Bridezilla Moment #1

It was bound to happen... I am far too picky to just brush things off. Oops. We went to book our wedding venue today with Andrew's dad and my mom in tow. The event coordinator totally irritated me to begin with because we were supposed to have an appointment. When I set it up, I told her "We really like the venue and we are ready to sign the contract." I would think that is kind of important. Someone is coming to give my company a nice chunk of money, and I would want to be ready. Instead, she greets us as if we have never been there (not like I expected her to recognize us, but at least remember my purpose!) and begins taking us on a tour. I stopped her and told her we didn't need one and Andrew walked off with his dad while I was with my mom. He called me into the back area where our cocktail hour will be held and said "You won't believe this..." I loved this room. It had icicle lights coming from the ceiling like this the last time I saw it: I wanted us to make our entrance down those stairs into the cocktail reception. I LOVE those damn lights... I'm sure you can see where this is headed... Andrew walked in that room, and the lights were gone. I would post a picture, but I think I was in some sort of denial, so I didn't take one. The ceiling looks sad, bare and industrial. This is where my freak-out began. I go to talk to the event lady, who, remember, had already unimpressed me today. I asked her what happened and she said that too many went out, so the owner took them down. I asked if they were going to be replaced, and she said maybe, but she wasn't sure if the plan was to put up more lights (although the lights are "annoying because they always go out") or something else. Apparently this is all the owner's doing. The lights are supposedly too hard to come by because it's not Christmas. However, a quick google search shows me that such lights are plentiful if only one looks. Argh. So, I got mad and almost didn't book the venue. However, a quick conference with my level-headed groom-to-be who has not been dreaming of this day for 24 years caused me to realize that this room was only going to be used for an hour. Although it sucks, it's not a deal breaker. We will just cross our fingers that the lights go back up this Christmas, or that something better takes their place. I did ask many questions of the event lady and express my displeasure, but what can I do? The venue is mine for 4.5 hours on June 11, 2010.

only a year to go!

I felt I had to commemorate this day. Exactly one year from tonight will be our wedding night. We are going to reserve the venue on Tuesday and I couldn't be more excited! Well, maybe I could be a *teensy* bit more excited... I wish I lived in Austin, or would have gone to UT, so I would have a reason to get married at the deliciousness known as Barr Mansion. (All images from their website).

I fell in love when I saw their ad in The Knot Magazine. It is super beautiful (this is just my favorite part- there are also beautiful gardens and a gorgeous Victorian style mansion on the property!) and also the only Certified Organic wedding venue in the U.S. I wish it were practical to move our nuptuals to Austin, but, it's not. That's okay. This is still amazing and will be even better when I get to incorporate US into it!

D. Jones Photo

I'm getting excited!

house update

The house is almost in order. All of the furniture arrived today and Andrew has already sorted through most of the boxes to see what we want to keep and what we don't. His dad has good taste in some things, so like he said, it was like Christmas, going through each box and choosing what we wanted to keep. This furniture switch has created a dilemma, though; now, we only have one nightstand. Our old nightstands are too short and too light-colored to match with what we have now. The new furniture is BIG. The dresser is on my side of the bed and the nightstand is on Andrew's. If I moved the nightstand to my side, his side of the room would be empty. If we get a second nightstand, my side will look too cluttered. The simple suggestions are a) getting over the loss of my nightstand (which I don't want to do- I need a place for my glasses, chapstick, lotion, charging cell phone, etc.) or b) switching sides of the bed (which for some reason, he won't do). So now, I am going to look for some nightstand alternatives, if such a thing exists... Enough of that. It's just so frustrating! I thought everything was going to come together and now there's something else to fix! As far as wedding thoughts go, I think I have decided to ask my cousin to do my make-up. I think she did her sister's, and although I didn't attend the wedding, it photographed well. We will see! Oh, and PS, on a TV-related note, I am so far LOVING The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien! He is just irreverent enough to keep his old fan base thinking he didn't sell out, but typical-late-night comedic enough that my grandparents will watch. PPS- I watched the Diversity Day episode of The Office today for the billionth time and I still died laughing about twenty times.

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!

WOW

I just found the ultimate source of Wedding Porn. I am so excited! After I scour it a bit for my favorites, I will be sure to share highlights! Wedding planning = addiction!

Outdoor Wedding Possibilities?

Living in Houston, there is a limited amount of time every year that one can comfortably spend outside. The crazy weather, mosquitos, humidity, and extreme heat make much of the year completely unbearable. I love the idea of having an outdoor reception, but it seems completely unfathomable. That is, until now (possibly). Today I got an email from Campbell's Catering about an Open House they are having at The Patio on Mercer on May 28th. Apparently this is a brand new venue that is a completely climate controlled patio for "intimate" weddings and other events. It may not suit our needs, as I don't see 120 people as intimate, but we want to check out Campbell's anyways, so we will see. But, my life and planning are not the point of this post; the point is the abundance of cute, easy, and cheap centerpieces that are perfect for outdoor weddings or engagement parties. I have found these just tonight:

With This Ring

Simple! Cake stands and apples with flowers as accents. I would be super paranoid that someone (probably me in my giant dress) would bump a table too hard and knock all the apples over, so I would probably secure them with toothpicks. This is also a great idea because the apples could be prepared a few days in advance and the cake plates would make great "Thanks for being there" extra gifts for bridesmaids, moms, grandmas, aunts, sisters, etc.

Joyful Weddings and Events

I love the orange slices lining the vase in the background. I have never been a fan of orange, but in looking at all of this wedding stuff, I am opening my mind to it a little more. I think it adds a fun detail to what appears to be (*gasp*) a vase of carnations!

Rachael Ray

I am a tiny bit embarrassed to include this one because Andrew hates Rachael Ray. I never knew that she had taken a foray into the decorating world, but here we have it. I think this could be done for super cheap and I can imagine it would be great to scour Target/Ikea/Garden Ridge or go to Goodwill and antique stores for glasses. Then the glasses could be reused for other parties or events. I completely cannot stand the color combo used here, but the general idea could really work! One of my great aspirations is to get to have the honor of being a Weddingbee blogger. In order to do that, your wedding day must be in the next nine months and the selection committee looks at your current blog to see that you write to the general public and not just about the minutae of your personal wedding planning. So, in anticipation of a) picking my wedding date 100% for certain and b) being within the set time period to become a blogger, I am going to pretend that more people read this than actually do. Which will involve me asking questions at the end of each post. If anyone wants to humor me and play along, that would be great, but if not, that's okay too :). So, with that said, how would you jazz up outdoor tables on the cheap?

Back to the Blogging world!

Part of me wanted to start an engagement blog as a "creative" outlet. Something to make me think every day. The other part was in order to remember this time in our lives. Since this time in our lives may be a bit longer than I first thought, instead of getting mad, I should embrace it. I should keep researching wedding stuff to get more ideas so I really can personalize and perfect my day. Because it will happen, although it may be later rather than sooner. So, I am going to work to blogging with a purpose. I am either going to write about wedding ideas, or recipes Andrew tries, or goals, or restaurants, or something! Let's see how I do at actually trying to say something. First thing's first- here are some things I found that I loved, pre-"put the wedding on hold and have a pity party:" So simple, and most likely cheap. I think you can get all of these candleholders at Ikea. This would be great if we could have long, rectangular tables. I'm not sure if I would like them clustered on round ones. I am pretty sure this is what I want, only maybe branch-ier. I don't need to have flowers, but I love the hanging candles. Unfortunately, I priced the manzanita branches, and they are not cheap. Maybe I can find some fake ones that are more affordable? I will be on the lookout. As I have already mentioned, we want to put TONS of candles in our potential wedding venue. If we have candles, we need candleholders. Say hello to the world's cheapest candleholder: a white lunch bag accented with a page edger for scrapbooking (which, of course, I already own!). This is what they look like lined up. Pretty, no? And, finally, I found this tonight. Pretty pretty. It is a taller version of something Andrew and I have seen before and loved. I especially like it because I could use 1-2 hydrangeas per table and therefore not spend TOO much of my flower budget. Genius, right? I am off to go do exciting things like scoop the litter box and watch Bones in bed with the honey. I am off all weekend so I plan to do a trial run of my mom's mother's day gift and take Andrew somewhere special for a treat. He finished culinary school this week so I think he deserves something special!