{Ceremony Venue}

Wedding plans have come together so quickly, it seems like. When we first started planning, I was completely overwhelmed and didn't know where to begin, but now, most of the "big" decisions are made! As I mentioned before, we wanted to pick our reception venue first, and then find a ceremony location nearby. Since our wedding reception is taking place in Norfolk, neither of our home churches were a good fit...both are much too far from the Harrison Opera House, which is the reception venue we picked. We set out on a mission to find the perfect church in Norfolk...and we found it by accident. Right after we got engaged, we went to Norfolk to look at a few possible reception venues (this was also the day we decided the opera house was a perfect fit!). On our way out of Norfolk that day, we happened to drive past the most breathtaking church I've seen in this area. It reminded me of a European cathedral...so so gorgeous. We went home and did our research, and inquired about renting the church for our ceremony. Subsequently, I found out that my boss is a member of this church...and she encouraged us to check it out. We made an appointment with the Reverend, and as of this weekend, our wedding date is reserved there! I could not be more thrilled...the church is like a miniature Christchurch Cathedral or a (very) mini Westminster Abbey. Breathtaking. Here are a few pictures that I found of the church:

 

 

Andi Grant Photography (andigrantphotography.com)

Travis Rowan Photography (travisphoto.com)

I think we picked the perfect location for our ceremony. Not only is the church stunning, but the clergy and staff are so welcoming. Now that we have our ceremony location and reception location booked, we can begin to focus on the smaller parts of wedding planning. We've actually made a few other exciting planning decisions...but I'll wait and share those next time! ;)

{Engagement Party Attire}

I've been searching sites like Rue La La and Hautelook like crazy over the past few weeks, in hopes of finding the 'perfect' engagement party dress...but I've had no luck whatsoever! I have a perfectly clear vision of the type of dress I'd like, but I just can't seem to find one that is {A} reasonably priced and {B} long enough (I'd prefer to keep this a classy affair, so no mini dresses!). I found these examples on Polyvore...ah, it's been a while since I've been on that site. I love it. Unfortunately, most of these dresses are a BIT too pricey to justify buying one for a simple little party, when we obviously have much bigger and more exciting things to dress up for. :) Have you seen any cute lace (3/4 or long-sleeved) dresses anywhere lately? If so, please share! :)

Lace Dresses by worrellb featuring a navy blue cocktail dress

Crumpet long sleeve evening dress, $520
Oasis lace dress, $60
Lace dress, £84
Vintage black dress, $61
Navy blue cocktail dress, 2.962 DKK
Pied a Terre knee length dress, £169
John Zack party dress
Retro dress, $92

Our Venue!

....and we decided to go with:

The Harrison Opera House!

While initially we had considered a tent reception, we had so many reservations over the tent idea, and the opera house is a fantastic venue. The interior is gorgeous, and the reception will be held on the second floor in the Grand Lobby. I love the winding staircases up to the lobby and the balcony that overlooks the main entrance below. The gorgeous tall windows are such a good backdrop for the reception, and we really don't have to go overboard with our decorations, since the venue is so pretty on it's own. It has a touch of modern elegance mixed with a bit of traditional design. Now that we have a venue...and yes, we had to move up our date by a week, but it's not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things(!)...there's a lot less stress! I'm so excited to be able to focus on how we want to decorate for the reception, now that we HAVE our reception venue :)

Inside of the Grand Lobby

We have to get a photo like this!

Since my fiance works at the opera house, we have access to furnishings that are available there for free. It looks like we'll have plenty of tables...but the chairs that they have are a bit ratty, to be honest, so we'll need to rent them. I would love love love to have Chiavari chairs, but I just can't justify the cost per chair since we are trying to plan our wedding on a small budget. If anyone knows where to find cheap Chiavari chairs...pass that info along please! :) 

Because of the elegance of our venue, our decorations don't have to be too elaborate. I do want floral arrangements on each table, preferably with oversized vases, like these:

I also really love modern, simplistic floral arrangements. The more planning I do, the more I think our wedding design will end up being more modern than traditional.....

I also really wanted cocktail tables, because I love the idea. I've been to a few weddings where they had cocktail tables surrounding the dance floor, and I knew that I wanted to incorporate them as well. Luckily, the opera house has enough of them, so we won't even need to rent any!

Now that we have that sorted out, we still have to find a ceremony venue. We have been talking to two churches nearby our reception venue, and we plan to meet with them this week or next. The biggest priority for both of us was the reception venue...we wanted to have that settled before we decided on a church, so that they'll be nearby each other. I already feel so much less stressed knowing we have our reception venue sorted out! We went to a wedding expo this past Sunday, and let me say, it felt SO good knowing we had some of our "big" decisions already out of the way while we were wandering through the crowded event! I booked appointments with two bridal salons in the area on January 28 & 29...so it looks like I'm going to be busy in a few weekends! We've also made some progress on other parts of planning, but I'll save those for the next post :) 

2011 - Full of Memories

I know it's already January 6th, but I just realized that the past year completely deserves a recap! There were big changes, lots of traveling, and even a new ring on my left ring finger before the year ended ;)

January 

• Went back to law school for my second semester...full of uncertainty about whether I enjoyed it.
• Started thinking about spending a few months in Europe...but didn't want to go alone. I thought about doing an internship...but later, changed my mind.
• Changed my blog from Wordpress to Blogger...I know, I know - normally it's the other way around. So far, I've enjoyed Blogger though!

February

• Lost my sweet Aunt Nancy to ovarian cancer. Not a day goes by that I don't think of her.
• Went on a Spring Break trip to Wilmington, NC with the love of my life...we had a wonderful time.
• PR'd at the VIFL 14k.

March

• Spent my 22nd birthday with friends at the Oceanfront - we rented a pink H2 stretch Hummer. First time for everything!
• Went to see Jason Aldean and Eric Church with one of my best friends.
• PR'd at the Shamrock Half Marathon with a time of 1:43!
• Spent St. Patty's with my love...had too much fun. That's why I rarely drink!
• Dropped out of law school. Looking back, it's still the greatest decision I've ever made. I'm so much happier!

April

• Stayed up all night watching the Royal Wedding...dreaming about my future wedding :)
• Planned a European backpacking trip with Michael - my travel dreams came true!
• Ran the Flying Pirate Half Marathon with an injured foot (injured during Shamrock...because I just had to PR!)

May

• Celebrated Michael's college graduation :)
• Bought our backpacks for our trip to Europe - exciting!
• Purchased our plane tickets...so thrilling, it was official!
• Went to see Dierks Bentley at the NorVa...it was the best concert ever.
• Had one last get-together with friends & family at M's family's annual pig pickin'...the night before we left for Europe!
• Spent the end of May in Ireland, visiting Dublin, Galway, and Cork.
• Arrived in The Netherlands to enjoy a few days in Amsterdam.

June

• From Amsterdam, we took a train to Germany - we stayed in Berlin for a few days, then headed south to Munich, where we visited Neuschwanstein Castle and ate dinner at the famed Hofbrauhaus.
• Spent a few days in Rome, Italy, where we spent time at The Vatican and searched for the best gelato and pizza. We also stopped in Pisa on our train ride out of Italy, where Michael took an epic photo of me with the leaning tower.
• Arrived in Nice, France...which we enjoyed way too much and decided to stay even longer. It was a nice mini-vacay from our backpacking trip. :)
• Went to Madrid, Spain for a few days. It was scorching hot, and we had a shower in our hotel room?
• Took a train from Madrid to Paris, where we spent a few days eating macaroons & crepes, and checking out the Eiffel Tower and Versailles. 
• Took the second EuroStar (after missing our reservation) to London, where we both fell in love with the city. To this day, we both would love to live in London. I drink Earl Gray tea often, trying to make my life just a little more British ;)
• Returned home from the most amazing trip I've ever taken. With my favorite person ever.

July

• Went to the Harry Potter Midnight premiere...for the first and last time.
• Met James Wesley after I won meet & greet tickets to his show.
• Saw Dierks Bentley in concert again - on the HOTTEST day of the year. It was 114 degrees.
• Saw Tim McGraw, Luke Bryan, and The Band Perry in concert with my dad for Father's Day.
• Started the full-time job search....while I spent the summer working as a lifeguard for the 5th year in a row.

August

• Spent random days at the beach...
• Went to see Kenny Chesney in concert for like, the 10th time.
• Got my iPhone and retired the old Crackberry.
• Went to the beach & Kid Rock concert with one of my best friends. We both missed the earthquake that happened in VA that day...because we were laying on the sand at the beach.
• Spent the evening with one of my other best friends & her husband...which we rarely get the chance to do!
• Experienced Hurricane Irene...and a tree fell on our house. And we were without electricity for a week.

September

• Went to OBX for the week with the fam. First time we've taken a September vacation in years...because it was the first year I was out of school for good.
• Continued looking for jobs....landed an internship at a creative/marketing agency in the meantime.
• Saw Jason Aldean in concert again - twice in one year!
• Celebrated my lova's birthday.

October

• Received a job offer! I thank God for this every day, seriously. So blessed.
• Started obsessively making Pinterest recipes...Blue Moon Cupcakes for my dad's birthday!
• Spent time in Charlottesville picking apples and sightseeing in the mountains with the fam and my love.
• Met my new nephews...born one week apart (although I wasn't officially an aunt at the time...little did I know M and I would be engaged soon!).

November

• Michael got a full-time job offer...in the same city that I work in!
• Had another Pinterest obsession - made Andes Mint Cupcakes for mom's birthday.
• Booked my flight and hotel for Los Angeles - for a work trip. I love my job. :)
• Went Black Friday shopping for the first time ever. There were lots of crazies.

December

• Went to Raleigh with my love to see Trans-Siberian Orchestra for the 5th time in a row.
• Met my new cousin (finally, a girl!) :)
• Bought my first CAR!
• Got all of my Christmas shopping done early for once...maybe because I finally had a job and $ to buy gifts with? :)
• Went to the beach with my love to pick up a "gift" and ended up ENGAGED :)
• Spent the holidays showing of my new engagement ring. 

I'd say that 2011 was overall a very exciting year for me (and Michael!). Looking back at all of the things that happened in 2011, I feel extremely blessed and fortunate. If there was one thing I could change about last year, I would choose to have my Aunt Nancy back. We all miss her every single day, and I wish she could be here to share all of the exciting things that are happening in our families lives right now. I know she's looking down from Heaven though :)

♥Brittany

 

{Reception Venues}

Despite being engaged only a little over a week, Michael and I have already made lots of progress with our wedding plans. Since we *hope* to have a 2012 wedding (hinging on whether we can get a reception site we like), we have only 10 months to get every single detail completed! Our biggest concern at this point is our reception venue. Everything pretty much hinges on that - our wedding date, our ceremony venue, our decor, how many invitees, and the time of day we plan to have the wedding & reception. We've been throwing around a few ideas...below :)

{Harrison Opera House}

We both love this venue - it's classy, upscale, and will take minimal decorating to turn the room into a gorgeous reception backdrop. Receptions are held in the Grand Lobby on the second floor, which has spiral staircases on either end and a balcony makes up one "wall" and the tall windows make up the other wall. With over-sized chandeliers and beautiful, warm lighting...this would make a fabulous site. I'm thinking round tables scattered around with pretty floral arrangements, all surrounding a dance floor in the middle of the room. I think we're both pretty sold on this venue. Only problem is it's not available on our "ideal" date - it IS available for the two Saturdays prior to the date we wanted, though. 

{Tent Reception}

A tent reception was what I originally wanted...but this was before we got engaged and really thought about the logistics of it once we jumped into planning mode. While I still love the concept, I'm wary of it for several reasons: 

• I have a clear vision of what I want it to look like - soft decor, chiavari chairs, flooring throughout the entire tent, clear side panels, drapery from the ceiling (like the photo above), chandeliers, pretty lighting, etc. My fear is that I won't be able to make it look like that...and I don't want a tacky tent reception. 
• What if it rains? I've heard horror stories about people having mud up to their KNEES from walking on the muddy ground around the tent.
• The bathroom situation. I will absolutely not have port-a-potties at my wedding reception. I know, you can rent "bathroom trailers" blah blah blah...I just don't like it. Plain and simple.
• The cost - after adding up all of the rentals (high peak pole tent, chairs, tables, flooring, side panels, lighting, electricity, etc.), we are just as good or better off renting an upscale, indoor venue. 

With all of that said, the plus side of this choice is that we may be able to use a friend's property on the river if we chose to have a tented reception. I'm sure that most of my worries about a tent reception are actually not a big deal, and I'm sure it would turn out lovely. I just think my anxiety (and do I have a LOT of it...ha) would get the best of me when planning this type of reception.

So what if I said I didn't have a third choice? Oops :) We've severely limited ourselves already...but I think that we could go either route and be fine. With either choice, we have several ceremony locations in mind - we both love fancy and/or historic churches, and luckily, we've picked out a church in both locations...they just hinge on our reception venue pick! We have looked at a TON of venues in the area (and there really aren't that many impressive ones...), but the majority of indoor venues require you to purchase in-house catering services. One of the best things about our reception is that the food will not be breaking the bank like it does at so many wedding receptions - because Michael's mom owns a catering business. We won't be paying ridiculous amounts (I'm talking upwards of $35+ dollars per person just for food!)...instead, we'll pick what we want and pay for JUST the cost of food...no inflation of costs. That leaves more money for our other important decision - what types, and how much, alcohol we'll need to buy. hehe :) And that also means we won't be paying crazy amounts for alcohol, either - we plan to purchase our wine/beer/liquor as it goes on sale for the next 10 months...and we won't pay ridiculous amounts for a catering company to purchase & serve the drinks. Save where you can...to save room for the dress and shoes, right? ;)

♥Brittany