Brr! It's Cold Outside

We are fast approaching our deadline for sending out our save the dates and we would both like to have a photo std card to send out, something like these. The only problem is, we have ZERO photos that we both like which are actually usable. But thankfully, my cousin is coming to our rescue and doing an impromptu e-session. She is our go to family event photog, and well, she's just great. I'm just nervous about the weather. I'm the type of person who wears a scarf in the summer in the office because the AC is on too high, so obviously I don't do very well in the winter. And to top it off, in the past month or so we've gotten hit with snow, freezing rain and blustery winds that have made me shed a tear (I can't make this stuff up). So I'm crossing my fingers that none of the crazy weather will make an appearance and I'm hoping that it will just get above 35 degrees.

I'm gonna suck it up, bundle up (in something cute of course) and hopefully produce some beautiful, natural looking e-pics.

On the Hunt...Reception Venues

I started my search for venues in the same spot where many other brides have started, on the internet, with a google search. However, I must let the cat our of the bag, because when I really started looking at reception venues, we were newly engaged and not even thinking about when we would have a wedding (it just wasn't very practical at the time). So many of the places that I initially fell in love with like 2-3 years ago were sooo not going to work with our actual wedding budget. So I just nixed any venue that I had bookmarked circa late '07-'08.

I started to look at some of the other typical wedding websites to get ideas. I contacted a boatload of hotels (seriously, I think I still have like 25-30 random info packets on my laptop right now) in the DMV to get their wedding package information but I didn't feel like a hotel was the right place for us, I guess some part of me felt like it was a little too cookie cutter. But I've also seen beautiful weddings at hotels so to each his own. But there was one location that I thought might work, the Mason Inn and Conference Center, on the campus of George Mason University (GMU). My mom and I even went to take a tour, and we did actually like it, it was overwhelming love at first sight but it could work. I kept it on my list of possible locations but kept it moving.

Outside the Mason Inn

Small Ballroom

Table details

But the funny thing is, on the way to Mason Inn we passed a historic home just minutes away from GMU and I thought I knew what it was as we drove past (based on previous online hunts) and a google search confirmed my curiosities, it was Old Town Hall (OTH). It was also on my list of top reception venues to check out, I immediately scheduled a tour the next day for an upcoming weekend. Upon our arrival at OTH I fell in love with the building, it looked so elegant. As we toured the grounds I was pretty sure that I wanted to book that place ASAP. There were multiple locations throughout the venue that we could utilize and even an outdoor garden area that looked really nice and lush and perfect for cocktail hour. And I don't know about you but parking was also at the top of my list of must haves. I didn't want us to have to pay for valet parking or any kind of parking for my guests, it's just an expense I didn't want to take on. But I was happy to find out that there are 4 free parking lots within like 2 blocks of the venue which our guests can use. SCORE!

Old Town Hall

Main Floor Room

Expanded view of the Main Floor Room

As the days passed after my two initial visits I just couldn't stop thinking about OTH. But I thought maybe I should see a couple more places. So I headed over to The Lorien, a boutique hotel and spa in Old Town Alexandria. I was a little annoyed and didn't really want to continue with the tour after the woman told me that our date was already taken. I mean, really lady, you could've told me that before I came over here, after work, in the rain. But I played along seeing the sights and they were nice, but since I knew it wasn't even an option, I was really just window shopping. They also had many multi-function spaces and an outdoor area, but none of the inside spaces were big enough to accommodate both dinner and dancing, so those activities would have to be split between 2 rooms. Not a big deal for some but I thought it would be a little awkward for guests.

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After that disappointment, with my mom in tow we headed over to The Lyceum in Alexandria, VA. I saw this venue suggested on many websites and wedding boards so I figured why not. But it just didn't do it for me. There was nothing that caught my interest. There were multiple spaces that could be used but one of the two spaces was within the museum and I'm not that fond of having cocktail hour around a bunch of artifacts. And the price wasn't right for us either, so it was ruled out.

So after viewing 4 possible venues and even dreaming about one for many a night, we decided to book one of them and I couldn't be happier. Stay posted for an upcoming post where I reveal our venue!

*All photos are my personal handiwork unless specified.

We Have Our Photog!

I am pleased to announce that we now have our official wedding photog! I'm super excited and pumped about this decision which racked my brain for many a night. So who is it you ask? None other than Edward Underwood Photography. And I must say our road to finding this guy was no small fete...I stalked many websites trying to put a new faves list together after getting obsessed with photos from another photographer who was way out of our budget (another post altogether). But after viewing his portfolio I fell in love with his work. And even after visiting another photography duo I still couldn't stop thinking about those pics, they are just everything that I want my wedding photos to be. So instead of me ranting about them why don't I just show you.

* All photos are from Edward Underwood Photography

On the Hunt...Our Ceremony Locale

After we finally set a date it was time to give some serious thought to our ceremony and reception venues.

In terms of ceremony locations, I would have loved to have an outdoor ceremony, but I am also practical and I knew that I didn't want to have worry about heat strokes, rain or any other uncontrollable craziness on our wedding day. Plus, both of our families are pretty religious and we just decided that having a church ceremony was the way to go. But figuring out the which church would be an ordeal all it's own. I never knew how much churches actually charge for what seems like such a short amount of time. I had a serious case of sticker shock. After I got past the price tags I was able to prioritize our choices to three.

1. His family has a church that they're been members of for many, many years, but it's too small and probably wouldn't accomodate everyone that was invited comfortably. 
2. My grandparents have a church which they have also been members of many years and many of the weddings for our family have taken place there in the past. 
3. Then there was another local church which my aunt was familiar with but we had no other ties.

We ruled out #1 for the obvious reason, #3 was ruled out based on the location (it was a little out the way considering all the various logistics of the wedding day). So we went with #2 and we'll be keeping the unofficial family wedding tradition going by having our ceremony at Fort Foote Baptist Church.

Personal photo from inside our ceremony venue

I was excited and apprehensive all at the same time after making this decision, for a couple of reasons:

• The contacts at the church weren't very responsive or helpful when I initially contacted them for information, and really just hard to get into contact with in general.
• The price still bugged me. But after actually being able to talk to someone I was able to get the price down from almost $900 to $525 (I mean really, we'll only be there for like an hour!). My first real round of negotiations, if you can call them that, were a success.

But I've been able to rationalize this decision in my head and now everything is good. We put down our deposit. I got an actual cellphone number for my main point of contact and I squared away all of our contract details.

Next up, our hunt for the perfect reception venue!

Running of Brides = Success! (I think)

Ok so that title doesn't sound very optimistic but I promise there's light at the end of this story. So I don't know if anyone else has experienced Filene's Basement Running of the Brides but if you haven't here's a video from their website which sums up the chaos of the day pretty well (which I tried so hard to avoid).

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I attended the event on July 30, 2010 at Mazza Gallerie the only DC location for the event. But I was determined not to be a part of the chaos, so I enlisted my mom as my sole team member (yes, we were a team of two and yes, I hear you giggling). No fancy shirts or crazy costumes, we were on a mission. 

Here's a quick timeline of our day:

• 11:00 - We arrive (slight chaos still going on) and assess the situation, then split up
• 11:30 - gathered have our first batch of dresses, about 5-6 each (whew those things are heavy)
• 11:30 - 11:50 - I try on the first batch and quickly realize that a ballroom gown is not what I want
• 12:00 - 12:20 - gathered our second batch of dresses, we're starting to get the hang of this thing
• 12:20 - 2:00 - the above cycle continued (the time passes faster than you think)
• Let's fast forward to the good part...at about 3pm I purchased my dress!

I was torn between 2 dresses both were similar in style but I leaned towards the one that I have because in the end I thought that it wouldn't need as many alterations as the other dress. The runner up was a lace due to the stress of the day it had a deformed zipper which would need to be replaced and some torn lace here and there. I just wasn't in the market for a dress overhaul. But in the end I think I was able to find a dress that I will be able to make into my dream dress with minor alterations. I think I have a win-win situation, but only time will tell.

Dress details including pictures yet to come...I really want to find a pic of it online but I'm having a hard time, so we'll see.

You're a Wedding Planner Too!?!

Have you had the dubious experience where every family friend, neighbor or new acquaintance is a wedding planner as soon as you utter the words...we set a date.

Ok, maybe it's just us, but they've come out of the woodwork. And for the most part we just don't like the idea of mixing friends/family with business, because in our experience and others it just doesn't turn out well in the end. And for something as important as our wedding day, there are just some things I don't want to take a chance on. And for the position of organizing and running our wedding day, we would prefer an unbiased opinion and not someone who we have to see and interact with at every future family function if for some reason, their performance isn't up to parr. Were keeping our wedding day and our future drama free from beginning to end.