delinquent

So, yet again, it appears as if I have hopped off my blogging bandwagon. Truthfully, I have been preparing my house for new furniture. We painted the living/dining areas, made a guest room into a game room, and sawed a couch in half (long story). That led to lots of night of being extremely busy or tired, and no time to think about a wedding. But, a few weeks ago, I got an email from Campbell's Catering about an Open House at the Patio on Mercer. We decided to go check it out. Campbell's is on the preferred list for Paraiso Maravilla, which is currently (still) our wedding venue pick and we didn't know what their food would be like. We made the drive out to the Patio (off of Edloe and Richmond) and were far from impressed. The place bills itself as Houston's newest patio venue. It is off of a side street that would be hard to find without the aid of a GPS. There is an old brick building next to it that is run down and just plain ugly. The patio is climate controlled, as promised, so that was nice, but it was far from large. If there were a light rain storm, it would protect all of the event guests from the rain, but should rain come down hard and sideways, guests would be soaked. There was not enough indoor space to accomodate many people at all, parking was a complete nightmare, and from beyond the covered patio, there was a large parking garage looming overhead. The Patio is a good idea in theory, but short of being used for corporate parties, I don't see it getting a lot of attention from Houston event planners. The event was also one of the most disorganized I have ever seen. At most events, you get an opportunity to chat with a representative from each company if you want. This event was total chaos. Like I said, we went for the catering. The only food we sampled from Campbell's were dips that we could have gotten from HEB's Cooking Connection and quesadillas that were made to order on the outdoor grill. The quesadillas were good, but let's face it- I could do that. So, the jury is still out on the quality of Campbell's. I would be willing to try a tasting there, but if their handling of my event was like the handling of this one, I would be livid. The night wasn't a total wash, though. We tried some of the sample cake, because, let's face it, Andrew and I love to eat. It was from a company called Edible Designs by Jessie. I had looked at their website before and I wasn't too impressed. But, this cake was delicious... super moist with lots of flavor. The buttercream frosting on both (a white cake and a chocolate) was light, not heavy and thick like most. They actually tasted different from one another, whereas most buttercream frostings just taste like sugar. I was really impressed. I looked at their site again this evening, and while I may like cakes on other sites better, I think that Jessie just hasn't done a cake that matches my tastes yet. I think the potential is there to make my dream cake. Another plus is that the shop is located really close to my parents' house, so it will be really convenient to get over there when it's time for a tasting :) I love Open Houses, especially when I find something I didn't know I was looking for!

I think we found it!

Well, we went to Paraiso Maravilla today. And, while it is not as beautiful as many of the pictures made it seem, it was still really pretty and the site we are 90% sure we will go with. We have done TONS of online research and I just don't know if we will find a place that we like more that is still in our price range. One cool thing about this place is that there will be lots of candles lining the upper balconies as well as candelabras in the fireplaces (who wants a real fire in June?) so I think that will make for some great lighting! The colors inside are really neutral, so we can pick just about anything as our wedding colors. I took pictures but honestly, I like the ones you can find online better than those I took. Speaking of colors, we kind of came to an agreement last night- dark blue, lavender, and platinum. I am not completely sold because I still really like plum, but I am coming around. Lavender is a nice compromise and at least there are a lot of purple flowers. Yay for decisions :) I also had that interview at Agave Road today. The guy was really disorganized, which was a bad sign. He was 30 minutes late to the interview! Basically, it is a commission based position, which I am really uncomfortable with, so I won't pursue it. I like to know how big my checks are going to be. As for the venue, I don't strongly recommend it. I didn't have my camera, so I didn't take pics. The bride's and groom's dressing areas were really nice, but otherwise, it was nothing fancy. I got my ring cleaned today and it is extra sparkley! I also got the free wedding planner than Robbins Bros. was supposed to give Andrew when he bought the ring. So, now I have somewhere to write everything down. Yay!

So, wow, Holy Crap.

This is supposed to be the happy engagement, we are getting married WOO HOO blog, so I will start with that first... On Sunday, I went to the Bridal Extravaganza with my mom and it was... overwhelming! I got tons of great info that I am still sorting through, though. Lots of pricing, tons of photographers, and lots of stuff to think about. Prior to the show, Andrew and I had already decided that we were going venue-touring on Friday. These are places that either we really, really like or are in our price range and not completely hideous: 10 am- Lindsay Lakes: We like this place mostly because we can afford it! It is in Cypress, which isn't too far from us. It has a lot of good outdoor places for taking pictures and the inside isn't bad either. I did hear that it's not too gorgeous when you drive up to it, but we will see. I can live with ugly on the outside if the price is right! 11:30 am- The Majestic Metro: This is the first place we both fell in love with! It is downtown and has a really cool vintage movie theatre sign on the outside. But, it doesn't have any catering/linen packages: your rental fee covers the venue, tables and chairs, a DJ, lighting, and that's it. I don't want to get married on the dance floor as the man suggested, so we would have to find a ceremony venue and rent a limo. I was hoping we could find one place to hold both the ceremony and reception. It's not practical, but as Andrew has pointed out, nothing about this wedding is, so we are going to take a look-see. 12:30 pm- Courtyard on St. James: Pretty and a great location. Food isn't too overpriced but we would probably rather bring in a caterer. Can't think of too many other things I loved about this place right off hand, but it IS pretty. We have a break in here that I am praying we can fill with an appointment to Paraiso Maravilla. This place literally made me gasp. In all of my searching on theknot, wedding wire, and Brides in Houston, I never saw this place. But, at the bridal show I asked a caterer to recommend a venue that allowed outside catering and she showed me pictures of this place. Apparently it was a guy's house and he turned it into... this. I am in love and so is he! Right now it's our favorite, but I can't get in touch with anyone for a tour. The only downside is the price- it is high, but we might remedy that by having a Friday night wedding. I am open to it for this place! I hope it's just as good in person! 4 pm - Fontenot Grand Mansion: Yup, the future Martinezes are venturing to Spring, land of my dad and step-mom. It is far, but it's pretty. Also more than I had hoped to spend, but if we love it then we will give it a shot. Who knew so many pretty places existed in Houston? We also want to check out House Plantation, Agave Road, and the Tuscany Villa sometime. They are all relatively close to us and the latter two are offering open houses in the near future, so we will make it out there soon. I am really excited for our day of planning so we can pick a venue, generate a budget, and then we can start picking colors! (As far as colors go, we are disagreeing. I basically have my heart set on a deep plum, but Andrew isn't feeling it. We did agree on a very dark burgundy last night though, and I would be okay with that as a compromise. But, it depends on the venue.) So, away from wedding stuff- today kind of sucked. I got "terminated." Suffice it to say it was bullshit, but I am better off without it. I knew I was unhappy and wanted to leave soon, but I really wanted to leave on my own terms. If you would really like to know details, I would be happy to share, but here is not the place. I do have more class than that :) I already put out several resumes and at least I will have some time to study for my teaching test and get it taken sooner rather than later. This is super long! Expect more updates after Friday, if not before. Thanks for pretending to care about my wedding planning insanity!