(Wedding) Material Girl

Though I got a ton done this weekend, it wasn't as rushed and busy as every day has been for the past... well, while. My parents and brother came, so they got a break too. They LOVED my apartment and I felt really great that I got to show it to them before the wedding. It felt like it made it real.

I had a good boot camp class yesterday and have been sore all day. I started another Blue Print Cleanse today, so I've been a bit tired. My wellness coach said that a cleanse may not be the best approach for me, since I may not have as much junk in my system to clean out, given my healthier diet in the past few months. However, it feels appropriate after the bachelorette party, and I can always add fruits or veg broth if I need it.

My dad luckily liked one of the songs I'd selected for the father-daughter dance, so yay! I liked it too, though I think it will be hard for me not to cry. But that's probably true of most of the appropriate songs. So I think we're getting to a good place, music-wise.

After my family left today, I spent a lot of time on the couch watching bad romantic comedies, drinking juice, and doing wedding stuff. I updated the various schedules we're maintaining (wow, its going go to be busy!), created the welcome packet (which took a surprising amount of time), and the wedding program (which was surprisingly quick). I also created a clip art we can use on all the wedding materials we're handing out. It's nothing fancy, but I think it'll help pull things together.

My parents had brought the wedding program from the wedding they attended yesterday, so I thought I'd use it as a template. But I got annoyed having to type it up, so I did a few Google searches, and lo and behold, I found the same template they'd used! It was pretty funny. I liked the wording so I used most of it :)


All of our guests were supposed to book their hotel rooms by Friday. Unfortunately, a few were too late. My dad called the hotel and found out that the entire hotel is booked with our guests! The block is full and there are no more rooms. We booked a few on reserve, but probably not enough for all the people who haven't booked yet. Apparently only TWO of our family friends have booked rooms, so there are probably quite a few desperate calls coming our way...

20 days left...

Last Minute Details

Time is going so fast these days! I leave 2 weeks from yesterday to go to Reston for the wedding. Aack!

The biggest worry on my mind in terms of time is that MJ and I haven't remotely practiced our first dance. We will only be in the same city 7 more evenings and we each have things planned on some of those nights. Oi! I suspect my mother and aunts will force me to get up at the sangeet and dance a little, so I need to practice something for that too.

We of course still have a bunch of details to iron out, but I think we're on top of most stuff. We've asked the various friends and family members if they will do dances, speeches, MC, etc.

I spent last night working on finalizing some key moment songs. I picked my bridal entrance song. That was fun, since most of them are about how beautiful the woman is and how she takes the guy's breath away. Hee hee But, I've also been looking for some ideas for the father/daughter dance. It's hard to find a Hindi one - most of them are extremely depressing and/or slow. Ideally, I'd like to find an old one, but I'm not picky at this point.

I'm also looking for gifts for the two friends who planned my bachelorette party and will be involved in the reception. It's hard to find the perfect gift to express my appreciation for them and their friendship, but I think I have some good ideas. Hopefully they'll like them!

I found out this morning that my favorite cousin in the whole world will not be coming to the wedding. She got turned down for a visa in India. I'm very upset, as we are like sisters and I never imagined I'd get married without her there. We've always talked about how her first trip to the US would be for my wedding. But there are some things that are out of our control I guess...

I'd love to write more, but my brother is on his way over! My family's coming to NY for about 24 hrs and I'm so excited to show them my new place!! MJ's also at his bachelor party in New Orleans this weekend, so it works out perfectly :)

Officially Engaged!

Last weekend my family drove and flew in for an engagement ceremony at MJ's parents house. It was the official Indian engagement, even though he proposed 4 months ago! 14 of my family members came in for the event. I was so touched! MJ's family had quite a few family friends there as well. They had redone the kitchen cabinets and counters, done some landscaping, and bought a new living room rug. It was a really nice ceremony and everyone had a good time. Lots of food and mingling and everyone looked so nice. MJ even surprised my brother with a birthday ice cream cake! There was even a cute moment where MJ got down on one knee to put my engagement ring on my finger again in front of everyone! Tee hee MJ and I thought it was good practice for the wedding - even though there were only about 30 people there, everyone was staring at us for the whole ceremony and there were probably 10 cameras/video cameras! Luckily I'd gotten my hair blow dried for the first time and tried to be as girly as possible by painting my toes and nails, and generally beautifying. My parents did so much work preparing for the event, so I'm glad it's over and everything went so smoothly.

I think we're going to sign a contract with a DJ this weekend. MJ has talked to the DJs and done all the research and it looks like we're going to go with the first one we ever talked to anyway!

I still never heard back from the decorator after we last met her. I sent her a final list of items we wanted and she never responded, despite multiple follow-ups. We're still hoping to be able to sign with her, but this isn't a good sign :(

My mom and I leave for India next Saturday (5/1). Hopefully the ash in Europe will be cleared up by then, since we're supposed to meet in Amsterdam and do the last leg together. I'm a bit overwhelmed by how much has to be done after we get back. We'll only have 3 months, but we'll need to send invitations, work on our first dance, register, find an apartment and move, take care of the legal marriage, book the honeymoon, and work through all the final details of the wedding day.

I'm still hoping to work a photo booth into the reception or cocktail hour. My brother has photo booth software on his laptop that we all played with when MJ and I were there a few weeks ago. We had such a blast! You can add your own backdrops and effects, so we were having a great time in my parents' living room, pretending to swim or climb the Eiffel Tower! I can just imagine how much fun our guests would have taking pictures of themselves. The hardest thing is to figure out how to make it work logistically. Do we have someone stand near the laptop and push the button for people? Do we strap it to a table of some kind and leave instructions for people? Do we create our own backdrop or use one of theirs? How do we ensure it's not stolen, dropped or has food spilled on it? We'll see if we can pull it together in time :)

Two Down!

I think everyone's been a bit fried from the whirlwind weekends to DC where we meet with vendors like mad people, plan every minute we're awake, and do it all again the next day. So everyone independently suggested we take it a bit easier this weekend. So we didn't make any appointments on Sat afternoon and also decided to go see the cherry blossoms in DC on Sun morning. On Sat afternoon, my dad, my brother, MJ, and his brother went to the park. The men played tennis and I read my Kindle in the sun and talked on the phone. My mom even did some yard work at home. It was very nice and relaxing. And the weather was just gorgeous, so it really felt like spring!

In the biggest news, we signed with the photographer!!! This is only the second vendor we've actually signed with, so it's a pretty big deal. As you can tell from this blog, I've spent a considerable amount of energy on selecting a photographer and I'm very happy with our decision! They're called The Edge and they've done a ton of Indian weddings and also photographed at Rose Hill Manor. I like their style and they're reasonably priced. Their colors are sharp and the finish of the photos is very crisp. They also capture people in the room other than just the bride and groom, as well as artistic touches. So yay!! We've set our engagement photo session on 5/23 in NYC as well.

We met with the decorator we're planning to use as well. I was hoping to sign the contract, but we met her at her storage facility and she wasn't prepared with it. We've also made some changes, so she needs to update her quote. She's Hispanic, but she had SO much Indian stuff! She probably knows more about Indian weddings than I do! She had 9 units at a storage facility, a truck, and 2 vans for moving stuff around. She gets a ton of Indian wedding business and I can see why. Her stuff was very good quality and she knows what she's doing. (At one point her husband was taking out a Ganeshji statue to show us and she stopped him from putting it on the floor, because it was disrespectful!) So hopefully we can sign that contract soon as well.

The next big item on the list is the DJ. The first one we met with is still our best choice, but the rates for the projector and uplights seem to be a bit high, so we're comparing to some others as well. We'd like to get that taken care of before my mom and I leave for India, but we'll see. MJ is leading the DJ search and he's having a hard time getting responses from them.

My dad's been working with caterers, so that's in flight as well. Luckily, MJ and I don't need to have a lot of input there, so it can be done with or without us. This was my last planned trip to DC before we go to India, so we wanted to make sure everything that had to be signed early was taken care of. The other item I'll focus on when I get back is makeup/hair artists. I've been talking to a few and hopefully can meet with some when I get back.

Things are going to be busy though. We also need to register, work on our first dance, and find an apartment pretty soon after I get back. MJ and I had an interesting discussion while we were stuck in traffic yesterday that led me to think moving to Queens may not be such a bad idea. I've been dead set against it, but Long Island City has suddenly become rather appealing. It's cheaper than my neighborhood, much faster and easier to get into Manhattan, and on the water with a park and great views of the City. Quite a few of our friends also moved to Queens recently, so we'd have some friendly faces nearby. MJ made me realize that our social lives are going to be quite different after we get married. We'll be nesting much more and may be spending more time with family than friends. I guess, basically, we'll be building roots. I'm excited about setting up a home together and it'd be nice to have more space to do that in.

Making Major Progress

This may seem fairly obvious, but I think that the wedding planning process starts to prepare a couple for being married. You're forced to talk about serious issues we all tend to shy away from when we're just dating - family, money, life's priorities, etc. That being said, MJ has been amazing the last few weeks. We've had some tough discussions and are still struggling to get used to talking about them. However, he amazes me. He's such a level-headed man who has shown me time and again he's ready to stand next to me as my husband. Now, that sounds super cheesy and a few of you may have even gone "awwwwww," but I assure you we're not a roses and candlelit couple. We're pretty much always goofy and he loves to irritate me constantly. But, isn't life with someone who makes you laugh and can respond to life in a mature manner what it's all about?

I've also been trying to use this wedding planning time to learn more about MJ's family. Of course I know them and have spent a fair amount of time with them, but I want to know more! I want to understand what it's like to be a part of their family. Since I'm going to be joining it in a few months, I want to know how they celebrate holidays, how they fight with each other, what they do on birthdays, etc. It's been interesting and the thought of being a part of a family other than my own is so hard to imagine, let alone prepare for. But I'm trying! :)

In weight loss news, I've lost 9 lbs and allowed myself a cheat day. In that one day, where I did not go overboard, I gained back 2. Grr! I hate my metabolism. And my busted knee for not allowing me to work out!!

Unfortunately for wedding planning, I've been slammed at work. One of my co-managers had to take a leave of absence in Brazil for personal reasons and, instead of replacing him, I took on his projects. So, instead of leading 2 projects, I'm leading 5 with 2 teams I haven't worked with before. That hasn't been great for the time I can spend on wedding researching, talking to vendors, and overall planning. Luckily, I can still continue to look at photographers and makeup artists in the evenings. More on that in the future.

So, MJ and I left in a whirlwind after work on Friday and drove to DC for a weekend of wedding preparations with my parents and brother. We were all up until 2 am discussing some items. It was good to have my dad able to talk directly to MJ. Otherwise, I'm usually the go-between when they have questions and I'm sure some things get lost in translation. We discussed the engagement ceremony, decorator approach, and the event schedule.

On Sat afternoon, we were supposed to sign the contract with the decorator we met with last time I went to DC. But one of the caterers recommended another one to my dad this week who was supposed to be the cheapest in the local industry. So we booked appointments with both decorators in the same day, figuring we'd know better what we wanted to do after we met with the new one.

Our schedule on Saturday was jam-packed! I started the morning with a work call at 8:30, then we met with the new decorator at 9. She came to the house and showed us her previous designs. She was a very quiet Hispanic lady, but she had done many Indian weddings and had even worked at our venue multiple times. Our general impressions were that she could definitely do the work, but we would have to come up with the ideas ourselves. She wasn't as much of a designer as a doer, but that may not be such a bad thing, since my mom has so many ideas and the venue is already very beautiful and doesn't need much to make it beautiful. The best part was that she was almost half the price of the other decorator and was giving us more (a welcome arch, crystal strings on the centerpieces, etc.). So we decided to cancel the contract signing with the first decorator to give us time to think through the decision.

After rushing her out at 10, we rushed to meet with a DJ at 10:30. He had some great ideas and was very professional, but was expensive than we expected. He got us more excited about the lighting as well. He's a friend of a friend, so he said he plans to give us a considerable discount, but we don't know how much yet.

We then rushed from there to meet MJ's brother and the owner at a restaurant for potential catering options. The food was absolutely amazing and the presentation was also really great. The owner also had some dishes specially made for us and didn't even charge us for everything we ordered.

Then we were off to the venue. I was so excited that MJ was finally going to see it!!! It was even better that MJ's brother would be there as well. In fact, I'd only seen it once and it was on a terrible rainy day, so I was pretty excited too. It was a beautiful, sunny day and we went straight to the back to look at the patio and pool area. We spent almost 2 hours going over the details of the entire day, in the back, inside, and in the front. We got some more ideas for decorations and for the flow of the guests. The owner of the venue was also there and he had some great ideas and was so helpful. He created a suggested floor plan for us and our vendors to use as well. MJ and his brother loved the venue and MJ said seeing it was the highlight of the trip. I forgot how beautiful the space is...

After the venue, we went to see the hotel (Hampton Inn) closest to the venue for MJ's family to potentially use for their guests. But, after seeing it and talking to them again about their rates, we weren't as convinced it made sense. Then we went to the hotel (Hyatt Place) in Sterling, VA that my family was planning to use for our guests. The rooms and lobby are much nicer, but the rate is half of what we were getting at the Hampton Inn! So we decided to explore sharing the hotel across both families. MJ is going to ask his parents about it when they get back from India and my dad is going to negotiate with the hotel accordingly. There are a few things we need to include if we share the hotel, like a meeting room for MJ's family and extra shuttles that we wouldn't if it was just our side.

After the hotels, we picked up groceries and went home around 5. Soon after, my family came over for dinner. Some of them hadn't met MJ before, so it was a bit of an occasion. But it went well and everyone had fun. Unfortunately, we were all exhausted and everyone left around 11. I think we all slept like rocks that night!!

So we made a lot of progress this weekend. This morning we took it a bit easy. My parents, MJ, and me took a walk in the sun to a nearby lake and just chatted. It was nice seeing MJ interact with my family all weekend. This was the first time we'd been there since we got engaged and it felt nice to see everyone together. It helped to envision us all as one family :)

Say Cheese!

I spent the whole weekend looking for photographers. I talked to four of them and emailed countless ones. I finally also put together a spreadsheet to track the options with all the factors. I'm really annoyed to find out that the two I really wanted are both from Canada and out of our price league. But we found a few that are close to our range and local, so hopefully something will work out. Everyone says to splurge on the photographer because those are the images that are going to last and to make you remember the day, but they're also so expensive. Ideally I'd want pictures that are artistic but also include family and friends. One option we're considering is getting an artsy engagement session in New York and then a typical Indian photographer in DC. The wedding photos will be more typical and staged, but at least we'll have something to remember the day by and I'll still get some arty shots of MJ and I. Not ideal, but it's definitely an option.

I've also been looking for makeup artists. Prices range so much - between $120 and $2000! It's also pretty hard for me to judge good makeup artists from pictures of people I never saw before they had the makeup on. It's also hard not to let the quality of the photography impact your impressions. My mom also prefers finding someone who does both hair and makeup, which it seems is not as common.

I've been telling my parents I want them to give a little speech at the reception, which my dad's been pretty adamant he didn't want to do. My response last weekend was "at least I'm sparing you a father-daughter dance." To which he responded, "I want to do that." My entire family was so shocked! Apparently he actually wants to do a father-daughter dance. I don't think I've ever danced with my father in my entire life, so I assumed he wouldn't want to do this one. But, lo and behold, he does! I'm extremely touched. The only problem is that I tend to cry at other people's father-daughter dances (even people I don't know), so I may have trouble holding it together during my own! LOL

I mentioned that last weekend my family went to an Indian tasting event. It was interesting, though there were very few vendors there. During the event, my dad started realizing our guest list may be increasing and Rose Hill Manor may not be able to hold us. So afterwards, my parents, brother and I sat down and went through the entire thing again. We realized it would probably work with a few minor adjustments. I was so glad because the other venue, Fox Chase Manor, seemed so much more typical than Rose Hill Manor. It felt like a hotel inside and looked strip mallish outside. There were also no beautiful grounds surrounding it. Phew! Crisis averted!

The guest list is a bit of a double-edged sword. You want everyone to come, but you can't go over a certain limit with the venue and each attendee costs more from a food perspective. It seems like so much of my family will be able to come though, even internationally. It makes it feel real hearing about people attending from India, London, Amsterdam, New Zealand, Australia, etc. I get excited thinking about all these people being there just to celebrate us! I can't wait!

As so much of the family will be coming and our events will start a few days before the event, my dad also suggested we get a hotel closer to my parents' house than the wedding venue. We'll just need to arrange for transportation from the hotel to the venue, which we were planning to do anyway. My brother has found some good options for transportation too. MJ's family will probably still get a hotel near the wedding venue, as that makes the most sense for their guests.

Bachelorette party planning has also started! Fun!

Feeling Good Again... Finally

Ahhhhhhhhhh I feel like I'm letting out a long-held deep hot breath of negativity and breathing in cool winds of much needed positive energy. I've been sick and bummed and just generally no fun for a while and today I woke up feeling... refreshed, reenergized, happy. Go team! (Imagine me thrusting my fist into the air as I say that, because I literally did just that this morning. Oh yeah!)

I don't know why. Nothing changed. I was so pissed at the medical profession yesterday, and was so exhausted that I had to take a taxi home from work (I finally went in for a half day). But it may have something to the fact I was up and around for the first time in almost a week, and actually talking to humans other than MJ. I even talked to my mom and my best friend about wedding stuff for as long as my aching throat would allow.

Both of them have been looking for styles of wedding outfits for me (so nice!). There are so many, but the websites are really terrible. They don't show enough detail, enough views, or even enough options. It's really overwhelming, especially when you don't have a specific idea in your head. Even just basic things like the color to wear are so confusing. First, the wedding - ok, Indian brides wear red, right? No biggie! Wrong - there are so many shades and you can go pinker or more magenta or more maroon. Oi! And the reception? The options are endless! And the decision drives the colors for the reception and the accents on the groom's clothes. So much to think about! Then you have to think how heavy it should be, how modern, how revealing, how showy. Indian brides in India tend to wear more blingy clothes than Indian brides in America. I suspect I'm more conservative than most as well. But I also HATE shopping, so I wish I just knew what I wanted and we could just get it sewn there. LOL

My mom also told me that my favorite cousin and her entire family are planning to come from India for the wedding! I'd really hoped they would, but my mom told me last week they may not be able to. So it was really nice to hear that she'd be there - it wouldn't feel like my wedding without her. She's really like a sister to me and, as I've noted before, I'm realizing more and more how important my family is in this whole process. I hope everyone can make it!

So, in terms of weight loss, this month has not been as successful as last. I want to lose 5 lbs/month and I lost 6 last month. But, in February, I've only lost .5 so far :( Mainly due to the engagement celebrations, then getting sick. I'm hoping to make it back to the gym on Fri morning. Fingers crossed.
 

My brother also found out that Gmail now allows you to embed images in emails through a feature in Google Labs. So we're all set to send out the Save the Date! It looks great! I'm thinking of sending it this Sunday, as it'll be exactly 6 months before the wedding date. Scary, eh?

Those Who Surround Us

MJ noted that my last post didn't have the same enthusiastic voice my previous ones have had. And I guess that's because I have been pretty down this week. I'm sick again, which is particularly frustrating because I've been eating so healthy and taking vitamins every day. And just as my knee was getting better and I was ready to hit the gym hardcore, I'm out sick again.

And, probably a bigger contributor, I've been saddened by a number of people close to me in the past few weeks. I tend to care too much about people, so it hits me a bit harder than it should. And that's where the last paragraph from my last post originated - I'm realizing these pains will no longer be just mine, but will be MJ's as well. Of course we'll continue to have our own friends, but the people we choose to have in our lives will contribute to a shared environment. We both care greatly for our family and friends and want to continue to cultivate all of these relationships. But, when you're making time for a new marriage, each other's families, and each other's friends in addition to your own family and friends, we'll just have to let go of some things and some people. Which is really sad for me. Like I said, I care too much about people, so seeing them go is not easy. To give you an example, I'm in consulting, so we change projects every few months. It took me years before I didn't get teary-eyed when someone would leave a project. I still get emotional when I, myself leave one, because I just get attached to the people I work with. And these are just co-workers! ;)

On the other hand, some people have really surprised me in a positive way as well. And, again, looking around the room at our engagement party and seeing so many people who have been a part of our relationship and each of our lives celebrating this moment was amazing. It made me realize we will not be in this alone and that we go into this next phase in our lives with good friends and family standing beside us, though they may not be who we always expected to be there. I know it's somewhat cheesy, but it means a lot when we're dealing with the stresses of wedding planning and house-buying on top of the usual daily stresses. Knowing that people are in this with us and are wishing us the best helps to not be overwhelmed. If it felt that way seeing 30 people toasting us, I can't imagine how it will feel seeing 200 people at our wedding!!! Maybe MJ's right - I would regret it one day if we didn't have an actual wedding...

In terms of wedding planning, I've been looking at designs for wedding outfits and for photographers. There is such a wide range for both. They both seem so expensive too. I've seen a few outfits I liked, but mostly think I'd need to try them on to really know how they look. The way they have models sit in these pictures, you can barely see the outfits! The photographers vary so much in style as well. I'm drawn to the more artsy look, but I'm not sure it captures the overall event as well. Also, I suspect less people attending would be captured in these types of photographs, and I would want to remember everyone there. I finally saw a videographer I really liked, but it was insanely expensive for a 30 min film. For those of you who are married, do you ever watch the wedding video? I feel like you can use the pictures to decorate your house or send to family, but what do you do with the video? My family always took a bunch of home videos growing up and we've rarely watched any of them.

As I type this, MJ's at the place we have an offer on with an engineer, getting it inspected! I hope everything comes up clean, especially since it's so old. We're so excited about this place, but trying not to get our hopes up. MJ's been surprised how uninterested I am in the finances of the whole home-buying process. Luckily, he's been doing his research! I hope we get this place. It's supposed to be featured in the New York Times this Sunday, which may throw a wrench in our planning, but would be a cool keepsake if it doesn't!

Becoming a Bride

So things have been MUCH better since my spoiled brat moment last weekend. In fact, it made me realize how great MJ and I are together, which has made me very full of love for him since our fight :) It's really nice being with someone who always makes you smile, and gets your crazy moments, but loves you anyway.

I had an "a-ha!" moment this past weekend though. All my married friends have told me "You don't think you'll care about the details, but you'll see. You'll end up caring so much about the smallest things." So I've been working on the Save the Date and website and was showing it to my family and MJ for their input. MJ asked if the website could have music and I'd totally forgot to add it. But I had no idea of what song to put on! And that was when it happened - I could care less what song went on the site, but since I had to pick one, I wanted it to be a good one. ...one that represented us, was romantic, but not cheesy, not too spirited, etc. And I realized it was happening to me! I don't care what song it is, but since I have to pick one, it has to be good. I ended up spending an hour trying to find a song and ended up on one that is super-cheesy, not at all us, and I'm not even sure I like! I was just so irritated with the process! MJ even said "we can always add music later," but I wanted the site to look great right when we launched it. Any suggestions are welcome. (not including Empire State of Mind, which has already been rejected!)

I'd been trying to decide whether or not we should have bridesmaids and groomsmen in the wedding. I like the way they look in weddings and know MJ's very close to his friends, but it's not necessarily Indian tradition. I've heard a lot of varying opinions, but have finally decided not to. Seeing and hearing the responses over the last month, I'm realizing even more how important family is, especially during a wedding and subsequent marriage. My family has been absolutely ecstatic for me. They've been calling and emailing, even Facebooking MJ! (My cousin even offered to host our engagement party at his place!) Relatives are planning on coming for the wedding from all over the world. I've been so incredibly touched. Their overwhelming response from my family has made me realize they are much more a part of this event than my friends, who of course have their own lives and priorities. At the end of the day, the event is about us actually joining each other's families, so it only makes sense that it should be about them.

Of course our engagement has been really special to some of our friends as well. We received an actual engagement gift last week! It was so adult and unexpected! And, as I said, I'm ridiculously excited and touched that my best friend and her husband are flying in for our engagement party. Just general happiness all around! I need to get my hands on some awesome thank you cards :)

MJ and I have been discussing our first dance as well. He wants to do something a bit unorthodox, but I'm not sure if it will look unclassy. (And, no, I'm not telling you what it is, because it's going to be a surprise if we do!) His point is that the first dance should be about us and what we feel comfortable with. So, ya, he's basically saying, we're not classy, why should we pretend to be for some froofy dance?

The Save the Date is almost done too. We're just figuring out the best way to send it out. I'll post it here when we're done. I do feel a bit bad because I took the photo off the internet and it's probably someone's work. Part of me says it's wrong to steal from an artist. Another part of me says they're a chump for not protecting it on the internet, so it's fair game. I'm going to listen to that part of me because I'm not creative or talented enough to make one myself...

Location, Location, Location

Whew! What a weekend! After being in and out of work since the Tuesday before, I finally returned on Thursday. Then, right after work on Friday, my family came from DC. We haven't seen each other since I got engaged, so we had some major discussions all night about what everyone was thinking for the wedding. MJ's family came over for tea right after lunch on Saturday, where we had some similar (but less intense) discussions together. Both families also brought some sweets and gifts, so the whole thing ended up feeling like an official blessing from the parents. Within 30 mins of his family leaving, my family had changed clothes, cleaned the apartment, packed, and was in the car. We then drove to DC in record time (4 hrs door to door with a stop for gas on the way) and had dinner at home. We left around 9:30 on Sunday morning and were out the entire day looking at venues:

• The Westin
• Sheraton Premiere
• Algonkian
• Meadowlarke
• Cherry Blossom
• Raspberry Plains
• Rose Hill Manor

 

The funny thing is I went to DC for this whirlwind trip to see Foxchase Manor, but after talking to my family and seeing these, we decided it wasn't even worth the drive to see it! We also checked out some hotels close to Raspberry Plains and Rose Hill Manor to get an idea for costs for our guests, transportation options, and possibilities to have a meeting room nearby. My family also rented out two community centers for the wedding weekend, so my dad showed me those as well. So we saw a lot in one day!

 

Alright, so you saw a lot... did you like anything? Drum roll please... 17 days after I got engaged, we've already found a wedding venue! Some of them aren't even worth mentioning, but Meadowlarke is gorgeous but not available any Saturday in the summer and it would be a bit tight for 200 people. I got the feeling my family liked Algonkian, but I thought it was a bit drab and uninspired. Raspberry Plains had gorgeous grounds and views, but the inside of the house was over-decorated and the lady seemed extremely inflexible and hard to work with.

 

We decided to check out Rose Hill Manor due to its proximity to Raspberry Plains, though we had the feeling it was too small for us. And we all absolutely loved it! The grounds and views are also really beautiful, but the house is very open and grand while somehow still feeling intimate. It feels like you're in you're own house, but just way nicer ;) There is also a great courtyard in the back with a pool perfect for floating candles during cocktail hour. It will be a bit tight and we cannot go a single person over 200, but we all loved it! There's a great balcony and we won't need to decorate as much as the walls are yellow and red. The guy was also really great to work with and they've had Indian weddings there before. One of my criteria was to be able to take pictures on the grounds and this will be just gorgeous! We can also have the DJ and dance floor a bit separate from the dining tables to allow people to move around and do what they want to do. There's even an area that's perfectly made for putting in a mandap! Basically, it was the best of all worlds and had everything we wanted. It was also available on the date we wanted and was within (or at least close to) our price range. So we have a contract and my dad's putting in the payment today! Woohoo! (ok, to be fair, we're going to wait to make everything official until MJ looks at it next weekend, but he's guaranteed me he won't say no!) ;)

 

So 18 days into being engaged, we have a location and I'm getting married on August 21! I've started telling a few close friends (and, you, obviously), though I know I should wait until the contract is in. It's just that so many people will have to fly in that I want to make sure they reserve the date well in advance.

 

Ok, and, yes, maybe I'm starting to get a little excited... Seeing the venues and both families together made it all seem a little more real...