Why can't this wedding just plan itself?

I want to get married.  I've wanted to be married for as long as I can remember.  But I have absolutely no desire to plan an actual wedding.  I'm so Type A - the last thing I need is more stress in my life.  Yet, here we are!  It's been just over a month since our engagement and everyday, people are asking me when my wedding will be.  I had a small panic attack last week about this.  Here's the thing.... I don't want a big wedding.  I don't have a big wedding budget.  We don't have a lot of family in this country.  Between the two of us, most of our families are overseas - mine in Italy, his in Argentina.  However, having said that, I happen to like really nice things.  It's something that's plagued me since childhood.  My dad loves to tell stories about how, as a little girl, I would point to shoes in a shoe store, and he could rest assured that they would be the most expensive pair in the entire store.  And to be honest, not much has changed in that regard as I got older.

We finally started putting together a list last week, and we actually went to check out a few places.  We started at the W Hotel on Ft. Lauderdale Beach.  Super nice, really trendy, absolutely enormous.  Naturally, when having a smaller wedding (think 75ish people), you are more limited in the venues you can choose from.  Much like planning a large wedding, the size of the room dictates which you can use.  Of course, I fell madly in love with the W's Grand Ballroom which fits something like 400 people.  I asked if they could partition part of it off, but was told for a Saturday night event, no such luck.  And I'm not willing to consider a Friday or Sunday wedding - it's just not my thing.  D liked the other space they showed us - me, not so much.  I'll have to sleep on that one. 


We traveled down the beach to the Hilton - not our favorite.  Not bad, but not great.  We tried the Atlantic Hotel - too small.  We looked at the Pelican Grand - but I'm not a fan of outdoor venues. 

This weekend, while D is biking in the MS 150, my recently engaged friend Jen and I made a trip to meet with the director of events and catering at the Hyatt Pier 66.  And of course, of all the spaces I was shown, the Pier Top is the one I want.  Go big or go home, baby. 



It's a special venue offering unparalleled 360-degree views of the skyline and coastline through floor-to-ceiling windows and the perimeter rotates around the center.  Corny?  Or Cool?  All the photos I've seen of weddings in this particular room are gorgeous!  And you don't have to worry about ugly walls or fixtures since they're all windows!  The view during the day was incredible, so I can't imagine what it looks like at night!


We checked the availability and the next available Saturday evening for the Pier Top is January 28th.  (I didn't want to check the summer months - too soon and too hot!)  Usually there is a $20,000 minimum in food/beverage for the Pier Top for Saturday night, but the director said we could probably work out a deal. 

Jen and I also stopped by a brand new hotel called B Ocean.  It was a former Holiday Inn until Hurricane Wilma came through.  Apparently, it's sat vacant for the past several years until being purchased and completely rennovated - down to the electrical and plumbing according to the manager on duty.  It's such a shame it sat vacant so long because it really is a prime piece of real estate.  All the rooms face the Atlantic Ocean and the wedding areas were actually quote impressive.  The main ballroom area is on the penthouse and has floor to ceiling windows overlooking Ft. Lauderdale beach.


Decisions, decisions.......... ahhhhh............ Hopefully we can find a place perfect for us! 

April Photo Hunt Challenge - Completed!

Well, I actually completed it.  Since we visited Savannah in April, most of my pictures are from that trip. 

1. Animals: Bob, the horse.

2. Bedroom: The most comfortable bed..... ever!

3. Best from April 16 or 17: Really not that great - lighting was awful, picture was blurry and taken on my point and shoot camera.  I realized right before going to bed on April 17th, that I had forgotten to take any pictures that weekend.  Whoops!

4. In Fashion: A bit questionable - I'm not sure how "in fashion" pink polyester sailor suits are...

 
 
5. Lawn & Garden: Beautiful spot in Forsyth Park.

6. Lazy:  A lazy Sunday afternoon in the park.  People sitting on benches, riding bikes, etc.  Such a great way to spend a Sunday!

7. Playtime:  Oh, pop champagne!

8. Rain & Water: No rain.... so this is the best I could do. The fountain in the middle of Forsyth Park.

9. Silhouette: Maybe a bit of a stretch, but I just loved this picture.

10. Something Tiny:  Blooming azaleas.

11. Something Huge: 2 pics - the first - The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist - which is enormous in person. The second - huge oak trees. Can you tell I had a slight obsession with them?

12. Texture:  The sidewalk on one street in Savannah - we took a close look and they were actually oyster shells.  Interesting!

Oh, those crazy Brits!

Today was the Royal Wedding and I have a confession to make..... I love the Brits!  And I am obsessed with the Royals.  And I suddenly feel the need to own a Philip Treacy hat, like immediately. 

I think Kate Middleton looked absolutely beautiful and her sister Pippa is a real hottie!  Who knew?  I do adore Prince William, but he's definitely loosing his hair at record speed.  Everyone says he looks just like his mother, Princess Diana, but I have to disagree.  I think he looks more and more like Charles as he gets older.  Harry definitely got the better end of that stick - and a full head of ginger to boot! 

I did not wake up at 4am though - I might be obsessed, but I'm not insane.  I knew it would be repeated over and over all day long.  I did see the first (and second) public kiss live though.  I couldn't leave the house for work until I saw it, which subsequently resulted in me being 45 minutes late. 

With all the depressing stuff in the news lately - earthquakes in Australia, Japan, etc., tornados in the South, the unrest throughout the middle east and Africa, the struggling economies all over the world - it was so refreshing to finally watch something joyous and beautiful for a change. 

Here's to the new Princess and her Prince!  I guess dreams really can come true! 

Smile!

I'm no stranger to websites like Snapfish and Shutterfly.  I've somehow conned Shutterfly into giving me multiple free photo books because I'm such an awesome customer, and I printed all 1400 of my Italy pictures via Snapfish since I had about 1000 free pictures to redeem.  Yeah - I'm that good. 

Well, at work last week, this older lady happened to bring in a photo book she made and she let me look at it.  It was pretty freakin amazing.  Much better than my freebies from Shutterfly.  No offense, I will continue to print free photo books from them, but her book really rocked.  She made it on a website called Smile Books.

So I logged on last night to play around with making a Savannah book - holy moly.... that website is INTENSE!  I actually downloaded the program onto my computer so I didn't have to do it online.  I have spent countless hours over the past 2 days farting around on this site..... and it's pretty great.  So you should definitely give it a shot.  It's a little pricey, but the quality is worth it.  Plus I think they're currently offering 25% off - so DO IT!  http://www.smilebooks.com/

Georgia..... still on my mind

We had a great time in Savannah.  The drive up was a little long - I'm not a fan of being stuck in the car for over an hour.  We hit a little traffic just before Jacksonville and again just before Savannah so that added about an extra hour to our drive.  Once we got there though, it was all worth it. 

I said it before, but I'll say it again.... we stayed at the AVIA hotel - fantastic location - very nice - would definitely recommend.  Here are some photos of the hotel:

We did a ghost tour - Blue Orb Ghost Tours - we did the City of the Dead tour and Tobias was our guide.  We did this on Friday night - the day we arrived in Savannah, so we opted not to do the Midnight Zombies tour since we thought we might be a little tired.  Tobias was great, and even though I'm not one for ghost stories or supernatural stuff, I was completely captivated by all the information he shared with us.  He's a fantastic story teller and it was definitely worth the price.  We took some pics on the ghost tour, but only one really creeped me.  Can you guess which one it is?

We also did a carriage tour on our last day with Carriage Tours of Savannah - and Bob (the horse) was our guide.  Actually, Carolyn was our guide, but Bob was the highlight of the tour.  He's enormous and moody, and I loved him to pieces.  Pics below:

Taking advantage of Savannah's open container law:

Other than that, we just did a ton of sight seeing on our own - we tried to hit as many squares as possible, and I'm pretty sure we saw almost all of them.  On Saturday we got engaged - right in the middle of Forsyth Park - next to the fountain.  The rest of that afternoon was a total blur, but I do remember popping open a bottle of Dom and having dinner at The Olde Pink House Restaurant - which was great!  Below are some of my favorite pictures from our trip.  Enjoy!

Our sampler at the Moon River Bewing Company.  The first one "Wild Wacky Wit" was the best:

Jones Street - my favorite street, and per Carolyn, one of the most expensive in the entire city - go figure!  Obviously you need to be keeping up with the Jonses to live here:

432 Abercorn - the creepiest house we saw.  There's some debate as to whether the stories are true, but I'll tell you one thing - it's definitely a creepy, abandoned house with a prime location:

First glimpse into Forsyth Park:

Right after THE ENGAGEMENT:

Our first photo together as an engaged couple - obviously D had to be talking during the photo:

Azaleas.  Because of the awful weather Savannah has had prior to us arriving, we didn't get to experience the city in full bloom.  I did get to see some azaleas though - and for that, I am grateful!

The Mercer-Williams House - made famous by the book (and movie) Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil:

Walking down the cobblestones to River Street.  Let me just tell you, the muscles in my legs were on fire after a couple of days here...... cobblestones are no joke, and you really don't realize how much strength it takes for your legs to keep you stabilized until you walk on uneven ground.

View of River Street:

The bridge - which is actually much larger and more impressive in person than I had imagined it to be:

Tybee Lighthouse.  We didn't climb to the top because it was about 178 degrees outside that day and something like 30 flights of stairs:

Not sure exactly which square this is - but it's definitely one with a ton of oak trees:

Loved this little house!

Oh - just chillin in front of my future home - across from Forsyth Park.  One day, one day:

Soooooo, quick story about this one.  This statue is the one on the cover of the book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil - and for some reason, I assumed this statue would be gracing one of the many squares in Savannah.  Little did I know that it was actually originally in the Bonaventure Cemetary and was later moved to the Telfair Museum.  I found a tiny replica of it in front of a bed and breakfast and had to take a picture:

Love these houses!

Greene Square - considered by some one of the most picturesque squares.  I read that in a guide book.  It was actually a really small square in the middle of a residential neighborhood, but to be honest, it was very pretty!

Azaleas!!!!!!!!!!

View from inside Forsyth Park - gorgeous!