A visit to the Copperfield Inn

This afternoon, Ryan and I took a trip up to Copperfield to get another look at the ceremony and reception sites, meet with the sales manager, and finalize some plans.  We are a little more than 5 months away from the wedding at this point, and I highly recommend that a couple about to be married make a second visit to their ceremony site at this point in the planning process.  It was a wonderful chance for us to reconfirm that we love the areas we picked, and it put my mind at ease, as well as giving me some additional information which I needed in order to proceed with planning.

We arrived a bit early for our appointment, and since the property where we are holding the ceremony is a park across the street from the inn (called the Kellogg Property), we decided to take a walk over and check out the ceremony site again.  Even though we had to traipse through half a foot of snow to get there, I am glad we did it.  It allowed us to visualize where we want chairs, what direction we want people to face, where my father and I can hide before we are ready to walk down the aisle, and where people can park if they don't want to walk across the street from the inn.  We rented chairs from Bullseye Party Rentals in Glens Falls.  They are going to deliver, set up, and remove the chairs for us on the day of the ceremony.  Today we tried to figure out exactly where we would like the chairs to be placed inside of the pavilion.

Life Lesson #1: If you are going to bring your camera to take pictures of something, make sure you didn't accidentally leave the memory card in your computer at home.  I forgot to put my memory card back in my camera before we left, so I had to use my phone to take pictures today.

After our walk through the snow, we met with the sales manager to talk about some details.  My first goal was to get rid of all the things that had previously been written as "To Be Determined" in our contract.  At this point, I want everything to be set, and I don't want to leave anything up in the air.  This meant that we decided on the time for the cocktail hour and reception, chose the cocktail hour location, and made sure that enough of our guests had booked rooms so that we wouldn't have to pay a fee.  This was all really easy and put me at ease.  Now that we know what time the reception is set to begin, I can order invitations!  The sales manager also talked to us about the location of tables for gifts and place cards, and where we can have the DJ set up.  She showed us some of the items the inn has available to us for use as decorations.  This mostly consisted of hurricane lamps.  They are bigger than the jars I purchased for the terrarium centerpieces, so I don't think I will use them on the main tables, but I might be able to utilize them for the gift and place card tables.

We looked at the linens, talked about the menu, and chit-chatted about how we might want to have the evening run - as far as dances, announcements, etc.  We made sure that the doors to the patio could be opened during the reception - which is not only a beautiful option if the weather is nice, but important for our guests who need to go outside to smoke (yuck).

We will be having the cocktail hour in the front half of what is called the Great Room.  (horrible picture to follow - stupid cell phone...)

And the reception will be held in the back half of the Great Room.  This room has doors that open onto a stone patio, which is very lovely, but it was much too cold to go outside for a look today.  The wall in the middle of the room folds open or closed as needed (and sort of reminds me of the cafe-gym-atorium that we had at my elementary school).

Since we don't have wedding attendants to help us with things, and we won't be having a florist, I had a concern about how to get the tables decorated and when and who would do this.  The sales manager said that two things could be done - either we could set the tables up ourselves the evening before, or we could make a sample table in the morning and the inn staff could then copy what we had done.  Since we are only going to need six tables, we decided that we would be most comfortable setting them up ourselves the night before.  That way we don't have to worry that they are done right and we can set it aside and not have to think about it the next day.

To end our wonderful visit to North Creek, we chose to eat lunch at Trappers Tavern, which is located inside the inn itself.  We have to get photos taken in here by Tiffany before our wedding is over.  This place it so cool!  If it were big enough, we would seriously have the reception right inside the tavern.

Life Lesson #2:  If you think you took a picture on your phone, double check to make sure you actually clicked the button.  I thought I took three or four pictures while we were eating lunch, but I apparently only took one...

We had such a nice time here today, that we decided to come here after our reception is over.  The party could continue all night!

Now on to the next step - choosing the menu... !

Tweet

The Wedding Binder

Among the many reasons why I am like Monica from Friends, this one I'd like to share with you today...

...the Wedding Binder (capitalized for importance)!

I know that many (maybe even most) women who are planning a wedding put together a binder to help keep track of what/who/when/where/and how many, but when I first started this thing I was clueless!  I knew I needed to keep track of things, but I didn't really know yet which things were the most important.  Throughout all of my research on the internet and magazines, any time I saw something I liked, it went straight in the binder.  I had categories set up, but I learned pretty quickly that what I at first thought was important (hair) really needed to step aside for other things (budget).  Now that I know better, I've narrowed down my binder to the following important categories:

1. Location (...location, location! <-- this is what happens to your brain after you buy a house)  This means the ceremony location and the reception location (even if you think at first that they are going to be held in the same place).  This section started off as a bunch of printouts from websites of venues that I had researched and liked and potentially wanted to visit.  I ordered them front to back, with the ones I liked the best in the front.  Then I made some appointments, we made some visits, and we pulled out the ones that we didn't like any more.  Now that we have decided on a venue for the ceremony and the reception, those places are the only two that I left in this section of the binder.  This section contains basic web printouts, notes we took on visits, drafts of our contracts, our actual contracts, and receipts for payment deposits.  In the beginning I thought that I would want to keep even the information from places we didn't like, sort of like a souvenir of my research process, but I have recently come to realize that the only place of importance is our actual venue, and that's all I want to remember.  (Copperfield)

2. Photographer  In this section I am keeping contracts, paperwork, and ideas for photos that I like, as well as payment receipts.  I also keep a few notes that our photographer wrote to us, because I love her so much and it makes me feel good to read them again!  Just like the location section, this section started off with basic information about photographers I liked from the internet, and then it got smaller and smaller as we had interviews and chose our perfect match.  (Tiffany Wayne)

3. Officiant  I don't expect this section to be very large, but here is where I am keeping basic papers from our officiant, our contract, and copies of our receipts.  I think that I will also use this section for the creation of our ceremony, since the officiant is the one who will be running it for us.  We have borrowed a book from her about planning the ceremony, and I intend to photocopy specific pages and put those worksheets here.  (Mimi Phillips)  

4. Music & DJ In this section of my binder I can find anything that has to do with music. Our contract with the DJ, payment receipts (notice a trend here - keep track of your money!), and songs that we want to play. Our DJ also sent us a form where we can write down any traditional dances that we would like to include. Since our reception is going to include camping games, and I will need the DJ's help with this, those materials will kept in this section as we create them.

5. Guests  Pretty straightforward.  This is where we are keeping our guest list.  As it gets closer, I will include spreadsheets with addresses, accommodations (for people who are staying at the inn), and RSVP's to invitations with meal choices.  (this image is censored to protect the innocent)

6. Plan  Everyone needs a plan!  I am currently using one I found online, but they are all over the place on the internet and in wedding magazines.  They are all pretty much the same (which is comforting) and I have been using mine like a checklist.  I wrote down the month at the top of each section, and then I have a post it on my computer desktop with everything from the checklist that needs to be done that month.  (wedding channel)

7. Budget  Although this is one of the first things that a couple should create together, it is located at the back of my binder.  I'd like to say that there is some highly intelligent reason why it's in the back, but there isn't.  I just don't want to think about money (and how much this is all going to cost), so after we created the budget I just stuck it in the back.  Once you figure it all out, you can pretty much remember how much you have to spend on the important aspects of the wedding. 

8. Other  This is where everything else goes (for now)!  Here I can find inspirations for decorations, hairstyles, invitations, pretty much everything else that doesn't fit into the other categories.  This is by far the most colorful section of my binder, and one of the most fun, since I pulled most of the pages from magazines.

Although this is the best way for me to organize my Wedding Binder, I do not know if it is the best way for everyone.  What I do know, is that I have found this binder to be extremely helpful in my planning process.  Weddings are overwhelming and there have been times when I felt as though I was lost and didn't know what I was supposed to be doing, but having this binder (and especially the planning checklist) brought me right back to reality and allowed me to focus on just one task at a time.  I recommend that every couple who are planning a wedding have at least some sort of organizational system to keep track of things, something that even the most unorganized person could feel comfortable with.  Find what works for you!


If you don't feel like creating your own binder, there are tons of great ones available to buy that are already organized and ready for you to use!
  

Tweet

Prop Box of Fun!

It seems like one of the newest (and most fun) trends of weddings is the photo booth.  A photo booth can be set up in a number of ways, but essentially it consists of a dedicated area (usually with a backdrop of some sort) where people can have their photo taken.  Ranging from formal to goofy, the booth can be designed in any way that fits the bride and groom.  During the wedding reception, it is almost guaranteed that if a person is dancing, his or her photo will be taken by the professional photographer.  But what about people who don't dance?  Often these guests are under-represented in the photographs which are taken throughout the event, and this is a sad thing to happen.  The photo booth is a way to make sure that people who are absent from the height of action are still able to participate in ways that are less in the spotlight and can be involved in the wedding.

Although we haven't gotten all of the details of our own photo booth planned out yet, we do have some ideas.  Our photographer, Tiffany Wayne, came up with the idea of hanging a wooden picture frame between the camera and the guests being photographed, which will give the illusion of our guests being a framed piece of artwork.  We love this idea!

We have a lot of guests (and one groom) who really hate dancing, and with a small wedding of only 40-50 people, we wanted to make sure that everyone has fun.  We are hoping to accomplish this through incorporating camping games such as Mad Libs, a scavenger hunt, and cootie catchers throughout the reception (this fits with our theme of the Adirondack Woods, which was inspired by our love of camping).  We are also hoping to accomplish this sense of playfulness by having a box of props available at the photo booth, so that people can dress up, relax in front of the camera, and act silly.  I, for one, am really looking forward to this, and my father mentioned that he thought it would be funny if the men had some sort of dress to wear and the women could wear some sort of tuxedo!  I don't know yet if that is going to be possible, but I do have some other ideas which I would like to share.

When thinking about what we have collected over the years, we found that we already have the following items which are perfect for this use:

angel wings

(black because they are from Halloween)

rabbit ears

cat ears

feather boa

Hawaiian flower leis

We are also planning to get these items for the prop box, which we don't already have:

giant clown glasses

masks on sticks (etsy seller)

fake mustache on a stick

cyclops eye on a stick (etsy seller)

That seems like a lot of stuff, but we are still looking for more ideas!  Perhaps some hats?  Maybe some more camping themed items?  Please leave a comment on this blog post if you have any suggestions!

Tweet

Help us win our wedding invitations!

My Design Sensations Custom Handmade Stationery is giving away a $350 gift certificate for a couple who needs wedding invitations!  Couples submit an engagement photo and then people are able to vote.  The couple with the most votes at the end of November will win.

Right now we are in 4th place!

Please help us to reach the top!  Our budget is extremely tight.  If we were able to win our invitations, then we might have a little extra money leftover to add something nice to our reception.

All you have to do to vote is follow these simple steps:

1. Go to the My Design Sensations facebook page.
2. LIKE the company's page (at the top).
3. Go to our photo in the album entitled "Holiday Giveaway 2010."  Ours is photo number 4 (Kristen & Ryan).
4. LIKE the photo.

That's it!  Thank you!

photo by Tiffany Wayne

Tweet

A Package in the Mail = Excitement!

Everyone loves to get mail, but it is even more exciting to get a package in the mail... especially when you have been waiting for your pictures to arrive from a photo shoot!  Even though I only had to wait less than two weeks, the anticipation was almost more than I could bear.  I looked at Tiffany's blog almost every day to ogle over the scattering of photos she posted as a preview, because I just couldn't wait to see the rest.  When I finally got the box it was even more fun than I imagined, because she packaged it so beautifully...

Even after I carefully slid off the ribbon and removed the lid, there were still more surprises...

chocolate!!!

For about an hour and a half's worth of time shooting pictures, we received a disc with 88 amazing photographs, with which we can now do whatever we please.  This is really important to us, because it bothers me when photographers force people to order prints through them, instead of being able to print them out on their own.  Here are a few of my favorites from the day (that I didn't already steal from Tiffany's website)!

Tweet

Clothes Shopping

Since we are already married, but still want to have all of the things we missed out on when we eloped, we are going to have a photo shoot in October.  Ordinarily this would be called an engagement session, but since we don't like to do things the way the rest of the world does (and we aren't engaged) we are going to call it an "I Love You" shoot.  Our plan with our amazing photographer - Tiffany Wayne - is to shoot in an apple orchard (and doesn't everyone deserve new clothes when they are going to have professional photos taken?), so yesterday Ryan and I went clothes shopping!  I went in with a bunch of ideas for specific items, but when I actually looked at them in the stores, we didn't like them and we had to decide on something different.  I think we came up with some awesome choices that fit our personalities well!  Tiffany suggested I use shoots posted on the Green Wedding Shoes blog to get inspiration, and I chose these as my favorites:

A Fun Camping Engagement Session
A Pillow Fight in a Field of Yellow Flowers
A Romantic Engagement Session with a Piano – in a Field

A Lovely Engagement Session with a Blanket

We started off wanting to really dress up, but after thinking about it for awhile, we decided that our shoot might actually turn out better if we are wearing clothes that we are completely comfortable in - so we bought these:

Who wears a dress to go apple picking anyway?

PS:  I bought the same shoes in grey felt too, and I will actually wear those unless it is muddy.

Charlotte Russe

Old Navy 

DSW

Tweet

second photographer interview: Turnquist Photography

This may sound horrible, but I liked Tiffany so much yesterday that I really wanted to hate Rebecca and Jesse of Turnquist Photography - but I couldn't do it!  (Look at their blog too - this is where they show pictures that are more like Tiffany's and more like what we want.)

They welcomed us into their beautiful home and offered us lemonade.  They had a sample DVD running on their TV the whole time, and a coffee table filled with samples for us to touch and look at.

In all honesty, their packages and pricing were almost identical to Tiffany's, so I'm not going to discuss those in this blog entry.  Although they were a little quieter and a bit more subdued in personality, we still felt that they understood our needs, cared about what we want, and would be able to produce beautiful images for us.  We would definitely recommend them to other couples looking for wedding photographers.

Tweet