Wedding Photography

Well today we drove all the way to Norman to visit with a photographer. I do realize that this is an important part of our wedding, but I am just amazed at how costly this part is. But isn't it worth it to splurge in capturing those precious moments? Of course!!
We are going to have interview at least two more before we make our choice. And then we need to decide whether or not we need a videographer for the ceremony. Oh, decisions, decisions...

DIY Will You Be My Bridesmaid Cards

I am a very crafty person. I love to make things, I'll bake, sew, cut, assemble, I'll try just about anything. I love looking at my end result. I love that people enjoy the things that I make, like my cake balls. Well since I like making things, I thought, why not try to make my own wedding invitations? And I decided I would practice by making "will you be my bridesmaid" cards. My first purchase in this venture was cardstock paper. Then the most valuable and impressive tool that I purchased was a Martha Stewart paper trimmer, that came with interchangable blades used for scoring and cutting. (I love this thing. And I should have purchased this long ago.) Then I searched on the internet for instructions on DIY wedding invitations. I used google mostly and was able to find quite a few DIY instructions. Then I looked at youtube. Wow, it's just like someone's right there showing you step by step how to your own personally customized invites. You can probably search youtube for just about everything. It's amazing. The picture above is the first "Will you be my bridesmaid?" card that I have made. I used two different colors of cardstock paper, brown and ivory. After constructing the card, I wrapped it in green ribbon and sealed it with silver wax stamped with the A (for Allen) monogram. The special touch was a peacock feather tucked under the ribbon. Three more to go...

Harn Homestead

Jerry and I toured the Harn Homestead today as a very possible and likely site for the wedding ceremony and reception. First, they have an open catering policy. Second, they can seat up to 200 people with tables, chairs, and linens provided. And we like the atmosphere. Jerry and I both agreed that we would like an outdoor ceremony.

The Harn Homestead is a historical site that has a stone and cedar barn and a gazebo all on ten acres. The possibilites are plenty since we can choose to have the ceremony anywhere. My vision is taking our vows under a large oak tree that has beautiful flowers on ribbons streaming down from it's branches. I would like to replicate that if possible. We could choose to have our reception outside instead of in the barn if we wanted too. I can't help but feel that I am honoring my "country" roots by choosing to have my wedding at a place like this. Being raised in a small country town, I love that outdoorsy, rustic, and country feeling. I just love the charm and comfort of it all. But I still want to have an elegant wedding that is memorable for everyone. The first picture posted is the outside of the barn at the Harn Homestead. The picture below is a picture I found on the internet of the interior of a barn decorated for a wedding reception.

So, next step now is to put down our deposit, which is 50% of the total facility rental fee. Once we do this, we are committed. Then I can finally spread the news and send out save the dates.

Peacock wedding theme

I love the look and colors of peacock feathers. Here are some things that I found on the internet for ideas...

Peacock wedding theme

I am planning on making the boutonnieres and bouquets and will try to make as much as I possibly can. Our wedding theme is peacock. So our main colors are royal blue, turquoise, brown, and maybe a little purple. I absolutely love the colors.

In search of the perfect location...

The hardest thing to do for us is finding that perfect spot for the ceremony and reception. The harder of the two hands down is finding a place for the reception especially for us. It's hard because we want our food catered in since we want to do an east meets west type of theme. And we want to save BIG money by providing the alcohol. There are plenty of nice places that we would love to have our wedding reception at but they provide the catering and the alcohol. No thanks! There are some not so nice places that allow you to have your own catering and alcohol. We want to save money, but not at the expense of having our reception at some drab location. So this past week, we did find the almost "perfect spot." The Hamilton Event Center is all inclusive, except for food and alcohol. They decorate the entire place beautifully, have servers, cake servers, provide plates, glassware, free valet parking, and many more fine details. All of it for an incredible price. It is so worth it to bypass all the hassle of centerpieces and linens, or worry about the food being served or anything else. That way, we can enjoy "our big day." From the outside, it looks like a conference center but inside, it is contemporary and elegant. We love how it looks on the inside. However, the place is a bit small and so far on our list, we have over 180 people. They seat only 170 and that's a very crowded 170. Well, it is okay to assume that not everyone invited will come. So, we are still looking at the aspect of having the wedding at the Hamilton, but it's still up in the air...
Over the weekend, we visited the Charles E. Sparks Rose Garden. And it is beautiful. The trees are changing colors and the roses are aplenty. It is November now, and our wedding date is May 30. So by that time, the roses will be blooming. It is going to be beautiful. There was one problem, though. The rose garden and park for that matter is located right off of the interstate, so you get a lot of commuter noise. Nothing would destroy the moment more than the sound of a car's loud muffler right as we say our vows. But all in all, the rose garden is our number one prospect as far as the ceremony location goes.