Progress and List for Next week

I can't believe that it's been a week since my last post. I wanted to post earlier but I've been a busy little bee this week focusing on my to-do list. I'm happy to report that I've accomplished a lot this week and I get to cross things off the list :)  :

1). Call and confirm hotel room reservations/blocks for out-of-town guests: I've been corresponding with one hotel in particular (Garfield Suites Hotel), I just need to make sure the rooms are actually reserved for our guests---I'm happy to report that I booked rooms with Garfield Suites Hotel (10 rooms for Friday night and 20 rooms for Sat night, the night of our wedding. I definitely recommend Garfield Suites Hotel for any Cincinnati Bride looking to book rooms. I worked with Mick Douthat and he's great. I would e-mail him if you're interested in working with him (mick@garfieldsuiteshotel.com).
2) Invitations: Make a decision on whether or not we're going to DIY them or buy them. We're planning on sending them out April 23rd, so we need to choose our invitations asap.---We found our invitations!!! We decided to go with www.weddingpaperdivas.com . We're going to do pocket folds so there will be some assembling on our part but not much. Since I don't want to spend a lot on paper, we're going to use Vista Print to make the RSVP, Enclosure, Accommodation and Song Request cards. I'm all about saving money :).
I'll show you what we decided on once we've ordered them. 

3) Find a location for the rehearsal dinner- I really need to get on top of this because I'm afraid everything is going to be just about booked. Casey and I want something fun and intimate for our guests...and laid-back. I have a couple of ideas about where we could do this but we'll see what happens.--Thanks to Melissa's suggestion we've decided to look at Pompilio's . I just hope they're not booked already!

4) Update our wedding website with information like accommodations,etc--I did this last night after I received  our confirmation e-mail from Garfield Suites. I even created a "Things to Do in Cincinnati" list for our guests.
5) Finalize the wedding day "schedule"--This is the only thing that is not finalized yet. We have an idea of when we want to do things the day of but we need to finalize this/make sure it will work.


I'm so proud of everything we got accomplished this past week. I think creating a small list to do every week helps to reduce stress. Plus it's a great to be able to check things off the list each week. I would recommend this for any bride planning their wedding!

Okay, so my to-do list for next week is:

1) Finalize the wedding day "schedule"
 2)  finalize wording for invitations and order them
 3) confirm rehearsal dinner site and menu
 4) finalize groom's and groomsmen attire

Oh and one last thing. Last Friday I mentioned that Casey and I did something to celebrate the 4-month mark. So for all of you waiting on the edge of your seats.........we got TATTOOS!!! Before you freak out, we didn't get each other names.hahaha. Both of our tattoos reflect something about Costa Rica, the place where we got engaged. We have about 3 more weeks until they heal, so you'll have to wait until then to see pics!

Hope everyone has a great Friday night :)!

4 Months!!!

I can't believe it is exactly 4 months until the big day! It seems as if it was only yesterday that we got engaged. Although I got a lot of the major things out of the way within the first couple of months of planning, I still have so much to do. So instead of writing a whole list of things that I need to do this month, I'm going to give my self a to-do list for the next week. Here it is:

1). Call and confirm hotel room reservations/blocks for out-of-town guests: I've been corresponding with one hotel in particular (Garfield Suites Hotel), I just need to make sure the rooms are actually reserved for our guests

2) Invitations: Make a decision on whether or not we're going to DIY them or buy them. We're planning on sending them out April 23rd, so we need to choose our invitations asap.

3) Find a location for the rehearsal dinner- I really need to get on top of this because I'm afraid everything is going to be just about booked. Casey and I want something fun and intimate for our guests...and laid-back. I have a couple of ideas about where we could do this but we'll see what happens.

4) Update our wedding website with information like accommodations,etc

5) Finalize the wedding day "schedule"


My goal is to work on these things and have them checked off by next Friday. I'll be sure to post my progress and have a new to-do list for next Friday. I'll try to dedicate my Friday posts  "to-do lists" so please check back for those.

Today Casey and I did something really cool to celebrate the 4 month mark but I can't share it with you today  :(  . I promise that I will reveal what we did in the next couple of days.

Hope everyone is enjoying their Friday night! And to all of my June 18 knotties, we're almost there :)!!!!

Night everyone

Welcome!!!

Hey everyone :). I can't believe that it is already the middle of February, June will be here before I know it. After talking to my friend Melissa, who is helping me plan the wedding, we decided that I should start a blog. We thought it would be a great way to remember the planning process and hopefully my blog will be able to help future brides. So I will be blogging several times a week about projects that I'm working on or ideas I have about the wedding. I would love to hear what you guys think and I would love to hear feedback or ideas that you might have.

Here's a little information about me and my future husband. Casey and I met in 2008 at J Taps Bar and Grill at a friend's show. After the show we were introduced and the rest is history. Two years and a month after we met Casey proposed in Costa Rica. After we returned to the States and told our friends and family, I began planning.

(Casey and I in Arenal, Costa Rica two days before we got engaged)

The Venue: We both knew that we wanted to get married outside in a park so we knew that Oak Ridge Lodge was perfect for us. Not only was the venue secluded, but the price was hard to pass up: $650 for eight hours. The venue was almost booked but we found the last available Saturday in June, so we will be getting married June 18, 2011 :).

(Oak Ridge Loge photo courtesy of Premier Events)

The Dress: While I would love to share the dress, I don't know who will be reading the blog so I will keep my final decision a secret. I will post pictures of 4wedding dresses, one of which is the dress that I chose. Choosing the dress was probably the easiest part of the planning process. I went to Bridal and Formal and it was the second dress that I tried on. I can't say enough about the wonderful experience that I had at Bridal and Formal.

Wedding Dress 1

Wedding Dress 2

Wedding Dress 3

Wedding Dress 4

Bridesmaid Dresses: I picked out the dress for my bridesmaids the same day I found my dress. Since our wedding is in June and outside, I knew that I wanted something shorter and more like a cocktail dress. The dresses will be in espresso brown and have a petunia pink sash: http://tinyurl.com/4pucnj7

Shoes: Another reason that I love Bridal and Formal is because of their sales. The day I went to pick up my dress they were having a 40% off sale on shoes. I decided to look and before I knew I had chosen my shoes and the bridesmaid shoes. The Bridesmaids will wear this shoe in brown and I will be wearing it in pink: http://tinyurl.com/4uof2ba  .

Well, that's it for now. I hope you will continue to come back and read the blog. I'm new at blogging so I will learn as I go.