The Perfect Dress: Inspiration

I am waiting until September to start trying on wedding dresses but I am obsessed with looking at/pinning/stalking the dress board on Weddingbee.  There are some things that I definitely want in my wedding dress:

• lace or taffeta or chiffon
• not satin/shiny
• straps or sleeves
• unique
• possibly tea length (although now that I'm engaged I am more into the long dresses)
• ivory

here are some of my current favorites:

Maggie Sottero Ella

Christos Arabella

Christos 2013 Collection

Karen Willis Holmes Vanessa

Sophia Tolli Neyda

Chaviano Couture

Henry Roth Denise

Maggie Sottero Florencia

Alfred Angelo 2243

Wow, I have a lot of favorites!  I hope when I start trying on it will be easy to find something I like.

The Search for the Pefect Venue: Warrington Country Club

On Saturday we checked out Warrington Country Club in Warrington, PA.  From the outside it was very pretty, a nice sized brick building with lots of flowers around and columns at the front entrance.

 

VIP Magazine 

We met with Patricia who was very knowledgeable and went over everything that was included in the per person price.  The only thing you had to pay extra was the bartenders and for the ceremony which would be held in their beautiful garden, weather permitting.  Warrington's per person price is extremely affordable and they give you a discount if you don't offer beef as an entree (then you would just offer a chicken, a fish and a vegetarian option) which is fine with us!  Plus they include hor d'ourves, a three course seated dinner, a five hour open bar, the cake and the centerpieces.  Since we are only going to have a small number of guests at our ceremony, Patricia told us they would waive the ceremony fee.  Another nice thing is they are doing a lot of renovating (which will be done by 2014) so hopefully they will update their decor a little bit.  Here is some pictures of the club:

 The ceremony garden via Wedding Wire

one of the rooms via Warrington Country Club

pros:

+ extremely affordable

+ lots of amenities included in the per person price

+ wedding cake included

+ location is close for us and our families

+ easy to get to

+ big dance floor

+ pretty ceremony space

+ plenty of parking for free 

+ our top pick for a date is available

cons: 

- decor is kind of outdated

- may be another wedding going on there at the same time (two seperate rooms)

- not a lot of places for pictures

The Search for the Perfect Venue: Beat Street Station

I am on a quest... for the perfect venue!  Of course, isn't every bride?  This is probably one of the biggest decisions to make and also one of the first that needs to be decided on, especially if you want to get married during the peak wedding months such as May or September.  Unfortunately, my dream wedding date is in one of those months.  Even though we are planning for May 2014, some venues are almost completely booked for the month already!  On the other hand, some are not even booking that far ahead.

Anyway, Saturday we had our first visit to what I thought was my top choice for a venue.  Beat Street Station in Manayunk, PA.  First off, Lisa, the director of events is wonderful!  She greeted us very promptly and showed us around the venue.  The reason I was so into Beat Street Station was that it was so unique, an old train station converted into a venue space.  Plus, they customize their menu from the bar, to the appetizers and different station options, even the dinner choices and a choice of dessert.  That helps you create a menu that is in your budget and Beat Street Station is very affordable for a wedding venue.

 source:  Wedding Channel

The inside was nice, with three different "sections"... the entryway/bar area, a small hallway with cocktail tables an optional photo booth and the ceremony/reception space.  And here in lies the problem, the ceremony space would have to be flipped during cocktail hour into the reception space.  Also, the reception space was pretty small.  They had it set up for 130 guests and it was TIGHT, being that that is around the number of people we will be inviting that worried me a bit.  Another downside in my opinion is that the bar is in a different room.  I am just not a fan of that personally.  My last hang up is that there is no parking, and you have to pay for valet parking which is a pretty hefty fee if you are on a budget.  Also, they were almost completely booked for May except for memorial day weekend, so we would have to either move into April or June most likely.  So while I still like Beat Street Station, I have a feeling that this will not be our venue.  The search continues this weekend!

source:  Wedding Channel

I didn't bring my camera this time but I will be bringing it from now on so I can keep better track of the positives and negatives of each place.

Positives=

+the event coordinator is very prompt with her responses, friendly and accommodating

+the venue is unique and beautiful

+the menu is completely customizable to fit your taste and budget

+fits into our budget 

Negatives=

-valet parking is a must and comes with a hefty price tag

-ceremony and reception space are the same area

- reception space seemed a bit tight for our number of guests

-bar is in a different room

-our top choices for date were already taken

Planning my wedding!

So, now that I'm engaged I want to document our wedding planning!  From the inspiration to searching for a venue to finding the perfect dress I will be sharing it all right here.  First off I'll share a picture of us on the night we got engaged (Cinco de Mayo 2012!):

My lovely fiance took me out for a nice date in a cute little town called Lambertville.  We went to a mexican restaurant and after we ate he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.  It was very sweet and a perfect night.