Sundays and Schedules

For the first time, I'm considering a Sunday wedding.  A lot of the places that I like are a little high with the ol' budget.  Sundays on the other hand, are much more affordable.  Discounts range from $500 to thousands of dollars.  I've also heard that vendors have Sunday discounts.  I sure hope so.  

This semester (everything is in semesters until I finish Pharm school) our goals are to:

-Sign a contract at an awesome venue 

-Get a rough (life can change big time in 1 and 1/2 years) guest list

-Get a rough budget (I'm cheap, which helps and hurts when doing this)

So far here is what we have:

-A couple venues we like and a decision to make.  We've got a favorite, but I'm not sharing until we make a decision :)

-Guest list: 120-150 people. Big range, no real clue how many will come.  People don't even have date books for 2010 yet.

-Budget: $15,000.

Whew, I think I'm on track. :)   

Terrace Club

This past weekend Grant and I visited another exciting venue.  The Terrace Club is in Dripping Springs and they were very professional.  The cost is high, but do-able.  I think that the scenery was the prettiest that we've seen yet. The ceremony would look over the hills of the Texas Hill Country (one of my favorite places to look at).  The food is supposed to be great (my roomie has been to a wedding there).    The bar is BYOB (yay!) and the wedding coordinator comes with the package (she seems very organized).  Overall, this is just making our decision harder.  We're getting there slowly but surely.  

Grape Creek Vineyards

In the final in installment of Saturday tour, we have Grape Creek Vineyard which is also located in beautiful Fredericksburg, Texas.  The vineyard is beautiful and has a very Tuscany meets Texas Hill Country charm to it.  The price is right at this place but it does tend to feel like it is in the middle of nowhere (1 hour from SA and a little over an hour from Austin).  There is no rain plan for the ceremony but there is a good event room (big enough for 150 people) that is actually pretty (I'm a sucker for a good Plan B).  One down side, though, is you can only have wine (alcohol) to serve the guests since it is a vineyard :P.  With three feasible places, the plot is starting the thicken. 

Nimitz Museum

This one is out in Fredericksburg and cracks me up because it is a museum that honors an old WWII general.  I think that the garden is awesome and like Ye Kendall has an aold world charm with walls of limestone.  The ballroom isn't exactly what Grant and I are looking for but it is VERY beautiful.  the outside is by far the best part of the venue and the coordinator was so nice and seemed like she would work with us on the cost.   The entry to the garden is fabulous--my mom was totally envious of the gardens (if you had a professional--yours would look like that too!).  I love Fredricksburg and have many great memories in the town. 

 

Ye Kendall Inn

Saturday, my mom and I visited the Ye Kendall Inn in Boerne.  It is also an old establishment.  The food has to be catered through them, but there is NO problem there.  We ate there for lunch and were so pleased.  It was different but not weird if that makes sense.  The courtyard is beautiful with three "walls" of limestone and awesome, huge oaks with lights on them.  The ceremony would be on the banks of the Cibolo Creek (perfect but no good back-up plan).  The downside is we would have to rent out the rooms surrounding the courtyard (6) for 2 nights!   

getting it together...finally!

After googling for weeks for wedding venues that I liked and calling/emailing people for prices, I finally got the information together in one place!  I used  Grant's favorite problem Excel to organize.  Seeing it all in one place helps know what is what and how much it costs. Hopefully soon we will actually pick a place.  My headings are: Venue Name, location, Website, Base Price, Price Includes, Catering (onsite only or offsite), Ceremony Cost and Restrictions.  It's also color coded.  I love color coding!  I also made a huge timeline for Grant and I too follow (hey we have 1 1/2 years but that makes it EASIER for me to forget things:) especially with how busy everything has been).  Thankfully, it is also color coded!  

Winfield Inn

Last sunday, Grant and I went out to the Winfield Inn in Kyle, Tx to tour the facility.  I'd never actually driven through the town of Kyle which is actually pretty cute.  They, like the rest of the small towns in Texas, are trying spruce up their "downtown."  The inn was built in the early 1900s and the inside of the inn has that look.  For the reception they have a beautiful patio that is open air with trees all around the property.  The people there are uber nice and helpful.  The only problem is the quote they gave us was a little too high for our budget and their rain plan is only mediocre.  I NEED a rain plan because I'd worry about the weather way too much if we didn't have one.  Overall, we liked the place A LOT but are going to keep looking. There are always more fish in the sea :)

2010 Here we come!

Well after thinking about this for WAAAYYYY too long, Grant and I decided on May 29, 2010!  Yes, It is forever away but undoubtedly brides are CRAZY and everywhere we liked for 2009 was filled to the brim and with rotations for me going almost up until Christmas, winter was out too.  May 29th is memorial day weekend, the week after I graduate from pharmacy school (wow--I like the way that sounds!).  

We are joining the ranks of other crazy people and are going to pick a location in the fall of this year so we are ahead of the game.  We will see how that goes in the coming months.  I'll review the places as we visit keep them all straight in my head.

The Date Game!

So we are trying to pick a date to get hitched right now and it is tough with my brother leaving for Afganistan in January, me starting rotations in July and Grant working!  As soon as the date is nailed down, I'll share!   

My Ring!

Yes, I can't stop staring at ring.  I cock my head a little each time I look at it and sigh like a school girl--and most importantly think of Grant especially when he's far (College Station is far enough!) away.   It is an Old European cut.  This style was used in the 1870s-1920s.  It has passed through several hands before gracing my finger and I think it has a beautiful old world feel to it.  

We're Engaged!

On August 19th (Grant's birthday), he proposed to me!  It was so romantic!  We were at the coast where we have had many memories and after dinner we went down to the beach to ride our bikes.  When the sun started setting Grant got off to take pictures of the sunset.  He finally came around to the side of my bike (yes I was still on my bike!) and said many sweet things about spending the rest of our lives together and then got done on one knee!  It was the best--I was actually carrying the ring for part of the bike ride!  The rest of the trip was awesome (I think I stared at my ring a lot) and reminded me how much I love this guy!