Quick Update!

Hi all!

Just so you all didn't think I have abandoned this project already, I sure haven't!  I have been putting my checklists/questions to work!

Scott and I have been trying to narrow down venue choices and touring venues, so there hasn't been a ton of time for blogging (plus, I have been a little under the weather and thanks to Comcast's Watchathon Week, I got alllll caught up on Downton Abbey).

So has Pinterest been helping?  Yes!  I have been finding a lot of venues pretty much answer all of the questions I previously pinned, but it's nice to still have the questions for back up.  Now, a lot of people do recommend to lay-off Pinterest because of the somewhat unrealistic expectations we all have for weddings now thanks to it, but in this case, it's been helpful.  I like the fact for the venue searches, I can see pictures of various CO venues (plus I can check out some CO photographers at the same time), and it has lead to me finding out other helpful information.  Like what you may ask?  Well, I found out that Colorado Tourism at www.visitdenver.com will actually help you find a venue for free!!!  While this is awesome, it's also a little overwhelming.  I filled out an RFP for them (which included questions about what areas you're looking at, budget, size of the event, etc) and they send it out on your behalf.  Venues then email you directly back with information.  So I clearly stated our budget, but I'm getting LOTS of emails from places we could never afford (I'm looking at you pretty much every hotel in Denver).  I actually laughed out loud when I saw some of these prices per person.  But I digress...

Thanks to finding all of these various links through Pinterest, I have come up with good searching methods.  It does get tiring telling people you don't have an exact date yet, but it has helped with looking for a venue because we aren't constricted.

Oh, helpful hint for you all.  I thought I had a really good handle of things to keep in mind, but apparently not.    When trying to pick a venue and set a date, don't forget to look up when festivals and parades take place.  You could very easily run into issues of not getting a venue because streets will be blocked off, it may be too loud near your venue, hotel prices could be higher, other vendors may not be available, and the list goes on.

Well friends, if you have any other advice or anything to add in, let me know!

Xoxo,
Marissa

Checklists, Questions to Ask, & Other Things that Make you Want to go Nutty Part 1

Hi all!

I have to say, I really appreciate the fact that 1) a lot of my friends have already gotten married so I have learned a bunch from their weddings and 2) that I've already gotten a ton of great advice from them.

Some of this advice includes-

• BREATHE
• Have fun and enjoy the planning process
• This is your day, don't worry about anyone else and what they think (well, except for your fiance)
• Don't try to do everything alone

On a more wedding reception related note-

• Have an idea of when you want to get married, not a specific date so you will have more choices when looking at venues
• Find out what each venue allows and doesn't allow, don't be afraid to ask
• It's about having good music, open bar, and good cake and or appitizers.  We all know the food is going to suck
• Keep track of everything with checklists or binders, but don't let that stuff overwhelm you
• Figure out your budget so you don't go over board

WHEW!  I'm sure there is more, but that's mostly what I remember.  I have a whole tip board of advice from what you should do when you first get engaged to figuring out your budget to questions to ask your venue to what to do if something goes wrong, yada yada yada; 99 pins at the time I wrote this post.  Let's start putting some of these to the test.  Since Scott and I are going to have to have the budget talk with our families soon, and I like to use numbers to back up my reasoning, I wanted to start to get a lot of major planning figured out (not finalized).  We wrote up a preliminary guest list to get an idea of if our estimate of 150 was correct (not so much).  We have a theme in mind, an Old Hollywood Glamour theme with clean lines and modern updates (I figured it would be nice to be able to include Scott in this, so I didn't want to go overboard on theme), but we're still flexible on it so that it will make sense with a venue.

Speaking of, we have tours with 4 of them in this next week or so.  We're going to look at The McNichols Building, Studios at Overland Crossing, Dickens Opera House and The Curtis.  I already ruled out The Manor House, Della Terra Mountain Chateau, and Seawell Grand Ballroom; not because I didn't like them, but when I started looking at all of the costs, I already knew it would be well above whatever budget we have.  While I know you can negotiate, I don't think we could have gotten them down that much.  I have a feeling this is happening with The Curtis too, but I REALLY want to tour there ;)

First set of pins I reviewed were the "what you should do as soon as you get engaged" pins.  I'm a week in and wanted to see if I'm on the right track/what else I have to do.

First up- SheFinds and 10 Things to do as Soon as You Get Engaged.  Awesome.  Mostly good tips and things I knew like getting your ring insured if you haven't already, talk budget, pick a date (or season/month), figure out a diet plan and start it (if needed), figure out location, and adopt a better beauty habits (esp if you don't have them now, like me who still breaks out like a teenager).  Somethings are not really needed or you don't have to necessarily do ASAP, like getting a manicure because you'll be showing off your ring or sign up for Pinterest (but seriously, it makes my life easier), hire a wedding planner (I think you should figure that budget out first), and sign up for sales alerts (I feel like most people do this already in this day and age).

Next- Reader's Digest with 13 things to do after you get engaged.  They at least included making calls to friends and family so that you aren't just telling the world via Facebook.  I liked some of their reasoning too such as knowing a time frame as to when you're getting married, because everyone will ask! Also, prepared to tell the proposal story over and over...  They also included the idea of making a guest list early, budgeting and saving, and relax!

Third- Glamour with You're Engaged, Now What?  So mostly the same stuff, they also suggest getting your ring sized (luckily I got to pick mine out, so no issue), create a wedding blog (hey, what do you know! However, their idea sounds more like starting your wedding website early), daydream your ideas, plan time with just your fiance and DON'T talk wedding, and get a wedding planner- not a person an actual book (yup, totally did this, my phone wasn't cutting it).

So there are plenty more out there, I also liked MSN's article and TheKnot's article too, but they all basically had the same ideas.  Turns out I actually have done/thought of most of this; go me!  But if I hadn't Pinterest was here to help (or the internet in general).  Between all of the various sites, I'd say it's more like 35 things you should know/do right after you get engaged.  Main take away is be gracious, start thinking/planning early, and be prepared.  And crazy enough, a lot of the general advice my friends gave me too.

Because this post is already massively long and will be two parts, we'll end with that for now.  Stay tuned for my take on the venue checklist stuff...

I Said YES! (Welcome to the Blog)

Good morning and welcome to the blog!

I thought this blog would be really handy in documenting my way from engaged to married and all of the fun along the way.

I want to start out by saying, I have always loved weddings.  From watching them on TV and movies (Muppets Take Manhatten and then a wedding on Sesame Street where Maria got married, I think), having my Barbie and Ken dolls get married, going to weddings, being in weddings, making secret Pinterest wedding boards, and the list goes on.  Clearly the wedding is just the icing on the cake; if you don't have someone you love, there's really no point.  A wedding is all about the actual marriage and I'm so excited to marry my best friend, Scott.  I have known it was him from the start. We've been dating for just over three years, and he proposed last Friday, 3/8/13.  I wasn't expecting it and it was just perfect.  It actually reminded me of something out of Pinterest, and considering he used a pin I made as a part of the proposal, this whole blog just seems fitting :)

Since I am quite the planner, I have been pinning ideas onto a secret board for months now in addition to one public board I had.  So after Scott proposed I decided to "unhide" my secret board and go through the pins.  Let me tell you, between my two boards, I had about 1,000 pins, and that's insane.  So my first tip to other brides to be, make it easy on yourself, and definitely break your boards down into categories.  For example, on my Pinterest account, I have about 36 different boards to help make things much more manageable.  I have boards for just color/theme, ceremony ideas, bridesmaids, groomsmen, reception ideas, etc etc.  You don't need to go board happy like me, but I tend to get overwhelmed with so many things that need to be done and it is easier for me to find pins when they're in a similar category.  I would suggest writing down what boards you want, creating them, and then edit your pins to match the board (or just start pinning!).  I also created a board for some of my friends to pin to if they see ideas too.  

Coming up next- what we've started doing and how I used Pinterest to guide me through the beginning stages of planning :)