It's Official!

So, as some of you may have guessed (or know because I'm horrible at keeping exciting secrets), the Westbury Manor is booked! Yes. The reception will be held at the Westbury Manor!

It's absolutely beautiful and when I went to go see it with Peter again, I just thought it was super amazing all over again. The flowers were amazing and the Manor Room (room where the reception will be) was set up for around the numbers we're looking at. We got an amazing menu and you better all starve yourself for 2 days ahead of the party because there's going to be a lot of food! I know I can count on Christine and Boz to eat my (or my parents') monies worth in food. And I know I can depend on the Lee side of the family to consume the alcohol!

All in all, I'm pretty excited, less stressed and super excited. I CANNOT wait till the wedding! I'm glad it's so far away (mostly because there's so much to plan) but at the same time, I just want the amazing-ness to happen because you all know how amazing this will be! Hahaha, I kid...But not really.

One of the things I was happiest about was the wedding planner binder I received after we booked the Westbury Manor. Now, here's the story. When Michelle was wedding planning and going to all of the different catering/reception halls, she would receive folders full of information, vendors, pricing, menus, etc. From this one magnificent place, she received this hard covered binder filled with glossy colored pages with separate tabs for the different rooms and the different menus offered. It's a VERY nice binder and SO convenient to hold EVERYTHING! Even before I was engaged, I admired the binder and felt that the Jericho Terrace really cared about their brides. I felt it was touching that they would give her (and any other bride) a binder full of different information. So, when I started my search for a reception hall, I was looking to get the same treatment (and a binder for that matter!). Every where I went, I got the typical folder and everyone (except for the Westbury Manor) treated me and whoever I was with (Mom, Dad or Peter) the same. Westbury Manor showed that extra effort to make things a little better than the other places. She showed enthusiasm and she was willing to work with us to make our vision a reality. In all honesty, it's nice to have someone that cares so much. Maybe I'm just getting sucked into the whole "salesman" bit but, I felt she was more genuine. After we booked though, she pulled out this silver box and opened it to give me a silver padded binder with Westbury Manor on it. And it's filled with ideas, check lists, vendors, traditions, and the like! It's an actual wedding planning binder and I LOVE it. On top of that, it's actually helpful! I've already started filling it out

So other than that, I've just been looking at different photographers, florists and whatever I mentioned in my previous post. If anyone has any suggestions, please pass them along. I make no guarantee that I will go with them because everyone's style is different but it's helpful to have a starting point.

This weekend, I will be meeting up with Deanna (and possibly a few others) to try on dresses. No, I'm not at the stage where I buy my dress but I want to get a headstart and try on dresses to see which fabrics I like, what's heavy, what's appropriate, what styles look good, etc. Deanna and I will be trying on bridesmaid and bridal gowns. Once we figure out what style, color, and fabric we like...we can start doing research on some designers and then finding out where they're offered. So when I see EVERYONE in September (my whole bridal party), we can just make one or two trips to get it all done and not have to cart 6-8 of us around to 10 different places. We'll just go to one or two places. It's very exciting! I know a lot of people are going to want to come to see but they'll have to stay hush hush to make it a surprise for the wedding day!!

Before that, I really need to book a band, find a florist and finalize church details.

Onward we go!!