Meet and Greenville

Family visit to our venue! I scheduled a summertime scoping-out session so Mom, Dad and Sister L could see our lovely venue in person.

Entrance
Grand foyer and ornate brass chandelier
We toured the grounds with our coordinator as she pointed out the areas for prep, cocktails, ceremony and dinner/dancing.

Almost famous

Browsing through wedding blogs, I cam across a particularly lovely wedding on Style Me Pretty. The sneak peak of the ceremony showed a yellow stucco church that looked like nearby St. Joseph's on the Brandywine, but I couldn't be sure.

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Then... I saw photos of the reception venue and fell in love. Sure it looked like the Greenville Country Club (our venue), but what's the likelihood of a national blog featuring little, ol' Delaware. It was probably someplace down in the Carolinas.

Tented reception on a brick patio with views of a rolling lawn... Hmmm.
Until I scrolled down to the vendor list, I still wasn't sure.

Achoo!

If you're going to rifle through 40 year old photo albums, do yourself a favor. Don't do what I did. Wear a dust mask or run an air purifier. I don't have allergies but managed to inhale enough particulate to irritate the heck out of my nasal passages and throat.

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No wonder my throat feels like sandpaper. Does this mean I can eat ice cream for dinner?

Old, embarrassing family photos...

Back in town after a weekend trip downstate to see Mr. P's mom. Since he would be working around the house, I had to find something to occupy myself. Something productive. She has a (treasure) chest filled with old family photos, many of which I haven't seen. Scanning in all the photos sounded like a reasonable project. Except there are close to a thousand images...

We brought six albums home for me to work during the week.

Say hi to baby Mr. P!

Shop til you drop

My family arrived for their much-anticipated vacation to tropical, sunny... no wait, they came to Delaware to spend their well-deserved vacation week with me! The last week of June was hot. Like heat index pushing 100 degrees, melt your face hot. We spent three days in a row in air-conditioned shopping bliss (King of Prussia, the flagship Anthropologie in Rittenhouse Square & Christiana Mall); ideal for the ladies, not so ideal for Dad and Mr. P.


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The non-stop shop-a-thon included knocking a few items off the wedding to-do list. Our first wedding stop was bridesmaid dress shopping at the Ardmore (read: upscale) Priscilla of Boston. BM R and I had the advantage of previewing gowns so we came prepared with a list since it worked well before. We were not missing any good ones due to sensory overload! (Ooooo, foreshadowing.)

Paper bag breathin'

Oh, I have plenty of time. The wedding's about 9 months away.

Umm, I'm not sure where my brain wandered off to because 234 days / 30 days is NOT 9 months. It is in fact 7.8 months! Commence paper bag breathing. Further proof I am not good at math.

I know what's next: lists, checklists and brainstorming bubbles!

eeny meeny miny moe: Uma, Fiesole or ??

I had been eagerly anticipating the bridal appointment like a little girl for over a week! Can't believe my good fortune in spotting gowns I adore and can afford (with a small budget stretch if need be). BM R and I hiked 45 minutes in rush hour traffic for our evening appointment at Priscilla of Boston. The salon attendants told us we could look around, but there was no need to since I had a list of gowns on my phone. This list ensures I don't overlook any in my excitement.

Priscilla of Boston - Ardmore
We were ushered into the dressing room lobby, which we had all to ourselves! Erika, my consultant, explained the process and gathered a little information about me and the wedding. One of her questions, "What do you do for a living?" was interesting. This telling question predicts with some accuracy what type of gown a bride will prefer. When she asked if I knew which gowns I wanted to see, I hesitantly explained that I had a list on my phone, if that was easier. She was impressed with the organization as she skimmed the list, noting none of her brides had ever gone quite this far before.

MUA

MUA? Love you too!?? I'm actually talking about make-up artists.

I've procrastinated long enough. Now that our engagement shoot is scheduled, I need to find someone to do my make-up and hair. ASAP. I'm not clueless about make-up but would feel much more confident if a professional helped me out. We're not taking our own pictures because that wouldn't turn out so well... so why approach hair and make-up any differently? It'd be a waste of good money to show up to our e-session with unkempt hair and work-day makeup.

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Sooooo, I've contacted a few studios to get an idea of costs and availability. I know the number they're going to email back will have three digits. I just don't know what that first digit will be... Looking good is gonna cost me and I'm fine with that. Just don't make me look like a clown.

Did you use a make-up artist for your wedding or engagement shoot? Any regrets or words of advice?

Long-distance dress discussions

Mom and Dad live 8 hours away. It is so frustrating to go gown shopping without her! I had to devise a way to include her in the experience without her physically being there...

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It's a long drive between here and there.

Easiest bridesmaid shopping trip ever!

Not content with visiting just one bridal store, BM R and I spent the rest of the day (about 8 hours - we're hardcore!) shopping in Suburban Square in Ardmore. We found new stores and old favorites with good deals. We stumbled upon a Priscilla of Boston store and had to scope out the gowns. It is a mere two blocks from the salon where we started the day -- I had no clue it was nearby, as I uncharacteristically did not research the area ahead of time!

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Sticker Shock

I like to punish myself... because I kept the Saturday appointment with the expensive dress.

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BM R happily volunteered to be my extra pair of eyes and an expert opinion (ahem, Miss 27 Dresses). We giddily discussed dresses for the 45 minute drive to the Ardmore salon (just outside of Philly proper). I had no idea what to expect of the town or bridal store, but R felt if it was anything like the bridal store there before, we would be in good hands.

Bijou Bridal - Ardmore

Doin' it in Dewey

The tropical storm left just in time for the start of the wedding weekend festivities. Friday night kicked it off with a rehearsal welcome dinner. We spent a lazy, chilly, windy Saturday morning relaxing on the beach before the beach ceremony and bayside reception. The rain returned with a vengeance after we walked to Sunday morning breakfast, stranding us until BM R rescued us. It was a fun weekend that we'll two weeks to recover from (coincidentally, the length of their honeymoon).

Teaser pics begin... now!

Relaxing on the beach the morning of the wedding

What irks me

I have a newfound pet peeve: wedding guests posting pictures on Facebook (or some other public site) without running it by the bride or groom. And this new pet peeve runs counter to my previous position. Before we got engaged and I started paying attention to what is/is not polite, I didn't think anything of uploading wedding pics. (In fact, I did it as recently as New Year's Eve 2009.) So what changed my hypocritical mind?

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K + M's Wedding Weekend

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Mr. P and I are off to Dewey Beach for a fantastic beach wedding weekend. We're doing a house share with group of friends -- so the fun won't stop until we go home! Looking forward to being a wedding guest as a newly engaged couple.

Maybe we'll have some teasers to post after we return!

Did you attend any weddings while engaged? What did you take away from it?

Engagement shoot - inspiration

I'm not one to go into things blindly. I like to research. Given the opportunity, I over-research. So when I came time to brainstorm our fall engagement shoot, I turned to other wedding bloggers' engagement shoots as a frame of reference. No need to reinvent the wheel when other (smarter, more creative) women have been through it already!

The Wedding Bee engagement session wiki is chock full of helpful posts. There's lots of beautifully styled shoots with a similar location or look that we're going for. Some of my favorite engagement shoots:

Mrs. Dolphin - Pure Photography
Mrs. French Fry - MThreeStudio