Eat, Sleep, Drink, & Be Merry

That's what we want to make sure our guests do while they come visit!

Now that we have officially nailed down our venue, we are working on choosing the best options for accommodations, rehearsal, and good ol' fun for anyone who is staying a bit longer.

Thank you to my mom for doing all the nasty legwork of calling area hotels-- & to the three hottest budget analysts around (Em, Sarah, & Marcy for those of you who don't know) down at the LOB for your thoughts and opinions of downtown restaurants!

Here's a glimpse of what I've got going. Hopefully we'll have some decisions made soon:

Signed, Sealed, Delivered

Its really going to happen!

Just shy of six months to go and our venue is finally in the bag.

Most of you probably didn't know but we were close to signing a contract twice and neither panned out. There is no better way to explain it other than it just didn't feel right.

I have to give my brother some credit on this one. Although he didn't really do anything, it was because of his visit to CT and my wanting to show him where we were (supposed to be) getting married that Marisa and I had a change of heart. While there, Marisa expressed her worries and emotions with the venue we were close to finalizing. Can you think of the best way to console her? Exactly, drive her and my brother passed where we really wanted to get married, the Old State House! As we drove passed, no words were said, puppy dog faces were displayed and thoughts were pouring through our heads.

I've always been a believer in the idea that when things are meant to happen they just fall into place. This time they did. While babysitting later that day, Marisa went online to check the OSH website. Low and behold, their prices had dropped dramatically, someone responded to our email and an appointment was made.

Our appointment was yesterday afternoon... When we walked into the Old State House Marisa and I looked at each other and that was it. We needed to see no more. I walked around like a tourist taking photos and video. We chatted briefly, looked over the contract, agreed, kissed one another and signed the contract! It might have taken a frustrating first six months with two failed attempts to get it right, but this time, in only six days, we got it-

Signed, Sealed, Delivered, She's Mine.



Check out my photos of the Old State House

Happy Six Months to Go! We are WAY overdue according to The Knot...

Event Planner ExTrAoRdiNaiRe

MICHELLE LYNCH EVENTS
michelle.lynch@rocketmail.com

I've been wanting to put this post up for a while, but haven't been able to devote substantial time and creativity that this post (and person) really deserve. However, I feel that it has been far too long that we have not appropriately recognized her and how much she has done behind the scenes of everything you read about here.

Michelle Lynch, our planner, deserves so much more than this measly blog post, but we hope that if we start now, by 9.26.09, we will be able to encompass and articulate exactly how much we appreciate her help.

There is no good place to start (same goes for wedding planning in my opinion!) but I will start with the ugly stuff. Michelle gracefully tackles the miserable legwork any bride cringes at the thought of. Phone calls, emails, follow-ups, appointments? She can do it all, in no time flat. Not to mention has a knack for tracking people down, getting them to work to our idea of a wedding and not what the wedding industry thinks it should be. It was presented to Michelle very early on, that Joe & I did not want a typical nor traditional wedding. It would probably be a whole lot easier on her if we wanted to celebrate at a banquet hall with a big ol' budget and she could bang this right out, but of course, we've had her tweaking her brain from day one to help us create something unique. We've gone from one end of the state to the other to find what we really want and she hasn't batted an eyelash at any of it. She always shows up, grin on her face and ready to get down to business. She has done an outstanding job representing us, working to get what we want, on our budget. Even when things didn't go as planned or hoped, Michelle has been a positive burst of energy to keep us looking forward.

As a planner, Michelle promises to create an event that her clients envision, creatively & budgetarily--one that guests will never forget. She will put thought into every detail until completion and exceed your expectations of her and her company.

Michelle can provide an array of services and has a number of contacts to assist in your planning. Concept Development, Invitations, RSVPs, Menu & Venue Selection, Decorations, & Entertainment, & Execution are just the basics. Michelle can and will provide so much more. She is a plethora of ideas & advice, a neutral third party when you need it most, and a strong communicator to help you get what you want out of your event.

She has made every bit of our planning that much easier and is eager to help plan events of all kinds--large or small, formal or casual. When working with her, you can tell it is not only her job, but her passion. Contact her for any further info on event planning or feel free to contact us for any reference info as well. We are happy to recommend her to assist in your planning.

Wedding Agenda: March

Sign Contract with Venue


Yes, we are still working on this. The person representing the venue is 'laid back,' to put it mildly. Everything has fallen into place slowly but surely (at least that's how we feel) but should be finalized any day now with the help of our planner, Michelle, who luckily knows how to track people down and get them to do what we want. :)

Choose DJ We thought we lucked out with a DJ that is a regular where Shannon works at Tango in Glastonbury, but turns out he had already met with a couple for the same date and as soon as he said someone else was interested in his services, they gave him a deposit. So the search is back on. We have a handful of people who are available for our date, we just need to meet and decide who is right for us..and you! Cause we all know how much both sides of this wedding like to party.... ;)

Meet with Caterer We lucked out!!! We are going to be able to use the caterers we originally hoped for. DISH is a new restaurant in downtown Hartford and was voted Best New Restaurant of 2008 in the Advocate. We can't wait to work with Audrey, the catering manager, who we luckily found through someone I work with (one of the few components of this that we knew we wanted from the beginning). Soon, we will go back to taste some food and choose the menu.


Block Hotel Rooms As soon as we put a deposit on the venue, we will be contacting area hotels to block off room for our guests. Unlike our original venue, there will be plenty to choose from within a very short distance. This was a huge factor for us. Joe and I didn't want anyone having to even think twice or worry about driving anywhere. Now, there will be plenty of options for places to stay and to avoid driving. We will let you know the accommodations as soon as possible.


Visit/Choose Florist Luckily, we will be able to go to a wholesale florist, with the intent of keeping cost down because Joe's mom and aunts offered to put our arrangements and bouquets together, as they have done for all the other family weddings. This is something I need to get on. I have a very hard time making concrete decisions about anything (if you couldn't tell already). I feel like if I go and meet with anyone, I have to give them my life. I feel so bad saying no, like I'm going to hurt people's feelings for not giving them the business. Then, I go home and I'm like, "why did I tell them I'd be in touch...I won't be in touch..."

Ask my friend Andrea. We went back to Priscilla of Boston this past weekend, so she could try her bridesmaid dress on. I had originally gone to try on gowns knowing I wasn't going to buy one there. I felt so guilty when we walked in this past Sunday (like they actually remembered my face from the millions of people that go in there!) I had to blurt out first thing that I had been there and loved a dress, but that my fiancee's grandmother was going to be making my dress and repeatedly apologized. Of course there answer was "that's the business." It really wasn't a big deal. I'm just a nut.


Choose Photographer We have a potential candidate, not your typical wedding photographer. Someone Joe knows, but nothing set in stone yet. So if anyone knows of someone who is eager to shoot and create great photos, let us know. However, they'll have to present their work to Joe--he's the judge of this one, so if you just like to point-and-shoot, you're out of luck. We don't necessarily want your regular ol' cheesy wedding photographer (who thinks their you-know-what-don't stink), but rather someone who can catch some great candids. It's too bad Joe can't shoot our own wedding!


Do not go completely MAD All this planning--on a budget--can make a couple go completely insane. I could not even count how many times the word "elope" has come up in either Joe or my vocabulary in the past five months. We really appreciate everyone being as supportive as possible. There's a lot up in the air right now (hence why we haven't really been on here), so we hope this update helps. We will be back in action and not leaving you hanging this long again!!

February has passed and there was no post!!!

Sorry, everyone! Apparently we were busier than we thought. Here's the rundown of what happened in Feb:

At the beginning of the month, Joe hiked Mt. Washington in the freezing cold & slept in a snow fort. Check out the pics:





Marisa kept busy w/ girls' get togethers like a Lia Sofia party, Girls Night Out to see "He's Just Not That Into You" with fellow sig others of the crazies on Mt Washington, and also did some bridesmaid dress try-ons w/ Shan & Em @ White Dress by the Shore in Clinton, Ct. Not to mention, finalized the design for her wedding dress and sent it on to the master, Joe's oh-so-talented grandmother with the help of Joe's gracious mother/translator/clarifier.






Joe & I also went away for a weekend to Lake George, NY--not your typical Winter getaway, but that was the point. We didn't really want to be somewhere where there was a lot going on. We celebrated V Day & more importantly, our two year anniversary with a weekend of relaxation. I got to go to the spa! while Joe caught some photos of the Winter Carnival.












We cashed in Joe's Christmas present on 2/20 and saw Ryan Adams & the Cardinals live in concert at the Shubert in New Haven. Unfortunately, when we turned the camera on, the battery was dead, so we have no photos to show you. However, we can tell you that it was a great venue for a concert and they were awesome. I snagged a video from YouTube from someone who was also there so you can see for yourself (kinda):




*ANOTHER POST COMING VERY SOON*