The Aisle File - #1
This is the first post of the wedding planning extravangza that is Amanda and Mike's wedding. Woo Hoo! We are getting married! After a year of dating bliss, Mike proposed as we celebrated our anniversary with a getaway at the St. Paul Hotel. This will be my communication tool with the world (well, friends and family that care about my craziness) as we plan the wedding. And because I wanted to have a blog. How fun. I'm a dork.
Ok, If you are ready for this, welcome to The Aisle File: Peterson/Franklin Edition
I never knew choosing the location for the wedding would be this much work. We've been engaged almost a month and we really don't have any thing more decided, confirmed or signed up for than we did the night at the Saint Paul Hotel. And no, I'm not complaining but I guess I didn't realize how different it is to actually plan that it is to dream and fantasize about the day. Because I have done that for my whole life but really just thought about "being married" not the whole planning effort.
Date: We knew we wanted December. Well, I've know that since about 12 years old but Mike is great about my psychosis with the christmas holidays. He is happy to indulge with the holiday wedding. It's not like we are going to have Santa come around but there will definitely be a holiday feel to the day. So, we chosen December 30, 2006.
With people's traveling schedules, we thought most would be more likely to take a longer holiday to MN than be able to take 2 trips in December or January. This way people home for Christmas will be able to join us for the wedding also!
Wedding Party: We discussed this at Fhima's when were celebrating after the engagement dinner. Of course this is another part of the whole wedding thing that girls dream about their whole lives. It only gets more detailed and planned with each wedding you are a bridesmaid, reader, personal attendent et at, in. We (well, I guess it was me) made notes on the napkins and tried to make any plans we could at that moment. We haven't asked everyone yet but we have made our decisions. So stay tuned.
Colors: I'm sure Mike has no idea about this part of the planning yet but Jillian and I basically planned out the color scheme this summer when we were IM'ing. Ah...I think this will not be something I'm throwing out there yet. There has to be some surprises :-) It will not be red and green. I can't be that cheese-ball.
Location, location, location: This is where it gets difficult. After all sorts of discussion and thoughts, we decided to look for a church and reception hall in the Twin Cities. We really don't have a "home" which also makes this hard. My lease in Eagan is up in July and we are going to look to sell Mike's townhouse but with the housing markets the way they are, we'll see how that goes. We are hopeful - and then will look for a home in the south metro - Lakeville, Apple Valley, Rosemount, Eagan area. But who knows?!
Hence the dilemma. We don't have a home church/city where we can focus on. Leaving the entire metro area basically open for discussion. We are partial to St. Paul but have run in to road blocks there. The Cathedral is reserved for the 2:00pm mass so that is out. Having church at 11:00 AM doesn't do much for me. The Landmark Center is booked. The History Center is a million dollars. So we are looking elsewhere. These were our final choices that we visited.
The Bluffs of Mendota. The MN Zoo. The Zuhrah Shrine Center.
The Bluff... : is one of our final 2 choices. Unique set up with a balcony and a very victorian feel to the place.
The MN Zoo: Not what we had hoped. Smelled like animal and the workers were trying pretty hard. It felt like they were trying to get us for all they could and we hadn't even signed anything yet.
The Zuhrah Shrine Center: My Dad is a shriner so that is our connection there. Yes, he has a funny red fez hat and a little car. This is our other top choice. In minneapolis so the driving and parking is more of a concern. The set up is nice and there are alot of benefits/perks to this locale.
We are still church-less. We would like to married in a church but we have to find one that fits us well. We also have to figure out what we would do with transportation between the ceremony and reception. We are attending church in Eagan this weekend and are hopeful as we received alot of positive recommendations about this church and priest.
We made our last visit of the three reception places this afternoon and tonight will involve discussion and evalution of the places. Hopefully we can make some decision in the next few days. I want to start doing the fun stuff so things need to get a move on here.
Ok, If you are ready for this, welcome to The Aisle File: Peterson/Franklin Edition
I never knew choosing the location for the wedding would be this much work. We've been engaged almost a month and we really don't have any thing more decided, confirmed or signed up for than we did the night at the Saint Paul Hotel. And no, I'm not complaining but I guess I didn't realize how different it is to actually plan that it is to dream and fantasize about the day. Because I have done that for my whole life but really just thought about "being married" not the whole planning effort.
Date: We knew we wanted December. Well, I've know that since about 12 years old but Mike is great about my psychosis with the christmas holidays. He is happy to indulge with the holiday wedding. It's not like we are going to have Santa come around but there will definitely be a holiday feel to the day. So, we chosen December 30, 2006.
With people's traveling schedules, we thought most would be more likely to take a longer holiday to MN than be able to take 2 trips in December or January. This way people home for Christmas will be able to join us for the wedding also!
Wedding Party: We discussed this at Fhima's when were celebrating after the engagement dinner. Of course this is another part of the whole wedding thing that girls dream about their whole lives. It only gets more detailed and planned with each wedding you are a bridesmaid, reader, personal attendent et at, in. We (well, I guess it was me) made notes on the napkins and tried to make any plans we could at that moment. We haven't asked everyone yet but we have made our decisions. So stay tuned.
Colors: I'm sure Mike has no idea about this part of the planning yet but Jillian and I basically planned out the color scheme this summer when we were IM'ing. Ah...I think this will not be something I'm throwing out there yet. There has to be some surprises :-) It will not be red and green. I can't be that cheese-ball.
Location, location, location: This is where it gets difficult. After all sorts of discussion and thoughts, we decided to look for a church and reception hall in the Twin Cities. We really don't have a "home" which also makes this hard. My lease in Eagan is up in July and we are going to look to sell Mike's townhouse but with the housing markets the way they are, we'll see how that goes. We are hopeful - and then will look for a home in the south metro - Lakeville, Apple Valley, Rosemount, Eagan area. But who knows?!
Hence the dilemma. We don't have a home church/city where we can focus on. Leaving the entire metro area basically open for discussion. We are partial to St. Paul but have run in to road blocks there. The Cathedral is reserved for the 2:00pm mass so that is out. Having church at 11:00 AM doesn't do much for me. The Landmark Center is booked. The History Center is a million dollars. So we are looking elsewhere. These were our final choices that we visited.
The Bluffs of Mendota. The MN Zoo. The Zuhrah Shrine Center.
The Bluff... : is one of our final 2 choices. Unique set up with a balcony and a very victorian feel to the place.
The MN Zoo: Not what we had hoped. Smelled like animal and the workers were trying pretty hard. It felt like they were trying to get us for all they could and we hadn't even signed anything yet.
The Zuhrah Shrine Center: My Dad is a shriner so that is our connection there. Yes, he has a funny red fez hat and a little car. This is our other top choice. In minneapolis so the driving and parking is more of a concern. The set up is nice and there are alot of benefits/perks to this locale.
We are still church-less. We would like to married in a church but we have to find one that fits us well. We also have to figure out what we would do with transportation between the ceremony and reception. We are attending church in Eagan this weekend and are hopeful as we received alot of positive recommendations about this church and priest.
We made our last visit of the three reception places this afternoon and tonight will involve discussion and evalution of the places. Hopefully we can make some decision in the next few days. I want to start doing the fun stuff so things need to get a move on here.
posted by dancingo4 @ 5:32 PM
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