Finally! A ceremony venue resolution.

Ok, so I'll admit I had a quick thought of "why didn't we just elope?" when I learned that our original ceremony venue wasn't going to work. I feel like my mum spent all of last week on the phone talking to people about possible other locations to get married and blocking out hotel rooms. Today, Jenny, Samera and I went down to Mystic to scout out some hotels and also to look at the Inn at Lower Farm, a quaint B&B that does weddings, too.

Mary at Lower Farm was so gracious to allow us to stop by and see the property, and also peek in on one of the guest rooms. The grounds are gorgeous and the house is so amazing inside (especially the kitchen! All three of us were drooling over the kitchen and adjoining full-size hearth in the dining room!). I could imagine myself walking across the field where the ceremony would be held to meet Kenny. I instantly felt better!

So the ceremony will be there, and I can't wait to see what the Farm looks like when all the flowers are in bloom.

We also looked at a few hotels, and have finalized which hotels to block out for our guests. If you're a guest, check out the Wedding Information page for more on which hotels we've blocked rooms at, including rates and distances to the ceremony/reception venues.

In addition to the ceremony venue and hotels, we also checked out a florist! It was a busy day! I have to set an appointment and go back and hammer out all the details with the owner of Mystic Florist because it is apparently a two hour ordeal and we didn't have time for that today! I am excited to decide which flowers we'll use in the bouquets.

Other than that, Kenny and the boys went to the tux place this past week and sorted out their tux arrangements. They are going to look so handsome. I had to work but thankfully Jenny and Samera went with them to keep them on track and make sure they didn't come out wearing hot pink vests and wing-tipped shoes. I'm assured that they haven't arranged anything too frightening for their wedding finery.

Ceremony Venue Headaches

Personally I've never heard of a ceremony venue that doesn't allow chairs or flowers, but that is what our ceremony venue is telling us is the case. Does it say this in the contract or did anyone ever say "hey, you know your guests will have to sit on the grass or stand the whole time, right"? No, but I am just glad I'm not finding out about this on September 18th. Good thing my mum even called to ask for a recommendation for a chair rental company, because otherwise a major meltdown I mentioned above would have been imminent on my wedding day, and seriously, who wants to cry over chairs or the lack thereof?

So now we're on the hunt again and thinking about changing the ceremony venue. We're looking at a couple different places, and this weekend two of my Bridesmaids and I are going down to Mystic to scope a few possibilities out. We'll also be looking at hair salons and florists.

My life has gotten exponentially more insane because Kenny and I have been house-hunting and this week we'll most likely put an offer in on one that we've fallen in love with. Bring on the endless documents to sign our lives away to!

In other news, the entire town of Mystic apparently has no more hotel availability for blocking out rooms, but my mum has spent literally days on the phone calling around to every possible hotel in the area and has managed to book 50 rooms. Since 90% of our guests will need to stay overnight, this is a huge relief. I never thought hotels would be so packed this early for a date that's past Labour Day.

So if you're a bride-to-be planning a wedding, make sure that you can have chairs for your guests to sit on during your ceremony (I wish I were kidding) and block your hotel rooms asap.

Goals for this week

Visiting Kenny's family in NY this past weekend was good because his family delivered a much needed kick in the butt to get going on this wedding planning. It's funny that we had a rush of bookings (caterer, photographer, venues, etc) in the fall and then we have done nothing recently. His family was mostly concerned about the save-the-dates, which I wasn't even keen on doing until I realized how many people want them. My mum has graciously volunteered to be in charge of the save-the-dates project and I just recently gave her the finalized guest list, so I am hoping they'll be sent out soon. Kenny really wants to do magnets that people can put on their fridge.

During the 4-hour drive home from NY last night, we set goals for ourselves. September seems like a long way away but it's really not, and it will be here before we know it. We decided we really need to book the rest of the vendors (like, yesterday) and Kenny also needs to ask whom he wants to be his groomsmen and start looking at tuxes. We also need to block hotel rooms, since that information will be included on the save-the-dates so that guests can book their rooms and plan their trips.

This morning I got right to work and booked the DJ. Neil Roma from Spin Enterprise came very highly recommended, and has worked at our venue many times before. The thing I liked most about our reception venue (the Mystic Yachting Center) is that they are very selective with the vendors they work with, and make recommendations only for people/companies that deliver a great product for a great price. At least now I know our guests won't be sitting in silence and staring at each other for the entire reception :) and instead will be entertained with a good selection of music.

Kenny's task for this week is getting the hotel rooms blocked, and arranging transportation for our guests from the hotel to the reception site, since there is limited parking at the Mystic Yachting Center, and we'd feel better if people weren't driving after a long night of partying, anyway. I had called various hotels back in September and didn't end up booking any of them for a number of reasons that I have briefed Kenny on so that he can deal with them. I am confident that he'll be able to get the rates we're looking for and breakfast for our guests.