Friday was the visit to Classics V, a nice banquet hall in Amherst. When you walk in there is a waterfall and stairs ... leading to nowhere, lol, we had a laugh. The foyer was very pretty with a large seating area. The main banquet room was very big and decorated nicely. I must admit, compared to Sean Patricks, the banquet owner person definitely did not sell it as well. If you can't already tell, I did like Sean Patricks better. There were just things that I didn't like so much about Classics - there was an odor upon walking in, it's an extra $2,000 for the full banquet room if we don't have a minimum of 200 people leaving a dance floor that is probably 5' in total, and there were lots of fees for decorations. I just wasn't sold.
So, we chose Sean Patrick's! It was unanimous, all four of us liked it better. I am ecstatic and can't wait to make an appointment for this week to meet with the banquet head to go over the contract and begin to finalize this!
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Reception Sites Galore
It has been a busy week so far! Tuesday evening Ryan and I and our moms went to visit The Como, an Italian place in Niagara Falls, to see their reception hall for weddings. Not the most impressive, very old fashioned - but on the plus side the manager gave us a tour of the kitchen and we saw some very old fashioned pasta machines. They also make their sauce in this HUGE sink looking thing. Yeah, I'm Italian, I get a kick out of this stuff. Needless to say, we won't pick The Como for the reception but we had a yummy dinner out of the visit anyways.
Wednesday evening we booked 10/09/10 at the church, St. John's! Our priest is Father James - he's young and kind of goofy, but I think he'll make it fun and more relaxed. The "interview" that we had with him was very laid back and nice. Next step? Signing up for a Pre-Cana class and then starting to plan for the actual ceremony in the church.
Tonight we visited Sean Patrick's, a cute Irish restaurant nearby to see their banquet hall. Let's just say that I totally felt the "it" factor when we went in. It was beautiful. The room is very nice, the dance floor is in the middle, we can use a live band and CD music, the owner sets a ton of it up, there's a private bride's room with a private bathroom, the foyer is beautiful with a baby grand that we can rent to have somebody play in the beginning - yeah, I was impressed. The pictures of prior wedding setups were really nice too, and the chef that cooks for the party carves the fruit to go on the fruit platter in the shapes of animals! Also, it's only one party at a time. I do have to keep my mind open for one more place though ... Classics V tomorrow, we'll see how it goes! :)
Wednesday evening we booked 10/09/10 at the church, St. John's! Our priest is Father James - he's young and kind of goofy, but I think he'll make it fun and more relaxed. The "interview" that we had with him was very laid back and nice. Next step? Signing up for a Pre-Cana class and then starting to plan for the actual ceremony in the church.
Tonight we visited Sean Patrick's, a cute Irish restaurant nearby to see their banquet hall. Let's just say that I totally felt the "it" factor when we went in. It was beautiful. The room is very nice, the dance floor is in the middle, we can use a live band and CD music, the owner sets a ton of it up, there's a private bride's room with a private bathroom, the foyer is beautiful with a baby grand that we can rent to have somebody play in the beginning - yeah, I was impressed. The pictures of prior wedding setups were really nice too, and the chef that cooks for the party carves the fruit to go on the fruit platter in the shapes of animals! Also, it's only one party at a time. I do have to keep my mind open for one more place though ... Classics V tomorrow, we'll see how it goes! :)
Thursday, May 14, 2009
We picked a date!
Tonight we picked our final date - 10/9/10! Off to call the church tomorrow and then start reception site shopping, yay! :)
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Financial Stuff
Can I say how much there is to think about when figuring out finances and affordability for weddings and homes, etc? Just when I thought I had accounted for everything, there's even more! It's wierd to think about such adult-like things, exciting, but scary at the same time. Ryan doesn't think so, but I think that I'm already turning into Bridezilla. I can admit that I obsess over things, so you can imagine how obsessive I am about all of this wedding business even though we just got engaged almost 4 days ago! I just want this wedding to be perfect, but in all actuality, it will be because all I need is Ryan standing at the altar.
So, as you can tell I've really been spending time number crunching for the past couple of days so that we can begin to plan the best time to get married, buy a house or apartment, etc based on our income and savings. I really just want to set a date because I will be starting school for the summer in a week and it would make things much less stressful if we have a date set and booked at the church (then reception planning and booking ...). We discussed it at length tonight and it's looking like an October 2010 wedding is probably going to happen, and I am ecstatic! We both really want to get married in the fall if possible financially, and I think we should be able to with pushing back buying a house until we're more established.
Ok, off to bed, that's it for now!
So, as you can tell I've really been spending time number crunching for the past couple of days so that we can begin to plan the best time to get married, buy a house or apartment, etc based on our income and savings. I really just want to set a date because I will be starting school for the summer in a week and it would make things much less stressful if we have a date set and booked at the church (then reception planning and booking ...). We discussed it at length tonight and it's looking like an October 2010 wedding is probably going to happen, and I am ecstatic! We both really want to get married in the fall if possible financially, and I think we should be able to with pushing back buying a house until we're more established.
Ok, off to bed, that's it for now!
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Engagement
One of the best days of my life: Ryan asked me to marry him on May 9, 2009. It all started with a date to watch "The Notebook" over four years ago, and here we are now engaged!
On May 9, Ryan took me and my puppy Frankie to Letchworth State Park because I was dying to go as the spring buds were beginning to bloom. It ended up being a beautiful day and we hiked through some very beautiful trails and viewed the many waterfalls throughout the park. After eating lunch and packing up to go back out I went to the bathroom - when I came back Ryan said that he wanted to go back to a lookout viewing the middle falls to take a picture. After walking down to the lookout and waiting for people to leave the area so that Ryan could take a clear picture he asked if I noticed anything missing from Frankie's collar. I clearly did not notice the fact that her collar and tag were not "jingling" like normal, and when I looked down there was a ring hanging from her collar! Ryan then got down on one knee and asked me to marry him - of course I said yes (he claims that I did not say yes at first or answer, but to my defense I was in shock)! He then put the engagement ring on my finger, we shared a kiss, and the rest is history. :) It was so romantic and creative, I was truly touched. I am more excited than words can say to spend the rest of my life with the love of my life!
The ring is absolutely beautiful and perfect. It's a solitaire, princess cut diamond with a thicker white gold band. I love it, it's perfect, and it's exactly the "classic" type of ring that I wanted! Pictures are to come, of course.
So, the day was amazing. After the proposal we bought matching Letchworth mugs as our first items for our "Hope Chest" and for the memory and visited with our family members. Ryan then took me for a delicious dinner at Schimschack's, complete with the waitress preparing Bananas Foster at the table (very cool), and we went back to my house to toast with a glass of champagne and to cuddle on the couch.
As you can see this is the very beginning of what will become my wedding blog, which will create a memoir of the whole wedding planning process and of the wedding itself. We don't have a date set yet, but at the earliest we are thinking of getting married in Fall 2010. I cannot put into words how excited I am (Ryan knows, I have been obsessing already only 2 days in lol), and how much I cannot wait to spend my life with my one true love. I am so lucky to have met my "other half" who knows me inside and out and has stood strong by me for 4 years plus. :)
On May 9, Ryan took me and my puppy Frankie to Letchworth State Park because I was dying to go as the spring buds were beginning to bloom. It ended up being a beautiful day and we hiked through some very beautiful trails and viewed the many waterfalls throughout the park. After eating lunch and packing up to go back out I went to the bathroom - when I came back Ryan said that he wanted to go back to a lookout viewing the middle falls to take a picture. After walking down to the lookout and waiting for people to leave the area so that Ryan could take a clear picture he asked if I noticed anything missing from Frankie's collar. I clearly did not notice the fact that her collar and tag were not "jingling" like normal, and when I looked down there was a ring hanging from her collar! Ryan then got down on one knee and asked me to marry him - of course I said yes (he claims that I did not say yes at first or answer, but to my defense I was in shock)! He then put the engagement ring on my finger, we shared a kiss, and the rest is history. :) It was so romantic and creative, I was truly touched. I am more excited than words can say to spend the rest of my life with the love of my life!
The ring is absolutely beautiful and perfect. It's a solitaire, princess cut diamond with a thicker white gold band. I love it, it's perfect, and it's exactly the "classic" type of ring that I wanted! Pictures are to come, of course.
So, the day was amazing. After the proposal we bought matching Letchworth mugs as our first items for our "Hope Chest" and for the memory and visited with our family members. Ryan then took me for a delicious dinner at Schimschack's, complete with the waitress preparing Bananas Foster at the table (very cool), and we went back to my house to toast with a glass of champagne and to cuddle on the couch.
As you can see this is the very beginning of what will become my wedding blog, which will create a memoir of the whole wedding planning process and of the wedding itself. We don't have a date set yet, but at the earliest we are thinking of getting married in Fall 2010. I cannot put into words how excited I am (Ryan knows, I have been obsessing already only 2 days in lol), and how much I cannot wait to spend my life with my one true love. I am so lucky to have met my "other half" who knows me inside and out and has stood strong by me for 4 years plus. :)
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