The Wedding Craziness

Sometimes I feel like wedding planning is pretty crazy.  Last week especially was a whirlwind of wedding craziness.  I guess as long as I am not going crazy, we're fine!

Last week was good, in spite of how much needed to be done.  Lee and I met with both the reception and the groom's dinner venues for taste testing.  Right now, it looks like we will be having a buffet of roast beef and chicken pasta for the groom's dinner, with garlic mashed potatoes and vegetables on the side.  Lee's aunt will be making us (another) cake for dessert.  For the wedding reception, we will be having a buffet of garden salad, dinner rolls, lemon pepper chicken, roasted pork loin, a vegetarian Alfredo pasta, baby red potatoes, and green beans almondine.  We will be having wedding cake for dessert, of course!

Eagles Crest Grill, site of the groom's dinner

It was very interesting visiting with the reception venue and the church venue again.  Both venues have imposed quite a few stipulations that were not in place when we first booked them last winter.  The reception venue has raised all of its prices and changed parts of the contract.  In spite of the price increases, my parents are going to be graciously purchasing 2 kegs of beer and 15-20 bottles of wine for the reception.  However, we are going to do away with hors d'oeuvres, since the prices have drastically increased for fruit and vegetables platters.  Another bummer about the reception venue: if there ends up being a Friday event before our wedding, we can only start decorating at 10 AM the morning of the wedding.  A good thing about the reception venue: much of the hotel is undergoing renovations.  The pool area has already been redone, and most of the guestrooms have been redone as well. 

Meeting with the church was fairly straightforward, but we were told we would not be able to move anything major on or off the stage.  For example, if the piano is on the stage, we have to leave it there.  If the piano is off the stage, we have to leave it off the stage.  Luckily, Lee's parents know the guy who is in charge of decorating the stage, so hopefully we will have some say in how we want the stage to look.  We can still decorate the stage with any small items, including flowers, lighted trees, and candles.  Luckily, we can start decorating the church on the Friday before the wedding. 

I also was able to have my gown fitting.  This was definitely one of the highlights of my week.  I am using Emily's pageant gown seamstress who is SUPER talented to alter my dress.  She was very meticulous, which I loved.  I think she might even be more detail-oriented than I am!  She also had some great ideas for the bustle and hiding the zipper on the back of the dress. 

Gown designed by Caroline Hayden and sewn by the lady who is doing my alterations.  My sister wore this gown at the Miss North Dakota competition last year!

I was able to go shopping in Fargo with Becca and Lisa to help Becca pick out her bridesmaid dress.  Becca was the final bridesmaid to choose her dress.  I am happy to report that there were five different styles chosen between all six bridesmaids!  They are going to look fabulous! 

Finally, Lee and I went attended a wedding last week.  The wedding was gorgeous and very well done.  It was also probably double my current wedding budget!  This bride and groom did not skimp on any details.  Since it was a great wedding, I will be taking a couple of ideas from this wedding to use in my own.  For example, I loved the use of uplighting at the reception and the votive candles all around the room. 

Update!

I've only been home for just over 24 hours, but wedding planning with my parents has already been happening.  Here's an update with some of the highlights:

The Touch of Magic in East Grand Forks (the venue which I indicated as my first choice for a wedding reception in a previous blog post) is closing at the end of 2011.  Looks like I won't be having my wedding reception there!  ***Sigh...***  Moving on to my second choices, I guess.

One of these second choices was the Hilton Garden Inn.  I called the Hilton today, and I found out they seat up to 200 people in their reception hall.  My mom and I went to visit with their event coordinator this afternoon.  After visiting with her about prices and options, my mom was absolutely sold on the venue.  I think the Hilton is a great venue too, so I will be scheduling a taste-testing of the food once Lee gets back into Grand Forks.  We'll look at the Hilton's reception hall again at that time and make our final decision!  Even though I can't have the reception at my favorite choice, I'm really happy with how things are working out with the Hilton.  I think it is meant to be!  After all, the Hilton is the place where Lee and I first met.

I also called the North Dakota Museum of Art (NDMA) today to check prices for the ceremony venue.  The NDMA charges TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS to rent the building for a wedding ceremony.  The price is absolutely disgusting, and definitely not within my budget constraints.  Also, policies at the NDMA do not allow wedding ceremonies to take place during museum hours.  Even if I could afford it, I don't think I would want an evening wedding.  It's time to start considering plan B for the ceremony venue, and I don't think the answer will come as easily as it did for the reception venue. 

Major point of dissension between me and my mom: photography.  Having a good (strike that, not just good, but talented) photographer is really important to me.  My mother disagrees.  She thinks one photo is just like the next photo and suggests I hire someone I know to take pictures.  I really don't feel comfortable hiring someone who is not a professional photographer.  I know photography can eat up a large portion of the budget.  However, I don't think I want to settle on this issue.  


Dress shopping is in the near future!

Fine Dining and Dancing

If you haven't read my previous post concerning where to have the ceremony, please look at the post below and read!

Also adding to the "where" factor: the reception venue. I feel this venue will be easier to determine once the ceremony venue has been decided. Here again are pictures for your viewing pleasure:

Touch of Magic

Pros: Beautiful venue, one of the most sought-after venues in Grand Forks, really tasty food, romantic atmosphere, feels intimate even though the venue can hold a large number of people, wood dance floor, buffet-style service
Cons: None that I can think of!

Ralph Englestad Arena

Pros: Beautiful venue with marble floors, unique
Cons: Large space for people to get spread out in, echoes because of marble floors

Hilton Garden Inn

Pros: A fun place to dance, place where Lee and I first met, intimate setting, decent food
Cons: Holds only ~100 people

Alerus Center Ballroom

Pros: Large enough for all guests, can be decorated really cute
Cons: Feels too large because of cavernous ceilings, have to pay for everything from the tablecloths and napkins to the pieces of the dance floor

North Dakota Museum of Art

Pros: Architecture of this building, can host dinners, built-in dance floor, balcony overlooking the main floor
Cons: May be too small (would have to check), museum's in-house catering service isn't very good, don't know what art would be on display