On Sunday we met with a photographer that a friend of my fiance's recommended. Fortunately she has a studio in NJ, so it made it easy to meet her. She seems like she is on top of her game. She had albums from other weddings she has photographed, so assuming it really was her stuff, she is very good. Her prices are fair, and I liked her.
However, my fiance pretty much decided that she was the one based on a few phone calls she had with her. The photographer asked all the right questions, said all the right things, and pretty much closed the deal before we even pulled into the driveway.
I'm learning something... If my girl wants it, and I don't strongly disagree with her, she can have it. I plan on saving my energy for battles worth fighting, like when it comes time to pick the music.
Let me make this clear, I'm kind of enjoying the process. I don't want to get bogged down in the tedium, but am happy to work on the big things like picking a band and getting together information on the local hotels and finding a restaurant for the rehearsal dinner. The invites, save the dates, address gathering, color stuff, etc... is all up to her.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Tea Party & Lobster Night
Earlier in the week my fiance was invited by the in-house wedding planner at our reception hall (yes, they provide a free wedding planner, but more on that later). They invited her to a "tea" with several other women that are also getting married there. She wanted to go, and for some reason I agreed to drive her out there. The place is about an hour drive from NYC, so considering that my fiance doesn't drive to work, and taking a train there and back would take forever, I took the bait and drove her.
Fortunately for me there is a restaurant on-site, so I grabbed a bite with my fiance's dad. It was lobster night, so how could I say no?
I know that I mentioned it is an hour drive from NYC, so with us living in NJ, it is more like a 90 minute drive. Add NYC traffic to the equation and you get total chaos, or lots and lots of traffic. It took me two and a half hours from the time I left our place in NJ until we pulled into the parking lot at the place. Oh well, at least it was lobster night.
Her dad is a good guy, and a Yankee fan, so we always have lots to talk about. Her mom decided to join her for the "tea", so I knew that they would make the most of it.
Dinner was great. The Yanks played a great game, and my fiance's dad had his Iphone out, so we had constant updates. Throughout our meal I received text messages from my fiance with gripes about the event - for example, there is hardly any food here, and none of it is good.
Finally my fiance and her mom wrapped it up at the "tea", and joined us afterwards. Apparently the "tea" is more of a weddings for dummies than anything else. Vendors are there to sell you their stuff, and they cover every tedious detail of wedding planning. My fiance was loaded down with brochures, flyers, samples, and even some chocolates.
It was basically a waste of time. Maybe if we lived closer we would benefit from their services, but we hardly have the time to make the trip out there to meet with them. We are trying to keep it simple, so we will skip all the BS they suggest like hiring a full time makeup person to follow my fiance around on the day of the wedding. And doing 3-5 hair tests before the wedding. Or much of the other stuff they suggested/were selling.
Good service, but thankfully my girl is rational, resourceful, and not a bridezilla, or not yet at least.
Thanks to her dad for dinner.
It was my first time driving her out for a "tea", and it will be my last.
BTW, no tea was served.
Fortunately for me there is a restaurant on-site, so I grabbed a bite with my fiance's dad. It was lobster night, so how could I say no?
I know that I mentioned it is an hour drive from NYC, so with us living in NJ, it is more like a 90 minute drive. Add NYC traffic to the equation and you get total chaos, or lots and lots of traffic. It took me two and a half hours from the time I left our place in NJ until we pulled into the parking lot at the place. Oh well, at least it was lobster night.
Her dad is a good guy, and a Yankee fan, so we always have lots to talk about. Her mom decided to join her for the "tea", so I knew that they would make the most of it.
Dinner was great. The Yanks played a great game, and my fiance's dad had his Iphone out, so we had constant updates. Throughout our meal I received text messages from my fiance with gripes about the event - for example, there is hardly any food here, and none of it is good.
Finally my fiance and her mom wrapped it up at the "tea", and joined us afterwards. Apparently the "tea" is more of a weddings for dummies than anything else. Vendors are there to sell you their stuff, and they cover every tedious detail of wedding planning. My fiance was loaded down with brochures, flyers, samples, and even some chocolates.
It was basically a waste of time. Maybe if we lived closer we would benefit from their services, but we hardly have the time to make the trip out there to meet with them. We are trying to keep it simple, so we will skip all the BS they suggest like hiring a full time makeup person to follow my fiance around on the day of the wedding. And doing 3-5 hair tests before the wedding. Or much of the other stuff they suggested/were selling.
Good service, but thankfully my girl is rational, resourceful, and not a bridezilla, or not yet at least.
Thanks to her dad for dinner.
It was my first time driving her out for a "tea", and it will be my last.
BTW, no tea was served.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
We got the place, now we need some music.
My fiance and I were engaged a little over a month ago, and a lot has happened since then.
First, you deserve some background on us, our plans, and the people helping us make it happen.
I am from NJ, and she is from NY. We currently live in NJ together. We had been dating for a little over 18 months when we got engaged. She decided that she wanted to get married close to home, and I am ok with that.
Fortunately for us her parents are very excited about the wedding, so they have been helping out. To save us the trouble of driving out there to scout out places, they spent some time weeding through many of the banquet and reception halls for us. They narrowed the pack, and we made a trip out on a Sunday to see their top two. The choice was pretty clear, and we picked one.
I'd like to tell you the name of the place, but in the interest of keeping this anonymous, I am not going to list the name of the venue or our names. I may list the vendors we are using, but I may hold off on doing that until after we get married. I haven't gotten that far yet with deciding how it would be best to handle that. If you think you know who I am, please don't post my name. Email me and I will gladly get back to you, so thanks in advance for not outing me.
Picking the place was a lot easier than I thought it would be. It was actually a no brainer. It is close to my fiance's home, it is competitively priced, and the people that work there seem great. When visiting with other halls, I thought that they would all put their best foot forward, but I learned that this isn't always the case. One place smelled bad, and the woman giving us the tour seemed disinterested. It probably didn't help that I told her that I was having a really hard time getting past the bad smell. Oh well.
Since then we have checked out music options, learned about photographers, and did some light research regarding hotels and invitations.
A great resource for us has been friends that have also been married in and around NY. We like recommendations, and I am pretty confident that at least one of them will come into play, but more on that later.
I am going to quit typing for now, but promise to return later in the week with updates, questions, and my take on the whole process.
First, you deserve some background on us, our plans, and the people helping us make it happen.
I am from NJ, and she is from NY. We currently live in NJ together. We had been dating for a little over 18 months when we got engaged. She decided that she wanted to get married close to home, and I am ok with that.
Fortunately for us her parents are very excited about the wedding, so they have been helping out. To save us the trouble of driving out there to scout out places, they spent some time weeding through many of the banquet and reception halls for us. They narrowed the pack, and we made a trip out on a Sunday to see their top two. The choice was pretty clear, and we picked one.
I'd like to tell you the name of the place, but in the interest of keeping this anonymous, I am not going to list the name of the venue or our names. I may list the vendors we are using, but I may hold off on doing that until after we get married. I haven't gotten that far yet with deciding how it would be best to handle that. If you think you know who I am, please don't post my name. Email me and I will gladly get back to you, so thanks in advance for not outing me.
Picking the place was a lot easier than I thought it would be. It was actually a no brainer. It is close to my fiance's home, it is competitively priced, and the people that work there seem great. When visiting with other halls, I thought that they would all put their best foot forward, but I learned that this isn't always the case. One place smelled bad, and the woman giving us the tour seemed disinterested. It probably didn't help that I told her that I was having a really hard time getting past the bad smell. Oh well.
Since then we have checked out music options, learned about photographers, and did some light research regarding hotels and invitations.
A great resource for us has been friends that have also been married in and around NY. We like recommendations, and I am pretty confident that at least one of them will come into play, but more on that later.
I am going to quit typing for now, but promise to return later in the week with updates, questions, and my take on the whole process.
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