Invitations are important

I'm thinking of making my own invitations. I have recently started making my own Christmas cards, which I thoroughly enjoy doing. While it will definitely be a more cost effective way of doing them, I'm honestly looking forward to the process. I feel like it'll be a really personal touch to a wedding, which isn't always achieved. It'll feel really great to create and mail out invitations I made.

With that said, I floated the idea to Matt and even asked if he'd like to help. While he positively responded to the idea, I'm hoping he'll enjoy helping to create them with me.

After talking it over with a coworker of mine who made her own and is considering starting her own side business creating invitations, she directed me toward a couple of websites to consult. I really liked some of the ideas presented at one of the sites that I ordered a few samples. As silly as it seems, I'm thoroughly looking forward to the samples arriving. If I can, I'll post some pics of the samples for the 4 people who may read this blog.

Cheers.

Food tastings are some sort of awesome

I guess I never really thought about it, but trying to decide between two caterers means a whole lot of delicious food to try.

On Monday, May 17th, Matt and I had two tastings set up with the two top caterers. We went back to the previous place we had a small tasting at, and also set a tasting up with the other place with all the interesting Irish offerings.

I have to say, while I did enjoy the salmon options offered by the first place, I much preferred the second (and slightly more expensive) place. Almost everything offered was something I enjoyed. Seems like an easy thing to accomplish, but with my picky pallete, it can actually be quite difficult. The presentation and take-homes offered by the first place were really great. Additionally, when we mentioned that one of the passed appetizers we tried wasn't quite our favorite, she had teh kitchen whip something else up for us to try.

We're currently waiting on a new quote from the second place listing some of teh changes we made as a result of the tasting. I'm crossing my fingers that it'll still be somewhat reasonable. Probably my toes too, if I could.

Looking for someone to help us say "I do"

Because neither Matt or I are particularly religious, we are looking into alternative options when it comes to someone performing our ceremony. After talking it over with others who were looking for something similar, we're hoping to settle on what's called a "celebrant."

Basically, a celebrant is an officiant who legally performs the ceremony for a couple, incorporating the legal aspects, but also weaving in the personal touches requested by the couple.

We met with a potential celebrant at a south loop Starbucks last Saturday, April 17th. I have to say, anytime we're meeting people who may be a part of executing our wedding or rehearsal, I feel totally awkward. This case was no exception.

We talked with this celebrant for roughly 35-40 minutes, discussing what she does, what we'd like, how a ceremony works, etc. She spent some time asking us some basic questions, to which I felt as if I needed to provide her with the "correct" answer (read: answer she was looking for), and that made me nervous. If we decide to ask her to perform our ceremony, she provides us with separate questionaires that we each fill out, which helps her to get a better idea of each of us, and of us together. I'm hoping that if we do decide to ask her to perform the ceremony, that this process will help make me more comfortable with her. And to be clear, it's not her specifically, I don't believe, just the idea that someone we don't know suddenly being a really important part of our life.

That said, we've also entertained the idea of having a friend earn whatever certificate needed to legally perform weddings, but I'm not yet sold on that idea. I'm still thinking I want to leave it to the professionals, but at the same time, it'd be kind of cool to have a personal friend perform the ceremony.

Lots of thinking to do... and hopefully meeting with at least a couple more celebrants before making a final decision.

Everyone likes food, right?

So, because we're having our reception at the Irish American Heritage Center, we need to bring in a caterer to feed all of our guests. Luckily for us, the IAHC has provided us with a handful of recommendations for companies that have catered there in the past.

We've reached out to a couple of places and received menus and quotes back from both. There are positives and negatives to both, so we're working through making a final decision.

A couple weeks ago, we met with one of the caterers to go over a potential menu, and thanks to a couple having their final tasting before our meeting, we had the chance to sample some of their offerings. The staff was knowledgeable (although a bit pushy), the food was good, and they'd obviously worked at the IAHC before.

The second company offering a quote with a menu is one that I'd like to meet with to potentially set up a tasting, as they are somehow my top choice prior to meeting with them. I'll tell you why - they took our location into account and offered such options as:
Irish Sausage Puffs
Flaky puff pastry filled with homemade Irish sausage then baked
Potato Pancakes
topped with corned beef, Swiss cheese, and a dollop of Guinness mustard

The rest of their menu is also pretty delicious-sounding, so I'm hoping we have an opportunity to meet with them soon, so we can finalize this decision.

It's almost official, most of our attendees have been asked

So, I wanted to publish a quick blog entry about those friends and family members of ours who have somehow agreed to stand up next to Matt and I when we marry in October.

Below is a breakdown of those idiots:

Matt's attendants
Matt Weiss: a friend of Matt's from his high school tennis-playing days and working at Action Territory Family Fun Park in Kenosha, WI
Tim Mortlock: Matt's closest-aged cousin, also known as Seaman Tim.
Kevin Mortlock: Matt's cousin & brother or Tim.
Bjorn Bedore: another friend of Matt's from his high school tennis-playing days in Kenosha
Owen Guerrero Reynolds: a cousin of Matt's from his dad's side of the family. (We haven't asked Owen yet, as he's in Nicaragua serving in the Peace Corps. Hopefully he doesnt see this before then. If so, hi Owen, would you like to be in our wedding?)


My attendants
Jen Bruch: a friend of mine whom I met at my first job out of college in 2000. Jen, Teri and I lived together in Chicago for a year as well.
Megan Reynolds: Matt's younger sister, currently working as a snowboard instructor in Lake Tahoe, CA.
Megan Watson: a friend of mine from high school. Megs is currently due to give birth a week after our wedding, so we're hoping all goes well and she stays healthy enough to participate (but will not be upset if the baby decides to show up early) :)
Teri Kieffer: another friend of mine whom I met at my first job out of college. In addition to living with Jen, Teri and I lived together for a total of 3 years in Chicago.
Jamie Levey: a friend of mine who is one of a handful of girls who enjoys sports as much as I do. Jamie currently lives in Hermosa Beach, CA.

The ushers
Scott and Mark Patterson: Brothers and Matt's cousins from his mom's side of the family

We are so looking forward to sharing our special day with everyone and are honored and grateful to have so many great friends willing to stand up with us.

Finding a dress isn't so hard

So, as my previous post read, I went dress shopping on February 15th with my maid of honor, Jen Bruch. I'm going to be honest, I was quite hesitant internally about going to try on dresses. My body certainly isn't in a shape that I wanted to see in a wedding dress. Additionally, I was worried the store wouldn't have any dresses in my size. This seems completely silly now, and may seem so to the reader, but it was a valid fear of mine.

I took a print out of my favorite styles that I found online at David's Bridal, so I could help give the bridal consultant an idea for what I wanted. That said, I had no specific, consistent style of dress. All of my choices were all over the place. Going in, I knew I liked lace and I knew I liked v-necks. The dress I ended up with has zero lace, nor does it have straps.

I had a couple of strapless dresses on my favorites, but only thought that it'd be a good idea to try some on simply to rule them out. I did the same for a fancypants ball gown too. (That was atrocious, by the way!).

After trying on a handful of dresses, I had a favorite, which was the second one I tried on - a v-neck dress with a well defined waist and an a-line skirt. I felt really great in it and even thought that it made me look skinnier than I was!

My consultant was great. She was patient, never pushy, and seemed to ask the right questions about each dress. She ended up having me try on the dress I ultimately chose, which really made me feel comfortable in the situation. She had me walk around the store and sit in my favorite dresses, to ensure that also felt comfortable.

I was waivering between two dresses near the end of trying on dresses... and so I tried both on again at least two times, ultimately deciding on a strapless taffetta dress. This is likely all quite boring since I will not include pictures...but it was a nice experience for me.

I'm quite appreciative that Jen was there with me. I'm not the type to enjoy shopping, especially the type that includes trying on clothes. The experience I had was enjoyable and exactly as I'd like it to be.

Finding a dress

Well, today I am venturing off to find myself a wedding dress. Well, maybe not find one, but look for one. I'm not one who enjoys shopping, even less enjoyment with trying clothes on, so we'll see how today goes.

We're starting at David's Bridal on Elston in Chicago. If we've no luck there, we may head out to Harlem Avenue, where apparently many bridal stores consume space. Thanks to my coworker Karen for the recommendation. She also recommended that I tell any shop that my wedding date is 2-3 months prior to when it is. Hadn't even known I should do that, but it sounds like a great idea and a good way to avoid any last minute dress disasters.

Off I go. A follow-up post will hopefully come shortly.

We've found a venue!

As you can see, I've done an awful job at keeping this site updated... but here's the latest news:

Matt and I went to visit The Irish American Heritage Center one night in December after a recommendation from a friend. The building is an old school, which has been converted in the IAHC. (This was one of the first reasons why I liked it, sight unseen). The center has a neat little pub in the bottom floor, where we decided to go for some food and drinks prior to checking out the space.

We were eventually shown the brand new banquet room on the second floor & I immediately fell in love with it. Inside is a huge mahogany bar that looks as if it belongs in a pub in Dublin. There's a stage for a band or dj that isn't too imposing. There are a couple of projectors built into the ceiling, with 2 screens that are also built in. There's a state-of-the-art sound and light system (not that I understand how that works).

In any case, as it is with most decisions I make, I decided I really liked this place and hoped that Matt did as well. Luckily, he and I have similar tastes in most things. Now, it was on to convincing Matt's parents this was the place.

The IAHC is located just off the expressway in the middle of a neighborhood, as most schools typically are. As I already said, it's an old building as well. I wasn't sure how Bob and Fran would feel about that. We met them for dinner and drinks after they visited and they couldn't have been more excited for us, which in turn made me excited all over again.

So, this brings us to the date. We had hoped on getting married on October 9, 2010 (one year to the date of the engagement), but the room was booked that evening. So, after checking the Illinois football schedule (who knows why, since they're awful), we decided on the following Saturday, October 16, 2010.

So, there you have it. Matt and I are going on Monday the 18th to sign the contract and put down the deposit. Holy moly, it just became more real.