. :)

Stumbled upon my officiant's new blog, here it is if you'd like to get to know her: http://marriagecelebrant-georgiana.blogspot.com/ I'm certainly looking forward to following it, hopefully she keeps it up!

Things have been coming along since my last update - we've got rings ordered, rehearsal dinner's all figured out, we've started dance lessons, etc. Least favorite chore so far: cleaning jars. We've been collecting them for months, but we're just now getting around to cleaning the labels off and it's kind of a pain.

The last few nights we've been working on getting the invitations together, so they'll be in the mail soon!! That's very exciting. If I had to describe them in one word, that would be "crooked." haha.

Oh and I had a great meeting with my mother and one of her bosses at Petal's Edge - they're awesome! We figured out the flowers we'll need for the bouquets and all that. I kind of knew before the meeting, but definitely decided after the meeting, that the farmers market flower thing is just not going to work. The MOG put it best when she said it would be a great idea for a very small wedding with like 20 people or something. Not really for one on this scale, when it's not exactly next door to the farmers market, etc. I'm fine with it, less stress = a good thing. We've got some great ideas up our sleeves for the centerpieces, I think it'll be fine.

Coming up, I have a meeting with our caterer on February 1st, to go over the details and look at place settings and all that. Oh and I have to take care of this tiny little detail of getting my dress to fit me properly. Turns out the shop I was going to go to for alterations has closed! So I need to find a different one, umm, very soon.

Poll: what's your top favorite song to dance to at a wedding?

woops it's November

2009-11-23T13:04:00.003-05:00

heyyyyy sorry you inquiring minds got left out in the rain all these months. ..that metaphor probably doesn't work but it's raining right now so it's on my brain.

I can't really remember which things need updating so I'm just going to recap all that we've got worked out:

-venue, booked
-caterer, booked
-day-of coordinator, booked
-officiant booked, working on ceremony details now (readings, vows, etc)
-photographer, booked (not Gerardo but maybe he can be the second shooter, we're not sure yet)
-DJ, booked
-flower vendor, identified; centerpieces, conceptualized (theoretically)
-bridesmaid dresses, identified (hopefully to be ordered this month or early next)
-groomsmen attire identified (need to pick out ties)
-groom's attire mostly done (need to purchase vest)
-bride's attire mostly done (first dress sold off! haha. new dress bought, needs alterations)

big to-dos remaining:
-rehearsal dinner venue needs booking
-wedding dress alterations, bridesmaid dress ordering, MOH outfit TBD
-hair appointments need booking
-week-of/day-of schedules need working out (flowers and cake logistics in particular)
-programs, design & printing
-pick out and purchase wedding rings
-planning/booking mini-moon and/or honeymoon (depending on zp's class schedule)

And then of course there's the stuff like purchasing the wine/beer and delivering to caterer, and lots of other little details. Fun stuff. :)

Basically, everything is on schedule so far. But since we've just passed the 4-months-out mark, I imagine time is going to start speeding up and once we're passed the holidays it might start getting pretty hectic. soo.. weeee! Happy Thanksgiving.

couple updates :)

2009-07-27T16:11:00.004-04:00

hey! we have a hotel! We went with the Hampton Inn, Fairfax, rooms are $79/night (plus taxes). My mother, zp and I went to inspect it a few weeks ago and we liked it a lot! It's about a mile from Old Town Hall so I'm hoping people will take a cab (or walk?! haha maybe not in heels) to/from the wedding so we don't have to worry about drunk driving..? :) Also I still need to ask the hotel if they do shuttles, that would be the absolute ideal. Once we send out the Save the Dates with our wedding website and all that, you'll be able to reserve your room in our block. I'm thinking Save the Dates will go out in September, via email (except for those we know don't do email)!

also we're pretty much decided on our officiant! I say "pretty much" but we're basically decided, it's just for some reason weird/scary/exciting to actually say we're settled 100%. We haven't informed the officiant that she's the one yet so I guess it's not checked off completely. But we like this woman. And she's a lot closer to our venue than A.C. I'm very excited to start working with her on the ceremony. eeee!!

The bridesmaids have pretty much settled on their dresses (those who will be wearing dresses anyway - Mary's outfit is TBD). I'm not going to share any of the details here, but I think they're going to look awesome. We're going to wait a while before ordering them since they're custom-made to fit each girl exactly, they shouldn't need alterations.

My mother let me know her employer, Petal's Edge, will allow her to order my flowers through them to get wholesale prices without mark-up, and she can use the shop (after work hours) to tie up boutonnieres and bouquets and stuff! So we'll be thinking about that. I still prefer locally grown if we can swing it, but it was an extremely generous (and unsolicited) offer, which I really appreciate.

Next goal is to book a DJ. Hopefully we'll hear from Gerardo next month about whether he wants to be our photographer? That will be good to have out of the way as well. I have someone who wants to be our "second shooter" for FREE, so we'll probably take him up on that offer, but we still need the primary.

UPDATE: we are officially booked with Georgiana - next week she's going to send us "homework" to start working on ideas for the ceremony. :) :) I also sent the email to A.C. letting her know she has not be chosen. SIGH. Not my favorite thing to do.

shoes!

2009-06-19T11:22:00.007-04:00

ok moving on from the photos..

shoes! uh! you wouldn't think this would be that difficult, finding the perfect wedding shoes. but I need to whine for a sec about the shoe industry: what the HECK is with making shoes for big feet with ridiculously high heels? Ok I wear a size 10. And technically my feet would fit a 10.5 perfectly but that size. does not exist. *she said in a quiet voice full of rage* So my whole life I've been squishing into shoes that are Just A Little Too Small.

Adding insult to injury, the few styles that are available in size 10 usually have 3 - 4" heels. ... Ok I'm only 5'7.5" but most girls I know with size 10 or bigger feet are even taller, more like 5'9" or 10". ... not that we should be afraid to stand tall.. but personally I am just not a fan of towering over people (and to be perfectly honest.. I prefer not to elevate the ghetto any higher than necessary).

Also there's that whole thing about being able to walk in really high heels. Not so much.

So generally I feel most comfortable in a 2" maybe 2.5" heel. And then I bought a sample dress that came at a length that's going to require me to wear definitely nothing higher than 2", better would be 1.5".

I think you can guess from the above rant that I am not having so much success in this department. Because I'm not really interested in "wedding shoes." I could probably go to Coloriffics and find a pair of ivory satin 1.5" heels in my size and they would look fine with my dress. Oh wait except I was just on their site and they explicitly state that shoes shown with 1.5" heel are size 8 and bigger sizes come with higher heels. WHAT.

Anyway I just really really want a more fun pair of shoes! I want to be able to wear them again after the wedding and always remember that I wore them at my wedding..

there's also the dilemma of working with my dress. It's a really pretty dress and I don't want to go Too casual/crazay and well, ruin it. BUT. one does want a splash of color.. a touch of vintage.. a bit of fun..

soo HALP!

here are some shoes I LIKE but they're either too high or just not quite right.

oh my word I've just been looking on endless shoe for these images and I just found these!! so cute! and only 1.25" heels! and there's a BUTTON ON IT. hmmm...

ok I'm still on the hunt but those are really tempting me.

got some photos!

2009-06-13T11:36:00.003-04:00

Well, I finallllyyyyy got to talk to Meg. We caught up on gchat and she apologized for being incommunicado but agreed that it was probably best if we found a different photog for the wedding. She did post the jpgs online for us to download - but we're still waiting for the entire lot, she said she'd get them to us on CD at some point. Sooo we're kind of back to square one on the photog front, but we'll see what Gerardo (MOB's friend) says in August, maybe he'll want to do it. If not I've found a few other leads on not terribly expensive photographers.

I'm trying to upload a couple engagement session photos but it's taking forEvAR so I'll come back later and post them. thx k bye.

mmmmkay here's a couple! I added the color tinting myself, just to give them a little oomph. still waiting for the full CD of all the photos she took, hoping there are a few goofy candid shots in there..

we ended up sitting on a lot of animal statues that day haha

you can't really tell but we're sitting on the back of a giant eagle in this pic

wanted a few fun underground shots but the ones down by the trains didn't really come out.

engagement photos: uncheck

2009-06-10T09:13:00.002-04:00

wellll I was hoping to share a couple of our engagement photos with you guys but, umm, I can't seem to get a response out of our photographer. I'm going to give her a call soon but I've tried email, gchat and facebook and she hasn't responded to anything.. and she's online all the time! So.. yeah. that's where we are on That. I have not called her yet, mostly because I hate calling people and I always put it off.. So I will make that my goal for the week, and hopefully will have an update on that soon.

In other news, I had a meeting with a woman about being our day-of coordinator and I liked her. She's going to draw up a proposal and we'll see if we can afford her - I think we can, she's trying to branch off into her own business so I'm pretty sure she's going to give us a good deal, as one of her first solo clients. It will be really nice to not have to worry about stuff the day of the wedding, and also not have to ask one (or more) of our guests to handle a lot of the coordination. I'll just need to make sure she understands exactly what I want to happen - actually more importantly, Not happen. There are a lot of traditional weddingy type stuff that we're not doing (like the bouquet/garter toss), gotta make sure everyone's on the same page.

Did I tell you guys we officially booked the caterer? Well we did. We went with The Purple Onion, they have our $100 retainer and a signed contract.

I'm really excited I can talk about bridesmaid dresses now! Kara's married! haha. I mean I'm super excited she's married just because it's awesome for her. Their wedding was beautiful, I had a great time being part of it, and obviously I wish them the BEST. But then yeah, I'm also glad she's free to talk about my wedding now haha. Bridal party: look for an email from me soon about dress stuff. :) I just ordered some swatches of dupioni silk to try to narrow down the colors..

and then, what else is new... Oh yes I built us a wedding website! :-o I decided I didn't really love the weddingwire.com site so I went through Google Sites and just built a new one. and then I paid $10 for our very own domain name, which will be good through June 2010. I will not be revealing the website URL here, it'll probably go out with the Save-the-Dates.. [speaking of websites MOM I need to show you what I did with ours because it's super easy actually, I think you could easily set one up for your artwork if you want.]

hopefully checking off the list within the next month: DJ and Officiant. no official meetings are set up yet but.. we're getting close.

I think I found my hair salon

2009-05-05T11:46:00.002-04:00

Oh man I just happened to stumble upon this review when I was looking at Yelp.com for restaurants that could work for the rehearsal dinner.

SanDee's Hair Studio. Look at the pictures of the place! omg! Amazing! I've just sent her an email asking if we could book the place for the morning or afternoon of the wedding day.. such amazing potential for photo ops!

On the rehearsal dinner front, this place looks pretty neat, but I have no idea if it could accommodate us. I sent them an email, we'll see! Maybe it's just me but a dinner with wine pairings sounds Awesome.

This place also looks gooood, I'd be interested in doing some in-person recon there. mmm indian buffet... Their website says they do "onsite dosa parties." I don't want to sound like an idiot and ask them what the heck that means - anybody know? Wikipedia tells me what a dosa is, still not quite sure how you make a party of it... oh dang I just realized that website only shows locations in Gaithersburg and some other place in MD... phooey! I guess there's a difference between "Woodland" and "Woodlands." :-(

engagement photos: check

2009-04-27T12:54:00.003-04:00

Zach and I went to the zoo on Friday for an engagement photo session! We had a lot of fun. Not sure when we'll get the photos back from Meg but when we do I'll be sure to share! :) It was hot out, and Zach and I were pretty awkward in a lot of the photos haha. Probably shocking since I'm historically not too shy around a camera - but we're not really into a lot of PDA so getting all lovey-dovey for pictures in an extremely public and crowded place was a little strange at first. Meg was like, "umm, you might want to look like you actually like each other.." LOL. But I have high hopes that there will be at least a few where we look pretty and happy. :)

We decided it was probably a good idea to try to interview at least one more person for the job of officiant, so we're trying to line up another meeting with someone who lives a little closer to our venue so he/she maybe won't charge mileage (I'm also concerned about all that single-occupant-vehicle driving for A.C. to come down from Hyattsville, MD for the Friday night rehearsal, drive allll the way back home that night and then repeat the next day). However, one woman gave me a Thumbs Down on weddingwire.com - I'm being dramatic, she may just be booked that day or something, but I sent an inquiry to her through the website and I got no message back, just a thumbs-down symbol next to her name that says "Declined by Vendor." Soo.. that was awesome. :-P

So I've tried another lady, who lives in Herndon, and she said she'd be happy to work with us. I explained that we live in Arlington without a car and though we could borrow a car if necessary, it would be easiest for us if we could meet somewhere metro-accessible. Her response was a little odd: "Vienna Metro is the closest for me. I can let you know when I will be in the area." Wait so we're just supposed to hold our breath till you have some other reason you'll be coming to the area? You're really not going to try to make an actual appointment? Really? Sooo that was not really the answer I was looking for. I wrote back asking if we could try to set an appointment. I guess I probably wouldn't mind except that A.C. has had someone ask her about our date so I'd like to be able to tell her soon whether we plan to hire her or not.

I bought a block printing kit! I may use it on the programs, we'll seeee... I also bought a handheld sewing machine for no reason in particular, I'm still too intimidated to use it but one of these days I'm going to give it a try on a hem or something....

I'm considering going back on my statement about doing electronic invites. I may switch it so we do electronic save-the-dates and then actual invites - but then have people RSVP online via our wedding website. Is that too complicated? WeddingWire.com's wedding website has a tool you can add for collecting RSVPs, so I know we have the capability, not sure everyone's going to be crazy about typing in the long url.. which doesn't exist yet so I can't tell you what it is, but it's usually something like weddingwebsite.com/andrewsandporter or something like that. easy if I sent the invite electronically, then you just click the link to RSVP. ...well we'll think about it. But the Reason I'm considering switching is because I found a really neat invite from an etsy seller - not gonna tell you what it looks like because if we go with that, I want it to be a surprise. I sent off for a sample, so we'll see what it looks like in real life, see what Zach thinks (haha he doesn't care)...

happy easter :)

2009-04-12T11:52:00.004-04:00

couple things: Zach bought a tux! There was a wicked sale going on at Dessy Group, a $450 tux for $150. We jumped on it rather hastily, bought it online, hopefullyyy he likes it when it arrives. If he doesn't, I have faith that we could sell it pretty easily and find something else. Here's the link to the tux: https://www.dessy.com/tuxedos/black/ Pretty sharp right?

Also, I found out I was wrong, the farmers market at Courthouse in Arlington issss open year-round, so I'm going to go check them out and see if I can talk to someone about what's available in March. I still want to check out the Alexandria one too, we just have more options now.

I've been playing in buttons this weekend! The more robust flowers look Much better, but yeah I needs more buttons!! I pretty much exhausted my supply of the best sized ones, all I have left are mostly the tiny ones, or really grungy ones, and then a lot that would really be best as the accent on top rather than layering..

I'm having dress withdrawals. I want to see it again! So I'm probably going to go get it from Jessika some evening this week and then take it to this shop in Georgetown who said they mayyy be able to convert the neckline for me. I guess it depends on the way the dress was built, so we'll see.

Also I'm thinking I might try to make my veil.. Birdcage ones look fairly easy to make! Supplies are pretty cheap.. I may buy a fancy fascinator (example) from an etsy seller but.. maybe I'll make that myself too. I've got time to experiment, if I can't do it, I know I can find what I want on etsy.

new plan: jars! not cans

2009-04-07T08:53:00.004-04:00

OK I think instead of doing those sort of labor-intensive daffodill planter things with the cans and the moss, and my ten million other random crafty project ideas I've seen around the blog world.. My new idea is just to Simplify and have just bunches and bunches of glass jars (mason jars, jam jars, whatever else comes in glass jars jars), and fill some with fresh cut flowers, some with button flowers (and instead of water we'd fill them half-way or so with loose buttons), and some with candles. eh? We'd put several jars on each table to make the centerpieces, and then hopefully we'd have enough to scatter around on the buffet table, at the bar, etc.. And if I/we FEEL like it when the time comes, we can paint or in some way decorate some of the jars (like these lacy luminaries).. Or maybe not.

For the tables, I was thinking stick with the white linen the Hall provides, and then possiblyyy make our own little linen table accents or whatever you call them. Not quite runners, I'd just want them to be in the center of the tables, to put the jar-vases on.. maybe doilies, maybe brightly colored but not too tacky looking hankerchiefs.. maybe just plain linen squares or rounds.. maybe a combination of all of the above! I dunno! I'm thinking I need to take a trip to a few thrift stores and/or Michael's/Joann Fabric and see what can be found in the way of inspiration.

Also it's coming into yard sale season, I'm about ready to go trolling if anyone wants to join me!

Also a note on the button bouquet - I realized after looking back at the original inspiration for my button bouquets, the ones for sale on Etsy actually have many many more buttons per stem than mine do, which probably helps make the bouquet look a bit more full when you put them together.. So I'm going to go back and add more buttons and see how that works for me.

buttons and flowers

2009-04-04T11:36:00.007-04:00

OK since spring has fully sprung I've remembered how much I love love love flowers. I can't believe I've been considering scrapping flowers altogether. But I also love my buttons! So I need to find a compromise in the middle.

Maybe floral bouquets for me and my bridesmaids but then buttons for centerpieces? or the other way around? Orrr, some combination of buttons and real flowers in bouquets and centerpieces? I dunno.

But my fantasy is just going to some floral vendor at a farmer's market the day of our wedding and grabbing some combination of springy awesome flowers and making bouquets on the spot. Because honestly what I Want to do is wander around and pick little blooming crocuses and daffodils and forsythias from random peoples yards.. but pretty sure I would run into some objections if I tried that...

That picture isn't Exactly what I have in mind but something like that. Just a really colorful awesome pretty mix of super springy flowers.

Here is the tester button bouquet I put together recently. I was just making a bunch of button flowers and decided to try to put them together into some semblance of a bouquet, just to see what it might look like. Let me tell you, it was a lot more difficult than I expected! Those buttons on floral wire do not behave the way I'd like them to. Also I think it looks a little messy and silly. My mother thinks it looks awesome; I think it needs a little more work.

the chairs

2009-04-02T16:30:00.003-04:00

ok I know everyone thinks I'm bonkers for objecting to the chairs at Old Town Hall - but check this out. they brought in different chairs and it just Transforms the look of the room.

...but yeah nobody in that room probably gave a hoot about the chairs or the look of the room, they were watching the bride & groom! also those things don't look as comfortable as the ones the hall provides..

ok ok! so the chairs are fine.. I just really like the ones in that picture.. sigh.

lol my mother and Marnie have now both pointed out to me that there is indeed a year-round farmers market, in Alexandria (which my mother mentioned probablyyy 3 days ago). ok ok! let's go visit it sometime soon (not this Saturday though sorry!) and see if we can talk to some vendors about what they have in March and how we can get it to Fairfax..

I love lists. but these are really ridiculous.

2009-04-02T11:01:00.003-04:00

oh man so. I have this blog on my reader, I think I may have mentioned it before, called A Practical Wedding. This girl does not mess around. She is definitely making me feel awesome for wanting the kind of wedding we're planning. A few days ago she was talking about how mainstream wedding media make normal people trying to plan a wedding completely stressed out - and her latest post is basically her reaction to the planning lists the major bridal magazines tell you are extremely important. It's hilarious. Maybe only for me because I'm looking at all these blogs and magazines all the time and having Very similar reactions to all this crazy over-the-top freak-out hullaballou that the Industry advises for the ideal wedding..

Just as an example, if I go to theknot.com (and yes I have a log-in ID there but I quickly learned it was making me insane so I don't use that site), under planning tools, they give me a Huge long list of things I need to do THIS MONTH, including some with big purple exclamation points next to them implying urgently that I needed to have these done Last month. And they give you no option to delete some that don't apply to your wedding. you just have to stare at the exclamation point next to it throughout your planning process, apparently.

Anyway here's the link to the Practical post about lists: "The List: The 4 - 5 Months Out Version."

highlight:
"* Choose Songs. Songs for when the wedding party is introduced. Songs for during dinner. Songs for getting the party started. Keep a running list of songs you do and do not want played. Are you OCD? If not, become OCD. (See, this is nervous breakdown material. Apparently I need to hire a Hollywood pro to write a multi-hour soundtrack. Ack. Ack.)"

the best part about that one was actually that in the comments section, someone actually thought the bridal magazine had literally suggested people develop OCD. LOL.

anywayyy yeah we haven't been doing any big amazing planning the past few weeks. I'm definitely fine with that, even though I had So Much Fun in the blitz following our engagement. Every once in a while I get all riled up and go "oh but we've got do--!" and then I take a deep breath and go.. No, not actually. We have a year.

Except now it's technically less than a year!! weeee!

I'm kind of done with the whole wedding magazine frenzy EXCEPT for Martha Stewart Weddings. I just found out there's a new issue out or coming out soon and I'm actually really excited about it. So many fun crafty projects in there!!

I was disappointed to learn recently that none of the farmers markets around here open until May.. I sort of had this fantasy that we'd be able to arrange with vendors at the farmers market for fresh flowers and at least some of the food supplies for the caterer.. Le Sigh. I'm sure we'll find a way to buy local, it's just not going to be as easy-peasy as I'd hoped. The Fairfax Saturday Market happens right up the street from our venue!!! Beginning May 2. Gah.

Fun stuff coming up:
Tomorrow, April 3 - Running of the Brides (and then later this bride will really be running, Crystal City 5K, 6pm)

Sunday, April 5 - completely unrelated to the wedding but still freakin me out: Cherry Blossom 10-miler!! 7:40am. EEEE

Tuesday, April 14 - tasting with the purple onion!

TBD: Zach and I are planning to pop into the After Hours or After Six whateveritscalled tuxedo shop on Wilson Blvd one of these days, check out some tuxes and vests and things...!

new bridesmaid dress ideas

2009-03-24T14:33:00.011-04:00

ok Dang I just saw this lady's etsy shop on the blog A Practical Wedding - and I am charmed! The prices are no worse than David's Bridal, and each dress is custom made to your size, and for a lot of the dresses it looks like you can choose different colors/patterns from the ones in the pictures. My favorites for the maids are the Swing Dress (would pick a different color/pattern for the wedding, but I love the polka dots for myself!) and the one she made for someone else's bridesmaids.

Eee! totally cute. If my bridesmaids aren't really into it, I don't mind - I might order a couple things for myself though! Those bathing suits! So awesome!

But speaking of bridesmaids dresses.. earlier today, before I found Miss Braches' etsy page, I was perusing David's Bridal's site for bridesmaid dress ideas. I probably should wait till the summer to start seriously thinking about these - especially since one of my bridesmaids is getting married in May! She'd probably prefer to worry about my wedding after hers is done. I just can't help myself.

Here are some color/style combos I think I might like (fyi the vest ideas are for Mary, not the groomsmen).

Scheme I:

Scheme II:

Scheme III:

(with this I was thinking a champagne sash or some other accent on the strapless one)

Scheme IV:

Scheme V:

I tried to pick a variety of styles and colors just to get across the idea that I'm open to mixing and matching - as long as there's Something to tie them all together. Either fabric, style or color family. I don't want them all to look completely mismatched and indistinguishable from other wedding guests, but I don't mind if they're not all matching exactly. Can you tell I really like that rounded neckline..? :)
I'm not sure my maids will like the strapless ones, but I just loved the fabric of the two in Scheme V - you can get a closer look at it here. I think the original picture is in Canary Yellow - the others are just colorized and look funny.

T minus 1 year...

2009-03-20T09:53:00.002-04:00

Eee it's our negative-one-year anniversary today. AND I want to say Happy Anniversary to Elaine & Rob - we'll be sharing it with you after next year! so. exciting.

...I actually started this post this morning and now I have more EEEEing to do - I bought a dress!!! woop woop! But, if anyone still wants to go dress shopping, I still want to go to the Running of the Brides, and probably a few other outings. I got this dress at a Blowout price from the Priscilla of Boston sample sale. Original price of the dress was $4,200. I got it for $167.16, and we couldn't find any damage at all, it just needs a cleaning. And it's a really great dress, I just might take it to a seamstress to see if they can turn the neckline into a sweetheart, right now it's just straight across the top. But it fits me almost perfectly, so alterations would be cheap. Still! I'm going to keep shopping around. In the meantime, Jessika has offered to keep the dress at her place, since I was in a zipcar headed back to Bethesda, and also where would I have put it otherwise?

Anyway that's all the description I'm going to give here! Can't let Zach hear too much about it. :) :) I might send an email out to inquiring minds, once I get the pictures uploaded. I've been searching for images online, but nothing's coming up when I put in the style number.. guess it's probably a couple seasons old!

Tonight zp and I are going to Lebanese Taverna in Westover to celebrate our negative one year anniversary. :)

I just spent ummm a really long time making up a Spring inspiration board, I was hoping to share it here but I can't figure out how to save it as one file! dang. well I'm outta here! happy first day of spring!! :)

the officiant update

2009-03-18T10:45:00.002-04:00

Zach and I had our meeting with the officiant last night. It went well! We liked her. I think we'd both prefer to have someone we both already know really well, who knows us - but since that's not possible, I really don't have super high standards for who I'd like to conduct our ceremony. Not speaking for Zach, my hopes for the meeting were that she would have a plan for the ceremony, and that she didn't annoy me, or rub me the wrong way. And she was great, she was very warm and easy to talk to and presented a very professional proposal for how she would personalize and conduct our ceremony. That's really all I can ask for.

I have this nagging feeling that we Should interview other people for the job, maybe find a better price or someone we connect with even more. However. I just really don't feel like it! She had a lot of good ideas for different things we can do (some ideas didn't really jive with us but we can veto anything we don't like), and what she does is pretty neat - we each fill out a questionnaire (separately, and then we share our answers with each other) about our relationship, ourselves, what we love about the other person, etc. etc., and she even offered to interview friends and family about us if we wanted her to. Then she takes what we've talked about and what we've said in our questionnaires, and writes up a draft. She sends it to us, we go through it and make whatever edits we want - re-write the whole thing, take out whole sections, amend wording here and there, whatever. And together we create a really personalized and meaningful ceremony! Which sounds awesome.

Included in her fee, she also conducts the rehearsal, provides cue cards to whatever musicians and coordinators or anyone else who might be helping out, and a few other little extras that seemed nice.

Sooo, we're going to think about it for a bit. We've got Plenty of time.

how to convert a library into a chapel?

2009-03-17T10:13:00.004-04:00

So, for lack of any other big decisions to make, I've been thinking about the decor for the upstairs. As you can see from the pictures (the picasa web album I linked to earlier), the upstairs doubles as a library and art gallery. I love this feature, don't get me wrong. I'm just thinking how we can add simple decorations to make it more romantic/formal.

I found these lanterns, thought they might be pretty lining the aisle? And then after the ceremony we could move them down to the tables for the reception?

Just got a sample menu with quotes from Helga's Catering... they sent me a menu with "red bliss potato baskets filled with sour cream and caviar" as one of the hors d'oeuvres. ICK. I can't imagine serving caviar at our wedding.. Also they ignored my request to show me all taxes, fees, delivery charges, etc. They sent me a document showing a buffet option and a sit-down dinner option, with a note saying "does not include taxes, delivery charges, blah blah blah," and then they're asking me to sign it and send it back with a 50% deposit to secure the date. Nothing about coming in for a tasting first, or any kind of explanation of extra fees and charges we're likely to incur. So far, I'm not impressed. I sent them an email back with more specific requests for menu items (ugh no caviar!!), what the extra fees might be, and also when we could schedule a tasting..

ooh more later re: ceremony decor, I'm off for some fish & chips! (picture of me in my wig coming soon)

.....

and here's the photo as promised. :) Happy St Paddy's Day! We do like to have a little fun around here..

updates

2009-03-13T10:36:00.002-04:00

I guess my frenzy has subsided a bit huh? Just haven't had as much to blab about I guess!

But I do have a couple updates. Tuesday, March 17 (St. Patrick's Day what, I'll be wearing my green wig to work), we have an appointment to meet with A.C. Warden, of Capital Ceremonies, to talk about her officiating our ceremony. I will for sure let you know how that goes! We're excited.

Also, Tuesday, April 14, we have a tasting appointment with The Purple Onion catering co. I really really like the lady who's been working with me, I hope we like their food. Just to be safe, I've been researching other caterers and I'll try to set up a couple other tastings so we can compare. But she's just been so helpful already, I think she'd be great to work with and I'd like to hire them as long as their food doesn't stink, and we don't find someone else who's way cheaper.

This weekend I'm going to try to make more button flowers. Hopefully after a while I'll have enough to form a full bouquet and I can actually see what it looks like in real life. Maybe I'll take it with me the next time I go dress shopping! Would probably freak out the sales people but.. I need to see what it looks like against a dress. I may decide it's just too goofy and I want real flowers. I think I'd still work in the button bouquets somewhere, maybe in the centerpieces, I dunno. I just don't know! We'll see. :)

we made it

2009-03-09T09:13:00.003-04:00

Zach and I decided to make this past weekend a no-wedding-planning weekend and we succeeded! We are determined to not let our lives revolve around the wedding - though we still have a bit over a year to go so, we'll see how it turns out as March 2010 draws closer. For now at least, we are capable of putting it out of our minds (or at least out of the conversation) and actually still have stuff to talk about. So that's good. :)

But anyway back to the wedding! haha. Sarah is busy experimenting with different cake frostings/toppings/fillings/flavors, I can't wait to see more of her progress. She's sent me a few pictures, I don't think I'll share them though. I mean mayyybe eventually, but you guys have to have Some surprises that day, I have to keep some things to myself. I know she's going to make a very pretty and very delicious cake.

I'm still super excited to find a dress - but at the same time I don't want to find it too soon because I want to have a lot of fun dress shopping! haha. I keep looking at oncewed.com's listings, but at this point I think I've literally seen all the old posts, and they only add a few per day so it doesn't take me long to look at the list of 5 new postings and see that only 1 of them is even close to my price range and it's not perfect. There is one I really like, but it's up for $700 and I'd rather go to Running of the Brides first, see if I can score something in the $250 - $500 range. April 3 just can't come fast enough.

I have to say I keep going back to that Sarah Danielle dress and I just stare at it. I really really liked it. I'm trying not to get attached to it but I think I will try to find more dresses like that, keep an eye out on the used dress circuit for that one in particular.

I'm really just blabbing for the sake of blabbing at this point. More later when I have something interesting to share!

the blog world is really amazing

2009-03-06T10:02:00.003-05:00

I can't believe how many blogs there are out there, for any kind of thing you can imagine. I just keep finding cooler and cooler blogs and I'm not sure it's such a great thing because I keep seeing so many cool ideas!! In the end I'll have to choose just a few to go with, it's going to be tough.

Anyway my favorite blog right now is OnceWed.com. They have pages and pages and pages of blog posts that are inspiring, but my favorite ones are the DIY posts. That's where I saw the tutorial on making those rolled-up-paper flowers, and today I found THIS. Amazing. I want.

crafty pictures!

2009-03-05T21:45:00.003-05:00

Here are some photos of the button flowers I/we have made so far. I just worked on a bunch more this eve.

OK nevermind. I forgot uploading pics here is kind of a pain. So instead, here's a link to a bunch of photos - some from Old Town Hall, and a bunch of button and paper flowers.

a case for multicolor

2009-03-05T14:43:00.007-05:00

I think I've found the solution to our attire dilemma: here. ..haha jk.

No, I'm liking more and more the multi-color idea. Marnie sent me this picture as an example, and while I think this looks so nice because she has a billion bridesmaids, I might be able to get away with something similar - either variations of one shade OR maybe a few different colors. The difficulty would be having lots of color but not looking all crazy like a circus or something.

I also found this picture inspiration board for a multicolor wedding and I like it!

Not like: the way blogger embeds photos in blogs. I just have to keep repeating this.

I don't want to go totally over-the-top girly with a pink wedding, but considering the sort of whimsical feel the buttons will likely lend to the day, in addition to the rather informal ceremony/reception hall, I think sticking with something formal like brown/cream/blue or brown/cream or brown/cream/pink would maybe not work as well. Plus honestly if we had a few different colors it would make sorting my buttons a heck of a lot easier.. ;)

Also, at the risk of sounding super cheesy, having shades of dark blue/light blue/pinks/oranges/yellows/greens COULD work together to create something reminiscent of a sunset which I would love. I at least want to make sure when we walk into the reception hall, we'll all remember that it's SPRING and be happy. Brown and blue just isn't screaming that for me.

And then there's This inspiration board/color palette.. I feel like Zach could get behind this one, and a theme along these lines would go well with our venue.

One of the hardest things is definitely keeping the venue in mind. It's perfect, don't get me wrong, but there are definitely things I would love to do if we were going to be outside in a tent, or someplace a little more open. Or if I had different Chairs...

..PS I just looked up the stationery company that made the pieces in that inspiration board - Hammerpress - love them!! they also do posters and other stuff. Must share this with Zach!

an argument for blue

2009-03-03T15:33:00.006-05:00

OK I just went and searched out a bunch of examples of blue/brown dresses. What do you think of these?

I understand there is a general objection to strapless dresses - that's fine, I'm probably going to just pick the fabric and color and you can choose your own dress shape. Just in terms of what kind of blue, what do you think? I really like first one the best, and the brown ones with the blue sash look pretty good right?

...oh dang I just saw another idea for "edible" centerpieces - coffee beans!! :-o picture this with anything but pink carnations (not my favorite).

the color problem

2009-03-03T13:26:00.003-05:00

My mother and I went to Michaels this past weekend to look for supplies for making button bouquets and other fun decorations for the wedding, and I came across a whole aisle of ribbon and it made me very happy and at the same time completely insane. So many choices!! :) But so many choices. :(

I cannot seem to commit to a color scheme. Obviously, it's not that big of a deal at this point, we have plenty of time to decide. Still, I can't help but think about it all the time.

Zach and I both like the idea of brown. Maybe brown suits/tuxes, maybe not, but we like brown. Definitely it would match the venue, with all those dark beams. But one does want a Splash of color (thank you Nathan Lane), and it's that part that's getting me. We picked up a bunch of ribbon in yellows and oranges and I generally like that idea, but I don't feel committed to it. Also it's so easy to go too retro using brown, yellow and orange. Originally Zach suggested green, and I was resistant to it because his brother's wedding was a lot of green, and I don't want to copy them.

However. I do love green. And it's so darn springy. I also love pink. And the way bare pre-spring trees look against a dusky blue sky... Blue is not "my color" but it would look darn good on my bridesmaids - well, 3 out of 4 of them were made for blue, Marnie can pull it off but she'd probably prefer brown!

Hmm.. Scenario: Mary's wearing a tux anyway, so she'd be in brown with blue accents, then if we put Sarah next in blue, then Marnie in a brown dress with blue sash or something, then Kara in blue.. That could work!

Another thing though.. brown and blue.. so baby shower right?! I don't want it to look like a baby shower.

Anyway one awesome thing from the Michael's trip - we found a new idea for the button flowers. I picked up a small bag of antiquey looking buttons, and also in the packet were several sets of paper flowers with neato patterns. So my mom layered a single button, or a small button on top of a larger button, on top of one of the paper flowers - difficult to describe but they came out super cute! I'm trying to find the set on michaels.com, can't seem to find it. I think it could add a new dimension to the button bouquets.

Have I mentioned the latest idea for the favors? I can't keep up with it all sometimes.. But Sarah suggested giving out candy buttons for the favors, and I want to put them in these tins! My mother has volunteered to hand paint each one. Guess I'd better order them soon so she can start painting..!

DRESSES (zp not allowed)

2009-03-02T11:49:00.002-05:00

I wasn't going to talk about dresses too much on here because Zach follows this thing too, but I'll ask him to not pay attention to dress talk. I can't imagine it'll be too difficult, not like i'm talking about HAM.

So. I umm loved every single dress I tried on. Annnd, wouldn't you know, my favorite dress was The Most expensive, at a whopping $3,190. Sooo that's awesome. Scouring those sale racks! Come onnn Running of the Brides!

Anyway I only know the exact style numbers of my top 2 - can't find the others, but it's ok. Here are the links to my favorites:

#1 - Jim Hjelm Style No. 8763 - you must click on "More Views" to get a better look at it. I wasn't really expecting to love all the lace but ummm I did. The train is just beautiful. The sash they put on me was not exactly like the one in the picture - they tied me in the back and the front had a bit of bling - yay sparkles!

#2 - Sarah Danielle Style No. 5523
- Style 5523 should be the one right in the middle, but if you don't see it, just type in 5523 in the style search box and it should come up. I love how the buttons go all the way down the back!

The others I tried on were all nice too. One of them was a champagne color, kind of pinkish, with a v-neck - it was alright, I thought it was too low-cut. The other one was strapless, similar shape to #2 above, but the back was really neat. Unfortunately I don't have the dress vocabularryyy to describe these two dresses very well... If I come across them or anything similar I will show you.

Ultimately, I was pleased to find out I Can get away with a mermaid/trumpet sort of style (see dress #2), but there are a number of different styles I feel good in sooo hopefully if I do Running of the Brides or just keep an eye on the used market, I will find something I like for le cheap.

Sooo the next Running of the Bride's event is in Rockville (near White Flint Metro), on April 3. Who's with me?? I'm thinking maybe for this first one, I won't want to camp out and get rill crazy with it, but maybe wait until 1 or 2pm when maybe the craze has died down a Little. I'd work a half day and then head up. If anyone wants to join me, let me knowww-oh-oh! There's another one in July at Friendship Heights, which is still far from most of you buut a shorter metro ride anyway. That one I'd consider going rill early and going crazay - especially if I don't have a dress by then, I might be a little more desperate!

eeeee

2009-02-28T23:09:00.005-05:00

The upstairs area for the ceremony...

a side view of the upstairs - window! uh! :)

Downstairs in the main hall...

I have several other pictures, it's too annoying to post them here so I may start a new Picasa web album and share the link here later..

SO yep we loved it. Zach's parents both came with us to view Old Town Hall this evening and we all agreed it was awesome and perfect. EEE!! :) :)

They were setting up for an event for 80 people, it was great - we could have just walked in and had our reception. Definitely nice to see it set up like that so we could be sure we'd all fit comfortably. We may want to fiddle with the layout a little, maybe add a couple tables so people aren't jammed elbow-to-elbow at each table. Also may consider doing something with those chairs... I dunno! We can worry about that later.

Upstairs, where we want to have the ceremony, is so cute. The windows are amazing, the walls are lined with books (it doubles as a library), and the back of the room has a sort of make-shift art gallery. The room was set up for like 130 people, but it was roughly as it would be for a wedding ceremony so we could visualize it pretty well.

In the back there's a little Librarian's Office that I'll use as my "holding area." Looks like it'll be great for those "preparations" pictures on the day. ..however I forgot to take any pictures for you guys. Sorrryyy!

Afterwards we went to dinner at Courtside Thai, which was an idea for the rehearsal dinner. The service was excellent, food was mostly great (except a lot of their dishes are fried, and some don't advertize they're fried, as Zach learned - but my meal was really delicious and not fried), the decor was ok, the space was maybe a Little tight. They'll seat 40, which is about the number we were shooting for, but we might like a little more breathing room. So definitely well worth the experiment, but we'll keep looking for other places. I'd love to check out Bombay Garden. But there are a lot of options, and we've got Several months to worry about that so I'm going to try not to till a bit later.

Edible centerpieces

2009-02-27T08:57:00.004-05:00

I would like to state for the record that this was already an idea I've been thinking about! But this picture from the Earth Friendly Wedding blog really sums it up pretty well. I love the idea of lemons, oranges and/or apples in the centerpieces - maybe oranges/apples would be better because then guests could actually eat them throughout the reception - with any leftovers I/we could make pies! Though I'm not sure how I would do that when I fully plan to leave for the honeymoon the next day.. If we used lemons I was thinking we could make lemonade, or use them in cocktails or to flavor the water.. I dunno! But I'm going to keep noodling that idea..

Oooh and I just found this basket that could hold zee fruits!

Another blog I like to check in on sometimes is Offbeat Bride. Some of the ideas there are wayyyy over the top for me but every once in a while I pick up a neat idea.

I also love this idea of using mismatched vintage plates - I don't care if they're "vintage" but if I can find them at Goodwill and they're cool looking, it would be neat to use them.

I'm thinking I want to find a great pair of non-ivory colored shoes to wear. I'm thinking pink, orange or blue (could be my something blue?) - I like these, though the site calls them red. Is it just my monitor or do these shoes look pink??

Have I talked about the birdcage veil yet? I can't remember. But I want one. Who thinks I could pull this off?

For the send-off, I was thinking we could have everyone throw lavender or jasmine at us instead of bird seed/bubbles/stones/etc. - I wonder if the two scents would mix well if we made up combo bags of lavendar and jasmine... How would we package it to give to guests so they know it's for throwing at us and it doesn't get everywhere inside before the send-off..?

Can you tell I'm getting tired of embedding photos in this thing? Hope the links work ok!

Decorations ETC

2009-02-26T17:20:00.002-05:00

Haven't had a lot of time the past couple days to obsess over wedding stuff.. But today I did pick up another wedding magazine and ripped out a few more dress pictures, and went to some websites they've suggested for various money-saving ideas.. So far I like Save-On-Crafts.com the best. They have giant centerpiece-size martini glasses! :-o actually those are probably too expensive but they have a lot of other stuff, including some more eco-friendly options. I'm kind of in idea-overload right now, I have hundreds of ideas but they wouldn't all go together.. it's hard to commit to a color scheme/theme/etc.!!

Last night I finally found my pipe cleaners so I started playing around with my buttons.. I don't know that I'll want to use pipe cleaners in the end, but they're good for practicing. Here's a pic of the flowers I've made so far! The buttons still need a good cleaning, the ones from Grandma in particular have umm, seen better days. But I think the idea has potential. Sorry the pic is blurry, took it on my cell phone..

I also discovered a new blog I think I need to follow - Earth Friendly Weddings. Perfect!

I was supposed to go running tonight, wooops! I got distracted.

my dream

2009-02-24T13:02:00.005-05:00

I had a dream last night that the song for the Processional at the wedding would be "Kids" by MGMT. LOL. ..part of me really likes the idea actually.. haha we'll see.

I was searching nearby Old Town Hall on google maps for other restaurants that might work for the rehearsal dinner, and found a couple interesting ones. One sounds awesome - Courtside Thai, got great reviews on Yelp - but they have no website so maybe we can go take a look this Saturday when we go check out the town hall (oh yes by the way we're planning to go check it out this Saturday evening! woop). I'm not even sure their place is big enough, not sure yet how big our dinner is going to be - also it's pretty early to worry about this. But I just like browsing... :) Also found Villa Mozart, which looks pretty classy.

All I want to do every day is play with buttons. Look what I found! Am i nuts or is this a perfectly acceptable non-tacky boutonniere? it's ok if you think it's tacky. please tell me what you think! I don't want Zach's groomsmen to feel ridiculous up there. I was thinking of working the wooden toggle ones in somehow - not into a design like this picture, but if we had a real flower and a mostly traditional boutonniere, maybe add a toggle or button just to tie it all in..

Just tried to draw my idea out in Paint, can't seem to get the vision out right.. But you get the idea. I tried to draw in some other small accent flower, little berries, baby's breath, and all attempts failed. So just try to envision it I guess.

it's 11:11

2009-02-24T11:11:00.002-05:00

So I'm making a wish that this Old Town Hall idea works out! Zach loved the idea!

Old Town Hall

2009-02-23T14:48:00.004-05:00

For those of you who've gone to the Chocolate Festival in Fairfax, you should remember this building. I hardly remember how the layout was inside actually, so I'll definitely want to drag Zach there sometime soooon to check it out, but the Purple Onion catering lady suggested the venue so I contacted them for more info, and have already heard back! It sounds perfect. Except it's in Fairfax, but it's a rill cute part of town, and there are hotels and stuff not too far away. The site fee for the main hall on Saturdays is $1,500, and then we can also rent the upstairs for the ceremony at $75/hour, so that's really reasonable.

Also right around the corner from there is a restaurant that would be great for the rehearsal dinner - La Rue 123.

The best part is, they don't appear to have any restrictions on catering (meaning I can bring in Sarah's cake) and there's no alcohol beverage fee, as long as it's By Invitation Only and no cash bar. So we should be able to bring in our own alcohol.

I still would Prefer a spot closer in but I do love this part of Fairfax and it's not tooo far away. There are no hotels right Next to it, but we could definitely look into hiring a bus to get people back to their hotels, so we don't have to worry about designated drivers and all that.

..also how cute is this! The Stafford House is just half a mile away from the Old Town Hall, perfect for us to stay there Saturday night before leaving Sunday morning for the honeymoon.. Convenient to Dulles too!

caterers etc.

2009-02-23T11:43:00.002-05:00

I send out so many inquiry emails I'm forgetting who I'm requesting information from.. At some point I need to go through my sent mail and find out, and then keep track in one of my beloved google doc spreadsheets..

Anyway! I got a few responses from inquiries over the weekend, a couple of them are promising.

Caterer: The Purple Onion Catering Company. I got a really detailed response with a wide range of catering prices, and since I asked her specifically about catering at Cabells Mill, she gave me the full quote on all the supplies I would need to have an event there (chairs, linens, china, etc etc), which was nice. Most companies I've contacted send me some meal quote with an asterisk saying "does not include beverage, labor, tax or gratuity." This lady sent me quotes including all those things, and one buffet-style full dinner with staff, linens, china ETC (all but the alcohol, which we could provide and use their bartender), was $5,500 something (and that was for 80, would be slightly less for the 75 we're shooting for). That is really reasonable, and the sample menu looked pretty good, though I would want to change out some of the options. Anyway I think Cabells Mill is pretty much out unless we get desperate, but this company operates in Arlington, DC and Alexandria too so they are on my list.

This weekend I went through all the wedding magazines I've collected the past couple weeks and ripped out bunches of pages of dresses I liked, catering company ads, honeymoon ideas, etc etc etc. I found an ad for a catering company that advertized itself as environmentally friendly so I will be contacting them for more info. We're Considering doing a totally vegetarian reception.. Well haha I asked Zach if he would be ok with that and he said, "Umm sure?" I'm going to get some quotes and see if we can get some yummy vegetarian options. I saw an article about food suggestions and they had a picture and description of some seriously delicious looking vegetarian risotto, which gave me the idea.. Should be less expensive AND more environmentally friendly so I like the idea. And the vegetarian Sara(h)s will approve. ;)

I also got a quote back from a possible officiant - A.C. Warden, of Capital Ceremonies. She seems like a cool person, she personalizes every ceremony and her quote was a range of $500 - $800, I guess depending on a lot of factors. I'll probably contact her again for a new quote when we have our venues booked and we've thought a little about what kind of ceremony we want. I would love to find someone cheaper! I think we might be able to pay someone at the courthouse $50 to come out on a Saturday and perform the ceremony, depending on our budget we may just do that. But it would be nice to have a full-service celebrant.

We met with Meg on Saturday about being our photographer - we're excited! We're going to contact her again in late March/early April for an engagement photo session, which should be fun. We're trying to think of locations we'd like to have the photos taken, so far our ideas include:

Lincoln Memorial/Jefferson Memorial/Tidal Basin (cherry blossoms!)
Metro (train and bus)
Singing Karaoke (maybe at Freddie's Beach Bar?? hahah! or Sobe, would be a lot quieter)
eating at Bob & Edith's diner
Teddy Roosevelt Island (where he proposed)

Anybody has any suggestions, let me know.

Oh and Zach loved the pinata idea! woop woop!

The Athenaeum

2009-02-21T21:42:00.003-05:00

OK new site idea!

The Athenaeum, Old Town Alexandria (map). Really pretty part of town, close to the water.. Not sure why I didn't have this on my list before, a 5-hour Saturday rental, including the required membership, is $1,350. Looks like we could probably do our ceremony there too, in one of the galleries? ..Something in their wording leads me to wonder if the maximum capacity includes multiple rooms.. I would not want to split up our guests into different rooms, so we'll have to take a look.

Maybe my mother, et al., would like to join us on a site visit there sometime soon? :)

Love it love it love it

2009-02-21T12:19:00.002-05:00

Elaine (Mrs. P) took us down to Centreville/Annandale this morning to view the Cabells Mill facility and the Wakefield Chapel, and they are both just as cute as they look in the pictures. omg. Unfortunately Cabells Mill is a Little on the small side, we'd have to get creative with the space in order to have tables for eating and room for dancing.. They suggested possibly having the meal and then sort of moving the tables to the side and making a dance floor area.. I'm not sure how I feel about that. But man I want it to work! It's so charming! And the grounds are rill pretty too, everything was sort of brown today but I'm thinking by mid-March it'll be at least a little greener. I guess I'd like to try to check out the Grange at Great Falls at some point, see if that space is any bigger.

We can't reserve the spaces until March so I'm going to keep looking at other venues and we'll just think about it. Definitely confirmed they are both livable options - I still would like to find venues a bit closer in though. So the search continues--!

This afternoon we're meeting with Meg about photography :)

possibly hopefully great venue idea!

2009-02-20T09:24:00.008-05:00

So. I'm definitely falling in love with the Wakefield Chapel idea, and there's another Fairfax County property that would be Great for the reception, and if we use both we get a 10% discount off both. However. The chapel is in Annandale, the reception site I'm looking at is in Great Falls. For those not from around here, they ain't close to each other. Here's a map of the directions between the two. I'm thinking we could rent a big bus and cart everyone from place to place? I definitely don't want everyone driving 50 cars all over the place, sort of defeats my whole sustainable plan. I will have to look into hiring a coach... Anyway.

This is the chapel. Cuuute! I think I mentioned before, it's non-denominational, and we can bring in a secular officiant. It's just so darn cute I want to gobble it up.

And here are some pics of the Grange in Great Falls, where I'm thinking reception. Fairfax County has some other sites available but most of them wouldn't hold our estimated 75 - 100 people.

I really have to figure out how to make this blog do what I want with my pictures! Gah!

So, am I right or am I right. These are both pretty sweet venues right? And the prices are totallyyy reasonable. I just need to find a caterer.

Here's the pricing breakdown. Chapel and Great Falls Grange together, for a non-resident, is $2,625. If they are still doing the 10% off thing, that becomes $2,362.50. That includes use of tables and chairs and a couple other things; 3-hr block at the Chapel (plus 1 hour for rehearsal), 6-hr block at the Grange. Also includes the $100 alcohol use fee. So I'm thinking this is just the best deal I'm going to find! They don't start scheduling March 2010 till March 2009, so we have some time to think about it, go view the facilities, etc.

Also I'm going to ask if they're real sticklers on the resident/non-resident thing - maybe they would let us put the reservation in the name of a Fairfax County resident I know (cough. Amber. cough), and then we could get a further discount - then it would end up being $2,050 for all of that I described above.

I have not shared any of this info with Zach yet, but I did say something about the Chapel to him yesterday and he said it sounded neato. The biggest problem with this idea is the distance between the two spots. And also where will our guests be staying?? I'll need to look into hotels nearby..

* * *

OK also there's another option, Cabell's Mill is another Fairfax County spot, would be the same price as above, but it's in Centreville instead of Great Falls so that would be closer to the Chapel AND there would probably be a lot more hotel options near that venue.. The only drawback is that Cabell's Mill has a kitchen with just a small sink, no appliances. Might make catering a little dodgy. The Grange has regular home appliances - nothing like a big fancy caterer's kitchen I don't think, but at least a fridge and an oven and all that.. The building looks rill cute, can't tell as much about the indoors, but they say it seats 85..

those crazy Brits

2009-02-19T15:01:00.003-05:00

Had a dermatologist appointment this morning, and on my way there I popped in a store and bought umm three wedding magazines (waiting room reading matter you know) and I accidentally bought one that said "UK's Hottest Wedding Ideas." All I saw was "Wedding Ideas," but it's ok because even though all the ads for vendors and venues are in the UK and irrelevant, they had a lot of nifty ideas I can use. Also. Best part. I found out they call the bachelorette party a "hen party." all the articles were like "so gather your hens for a nice spa day" and there were a bunch of ads using the term too, they were all "bring your hen party to our club for your last wild night out!" and stuff. LOL. I love it. I mayyy insist on calling the bachelorette party the Hen Party. HAHA.

In other news... Sigh. I heard back from the State Theatre. They let me know I probably don't want to do an evening event there, minimum required is $12,500. She said the daytime idea could work, the minimum required is $6,500 - but then she said usuallyyy when all is said and done the daytime events end up running around $11 - $13,000. So boooo. Actually she just sent me an estimate from a previous event that ran $11,200-ish, but that was a luncheon for 100, I wonder if brunch for 75 or 80 would be significantly cheeeeper... I thought this idea was totally out but nowww I'm thinking maybe there's room to think about it, at least. Now that I know State Theatre's prices maybe I can find other venues Like that but less expensive. hmmmm..

venues

2009-02-19T13:13:00.003-05:00

I am getting a little frustrated with my venue search. Howww is there not just a big room with a sound system and a kitchen I can rent out and hire a reasonably priced caterer who will provide silverware and glassware and all that, and I can bring my booze and cake and somebody else will clean up after us..? seriously? in the dc metro area this does not exist?? I'm sure it does. I just have to keep looking.

For a brief moment I thought I might get away with hosting our wedding at Union Station's Columbus Club room, it's only $1,500 for the site rental, I thought they might allow us to bring in outside food/beverages.. But no, I got a quote back from them that explained they have one caterer they allow, and the package they offer is $150/person, not including beverages........ Dang. So that's out.

I finally called the State Theatre but this Johanna lady was not in, so I left a message.

Here are some other venues I'm looking into:

The Equality Center (contacted, waiting for a quote)

Ingleside Vineyards (contacted, waiting for quote. also I didn't realize at first how far away it is, would practically be a destination wedding... but I'll wait to find out if we could afford it)

Durant Center (haven't contacted them, not sure what it is exactly but it's in Alexandria, some site told me it was good for weddings)

Wakefield Chapel & Stone Mansion (There are a number of Fairfax county locations that could work, I thought the chapel looked cute - reminded me of the one in Rocky Horror Picture Show, honestly. it's non-denominational so I don't mind it. unfortunately there isn't a reception location toooo close by, but I like the stone mansion idea. have requested information, waiting to hear back)

There are some other places I'm looking I just can't remember them all. Here are the sites I'm using to search, if anyone has any better ideas please pass them along.

http://www.sesma.org/eventList.php
http://visitalexandriava.com/weddings/
http://www.eventective.com/USA/Dist+of+Columbia/Washington/
WeddingWire.com

I've looked at theknot.com and all those types too. I'd be open to a hotel wedding if one exists that charges less than $100/person.. Unfortunately hotels always require in-house catering, I couldn't have Sarah's cake and they'd way overcharge me for alcohol sooo I don't think I'm really interested. They would probably also poo-poo my buttons idea.

some responses to comments

2009-02-18T09:52:00.005-05:00

I was going to just reply in the comments section to everyone's stuff but you guys have sooo many ideas I think it deserves a whole new post.

First: OH MAI GAWSH SARAH I LOVE YOU. that is an amazing idea. GO. :) (for those who haven't read all the comments, she has offered to make my cake AND include little edible candy buttons!!!)

Thanks everyone for your ideas and feedback I love you too!!

I'm definitely already perusing the used wedding dress options, there are actually several websites devoted to this, and craigslist has a few listings too. Sofiabridal.com looks like a cheapish option too - but I'm wondering if there's a catch because their custom made dresses are only $300 - $500 and that seems like an amazing deal... I would in theory prefer a used dress but since they're so specifically tailored to the previous owner it might be tough finding one that works for me. I'm keeping my eyes open though! Still need to start that dress ideas post, I want to share some pictures of dresses I like so far. Haven't tried any on though so I don't Actually know what style would look best on me.

Amber tried posting comments but blogger Denied her so I will share some of her ideas. She says I should call my wedding party "bridal attendants." That's a very easy fix, and a good idea. I will probably go with something like that or just stick with the traditional "bridesmaids" and not use the matron title even for the matrons. Unless said matrons really object, they are/will be pretty new brides and may want people to know they are happily unavailable non-maids - in that case I don't mind using the matron thang.

Another amazing idea Amber had was to do pinatas at the end instead of the bouquet/garter toss!! At first it sounds like a joke but ummm I'm kind of liking the idea. I will have to see what Zach thinks. She also suggested just doing hors d'oeuvres and things instead of a plated meal and yeah that's definitely under consideration. I really only posted that thing about the plated meal as an example of something rill expensive I probably can't do. I'm open to any kind of food options - buffet, plated dinner, heavy appetizer spread, etc. Just not something like hot dogs on paper plates. As much as I lurve hot dogs...

My ideal reception would be at a place where we can bring in our own booze (keg maybe, or cases of beer, a few bottles of vodka/gin/tequila and lots of champagne, etc etc) and then people just drink until it's gone. Going with a traditional "open bar" is basically out of my price range, it's usually at least $25/person..

Oh and to explain the budget thing a little - yes, we are working with the amount we think we can save over the next year, not just with what we have already. LOL that would be an Incredibly small party involving fruit snacks and maybe string cheese for dinner and it would be BYOB and only the number of people who could fit in Andy Hanson's back yard. Anyway we are very lucky because Zach has a small inheritance coming to him this year, which we will Not be using for the wedding, but we will be adding it into our ING wedding savings account so it will boost our earned interest. It will also provide a little money in advance if we need to put down a deposit somewhere - but we plan to fully pay back any money from the inheritance we spend on the wedding because that money is for buying a HOUSE at some point hopefully in the not-terribly-distant future. :)

Also I'm not sure if I mentioned here yet but Zach's parents have offered to pay for our honeymoon! woop woop! Also they said they could just put in the same amount they paid for Zach's brother's honeymoon and we could use the whole thing on ours or we could put part of it towards the wedding fund.. I would prefer not to cut down our honeymoon funds toooo much, when else could we splurge and have a really amazing vacation?? But it's good to know the funds are there as a back-up.

I'm glad people like the brunch idea, I think it's definitely a strong back-up plan. There are a number of bars/clubs with private party rooms that don't charge any rental fee, they just want a certain amount of money generated from alcohol/food consumption so we might be able to work out some kind of thing where we reserve some room (say, Eleventh Street Lounge's basement) for like an hour, have a little appetizer buffet, open bar and then after an hour they open it up to the public, we stay and keep drinking but guests would pay for their own at that point, or we move on and take our party wherever we like. I'm hoping most people coming from out of town would want to stay Friday and Saturday anyway? So it might not be tough to keep them in town all day to wait for the evening afterparty?

har har har to the ham cake!! Zach would definitely approve.

photographer update

2009-02-18T09:11:00.002-05:00

We may have a photographer! :) Our friend Meg Linehan is mainly a photographer of rock shows But wedding photography is in her blood (her dad used to do weddings) and she is putting together a package for us and we're meeting this weekend to discuss. So more details on that laterrr. The girl takes a pretty picture of cherry blossoms so I have high hopes. :)

a note on the button bouquets..

2009-02-17T15:30:00.001-05:00

...I am planning to skip the bouquet/garter toss, so there won't be any injuries from the button bouquet! :)

I would like to think of Something to do at the end of the night, if anyone has ideas..

Thirteen Months Out

2009-02-17T11:09:00.001-05:00

I've decided instead of doing the mass email thing where I force my blabbing upon everyone, I'll just distribute this link to everyone and people can follow along/chime in as you like. Or not. :)

So far, here's where we are. Our date is tentatively March 20, 2010. It's actually Zach's parents' anniversary, so I'm hoping they will agree to let us do something special for them during our ceremony or reception. They're just really amazing people and I would love to have a chance to honor them and their marriage in a meaningful way.

My bridal party is decided, Zach is still narrowing his down I think. Here's mine:

Maid of Honor: Mary Czarnionka (York, ME)
Bridesmaid1: Sarah (sister) (Portsmouth, NH)
Bridesmaid2: Marnie (sister, technically matron Tao but whatev) (Dallas, TX)
Bridesmaid3: Kara McCulloch (soon to be matron Kowalik) (Arlington, VA)

I'm taking suggestions on a new titling system for the bridal party. For some reason I'm just not in love with "bridesmatron." It makes my ladies sound so.. well, matronly. But I may not even print programs so it may not matter.

Budget: Zach and I are paying for the wedding, so our budget is Le Small. It's... basically impossible for us to have a big wedding in this area, or even a small wedding with all the traditional weddingy stuff. We want somewhere around 100 guests, so just the open bar would be around $2,000 (minimum, unless we found a place we could bring our own booze). Plated meal, let's estimate low, would be $3,500. Thaaat's pretty much our budget and doesn't cover site rental, ceremony (officiant, site fee, etc.), attire, rings, photographer, decorations, blah blah blah. However, free booze and food for guests are my top priorities so I Will Make This Work.

I'm just going to have to get rill creative.

Invitations: We're thinking bookmark save-the-dates (recycled paper, soy inks, what what), and then we'll post our wedding website on the save-the-dates and say Hey we're not mailing invitations so send me your email address plzzz! And then for those who really don't do email/Internets, we will call them. It's partly a money-saving thing but also a world-saving thing. I love love love stationery/paper products of all kinds, but I would like to make this wedding as sustainable as possible and this is one of the easiest things to cut out.

Photography: We think we may have a couple friends of the family who have some amateur photography skills so if they agree to help out that will cut out a big expense. I would love to get a $2,000 photo package buuut I'd rather put the money into having a good time at the reception. I want to have a photo booth (not necessarily a real one, just like, a digital camera set up by the guest book so people can take pictures of themselves to go with their note in the book), hoping lots of guests will be taking their own photos, and then if we have someone with a Real camera taking some pictures of the preparations, ceremony, reception and a few poses, we'll be good.

Flowers: I haven't settled on the idea yet but I am seriously contemplating scrapping the flowers idea entirely and doing BUTTONS. I found some great ideas on etsy.com, I'm going to try to paste them in here, hope it works.

Ok I'm not sure this is working how I want it to, forgive me if the formatting is totally messed up. I'm such a blog noob!

Anyway these are some button bouquets that have inspired me. My mother brought me 2 tins full of old antique buttons, most fun I've ever had going through them with her, sorting by color and texture - I want more!! Please if you have any old buttons, I am taking donations. I'm thinking of doing this for my bouquet and the bridesmaids, but haven't figured out how to incorporate the idea into boutonnieres without going way over-the-top tacky. So ideas would be welcome.

Venue: I love the idea of having the reception at the State Theater.They put your names on the marquee! Unfortunately they haven't responded to my inquiry, and I'm just pretty sure they're out of my price range. They can fit like 300+ people so just having 100 might feel dumb anyway. We toured the Columbus Club (yes, the club for Knights of Columbus).. We only went because it's So Affordable, it was tempting to consider, even though we're not catholic and don't know anyone who's a member. The event director there is really nice, the space really wasn't that bad, I just.. can't do it. That gigantic light blue sign over the main entrance blaring KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS, along with the super 60s dated architecture.. was just too much for my vanity.

We haven't really started thinking about the ceremony venue.. I have no idea what we're going to do. We will not be having a church ceremony, I don't know who will officiate, I just don't know. I like the idea of an outdoor ceremony except that we're shooting for March 20 so it's a biiit chilly outside still. Maybe an art gallery or a club or something... It'll depend on where we have the reception. I'll post some ideas for that later.

One thing we may do, to get around the high food cost/open bar problem, would be to have a brunch reception. I don't think Zach is super crazy about the idea, but I think we could make it fun. I mean I would really prefer a Saturday night affair, but I'm trying to keep my mind open. I'm thinking brunch reception with mimosas and bloody marys, maybe a pianist or something, no big entertainment would really be necessary, people aren't going to get all crazylike drunk-o and dancing at noon (I'd hope), so that would cut down our costs a Lot - and then maybe we could host an after-party at a local bar/club that evening, for whoever wants to come party with us. So that's an idea.

DRESS: I will have to do a separate post about my dress ideas. I'm hoping to find a used one, or get one on a wicked sale or something. Running of the Brides is coming up in Rockville this April, and then there's one at Friendship Heights in July, I think I definitely want to do one of those! Could I be crazy enough to go to both? Depends on how many crazy friends I have haha.

Color Scheme: We've been throwing some ideas around, haven't really settled on anything yet. We like the idea of brown & cream, or brown cream and pink, or brown cream and blue.. I'm leaning towards pink, he's leaning towards blue.. ;) And we might just skip the brown and go with black, I think tuxes/suits would be easier to find in the traditional black? But we haven't looked into it. I would like polka dots to feature in there, but don't want to go too over the top with that. Actually buttons are (usually) round, I think the two ideas go together well.

Cake: we may not have a cake? I think he doesn't care at All, he'd rather not have one, I'm kind of like Sigh I'd like a cake but they're pricey, it's not that big of a deal. I wanted cupcakes but now everyone's frickin doing cupcakes and I'm just not sure anymore. I just had the idea today of doing mousse, served in martini glasses - and the martini glass would be the take-home favor? Probably still expensive.

OK that's probably enough blabbing for now. I literally have ideas swarming through my brain Almost constantly, so I'll try to post them often and get your comments/ideas/etc.