Venue: CHECK?

July 19th, 2010

I went to see the Vignette Vintage Ranch this weekend! It was definitely the majority pick from all of you on Friday. I was thinking that it would be very hard to incorporate my vision and style into this space, but after talking with a few of my bridesmaids, I realized that everything I have been talking about from the keys and the pie favors, to fire-pits and the burlap inspiration are all things that would be perfect in this venue! I guess I never really knew what my inspiration and vision really was!

So, now to take you through the venue :) I will warn you in advance though, there is definitely some good news and some bad news. (PS-these are iPhone pics, so they are not all that good.)

This tree is in the middle right when you walk in. I know that Ian would love to have horseshoes at the wedding as we just got them in our backyard and they are all obsessed! We could use this tree for a bunch of signs pointing all different directions, which would be super cute!

This is the ceremony spot. The backdrop is great, rolling mountains as far as you can see. The spot in front is all grass, which I don’t hate and isn’t a deal-breaker, but I don’t love all that much. I think I could make this alter pretty cute, but it’s definitely my least favorite part of the spot.

This is just a picture to give an idea of the amount of space, greenery, picture spots, etc. The ceremony spot is on the left.

You can kind of see the ceremony spot to the right, and this is the bar area. They have really vintage coke freezers, which we could definitely incorporate! Kind of a cute little area over there.

This is the ranch area! Super rustic, but I will tell you that it looks sooo much better in person! This would be the cocktail area. There is an indoor bar, an old vintage furnace, and benches lining the walls! Super cute little area.

Standing on the ranch veranda, you look out on the barn. I love the barn! I was thinking that we could use the space between the ranch and the barn for the fire-pits, s’mores, cigars, etc. At night we can open the barn doors (on the left) and dancing could take place inside while the fire-pits are going outside.  That way everyone is together even if not everyone wants to do the same thing!

This is the inside of the barn. It is just super simple and could offer SO many really amazing decor plans. Literally an empty slate!

So there you have it! The place was quiet and serene and overall amazing! I could see every aspect of the wedding fitting in perfectly here, and I could really picture it all. I could picture the people, the set-up, the decor, everything!

Now for the downside of it all. I was so excited and ready to book. The venue coordinator called me and I told her I was ready to pick a date and send her the deposit immediately. Can you believe it??? I had decided on a venue! I was beyond excited. So what changed? I asked her about fire-pits, and guess what, that’s a no. They don’t allow fire because of the mountains and greenery. She did say that she would check since she heard how upset I was about that one aspect. So, there is still the possibility especially if I do it in April as there is more rain so the dryness isn’t an issue. So, hopefully I’ll find out soon!

Otherwise, I have to make the decision if I need the fire-pits that much to find a whole new venue, or if I should just figure out something that would be just as awesome. Any suggestions??

PS: I love that someone agrees with me on the name Brooklyn…and I totally agree about the backyard thing. Thanks for the letter :) I really do totally feel like I totally understand. <3

{Weekly Recap} The one where my blog and life are crazy busy!

July 16th, 2010

The last couple weeks have been pure insanity! After finishing up the Fashion Show I had to clean-up,  go through all the photos, etc. etc. Before that was even finished, it was suddenly moving day, so I was wrapped up in packing/moving/unpacking/sorting through boxes to find my other shoe (which I still haven’t found anywhere!) On top of that, we have been meeting with brides to do their event design! Oh and I am writing for a slue of blogs, online mags, etc. now too. Oh and, aren’t I supposed to be finding a venue and planning a wedding? Weird because I haven’t even had time to think about that! Definitely hectic, but SO much fun!

So, onto to the blog recap now that I am done telling you my busy schedule. If you follow me on Twitter, you have probably seen the tough questions I have been asking “Better venue or more people at your wedding?” “Refined Winery or Rustic Ranch?” And no, I am not just asking random questions, I am taking questions that I can’t answer for myself and throwing them to you guys….consider yourselves the decision makers of my wedding! (haha how awesome would that be if you guys did all the decision making, for real) So, I took it to the blog and gave the three options of venues I am looking at. I was overwhelmed by the comment love I received and all the answers that everyone chimed in! It has definitely made my decision easier since everyone is bringing up incredibly great points for me to take a look at! So, thanks to everyone who responded, and  make sure you add in your answer as well!

Next up on the list is the A-MAZ-ING giveaway I have going on right now! Create a bridal look (dress and whatever accessories you love) and enter to win a vintage hair piece and matching earring from Lottie-Da Designs! Check out all the details at smartbride.net and send in your submissions.

I had bridal showers on my mind, so I had to make a cute little pink and green bridal shower inspiration board! I have since decided on doing a Bridal Shower Brunch, so we’ll see what comes of that! Cute idea though, right?

Though I have already  professed my obsession with Vera Wang many times over, I decided to do it once again to show off her latest Spring 2011 collection, including the dress-of-my-almost-dreams! (If I could get the Diana or Dorothy dresses out of my mind for longer than a second!)

I had the opportunity to feature a wedding with the most fun looking guest list ever!  I gotta hand it to an incredible photographer, none other than Aaron Shintaku, for capturing some incredibly fun (and probably also embarrassing) photos from this wedding! Not to mention the fact that the bride was definitely rocking the vintage look, which just makes this whole wedding that much more enjoyable!

Oh for the love of florals! Centerpieces really get to me for some reason. It’s pretty much an obsession of mine. This centerpiece post is no different! I’m loving all the different options I have with this little detail of the wedding :)

Speaking of florals, this wedding by Picotte Photography had some of the best florals ever! LOVE LOVE LOVE. Oh and if you want to fall in love with a wedding venue, this place is a great one to fall for!

To end the round-up of the week, let’s talk about the sign-in table! That is yet another thing I happen to be OBSESSED with. I came across an amazing idea involving no table at all actually! Instead, I plan on using an antique cabinet and hanging the place cards on the doors. Which leaves all the shelves for some pretty fun design opportunities!

So there you have it! I would love to hear from all of you about these ideas and any others that you are adding to YOUR wedding design! What is hitting you like a massive brick of inspiration??? Oh and do you follow me on Twitter? Cause you should be…I’m just saying! I love chatting it up with all of you brides and hearing about your lives as well! And don’t forget that Engaged and Inspired offer event  design services too, so you can most definitely e-mail to get a quote for event design!

{Help} Narrowing Down the Venues!

July 16th, 2010

I am about to get amazingly personal with all of you, so I sure hope you’re ready for it! I have been so venue-challenged, and I feel like it is only getting worse. It has been almost 8 months and I swear, if I don’t find one soon, I’m giving up! So, I am going to lay it all out here for all of you with the hope that some feedback is just what I need to pick the right place!
I started this wedding planning process with the idea that I could do the wedding for $10,000. Now, that may be a very popular number these days for those budget brides, but I never thought that $10,000 would mean giving up my Vera Wang, my fire pit and lounge areas, or all the other million things I wanted. And let me say this in my defense, I never would have had to. I’m smart, resourceful and very DIY handy. I know it could have been done. So, why am I not doing that? Well, because I woke up to the amount of work it would take and the amount of hours I work in a week (well over 100) and I just realized that I would burn myself to the bone. I don’t have the time like I used to.

So, fine. I got over that and I upped the budget. I let the parents and everyone help out and we came to yet another agreement, which sounded fair enough. The only problem is that I can’t get the REASON behind the $10,000 budget out of my head. That’s a lot of money. Really, it is! So, where do I draw the line? That’s the problem I keep struggling with.

Ok, now onto the venues, I have three solid options at this point. Read my pros and cons and let me know what you think!

  1. Ventana Inn

I absolutely love this place (remember when I talked about it before), but it is definitely the most expensive! I would get one terrace for both ceremony and reception. The terrace holds 80 people total. This means I am cutting my guest list by 50! (We both have big families). So let’s say I can cut the guest list, those 80 chosen ones are still going to cost $75 per plate for dinner. This is not a bad number, but adding the drinks on is a whole new story! For 2 hours of open bar, it costs $35. 2 hours! OMG, that’s insane. So unless I want to be tacky and make an announcement that everyone needs to literally stock up, I have to pay $10 per hour per person after those two hours. And what about during dinner, during speeches. My 2 hours includes people not being able to stand because of speeches! Lame.Roughly, I will probably end up spending $150 per head for everything including 30% of random dumb extra charges. So, all in all, this wedding scenario will cost me $14,200 for 80 guests. 20 of which are in the bridal party!

Not to mention all of that, the rooms at this place are about $500 per night! I just can’t make my guests do that. So, I would have to research a cute Inn near by.

This one is definitely the splurge and probably my favorite option, if I had the money for it and was comfortable spending that!

  1. Vignette Vintage Ranch

This spot is great, but it’s not 100% my style. I am definitely more a fan of the refined, classy, chic look. It’s a little harder for me to think with rustic, vintage, distressed, and shabby looks. Every wedding I see makes me crave a ranch wedding though, which is why this place is in the running. Only Beer and Wine (but it is BYO meaning I will save literally thousands of dollars!) caterer is $86 per person. It is all inclusive with tables, chairs, linens, taxes, etc. etc. etc. That’s sooooo nice! But, I have a feeling this venue just isn’t the nicest vintage barn. But does that matter?? Chandeliers, lanterns, couches and fire pits should handle that just fine! This one would be about $13,000 for 100 guests including everything. Cheaper and more guests, but definitely not as nice.

Photos: Vignette Website

  1. My parent’s backyard

You may have heard me bring this up before. Well, its definitely still in my mind! My thought is that I would do WHATEVER I wanted and go a little psychotic on the details and the décor. Heck, I have months to do all the prep work. I would save so much money finding my own caterer and bringing in my own drinks. It would be half the cost roughly. So, I decided the one thing that could make me fall in love with this idea would be to plexi-glass the pool and make it the dance floor!  It would be the splurge of the event, but it would be INCREDIBLE! I would still be spending under $14,000 to do food and everything including the plexi-glass.

The con is definitely that it is not set up for a wedding, so it makes it far more difficult. I would want to find a place for the ceremony that wasn’t the house. I’ll have to research some places around the area. The other problem is that there are no epic photo spots. I want some great photos and the backyard just won’t provide that for me. This is definitely a huge consideration of mine!

Check this for ALL the pictures of my parents backyard!

So there you have it.

I would LOVE to hear thoughts and suggestions, ideas or even other venues you think I must see! I need some help ehre, and I am turning to the people that have been riding this wedding planning wave with me for the past 7 months! I know you guys know what I want, what a great wedding is, and what the best decision is-so go for it!

Thanks !

{Real Wedding} Brendan and Rene by Aaron Shintaku

July 15th, 2010

Today I have a super fun wedding to show you! I swear, I have never seen so many amazing/funny faces in my life. These people really know how to have fun!

I love the Vintage-Hollywood look she is rocking too. So glamorous. I am also totally taking note, and I think you should too, of their getting-ready time. It gave me the idea that starting the day early and spending more time together getting ready will just equal more fun and more bonding time! And of course having a photographer there to capture the epic moments is always fun!

Loving the Bridesmaid and Groomsmen photo-shoots!

I want those single flowers in little votive jars. Gorgeous!

And now that the wedding is over, it’s time to party!! Check out this fun-loving crowd!

Thanks to Aaron Shintaku for this uber-fun wedding! :) Congrats to Brendan and Rene!

Wrap your head around it {Giveaway}

July 14th, 2010

Yep-I’m hear to announce another giveaway!

As some of you may know, I write for the Smart Bride blog. Smart Bride is a recycled dress shop with the most amazing search function I have seen to date. For the Smart Bride blog, I focus mainly on bridal fashion, and all the different looks you can achieve on your wedding day. So, I set up a great little giveaway over there. Since I love you guys just as much as my Smart Bride crew, I want to let you in on it too!

The Prize:

This super-vintage and super-chic hairpiece from Lottie-Da Designs! I just love this piece, and I am so happy I get to offer one of you this as a prize! And while that is enough for all of us, Lottie-Da has decided to be extra-generous and offer a pair of matching earrings to go along with this! Yep, that’s $100 worth of loot!

How to Enter:

Create a bridal look including a dress and whatever accessories you would match with the dress. I have picked some of my favorite Smart Bride dresses, so feel free to use any of those dresses, or search for another! You will also see that I added all of my favorite Lottie-Da Designs pieces on that post as well-and there you go! Half the work is already done! Send your bridal look to allison@engagedandinspired.com. (no need to create a board, just send each image.)

2. On August 1 all entries will be sorted through and the finalists will be posted on the Smart Bride blog for everyone to vote on!

EXAMPLE:

Giveaway ends on July 31, so HURRY AND ENTER!

{Real Wedding} David and Sarah By Picotte Photography

July 14th, 2010

You have heard my singing my praises about Picotte Photography in past posts, and you’re bound to hear it again. I love the style and the romance she adds to her photography and this wedding is no different.

Meet David and Sarah-the use of many different types and colors of flowers is just amazing. I love how they decided to keep everything clean and classic looking by adding clear vases and lots of different whimsical flowers.

This looked like one heck of a wedding! Thanks to David and Sarah for letting me show it off here, and thanks to Picotte Photography for yet another fantastic wedding.

Picotte Photography Teaser

July 13th, 2010

Oh how beautiful! Here is a bit of a teaser of what is to come later today when I show off the full wedding.

Thank you Picotte Photography for this amazing wedding.

Color Me Up

July 12th, 2010

Bursting with color. Such amazing color inspiration.

{Inspiration} Pink and Green Bridal Party

July 9th, 2010

I have been thinking a bit about my bridal party these days! I decided I want to think of something so different for the bridal party that you couldn’t even recognize it as a bridal party. I want to think of some attraction that would be the main attraction for the party and get people excited about coming to this super fun party!

My idea for decor is Pink and Green because years ago, those were going to be the color of my wedding. I decided against that pretty fast, but since it is just the bridal party, I could definitely get away with that color palette. Pink and green fruit, treats, and drinks! Only pink and green. Super fun little challenge to the party!

Source: Elizabeth Anne, style me pretty, jomygoodnessstyle me pretty

Still thinking of my really great attraction to the party though. Any ideas or anything you have done in the past that you thought was incredibly amazing and chic?? Do tell!