Venue Option #1: The Secret Garden

Tomorrow is the beginning to us going to see potential wedding venues in person... I'm really hoping that this process goes smoothly, because it seems like this is one of the biggest and most important decisions. Once we get the venue figured out, we can really start looking into everything else.

Here we go!

VENUE OPTION 1: The Secret Garden - http://www.secretgardenevents.com/

 

The Secret Garden was the location for my friend Camille's wedding - she's the bride walking back down the aisle with her husband, Mike, in the picture above. I wasn't able to attend the wedding, but Camille speaks very highly of the place and loved her overall experience.

I really like that it's a unique venue close to the airport and Patrick's house, and Patrick really likes that it's near mountains and has the ability for us to be outside. They can host the reception and ceremony if needed, and we're excited to see the place in person. They host a weekly open house on Wednesdays from 5:30-7:30pm, so if you need us during that time tomorrow and we don't answer the phone, you know why!

-Lisa

What color(s) to choose???

So I maaaay be a little detail-oriented ;), and I LOVE any type of design. Because of that, one of the thing I'm most excited about is putting together the little details of the ceremony & reception - the decorations, centerpieces, bouquets, etc, etc, etc. In order to really start thinking about those details, we have to figure out the colors for our wedding.

At our engagement happy hour, Patrick joked around with some of the guys that the colors would be his Cleveland Browns colors: Brown and Orange.

As much as I love him and support his teams, NO. 

I fired back with a suggestion that I knew would get the same response from him: all pink.

Ha, sure enough, he shot that one down.

His next suggestion was Ohio State's colors: scarlet and gray. 

That one was actually an ok suggestion! My cousin Lindsey had a gorgeous wedding with black, white and red. It's a very elegant color scheme, and since red (maybe a dark red?) is popular, it's easy to find red/black/white/silver details. My hesitation with the colors is that we'll be getting married in the spring, and they aren't really bright, springtime colors. 

The colors that I really like are fuchsia and green, but I was having a hard time convincing him those were ideal colors for a wedding. 

I tried to pull his sister Maggie in to help convince him, but he still wasn't going for it. 

All of a sudden, an idea of adding a bright turquoise-y blue came into my mind, and I put together a page of pictures as a visual for Patrick to see. It still incorporates my pink and green, but the blue will be INCREDIBLE with his eyes, and it's not an overwhelming girly combination. The colors are great for spring, and they're bright & fun. You should be able to click on the picture below to get a bigger version.

Patrick actually really liked the blue, and this is the color combination we're thinking about right now. What do you think???

-Lisa

UPDATE: We've decided to go with the color scheme of the bright blue, fuchsia and lime green!

Welcome to our blog!

In talking over big plans and little ideas, we came up with the idea of having a wedding blog. The main reason for it is that both of our families (and some of our closest friends) are in other cities, and this is an easy way to keep you updated & involved with our plans/thoughts/ideas AND to get feedback/suggestions when needed. We'll be able to post pictures as a visual, and that makes describing things over the phone a lot easier. There's a way that you can automatically receive an email with the blog post when I post it, or you can just check the blog every once in a while when you're interested; just let me know if you want to be subscribed to get the emails.

LOCATION - SOMEWHERE IN THE PHOENIX AREA

Before we got engaged, we had already discussed the idea of getting married in Phoenix. We figured that since at least one of our families would have to travel either way and the majority of our friends lives here, it would make sense. Since we're looking at having the wedding at some point in March-June, it's also an ideal time for a vacation. We threw around the idea of going to Sedona for the red rocks, but I got nervous at the thought of having to plan the wedding long-distance (although it was only a couple hours away), and it seemed a lot easier to have it here.

We've bought tickets to the big bridal show in Phoenix on June 12th... Even though most guys try to find a way to weasel their way out of going to a bridal show, Patrick agreed to go right away. As a thank you, I told him that I'll be the one driving and that he is allowed to take advantage of the bar at the bridal show ;). With that statement, his eyes got huge, and that brought a huge smile to his face. He's been incredible so far about wanting to be involved, and it reinforces that I have the perfect guy for me. 

Over the next few weeks, our main goal is to focus on venues and dates. I've been told by a couple married friends that once we have those figured out, we can start working on other vendors. Going into the bridal show, we have a plan to focus on just a couple things in order to keep it from being overwhelming - at this point, we're thinking about just getting info on venues and also including photographers.

Tonight, after a couple martinis, Patrick and I were really able to organize some thoughts. We have compiled a list of possible venues, and each of us made a list of what our ideal day would look like. It was actually surprising how well they matched up. 

Not that I thought it would be different, but the main thing I've been amazed/impressed with is how supportive our families have been. After 28- and 30 years, we've decided that the important thing is that our wedding is "US." We want to think outside the box and make the day a celebration of us as a couple, and our families have embraced that idea. THANK YOU; we're so lucky to have you in our lives.

-Lisa