That being said, the reason for this blog:
We are set to marry on October 25, 2014! :)
When we first got engaged (on June 5, 2013) we thought we would wait until June of 2015. Then we realized, we really didn't want to have to wait that long. Plus, what the heck were waiting for? More time to decide what color scheme to go with? Let's get ourselves married! :-P
Then we actually started the planning almost a month into being engaged. We went to Disney World just after it happened and didn't want to have to start planning right away. On July 2nd, we started venue hunting and didn't find a place until, ironically enough, two months to the day, August 5th! That night, on a whim, we decided to move our Tuesday appointment to Monday night since that's my parents' day off from work AND Jonathan would be getting out early enough. Unfortunately my mom was under the weather that night so it was just Jonathan and I when we went to visit Chateau Briand.
We had been to CB in 2010 for our friends Matt and Christy's wedding reception. We remembered it was a great night but not many specific details about the location itself. In fact, it was not originally on our list of venues to look at. It was the 9th place we would be seeing! But, a week or so prior, I had received an e-mail from Chateau Briand about renovations they had done. I told Jonathan that I had a good feeling about it and wanted to take a look.
So on August 5th, we walked in and I was definitely impressed. As Dawn, our banquet manager, began the tour, the memories from Matt and Christy's wedding came back to me. I think I knew about sixty seconds into the tour that I wanted to have it there! Everyone told me: "It will just hit you and you'll know" but prior to that night, that feeling had not hit me even though I had REALLY liked a few other places, like Russo's on the Bay and The Sand Castle. So when I got that feeling in Chateau Briand, I was elated. Plus Dawn was great at showing us around and letting us know what to expect. I was ready to sign but of course had to go run it by my parents first.
As we left, we pretty much confirmed to each other that that was the place. In the past, after visiting each venue, we would go back to the car and then compare our thoughts. This time, by the time we got to the car, we already knew we would be choosing CB. Once I ran it by my parents, they trusted our decision enough that they didn't have to see it first. My mom came down with us two days later for the deposit and had her chance to see it. She had been with us a few places before so she had something to compare it to, and she too agreed Chateau Briand was a great place to have it! Signing the contract was overwhelming but exciting. We had put so much stress (well mostly I put so much stress on myself, lol) to find a great date and location. The location came naturally and the date was out of our hands. When we knew we wanted to have it in 2014, that helped narrow down the search. When we decided we liked October, literally the only Saturday available that month was the 25th. Since it's just two weeks shy of my 29th birthday, I'll get to ring in my last year of the 20s on our honeymoon. Can't get any more memorable than that!
Here is the link to Chateau Briand's website:
http://www.chateaubriandcaterers.com/
The outside area for the cocktail hour is gorgeous. With a late October wedding, the weather can go either way. I even looked up the history of weather for October 25, haha. Here is what I found from this site:
http://weatherspark.com/averages/31081/10/25/New-York-United-States
The temperature typically varies from 48°F to 58°F and is rarely below 38°F or above 68°F.
All things considered...not bad!
Of course, who could forget that last year was the awful Hurricane Sandy storm that left a lot of devastation on the east coast. The year before it snowed (I remember because it was the day before the October 30 wedding of two good friends of ours) And the year before that, it was pretty warm. So, if God shows enough mercy, we can get a really good day and have it outside. If not, their newly renovated room where we can have the cocktail hour indoors is just as gorgeous. And our ballroom is so nice too. I'm overall just very pleased with the place and hope everyone is too.
Outdoor cocktail area at Chateau Briand
To conclude this first blog, I'd like to aim to update once or twice a week but some weeks are more active than others when it comes to the wedding process. For instance, we are set to meet with the photographer we had in mind soon, as well as the priest I want to marry us (who is currently on vacation), the DJ and the florist. That's pretty sweet to be able to check those off the list soon! I feel like by the 1 year mark all the big vendors should be booked. That way we can breathe easy and focus on little details. I even looked at dresses this Monday, which is surreal because I never thought about that aspect until now. I have never in my life been the type to enjoy getting dressed up (weird for a girl, I know) and so that explains why I never had visions of myself in a wedding dress! But I surprised myself and enjoyed the first experience in trying on gowns. Of the four dresses at David's Bridal I tried on, only two were "winners" with one beating out the other by an edge. I still don't feel they are "the one" just yet so am looking forward to trying on more in different stores...who am I?? :-P
That being said, planning a wedding is not for the weak and we have gotten so much advice and help that I am very thankful for all the people in our lives who are willing to help. Without them, we'd be clueless and probably eloping, lol. If this blog can help others who are just as confused about the planning process as I am, then it will be worth having!
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