Three weeks ago today Zach and I got engaged. Since then we haven't nailed too much down, but we have certainly started the planning. First step was adding gifts to the registry. Zach was way excited to use "the gun." Plus, he loves shopping. We went to Macys and found lots of great things, and we also added a few things from other places, such as an amazing duvet cover from Z Gallerie and fun things for camping and hiking. We wanted to use a comprehensive wedding registry because we already have quite a few household items since we've lived together before, and we also wanted to get some things (wish for things) we wouldn't usually indulge on ourselves but that we would really love to use as a couple. That was the thought behind the camping stuff, etc. - the more fun little things we do as a couple the better our marriage will be.
I created a wedding website the other night (www.weddingwire.com/carolineandzach) and didn't expect quite so many people to look at it so quickly. Our registry certainly isn't quite finished, and it even has things on there that we need to take off, but this computer wont let me!! Hopefully no one is buying yet!
So at this point, we are looking at venues and dresses, and making decisions about the invitations, guest list, food, etc. As far as venue goes, its a battle between close and easy for everyone, or a little further away but more in sync with the wedding I had always imagined. As of today I am leaning towards the latter. I love the idea of getting married on a beautiful farm a little south of Loudoun, or maybe on the water in Maryland. After some research last night and today I would currently bet on the farm idea; it is easier to access from Northern Virginia, will have less expensive hotels for out of town guests, and will provide a lot of options that have so much land and privacy (think: parking). I found a great farm today that has horses, a lake, old barns, a view of Old Rag Mountain.. I love it. The house is small and quaint, which is fine because it will be an outdoor wedding anyways. Of course I will have to speak to the owner more and consider other possibilities, but it's exciting to find somewhere I like so much that may actually work. I'm thinking somewhere about 1 1/2 hours away isn't too bad at all - people could drive there and back easily if they don't want to book a place to stay, but it would also be a nice mini-vacation for anyone who wants to explore the wine country, hiking and other amazing things the area has to offer.
Dresses... oh dresses. Isabella and David are in town for a few days so we went to Nordstrom and Priscilla of Boston today. Nordstrom had so many dresses I loved online, but a very small bridal suite in the store. I was shocked because Tysons is such a major mall. I did, however, find a couple of great options for bridesmaids dresses. We ran to get some sushi for lunch and then over to Priscilla of Boston. There were a few AMAZING gowns there. I'm not going to give too much away about this wedding, especially the dress, because I want people to be surprised when they are at the wedding.. instead of knowing everything before they're there.. but I definitely found myself going in a different direction than I thought I would be. I already know when and where I will get my dress, so this was more of an exploratory mission. Plus, I wanted to try on dresses with Isabella at least once. Its so tragic that she and I switched coasts and won't get to do all of the wedding planning together.
As far as food.. Zach really wants to do a pig roast. Since the guy doesn't get to make too many decisions in the wedding situation, I am really trying to make this happen. This is another part of the wedding that really leads me towards the farm setting. We will have the space and hopefully someone with the equipment to figure it all out.
So for now I will continue to research flower options, decide if I want to make the invitations myself or order them, look at different cake designs and bakers, get loads of emails from photographers.. its great. My purpose in this life is to plan things, so planning I will do.
