This is just a quick note to let everyone know my posting has been, and will continue to be light for a little while. I’ve got a pinched nerve in my shoulder (so we think) and have been working with my doctor on a treatment. Right now, by the time work is done I’m only up for about 10-15 minutes of online time a night, so my blogging has been slowed down a lot. I’m working on a lot of great things, but I can’t seem to get far before the pain starts shooting down my arm. As I can post, I will, but I ask for patience while I heal up.
I got the nicest email today from Erin at WeddingSalon.com that I just had to share it with all of you! They’re hosting a “Wedding Bootcamp” next Wednesday night in NYC and have offered free passes to any of my readers who would like to attend. I know New York is a little bit of a drive for most of us, but if you have the time, or you’re planning a NEPA wedding from the city, it sounds like it will be a lot of fun. Just check out the invitation below – there’s a code you can use to register for free!
You can see all the details for the Wedding Bootcamp here, there’s even a complimentary dance lesson! Then clicky on the picture below to get your coupon and sign up.
This week’s choice is ABC by the Jackson 5. This is such a cute song! If we could play secular music during the ceremony, I’d want this to be the recessional!
It might be a little early to start building a wedding website, but I don’t care!
There are a lot of free and paid websites you can choose, depending on your needs. The Knot, Brides.com, The Wedding Channel and I’m sure many many more sites offer wedding websites for you. Many are also free. The biggest thing for me was that I didn’t want a floofy pink page covered with hearts and roses and doves. Yuck.
After some debate, I signed up for a free trial of a NearlyWeds.com wedding website. If it’s good enough for Ariel at Offbeat Bride to endorse, it’s good enough for me to play with for 2 weeks, right? I found it to be almost dummy proof (THANK GOD) so far! It’s easy to add and remove sections, upload photos and tweak the text. I think I like it so much because it’s got a similar feel to editing and working on a blog.
I ended up picking the Butterfly Love template, as seen here:
Dreamy sigh. Purple and butterflies. How soon is too soon to do a wedding website? Did anyone else get really excited and start theirs early?
Did anyone else fall in love with Adele after watching her perform Chasing Pavements at the last Grammy awards? I sure did. This song is a bit melancholy. This version in particular – it’s a little slower and sadder than the version I downloaded. It’s still a very sweet song and I like it.
Thanks to everyone who commented on my little rant last week. It felt really good to just get that out of my system. I knew when I started planning that this kind of stuff would happen, but I didn’t quite realize how much it would get under my skin. I’m doing my best to move past it, and will keep repeating my new mantra: “Not your wedding, too bad. Not your wedding, too bad….”
The banquet coordinator there has been so patient with us. After I reviewed The Golden Palace, we had to reschedule our trip back with both sets of parents due to NEPA Groom’s encounter with some broken glass. Ouch:
He’s doing much better now, thank goodness!
In any event, I’m so relieved to have this booked, since it also takes care of finding a florist and a baker. We were nervous about taking our parents down there together, and there was a bit of tension, but I think it worked out in the end. They’ve gotta get used to each other at some point, right? The banquet coordinator has clearly been through this before… once we committed she pulled me to one side of the desk and made a point of saying “Ok, now you’ll sign the contract right here, etc etc”. I am in control.
Next up, I’m tackling a more in depth budget spreadsheet. I made a quick version to estimate our total cost, but I think this will help eliminate the tension I mentioned. If all the parents are working from the same playbook, we’ve gotta score a touchdown (woo hoo lame football analogies).
I loves me some blues, and Stevie Ray Vaugn is one of my favorites. This is an up tempo song, so I don’t know that it would make a good first dance song, unless you’re feeling adventurous.
I’d really like to find a way to incorporate this. Maybe during introductions? During cocktail hour? Any ideas?
Our next stop was at Alden Manor in Nanticoke. This is definitely a more budget option for NEPA brides who are watching costs. The staff there is very helpful and was open to any of our suggestions or questions. They were also really confident about the quality of their food, which is a good thing. They suggested we come out some night for dinner and just see how we liked the food. I have no doubt we would enjoy it.
The only real negative I have about the site is that it is a little dated. It’s a common thing to see in Northeast PA. This is what I’d probably call ‘vintage NEPA’. I snapped a few pics while we were there:
So I’m really obsessed with having some sort of a ‘butterfly theme’ at our wedding. I blame Martha:
I have a pretty good idea of how I’m going to make that cake happen, but more on that later. I’ve been scouring the internets for more butterflies that I can include in our wedding and reception. I found this template for paper butterflies on Martha Stewart. They seem like they’d be a lot of work to cut out and then stick on every single glass, but I think the overall effect would be really dreamy.
I also found a few good ideas at PlanningPad.com. What if I complimented the butterflies on people’s glasses with these butterfly candle favors floating in water? I want tea lights on the tables anyway, so maybe this would be a good way to merge them with my theme. These butterfly favor boxes are also really cute, but they don’t come in purple so I’m not sold on them.
What are your favorite butterfly themed decorations? Anyone else doing this for their wedding?
