Wedding Planning!

[Kristen&Bailey]

Hey Everyone! So I've been pretty MIA from the forums because of wedding planning. I've gone from spending every minute of my day on puppy forums to wedding forums. Don't worry though! You guys can never be replaced

Well everything seems to be starting to finally come together and take shape, and I wanted to share with you what is planned out so far! I remember there was the old wedding thread that was posted a while ago and everyone seemed so excited about it so I figured you guys might enjoy hearing some of my wedding stuff in the making.

We will be visiting our venue next week and booking it while we are down in the area for Thanksgiving. Although we haven't seen it in person yet, I'm 99.99999% sure that this is the place. Craig's parents were able to visit for us already as well and confirmed that it is as beautiful as the photos.

It is an historic mansion in Bel Air, Maryland called the Liriodendron Mansion (http://www.liriodendron.com/). It will be a smallish daytime wedding and reception with no more than 100 guests, ideally around 80ish.





Assuming the weather cooperates, we will have the entire event outdoors with the ceremony on the lawn in front of the mansion and the reception on the porches and side porticos. (However there is room inside for a rain plan)





The date we are planning is May 5th of next year. May is ideal for this venue (in my opinion) because the wisteria *should* be in bloom over the front porch



This is my color scheme



My maid of honor (only bridesmaid) will be in blue. The boys (Craig and his brother who will be his best man) will be in tan suits. We'll also be incorporating the purple in because of the obvious wisteria at the venue.

This is my bridal bouquet/flower inspiration at this point



I'm highly considering having all my bouquets/corsages/boutonnieres designed by a maker of clay flowers. I had found the following bouquet online and was shocked to find out that they were not actually real flowers but were clay. This person does stunningly beautiful arrangements, all handmade, and because they are clay they will last many many years to come, unlike real flowers.



My Dress... You guy's will have to wait to see it on me












We have our photographer figured out. I am incredibly picky about photographers. I have a very specific style of photography that I prefer and a level of quality that I require. The problem is that usually equals extremely expensive haha. Add to the fact that I can not find a single photographer that I absolutely love in the area that we are getting married made it quite challenging to find someone. I started opening myself up to photographers in different areas of the country if they are willing to travel. Someone on my wedding forum posted about this photographer and I fell in love with her work. She is just what I look for in terms of her work and she has been an absolute pleasure to communicate back and forth with (totally sick of people who takes DAYS to respond to messages... she usually responds within hours). The great part is that even though she is located in Tennessee and I will need to pay her travel expenses, her prices are so low that even with her travel fees, I am still paying way less than any other photographer I have found that I loved.

I THINK that is it as far as exciting stuff so far. This ended up being a really long post but I just wanted to share what I've been up to lately!

(P.S. Bailey is doing well and is becoming a total agility star. We have been doing a lot of training with him lately and he has gotten SO good. Our trainer has been talking about sending us off to a trial for fun just to see how he does.)

[Oliver & Henry's Mum]

Kristen, the Venue looks just lovely, especially for an afternoon wedding. It sounds lovely for what you want, and the setting is beautiful. I think you have excellent taste, but you know that already. The setting really suits your beautiful engagement ring. It IS you.

Your dress is also gorgeous, and I know you'll be stunning on "The Day". I loved both bouquets, and the colours of each, but I still think I would go with fresh flowers, especially when surrounded by all that beautiful Wisteria. I can't wait to hear what you've chosen for your veil, if any, or how you plan to wear your hair.

The colours you've chosen are also lovely. The natural periwinkle colour of the Wisteria, along with the blue sky, and tan for balance will make for some gorgeous photos. Although unsolicited, personally I would want an excellent photographer as you only have one chance to capture *that* day. That is money well spent, for years and years to come.

Remember to enjoy these days although you have a million and one things to do. It's all about you marrying Craig, in front of close friends and family. Everything else is window dressing, even though I know that you want it to be as lovely as can be. It will be, no matter what happens.

I truly wish you and Craig the very best. This is such an exciting time in your life, so savour every minute.

Is Bailey going to be the "Ring Bearer"? That would be SO cute! With his agility training, I bet he would do an excellent job. (I would have had Emma as my Maid of Honour, except my family felt I should ask my one and only sister, instead of my dog.)

Post when you can because we all enjoy the excitement of upcoming nuptials, and the promise that lies ahead. These truly are the "good old days".

[Kristen&Bailey]

Oh our photographer IS excellent and a professional. I absolutely love her work. I am so picky about photography and my pictures are one of my top priorities that I would never settle on. It just so happens that her pricing is significantly cheaper than equally talented photographers that I have loved though which is a win win. I actually think she underchanges for her quality of work, but it also depends on the location in which they are from since she is from Tennessee, and prices seem to vary much from region to region.


It has yet to be decided if Bailey will be in the wedding. We are still waiting on confirmation if he would be allowed at the venue. The venue, since it is a historic site, is owned by the county so the director at the venue said she had to check with their rules. I understand he wouldn't be allowed inside, however if we had our entire wedding outside, hopefully he will be allowed on the grounds. I'll try to get a definitive answer when we visit the venue on Tuesday, or I'll call up the county and ask myself. If we do have him in the wedding, he'll probably be "Best Dog," and we'll have our nephews walk him down the aisle.

I at the very least want to have photos taken with him. However, even if he is not allowed at the venue, with our event ending at 4 (contracted time for cleanup at 5), we will still have daylight to go somewhere with our photographer (who offers all day coverage) and pick up Bailey where he is staying and take photos with him. So with this venue and the event time, it should all work out okay.

[Sadie G]

Kristen, I absolutely love the setting for your wedding. It's gorgeous! I hope you like it as well as Craig's parents did.

Love, love LOVE that wisteria over the porch. Beautiful.

Your dress is beautiful, and I just know you are going to look absolutely gorgeous in it. Beautiful colors too that you chose for your color scheme! I'm glad you added the purple color because of the wisteria. Those three colors are beautiful together.

You have great taste! Beautiful choices for your very special day. I'm so happy for you and Craig.

I'm even happier that you are sharing with us

[snifferspommom]

One word: GORGEOUS!!! It's the perfect setting for you and your dress is to die for! I also can't believe that second bouquet is clay flowers! That would be kind of cool since you'll always have your bouquet. Mine was gone in less than 24 hrs. I do hope Bailey will be able to participate.

We had a pretty good photographer who took the pictures the old fashioned way with film, gasp! We splurged a little on the Music and it was well worth it since the dance floor was never empty. We did not allow him to play any of those lame wedding songs or "dances". We did have a few polkas of course, hee hee!!

Thanks for sharing your plans with us and I'm sure we are all looking forward to The Big Day as much as you are!

[Margie-Rex's Mom]

Absolutely beautiful! The location, the colors, the dress...oh my - your dress is so gorgeous. Definitely you.

I am stunned by the clay flower bouquet! That is just amazing. Have you considered doing a mix? Keeping the full bouquet might be difficult, as I would have no idea how delicate the flowers would be. But if you have one or two flowers in with the fresh flowers - and you could keep those...just a thought.

I do hope Bailey can participate in the big day. I can so see him with a little bow tie on for the event!

I'm so happy for you and Craig! And like Alina said - thank you for sharing your plans and we're all so excited for you!

[pawsforthought]

I love everything! The colour scheme, dress, especially the venue! How gorgeous! I'm actually excited for you! And that's a rare thing for me XD

[Oliver & Henry's Mum]

That would be wonderful if your nephews could assist Bailey as "Best Dog"! He is just that, after all. ♥

Margie, I thought you had an excellent idea of mixing the bouquet with real as well as the clay flowers. I guess I'm really old fashioned as all of my friends have long since married, but way back when, the Bride always tossed her Bouquet. I knew one girl, years ago that had a complete replica of her Bouquet made in silk flowers (they were the rage in the day) to keep after the wedding.

Whatever you wish to do Kristen will be lovely, of that I have no doubt.

An afternoon wedding, in May, will be just beautiful. Are you going to serve a luncheon, or do canapes and hors d'oeuvres?

This is exciting! I keep looking at your dress, and I love the detail, along with the flowy layers. Are you going to do have a dance, or something like "Chamber Music" which would also be lovely?

[Kristen&Bailey]

Thanks everyone

As far as the clay flowers go, while I have never seen them in person, I have read that they are very lightweight and durable, even more-so than regular flowers. I also like that by using clay flowers, I don't need to worry about what is in season or harder to get for florists because they are all handcrafted. I can also get just the colors I want as well. I also love that I will have them for many years to come as long as they are taken care of (no direct sunlight or water). I think that they are a little un-traditional as well.

I won't be doing a bouquet toss (or a garter toss) actually. Personally, I hate the tradition (and Craig does too). Whenever attending weddings, I have never enjoyed participating. Also with our guests, we will barely have any single people in attendance at our wedding anyway so it just seems silly to do.

We have yet to decide what we are doing for food yet. We are in talks with our top pick caterer and have played around with a sample buffet menu but nothing is set in stone. We most likely won't be having a formal sit down meal since it will be in the afternoon. Since the ceremony and reception will be at the same venue, we probably won't have an actual "cocktail" hour although we probably will still have some appetizer stations/ hor d'oeuvres .

Another un-traditional thing that we will be doing is taking most of our photos before our ceremony. We will have an intimate "first look" that is captured by the photographer where we will see each other for the first time, then we will take all our portraits before the ceremony, so that our guests won't need to wait in between the events.

[lynners]

Everything looks LOVELY! What a beautiful setting, dress, colours, etc, etc.

As for pictures before, friends of mine did that too and they were quite happy with it. Another couple actually were married (at city hall) the week before their wedding and reception, haha. To each their own! Traditional shmaditional.

[Oliver & Henry's Mum]

Lynners, I agree with you. Whatever suits the couple best is what they should do!

Kristen, I also dislike things like the clanging of glasses to force the Bride and Groom to kiss. If most of your Guests will be married, then a Bouquet toss would be silly. I also am not a huge fan of the Garter toss either. Some Brides are superstitious about keeping their Bouquet, while others wish to keep it.

Years ago, my very dear friend wanted a small wedding, in a small Chapel, and an afternoon reception at a location that my Father could arrange for her. She wanted her wedding to be small and intimate and an afternoon affair. Her Father, who was rarely in her life, refused to attend if she didn't do things his way. Needless to say, her wedding was fraught with stress, and it certainly wasn't what she and her husband had envisioned. They are still happily married after nearly 20 years with two beautiful children.

I always thought her original idea was just lovely, much like yours.

However, to all of those Brides out there wanting a huge wedding, more power to them as well, as long as that is what the couple wants.

There really is no right or wrong way to have a wedding. I was merely asking all of those questions as I do love the details.

I also like your idea of taking the portrait photos prior to the actual ceremony so Guests aren't waiting around for an hour and you have the time to visit and enjoy them.

[kian]

Beautiful, just Beautiful Kristen! In Utah it is common pratice to do the Couple Wedding Photos before the big day, that way they choose a nice day, less stress and different settings in which to take the pictures. The tradition of seeing the Bride in her Wedding Dress before the big day is no big deal. It's a great idea!

Not a fan of the tosses either.

[Kristen&Bailey]

The location and date are officially booked

[kian]

[princelover]

Kristen, I love the mansion you have chosen for the wedding site. It is beautiful and your chosen colors are perfect. The Wisteria hanging over the dining area is so beautiful and goes so well with your color choices. The flowers are so georgous and I think it would be choice whether to go with real flowers or clay. The clay flowers look so real that I have been known to smell them and feel so dumb when I realize that they are clay.

Your gown, what can I say? It is beautiful! The only thing which would make it more stunning is with you, as the beautiful bride, wearing it. Your idea of having the pictures made, in advance of the ceremony, is great and that way, you can enjoy the day without stopping to pose for pictures. I am sure there will be many pictures made during the event by friends and family.

Just be sure to take time and relax and enjoy the time. So many couple get so caught up in planning the perfect wedding that they forget that it is supposed to be fun and it becomes extremely stressful. If something goes wrong, Laugh! I have learned in all my years that even in the most well planned events, there are always things that happen to gum up the works, so don't allow yourself to become stressed out.

Last but not least, Bailey will be precious as the "Best Dog" or ring bearer or should I venture to say "Best man?" I, too, can just see him, in my mind, with his little bow tie and prancing proudly down the aisle. I know that he would never want to be the one to "give mom away."