bowling a 300
Hey all! Sarah here, with a 300-day progress post!
Reminder link: Basic intro post. I’m a Boston-area bride, date set for September 16, 2010 (yes, it’s a Thursday).
Date:
We finalized the date! September 16, 2010. It will be our ten year anniversary, so we decided to stick with the same date, even though it falls on a Thursday. We’ve already had a few discounts for it, and definitely a few surprised looks from family and friends. A majority of the guests are local, and could make an evening wedding without taking too much time off; the only long-distance guests would be family or wedding party members anyway. We’re hoping that the whole Thursday thing doesn’t become an issue.
Officiant:
The minister from my home church was our first email after we got engaged; he said it’s on his calendar. I’m not quite sure the etiquette for paying a deposit, though; I don’t want to email him to see if he needs a deposit, but I also don’t want to seem rude by not offering. Anyone have any thoughts on this?
Photographer:
We signed the contract with our photographer: Pierre Chiha, based in Concord, MA. We’ve known him for years, and he’s done other photos for our family, so he was a pretty easy choice. He’s a phenomenal portrait photographer and I love the results he gets. We did our engagement photo shoot already, and though we’ve seen proofs, we can’t upload photos just yet (believe me, there’ll be a post when I can).
Sample pictures of his:
Venue: the Barn at Gibbet Hill in Groton, MA.
We are having the ceremony and reception at the same location, and the Barn is absolutely gorgeous. It was definitely out of our price range at first, but with a little negotiating (hooray, off-day weddings!), it has become a lot more reasonable. We’ve definitely needed to bump things around in our budget, but it’s a gorgeous location. Our other front runner was a more DIY location, where I would have been organizing catering, alcohol, and rentals, and the added stress just wasn’t a good idea. The contract is in the mail, and soon we’ll be off and running!
Entertainment:
My work involves some event planning, and a coworker suggested a local DJ that we’ve used for other parties; I’ve been at events where he’s worked, specifically an all-ages picnic, and then a late-night, open-bar party. He’s a great DJ, and I’m really pleased.
Flowers:
Due to the pricier venue, we’ve decided to do our own flowers. The centerpieces will NOT be floral (except maybe scattered rose petals), so all we’d need to do is a few bouquets and boutonnières (well, 5 bouquets and I think 11 or 12 boutonnières). I also like really simple, small bouquets (literally less than a dozen roses for the bridal bouquet, about six to eight for the bridesmaids), so I’m not too worried. My mom and I are doing research and watching videos and will be doing trials over the coming months, to see how long it takes to do each (bouquet & boutonnière), and how much help we’ll need.
Dress:
When I first got engaged, I browsed around wedding gowns, but really loved the simplicity of the J Crew wedding gowns, so I figured I’d start there. Then, out of the blue, I saw this one gown that really caught my eye (for those of you playing along, it’s the Alfred Angelo 1148, very popular). I tried it on alone in a local bridal shop, and really loved it. My mother came and saw it and loved it; we decided to stop in at J Crew and David’s Bridal, just to get some perspective. We kept comparing everything to that first dress. I just had a couple of my girlfriends come to the shop to see it, and they’ve confirmed for me that this is the dress for me-classy, no-frills, beautiful for my figure (hello, hourglass). My mom and I are going to go into the shop to put down a deposit in the next couple weeks.
Invitations: My mother is a graphic designer. :) We caught a break here, and hopefully the invitations will be relatively inexpensive. She also has a strong relationship with a local printer, so hopefully we’ll get a discount there, too. She’s already made some mock-ups and tried a few different styles, and so far, I love them. Simply, classy, but gorgeous.
Any other September 2010 brides out there? How is the planning going for you all?
Come to think of it, any other weekday brides out there? How’s the backlash feeling? Any rough patches? Next Thursday is our family Thanksgiving, and I’m guessing my big and boisterous family will have something to say about the whole weekday thing.
Reminder link: Basic intro post. I’m a Boston-area bride, date set for September 16, 2010 (yes, it’s a Thursday).
Date:
We finalized the date! September 16, 2010. It will be our ten year anniversary, so we decided to stick with the same date, even though it falls on a Thursday. We’ve already had a few discounts for it, and definitely a few surprised looks from family and friends. A majority of the guests are local, and could make an evening wedding without taking too much time off; the only long-distance guests would be family or wedding party members anyway. We’re hoping that the whole Thursday thing doesn’t become an issue.
Officiant:
The minister from my home church was our first email after we got engaged; he said it’s on his calendar. I’m not quite sure the etiquette for paying a deposit, though; I don’t want to email him to see if he needs a deposit, but I also don’t want to seem rude by not offering. Anyone have any thoughts on this?
Photographer:
We signed the contract with our photographer: Pierre Chiha, based in Concord, MA. We’ve known him for years, and he’s done other photos for our family, so he was a pretty easy choice. He’s a phenomenal portrait photographer and I love the results he gets. We did our engagement photo shoot already, and though we’ve seen proofs, we can’t upload photos just yet (believe me, there’ll be a post when I can).
Sample pictures of his:
Venue: the Barn at Gibbet Hill in Groton, MA.
We are having the ceremony and reception at the same location, and the Barn is absolutely gorgeous. It was definitely out of our price range at first, but with a little negotiating (hooray, off-day weddings!), it has become a lot more reasonable. We’ve definitely needed to bump things around in our budget, but it’s a gorgeous location. Our other front runner was a more DIY location, where I would have been organizing catering, alcohol, and rentals, and the added stress just wasn’t a good idea. The contract is in the mail, and soon we’ll be off and running!
Entertainment:
My work involves some event planning, and a coworker suggested a local DJ that we’ve used for other parties; I’ve been at events where he’s worked, specifically an all-ages picnic, and then a late-night, open-bar party. He’s a great DJ, and I’m really pleased.
Flowers:
Due to the pricier venue, we’ve decided to do our own flowers. The centerpieces will NOT be floral (except maybe scattered rose petals), so all we’d need to do is a few bouquets and boutonnières (well, 5 bouquets and I think 11 or 12 boutonnières). I also like really simple, small bouquets (literally less than a dozen roses for the bridal bouquet, about six to eight for the bridesmaids), so I’m not too worried. My mom and I are doing research and watching videos and will be doing trials over the coming months, to see how long it takes to do each (bouquet & boutonnière), and how much help we’ll need.
Dress:
When I first got engaged, I browsed around wedding gowns, but really loved the simplicity of the J Crew wedding gowns, so I figured I’d start there. Then, out of the blue, I saw this one gown that really caught my eye (for those of you playing along, it’s the Alfred Angelo 1148, very popular). I tried it on alone in a local bridal shop, and really loved it. My mother came and saw it and loved it; we decided to stop in at J Crew and David’s Bridal, just to get some perspective. We kept comparing everything to that first dress. I just had a couple of my girlfriends come to the shop to see it, and they’ve confirmed for me that this is the dress for me-classy, no-frills, beautiful for my figure (hello, hourglass). My mom and I are going to go into the shop to put down a deposit in the next couple weeks.
Invitations: My mother is a graphic designer. :) We caught a break here, and hopefully the invitations will be relatively inexpensive. She also has a strong relationship with a local printer, so hopefully we’ll get a discount there, too. She’s already made some mock-ups and tried a few different styles, and so far, I love them. Simply, classy, but gorgeous.
Any other September 2010 brides out there? How is the planning going for you all?
Come to think of it, any other weekday brides out there? How’s the backlash feeling? Any rough patches? Next Thursday is our family Thanksgiving, and I’m guessing my big and boisterous family will have something to say about the whole weekday thing.