Changing Our Venue: Part 1

We chose the Andover Country Club many reasons. Its a convenient location for people traveling from all over the state. We liked the golf course views. It was reasonably priced. I knew the food would be yummy.

So then, why (?!?) after a couple of weeks, did I have a nagging feeling that something was not right? Well, I think it had a little something to do with continuing to see wedding photos like this:

Photo courtesy Forever Candid 

Photo Courtesy of Forever Candid 

Oceanfront Reception, Image courtesy Paul Johnson Photography

Are you sensing what was wrong? Yes, I was having a very hard time giving up my waterfront location. All my life, when I thought about how my photos would look, I imagined beach pictures. And I was really missing my nautical theme :/

Finally, I broke down to Keith and told him how I was feeling. Thankfully, he was SO supportive. He agreed that we shouldn't be spending thousands of dollars on something if it wasn't exactly what I wanted. We literally had ten days left to cancel ACC and get our deposit back. He told me that if I could find something else in our budget by then, we could change the reception location. 

This conversation took place on a Wednesday. On Saturday morning I was due to fly out to BM AC's bachelorette party weekend in Las Vegas. I had two days to make phone calls, schedule site visits and get details. I was a woman on a (very serious!) mission! 

Up next....finding my dream location! 

Making a list...and checking it twice!

No, this post is not about my Christmas list. Although, if you want to see that .... well you're out of luck because I am already done with my Christmas shopping! Woo!!

Ok, on to the subject at hand (sorry I get a little distracted sometimes) ..... I am referring to my wedding to-do list. I am telling you, this list is never ending and constantly growing! Here is proof:

This is what my list looked like 2 weeks ago. I thought I was in GREAT shape and was oh-so-proud of myself. Then, over the weekend I decided to re-visit my to-do list and try to organize my projects a little better. The result of that is this:

And it continues on the other side too! The sad part is, I know this will continue to grow. I'll cross one thing off (best feeling in the world!!) and add three more things.

Sigh. I guess I knew this would happen. That no matter how organized I was in the beginning, things would creep up out of nowhere and stress me out like no other. With just over 7 months to go, I'm starting to feel the pressure. I know that as soon as the holidays wrap up, the rest of the time is going to whiz by!

Anyone else feeling this way? Do you have any good tips on how to keep my sanity in check??

Finding a Venue: Part 2

So I realized I left you hanging after my last post, so continuing on....

I left off with my putting a hold on Bass Rocks Golf Club without my own fiancé having seen it. Well, maybe I was jumping the gun just a little bit because.....he hated the space! Ok, maybe hate is a strong word, but he disliked the L-shaped dining room. He felt that some of our friends and family would get squished in a corner somewhere. He also felt that our guest list was just too large to fit into their space. Sadly, I had to agree that he was right. It broke my heart to say 'no' to this place, because it was otherwise.so.perfect.

Moving on. We really weren't left with many waterfront options in our area, with our desired month, nevermind date, and in our budget. We slowly were beginning to realize that we would have to be willing to compromise on our criteria. Either the waterfront or the golf course had to go.

The next place we looked at, was Andover Country Club. Andover is about 45 minutes north of Boston, and not anywhere near the water. But it was a private (ie, expensive and well-maintained) golf course. We had attended a wedding here the previous summer and thought it was a beautiful location.

View of golf course from the ballroom. Image courtesy of andovercountryclub.com

Main Ballroom, Image courtesy of andovercountryclub.com

The outdoor ceremony space, image courtesy of Deborah Zoe photography

I had a few reservations about this location, mainly because they allowed up to three events at the same time. And since we were getting married in prime wedding season, there was a very good chance there would be two other weddings going on at the same time. However, the wedding coordinator assured us that we would have our own staff and that they had three separate kitchens so none of the other events would "run" into ours. Also, the main ballroom that we were looking at, had it's own private dressing room and restrooms, so we would only ever see another wedding if we were all outside taking photos at the same time. Their prices were also very reasonable, so we considered ourselves lucky to get 2 out of our 3 criteria. 

We put a 7-day hold on the room for June 16, 2012 and went home to think about it. I had a hard time letting go of the fact that it wasn't on the water, but I decided this was something I would just have to sacrifice. My mind was already running with other ways I could incorporate my colors. So we decided to go for it and sent in our deposit check a few days later! We had finally chosen a venue!

....or so I thought. Stay tuned! 

Finding a Venue: Part1

The *second* I got engaged, I was going crazy with researching venues. We knew we wanted a summer wedding in 2012, which only gave me 13 months. I know this might seem like a lot of time, but I knew better. I knew that some of the best venues booked up 12-18 months ahead of time, so I felt like it was a mad scramble to find a venue. Our criteria was:


1. Location. HAD to be on the water/across from the water/water views...whatever. I'm having a nautical theme wedding. So this was pretty important.


2. Keith's one request? He wanted it to be on a golf course. He loves to golf, it's his favorite hobby. He wanted a place where he could golf with all the guys the day before. 


3. Reasonable. This one is kind of a given. But seriously, we knew we couldn't afford places that were charging thousands just to rent the space. We also had to keep our per person minimum to, well, a minimum. 


Armed with my criteria, off I went! Shouldn't be so hard right? I live near Boston for chrissake! I grew up in a gorgeous little fishing town on the water. I HAD to be able to find something! 


So just days after getting engaged, I looked at three places, all in my hometown, The Ocean View Inn, Bass Rocks Golf Club and The Cruiseport. 


Here's the details on each one!

The Ocean View Inn: 

The reception space, image courtesy of oceanviewinn.com

Image courtesy of bostonweddingvenues.com

I loved the ceremony set-up, except we weren't planning on getting married there. The views were amazing. The photo opps we would have were perfect. Also we would be able to rent out one of the guest houses for all our OOT guests; it fit within our budget; and they had our *desired* date of June 22, 2012. The cons were that we had to provide our own alcohol and bartenders; there was no golf course; and the reception space was set up awkwardly, with multiple rooms instead of one big space. It went on the "ehhh maybe, but probably not" list.

Next up, was The Cruiseport. This location is brand new, right in the heart of downtown on the wharf where all the boats come in. And can I tell you how gorgeous this place was? Well, I'll let the photos speak for themselves!

The beautiful entry way! Image courtesy of weddingwire.com

The grand ballroom, coutesy of weddingwire.com

The bar area, leading out to the private patio overlooking the harbor. Image via weddingwire.com

Despite the gorgeousness of this place, we sadly had to cross it off our list because they were booked solid for ALL of 2012....I'm talking the end of April through the end of October! We would have had to have done an early spring or a late fall wedding. And with the weather being as wacky as it is here in New England, we weren't willing to chance having really crappy weather. And they were way out of our budget. $5000 just to rent the place? Umm yeah, I think we'll pass. 

On to the next! Bass Rocks Golf Club. This was secretly the one I was hoping would be IT. It had everything that we were looking for .... a gorgeous golf course on the ocean. It was perfect! 

The back of the clubhouse. Right above where the flags are hanging is the outdoor patio where our cocktail hour would be held. Image courtesy www.bassrocksgolfclub.com

The ballroom area. The windows overlook the golf course with the ocean in the distance. Image courtesy www.bassrocksgolfclub.com

There was one issue I had with this location. The ballroom was really more of a large dining room, and it could only hold up to 180 people, in the L-shaped space. Despite that fact, and because I was determined to make this work,  I decided to put a hold on this location. I figured space and set-up were minor details that could be figured out later. (Nevermind my guest list was currently at 206! Again, a minor detail.) Now all that was left was bringing Keith in for his final approval! 

Oh, did I fail to mention that I looked at these places without him?? Oops! Hey, he was working and I had work to do! I figured all the running around and research I was doing would be overwhelming for him, and if I could narrow down our options, it would be easier for us to decide :) 

Did you put a venue on hold without your fiance seeing it? Do you think I'm nuts for doing so?? Well, stay tuned for part 2!

My first *almost-but-not-quite* DIY!

So I mentioned in a post a few weeks back, about all the random odds and ends that I had started collecting for the wedding. One of those was my RSVP cards. Yes, I have since chosen invitations, but I chose not to use one that matched my invitation suite.

I love the idea of RSVP postcards. I've seen this done more often lately, and I think that a) it's much cuter and b) it's more cost effective because stamps are cheaper and you don't need an envelope. Bonus!

Again, thanks to all my months of research, I found that a lot of DIY brides are using Vista Print to print and design various paper products. At first, I was unsure of this idea. I use VP at work all the time, but for my wedding? Hmm.

Then I got an email for 250 free postcards. After a little playing around on their site looking for a template I liked, I realized that I could upload my own design! Now, I do not pretend to be a computer genius. I know my way around a computer ok, but using programs like Photoshop make me incredibly anxious. Someone suggested Powerpoint, which I do know how to use!

For the front of our postcard, I just used one of the pictures from our engagement shoot.

This is one of my favorite photos, for several reasons. I love the lighting, and I love the boats and the harbor in the background, and I love that he is so sweetly kissing my forehead. Plus, I think my hair looks fabulous! :)

The back of the postcard looks like so:

It was really easy to create in Powerpoint, and then I saved it and uploaded it! At checkout, I think I paid $5 for shipping, but that was it! I figured that if they came in and I hated them, I wouldn't have wasted much money, so I was so excited when they finally arrived. I loved them!

They don't really match my invitations, but I think that once I have the whole set together, they will look great. Plus, I think I saved about $100, so that alone is worth it. And sometimes mismatched is ok!

I know that this wasn't a true DIY project, but I'm getting my feet wet! Anyone else have a good experience with Vista Print? What else should I look into ordering for the wedding?

You are Cordially Invited!!!

From the minute I got engaged, I knew that the one choice that would give me the most trouble, would be the invitations. I may have already alluded to the fact that I had done some "wedding looking" before getting engaged. (Ok, let's be honest. I knew my colors and theme months before we got engaged.) This meant that I was already well aware of the fact that there were no invitations that matched the picture in my head. There were a lot that were this close, but they had to be perfect.

While I am excited to say that I have finally chosen and ordered invitations (yay!!) I am not ready to share them *just* yet. So, in the meantime, I will share some of my inspirational ideas that led me to my amazingly talented designer and my final choice!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/belletristics?ref=seller_info

http://www.etsy.com/shop/LaBelleVieDesign?ref=seller_info

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Preppypaperie

In case you can't tell, I really like stripes and anchors :) All of these invitations were amazing, but what I was envisioning combined all the best elements of these, and then some. I can't wait to share the finished product with you! Sadly, I'll have to wait another 6 months to do so, since I won't be mailing them out until May! 

I do have other little detail-projects that will be included with our invitation sets, so I am excited to begin sharing those details! 

Was there any one task that you knew was going to be a challenge? How were you able to find what you wanted?

Love is Sweet!

I love, love, love candy buffets. I mean, seeing photos like these, how could anyone not??

simplycandybuffets.com

Courtesy of big-wedding-tiny-budget,.com

beautiful-bridal.blogspot.com

As much as I loved this idea, I originally gave it the ax. Remember when I was afraid my ideas were kind of running wild and I was trying to remember that I didn't have to do everything just because I liked it? Well, it was during this time I decided against the candy buffet.

But then! One of my other bride friends (yes I am lucky to have several friends getting married in 2012!) and I had this amazing idea....since our weddings are only 7 weeks apart, why not split the cost of all the materials (minus the candy) and use everything at both our weddings? Genius! 

We are DIY-ing all of the favor bags (more to come on this later), and all the signs and decorations for the tables. Plus, thanks to all the boards on the bee, I have tons of great ideas on how to do this as inexpensively as possible. Obviously, I'm not skimping on the actual candy. :)

I've started collecting jars and vases and she is doing the same. So far, here is what we have!

Don't mind the random balls in that one in the middle. :)

I'm excited to start working on this project and am already thinking about all the mouth-watering candy choices that come in green, blue and white!! 

Did any of your ideas end up on the chopping board and then come back to life?