Vendor Lust

As I get deeper into the wedding process I keep coming across vendors that are literally leaving me speechless. They are all way out of our budget and most are things we're not even having at the wedding but there's no harm in tooting the horn of someone who is incredibly talented at what they do.

Curtis and I decided a long time ago that a videographer was something we didn't feel strongly about having at the wedding so we nixed it. After scouring countless wedding blogs and sites I have continuously ran into the names of Vanessa McKeller out of Tyler, TX and Still Motion Cinema out of Canada. Vanessa was first and after seeing one of her videos I cried. I cried out of happiness for two people I had never met while watching their Super 8 video of their wedding. For those of us who don't know what that is (I had to google it) it's traditional film instead of a digital picture and the result is simply stunning. This video reminds me of the Wonder Years, a show my mom and watched hours of while I was growing up.

Erika & Phil in Super 8 from Vanessa McKellar Productions on Vimeo.

Vanessa shoots in all digital then adds Super 8 if you want. Don't let the fancy shooting technique fool you as she's so talented with digital as well! This one was shot in Ft Worth and it's so good!

Brooke & Matt's Trailer from Vanessa McKellar Productions on Vimeo.

So from that moment on I was hooked on looking at wedding videography. I still don't think we'll have a videographer but I can't stop looking! It's a great way to "borrow" ideas from other weddings and it helps bring home the entire purpose of a wedding. When you watch these videos you literally can feel the emotion in each one and a big hats off to the videographer for that!
My ultimate videographer lust? Why that would be Still Motion Cinema out of Canada. It's so obvious that they are the best of the best and every video looks like something you'd see in a movie. They are the creme de la creme of wedding videography and it's not hard to see why.

robin + carlos' sde from stillmotion on Vimeo.

Beautiful!

Honeymoon is Booked!!!

One of our most anticipated parts of the wedding is booked! Curtis booked our honeymoon flight this past weekend and we're going to Fiji!!!! :) We're still firming up details on hotels but it's looking like we're going to go with Paradise Fiji Resort. It's a traditional Fiji hotel featuring Bures (pronounced Bu-ray) but with a touch of luxury as each bure has an outdoor shower, jacuzzi, designer decorations and sits overlooking the ocean. :)
We are so excited to go to Fiji! I think we're most exciting to dive and snorkel there though. It's listed as the 2nd best place in the world to dive only behind the Great Barrier Reef. We'll be diving with everything from bull sharks to angel fish, octopus to clams, barracudas to the top soft coral capital of the world. I'm getting certified before we go but I have a feeling I'll be spoiled for life with scuba! :)
I can't wait to go on this vacation because I know it will be the trip of a lifetime! Fiji, here we come!!!

Table Inspiration Photos

I wanted to do something unique and different for the table layout at the reception. I am so in love with the new trend right now to have what is known as the X table formation. In the center of the room there will be the head table but instead of having a few round tables or a long rectangle table, the tables are setup to form an X. This makes conversation flow a breeze, it will seat wedding party and dates along with our immediate families, and it adds visual interest to the room.

To really make this table setup stand out, the X table will be the main focal point of the room and most of the floral design will be on this table. This allows me to do something more creative on the tables surrounding this one and really go over the top on the head table. I hope to use hydraengas at the base of the table in rectangle vases on their side, position tall vases on top of those with orchids and roses displayed at the top, and tons of candles throughout the vases.

On the surrounding round tables for guests I wanted to bring in various flowers to keep the eye moving around the room. Each table will feature one flower choice and will be done in a dramatic modern setup. For example, one table will feature cala lilies so I'd love to have a 5-6ft tall vase in the middle with 2-3 stems of long stemmed lilies inside of the vase. The connecting element will be that all flowers will be white. It'll blend well but each table will have it's own style.

Some inspiration photos:

This photo represents a mix of what I'd like to do on both the head table and the individual tables. The single flower arrangement is highly dramatic and I really love the amount of glass because it reflects the candlelight so well.

I love the way the white flowers "light up" when light hits them. These are cherry blossoms and I love the way they look! This could be on the head table as well. I also love the height of the arrangements and I think this will look fabulous in that large reception room!

I cannot wait to see what all of these ideas look like once I put them into fruition! :)

Celebration Catering- Possible Caterer

We met with Celebration Catering this week to do a preliminary tasting of some of the hors 'douvres we'll be having at the wedding. We're pretty sure we're going to go with this caterer so I'm posting pics of what will probably be served at the reception. (spoiler alert!!)

We met with Megan who was so nice and very eager to please but not overbearing. She’s the first vendor I’ve spoken to (haven’t spoken to very many but still) who didn’t try to tell me how things WILL be done but rather genuinely listened to what I wanted. The food was delicious. Some things better than others but it gave us a great idea of portion size and how many pieces we expect each person will be having. I took a few pictures to show both the size and the presentation. We didn’t get to sample everything (nor do I think we could have eaten that much) but she’s going to get me pictures of the remaining items so I can see size and color combos.

Crab rolls- by far the best bang for our buck! Each one is about the size of a large eggroll and because it’s fried, it’ll help absorb some of the alcohol in guests. Creamy middle and very easy to eat. I think Curtis and I dub this as our favorite.

Raspberry Chipotle Chicken Roulade- good and filling. Lots of chicken (as you can see) with a hint of spicy/sweetness that was very nice. Again, filling because of the cream cheese and chicken.

Baked Brie Crostini with Strawberries and Praline drizzle- excellent but very small. And unless you like the Brie/sweet combo, I don’t think you’d like this. Since we have a lot of my family members coming we’ve lowered the quantity of this a bit and upped the quantity of the crab rolls.

Shrimp Baguettes- This was another in my top picks too. 2 bite piece that’s easy to eat and oh so delicious. To me, the presentation is the best on this one and I’m a huge fan of creamy cheeses (I believe this is a dill cream cheese) with dill so it was a hit with me. The sprig of dill as garnish made me happy. J

Cheese tortellini with garlic cream sauce, sun dried tomatoes, pine nuts, scallions and basil- excellent as well. This is something I’m working with them on with presentation. The picture is about 2-3 servings (6 pieces a serving) and my vision is to have these brought out in high ball glasses with a pretty fork or spoon in it. it’s easy to carry around and easy to eat plus it prevents one person from serving themselves 5 servings out of a chafing dish. J also considering a martini glass serving presentation but I’m leaning towards a simple high ball right now.


I think what ultimately won be over (besides the price of course) was the fact that Megan was 100% on board with anything I wanted to do. I’m 86ing any and all things related to the average catered buffet so no chafing dishes, no sterno, no bunched table cloths, no fake vines, absolutely no animals, people or things made out of fruit or cheese. She wasn’t offended by that and is completely open to me setting up the displays and they just put out the food. They’ll have the chafing dishes in the back if needed but they won’t be on the floor. It feels too buffet and it’s not a buffet reception. I found a picture I’m stoked about and want to use this as a jumping off point for displaying the food.

It looks like either glass or acrylic slabs held up by vases full of roses and orchids. I plan on having candles underneath (if glass) to keep the heat up a bit for the hot choices. However, I’m completely in love with the display and it looks very elegant.

Looking forward to putting all of this together!!! :)

Engagement Pictures!!!!!

I'll let them speak for themselves! :)

Reception Venue Pictures

I wanted to post a few pictures we took while touring our reception venue so everyone can see how beautiful this place is! I'm so excited to have our reception here and I'm looking forward to dancing the night away in this gorgeous space. :)



It's on the 6th floor so guests enter and take the elevator up.



Bar area. It's built in which I love!

HUGE space!

Inspiration

I wanted to post a few inspiration ideas I found online that I have fallen in love with. In a perfect world I would replicate a few of these but I'm going to be very creative with my choices to try and do this as affordable as possible. Not cheap, but affordable. :) I'll let the pictures speak for themselves!

Engagement Party!!!

I was so excited when I came across this idea in an invitation book and had to find a way to incorporate it into the wedding. Curtis and I love to travel and I think this is a fun and creative way to share our engagement story with our loved ones. The party is set for October 24th at The Greek Isles Grille & Taverna and I am looking forward to some delicious greek food. :)

I spent a lot of time in Photoshop trying to make this look both authentic and work on the little details. The postmark stamp is the date of our engagement, the island in the top left is the island of Santorini (and the only one I could find with the town we stayed in listed, Imerovigli), the stamp in the top right corner is an authentic stamp from Santorini, the meter at the bottom is found on all postcards & the picture on the front of the card is one Curtis took just minutes before popping the big question. It was a night I'll never forget, a moment I'll cherish forever and hands down the best proposal I could have ever dreamed of. :)

I can't wait to relive our engagement with our friends and family and look forward to seeing you all there!

Official Wedding Colors!

From the day we got engaged I knew I wanted a Navy and Ivory/Champagne color scheme for our wedding. Navy isn't nearly as harsh as black and it's a color that looks good on a lot of different skin tones. Ivory/Champagne is very luxurious and it saves the wedding from looking too nautical. What I didn't expect for my third color was copper. I was leaning towards chocolate brown but didn't like how I had 2 dark, heavy colors and one really light one. So while browsing the lovely web I came across that color combo and it felt like the stars aligned. It's very luxurious, expensive looking and elegant. I feel that it will take this wedding where I'm dreaming it can go. It will also help warm up the wedding about since Navy is a cool color. Yah for having a color combo set!

My First DIY Bridal Project

So I found some pictures online earlier today of these gorgeous pomandors to hang on pews in the church. I decided I was crafty enough to give these a try so on my way home I got some tissue paper from the dollar store, push pins, ribbon and a styrofoam ball. I simply cut round various sizes in the tissue paper and started pinning until it looked right. I couldn't believe how well they turned out! I plan on making around 30 of these and using either navy blue or copper ribbon for a pop of color. This took about 3 hours, including the time it took to figure out how to make it properly. I would say they take about 2 hours if you know what you're doing. I'm going to be adding crystals to the insides of some of the flowers for some sparkle and thinking of using an ivory sheen tissue paper for the real ones. I was pretty proud of my DIY skills! :)

*These are the actual ones. Pictures to follow in the next few days once the crystals are on but they look just like this.

Our Reception Venue!!!

I'm so excited about our reception venue. It's in downtown Dallas with views of the city from the 6th floor. It's a beautiful grand ballroom type of space and my mind is racing with ideas on how I'm going to decorate. Everytime I look at pictures I get all excited all over again! :) Take a look if you'd like. www.specialdayeventsinc.com

Welcome!

Hey everyone,

I want for all my friends and family to be a part of this special time in our lives so I've started this blog to help keep up with the crazy wedding planning. :) We've set the date for October 9, 2010 and I cannot wait to be Mrs. Gulick!