Tuesday, October 14, 2008
The Planning Begins
I thought I would be eager to blog about wedding planning right away, but that’s because I didn’t expect it to be so hectic from the start. But now everything has settled down and become fun again (and not in the way that those commercials claim that "car buying is fun again"; I never really understood those claims) so it's about time I posted an update on our planning progress.
Picking a date was our first priority, which was easier said than done. I’m a big number and pattern person, so I used to assume I’d get married on, say, 11-02-2011 or 07-08-09. (Bonus: cool dates are easier to remember.) Then I reentered reality and realized that a date would be difficult enough to pin down without trying to be clever about it. We planned to get married in late spring or early summer, after school ended but before the weather got too hot, because I am not riding across the deserts in August. Even more importantly we wanted to hold the wedding before Kyle’s best man Dave began his second tour of duty in the middle east. He's scheduled to deploy in the early summer, though of course that could change for any number of reasons. In the end we settled on a date near the end of May. Kyle will still be in school then, but he has vacation days that we can use for a mini-honeymoon before the trek. The date also works well for everyone we planned to involve in the ceremony (except for those who would find almost any date difficult: the Staphs who moved to Texas and Sheila who is abroad in Spain. We'll miss you!!)
With the date more or less set we needed a location. I of course wanted something breathtaking and since we planned to marry in Lancaster I was drawn to the idea of a rustic but beautiful restored barn with ample grounds. Once again reality shattered my ideal plans. The thing about restored barns is that they generally can't hold large groups. Kyle and I always said we wanted a small wedding, but that's difficult to accomplish when you have a large family (Kyle) and don't want to cut out a number of close friends in order to fit into an ostensibly perfect space. There was one location that had ideal aesthetics and square footage, the Riverdale Manor, but all Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays in the spring were already booked, including of course our chosen date, which we learned had been reserved almost 2 years ago. People are apparently crazy prepared. Or just crazy.
We narrowed our non-farm options down to two locations near downtown Lancaster, the Mulberry Arts Studio and The Hamilton Ballroom at Wheatland Place (which is NOT at President Buchanan's Wheatland - a common misconception since it's right down the street - but the old R&D facilities of a repurposed watch factory). The art gallery was closer to the charming atmosphere that I wanted and as a bonus the gallery would be displaying a macro photography show that weekend. It was also more crazed and crowded, however, and there was a chance that another event would be occuring in the room upstairs, meaning parking, bathrooms, and the owner's attention would be awkwardly split between two parties, not to mention potential sound issues. The Hamilton Ballroom at Wheatland place had better space and parking and would be all ours for the day but it didn't feel as warm, welcoming, and unique. When the cost estimate for the art gallery was much higher, we began leaning towards Wheatland Place and discussed ways to make the ballroom more personal and exciting by drawing on its art deco attributes. I struggled most with the decision because the ballroom was so far from my original farmhouse plans and it was hard to abandon that kind of aesthetic. Eventually I came to terms with the decision, however, and got really excited about plans to work with and subtly transform the space. We can also compensate for one of the major drawbacks - the unimpressive exterior - with outdoor photos at a nearby park. Since making the decision - which we're all still happy about I'm pleased to say! - we've heard from caterers and others that Wheatland Place is an easier venue to work with overall and that we made the best choice, which was reassuring to hear.
Speaking of caterers, we found one of those too. I was disappointed to discover that caterers don't do tastings until after you hire them, but luckily Olde Greenfield Inn has a restaurant where we went for lunch, so we could at least assess their ability to make soups, salads, and quiches (all of which were delicious). They won out over the other contenders (even the one that gave us mini pastries to take home) for their flexible menu and their ability to cook everything on site. I can't wait to sample what they'll be preparing!
We also booked a photographer, and despite all of my "The photographer is the most important choice! The food and flowers are for a day but the photos are forever! We need an amazing photographer!" tirades it was a remarkably painless process. After much online research we only needed to meet with one photographer - Kyle Keagy. He's a very friendly stay-at-home father who charged less than the other photographers we researched but had an equally impressive portfolio. He has experience and ideas but seems more flexible, attentive, and unobtrusive than larger photography companies. I'm quite pleased with the choice and hopefully the photographs will be as amazing as I anticipate! We also let him know about this blog and he was very willing to work out an agreement that would allow us to use his photos here and in any future projects that come out of it.
Finally we began the quest for a dress, but I'll have to cover that in the next entry once it is successfully concluded. Stay tuned!
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