The Honeymoon

What's the one question everyone ask when you're getting married? Of course it's, "Where are you going on your honeymoon?"

Karisa alluded to our plans in the post she made after we watched Titanic. I've always thought it would be fun to go on a cruise, so what better time than now? It seems most cruises (at least the ones I looked at) depart on a Saturday. Since we're getting married on a Saturday, we would have a week between the wedding and the cruise. What to do during that week? Go back to work? No way!

While there are cruises that leave from New York or Miami, we didn't want to deal with flying. I picked a cruise originating in Los Angeles, so we can take the train down. What magical place, that Karisa loves, happens to be located in L.A.? If you said Disneyland, get yourself a cookie!

The train ride is about 30 hours, so we got a Superliner Roomette. It's the only way to go if you're on the train overnight. We spend three days in Disneyland, and then a week-long cruise to the Mexican Riviera with stops in Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlán, and Puerto Vallarta before returning to L.A. After spending another night in the City of Angels, we board the train and head for home.

Flowers and Photos

Karisa met with the florist today to decide on, well, flowers. Below is a preview. The camera on my phone isn't too good, but it gives you an idea.



We have also lined up a photographer. We made decisions! Yay us!

Tuxedos

Here are the tuxedos we decided on. The green ties are to match the bridesmaids green dresses.

T minus 20 days

Just under 3 weeks. So much to do. And I want to get it all done in 2, because I just know that the week before the wedding will be packed with all kinds of things that haven't even made it onto my list yet. Trying not to panic. Must keep moving.

Some big things have been checked off the list recently... Todd and I went to Rosewood Bridal and chose tuxedos for the guys. We didn't really want tuxedos, mind you, but gray suits are apparently not something that you rent. Black, yes. Brown, navy, or "Oatmeal," yes. Gray, not so much. ("Oatmeal?" Seriously? It's tan. If I told you that the wedding party is wearing oatmeal, you know that the first thing you're picturing is a disgusting sticky mess.)

Gray tuxedos are not plentiful either, in case you are curious. Men's Wearhouse has one style option in gray. Rosewood Bridal also has only one - which we preferred over the MW option. Technically, Mr. Formal has one gray option, but it is charcoal (so really, it looks black) and has tails... so as far as I'm concerned, Mr. Formal does not have a gray tuxedo option at all :)

Todd and I went to Rosewood Bridal on Thursday to get the ball rolling, and went back Saturday morning to finalize our order. Brad, Tyler, and my Dad all answered the call to get themselves to Tigard for measurements, pronto. All three of them, plus wives, plus Todd and I, showed up at Rosewood Bridal around the same time... completely unplanned. Go team! I'm sure that Tim, Trevor, and Dallas will get their measurements soon as well. So, I can check "choose and order suits for Groom, Groomsmen, Ring Bearer, and Dads" off the list, with "make sure all suit measurements are in" soon to follow. Although I will probably edit my list to say "tux" instead of "suit," because that's how I roll.

Another big thing that's in the process of being checked off the list is the cake. My friend Missi will bake the cake (yay!) and my Aunt Pat will decorate (yay!). Aunt Pat and I are getting together this morning to go over ideas for decorating, and I am working on cake flavor options to send to Missi. Todd and I went to a cake decorator shop yesterday, and found out that we can rent a cake stand that will not require any precarious stacking of cakes, but will still look like a tiered wedding cake. I know this will put Aunt Pat's mind at ease, which eases my mind as well, since I won't be worried about her worrying about the cake. And, of course, it will look fabulous!

We took a break from wedding planning last night and watched Titanic. Todd had never seen it, and I thought it might be nice to refresh my memory on what not to do if our cruise ship starts sinking. Todd was not impressed - he is convinced that an hour could easily have been cut from the movie, without any significant loss to the story. Whatever.

Rings

We went ring shopping yesterday after work. I did some looking online in the days prior, to see what I might like, but I didn't know how hard is was going to be to pick out jewelry for myself.

In any case, I'm happy with my choice, and we left with wedding bands. Slightly over budget, but close enough so it's OK :)

Babblings from the Bride

My husband-to-be has chastised me for declaring that "we should have a blog!" and then failing to contribute anything myself. My memory of the genesis of our blog varies from his telling of the story, but I suppose that is neither here nor there. :)

Many things are happening in Weddingland, where every evening and weekend is a constant flurry of activity, and where I chant my own little mantra "must keep moving... can't stop moving" to keep pushing myself to get everything done. (Sadly, although similar to "just keep swimming, just keep swimming," my mantra is not accompanied by a blissfully oblivious sense of calm. If you don't know what I'm talking about, it's time to watch Finding Nemo again.)
Mostly, I am terribly excited to move out of Weddingland and establish our own permanent residence in Marriedland, making a stop in Disneyland during the move.

Every once in a while, though, I am enjoying my brief stay in Weddingland. Addressing our wedding invitations myself was a very important part of my "dream wedding," and I know it may seem odd to some people but I enjoyed every minute of it. :) Many other "dream wedding" details have fallen by the wayside at this point, so it was really awesome to have one thing go exactly and precisely the way I wanted it to go! (Some might classify this as "control freak" behavior. I prefer "vision-oriented.")

License to Wed

Karisa and I went up to Vancouver during lunch today to get our marriage license. $64 (cash only please!) and 30 minutes later we had the document in hand - one step closer to making this happen.



We went over to see Tyler and Alison Sunday night so Alison could help us create a game plan moving forward. While Karisa and Alison hammered out the details, I helped Tyler (well, I mostly stood around) work on getting his new workbench modified and into place. In the end Karisa and I both ended up with a to-do list. Getting the marriage license was on my list - scratch that one off!

Thanks for being the wedding coordinator Alison :)

Invitations

Invitations are on the way!

A Decision from the Decision Challenged

After much debate regarding the various pluses and minuses between our two reception space finalists, we have come to a conclusion... the Northwest Neighborhood Cultural Center.

Now we can move on to the myriad of other things to figure out!

Reception and Stuff

One of our many devoted readers has made it known that we need to post more frequently (you know who you are!). I will try! ;-)

We have narrowed our reception search down to 2 locations... the reception room at the Northwest Neighborhood Cultural Center, and The Troutdale House.

We also met with our caterers to work on some menu options. Once we get quotes on our options from them it will help us decide which reception venue we go with.

Working out the Details

Sometimes I forget we started a blog :)

Now that we have the ceremony location nailed down, we are working on all the other details.

We are still looking for the right reception location. We visited The Marshall House, which is literally right down the road from the chapel, but it doesn't seem like what we want. We also visited historic Norse Hall, which has a nice big ballroom, but we weren't too excited about it either.

We have started a list of photographers we are going to look into. We have some simple requirements - no tilted pictures, and no lens flares. Well, sometime lens flare is OK, but mostly not.

It's A Date!

October 17, 2009. The Academy Chapel, Vancouver, Washington. 1 o'clockish (precise time TBD).

Be there.

The Latest

We're very close to a definitive date, I swear! The pieces are (hopefully) falling into place.

We've been doing some registering, which is more fun than I thought it would be.

Despite it's founder being somewhere in my family tree, Macy's would not give us a discount, or any special treatment. They did give us a nice Victorinox bag, but everyone registering gets one of those. Don't they know who I am?!

JCPenney was easy, it's all do-it-yourself. Sears was kind of a fiasco. Granted, we got there 30 minutes before closing, but it took 15 minutes for someone to find a scanner. When we did try to scan something, the scanner said something about unable to add to registry. Great. At that point they were closing, so we found a nice guy that apparently just finished a bong load on his break - quite a character. He didn't know what we were supposed to do with the scanner, but he lead us around the store to find someone that did. We have to go back at a later date.

Bed Bath & Beyond - the guy that helped us was great. When I cut my finger on a box he took me up to their office where the security cameras were (incidently, no one was watching them - not terribly effective) and hooked me up with a band-aid. He kept checking back with us to see if we needed anything, and he also let us stay in the store an hour after closing so we could keep on scanning.

We also hit up Crate & Barrel. I think Karisa would live in that store if she could - she loves it there. We still have to go to REI - I think it's last on our list.

The next update will hopefully be a date!

Still Looking!

I know my cat is cute, but it's time for her to give up the top spot on the blog ;)

We've been slacking a little on finding a venue, but we visited one last night - Zion Lutheran Church in Oregon City.



We spotted this one back when we took that leisurely drive around Oregon City. It has a nice sanctuary that would do the job. It also has a somewhat passable area downstairs (ok, basically the basement), but they don't allow alcohol. We have to at least have Champagne!

One of Karisa's New Roommates

In a few months Karisa will have new roommates - one of them being Henrietta Pussycat!

It's going to take some time for both of them to get used to the idea ;)

Another Trip to the 'Couv

This time after work we went to Vancouver to visit The Hostess House. It's a nice place with a cute chapel.




There will be no more venue visits this week - we are off to Utah for a wedding.

Beautiful Scenery

This afternoon during lunch we checked out The Lake View House in Lake Oswego. It has a great view of Lake O, and a slightly better rainy day option than most of the sites geared towards an outdoor ceremony.




Then, after work, we went to Bridal Veil Lakes. In my opinion this is the best outdoor ceremony spot we have looked at yet - I don't think a professional photographer could take a bad picture here if they tried. Ok, maybe they could if they tried real hard. The rainy day option isn't too bad either, but if it's a really rainy day you lose out on wandering around and seeing the greatest asset here - the lake and surrounding areas.

I'm no pro, but here's a picture anyway!

We Visit Yet Another Venue

This evening after work we checked out East Fork Country Estate, a beautiful location in the Gresham/Damascus area. It has a great view of Mt. Hood, the proprietor was very nice, and almost everything is included in the wedding package.

Now for the downsides (seems there's always a downside, eh?) - no indoor ceremony option in case of rain. That and tents - we're not too fond of tents.

The Venue Search Continues

Saturday we visited two more venue options - the Fairgate Inn in Camas, and the Academy Chapel in Vancouver.

The Fairgate Inn is very nice - the website doesn't do it justice. It has a great outdoor ceremony space, but the indoor option (a must when living in Oregon, as far as we're concerned ) is so-so.




We both really like the Academy Chapel. The downside is no reception space.




Sunday we leisurely drove around looking at churches in Sellwood and Oregon City.

Today at lunch we checked out The Old Church in SW Portland. Beautiful sanctuary, but seemed a little dark, and limited space for a reception.

Karisa has arranged for us to visit more venues this week. Reconnaissance continues!

Todd Elaborates

Welcome to my first blog post!

As Karisa mentioned, we got engaged on Mother's Day. Yay!

I had picked up the ring about a week earlier, but didn't know when I would actually ask the question. We were going for a hike, and seeing as our first date was on Mother's Day 3 years earlier, I put the ring in my backpack, thinking I may have the opportunity to present it. We had a little picnic before our hike, and I decided the time was right.

A week later we had the family meet-and-greet. My parents are still moving into their new house, but they were gracious enough to host a BBQ. All went well as far as I can tell!

We are now working on details. We have roughly planned out a guest count and date, and are working to find a venue. We scouted out one location about 20 miles east of Woodland, Washington - Anderson Lodge. We both like it, but it presents logistical challenges. It's not off the list, but the search continues!

FAQ

Have you set a date yet?
No.

What will your colors be?
Don't know yet.

When will the wedding be?
Not sure.

Will it be a big wedding or a small wedding?
Yes.

When are you getting married?
Undecided.

Have you bought a dress yet?
No.

What time of day are you planning for?
Possibly morning. Or afternoon. Or maybe evening.

WHEN WILL IT BE??? WHAT IS THE DATE???
Definitely in 2009. Calm down. :)

Meet the Parents

My parents met his parents.
His parents met my parents.
Plus brothers, sisters, their spouses, their children...
Everyone knows everyone.
Now it's time to get on with this whole "wedding planning" thing.

May 10, 2009

"Will you...?"

"Yes!"