I think I found the place!

I found the spot for my wedding and reception yesterday! My friend Betsy and her daughter came with me to view it, and help me ask questions that I can't think of. It's so beautiful!To the left of this sign is the picture below where the ceremony will be held outside. There's seating on either side.Here you can see the building to the right, which is where the reception is held and then the ceremony on the left of the picture.This is the inside of the reception hall. The door on the left is the door I'll be walking out of for the ceremony.
The building is extended for the dance hall with a small bar area and stage for the band.Wouldn't this counter top be just perfect with huge glass jars of punch and lemonade???
And this is a perfect this area for s'mores!

At the fair

Jason and I decided to go to the local festival downtown last weekend and ended up meeting Rachael and Derrick and the kids and Todd, Tom and Tony too!
I guess that's what happens when you have a huge family, right?

(not my) MIL-zilla story

I am very grateful of my Mother-in-law-to-be [MIL]. Brenda is very kind and sweet and I know she won’t be a “MIL-zilla” at my wedding.

However, a co-worker of mine told me a story from one of her friends, whose son just got married.

In the words of Monk, “Here’s what happened”:

The bride’s mother was a pistol and tried to sabotage the wedding wherever she could.

1. She stood when the bridesmaids were entering instead of when the bride comes down the isle.

2. She shooed her ex-husband away when he came up to light the unity candle with her.

3. She put the flowers in the freezer instead of the cooler.

4. She only put meat in about 2/3 of the sandwiches. So the guests were getting empty buns.

5. She then told one of the guests to go to the kitchen to get meat for his sandwich!

6. Before the wedding, she was planning on selling the “extra” meat in baggies at the reception. (The bride put an end to that).

7. While the newlyweds were visiting with family, she had their table cleared of everything! And they weren't done eating! Basically, booting them out the door.

Can you imagine???

Ring nightmares

Right after Jason proposed, I had starting having nightmares about my ring! And I base the blame solely on one of my co-workers, Cherie.
About a few months ago, Cherie and I were chatting about rings and she showed me hers and asked me what kind of ring I wanted... She then proceeded to tell me that her diamond in her ring has fallen out three times! Yes! She lost the diamond in her ring, three times!
Can you imagine?

So, of course, after Jason gave me the ring, I started having nightmares that my diamond was missing, or fell out. It even haunted me during the day. If I was driving, I'd quickly look at my ring, just to make sure it didn't just fall out. Or when I washed the dishes, I would take the ring off and put it across the room on a hook, but every now and then I would look back just to make sure it hadn't fallen or that the diamond was still intact!

When I came back from my vacation, I told Cherie how she has traumatized me! She laughed at me and then told me it was only because she only had three prongs and that now she has 4 and it's fine! (I have four prongs on mine, so I'm in the clear!)

Oh! And another co-worker of mine told me this story about her ring:
She lost her ring about three years ago, and thought that her dog, a puppy at the time, had eaten it. So, yes, they had been looking in the backyard for quite some time and had never found it there, but she just knew it was there! After all this time, they never found it… in the backyard! Yes, just recently they found it! Want to know where? Well, apparently, when the dog was a puppy, it would hang its butt over the bed and poop! Gross. I know, but that’s a puppy for you. And would you believe it? They had just recently moved the bed, and found a ring in dried poop, on the metal bed frame! Can you imagine??? That would be just awful!

So, do any of you have any ring stories to share?

The Jar Idea

I found this picture on a blog this morning and wanted to post it, because it's almost exactly what I want for my table center pieces, minus that flower, plus a lot of red, orange, green, and yellow type fall flowers/wildflowers.

The Wedding Freak???

My loving little sister, Natalie, also known as my Matron of Honor is a brat! If you check out her blog, you'll notice on the right side bar, that there is a blog that she keeps track of that she has nick-named "The Wedding Freak". And that person would be me!
Here's my defense:
1. I am not a wedding freak.
2. I am only getting married once, so I want to enjoy and share this excited experience.
3. I thought a blog would be nice to have so that Jason and my family and friends can read about the latest planning updates.
4. I want to remember all the fun and interesting and sometimes bizarre experiences of actually planning a wedding!

And furthermore, it's my wedding and I can do whatever I want to! Hahaha!

So... There!!!

(This post is dedicated to my little sister, Nat the Brat.)

2 in 1 - Ceremony/Reception option

The Blue Dress Barn: Option # 1, 2, and 3

My sister Natalie had her wedding reception here, and Jason's friend got married and had their reception here too.

Of all the places I've looked so far (either on line or in person) and any other places I've heard of, this place is the place I imagine it all happening!
It has the texture, the ambiance, the colors, and just the right size and location for what I want!

It's a barn.
A barn that has been redone and is absolutely beautiful!
I can have my wildflowers in antique Mason jars as center pieces here. I can have my pumpkins and apples, and other fall-ish colorful type stuff here and it will be amazing!

I have plans to look at it this week, and I can't wait!

I wanted it from the beginning, but because of the amount of $ it is to have, I thought it wouldn't be an option.
When I spoke to Jason last night, I told him that it was my 1st, 2nd, and my 3rd choice of locations and that I loved it so much, so he told me to look more into it and see what we have to do to hold it!

I'll keep you all posted!

Ceremony and Reception location options

My friend Betsy has been helping me with my wedding plans by setting up appointments for venues for either the ceremony or the reception. This last Friday, we were able to look at two different Bed and Breakfasts. I've been wanting something a little different than the usual, so I thought B&B's would be a good place to look.
The first one we went to was absolutely beautiful! The scenery was perfect! Just what I wanted! Green. Trees. Nature. Beauty. Simple. Perfect!
Here's the gazebo where we could get married. We could even potentially have chairs around in a circle for something a bit different. I was also thinking maybe a tent, just in case it rained (or snowed, since Michigan is famous for such indecisiveness when it comes to weather!) Here's a quick picture I took of part of the house, and the inside was something out of a magazine!

Just behind the house, there's another smaller gazebo.

When Betsy and I arrived at the house, we were both very impressed! I took these pictures so that I could show Jason later and see if he wanted to come and look at it with me too! The couple that owned the place were very cordial. We discussed wedding plans and such in the kitchen (which was huge!) and I really wanted to go outside to see the grounds, since the house wasn't large enough for a wedding. When we stepped outside to view the grounds, we were suddenly hit with a wall of mosquitoes! It was horrible! I think I might have gotten one in my eye, and if I wasn't careful, I'm sure I could have swallowed a few, as well! It was awful! The place was absolutely beautiful, but I just couldn't think of anything other than those mosquitoes! As we walked behind the house to the smaller gazebo, I noticed this:

A beautiful little man-made pond full of over a thousand Japanese goldfish and lily pads (and most likely the root cause of why there were so many mosquitoes!)
I just knew this would not work for me. Especially not with this breeding pond behind the house, because they'd never go away! Then it started raining, so we all ran inside the house and sat down on the adorable comfy couches. She asked me if I had any other questions, and I didn't, because the only thing on my mind was: if I get married here, my wedding's going to smell like Citronella candles and I'll have to give "Off" away as favors! I DON'T THINK SO!

We left soon after for the second B & B which was just down the road. As soon as we pulled into the parking lot, we knew right away that this would not work, but felt we should go in just in case. As we walked into the office, the owner (a younger version of Rodney Dangerfield type) greeted us at the door and before heading off to the "honeymoon suite" he showed us the room where they eat breakfast, which was somewhat of a smaller replica of a nursing home cafeteria. We then headed to one of the cabins to view one of two rooms that were available to view. As we walked in, we were hit with that smell. You all know that smell. An old cabin. A little mildew. Grandmother's attic. Linens kept in a cedar chest. Can you smell it? Add that with "antique"-ish type furniture and quilts that were old, not vintage and a tiny TV in the quaint little window seat with a nice set of bunny ears! Lucky for us, he got a phone call shortly after we walked in and Betsy "reminded" me of all the other places we had to view that day and how we may have "over-booked" ourselves, and probably should leave and then plan on coming back another time.
No.
And.
No.
Better luck next time, right?
And we drove away, still itching from all the mosquito bites!