September 16, 2009…Special drinks served at different times during the reception can add charm as well as delight your guests.
September 15th, 2009…Our engagement photo session with Katy was a lot more fun that I had expected. We all met downtown Milwaukee at the lake front in the evening to start our session. Being that I had previously tried my hand at modeling and did not like it, I was a little nervous being in front of the camera again, but Katy made us feel so comfortable and our movements felt so natural. We did a few posed shots, but Dana and I worked best when we were not given any direction and just worked together, which Katy soon realized. Most people (including me) don’t like how they look in pictures, but Katy did such a good job at working with Dana and I that I really love how this photo session turned out, I am excited to see what they will do for our wedding!
September 11th, 2009…Well, things are certainly starting to ramp up to our wedding date. We scheduled and attended a food tasting at the hotel to decide what to serve for dinner. We were able to choose between 3 entrees, we tasted chicken marsalla, filet mignon and salmon. Before the tasting I was quite partial to the salmon, being that I have been eating less meat lately, however when we tried the dishes, I was surprised to find that I preferred the chicken dish. Food can be such a funny thing for many people and salmon is not well liked by everyone. I suppose it is best to play it safe and choose the beef and chicken. During the tasting, the waiter unexpectedly brought out some hors d’ oeuvres that had been served the previous night and are also part of our menu selection for the cocktail hour. I was excited that they did this because I loved them all and it helped us make our selections.
I know that we are supposed to be going the inexpensive route for this wedding and filet mignon is not cheap, but I truly believe (as a foodie) that you cannot skimp on good eating. Two of my biggest joys in life are food and wine, so we decided to spend a bit more money on the food and cut back in other areas. This is the way to have an inexpensive wedding but still get what you want. For that reason, I am very excited about our menu selection:
hors d’ oeuvres:
-Fresh fruit, cheese, cracker and sausage display
-Skewered shrimp diablo with cilantro lime aoli
-Feta and melon skewers
-Wild mushroom crostini with herbed goat cheese
Entrées:
Chicken Masala or Fillet Mignon accompanied with a seasonal mixed green salad, a starch and a vegetable.
Late night food at 10pm:
-Metro pizza squares
-Coffee station
The last decision we need to make is regarding the wine selections. We will have a wine tasting with the hotel’s sommelier in 2 weeks to finalize that menu. That will be just as much fun as the food tasting!
August 26, 2009…Creating a raised stage for a special ceremony or a greeting place makes a room come alive. This beautiful stage became the rooms centerpiece as guests arrived to greet the bride and her family before the ceremony. A great way to create lasting impact.
August 14, 2009…At the six month mark it was time to start thinking about the save the date cards. Being that Dana is a computer genius and I have several people around me who have made Stamping a hobby, we decided to create our own stationary (this also significantly reduced stationary cost). As I started researching ideas, I realized that creating stationary is like creating a brand for our wedding. I wanted everything from the invitations to thank you cards to carry similar characteristics, so when anyone saw a piece of our stationary, they would immediately think of our wedding. I started working on the invitation, which would carry all the characteristics of the remaining stationary pieces. After developing the first prototype, we had a meeting with my mother and my brother’s girlfriend, who both have experience in making cards. After making minor changes to the invitation, we began to build a basic design for the save the date, and a few weeks later I finalized the design. I then got several ladies together to spend the day helping me make 65 save the date cards. I did, however bribe them with a home cooked lunch and mimosas as payment for their time. The construction process worked very well, everyone was assigned a station that they spent the day at which made everything flow smoothly. About 4 hours later we had finished making the cards, and later that week I printed the addresses on the envelopes and they were mailed out. That was easy, now I had to tackle the invitation!
July 30th, 2009…The next important idea was deciding the dessert. Coming from a family who never eat a meal without a sweet, I knew I did not want a cake, but a display of desserts for people to choose from. We met a chocolatier in Milwaukee, Sean Henninger from Atomic Chocolates who has a passion for anything chocolate. After tasting samples of his creations of balsamic vinegar caramels, Tahitian vanilla chocolate and strawberry basil chocolate, we were sold. We also decided to have chocolate sculptures created which would be the serving vessel for the chocolate pieces. The chocolate sculptures will be on display for people to view during cocktail hour.
Now it was time to start shopping for my dress. I wanted something simple, inexpensive, maybe a white dress off the rack from Nordstrom’s or Bloomingdale’s. After weeks of searching online with no avail, I made a few appointments with local bridal stores. The first store had dresses I liked and were well within my budget ($500). After trying on several dresses, the last one was 50% perfect. I loved the bottom of it, very Sex and the City with hand sewn flowers covering the entire bottom of the dress from waist down. The top of the dress was not flattering to my figure. My mum and I left for our next appointment with a local wedding dress designer, Delanie from Delanie Couture, who I also went to fashion school with. I explained to her the dress which I was 50% in love with and she started working on design for a that would incorporate everything I wanted. At our follow up meeting, she had a few designs I liked and after throwing out a few more ideas, we ended up with the perfect dress. The dress designer was booked.
The men’s tuxes were easy. When at a previous bridal show, the Men’s Warehouse Tuxedo Rental had offered a discount on tux rentals, with the groom’s tux for free if I were to sign up. We set up an appointment to pick out the tuxes and decided on flat front pants, 3 button jacket, black vest and an off-white shirt. Men have it so easy.
Being self-proclaimed foodies, our next important task was to taste and choose our options for the dinner. Upon arrival to the hotel, the chef surprised us with a few hour d’oeuvres on their menu (not typical of their tasting). Between our three entree options, we chose the fillet mignon and the chicken marsala. We also hashed out several other details such as the day’s timeline. It was decided to have both the ceremony and reception all in one place. This makes the evening easier for everyone by eliminating additional driving and confusion. It also eliminates the cost to rent, decorate and manage two locations. Another cost saving tool was to use all the linens and tableware provided by the hotel.
Finding a Christian minister was one of the most challenging parts of this experience. Neither of us knew of a minister personally, but a friend referred us to Pastor Bremer. After meeting with him on a chilly Sunday afternoon, we were happy with what he offered and booked him on the spot.
Stay tuned to find out how we designed and created our Save the Date cards, how we develop our table centerpieces, and what our invitations will look like. There is so much to do with only 16 weeks left. The countdown begins!
July 13, 2009…If you have to have a sign to guild your guests try having it add to your decor statement. This client had their wedding on their horse ranch and used these cute signs to get everyone on the property.
July 3rd, 2009…I have never been one of those girls who dreamt about my proposal or what my wedding dress will look like (some stylist I am!). So when my fiancé, Dana, popped the question in Oxford, England on a lonely park bench in the university gardens, I can say it was the most romantic moment of my life. The ring was beautiful, he designed it himself and it was made at Shallow Jewelers, where my family has been going to since I was a little girl.
Next, came the overwhelming task of planning a wedding. I should mention both of us have planned a handful of large and small events, so jumping right into the process was familiar to us. My first step was to assure my talented and creative fiancé that this is OUR wedding and we will be celebrating the both of us, not just the bride. Therefore, I wanted him to attend all possible meetings and share in the decision making. We agreed to have a simple, classy wedding while keeping our budget of $15,000 in check. Our first problem arose when we realized Dana had 7 people he wanted standing up for him (not including my two brothers!) and I only had two. After much deliberation, we decided on the perfect solution, my best friend will be my maid of honor; Dana’s brother will be his best man, my two brothers the ushers and Dana’s niece the flower girl. This eliminates a lot of hurt feelings and expense.
Being entrepreneurs, we felt it was important to support as many local vendors as possible so we started the search for our wedding location. The most responsive and enthusiastic vendor was the Hotel Metro, right in the heart of the city. One week later we had a meeting with their wedding coordinator. The space was beautiful, the ballroom was a round room, a silk chandelier hung from the ceiling, the walls were lined with tapestry, and a hand painted Italian mural adorned the walls of a sunlit atrium. How very English! The ballroom can seat a maximum of 100 people which will help to maintain the intimacy of the day while keeping the cost down. The pricing was perfect, the location ideal and the services met our expectations. We signed the contract the next week. Now we had the location, we could start building a wedding around it. We did not want a themed wedding, ie. beach-y or 1950’s style, we wanted it to be a party for our close family and friends.
To help keep myself organized I decided to build a story board. Since the ballroom is so rich in color and texture we decided to pick colors to complement the room, dusty rose and champagne (off white). I then started pouring through websites and magazines; bridal, gardening, home décor, food and fashion, anything I could use for inspiration. As I started gathering pictures with ideas for dresses, flowers, cakes and table decor, I assembled them on a board to start forming a cohesive look. To get a better idea of which vendors were out there, my mum and I attended a few wedding trade shows. The photographers are an important part of the wedding and should not be someone you try to cut costs on. It did not take us long to agree that The Artist Group would shoot our wedding. We loved their portfolio and how they manage to effortlessly capture the intimacies of the day. more to come…
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