back and forth ... and back, and forth

Last Friday we went up to the area to show my dad the Shattuck, look around for an RD location, and check out the hotels. After all of the run around with the historical society we were also still in need of a site for our Rehearsal Dinner. We found a lovely restaurant to host our rehearsal dinner. About 20 minutes from Keene, and 10 minutes from our venue. Nice owners willing to work with us and accomodate. It wasn't perfect (we'd rather something closer to Keene), but they were definitely free, and nice.

On our way out of Keene we stopped at a "camp" (a large house on a lake) owned by the college. We'd checked it out once before but Tim wasn't impressed. This time it was a brighter day and we were able to see into the house more with our noses pressed against the windows in the doors. We loved it. About 5 minutes from the hotels, a picturesque setting, and we wouldn't have to worry about taking over half their business for the night (like we would with the other place) because it would just be us. To our good fortune, the place was free!

Now, we just need to find caterer. Unfortunately, because it's owned by the college we need to use a caterer who has an off-site liquor license if we'd like to have a bar. Not that we have to have a bar, but ... I'd like to offer beer & wine. It's a celebratory dinner, after all! Our top choice restaurant doesn't have one, but when we called them up they were a little sketchy anyways ... no, they don't have a menu, oh it's for a rehearsal dinner? What's your budget? Hmmmm ... we felt like we were going to get royally screwed.

So ... now we've got to call the one place that does have an off site license, and if they're not free/reasonable we've got to see if there are companies who are licensed to do bartending.

Do you know a place in South Western NH that offers anything like that?

Here it comes!

Wow! It's been more than a month since I've posted. All of a sudden we hit the ground running not long after my last post.

We booked a photographer, who is fabulous.

We built a website. We used Wedding Window and it was super easy and nice. You can even get a custom URL from them, but we had already spent a mere $1.99 on one from GoDaddy with the ".info" ending, which seems like a great way to go since people will be looking for info on our wedding when they visit!

We booked our honeymoon! We'll be in fabulous Tulum, Mexico for 6 nights. Aaah...

We've had some run-around with our rehearsal dinner. Keene, NH does not offer many choices for hosting one other than one large restaurant (which we can't use because of some problems they caused at another family rehearsal dinner), and several hotels. One fabulous restaurant has a room, but it's not big enough. We'd ideally like to use a restaurant or a hall and have it catered by some one over our choosing, instead of a ballroom at a hotel or the country club with the standard fare. Then, we found the Cheshire County Historical Society. Good space, reasonable rental rate, and the restaurant we wanted to cater had just catered there the week prior. Great news! Then we call to book and they need to find some one to work that night. Okay, that's reasonable, but it's 3 months away. Then, oh, they need to make sure they can rent the space while they have the new exhibit in there. We got the okay on that one and it was back to just needing someone to work it. Days later we get the call--it's a no-go because of the exhibit that will be in there. What kind of run around is that? And, why didn't they say from the beginning that it's available for rental pending the exhibit that will be in there at the time.

Sad.

Mandarin Orange

We have about a thousand things checked off of our list since my last post. Well, that's totally over-exaggerating, but ....

We met with the coordinator at our site and confirmed our menu and our napkin color, and tasted 3 delicious cakes while delving through photos of cake designs. Our final choice was Mandarin Orange, which was the standout for sure. They were all great but that one ... WOW.

We confirmed our officiant, which is also great. He's a friend of Tim's mom & stepdad and seems great and we'll be meeting with him in the fall ... so at least we have a little time to think about what we actually would like.

It feels like it's all "really happening" :)

Stuck on the rehearsal dinner ... have any new & different ideas for a group of 30-40 in Keene, NH?

Ooooh nice

The wonders of the internet mean super-cheap home projects ordered from the internet (http://www.save-on-crafts.com/memmakbrstam.html woohoo!) and finding out the place you were going doesn't have the dresses you wanted to try on (sad).

Going dress shopping this Saturday. I'm pretty excited. We've got to figure out what to do about our potential photographer who lives pretty far away from us and doesn't have a driver's license for a few more weeks ... hmmm. Hopefully nobody else books him until we can figure it out! Gotta send the cake lady our choices, too. I'm pumped for Lemon cake with seedless raspberry jam ... mmmmmm

Brainstormed about the rehearsal dinner over the weekend with dad and I think we came up with a good plan, which Tim is into. Now we just need to talk to his mom & step dad when they're home. Things are going.

Today, I leave you with a potential invite:

Check this out

We have a DJ! We booked a meeting to figure everything out for the day-of with our venue, and a cake tasting!

We're totally rolling.

Slacking

Okay, so we've been total slackers. The to-do list I posted last week? Well, we've done one of those things, sort of. I emailed the potential DJ this a.m. about meeting up. Hopefully tonight we can confirm the photog we want to go with and arrange a meeting with him. Hopefully.

We did do a little rehearsal-dinner research this weekend, picking up info from a couple of restaurants about the possibility of a taco or fajita bar (fun!). I also go info on the pricing for getting your hair done at this recommended place. I don't know what I was imagining but it cost a little more than I thought, considering the area and that it's just for styling ($35 trial run, $45 day-of). There are a couple of other places I may check out, and I'm thinking I might book a hair cut at whatever place comes out on top, just to make sure I like it before booking.

And, that's about it. Tonight--save the dates. Cross your fingers.

getting out of beach-mode

Well it's tough to switch from week-at-the-beach to weekly grind. So far the only "to-do" we've checked off this week is just a little while ago I booked a discount rate at the Holiday Inn in Keene. $10 more per night than the Best Western, but we didn't have to give a set number of rooms and the price doesn't expire. Two good things. When we get the real web site up and running I'll have those links and info on there, as well as some other nice inns and options in the area.

The to-dos for the week?
1. finish save the dates (half left to make and mail)
2. call/email the dj to talk nitty-gritty & hopefully book
3. talk to the potential photog about meeting
And over this week or the next...
1. figure out where to do some dress shopping ... and when
2. book meeting to figure out the details of our event and ... best part ... TASTE CAKES!

Today I leave you with this lovely photo as a centerpiece inspiration

Venue

Check out our venue!

www.shattuckweddings.com

We're looking into rehearsal dinner sites, researching photographers, cake bakers, and more. Very exciting. Lots to do.

Looking forward to our vacation in a week but really hoping we can relax and not worry about this stuff while we're away!