I had a near panic attack last week. At first, everything was looking up. I had found the discontinued paper I needed from Paperworks. I had ordered all the envelopes I needed from Envelope Mall. And they looked fabulous when they came in the mail.
I went to see some venues with Laura and had met a great photography duo whose prices were great and work fabulous. I felt like we were finally ready to make decisions and put down deposits.
I felt good. It seemed like everything was finally falling into place.
But then when I emailed Pat & Jess of Casey Connell Photography to tell them we wanted to book them. Their reply was really sad. They had just been booked for the day before ours for a wedding in Cape Cod and were worried that because of the holiday weekend, they wouldn't be able to get back to Troy in time. I was so sad. They were not only the least expensive out of all the photographers we were looking at, they were a two photographer team AND their work was right up there among some of my favorite.
Suddenly I was in a mad dash to find more photographers. I stumbled upon a few other sites and contacted another two photographer team in the area whose prices were right on par. Meanwhile, I double checked with the other two photographers I had previously met (Heather of HBT Photography and Keira Lemonis) to make sure my date was still available and they hadn't been booked out from under me too! Heather was still free but Keira had another bride sniffing around my date.
I liked both Keira's and Heather's work. They both have a great style to their photography. Keira was slightly less expensive than Heather but they both offered everything I wanted out of my photographer.
I panicked a little. The new photographers I had contacted weren't available to meet me until mid-August and I like to meet vendors to get a feel for their personality and how professional they are. The only other time they had available to meet me was Saturday afternoon. I didn't really want to take a drive up JUST to meet a photographer especially since I had Job#2 Sunday morning and had to be back, but I figured I could if it was necessary.
I got home and told my parents the whole story. We three sat down and looked at all three portfolios online and I told them how I felt about each of the photographers (or at least the two I had met thus far), and asked them if it was worth it to go up to meet the third photographer Saturday and not wait till mid-August, in case in the meantime someone booked Keira and I didn't have her as an option any more.
I realize I'm ridiculous and looking back I really did just run around like a chicken with my head chopped off but this was seriously destroying my calm. I had finally figured out the drama over our invitation paper, had nearly decided on a reception venue, and now the damn photographer I wanted was unavailable.
Finally my Dad basically told me to shut-up, go with my gut, and go with the photographer I thought would do the best job. So Friday afternoon I emailed Heather and told her to please pencil us in and send us the information for the deposit and her contract. She has us down for July 3rd but I won't feel completely finished with things until I get her that deposit which should be sometime next week. I'll have Laura hand it off to her possibly.
Once the whole photography thing was settled, we turned to the reception venues. We had narrowed it down to a country club and a new hotel.
Country Club Pros
- Was cheaper per head
- Beautiful golf course greens and grounds to take photos on
- Included tax and gratuity in the package price
- Didn't include centerpiece or cake (but that seemed fine to me)
- Everything was under one roof
- Courtesy shuttle to and from the airport and train station
- There's a sports bar in the hotel
- "Children" are considered to be ages 11-20 so they are half price, which is awesome because most of Jason's cousins and a few of mine will only be 20 or younger!
- Blocked room discounted rates
- Everything is included (cake, chair covers, linens, bar, centerpieces, etc.)
- They were extremely flexible (I could remove things willy nilly from the packages)
- Actually located IN Troy, which was nice, since that was the whole point of this
- Beautiful garden outside for photos
- Private Club, so no one could golf, and no one could wander outside the ballroom
- Seemed a little snooty for my taste
- No chair covers and the chairs were kind of ugly
- Banquet Manager was a bit doofy
- Didn't seem as flexible and basically told me I didn't want to do anything DIY at all (the nerve!)
- No hotels anywhere nearby
- Slightly pricery per head
- It's a hotel so there's a possibility of strangers wandering around
- The ballroom is a little bland (no natural light)
Basically what it came down to was if we were going to have our "destination wedding" and make everyone travel (and if I can't have my Key West wedding or my Barn Country Chic wedding) then we would make it as easy for guests as possible. The Hotel could offer us a lot more convenience than the Country Club, so that is what we're going with.
Saturday morning we sat down and speakerphone attacked the Banquet Manager at the Hotel. She answered a few more of our questions and verified/clarified some other details and she's sending us the contract!
Also that morning I got an email from the Pastor at the Church I really wanted to get married in. We were having major issues finding one that would let us as visiting parishioners get married, but he said yes! And Fr Ed can still marry us too!
And check out how GORGEOUS this church is!!!!!
Is it not TREMENDOUS?! (Photo by Joe Elario Photography)So...to sum up...
Church: Check
Priest: Check
Venue: Check
Photographer: Check
Bride & Groom: Check
Yessssss
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