Wedding Hair

Wedding Hair.  This seems like a very common dilemma - to grow it out or not.  I initially decided to grow my hair out knowing that doing so would give me the most options come wedding day.  What I forgot, though, was how much of a pain long hair was and why I enjoyed chopping it so much.  Right now it's not too much of a pain because it's hot out.  That means that I would probably be wearing my hair up anyway and I can let it dry naturally without freezing my butt off.  Come winter, I'll probably be happy to have the long hair to cover my neck and keep me warm.  Most of the time, though, I'm more than willing to chop it. 

How do I create a compromise for myself?  I'm growing my hair out long enough to make another donation to Locks of Love plus a little extra.  This way, the chop will feel very satisfying and I will still have medium length hair to either keep growing out or go shorter with, depending on how I feel as we get closer.

How far am I from a donation like that?  Probably just a few inches!

Here's where my hair was last July, only a few months after a cut.

Here's where my hair was last September when we first moved back down to NC. Everyone wave HI to Vanessa!  Vanessa is getting married this October and her hair is much longer now as she has also grown out her wedding hair.  (A few more weeks and you can get your Post-Wedding Chop!)

Jump ahead a year later, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand here's my hair now.  Ooo la la.  Pay attention to the hair trying to hid its true length by curling up.  Luckily one strand decided to be part of the minority (I see you, strand!)

Since measuring with a ruler is boring, I decided to measure by DVDs.

Whoa that's a lot of hair!  That's almost two shelves' worth!

Do I think I'll keep my hair long for the wedding?  Probably not.  Why not, there are so many great up-dos you can do with long hair?  Yes, and they'd look great, except Vanessa (waving hi, again), brought up a great point that I didn't even think about!  The more complex the style, the more hairspray and bobby pins you have to deal with on your wedding night.  This revelation brought back memories of dealing with post-prom hair.  I still have boxes of bobby pins that I saved.  One box per hair style.  Holy crap are there a lot of bobby pins in those boxes!!  And I never ended up re-using the pins, which was the intent in saving them.  The last thing I'm going to want to do on my wedding night is dealing with my hair or choosing to sleep on bobby pins *ouch*!  So Vanessa has me seriously considering more natural styles, which is more me anyway.  I was already leaning towards a fun style with the hair being any length between my chin and shoulders.  Until the next chop, however, the hair is long. 

To end this post, I feel I must share my life saver for dealing with this long hair.  My hair loves to get knotty, not matter what length it's at.  So I've tried lots of different shampoo/conditioner combos to make my hair easy to manage.  I have fallen in love with the miracle known as Hello Hydration from Herbal Essences.

Herbal Essences

I love this stuff so much that I even have a travel size to use whenever I'm not home.  It does wonders after you've used a hotel shampoo that dries the crap out of your hair.  Whether you're growing your hair out for a wedding, enjoy it long, or even simply have dry hair, this purchase is worth it.

Car!

CAR! (Party on, Wayne)

This past week, Douglas and I have toned down our wedding planning.  We have essentially done no planning, really.  Coming off of the excitement of the weekend before last, we found ourselves taking a serious look at working on our Save the Dates.  FBIL#2 showed us some vendors that he's used in the past so we were able to check out our options and see cost.  Man oh man does the cost have us re-thinking our S.T.D.s.  We really can't justify spending around $500 just for the S.T.D.s.  So, on to plans that are labeled B, C, D, etc. 

In our discussing different options (Plans B, E, F, etc.) for S.T.D.s and invites, Douglas and I found ourselves arguing over and getting bogged down in details.  At this point, we slammed on the brakes and took a time out.

Now, I'll be quite honest, we haven't stopped wedding talk 100%.  That's been near impossible.  However, stepping away from actual planning has allowed us to get back to thinking about what we really want and has allowed us to get back to kicking around ideas without it being misconstrued as serious suggestions.  While it hasn't made all of the wedding-related stresses go away, it's definitely help us get rid of unnecessary ones that we were creating ourselves. 

I'm very grateful we have the luxury of taking these time outs.  We're over 400 days away from our soft date and I was about to throw in the whole wedding towel.  It's funny to think how early we are into the planning stages and I was already questioning whether it was worth all the stress, knowing full well I would regret it later if I didn't do some type of gathering. 

That being said, we'll have to get back on the horse at some point.  For now, however,

GAME ON! (Party on, Garth)

Nerdy/Geek Weddings Don't Have to Be Tacky

You guys are so lucky!  THREE posts in a week! 

I was catching up on Offbeat Bride and post after post was exactly what I needed to find: Nerdy/Geek Weddings!  I'm not just sharing this because they appeal to me, but also to show that themes don't have to be tacky. 

Wedding at Jim Henson Co. lot: http://offbeatbride.com/2010/08/muppet-wedding
-comes complete with comic book headpiece
-bride/groom muppets
-movie/geek reference centerpieces
-a Hoth wedding cake

Interactive 8-bit wedding invites: http://offbeatbride.com/2010/08/interactive-8-bit-wedding-invitations

iPhone invites: http://offbeatbride.com/2010/07/iphone-invitations
-while neither of us are iPhone users, this was a great way to incorporate the couple's style while still making the invites approachable to those not of the digital age.

There was also a post about an officiant doing the entire wedding off of his/her iPad.  Welcome to the future!

Getting Closer to the Bullseye - Part 2

Ok.  In Part 1, I shared the more pricier and more difficult to pull off venues.  So welcome to Part 2: Electric Boogaloo.

Let's start where we started, the Market Building.  The Market Building is smack in the center of downtown Roanoke.  We went to check out the top floor of the building.

 
As you can see, the top floor is currently in a state of disarray.  We'll get to that in a minute.  First, check out the space!  Look at those windows!  All that floor space!

Just amazing.  There's really no limit to what we could do in this space.  Alright, I hear you, "It's gorgeous but what's with the mess?"  This space is getting ready to be renovated.  We have seen the plans for the finished space, and it won't change much.  The biggest change will be in the area of the last photo.  We'd lose a few feet of space but we'd gain a men's and women's bathroom and a coat check area.  There's a space in the back that will be turned into a full service catering kitchen.  This space is going to be a hot commodity once it reopens.  So why haven't we booked it yet?  Everything is still in the early stages.  We have to wait to get any accurate quotes for the space rental and we may have to wait even longer to find out whether we can chose a caterer or find out which caterer will be chosen to be exclusive for the space.  So there's a lot of details up in the air.  The other big clincher is that the space is planned to be completed in time for Memorial Day Weekend 2011.  We all know that very few construction projects finish on time, so that would give us a narrow and very tight time frame to find a Plan B should we need one.

Did I mention you can see most of downtown Roanoke's major landmarks from this location?  (This is the Hotel Roanoke)

 


The other space that is a hot contender for us after this weekend is one of several location operated by Schaals catering.  We visited their Metamorphosis location which is two doors down from Davidson's downtown location.  We had walked by the location several times before and figured it was a very small space.  We went in thinking that we A) won't be able to use the space because it wouldn't be big enough or B) we'd have to dramatically cut our guest list to fit in the space.  Luckily, it wasn't as small as we thought.  We met with Amanda Schaal, who was a pleasure to speak with.  The space is decorated in deep earth tones which work for so many different types of events.  The color and tone of the space doesn't come out in the pictures (I was using my small hand-cam).  The room was already set up from a wedding the night before.  The tables were set up to seat 80 along with some cocktail style tables sprinkled through out the rooms for folks who wanted to stand and chat.  With the 80 seated set up, there was still an open space in the middle of the floor that could be used for any number of things, including a chuppah and/or a dance floor.

    
Oh, did I mention the light bar?

The downside to this space is that it is cozy.  As I said before, you're looking at seating for 80 on the main floor in the photos (doesn't include seats at bar or couches in front).  At most, this space fits 125 with folks sitting and standing, 150 if all standing.  So we would definitely need to shear down our guest list a tad.

The best part about meeting with Amanda was learning that the prices we found on the website were out dated.  The estimates we got really helped to get us excited again because it meant we could really afford a wedding, compared to the quotes we got from Hotel Roanoke.  We spoke with Amanda about some of our ideas that we had, even some that we had gotten from our Hotel Roanoke visit, and they could do all of it!  Even if we don't use Metamorphosis, we can still hire Schaals as our caterer and the cost wouldn't be too much more.  *deep sigh of relief* 

So these are our top two contenders at the moment.  We have numbers to crunch and compare, which will help us get a grip on exactly how large or small we can afford to have our guest list be.  We have ideas, lots of ideas, from the Roanoke family and the Davidson boys taking our theme and running with it!  As much as this past weekend was a roller coaster, the high points were definitely when we saw people genuinely excited when they shared their ideas with us - cake toppers, grand entrance, decorations, centerpieces, table designs, etc.  My notebooks are filling up with ideas.  You know your theme is right when everyone, including both of you, get really excited about it and anything related to it.  Our theme will be revealed in due time.  For now, go back and enjoy the photos of these two fabulous venues.

Getting Closer to the Bullseye - Part 1

We had another round of venue hunting this past weekend, but this time we went with a purpose.  This round was definitely different than the Walk'n'Gawk from a few months ago.  This time, we had ideas of what we wanted to do with the space and we were getting price information.  First off, let me just get this out of the way "HOLY CRAP events are expensive!"  Ok.  Much better.

Though it was not our first stop, I feel it's best to follow up that little shout with the Hotel Roanoke.  We had gone around and checked out rooms and areas on our own during the Walk'n'Gawk, but this time we met with someone to talk about packages and options.  The Hotel definitely gave us sticker shock when we got home and totaled stuff up, however, you definitely will get what you pay for.  You just have to be able to afford it.  The only room we'd have to pay for all weekend would be the room for the reception, and that could become free depending on what we spent on food (which was a very easy number to reach).  The lady we met with, and later the head chef who stuck his head in, were really excited with our theme idea and even ended up giving us a few more ideas that got us even more excited!  (Did I mention we have a theme?  You know you've found the right theme when people start running with it themselves.  More on that later.)  We would love to work with these folks, their recommended decorator, florist, and light guy, just based on their energy alone.  During our tour of some of the available ballrooms, we were able to see the vendors taking apart a room that was used for a NYC graffiti themed bar mitzvah.  So we were able to meet these folks briefly and see what was left of their work.  Very creative folks.  The best thing about the Hotel Roanoke was how inclusive everything was.  We could even decide to plan for the wedding to be out in the back courtyard (which will be lovely after the remodel this winter) and they will set up a room inside just incase of bad weather at no extra cost.  All I'd have to do is call them that morning and say "in" or "out".  Very nice.  We could make everything happen that we want to have happen using the Hotel and have everyone in one space.  However, it comes at a hefty price tag, no group rates or price breaks for the guest rooms, and we didn't really fall in love with any area in or on Hotel grounds.

Another venue we visited was the Grandin Theater.  The main room in this non-profit theater has a lot of character to it, including gargoyles.  It's got character and Douglas loves this theater.  It was reasonably priced and we would only really be able to use the space for the ceremony.  The big draw back was that we would have to do the ceremony during non-business hours.  So we would have to have a late morning wedding, which is not my preference.  The other big problem with the Grandin is that parking is a HUGE pain.

Coming up next...Metamorphosis and the Market Building.
   

The Candyman Can

But should he?

Alright folks, it's time for another poll.

This is for anyone who's planned or attended weddings (so everyone).  Douglas and I have very different opinions about what to decide about kids at the wedding so we're looking for opinions and experiences of people who have been there to help provide insight.

The guest list is not yet complete, but it is growing.  Right now, with immediate family, we're looking at around 25 kids, most will be under the age of 5 at that time.  This is just to give you an idea, because my opinion is different if we're talking about just 5 kids.  Now that we're looking at a classroom-full, I'm leaning heavily toward an age limit.  Douglas is all in favor of having all kids of all ages.

So please help us become more informed.  Did you allow children at your wedding/reception?  What was the fallout, if any?  Do you prefer going to weddings where there are a lot of young kids?  Do you enjoy adult-only affairs more?

As always, any and all input is welcome.

Confessions are Good for the Soul

Who knew that just a few days after sharing my recent confessions, I would feel so revitalized? 

We have a theme that we are LOVING and having a lot of FUN with.  It's perfect.  It will really make for a fun weekend.

That being said, stay tuned - for this weekend we venue hunt with an actual idea in mind!

Confessions: Part I

Ladies and gentlemen, I have a confession to make.  I have no vision for my wedding.

I didn't have one pre-engagement or even post-engagement.  I simply assumed that after knowing who I would be marrying and having some time to think about it, it would be quite easy to figure out.  Boy was I wrong!

Douglas is simply calling it the wedding equivalent to writer's block and man is it frustrating.  Now, to put things into perspective:

1. We've only gone venue hunting once so far.  The rest has been online and we're going on outing number 2 next weekend.
2. The only things I seem to be able to find as potential sources of inspiration have been tv shows that are not aimed at me (spending big $ and looking to have a traditional wedding) and blogs that are a mixed bag of traditional and off-beat.  None of them have given me the slightest hint of an idea.
3. We've been engaged and wedding planning for just over 6 months now.  I know people who have planned their entire wedding in less time than that!  
4. We still have over a year to go so while there is a rush to get the big things nailed down, we're not quite under the gun.

Since I don't have a clear view (or any view for that matter) of how I envision the wedding and Douglas seems to be able to throw out ideas for anything and enjoy it, we've been checking out all different types of venues: indoor, outdoor, homesteads, catering halls, hotels, museums, etc.  Nothing has really struck me as "yes, I want it to be in a place like this".  I've liked the idea of a few places and we'll go to check them out and see if I end up actually liking them.  Even if that happens, I truly do not expect to have a wedding epiphany over it.

Which brings me to another confession: I didn't believe in those epiphany moments.  I never felt that you had to cry when you found your gown, but if you were caught up in the moment, that's great.  I didn't think I'd get all bubbly and excited when I found the ring, but to my surprise, I did!  So while I now believe in the epiphany moments, I still do not believe that every major aspect of the wedding has to involve one.  I'm quite certain, at this point, that when we choose a venue, it's not going to be anything magical.  It'll just be what made sense.  Will we enjoy the festivities in the venue?  Yes!  Will the venue really matter in the long run, hopefully not.  It's still a big corner stone in the wedding process, though.  The venue seems to be what can set the tone for the style and theme of the party.

While part of me wishes I had been one of those girls who had her wedding binder ready to go at the pop of the question, it just wouldn't have been me.  I might as well throw in the tiara and pink bows and be done with it.  As frustrating as all of this is right now, I am grateful that it is a process and it involves two people deciding where they want to mark the joining of themselves and their families.  Thus, I march blindly on. 

By the way, I could still use a large crane or jack hammer, though, to bust through this block.  Anyone?  Anyone?  Bueller?

No S'mores 'til Brooklyn!

Ok, so not Brooklyn.  I have sworn off Fork in the Alley (or Fork in the City) s'mores until we book a venue.  Our last two trips to Roanoke I have gone s'more-less.  This saves me from having an extra handful of gooey goodness on multiple trips in town, but it will also make booking the venue that much sweeter!

Next weekend we have appointments at three places: Santillane, the Kyle House, and Sundara.  Sundara has definitely peaked our interest, as has Kyle House (along with Schaals other two locations).  It will be interesting to see what's included with each location.  Sundara is all outdoors with tents, so I'm curious to see about potential flooding (muddy ground), back ups for rain/bad weather, and the layout of the land in general.  We've walked past Schaals' Metamorphosis several times as it's on the same block as Davidson's.  They, as have many other caterers, have been highly recommended.  What makes them interesting is that they have three rental locations where you can host your event.  We're very curious to see what a caterer includes in a package for a rental space.  All of this is one big learning experience.

We both hope to find a location sooner rather than later.  We'd love to get the ball rolling on a few aspects of the wedding so that there is less of a time crunch should a VT Hokie football home game get scheduled for that weekend.  The best part about finding a venue will be celebrating over s'mores after dropping off the deposit check and having a hard date for the wedding!  SCARY!  The other fun part will be moving on to the cake tastings!!!!  (A sweet tooth, me?  No!)

Watch for a post after next weekend discussing our adventures in venue hunting.  Meanwhile, I get to watch the Mets play the Braves (yay for the games being on TV!)