Beautiful Grounds

While we were at The Manor recently it was such a beautiful day outside and the grounds looked incredible I couldn't help but snap a few pictures of the grounds. I can't wait to take pictures outside here!

Take Two

After some initial mixed thoughts about going for a second hair trial, my Mom and I decided it was definitely worth a shot and worth the money. I was a little hesitant at first mostly because of the logistics involved, finding another salon, going for more trials, getting 8 new appointments, canceling the old appointments but my Mom pointed out to me I want to be absolutely 100% sure about the hair and she didn't mind coming back to Jersey on short notice (even though the drive to get here can be horrendous). I quickly pulled out my second and third choices for hair salons and started calling some new places. I took a drive down to the salon Tantrum 19 and decided that is where I would do my next trial at. As a plus side it was closer to the hotel so the girls could meet me there the morning of.

We went yesterday for my second trial and I couldn't have been happier with the results. It was definitely the style I was looking for from the beginning. The stylist, Nicole, listened and carefully looked at all the pictures I brought with me and delivered exactly that. I was interested in height in the front and volume in the back. I'm so happy with the way it came out. You can see from the front that it clearly looks like I have my hair down and the back is beautiful. I'd say it's about 95% there. I may have her do the front slightly different but this is definitely something that can be tweaked the day of. I'm excited with the way it came out and think it will be just what I want on the day of.

Disappointed Again

Let's begin by saying I would not recommend Bridals By Roma for a wedding gown and alterations if you do not plan to wear the gown as is. To say that they have poor customer service would be an understatement. When I purchased my dress the store manager promised me that they would do all of the alterations to my dress and that it will be exactly what I want. Since I fell in love with the dress and didn't think it would be an issue I went with it. First it was not clearly explained to me that the dress would arrive from the manufacturer with the same halter neck and the alterations would be done in house. OK fine, I understand that and am past that. Fast forward now over two months later, we go in for my next appointment and absolutely nothing has been done to my dress. NOTHING.

We arrived at the salon promptly for the appointment. From the moment I arrived and the first thing the alterations woman told me was "your dress isn't here," I knew I was in trouble. We proceeded to go back and forth me explaining that I clearly have an appointment that the woman made for me last time I was there when we originally went in to see the dress back in May, it's now August. Apparently, I came to find out that I had an appointment but my dress did not. Instead of saying that they made a mistake scheduling my appointment for this day they made it seem like I was wrong or lying about my appointment or when they told me to come back. However given that they had made absolutely no progress on my dress what-so-ever in two months when were they planning to call me and have me come back in?!?!?!?!

Back to the halter top issue, so clearly I needed a new top to be sculpted the v-neck is way too deep, I wanted a strapless dress. By this point the manager (mind you the woman that literally sold me the dress and was there also when I came back to try it in on in May) was involved in the conversation. We started to inquire about how they would make the new top, this is when the BS started getting laid on thicker and thicker. She started saying lines such as "oh we didn't order the fabric until after it came in, I wanted to make sure that was how you wanted the dress", COMPLETE LIE. Then we asked about when they ordered the fabric since it wasn't there with the dress, again no straight answer, first it was "oh it takes 8 weeks to come in," then it was "oh it will be in any day now." Why in the world would you not order this extra fabric you needed when you placed the order for the dress? So it takes 10 months for the dress to come in and THEN you wait to order more fabric and that takes ANOTHER 8 weeks? I don't think so. Plus all I have to say is it better be the same color as my dress.

Needless to say I was extremely disappointed and let down standing there in my beautiful wedding dress with my hair and makeup done. They didn't even want to put me in the dress at first, it was like "what's the point" since we didn't do anything to it. I am glad I got to try on my dress with my hair trial, it looked really pretty. After that we did cut out a layer of the crinoline which was so much better. I was getting lost in the dress and not to mention it was so hot and so much heavier. After the seamstress cut that out she did start pinning me in the dress some more, but what is the point if the top is going to change and it might impact the dress?

I did feel like a bride in my dress with the hair and make up down and tried on some veils (even though I already have mine). I felt better seeing it again and thank god I went in when I did because lord only knows when they would have called me back seriously. I think the worst part of the situation was that they didn't own up to their mistake and tried to make up a whole bunch of lies which sounded even stupider. I fully intend to call in two weeks to check on the status of my dress and there better be progress. I don't know what this fabric situation is going to be and I am not looking forward to finding out....

Pictures of The Manor

I love looking at pictures of The Manor. I absolutely cannot wait to get married here. I think back to when we were looking at wedding venues and when we first started looking I don't think I ever would have pictured us having our reception here, but I remember the first time we went there as soon as we pulled up I just got this feeling, I can't describe it but I remember thinking we when we left, 'this is the place we're getting married.' Anyway here's some recent pictures I have seen on some photographers blogs. Can't wait to get my own pictures here!

  

 

Hair is Booked!

This morning I went to check out hair salons in person to help narrow down my choices. I decided to go check out 3 of the 4 salons remaining on my short list, I ruled out one because their trial prices were the highest and it was also the furthest away from the house. I started off at Posh Salon I got some information from someone I think might have been the owner, I was definitely still interested in the salon after seeing it in person. Then I traveled over to a second salon, when I got there it was very crowded and I didn't love the layout or the feel of it, I actually didn't even wait in line long enough to get the information I just left ruling it out right then and there. Then, after a quick stop at Target - I had to pick up a strapless bathing suit so I wouldn't get bad tan lines - traveled up to the last salon, B Euphoria Salon & Day Spa. When I walked in the two receptionists were both extremely helpful and friendly and spent a lot of time answering all of my questions. I loved the look of the salon and even better yet I loved the prices, they were the cheapest on my short list of salons to check out and while I was there definitely determined it was my favorite one. They showed me some pictures which also made me feel really comfortable. I scheduled my hair and make up trial on the spot for Saturday, August 7th, which also happens to be my next dress fitting appointment. I figured I would maximize my mom's trip to NJ since she'll be coming for my dress and she can come with me for my hair trial, she'll also be getting a hair trial as well. I also scheduled all of the appointments for the girls for the wedding day as well. I think it will be a good set up for us the day of and they were the most affordable salon I looked at. I already really like this salon so I'm hoping their work is as good as the look and feel of the place and the friendly personnel. I can't wait to go for my trials!

Little Creations

I saw these really cute custom cake toppers, made by Lynn's Little Creations, and I thought they were adorable. I hadn't thought much about a cake topper before, I'm still not 100% sold that I even want one but I did think these ones in particular were really cute and figured I would share. They're custom designed to look like the bride and groom and include details of the bride's wedding dress and flowers. Of course in thinking of my own design I thought it might be fitting to also incorporate maybe an apple tree in it along with a pumpkin on the bottom. I'm not usually a "chachka" person, but it might be a fun memento to keep on my desk or something, right? I inquired about the pricing, it would be $55 for the bride and groom, plus $25 for the apple tree and $10 for a pumpkin, but is this cute cake topper memento worth almost $100? It could go on the cake or certainly on the cake table and it does go with our theme, but Mike's always telling me I'm cut off on my wedding budget (he doesn't really believe I actually have a wedding budget). I guess I have to think about it if it's something that I'd really like to have and then hold onto.

Picking a Hair Salon

One major day of vendors I have left to book is for Hair and Makeup. Being somewhat 'new' and unfamiliar with the area I don't know that many places to go to. Of course I've looked high and low online but none of the places I have personal experience or recommendations from friends which makes it a bit harder. Plus it didn't help during my search that some of the places in my mind I thought were ridiculously expensive. There's a nice salon in the area, the pink comb, and they'll also come to you but the prices were $90 for the bridesmaids hair along. I def can't afford to cover that much for the girls nor would I expect them to pay that much!

After much searching and many phone calls and weeding out the places that weren't in the budget, I think I've got my list narrowed down to the following 4 places:

1. B Euphoria Salon & Day Spa 
2. Posh Salon 
3. Tantrum 19 
4. Faces Plus 

I guess my next step from here will be find out when my mom can come with me and actually call one of them and set up an appointment for a trial and make sure I'm happy with it, otherwise this is going to be one expensive item to try out and that's def not in the budget! Here's hoping the one I pick will work out. 

Invitation Preview

We've been working with Jessica's Design Shop for our custom invitations. It's been a pleasure so far working with Jessica. She recently sent us the draft of our invitation suite. Mike's reaction was great, he was really pleased with the design and customization she did. She was able to incorporate our monogram that Mike's Dad designed for us on the ceremony invite and then she carried that artwork over into the other cards. The whole design was very cohesive and had the perfect fall elements we were looking for. We really liked her creativity in tying the whole thing together. The actual invitation design part was easy, my only regret is that I didn't give her the rest of the design elements other than the monogram to work with from our save the date, like the apple and pumpkin banners, oh well, it looks beautiful as it is and we're very happy with it as is!

Hotel Surprise

Well I have to admit our biggest surprise in all our wedding planning is that we are already out of hotel rooms as part of our hotel block for the night of the wedding. When we originally signed up for the hotel block we were actually hesitant and worried about filling 10 hotel rooms! Boy we could not have been more off base on that one. We only booked 10 rooms, and then increased it to 15 and within days of that we changed it to 20 rooms, the maximum allowed in a hotel block. We still have over 5 months to go till the wedding and we're already out of rooms. We're so happy to have such organized friends and family that are clearly on top of their plans with making reservations and want to be there and share in our special day and continue the night and next morning with us.

In one way it is a little bit sad though we know there are several more friends and family members that we heard wanted to possibly stay over as well and now unfortunately won't be able to be in the same hotel with us and have breakfast with us the next morning. One of our favorite features about booking at The Manor was the fact that we would have the convenient accessibility of the hotel directly next door and within walking distance. That was a big convenience factor and draw for us!

The timing of this discovery is convenient though. Ironically our invitations were also set to begin printing this week and would have included our hotel information, looks like we will need to make an adjustment there and do a swap.

I guess this is one of those things that you never could have predicted or anticipated and just have to roll with the punches and we'll have to look into alternate arrangements. I've already called another hotel located just a mile down the road from the hotel. I'm really hoping that they can provide some type of free local shuttle to pick up the guests and transport them since we don't want people drinking and driving. Otherwise I'm not sure what we'll do about transportation, that was not something we counted on in our budget. But I guess there will also be things you don't count on.

We really are so happy that so many people want to spend the day and night with us but boy we were surprised how quickly and fast these rooms went!!!

Easter at The Manor

As I write this post I am still ridiculously full, and this is at least 3 hours later now. We went to The Manor for their famous Easter Buffet today, and man did we eat our share. It would be hard for me to remember all of the delicious food that we kept eating, our plates were never empty for the two hours that we were there. It was also exciting because we got to eat in the Imperial Room, which is the room that our reception is being held. Although it was a bit hard to get a true sense of the space in the room because it was set up completely different, with the buffet in the middle of the dance floor and all different sizes of tables around. Mike and I both talked about the space a little bit and have our fingers crossed that everyone fits in there comfortably, but I'm sure they will, they do this every weekend after all for the past 50 years.

Let's see, what didn't we eat today? Well there was tons of delicious shrimp, a beautiful salad and appetizer section, with everything from marinated mushrooms, eggplant, tomato and mozzarella, cheeses and breads, salads, more shrimp (some type of marinated shrimp that my mom and I both really liked). Then for the main course there was eggplant rollatini, chicken, fried shrimp, pork loin, even the vegetables were delicious, the food was never ending, there was even a pasta station and a carving station. Then if that wasn't enough, all the dessert. Mom and I had a field day at the dessert station.

I'm pretty sure that I ate enough today that I shouldn't have to eat for the rest of the week! We had a fabulous time, and now the next time we will be there is for our wedding :-)

Invitations Check

Our most recent vendor to add to our list is invitations. I'm happy to say that Mike and I made a decision on our wedding invitation vendor, and it was relatively painless. As you may recall from previous posts, we had visited a small wedding store and looked through a couple of books, and then my failed attempt to go to another store. I made an appointment to go meet with a different invitation vendor. Much to my surprise as I was literally about to walk out the door Mike said he would like to join me!

After driving through the torrential  rain and traffic we finally arrived at our appointment. It was a husband and wife that own their own small invitation business. We began the process of looking through more books along with the owner this time, not the most exciting process. Most of the invitations we saw were not what we were looking for. We finally found one in the 'moderate' priced books that we would even price out. Needless to say the invitations were quite a bit more than we were certainly expecting to spend. It seemed crazy to us to spend so much money on a piece of paper that most people ultimately through out. So that was not happening. We both decided that was not the vendor for us. 

We were back to my idea of ordering custom invitations online. I had mentioned previously I'd been following Jessica's Blog for quite some time and I loved all of her work. I had requested a sample invitation in the mail and we looked it over again and both decided that was def the best option for us. Not only was it the most affordable we have the ability to customize everything including the design, so we may even get our monogram in there! 

Updated Website

I saw today on my Facebook (since I'm a fan of the Manor's Facebook page) that they have updated their website! The site is completely updated and refreshed including new pictures of the place and even menus and event information. You can see pictures of "our" room - The Imperial Room on there, and it overlooks the front fountain area. Our guests will be able to go out there and weather providing we might even be able to have our own bar out there! Check out the updates on their website here. 

Limo's Check

Yesterday we had a very accomplishing day. One of the items on our list was checking out a limo place (our first actually). We were headed down to Mike's parents house for the day and there was a limo place nearby I was interested in looking at. The hardest part for us was actually finding the building. After a couple of loops around we were able to find it. I knew they were having a 'March Madness' "sale" and were throwing in some extras if you booked in March.

When we inquired about the vehicles available for our wedding date, we were shocked to learn that they had just ONE SUV limo left in their fleet for 10/23/10! Already taken were 2 Cadalliac Escalades, 1 Hummer, and 1 Navigator. Luckily they still had the Infiniti limo left which I was MORE than happy with! The limo seats 18 people, and we're only 13 so we should have plenty of room. They also do a red carpet champagne toast after the ceremony for the bride & groom -- which I absolutely love and wanted done. And they'll be champagne in the limo as well.

We booked with them on the spot even though we didn't shop around at all. I had done some preliminary looking on the local Knot NJ board and this company did come highly recommended by several past brides on there and their prices are pretty reasonable and they had tons of positive reviews on wedding wire also. It was one vendor I didn't mind that we didn't shop around for. The price seemed pretty good so we just went for it. That's one more item to cross off the list!

Flowers - Check

One more item to check off the list and I couldn't be more excited about it. I had almost canceled the appointment earlier in the week after I had met with two florists and the first met my criteria and budget. Boy am I glad that I didn't cancel the appointment. From the moment I arrived at the appointment till the moment we left I was so excited about every idea put in front of me. Everything just seemed to fit so perfectly and the design work was amazing!

Laurie (owner and designer) of Laurelwood Designs truly knows her stuff and her done her homework. Her picture website alone was filled tons of examples so I was able to browse through in advance and show her just what I was looking for.

For the bouquets Laurie understood the richness I was looking for out of the flowers. The bouquets are going to include: confetti roses, mango calla lillies, brown hyperain berries, leonida roses and other small details. Laurie was a headpiece designer before she went into the floral business so she loves the small details to finish off the wrap of the flowers whether it's incorporating pearls or crystal accents or other things to match. Then for the church we are going to keep it simple with just some beautiful aisle bows, with satin ribbons and fall leaves and berries tied into it.

My favorite ideas revolve around the reception items. I was so excited when I saw a picture on Laurie's website that she does the pumpkins for the name table cards. That was one item I was looking into doing and the fact that Laurie is able to do it and provide the pumpkins and red apples is so fantastic - it's one less item I have to worry about taking care of! Then if that wasn't enough in the center of that table she will CARVE us a funkin (a non perishable pumpkin) with our wedding monogram in it - so the leaves from our save the date that Mike's dad designed - I couldn't believe it when I heard this! And then she'll decorate the table with fall leaves and votives, and do the same on the cocktail hour tables, and our sweetheart table too.

There were just so many great ideas that she brought up during our meeting I was overwhelmed, I don't even think I could remember them all right now. Of course there's the centerpieces for the tables. Which will look similar to the picture here. But Laurie will also incorporate mini red apples into also. I love the candle in the middle and even just the foliage is the perfect share and gives it that rustic fall felling. In addition she'll put votives around it and fall leaves on the table. I knew by the time she was finished going over all of the ideas with us and she even came in right at budget (I was so worried that it was going to be more) I had no doubt in my mind she was the perfect florist for me. I booked her on the spot without even consulting Mike - and he was sitting right next to me! I could not be more excited for working with Laurie and the flowers for our wedding!

Flowers & More Flowers

In continuing my search I met with another florist yesterday afternoon. I attempted to drag Mike with me but he was having none of that. He claims that guys do not go to florist appointments, although I beg to differ, but anyway... I headed off on my own to the appointment.

The florist did have a lot of experience, that much was clear and her work was beautiful. Her style was quite different than that of the other florist that I met with. Although her work was beautiful I must admit I was disappointed in comparison to the other. The other florist had a great deal of passion and enthusiasm for all of my fall ideas and worked to incorporate all of those ideas into the plan. I never even got to discuss my ideas and theme for the wedding with this florist. Both coming in at virtually the same budget, I'm def going to say this one was off the table.

Now my only decision is do I book the original florist I met with right now or I had two other appointments set up, do I go to those first and then book. Decisions, decisions...

Beautiful Blooms

I don't know what I was thinking at the time I scheduled the appointment but I decided that I wanted to take on another task and start the process of looking for and interviewing florists. I started off slowly with just one florist in mind to start. Actually Mike's hairdresser had recommended her, so that was my first place to start.

I met with Joann from Blooming Brides. She was absolutely wonderful. Not knowing what to expect from a florist for wedding flowers, or if my budget would even cover it, she made the process so easy. She was very honest with her ideas about things in her opinion that worked and didn't work. She had a lot of experience and it was evident that she knew her flowers and knew The Manor quite well.

Joann totally understood my ideas related to the fall and has so many great ideas on how to incorporate them into the flowers. She talked about adding gourds, and mini apples and pumpkins into the table centerpieces, something I had not seen at a wedding before. She also had ideas for card table with cylinders of wheat from a local farm.

As for the bouquets, I loved her ideas of monochromatic shades of orange. She definitely understood my vision for the flowers and events. One of the flowers that she wants to use in the bouquets are the circus roses (pictured on the left) as well as mango calla lillies (the guys will have these also). I was very happy with my meeting with Joann, I think she had a lot of great ideas which would really work well for our wedding!

Wedding Vendors

I have to say the most difficult part about planning a wedding so far has been finding the right vendors. The process has been quite time consuming if you don't know where to start looking. From looking at lists of vendors on the knots, to recommendations on the knot boards, compiling lists and then clicking through websites. For narrowing down the photographer vendor search I must have clicked on at least 150 photographer websites and then had a running lit in word with ratings scale and comments.

Then after you've made your list of who you want to meet with its on to the next hurdle of contacting them for more information, reviewing that and then scheduling appointments to meet with them. And finding time to meet with all these different vendors is no easy feat with my busy schedule. School two nights a week isn't helping any either. Of course from the meeting you can tell who you like and who you don't. After that it's down to decision time.

A few things have sparked writing this post.

1. A vendor that made me feel guilty about my decision
2. Vendors that stalk you!

I'm not going to get into my whole long story about the first item, I attempted to but I was all over the place.... Maybe some other time....

I'm also not a big fan of being 'stalked' by vendors. We've had two particular DJ companies that have left us MULTIPLE phone messages and emails. The one even got my name wrong and called me Renee. I appreciate that vendors are in sales and are trying to follow up on sales leads but please don't called me 8x and keep sending me personal emails, especially if I've responded that I got the info and I'll look it over. One or two follows up is enough, not 7 or 8!

Anyway, that's enough of my vendor search ranting. So I will say finding the right vendor is not easy but hopefully we've found the best for us so far and we've made educated decisions on our choices!

Dance the Night Away

That's exactly what we're going to do! After a long and frustrating search I'm happy to say that Mike and I have chosen our DJ. We'll be going with Gemini Productions, based out of Wayne - right near our house. It was an interesting search to say the least, meeting with the 80s rocker guy was probably the highlight of my search. I had a leading contender for a while but unfortunately he was looked a good distance away from our house and meeting with him in person became quite difficult to schedule. On a whim I called a place right near our house (actually right next door to one of my favorite wine stores - coincidence? I think not).

I even got Mike to attend the appointment - well for a brief time anyway (he had another softball game to get to) We were very happy with the services offered and the MC himself (his name is Mike - also a good sign). He's worked at the company for a long time and is the assistant manager so he had a lot of experience. He knew The Manor well and had some suggestions for us on where to set up.

I'm also excited because we'll be getting the uplighting that I had really wanted to do - I think it will brighten up the room and give it a great look. We'll also have basic lighting included too for the dance floor.

It's great to have another item checked off on our list - One less thing to worry about!

No Easy Listening

Finding a DJ has been anything but easy. I've met with DJs that ranged from a 80s rock band left over, to a woman working with her ex husband and ordering him around & she went on all about her personal life to just plain expensive. You would think it would be easier to find someone to play music for the evening but it has not been.

My request is simple no dressing the guests with sombrero's, maraca's, glow sticks, neon sunglasses or any other items such as those. And no playing of any line dances such as the electric slide, chicken dance, YMCA, cha cha slide or any other version.

One would think it would be easier to find a good DJ.... But the search goes on.....

Expanding My Search

In meeting with my first DJ last night, I've determined the following: (1) I have expensive taste which has lead me to (2) weddings are expensive and (3) it's a good thing Mike has me on a budget or else I'd blow our budget. While the first DJ I met with was great (Elite Sound Entertainment), with adding my uplighting option it's a bit more than we wanted to spend. So I am broadening my search and sent out emails this morning to the following DJ companies (that all supposedly have uplighting options as well) in hopes of finding a good but more affordable DJ.

1. Golden Note Entertainment
2. Ultimate DJ Entertainment
3. Elite Entertainment
4. Unforgettable DJs
5. DTM Productions

And I still have Bridget's DJ on my list to reach out to..... Hopefully someone on this list will work out or it's back to the drawing board again....