Finding the Perfect Venue.

Where will the magic take place? How do you envision the day you marry the man/woman of your dreams? My dream wedding would take place at Kew Gardens in London with close friends and family. Since I'm a Bridezilla on a Budget, I'll aim for the next best thing.

 

Note: I am a born and breed city girl with a country heart, but I hate spiders. The other day I was visiting the JC Raulston Arboretum with my fiance and going over wedding possibilities when a spider crawled onto my wedding book and scared the devil out of me. Reuben, looks at me and says "You do realize you want an outdoor/country wedding and your afraid of spiders." I reply, "There is no rule about liking bugs and being a country girl at the same time."

 

To start we decided to have a wedding with a country feel to it and, thus I started looking at outside venues in the RTP area with my fiance. The top four contenders were Duke Gardens, JC Raulston Arboretum, The Raleigh Little Theatre Rose Garden, and the WRAL Azalea Gardens.

 

The next step was to create a tentative guest list to determine if each venue could hold the number of guests selected and what amenities were offered at each venue. We also needed to consider which months were hardest to book for the venues and if we would be able to book a year in advance. When speaking with a representative at the Raleigh Little Theatre I learned that April and May were the busiest months and June was generally free at least until 6PM when the theatre closed the location. The JC Raulston Arboretum was also pretty much open in June as well.

 

Then it was necessary to take a look at the prices. In the end, we chose the venue that was the best value and overall had everything we could want:The JC Raulston Arboretum White Garden. It is beautiful, secluded, and has the perfect natural archway of vines for my grand entrance.

Photographer: Mark Weathington

 

Remember: When you visit the different venues it should be fun as well as informative. You should enjoy yourselves and be able to feel comfortable. Nothing worse than a stuffy wedding ceremony if you ask me. I enjoyed walking the gardens with my future husband and taking pictures of the gardens, which helped give us the idea to have our engagement photos taken at the various gardens even if we only chose one for the wedding ceremony.





Photographer: Katie Perry

Steps to Finding the Perfect Venue:
Style -Capacity-Price-Overall Feel-Backup Plan

1. Decide what type of wedding you want or the style.
2. How many guest do you want and will the venues hold that amount?
3. Price check venues and learn what amenities are available.
4. Make sure to visit the different locations and have fun.
5. Then make an informative decision while having multiple dates in mind.
6. Always have a backup indoor place just case of bad weather or obtain wedding insurance to cover lost costs due to cancellations.

Photos found at http://www.ncsu.edu/jcraulstonarboretum

Why Am I Looking At Flowers Now?

www.weddinglater.com

Looking at anything other than a venue this early in the game is just ridiculous. I realize that the general consensus is to choose a venue first and then worry about the other details of your wedding, but consider this, shouldn't a budget be set first and foremost.

I mean if it was me and I had unlimited resources then the sky would be the limit and to hell with the costs, but since I do have a firm grasp on reality I understand that budgets need to be set.

Therefore, you have me a Bridezilla on a Budget. Note: I may be on budget, but I'll still make it do what it do. Then in my opinion you need to decide on how many people you want to invite to the wedding to make sure that those people can and will be able to fit comfortably at the chosen venue. I mean I realized today I spent two hours trying to decide on floral arrangements that there are more pressing matters that need to be addresses first. Granted I did find some amazing deals on beautiful bouquets from SilkFlowerFactory.Com and BunchesDirect.Com.

Later I went with my mother to visit World of Flowers in Durham, NC. She spoke very highly of the quality of work and I was happily convinced once the owner informed me she could create exactly what I wanted. She explained that since my wedding is a year away that the prices of my flower the calla lily could change by the time I was ready to order.

Mrs. Judy Edwards, the florist was very helpful to talk to about what I desired for my wedding. Her best tip was that "If the bridesmaids dresses are a dark color (lapis), then it is better to choose a brighter colored flower otherwise the bouquets are washed out." I agreed and decided to go with large white calla lily bouquets and boutonnieres for the bridal party, while I can still have a purple/white calla lily and rose bouquet. I do have to stand-out after all. And all within my price range. Flowers covered.

 

Here's My List of To Do's:
Step 1: Set a REALISTIC budget
Step 2: Decide what type of wedding you want? Be it traditional, outdoors, Vegas style or etc.
Step 3: Choose Venue for Wedding/Reception & Decide on number of Patrons

Step 4: Choose Date  - Now this could certain depend on if the venue is highly desired or the time of season that you intend to get married. For instance, some locations operate on a lottery system and, therefore one must come prepared with multiple dates for their wedding.

Step 5: Choose Bridal and Groom Party while simultaneously choosing color scheme. Note: Chose more bridesmaids and grooms men than you need,because you never know when you have to kick someone to the curb. Make them sign bridal contracts that state if you f-up and piss the bride or groom off then they are not responsible for the money you have spent on the wedding.



bouquetbridal.blogspot.com



BunchesDirect.com



I'm going to start with these because they are most important and take up a good portion of the budget.

*I love these bouquets.

The Talk

Every little girl grows up picturing their wedding and their prince charming smiling like he just won the biggest prize or softly crying(manly tears) as she walks down the aisle, but lets remember certain events have to take place before a wedding is even mentioned in the relationships.

First, if either the bride or groom are traditionalist then it is the grooms responsibility to ask the brides mother or father for her hand in marriage. I am a traditionalist myself and wholeheartedly believe the groom should ask permission if only for the laughs I get looking back on the exact moment.

Earlier this week, I had dinner with my boyfriends parents and my mom and we discussed the idea that we wanted to get married. The responses from them were comical and somewhat unexpected. They want to know details and when did we expect to them that this was the plan because they needed time to prepare and plan. My thought was why are you planning isn't it our wedding, but nonetheless I'm glad that they were happy for us and wanted to help with the planning.

Then of course most women have an idea of how they want to be proposed to. My ideal proposal would consist of my boyfriend getting me a limited edition of my favorite book that is hollowed out and give it to me as a present. I would be mad that it wasn't exactly the book, but to open it and find a ring would be beautiful. Once all the preliminary events are out of the way the question is what to do next is it the dress, venue, pastor, date, or budget?

I asked roughly 20 people what is the first thing they do when they plan a wedding and her were a few of the responses:
Now this is funny. A female patron replied: Depends if I'm marrying for love or money. If I'm getting married for money, then first I'm planning my divorce party. If I'm marrying for love, then I'm planning my honeymoon, i.e first stop Victoria Secret.

A male replied: Most guys would panic about the costs of the wedding, but otherwise what type of wedding the couple wants and where to have the wedding is first on the list.

A few responses consisted of finding a dress and to be honest that was my first thought and then the location. The major consensus between the people surveyed was location.