To Block or Not to Block, That is the Question

I've been busy calling a few places to obtain room blocks for the wedding. Yes, I realize our wedding is about 11 months away, but a) it's never too early to plan and b) I can't make decisions on things I really need to do like pick out colors or bridesmaids dresses, therefore I do things that are easier! :-)

I've contacted the two closest hotels to River Creek: Lansdowne and the Holiday Inn. Both have their pros and cons.

Lansdowne is a beautiful, top-notch resort, but obviously more expensive. They also want me to sign a contract for the number of rooms I think I'll need and I can't get out of it. Most hotels will just release the unbooked rooms back into the system by a certain date, but not Lansdowne. I will basically be responsible for paying for any of the unbooked rooms. But the flip side is that it's gorgeous, with two 18-hole golf courses, 8 pools and a spa, and overlooks the Potomac River. It's also most probably where Belinga and I will stay on the wedding night and we'll probably after party at their bar.

The Holiday Inn is not that bad either. The main buildling is an 18th century mansion house, which gives it a nicer feel than your regular hotel. However, they are undergoing renovations at the moment, though they promise to be done soon. I also just read some reviews online that make me nervous.

I might need to extend my search into Leesburg, though this will be even further away from River Creek. I'm contemplating just blocking at Lansdowne so that I know where I suggest is sure to please--it truly is a beautiful property and at $159 a night, I've been able to negotiate a major discount off their normally $200+ rooms. My contact tells me he might even be able to get me a slightly bigger discount, so we'll see.

Now I need to move on to the harder decisions like flowers, invitations, save-the-dates...EEK!

SODA

As in Sodalicious (aka So Delicious). Sorry for those of you not in the "acronym-know"! But get with the program people!

So, my "soda" reference is to chocolate fountains! Yes folks, I am considering getting a soda chocolate fountain as a dessert option for the wedding! YUMSTER.

To make this more economical, my friend Beth suggested I buy my own dipping items from Costco like she did for her wedding, instead of paying the ridiculous $4 a person they're trying to charge for some strawberries and marshmallows. But my site won't let me bring in outside food. They'll let the vendors bring in food, but not me.

Therefore in all my wisdom and sneakiness, I will need to find a vendor who will allow me to buy my own items and then they take them in as their own. I talked to a very nice guy named Reggie at Capitol Chocolate Fountains, and I think he might aid me in my quest to stick it to the man.

Veils

Can we talk about how veils are so ridiculously expensive?! I tried on a gorgeous one (VERY similar to the gorgeous one above) that matched the dress I really like and the lady told me it was "only $350."

WHAT?! $350 for a piece of netting?!

Crazy! However, Bridal Mart also carries veils, so I'm going to see if I can pilfer the style number from Macy's so I can see how much it would be at Bridal mart.

If not, I will probably just get one over the internet like so many people I know did. I will have to check on what site it was that people have used.

Dresses Galore!

This weekend was slightly less productive than I thought because Belinga and I decided not to go to the Bloomingdale's registry event. A) We didn't feel like it and B) We don't think we're going to register there anyway, so we didn't want to waste time (when we could be sleeping...) Not a shocker to those who know us...

Anyway, I DID go dress shopping though at the Macy's Bridal Salon at Tysons II. Their salon carries only Demetrios dresses and they were having a trunk show of their Fall 2007 line that hasn't hit stores yet. Laura and Christine came with me and thank God because those things are heavy and not easy to put on.

We had it down to an art--Laura would go in through the top so I could figure out where to put my arms and Christine would go underneath to make sure the lining was all in place. The two of them saw way too much of me--hee hee! Thanks girls for all your help!

I tried on a bunch of different dresses and tried keeping an open mind about everything. But what I initially imagined I wanted is pretty much still what I want. I don't want to give too much away, but there is definitely a frontrunner right now. I'm going to keep looking to see what else is out there, but I keep comparing the other dresses I try on to the first one.

Laura also told me about a great place in North Carolina called Bridal Mart where you can get almost any dress for a fraction of the cost. All you need is the designer and the style number and they can get it for you. I called them this morning and the Demetrios dress I tried on I can get for $400 cheaper from Bridal Mart!!!

Everyone should order their dress from Bridal Mart!

Might do some more dress shopping this weekend--it's actually kinda fun! I thought it would stress me out a lot but it's fun, especially if some people go with you.

Dress Shopping!

Sorry I've been on a bit of a hiatus lately, I feel like I've had nothing interesting to say! However, I know there are a few of you out there who actually read this, so I'm going to try to be better!

This weekend I am doing a couple of wedding related things:

1. I've somehow convinced Belinga that it will be fun to go to the Bloomingdale's Registry event on Saturday to learn how to register. I'm not sure how I managed that but he actually said yes without me having to beg! I know it might seem like common knowledge as to what one registers for, but I don't think it really is. There are things I don't think I need, like a KitchenAid mixer or a food processor, but I know they will come in handy if and when I ever decide to cook. So we're going to see if we learn anything, which is at 2 to 1 odds right now. However, they serve free food and libations, so who are we to pass this up? Plus we've made a pact...if it gets boring at any point, we're bouncing and going shopping!
2. The moment many of you have been waiting for! I am going to try on some dresses this weekend! I was going to wait until I lost some more weight, but I figure I might as well bite the bullet and just go. Plus Macy's is having a Demetrios trunk show with their new Fall 2007 line that isn't in stores yet, so I figured I'd give it a go.

Hopefully the dress I end up with will look nothing like the above picture. And BTW, it's pretty much not cool to have your baby as an accessory at your own wedding. I know I'm not much of a traditionalist, but I'm pretty sure the old saying went "First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in the baby carriage."

Strike a Pose

Hi everyone, I'm back from sunny Florida! My high school reunion was actually pretty fun, got to see lots of people I haven't seen in 10 years. It's funny though--you pretty much talk to the people you talked to in high school and don't talk to the ones you never spoke to. And that pretty much held true at good old Ransom Everglades.

Anyway--so I can say now that we have two big things crossed off our wedding checklist! The location and date obviously and now the photographer!

We have booked Renee Michele, who seems to be a very talented photographer and has been voted one of the best in the area by Washingtonian for the last two years. Belinga and I really liked her and we seemed to get along very well and after interviewing about 6 or 7 photographers, decided we had our person! We're very excited she will be photographing our wedding!

Next up--we're going to Bloomingdale's next weekend to learn how to register and what we should register for (and obviously for the free food, drink and gift we get for coming!)