Possible Wedding Locations and Plans

All I did was walk into David's Bridal today, bridesmaid dress shopping for Nina's wedding (we found and bought our bridesmaid dresses for her wedding!), and I am now wedding obsessed. Not only do I find myself looking into cute bride gifts that I think Nina cannot do without (as I should be doing with my maid of honor duties), but I also find myself diligently researching options and details for my own wedding.

A couple ideas have crossed my mind. I want the colors to be "guava" and orange/pink. Any coral, salmon, pink, or orange color really. We plan on having a late summer wedding. I have been looking into locations also. My dream is Lovett Hall in Greenfield Village. I would LOVE to get married there!! However, it costs a ridiculous amount of money. I have also been looking at the Dearborn Inn, Grosse Pointe War Memorial, and the Inn at St. Johns in Plymouth. All have different pros and cons, but it looks as though we have time to decide. I'd like to go look at all of them first too. Matt wants the ceremony to be on the water, so have been thinking about Blossom Heath or the Grosse Pointe War Memorial for that. However, the Grosse Pointe War Memorial has a lot of requirements that I don't know we'd be able to meet (i.e. must have a veteran in the family or be a Grosse Pointe resident, etc.)

Lovett Hall ballroom, Greenfield Village

Outside of Dearborn Inn

Dearborn Inn Ballroom

Grosse Pointe War Memorial

The back of the Grosse Pointe War Memorial, on Lake St. Clair, where the ceremony would be :)

View from the back of the Grosse Pointe War Memorial.... This is high on the list of places to have it, but, like I said, I'm not sure if we'd be able to with the whole resident/veteran thing

The Inn at St. Johns Ballroom

I have also been looking at wedding dresses online and love the big Cinderella ones :) I have all of my bridesmaids and am assured that Matt's groomsmen will all be selected by tomorrow! I will update everyone soon!

Welcome

Welcome to our blog! As you all know we are newly engaged! I have decided to start a blog so that we can remember all the fun planning that will lead up to our wedding day and to keep everyone updated on all of the details of our relationship. If you care.

The question everyone has been asking since December 4th is when the date will be. The answer is that we don't know. We are planning on a rather longer engagement. Not 10 years or anything, but a couple. It has always been my dream to go back to school and we are planning on having everything set for that before we get married. We all know how life can distract you from such dreams and we are sacrificing a couple years for the rest of our lives. Think it's only logical. :) Plus, he is finishing up with school, we are actively un-bachelor-padding his house, and saving/planning for a rather large wedding (not to mention that my best friend and brother are getting married in July and there are bachelorette parties and bridal showers to plan!!). So, this blog can also remind you, as time continues to pass, that we are engaged and there will be a wedding in a couple years.

Now that we've gotten that out of the way, we have been thinking about general wedding ideas. Matt wants to have the ceremony on the water and I want to have pictures taken in Ann Arbor. So, we have tossed around the idea of having the ceremony somewhere on Lake St. Clair and the reception in Dearborn. That way when we take the pictures in Ann Arbor we are only a half hour away from the reception. Just thoughts. :) I have already asked all but one of my closest friends to be bridesmaids (and Nina will be the maid of honor) and Matt has asked a couple people to stand as well. However, Matt has a lot more close friends than me, so we are trying to figure that out, haha. Of course wedding magazines have been purchased and I have been perusing bridal salon's websites for dresses. There are a lot of fabulous ideas out there :)

As of right now my focus is on our upcoming trip to Europe. February 27-March 11 we will be vacationing in Paris and England. We will be spending the first 3 days in Paris and then taking the train to England for the remainder of the trip where we will be exploring London, Oxford, the Cotswolds, Stratford upon Avon, Belper (where my family is from just outside of Derbyshire and Nottingham), and Lincoln. On March 1st we will be celebrating our 4 year anniversary in Paris. Needless to say, I can hardly wait!!

We have been through a lot and had many struggles, decisions, and good times. I could not be happier with the way things turned out. I consider myself extremely lucky to have such a wonderful soon-to-be husband!