Sam!

So, this isn't really wedding related, but it is very exciting! Paul and I got a dog! His name is Sam and he is absolutely adorable, with incredibly soulful eyes:) We got him from the animal shelter and he beat out a beautiful Husky with bright blue eyes. The pound said he was about a year old, but we are a little skeptical. He has big paws and a very puppyish gait. They also said that he was probably a hound and shepherd mix. We are waiting to see if he grows to decide for ourselves how old he is and what breeds. He's such a love and we're so excited about him!

Progress

Hello! And welcome new followers. We love to have you aboard! :) I stayed in Idaho an extra week and thankfully got a lot done. The wedding coordinator has been booked. Her name is Brandi from her own company called Soiree. She has a fun blog to read. Also, now that we've booked her, we have unlimited email and phone time. So, any questions you have, let me know. Or you are more than welcome to ask her yourself (Ann especially for invitations and such!). She is very organized and professional, but also adorable and approachable. Great combination.

We have also decided on a photographer. Thanks for your comments on the photographers! I was really torn because I like both of their work a lot, but ultimately I've decided to go with Tana. I just think that her style is much more what we're going to want for our wedding photos. But I would not hesitate to ask Bryan to shoot something else in my life!

Finally, we have also decided on the venue. We are going with the Powerhouse. I like the look of it a lot, and it is the easiest route to take. Because, by booking the Powerhouse, we also have the caterer, the DJ, and the staff basically taken care of.

The last decision that has been made is about the dress. I took my parents to try on dresses two days ago, and we had fun. I think they both enjoyed it. However, I didn't find my dress. Dad, however, had a really good idea, and I think we're going to do it. As many of you know, my grandfather is 97. While he is still active within the confines of his own driveway, a trip to Idaho is basically impossible. Paul and I have opted not to have Granddad marry us in White Plains despite his generous offer. I am going to go to New York to have my Granddad come and help me pick out my dress. I think it will be a really nice way to incorporate him in the wedding. Also, it means he will finally get to meet Paul! So my next adventure is to plan that trip, which will probably take place on president's day weekend.

At this point in the planning process, I think its going to become more about details, so if anyone has any clever ideas, please send them to me!!!

Or this guy

Which photographer do you like better?

http://www.bryanaulick.com/

Tana Photography

I'm meeting with a photographer tomorrow. Look at her stuff and let me know what you think.

www.tanaphotography.com

I like her stuff. I think she's a good balance of creativity and traditionalism.

Venue and Coordinator

Santi and I had a great wedding planning day today. I had a bit of a freak out a few days ago and Paul made the official decision that we are going to get a wedding coordinator. I think it was a very good decision. I met with two today and chose one over the other. She seems very professional and put together, also her pictures from past weddings were beautiful. She is giving me a proposal before Friday and then we are going to meet on Tuesday to discuss initial wedding plans and such. It already makes me feel so comfortable to have a planner. I never thought I would want one, but it is so nice to have someone who knows what they are doing and knows the answers to my questions.

Santi and I also went to see the Powerhouse today. It was not one of my original venues, but was recommended to me by a woman in the church. It is also a refurbished building like the Linen Building and has an even more industrial feel. The building itself is a beautiful red brick building in downtown Boise. Inside the walls are all brick. It has a ground floor and an upper "balcony". They also have a lot of different types of lighting that really transform the room. They are an all inclusive venue, unlike the others. They have in house catering, bar tending, DJ, and day of coordinator. Here are a few pictures:

The green railings are pretty ugly, as is the green carpet upstairs. Brandy has shown me pictures where the rails are covered and it looks a lot better. The carpet you just have to hope no one looks too closely in between everyone's feet:) It is a great space for ceremony and reception, the guests simply go upstairs for a cocktail hour while the ground floor is transformed to reception.

We also saw a few beautiful wedding pictures of the train depot that put it back into consideration for me. I think with a good coordinator it really could look nice. It does not, however, have the great lighting capabilities as the Linen building and the Powerhouse.

At this point, I'm torn between the Powerhouse and the Depot. I love the Linen Building, but it has two strikes against it: I can't do the ceremony there (at least I won't pay for it) and there is no where to take pictures. Although, I still think it is the most beautiful venue.

The depot may not look quite as warm as the others, however, it is great for doing both ceremony and reception and ideal for pictures.

The Powerhouse looks cool (I like the brick) is conveniently inclusive and easy to transform from ceremony to reception. The bad part of the powerhouse is that, like the Linen Building, there are very few places for pictures. With both the linen building and the powerhouse, we would have to leave after the ceremony and go to a nearby park or something to take pictures.

Okay, now what I need is input and advice!!! What should I do? Let me know what you would do:)

Narrowing Down Venues

I went and visited a few venues today and here's what I found:

1. The Owyhee Plaza Hotel- ugly and smells like Denny's. I've decided no on this one.

2. The Boise Train Depot- This is a cool venue but it just didn't jump at me. I also think doing all of the planning and coordinating would be difficult. I think it would be difficult to change the space quickly from ceremony to reception. On the plus side, the gardens outside would be very convenient and beautiful for pictures. Here are a few pictures I took

3. The Linen Building- I definitely like this venue the most so far. The building itself is cool, so I think it would be easy to keep decorations to a minimum. They have obviously done a ton of weddings before so they know what they're doing, which sounds appealing. The only problem is that in order to rent the upstairs for ceremony space, its way too much money. So I think if we went with the Linen Building, we'd have to get married in a nearby church. Dad would love it if I got married in Boise First... but it looks like a wooden space ship. I may just suck it up and get married in the spaceship.

The first picture is the upstairs gallery that could be used for the ceremony. The second picture is the mezzanine, it doesn't look like much, but its a cool little lounge space that overlooks the reception hall, which is the third picture.

I have an appointment to see the Powerhouse (yes, I know the name is super lame, but they do a lot of weddings) on Wednesday, and hopefully I can visit the Bishop's house at the same time.

As it turns out, I may not be cut out for this wedding planning business, so Paul and I have made the executive decision to hire a wedding planner. Hopefully I can find a good one in the next few days!!!

Venues

I've been looking around on the internet for some good venues in Boise. Unfortunately, we can't do anything outside because it'll be too cold. (Oh, by the way, did I mention that we want to get married October 30th, pending venue availability). So, that limits us to indoors. I'm kind of assuming that we'll have around 150 guests- although neither paul or i have made a tentative guest list. At the moment, I'm focusing on 3 different venues (all in Boise).

1.

The Bishop's House

http://www.thebishopshouse.com/

I have never been here, but I've heard its nice and I like the idea of having a wedding in an old pretty house. However, their website isn't incredibly helpful, so I'm not even sure how many people will fit in it. So this may not even be a possibility.

2. The Linen Building

http://www.thelinenbuilding.com/

I really like this venue. It is a newly refurbished building in Boise that is used for events and such. It is pretty modern austere, but I think it has a lot of potential. I love how warm the lighting in this picture is. The biggest problem with this venue is that it is pretty expensive, but it has an old fashioned photo booth!

3. The Boise Train Depot

http://www.cityofboise.org/Departments/Parks/Reservations/ReservableSites/BoiseDepot/

I really think this could be a cool venue. It could

be kind of neat and antique looking. The biggest problem with this venue is that we would have to rent tables and linen and all of that. But I believe that isn't terribly difficult if you find a good caterer.

Right now, I'm leaning towards having the ceremony and the reception at the same venue. Neither Paul or I are terribly religious and unless I got married in my dad's church, I don't see much point in having the ceremony in a church that neither of us care about. Also, some of the venues have you rent for 10 hours, in which case, why pay for another venue when you're already paying for one. I think the biggest problem with this is rearranging the space after the ceremony: who will do it and what will the other guests do.

Ann and Lauren, if you have any other ideas of venues in Boise, let me know!!

Dresses

Thanks for sending me your emails about the dress pictures! Especially thanks for being so thorough! I definitely needed that. I decided that none of those dresses were my dress, but it was a great starting place to find out what I like. I agree with all of you that the trumpet shape looks best on me. The problem is that I LOVE wearing the big dresses! And I completely understand the impracticality of them and I know that they aren't the best shape for me (let's face it, I'm fairly small) but they are so Much FUN!!! So now I'm stuck between choosing a shape that looks better on me, or one that I really enjoy wearing. A small (and embarrassing) part of me has always wanted to wear a hoop skirt:) and lets face it, when am I going to have another opportunity to wear one?? I think the next time I go dress shopping I'm going to look specifically for trumpet shapes and ball gown skirts with tight bodices. I think the bodice on the fun dress was too bulky.

This whole blog situation feels a little odd- kind of like I'm having a conversation with myself. I really hope you guys respond because if you don't, I'm definitely going to feel silly:)

We're Getting Married

So, turns out when a guy offers you a ring, there are strings attached. At the moment of the proposal all you can think is, "It's so shiny! I want it on my finger!" It's a trick. The ring is only there to distract you from the fine print- now you have to plan a wedding! Thankfully, I'm a big fan of the groom, who just happens to be helpful and happy to help me plan. However, not surprisingly, he does get a little bored after talking about colors for an hour. Now I understand why one has bridesmaids and other female support! Since my chosen support is spread across the world, and no one ever picks up their phones (myself included) I thought a blog would be a great idea! It means you can help me plan from the comfort of your own home when its convenient for you. My plan is to put up ideas and pictures so that you can give me your opinions and input. What do you think??