The Definition of Girl Time

What better place to catch up with friends, be girly, and look for wedding dresses than New York City. Two of my bridesmaids, my future sister-in-law, and I did all of the above this Saturday and had a great time!

The day's meeting place was RK Bridal, a retail store in the famous NY Garment District. I had looked at their website, but my first real taste of RK was Dana's description over the phone. "It's crazy! There are so many dresses! It's crazy in here."

It wasn't just the dresses that made it crazy inside RK as I discovered when I arrived. When Selene and I got there, a couple minutes past 11 a.m., it was already packed with brides-to-be. Selene added my name to the list for a changing room and we were on the second page! And I thought we were getting there on the early side! We ended up waiting an hour and a half for our turn at a changing room, but the time was definitely not a waste. Ingrid, Dana, Selene, and I browsed bridesmaids dresses, and scoured the wracks for the 5 best dresses for me to try on. I have to say it was a huge help having three other people to look through dresses, hold stuff, and of course give their opinions. Since RK was so busy, I was only allowed 5 dresses to try on. We put together a good handful of lacy, affordable gowns and sat down to watch other brides and judge... I mean, watch and chat, of course!

I almost squealed with surprise and excitement when my name was finally called. All four of us headed to the dressing room to put down our coats and I climbed into the first dress (Dessy Destinations 1021): a sweat heart topped, flowy lace dress. It felt great on and surprisingly comfortable. Out in front of the mirror, we all took a close look. The ruching across the middle was popular with the girls, as was the flow of the lace in the skirt. However, the slanted seam the connecting the skirt to the bodice, was a slight sticking point. The dress very much fit my vision of what I was looking for, so the seam did not bother me so much.

The second, third and fourth dresses we not as exciting. Ingrid liked the second one (as did I) but it was a little too princess for me, the third one had sequins the made it itchy, and the fourth would have been near perfect if it wasn't so heavy! Plus it had a seam in the same spot as dress 1, but unlike the first dress, it constricted the movement of my legs.

The last dress was also by Dessy Destinations (number 1016). It felt great on! It was comfortable and easy to wear, but still had the support and shape I was looking for. What's more the lace was a unique pattern. The real sticking point, however, was how plain the cut of the dress was. The woman helping us, Nicole, got a brown sash to add to it, which helped a lot, but the front would have to be cut (to create a sweat heart neckline) and cap sleeves would have to be added (which was true of all the dresses I tried on). That said, the dress was so affordable, making those changes would be a definite possibility.

I'm definitely looking forward to going back and trying on my two favorites again.

After the dress shopping, Selene, Dana, Ingrid, and I went for high tea and then went our own ways. Between, the dresses, the chatting, and the tea it was a perfect girly day!

Avocados and Hardware Stores

As most of you probably know, I love colors. I love wearing colors, being surrounded by colors, eating foods of many colors, the list goes on. So, it is no surprise that I started thinking about colors for my wedding as soon as I was engaged. Granted, this was long before I knew the big event's place or time of day. I did, however, show great self-restraint by waiting until my wedding venue, date, and time were squared away before making any official color decisions.

For me, picking colors is about visualizing them. When I wanted to paint a room yellow and green, I found a perfectly ripe avocado, cut it in half and took a picture before going to the paint store. I probably would have taken the avocado to the store with me to compare colors, but it would have been too messy. Though, a little strange perhaps, I believe my method was successful. The colors of the room are as creamy, smooth and inviting as I wanted them to be.

When thinking about colors for my wedding, I wanted an equally visual way of selecting not only colors, but tones and depth. So back to Home Depot I went. Leah (also known as Jack) came too, to look at colors for her wedding! You might laugh and ask how hard can it be to pick out a dark red, but there I was with five or six different dark reds trying to figure out which one was best.

Since getting engaged in September, I've know a couple key things about the wedding I was about to plan- It would be in the fall, it would be outside, and the colors would be earthy. Many of you know my love for blues and greens, but for this I really wanted warmer, natural tones. From the start I was thinking autumnal reds and oranges, but it wasn't until I was standing in Home Depot that the specifics really started to come together. Some colors were easy to find. I picked up a creamy yellow and deep chocolate brown almost right away. Others like the red and orange took a while. I wanted the colors to be rich, but not to bright. They were for bridesmaids dresses after all, and who would want to wear a bright orange dress?

After much thought, I left Home Depot with a solid set of colors. The colors are a deep, but true red (not too much pink or purple in it), a rusty orange (with nice shades of brown mixed in but not too flat), a warm and creamy yellow, and chocolate brown and forest green for accents. Gramercy Mansion is a wood building with a garden and lawn, so I figured the greens and browns would be everywhere anyway. I will tie them into my decorations in small ways. Leah got some good ideas out of it too. She had a couple different sets, not ready to pick one quite yet.

The last step was to see them in the setting. In between touring Gramercy Mansion and signing the rental agreement, I pulled out my colors and took a look. They fit well with mansion. With colors, place, day and time set, I can really begin to envision the other pieces of the puzzle. Now I've got to go out there and find them!

It's Set!

Today was a great day all around. I had a good run, had fun hanging out with my parents and Mike's parents.. and we BOOKED OUR WEDDING VENUE!

That's right, I now have date at Gramercy Mansion. Mike and I will get married on _______. We took my parents and Mike's parents to Gramercy to get a tour and see for themselves how pretty it is. Everyone loved it and we signed the rental agreement!! I'm really happy to have a date and a place set. Now I can relax and start to pull some of the other pieces together.

Pouring over the rental agreement... and signing it!

A Little Dash of Drama

Getting my first look at Gramercy Mansion back in November.

I know there's plenty of stress and drama when planning a wedding and I've gotten my first taste of it. This story has a happy ending, but now I definitely have an appreciation for how quickly plans can change.

This week I called Woodend Sanctuary to ask a couple more questions and see if they could pencil me in for a good date. Instead, I found out about their new 2011 rates... the price had gone up by $1,200!! I took a deep breath, thanked the event manager for her time and hung up. So needless to say, Woodend is now off my list.

To further complicate things, I was not 100% sure I could book Gramercy Mansion (my long standing 2nd choice). Over the weekend, I had begun to check into availability for Sundays (rather than Saturdays) and had discovered that the earliest wedding time on Sundays is 3 pm. Mike and I had wanted a morning wedding and a wedding from 3 to 7 just wouldn't do.

With the sudden disappearance of Woodend Sanctuary, it was time to give Gramercy one more try. I called to confirm that their prices weren't going up and to take one more stab at negotiating an earlier time on Sunday. Much to my surprise, the woman on the phone said Sunday weddings could start as early as noon. She also confirmed on the phone and via email that the rates would remain the same. Confused by the mixed answers I was getting about Sundays, I emailed to ask again. A long story short, in the four times that I asked about Sunday weddings I got four different answers.

So what is the happy ending to my story? The fourth time I talked to an event coordinator at Gramercy Mansion, the coordinator, the manager, and I discussed the time on Sunday and my reasons for wanting the wedding to be earlier. They agreed to move up the start to 2pm so that the wedding would end at 6, a good bit before sunset. In the end, I am more than satisfied with the venue. Plus, I'm happy to know that we'll be out in the gardens throwing Frisbees, dancing, and taking walks without having our fun curtailed by the setting sun.

I have made it through my first real wedding planning shock. With the venue straightened out I feel a whole lot better about all the other pieces and the many more surprises to come.

Stay tuned, a wedding date may be coming soon!

Some Good and Some Lack-Luster

Sorry this post come a little after the fact, but last week I got in touch with the event coordinator for Brookside Gardens and I wanted to let you all know my thoughts.

First of all, the gardens were gorgeous. There was a Japanese style "tea house" set in a Japanese influenced strolling garden. It was so much fun just to explore all the little paths and bridges, and it was the perfect spot to have some wedding pictures taken. However, the tea house has a standing capacity of 50 people, so we wouldn't even be able to have our ceremony there. The only ceremony spot that would fit all of our guests is the "Wedding Gazebo," which was nice, just not quite as exciting. That was only the first downside.

When I called this week I discovered that the tent which was shown in their pictures and mentioned in their flier had to be rented separately along with the tables and chairs. Plus, as the rain plan, our wedding would be held in the visitor center with the reception out under the tent. While I'm sure we could supply plenty of umbrella's I wasn't thrilled about the visitor center or the walk from it to the tent in the rain. So a long story short, I can't wait to go back and visit the gardens in the spring, but it's not on my list for wedding venues. That means our #1 choice is Woodend Sanctuary and our #2 is Gramercy Mansion. I've already made appointments to show both places off to my and Mike's parents! I'm definitely happy with how things are turning out so far.

We've found our #1

Turning into the drive way of Woodend Sanctuary (owned and operated by the Audubon Society), you are welcomed by the white portico and shining windows at the top of the hill with a beautiful lawn and trees spread out before you. Going up the driveway you pass a Nature Center, too. Right away I liked this place, but when we got inside there was no one there to meet us! It took me until we got home over an hour later to realize we had shown up at the wrong time. What could have been a disaster, though, turned out to be a very good thing.

Our first round at Woodend Sanctuary was at 11 a.m. Though the person we expected to meet was missing, a former events manager who was working at the gift and bird seed shop answered a few of our questions and showed us the main rooms. The house was empty except for some paint covered tables in a side room where kids activities were set up. As we walked through the main hall I was a bit disappointed by how plain it was. There are nice glass doors opening onto a pretty tented patio. The rooms all have beautiful wood floors, too, but at the time there were no tables or chairs- it was just empty. It was simple, which I liked, but maybe too simple.

From the patio we headed outside and began to stroll the grounds. They are perfect! The mansion is on 40 acres or woods and fields. We walked down a field stone path to a majestic stand of trees. This was the ceremony site. Beyond the circle of trees, there are benches scattered around where you can sit and enjoy the natural scenery. Pleased with the setting, but confused about the absence of the Event Coordinator we headed home only to realize our mistake.

We liked the grounds so much we decided to go back at our appointment time of 4:30 p.m. to find a very different scene than in the morning. Andrew, the Event Coordinator, met us in the main hall, which had been transformed. There was going to be a Bat Mitzva that evening and the caterers were getting set up. With just a few cocktail tables and bright linens, the room looked cheery and full of color. The patio was warm and welcoming filled with dinner tables and fun center pieces. Andrew answered all of our questions and gave me the impression that they were flexible and easy to work with. He also told us about the walking paths that cover the 40 acres and mentioned that some people encourage guests to bring a walking shoes! By the time we left we were already calling Woodend our number one choice. With the perfect mix of indoor and outdoor space, the elegant simplicity of the building and the grounds, and the easy rain plan we felt really good about our new favorite venue.

For those of you who I talked to before this weekend, you might remember that Mike and I were also planning to go to Brookside Gardens yesterday. Because of our time mix up we didn't make it to our appointment, but we did stop by the gardens to walk around. I will be calling their office this week to ask my long list of questions and get a better sense of their rain plan. Once I have all my information together for the gardens, I'll let you know what I think.

Until then, comment away!!

PS- We did not take pictures while Woodend was being set of for the Bat Mitzva, but if you want to see pictures of it all dressed up, click here.

One Down

So, I am officially taking one venue off the list. If I'm not crazy about a venue, then it should go.

Though Linganore's rolling hills were beautiful and the simplicity of the buildings were charming, the rain plan made me nervous and the pavilion was too plain.

But don't be fooled into thinking I am any closer to picking a venue! (That would be too easy and definitely not enough fun) I am visiting Woodend Sanctuary and Brookside Gardens on December 12th.

Stay tuned for stories and photos!