Oh my ! It's been 10 days! That's a little ridiculous - I apologize. Here's what's new. We've officially decided on Turf Valley. Despite anything negative I may have written about how I felt about the place, when we finally went back for one last look, I had a different perspective. There are some things that I have found are really important when you're planning a wedding, and peace of mind is one of them. Peace of mind about your budget, about how well your guests will be taken care of even when you're not around, about how easy or difficult it will be to work with your venue/caterers... I had no confidence in Kent Manor. I had a very negative experience with their catering sales manager who was my contact person. I never felt like she cared about us or was interested in selling us on Kent Manor. I always felt like one of many business propositions. And there were lots of concessions we'd have to make there (crappy hors d'oeuvres, beer and wine bar, no possibility for a longer reception, no shuttle for guests...), though we still would've been stretching our budget to make it work. It was going to be a very stressful way to go. I'm SO happy about our final decision. It's going to be beautiful, our guests are going to love it and be well taken care of and well fed, the hotel is on-site so no one has to drive anywhere afterward if they don't want to, we can have our full open bar, we may be able to swing an extra hour for the reception, and it's all within our budget (well, except for the extra hour, which Ben is working overtime for!). It's very exciting :)
I'm working on decorating ideas and finding cheaper ways to do things. We ordered our Save-the-Dates (or, as Em likes to say, our STDs) and also ordered a few little accessories like toasting flutes, our unity candle, etc. OH, and I decided on a bridesmaid dress, finally. I was also able to keep that within a reasonable budget for my girls, and I think it's going to be beautiful! Things are definitely progressing. I'm working on finding less expensive string performers for the ceremony, we're now in contact with the pastor who is going to perform it for us, our guest list is right where we want it... I'm going to get everything done and then be bored for the next 8 months! It's really only been a little over a month and things are already coming together so quickly.
Another piece of news, which I hope it's ok to publish in my blog :) One of my bridesmaids is now a bride too! Sam and Todd are tying the knot, so now we have double the work to do! Their wedding will be next fall, so I'll have time to recover from mine and start being a better bridesmaid for her before it's time for the big day. I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to give her as much of my time and effort as I'd like to be able to, given that I'm doing my own planning and my own DIY projects and such, but since she's doing it later in the year, I think it's going to work out great :) I think we'll just end up doing a lot of projects together, a little for me and a little for her, as we go along. It's already so fun to have someone else who's in the same mind-set as I am (always wanting to talk weddings, which I already feel like I do too much of with other people who are probably getting annoyed with me!). I've never felt like a resource for wedding knowledge before, but there I was yesterday, sitting in her living room answering questions all afternoon - SO much fun! It's going to be great to go through it all together, and we'll always share the memory of planning our weddings together.
Well, I'm at work so I really should be doing science. OH, speaking of science (sort of), I got another interview at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City! I don't really want to end up in NYC, but Mt Sinai is one of the best schools that I applied to, so it gives me hope for some of the other great schools on my list (cough*HOPKINS*cough) :) Alright, for real now, see ya!
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