NOW it's official: October 1, 2011

We have finally made a decision for the wedding, and it's a big one!

We booked our reception venue for October 1, 2011.  Now it really feels official!
Luckily it's still 15 months away, so I don't feel stressed that we haven't made any other decisions yet.

We'll be having the reception at Black Hawk State Park Lodge.  It's gorgeous!

I think the last one is one of my favorites on their website!

Some of my favorite things about having this as our reception venue:

• It has great indoor and outdoor spaces.  Guests won't be isolated to one space throughout the night.

• (It includes tables and chairs! I certainly don't want to have to rent everything!)

• They have plenty of space to accommodate the live band that we plan to have.  And the park rental coordinator said the acoustics are excellent!
• It's set in a Historic State Park, so the woods surrounding are well-maintained, and even though it's early fall, we might have some fall colors around!  Also, the lodge is so nice, that we don't need a lot of added decorations!
• They have a nice kitchen for the caterers, so that's convenient!
• They really include a lot in their rental (security, clean up, etc).

Yay!  The countdown can officially begin!

More to come soon...

Wedding Slacker

I know I've been a slacker on the blog, but I promise, we've been making progress.
Here's how the last month has happened:

May 14.
Ben decides to buy a new motorcycle.
After finding 'the perfect bike' about 1,000 times, he declares that this is an offer too good to pass up.
We figure out how to pay for the bike, and I spend the next week (an extremely busy one at work, mind you) helping him figure out how in the world he's going to get it home from New Carlisle, OH and still make it to our planned trip to Chicago.  So much unnecessary stress...

May 21.
Ben gets his new motorcycle, and all is right in his world.

May 21.
I drive up to Chicago to enjoy 'couple's weekend', though Ben doesn't manage to make it.  Funny how that worked.

May 24.
The beginning of another crazy-busy work-week.  (My first huge beginning-to-end design project.  A dental office!)

May 28.
The beginning of vacation!

May 29.
Fly to North Carolina for a week on the Outer Banks!

June 4.
Fly home

June 5-6.
Float Trip VI.  Intended to be a relaxing float down the Wisconsin River.  Storms led to slightly less relaxation.  Still fun.

June 7.
Return to work, expecting the worst.  Find worst, and work like crazy for the next week.

June 11.
Go to hear our favorite local band, Minus 6.  This makes us reconsider a lot of what we had been thinking for the wedding (more to come on that).

June 13-15.
In Chicago for NeoCon (world's largest interior design trade market).  So cool!  I think my favorite part was that from about 1pm - 6pm the whole place is a giant cocktail party!

June 16-now.
Making super progress on my work to do list, but still don't feel like returning home after work to wedding plan and blog.  We have actually made some decisions, and have some plans in the works.
We decided that we are going to have a local (Quad Cities) wedding.  I think we'll be able to make everything more personal and special by being able to have the wedding and reception in the places we love, and have the other details that have more significant meaning to us.  The major decision that we made was to have Minus 6 play at our reception, which led to more questions and a couple of decisions.

I'll post again with more of those details.
Just didn't want to leave everyone in the dark forever.  Sorry it's been so long, as is!

Save the Dates?

So, my mom is pretty excited about everything, of course.
Being the ultimate Creative Memories Scrapbook-er that she is, she's been playing around with ideas for save the dates.
Here's the first of many ideas I'm sure she'll send along:

How hilarious are these?

Nashoba Winery

Taking a trip East, another location I've looked into is Nashoba Winery.

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This winery is located about 1 hour from the Boston Airport, which would make transportation easier than some locations, but not an easy breeze....

There aren't a ton of pictures on the website of the vineyards, but I really like the idea of having an outdoor ceremony and then the reception inside the on-site restaurant pictured above:  J's Restaurant. 

It would be cozy and intimate with a maximum of 62 people (+22 upstairs).  The menu selections look delicious, and not only are they a winery, but they also brew beer and make liquor!  All definite pluses!

Though it seems like a great option, there are some cons:

• Transportation to/from the airport and hotel (closest is ~6miles away)
• Not easy for visit trips
• Boston-Area could be pretty expensive, though it would be fun to visit.
• They don't allow ANY outside food or beverages, so if they don't make what we want, we're stuck without.

Pros:

• Full-service wedding planning location
• Gorgeous!
• Excellent Seafood....mmmmmm
• Boston would be fun for pre-wedding gatherings

Although I scouted this location, and there are a lot of things I like about it, I don't think we'll have the wedding there, but it helps me to narrow down what I am looking for!

The night we met...

I think this is pretty much how it was the night we met:

I'm just saying...

Door County, Wisconsin

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I've been plowing [read: leisurely browsing] through websites trying to figure out exactly what I'm looking for in a wedding/reception venue. I like the idea of a destination wedding, but I'm not too excited about the super-long-distance planning. I know I want to be able to visit the location at least a couple of times so I'm not unhappily surprised on the big day.

I've been collecting suggestions (thanks Mom) and have been drawn to several places. The most recent of which is Door County, Wisconsin.

The pros:

• Gorgeous 'destination wedding' locations; orchards, wineries, beaches, B&Bs...

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• Door County is far enough away from home, but still only 7 hours which works well for planning visits, and transporting any DIY wedding stuff I may have.
• Apples

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• Cherries

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• Spring & Fall!

Cons:

• Absolutely no winter wedding (not that it's my top choice)
• 2 hours to a major airport (Green Bay: GRB)

I think it's definitely a good option!

The countdown has begun.....oh wait!

Well, I guess the countdown can't begin until we've set a date.
Amazing how 'have you set a date?' is the #1 question I'm asked when I tell someone I'm recently engaged.

I've at least started to narrow down the possibilities, created a calendar with dates that work better than others. But even before that, we have to select a location.
Location...

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Location...

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Location!

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The possibilities are endless! More than the slight overwhelming feeling, is the extreme excitement to plan such an important day.

I'd like to use this blog to document my ideas and get feedback, as well as share important information as we make decisions and get closer to the BIG DAY (whenever that may be).