Thought of the Day...Cake!

I was doing a little cake browsing tonight (planning on talking to a bakery or two next month), and I found a picture of almost exactly what I had in mind. I would want square layers instead of the hexagons, the brown ribbon, flat white icing (or maybe ivory...do you match your icing to your dress?!), and orange flowers of some sort. The lilies are nice.

Snazzy Floor

As Sheryl Crow would say, a change will do you good. :-) They changed the floor at the Community Center just for our wedding! Well, not really...but it's pretty neat-o anyway!! Bye, bye concrete, hello smooth gray sparkly acrylic stuff. That's my own technical term, by the way...

See pictures below. There are still basketball court lines and basketball goals for that matter... But no more barren looking concrete. We haven't seen it in person yet, but I'm confident that anything would be an improvement. Thanks for the pics Dad!

What's a Girl to Do?

I had some free time on my hands, which is rather hard to come by these days, so I made some changes to the blog! I found a cool way to change the background using digital scrapbooking, so my paper of choice right now is Christmas trees...as I'm sure you've noticed.

I also added a widget on the right that shows you a random sampling of books in my library. Since I absolutely LOVE books, I think it's the coolest thing ever!

Additionally, I added some of my favorite wedding links, a wedding countdown clock, and a visitor counter so I know how many peeps are checking out the blog. Especially since no one leaves comments anymore.. :-(

Did the guilt trip work??

Introducing...

our new skinner Christmas tree! I know this isn't wedding related, but Nate insisted we show off the tree. It went on a diet over the last year and lost a few inches. Ha. No, we bought a new one at Lowe's just last weekend, and got a fab deal on it. And, it's much smaller width-wise than our other one. We love it!


Note: You are not hallucinating. All the presents stacked under the tree aren't fake presents. They are actually real. Most are being shipped off to Sacramento THIS weekend!

Food Tasting, etc.

Our tasting on Friday evening with Ryan went very well! We tried one appetizer item, two chicken entrees, and two beef entrees. The appetizer was a shrimp wrapped in bacon, with a chipotle BBQ sauce. It was sooo good, so we'll certainly be having those. The two chicken entrees were a lemon dill chicken and a chicken scallopini. Ryan was a little worried about mass producing the chicken scallopini, and after trying both we decided we liked the lemon dill chicken better anyway. For the beef entrees, we tried his german pot roast and a bourbon beef tenderloin. And the bourbon tenderloin was by far the best item of all. It was absolutely fabulous! The one negative about the tenderloin is it's going to be slightly more expensive. We're not sure how much yet, Ryan was hoping to get a good deal with his butcher. He is coming up with a quote for us on a per person basis, including appetizers and the tenderloin, so after we receive that we'll see if the total price is still within our budget.

After our tasting that evening, we drove to Jefferson City to have "real" dinner at Madison's Cafe. It was one of the restaurants we were considering for the rehearsal dinner, so we thought it was a good opportunity to try the food and see what we thought. Madison's serves Italian fare and is within blocks of the hotels where the guests will be staying (http://www.madisonscafe.com/). And, funny enough, they have a location right here by us in O'Fallon. After our dinner, we decided the food was decent and the location couldn't be beat. We spoke with our waitress about rehearsal dinners, and we ended up booking it! The room we have holds up to 75 people, and Nate and I were estimating at least 50 off the top of our heads. As far as decisions remaining on the rehearsal, all we really have to do is pick 3 to 4 entrees off of a set menu they gave us, and then figure out how we want to handle drinks. They didn't even need a deposit!

Our final accomplishment of the weekend was determining a cool layout for the reception hall. We wanted to do something different, and Nate came up with a way to utilize a different entrance to the building...and hide the buffet line! So, I hope it works out. Luckily, my dad had drew up the plans when the building was being built, so we were able to use the plans for the building and some quarters to represent tables to kind of play with the layout. Our favorite layout is displayed below. We are using the side entrance to the building. The tables will be lining the left and right sides, with an open aisle down the middle that leads to the head table. The cake table will be in the middle of the aisle, and the buffet tables will be behind the backdrops of the head table. We "think" this will work, so it's all just speculation now, but it's still a lot of progress and exciting to think about. I hope our decorator lady agrees that this layout is feasible.

And The Winner Is...

I know, I know...I took a VERY long hiatus from blogging. But I do have excuses. I've been working my hiney off for a major software release in early December, I had a marathon weekend of Christmas shopping, I've been trying to catch up on work around the house... Oh, who cares about that stuff! I'm sure nobody wants to hear my lame excuses. ;) On to the wedding talk...

So, the biggest happening of the last few weeks is that we FINALLY have chosen a photographer. And what a big relief that is, let me tell you. We decided that style ranked above all other components, and we both have a thing for guy photographers (not sure what that's all about...), so our photog of choice is the one and only Stephen Seward! You can check out his website at http://www.stephenseward.net. And this time, it's a for sure thing--the contract is signed, the deposit is in, and we're in discussions with him about engagement pictures. Yay! We're thinking late April for the engagements pics in an urban setting. We need to scope out some cool locales.

We also have a tasting with our caterer, Ryan, this Friday evening. And I do say our caterer because we've reserved him and sent in a deposit...so a lot of the big things are starting to come together. Now I'm just nagging Nate about a DJ....nagging in a nice way, of course! ;) Anyway, we're going to be trying some options for our main entrees, as well as a couple of appetizers. Nate's been in talks with Ryan over the phone trying to pick out just the right food, so this should be fun!

I also recently discovered a great wedding resource for St. Louis brides. The site http://www.stlwed.com has wonderful recommendations on accommodations and vendors. And the best part....a forum where brides can talk to other brides! It's absolutely fabulous. Now if I am ever unsure about something or need advice, I know one resource I can turn to. It is a little less helpful for me since our wedding won't actually be in St. Louis, however the forum alone is well worth it.

Invitation Ideas

So, we recently got some books of sample wedding invitations to look through, thanks to my aunt Donna who owns and runs Linn Printing. However, in looking at them, we didn't see a whole lot of samples that had the modern feel we were looking for. After doing a little searching online and randomly stopping in the Papyrus store in the Galleria, I discovered the layered invitation. I love the look because it is very simple and modern, and I can incorporate our wedding colors of burnt orange and brown into the layers. Here is an example I found on The Knot that resembles what I am talking about:


I was thinking we could do the burnt orange for the bottom layer, brown for the second layer, and an ivory for the top layer where all the wedding information will go. For those of you that know anything about wedding invitations and/or paper and printing however, you know that layering an invitation only adds more cost...not less. But, after talking with my aunt over email, it sounds like she can get the colored card stock relatively cheap, and we can print in whatever font and color we want....and, as long as I'm willing to put in the grunt work and assemble them (a.k.a. glue--we're having a gluing party, girls!), then we can do them in an affordable fashion.

I just ordered a sample invitation online tonight, and plan to show it to my aunt at Thanksgiving so we can start the ideas flowing. The one con of the square invitation is that it will cost more to mail, so we may end up doing something rectangular to save on postage. If any of you have any other creative invitation ideas, I would love to hear them!

Photographer Update

Well folks, next week is do or die week for finding a photographer. I have an appointment on Monday at lunchtime with Michelle Ross from Under Grace Photo in St. Charles (http://www.undergracephoto.com/). Thanks for the suggestion Jen! And Wednesday I have an appointment after work with Joanna Kleine from Joanna Kleine Photography (http://www.joannakleinephotography.com/). And I am trying my darndest to get an appointment with Stephen Seward (Stephen Seward Photography - http://www.stephenseward.net/#). He had to cancel a previous appointment due to some unexpected life events. I think out of the three - who all look quite good - we should be able to "click" with one of them. The end of next week equals decision time. That is my goal and I'm sticking to it!

My dress!

The search is finally over...I have found my wedding dress and I absolutely love it! My mom and I went to a trunk show at Demetrio's today, one of the shops we had visited before. For those of you who don't know what a trunk show is, let me explain. Basically, they bring in all of next season's possible dress designs for one weekend for a preview, and let all the brides-to-be try them on. Whatever dresses are purchased the most are the ones that make the cut for next season's collection. So, the hard part about a trunk show for the customer (me!) is that you have to make your decision to purchase a dress then and there because you have no way of knowing if the dress will make it into the collection for next season. So in other words, you reaaallly have to love the dress to commit to it and buy it that day.

Something I think I had working to my advantage is that I had already been to many, many bridal shops and had a very good idea of what I wanted. Yesterday, I had actually narrowed my favorites down to the top 2 dresses out of all the places I'd been. And when I put this one on today, I knew it totally beat out my 2 favorites! On the other hand, there was another girl trying on dresses at the same time as me...and she said Demetrio's was only the second bridal place she'd been to. So, even though she loved a dress, she didn't feel comfortable committing to something that quickly. And FYI, just in case Nate decides to read this, I don't want to put much detailed information about my dress on here. Just know that it's somewhat simple, but totally my style. However, if you're really interested, you know how to contact me! ;)

By buying the dress today, I did get a fabulous deal. First of all, by paying for the dress in full, I received 20% off the price. Additionally, I had the option of putting $100 down towards bridesmaid dresses, in order to get my maids 15% off their dresses...which of course I did! Girls, right now I'm leaning toward maids dresses by Jordan. The burnt orange color from this designer is exactly what I had in mind. There are tons of cute designs--be it one piece or separates. You can check them out here: http://www.jordanfashions.com/default.asp. Finally, by buying my dress today, I got my gown preservation for free, which was a $250 value. So that's one less thing I have to worry about...

I am so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!

This Week = Major Disappointment

Between work and wedding related items this week, I'm not sure which has been worse! I've been working overtime for work all week and going to bed way later than I usually do, and man does it show. But on to the wedding related items because who wants to hear about work?!

So....we had a MAJOR snafu this week. You know how it is when you have your heart set on something and it doesn't work out? Well, that's exactly the feeling Nate and I experienced this week. We had decided on Jon Koch as our photographer, and I called him on Wednesday to get the contract started. He was honored that we had chosen him and took down all our information and was going to send the contract to us within the day. However, when I got home Wednesday evening and checked my email, he had written saying that he wasn't at his office when I called and when he got there he had received a fax with a SIGNED contract for our wedding date!! OMG, I was sooooo disappointed. Someone had beat us by two days... I am now kicking myself for not calling him on Monday, but who would have known that a week would make all the difference? Nate was mad at me for awhile, but I think he's finally getting over it. So much for being supportive... :) I briefly considered changing our date to Oct 11th, but that idea was quickly shot down when I called Fr. Medina, the priest marrying us, to inquire about the 11th, and he was already booked for that date. Now I'm back to square one and searching for a few more photographers that I can go talk to and see their work. I have a feeling Nate is finished with it all at this point...

We also had our Natural Family Planning class on Thursday. It was held at St. Joseph West Hospital in Lake St. Louis and taught by a nurse. For an hour, we learned all about the Creighton Method of family planning. The key word of the evening...."mucus." Nate commented that he was disappointed that it was so boring. He was hoping to be able to make jokes....go figure. Do men ever grow up?!

Then yesterday we had the first installment of our two Saturday session for the rest of our marriage prep. The class was held at Immacolata in Brentwood, right behind the Galleria. The lady that taught us was a social worker by trade, but had been teaching the marriage prep class for over 10 years. The class was video based, with her speaking to us briefly after each section of video. Yesterday we learned about marriage as a sacrament, the stages of a relationship, family origin issues, and sexuality and sexual relations. We also had workbooks and we had to answer questions individually about each section and then talk about our answers as a couple. Nate was rolling his eyes at a couple of points, but I thought overall the class was pretty decent. The teacher was able to make things realistic, and even mentioned when she didn't agree with something in the videos that the Catholic church was teaching. The class was supposed to last from 9 - 2, but we got out at 1:00, so that wasn't all bad! One more to go next Saturday, and we will be complete with all our marriage prep for the church.

What Else?

Besides talking with photographers this week, I've also been in contact with Ryan, the potential caterer we want to hire for the wedding. I'm trying to get a food taste test setup with him for over the Thanksgiving break. Since Nate and I will be in Loose Creek visiting my family anyway, we thought it would be the perfect opportunity for a food trial. Right now, we're thinking a chicken and a beef entree for the buffet....now we just have to figure out a couple options for each we would like to try. Nate wants the food to reflect a combination of California and Missouri styles, so we'll put Ryan's creative ability to work!

I'm working on getting a block of rooms setup at the Capital Plaza Hotel as well. We'll probably do an open block there, and I think I'd like to also reserve a block of rooms at Hotel La Bella, which is just right down the road. I think giving people a couple of options will be nice, and they are totally renovating Hotel La Bella right now, so it should be in great condition when it reopens. One thing we are definitely doing is we're going to provide the guests a shuttle to the wedding and reception. It'll be a great, safe way for out-of-towners to return to their hotels after the festivities come to an end. I asked Capital Plaza if they have a shuttle, which they don't, however they can provide one for us. So that may be perfect...

The Hunt Is On But...

We may have found the one! Nate and I had two appointments this past week with potential photographers, and I had had one myself previously in Columbia. I had talked with Kim in Columbia from SilverBox Photographers and she was really sweet, energetic, and we got along really well. However, she was much more than I would like to spend, so price is what ultimately ruled her out. She photographed Tim Allen's (2nd) wedding in Colorado...so if a celebrity can afford her I don't think we can! The second appointment was with a girl at ImageArtistic Photography here in St. Louis. She was very nice and a lot closer to my age, but she didn't do anything to "wow" us, and really didn't have a lot to share with us verbally, she was just mostly answering our questions. We looked through some photos and albums and they were nice, but a lot of the pictures were a little more posed than I would have liked, and we didn't see a whole lot of shots in black and white.

And then we met with Jon from Koch Photography...and let me tell you I think both of our eyes lit up right when we stepped foot into his studio. First of all, he had a really cool loft setup with a big, cozy room that had high-tech equipment and all his work. He had a flat screen TV continuously scrolling through wedding pictures on the wall and big, framed black and white wedding shots he had taken hanging around the room. When we got there, we actually just chatted for a little while before jumping into looking at sample albums and pictures. Jon is a really great guy, has a fun personality, and really encompasses the documentary type style Nate and I were looking for. This may very well end up being the most expensive piece of our wedding, so I'm feeling very happy right now that we've potentially found the perfect fit in this photographer! We have one more appointment setup for this week, so I'll let you all know when we make our final decison...should be by weeks' end!!!

It's Official

October 4, 2008 is our date! We have clearance from the church and priest, so that's one hurdle out of the way. Nate and I had our final discussion last night with Deacon Ernie, finishing up our review of our evaluation results. The only good thing I can say is that it's over. We started with the religious values section, which Nate and I differ on immensely, and I think that just turned Ernie off right away. I was not comfortable with the way he was treating us - he seemed very narrow-minded in his thoughts and was almost belittling us. And technically, this was supposed to be our second to last session, however he seemed to give up on us about halfway through and told us he'd like to get it all done that evening. Honestly, I just about lost it a couple of times. This was not at all what I was expecting, and it's a shame really. I think we could have gotten a whole lot more out of it with someone else.

On a brighter note, this week I have been making a few appointments with photographers, and we will meet with each of them in a couple of weeks. Finding a great photographer is really important to me, so I want to make sure we find someone who we mesh with, whose work we love, and someone who offers all the package items we're looking for.

And in addition to the blog, I also started on a wedding webpage this weekend. More to come on that!

The Latest

Since I've been a slacker the last couple of weeks with failing to post anything, I'm going to give you the quick 60 second update on the latest happenings. Nate and I had our second meeting with Deacon Ernie on the 28th. We found out our results from the FOCCUS evaluation, and it looks like we'll be meeting with Ernie twice more. We have to discuss each section of the eval in which we scored below 75% (a.k.a. NOT the same answers), which turned out to be several sections. And I have to say, we--well probably just I--was holding out hope that Ernie would become a little more fun or have some great real-life stories and examples for us, but I have to say I'm really not seeing it. Oh well, just a couple more sessions...

I also took advantage of my parents being here over Labor Day weekend, and my mom and I went out traipsing around to a few more bridal shops to look at dresses. This second trip helped clarify the dresses I really like, so now I have it narrowed down to three places I'd like to visit again and re-try on my favorites. But, I'm going to take a break for awhile...my brain needs a rest!

Finally, the last major development is that I received a call from the chancery in Jefferson City, and they have received our marriage form and everything is approved for us getting married in the Catholic church. What this means is that we now have the church reserved for October 4, 2008!! I have left a message with Fr. Medina, the priest we would like to marry us, to verify he is still available and willing to perform the ceremony on that date. Once he confirms, I think it's safe to say October 4 is official. I'll let you know!

Loose Creek for Reception...

Nate and I both really want an October wedding, and because of that, it made the decision for a reception site easy. Due to lack of availability at the Capital Plaza Hotel next October, we will be having our reception at the Community Center in Loose Creek. I posted some pictures previously showing what the place looked like bare, so I wanted to post some pics that show what it looks like decorated. In the first photo, we like the look of the round tables...as well as the chairs with chair covers. The window backdrop at the head table is also nice. Just showing the second one for the different backdrop of the two columns--the flowers and candles are way overdone...











Here's a look at what square tables would look like--and what a big difference chair covers make! We also like the look of the sheer fabric draped from the ceiling. The colored square of fabric in the center of the tables breaks up the white tablecloth nicely...











Here are a few centerpiece ideas. The first is a tuscan theme...and I love the second photo of the tall vase with the calla lilies....and there's always floating candles.












This is a different idea for the head table...having it on a stage in the center of the room. Nate
and I didn't think too much of it. And also a different look with Chinese lanterns--and I like the clean look that the straight tablecloth provides.












I also like the idea of decorating the entrance--not necessarily in this way--but the mums are nice! And here's the buffet table with the colored fabrics squares--we could do a runner as well.



















And last but not least...Nate loves the idea of a bar with some cocktail tables...minus the huge glasses in the middle...

Dress Shopping!

My mom and I started the fun process of wedding dress shopping this weekend! We went to a total of five bridal shops, three Saturday and two Sunday. I was hoping to put on a dress and just "know" that it was the one. However, that didn't happen...not yet, anyway. We totally struck out at two of the shops, but I did find several beautiful dresses at the other three that are all possibilities. By the end of the weekend, my mom and I were having a hard time recalling what it was we liked at the first place we visited. So, now that I have it narrowed down, I need to go back and try on all my favorites again...and I may stop in a couple of places that I haven't visited yet.

Since I have a little time, I don't want to make a decision too quickly - I want to enjoy the search to the fullest!

St. Louis Bridal Show

A friend from work--Kara--who is also a bride-to-be, accompanied me to the St. Louis Bridal Show on Sunday. The St. Louis show was on a much larger scale than the one I attended in Jefferson City at the end of July. My main focus for the day was gathering information on photographers. Most photographers travel these days, so it's not out of the question to get a photographer from St. Louis for the wedding in Loose Creek. And I have to say, it was between the photographers and DJ's for greatest amount of booths at the show! I also gathered information on some DJ's for Nate; however, I think it would be more feasible to get a DJ from around the Jeff City or Columbia area for the reception. I'm still wading through the oodles of photography information I received...

The highlight of the afternoon was my experience at the Savvi Formalwear booth. They had a square glass phone booth setup and inside the booth was lots of money. A motor was flipped on and all the money flew around inside the phone booth--and the job for the bride was to catch as much money as possible in 20 seconds. However much money you caught would be the discount your groomsman receive off of their tuxes. I snagged $190, so if Nate chooses Savvi for the tuxes, he'll have a discount to apply...and if not, I just had some free entertainment!

Next up is wedding dress shopping--my parents will be in town this weekend to help me get started!

Marriage Prep

Last night we had our first meeting with Deacon Ernie at Immaculate Conception Church in Dardenne. After some brief introductions where we told Deacon Ernie a little about our backgrounds, he began with a prayer and then asked us several questions. The first was "What does Catholic marriage mean to you?" After I answered, he went on to explain the theology of the church in regards to marriage, how it's a lifetime commitment, how our children should be raised with the faith, etc. The next question was "Are you living together?" to which we answered in the affirmative, and so he asked us why. Nate answered "For the rent money," which was obviously a joke, but this poor guy had no sense of humor! So I had to quickly recover that one and say that Nate was kidding...and we gave him a "serious" answer. And the final question was then "What made you decide to take the next step from living together to marriage?" I was looking at Nate expecting him to answer this one, since he ultimately made the decision, but there were no words forming, so I answered with my thoughts. And that was it, we survived the initial questioning!

The next order of business was filling out the paperwork that will be sent through the archdiocese. The form consisted of our names and address, our parents names, names of those who will be witnesses at the ceremony (best man & maid/matron of honor), religious background, baptism /confirmation dates, etc. I also had to consent to raising our children Catholic and making the church part of our family life by signing a special section of the form. The most ironic part of the form was it asked for our marriage date - and we can't get an official marriage date in the LC church until my hometown priest sees the form?! Interesting...

Our final task for the night was completing our FOCCUS evaluation. This was a test of approximately 150 questions, surrounding issues like our relationship, family, children, finances, habits and interests, etc. This isn't a computability test, but more an evaluation of the way we each feel about certain issues, and talking through our differences the evaluation points out. I felt like I was in grade school again, because we provided our answers on those sheets with the bubbles you have to fill in with #2 pencils. Everybody remember those? Our results will be scored today, and at our next meeting with Deacon Ernie we will begin communicating about those items where Nate and I answered differently. Nate and I had fun discussing our answers on the way home.

Next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, August 28th!

JC Bridal Show

The Jefferson City Bridal Show on Sunday was a fun time! This was actually their smaller one--there were only 40 vendors--and they have a much larger one in January. My mom, my childhood best friend Lindsey, and I made the most of it, however, browsing around and talking to someone at most every booth. One of my girlfriends mentioned that I should print off mailing labels with my name, address, and contact information on them, and I'm so glad I listened to her! Most every booth had some sort of giveaway drawing, so all we had to do was pull off a sticky label and attach it ...instead of writing my name a gazillion times! As far as ideas, the bridal show definitely got me thinking about things such as bridesmaid dresses, wedding cakes, and photographers. I'm certain now that I'm striving for a square wedding cake...I absolutely LOVE the modern look the squares bring. I took a snapshot of one that I saw...


We also flipped through portfolios of several photographers. Most weren't terribly impressive, but there was one that was absolutely fabulous...for $4500!! What I liked about that particular photographer's style was that he brought the photo journalistic approach to his pictures--the more candid, artsy sort of look. What I would love to find is someone who can do both the traditional group shots and incorporate some of the artsy shots in as well. And, of course, being able to afford them would also help! I know there are tons of options out there and I'm confident I will find someone who is affordable and qualified when I start looking. The reception facility is on the top of my priority list right now!

Another discovery we made is that Alfred Angelo has a burnt orange color available for bridesmaid dresses as well. Alfred Angelo and Bill Levkoff can be starting points for bridesmaid dress shopping. One vendor had mannequins setup with chocolate brown dresses next to a black tux, which also looked quite sharp. The dark brown would be my second choice if we can't get the orange to work out...

Of course now since the show, the wheels in my head are turning even more. How fun!

Immaculate Conception Church

We also stopped by the church this weekend to take a few photos of the lovely carpet colors (sigh). I think a runner is a must, and we were even throwing around ideas of somehow covering up the mauve (yes, more mauve than burgundy...see for yourself below) carpet around the altar. Nate suggested maybe a brown runner up the aisle instead of white (can you get runners in colors??) so as not to distract from the white wedding gown, and then we were picturing some brown fabric surrounding the altar--kind of like a big Christmas tree skirt... :) I guess I could just go for some mauve bridesmaid dresses, and then nothing would clash at all! Check out these pictures...

Reception Sites

We did a little browsing this weekend to check out our options for reception sites. We have eliminated one choice, The Truman Hotel, so that leaves us weighing the pros and cons of the two that remain--the Capital Plaza Hotel and the Loose Creek Community Club.

We will likely have our out-of-town guests, ourselves included, staying at the Capital Plaza Hotel (http://www.capitolplazajeffersoncity.com/home.aspx). It takes approximately 20 minutes to travel from Jefferson City to Loose Creek, where the ceremony will be held. Having the reception back at the Capital Plaza would provide advantages such as: a nice, formal setting, convenience for out-of-towners, linens and chair covers provided, no legwork for a caterer required, and not a large amount of decorating needed. The disadvantages are that it would be relatively more expensive--and the big one--they are totally booked for October of 2008. We would have to change our wedding date to September instead.

The Loose Creek Community Club (LCCC) is right down the hill from where the ceremony will be held. The advantages to having the reception there would be it is close to the church, it's larger and more open, there is an outside area for a bar, we would have more "creative" decorating ability, and it's more affordable. The disadvantages are that we would likely have a buffet style dinner with "throw-away" plates (Nate was shocked at this but it's what I'm used to), we'd have to find a caterer, we'd have more decorating to do, and guests would have a 20 minute drive to return to the hotel in Jeff City. As you can see in the pictures below, we'd have to take a concrete gym and turn it into a reception hall.


As I think I mentioned before, however, there is a lady in town named Laurie that does an incredible job decorating for weddings at the LCCC--she even goes as far as stringing cables from the ceiling in order to drape fabric across it. Nate was having a hard time visualizing how this "concrete box" could be made into a reception hall, so I have left a message with Laurie requesting a look a her portfolio of past jobs. Once I hear from her, we will have all the information we can gather...and will have to make a decision!

Online Browsing

I was doing a little online browsing last night, and stumbled upon a designer that has a burnt orange color available in several of his dresses: http://www.billlevkoff.com/main3.asp?p=1. I'm planning on doing some wedding dress shopping next month, and I know one of the shops carries this designer's dresses, so I'm excited to see a color swatch and see what dresses are available! You never can tell with colors on computer monitors--they could be dramatically different in person....so we'll see!

I also found a couple of pictures of bouquets which I think are gorgeous. I've included them below...

Wedding Colors

Assuming our special day is in October, I would love to incorporate the colors of fall into the wedding. Nate and I are both huge fans of orange, so that is a must. Maybe a pretty burnt orange, a red or merlot, and/or a brown. I'm not sure if a burnt orange is too funky for bridesmaid dresses, or as some of my girlfriends and I were saying this weekend, may bring too much of a "Halloween" feel with the black tuxes. It could always be used as an accent color if nothing else.

Colors, I think, go hand-in-hand with flowers. I love calla lilies; however, they aren't particularly in season in October. I suppose I could use them as accents in my bouquet, along with things like roses and mums. I'm a relatively simple person, so in my opinion, less is more. I'm thinking the bridesmaids could then carry bouquets of one of the flowers in my bouquet, say mums.

Just thinking out loud here, so any comments are welcome!

Just Getting Started!

Well, it's been almost a month now since Nate popped the question, and we're still trying to nail down a wedding date! We FINALLY have an appointment with a deacon at the church the beginning of next month. During that appointment, we will fill out the paperwork that needs to be approved by the diocese of Jefferson City, so Nate and I can be married in my hometown of Loose Creek. Once that gets approved, we should be able to reserve the church!

In the meantime, I have been researching possible reception sites, and we are going to do a couple of walkthroughs at the end of the month. There is a bridal show in Jefferson City on the 29th that my mom and I are going to attend, so it's the perfect opportunity to schedule some appointments to check out reception venues. We really only have three options: Truman Hotel, Capital Plaza Hotel, or the Loose Creek Community Club.

We would love to have a fall wedding and are shooting for October 4, 2008. We'll see if everything falls into place for that date!