Let Them Eat Cake!

Pat and I met with a potential cake baker on Saturday. Her shop was cute and clean and she was nice. She's delivered to Martindale before and she's fairly close by (huge plus). I have been worried about how the wedding cake was going to get to the reception site. Apparently it's just driven there in a car. Very interesting. I wish I could have cake insurance or something like that.

So it turns out that the cake is actually something Pat feels very strongly about. He wants a big cake! This is a good thing, because I do too. It's easier to spend the amount of money that cakes cost when you're both in agreement about what your perfect cake is.

We'll probably set up a tasting with her in January. I can't wait to try all the combinations. We'll probably have each layer be a different flavor and let everyone choose which one they want. What's your favorite cake flavor?

So people do read this!

I've learned over the past few days that people do actually check in here and there! That's great news! Things are going great in wedding world. We're gathering tons of ideas and supplies. Our next project will be designing our invitations. I purchased a great machine called a Gocco which is essentially an at home screen printer! It can print in any color ink on any color paper. So we're going to try and do our invitations at home with this little guy. Wish us luck! I'm hopeful that they'll turn out great. I'm sure they'll be quite the labor of love!

We're getting ready for Christmas. This weekend we might put up the tree - if we ever get around to it. We probably won't be celebrating at our house at all and instead just go to each family. This is the first year we've had to split up time and it's a new adventure for me!

So keep checking in. There are so many things that I want to post, but I'm keeping some surprises. Rest assured we are working on a bunch of things that I hope you'll all love!

TEN MONTHS!!

Yes, today marks the ten month mark for us. Some days I feel like we have a lot done and other days I feel like there is so much left to do!

We hope you all had nice Thanksgivings. Ours was good, we went to my Gram's house and then visited with Pat's parents on Sunday. We ate way too much, but it was nice to see everyone.

The only other wedding news is that we met with Father Murray at our church last night and he gave us his stamp of approval to get married. So that's one more thing checked off - I guess we answered all of his questions properly! We still hope that Father Bob will be able to perform the ceremony, but we won't know that until the end of March.

Engagement Announcement

After going back and forth about putting these in the paper, we have decided to go for it. Ours ran (in color!) in the Maine Sunday Telegram this week. A lot of people saw it so we received tons of calls and emails. We were really pleased with how it turned out.

So for all the northern Maine people we've also decided to put it in the Star Herald in Presque Isle. It should be running next Wednesday (November 7th) so be on the lookout! Unfortunately there is no online access so I won't know if it runs or not. If someone wants to save us a copy that would be great!

We're also going to run it in the Bridgton News since that's the local paper for both the Lake Region area (where I grew up) and Fryeburg (where Pat went to high school). I know that a lot of my friend's parents still read it so hopefully someone we know will see it!

It's fun announcing the engagement officially, even though we've actually been engaged for almost six months already!

How to choose a DJ?

I met with one DJ on Saturday and Pat and I both met with another on Tuesday. They're both highly recommended and have been in the business for a long time, so they really know their stuff and know music. I am sure that we'll be happy with either one...the questions is, which one? I have no idea how to narrow this down.

Most people will say, well if they're exactly the same - base it on price. Well, their price is the same as well. Then you could think about negotiating with them (something I'm not good at) but they don't have a lot of motivation to do that. The fact of the matter is that they're both so popular there's no way that they won't be booked for next September 27th!

As sad as it is, it's boiling down to the one on Tuesday brought us truffles. We can't really base our decision on truffles...can we?

October 19th update!

Hey everyone - I've really kicked the wedding planning into high gear lately. We've booked our photographer and I have meetings with two DJs coming up. One on Saturday and I'll actually get to see his set up and the other is Tuesday.

I've blocked off hotel rooms at a hotel that's very convenient to the turnpike and both the ceremony and reception locations. I only blocked off 15 rooms because I have no idea how many people might need them. However, they assured me I could call and check on the block and add more if I needed to. They were great to work with!

When I booked the rooms I also booked a suite for the weekend for myself. I'll stay there Friday night with any bridesmaids that want to stay with me. We'll get ready there Saturday and then Pat and I will stay there Saturday night.

I've also bought some decorations from a September 2007 bride - it's always good to find a bargain!

So things are great! We're going to see both sets of parents tonight, which I'm really looking forward to! I can't wait to see my parent's yard all done up for Halloween! Have a great weekend everybody!

Photographer Booked!

Ok, not technically booked yet. But we really liked Rachel & Angela so we've decided to go with them. I'm thankful that I contacted them back when I did because their prices have more than doubled! I guess their new business is really taking off, which is excellent.

The next task is a DJ and I think we're going to go with Jeff Rockwell. I've heard great things about him. I would LOVE to have these two big items taken care of! Then it's just the smaller things...flowers, cake, decorations etc.

Here are some teaser pictures of our reception location, Martindale Country Club:

October already????

We passed our "-1" year anniversary on 9/27. It seems so exciting now that in less than a year we'll be getting married. I never wanted a long engagement, so the wait hasn't been the easiest for me! However, I did always want a fall wedding, which is why the engagement has been long. Now after getting deeper and deeper into the planning I am so glad we've given ourselves all this time to prepare.

Tonight we have our first meeting with a potential photographer team! I am really excited to meet with them, they've been so responsive with quick emails and I love the look of their website. (www.lifesimplyhappens.com) Some of their images are just amazing.

Pat saw some of his family yesterday and he told me that people actually check this blog - I had no idea! So I'll try and be better at writing here - I can always come up with something to write about! However, I don't want to give away all of the surprises of the day!!!

Why haven't I updated?

Because there's nothing wedding-worthy to talk about.

One thing we've got going on is that I'm going through the RCIA class (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults). So we'll both be Catholic before the wedding. I'm glad for this - it has made us feel more unified.

The other thing that has kept me from wedding plans (besides work and life and all that other stuff) is my friend Alaina's wedding this Saturday. I'm one of her bridesmaids and I'm VERY much looking forward to a FUN weekend at The Poland Spring Resort celebrating her marriage to Jim!

Perhaps in the next week or two I'll get back with some real updates.

Information Gathering

I'm in a major information gathering phase. I love looking online to see all the different ideas out there. However, we're at a point where we need to make some decisions! (I'm not a very decisive person). My first choice for a photographer is already booked up. Wow, 13 months in advance!

So it's time to decide on photographers and DJ's. This weekend and next week I'm hoping to put together a comprehensive list of all the services these various people offer! Some of them will have set hours in their contract so it's hard to figure out this far in advance what we'll be needing.

But overall it has been so much fun. I've also done a lot of planning for my friend's wedding that I'm in this fall. I love that I actually have some ideas to help her out with. Weddings are just so much fun and such happy events!

Quick Update

I have been doing a lot of research into photographers for the big day! It has been great going through all the websites and seeing all the happy couples! Unfortunatly my first two choices are already booked for next year. Bummer! But I'm sure there is someone out there that will be perfect for us.

This weekend we're having a cookout at Pat's apartment with both sets of parents so they can finally meet each other! It should be a very low-key kind of time. So that's kind of wedding related! I'm sure there will be lots of wedding talk, which I love! I just wish I had more to tell people.

Of course I have tons of plans...but I don't want to give them all away. I want people to be surprised when they arrive at the reception!

Weekend

This weekend we're headed up north to spend some time with Pat's extended family. I'm really looking forward to it because there are a lot of people that I haven't met yet! So this weekend won't really be wedding related, but it will be family related and that is SO important to me! I am hoping to get everyone's names and addresses this weekend so I won't be hunting them down later. So that might be one thing crossed off the list!

My current project has been researching photographers. Pictures are very important to me so I want to choose just the right person to capture our day.

Where are the updates?

I should do a better job updating over here. Unfortunately there isn't a lot to update. Patrick and I have been looking at churches near Martindale. We've been talking about colors and flowers and all kinds of good stuff. But it's stuff that I want people to be surprised with!

I will say (perhaps I have said it before) that since it's a September 27th wedding and we both love the season, we're going with a fall theme. Traditional fall colors throughout the dresses, bouquets and decorations. I can't wait for a few months when all the fall stuff goes on clearance so I can stock up!

We're having a lot of fun planning, although at times it certainly is stressful. I think planning any event for 200 people would be difficult. I dream about the wedding every night. Usually about what I forgot to do (one dream was that I forgot to book a DJ), but last night I just dreamed about boutonnieres for the guys. Weird.

I'll try and do a better job of updating over here. I hope people are still reading!

It's official!

We've booked Martindale Country Club in Auburn for September 27, 2008!

When we met with them on Saturday we liked the location even more. I'm really excited about the location and I can't wait to go to our food tasting next spring to decide on the menu!

This makes it feel real. Now that we have a firm date and a location we can start looking for all the other vendors that are needed.

I think I'd like to be a wedding planner. This is so much fun!

Have we found the reception venue?

Perhaps...all signs are pointing towards yes! I need to confirm with the manager, so I'm going to leave you all hanging for a little while longer. I'll be so relieved to have found the place! We went to look at it on Saturday and it's pretty much exactly what we wanted... I'll keep you posted!

Still searching...

We're still searching for a location to have the reception. Pat's schedule is insane and it's hard to figure out a time when we can go and look at different places. I'm about ready to start scheduling "wedding" time into his calendar so we can figure some things out.

The guest list is coming along nicely. It's huge...but we had a feeling that it would be. That's ok, we couldn't imagine cutting it down - we can't wait for everyone to celebrate with us!

Bridal Show

I went down to a bridal show in Portsmouth, NH last night. I went with a Sept. 2007 bride (I'm in her wedding) and we had a great time. I picked up cards from a lot of people and we have a sample DVD from a DJ to watch. I didn't have any of those "I must have this" moments, probably because everything is still so new.

Hopefully when I get home today I'll have some packages from a couple of different reception locations that I had requested. We've definitely narrowed it down, but the final decision hasn't been made yet. It's such a big decision!

Small Update...

There haven't been many updates because we haven't been making much progress! For the most part right now we are trying to find a reception venue that meets all our criteria.

I have been requesting a lot of information from various places and we've been going through it, deciding what works for us.

I think once we've locked in a reception hall, everything else will (hopefully) fall into place.

It's sad though...all I can think about and talk about is the wedding. I must be driving poor Pat crazy! :)

HAHAHA!

Did you realize that the "average" wedding costs $27,000!!!

All I can say to that is YEAH RIGHT! No idea what we'll be doing, but I can guarantee we will NOT be spending anywhere near that amount! Ridiculous!

Update

We visited Point Sebago yesterday and we have definitely ruled it out as a possible reception location. Although the resort is beautiful, I can't imagine eating off "quality" paper plates and Pat said he'd never sit on picnic tables! So far we're in agreement!

We did stop and look at another location and I'm going to call today for some pricing information. We both loved it, but it might be a lot more than we're willing to spend. But the only way to find out is to call!

Oh, my fabulous cousin also took some engagement photos. There are a few that I love, but Pat doesn't want to decide on one until we take some at the ocean. Unfortunately my cousin is heading back to Florida tomorrow so we'll have to enlist someone else to help us out.

Anyone in the Portland area good with a camera?

Monday

Monday will be the first day that we'll be actually doing 'wedding stuff.' We have a 9:30 appointment at Point Sebago in Casco to scope it out for a possible reception location. For a few reasons I don't think it's going to work for us...but we didn't want to rule it out without seeing it.

My cousin is also going to take some engagement pictures for us. Hopefully we'll get a few good ones!

Time frame

A lot of people have started asking when we're planning on having the wedding. Due to time and money, we're looking at the fall of next year (2008). Not to mention that we're just loving being engaged and we don't want to rush through this wonderful time either!

We both love the season and last fall is when we really fell in love, so it has a special meaning to us.

I have been so excited to start planning everything. I've already bought two magazines and we've already put together a tentative guest list!

Can you tell I'm a planner??

Welcome!

Hello family and friends!

This is going to be a blog all about our wedding plans...once we get to them! For now, here is our engagement story.

We were on vacation in Washington DC. It was Monday, May 14th and we decided to head in to DC at night to visit the memorials. First we went to the White House and then Pat wanted to go to the Washington Monument.


We wandered around for a while, taking pictures of the Lincoln Memorial and The Capitol building and just enjoying the view and the gorgeous night.

I felt Pat grabbing my arm and I thought he wanted a hug, which is what I did. Then all of a sudden (and to my utter surprise) he was getting down on one knee and asking me to marry him.

To say I was shocked was an understatement. I couldn't believe he had kept it so secret and planned it out so perfectly. I couldn't have imagined a more perfect engagement. Of course, I also couldn't have imagined a more perfect person for me.

Here's the ring and here's us shortly after:

So please check back here for regular updates on the planning! I love to blog and I think this will be the easiest way for people to stay up to date and to also give me opinions and feedback on things!

Love,

Jaime & Pat