First Post! Let's Ramble On!

Alrighty, welcome to my blog- whoever is reading this... Probably just me so- What's up girl- your blog ROCKS! :)

This blog will focus mainly on Wedding Planning from now until the Big Day. After that I will probably continue to blog about all kinds of (hopefully) interesting things.

My fiance, Matt Riffle and I will be getting married in Spencerville, Ohio on Saturday, July 21, 2012. I will give links to the local vendors I am using so that you may check them out too if you are in the area.

So, let's dive right into it and give you a background on the wedding:

Venue:

The theme of our wedding is Rustic/Nature and therefore we decided to have it outside after MUCH debating. Anyone who is doing an outdoor wedding/reception knows the extreme anxiety it causes... I love Mother Nature but she can be pretty unpredictable and so it is definitely a big risk doing this all outside.

Matt and I went back and forth for a really long time before deciding to hold this outside. We were really close to signing a contract with UNOH Event Center or the Knights of Columbus by Lima... Both are standard wedding reception facilities in that town- Each have held beautiful weddings in the past that we have been guests at. If we would have picked one of these venues, it would have been a much easier planning process. These facilities have their own catering companies, and beverage service. They also know and work with many decorators and they each come with a staff member dedicated to your event who will coordinate your wedding and make sure everything goes great.

Instead of that easy-breezy approach, we went with a field.

Yeah- a field.

In the middle of Spencerville (A.K.A. The country)

More specifically, the Field & Stream - It is the property for the local hunting and fishing club. It has a large pond, a dock overlooking the water, a shelter house, lots of picnic tables and a large open field.

We just weren't real happy with the standard 'banquet hall wedding'.. It didn't feel like 'us'. It felt like we would be copying and pasting every other wedding we had ever gone to at those facilities. I am not criticizing any of the weddings there, they were all lovely- they just weren't 'us'.

We went back and forth and the only thing stopping us from going with the outdoor location was the weather. Everything else about it was absolutely perfect. So, finally we asked ourselves this question, 'At the end of the day, would we be happy celebrating the biggest day of our lives in a banquet hall?' The answer was 'No'. So- we chose the outdoor venue and we will hope for good weather... We picked the driest month of the summer (we really wanted summer) and if Mother Nature wants it to rain- then it will rain- and we will still have an amazing time!! (We decided to use the facility for both the ceremony and reception- that will be another blog, another day) We also decided to move the whole event to the nighttime so that it will hopefully be cooler.

Vendors:

The plan is to rent a large tent from Lima Tent Company - they had the best prices and the best customer service when I was researching this. That company will bring the tent, tables, chairs, and dance floor. They will set it up on the Thursday before the wedding and take it down the day after the wedding.

We are using The Sharpest Sounds for our DJ. He was recommended to us by a friend and so far he has been great in communications and he has the best price I could find as well.

I had to bite the bullet and hire a wedding coordinator. Since we decided to use a field as our venue, it doesn't come with an employee. As I mentioned before, when you book a banquet hall, there is a staff member there that is dedicated to your event- they coordinate all the vendors and make sure you stay on time, etc... So, since we don't have that person, it would have had to be either myself (no way!) or one of my family members or friends. I didn't want to make anyone work on my wedding day- least of all myself! So, I did a LOT of research...

Turns out there is a major void in the area of Lima, Ohio for a wedding coordinator. (Perhaps I should open my own wedding coordination biz there!) I talked with three different ones that I found through lots of google searches and recommendations. I will not name them because all three gave very, very bad first impressions. Two of them I had initial phone conversations with and they both said they would email me more information and call me the following week. I never heard from either of them again. And, while on the phone- all three of them were scattered, confused, and gave the impression they had no idea what they were doing. One of them basically told me my wedding would for sure be a disaster no matter what. Yeah- that's how you get business!

Anyway- I had to turn to the big city of Columbus, Ohio for this- The Bendora Wedding Gallery has a great reputation and after meeting with Sarah and Tarah in person- I was immediately comforted by their professionalism, knowledge base and over-all organization. They offer many services- the have gowns for sale, they have a wedding chapel on property, an officiant and also of course wedding planning from the beginning to the end. I chose the day-of-coordination package and it is going perfect so far. Sarah is helping me out via email until 2 months out and then we will be going over details - then of course, she will be there that day to help make sure it all runs smoothly. I know how important it is to have someone like this at any event- let alone a wedding. (My profession is event planning, however I have never done a wedding)

Catering will be done by Chuffer's Drive-Thru Pizza & Catering! If you live in the Spencerville or the surrounding area, you have to know about this place- Chuffer's has the BEST pizza in the whole world and their catering is just as good. We will likely do some sort of BBQ chicken, pulled pork, potatoes, salad, etc... Dean is a great guy who Matt used to work for and he will make some delicious food for us!

Next- the cake! Matt and I decided to do cupcakes since it will be outdoors- much easier to just grab a cupcake than have someone cutting slices for everyone- After a bit of browsing and seeing that my top three choices of bakers were taken on our day- we went with Cynthia's Cakes. We met with her and had a tasting- she is a sweet lady and very professional. Her cakes were delicious and I have read good reviews for her services. We are having her do cupcakes with a top tier for Matt and I to cut.

Photography was a big deal to us of course because we want these photos forever- I hunted around a bit and found that- HOLY CRAP photography is expensive!!!! But, low and behold we found a photographer who I actually know from childhood and who's work is incredible and who's prices are reasonable; Adam Bradshaw Photography. We bought a package that includes an engagement session but Matt put the kibosh on that right away. hahaha- It's fine with me, maybe we will do it in the Spring, but it is doubtful. It will be hard enough getting Matt to pose for pictures that day- let alone making him do it twice!! :)

Well, all that is left is decor- and that will be all homemade. I will do a lot of blogs on the decor I am sure as I have lots of plans... Paper lanterns, centerpieces crafted from treasures at goodwill, various craft projects, my own paintings, etc... I am a bit of a wannabe-artist and so this is a great opportunity to do something with that creative energy. I have already begun a few wedding decor projects and taken pictures- so check back for those details.

Well- I think I have rambled on enough!

Oh and to see the inspiration for our wedding colors, etc... Check out my pinterest board:
http://pinterest.com/ginnie535
Oh and be careful, if you join pinterest, it will take over your life- FYI!


Thanks for reading this- unless it's just me still, in which case- See ya later diary! :)