Engagement pics.... Finally!

Sorry for the big time slacking, but I have an excuse, I promise! My three jobs (yeah, I know, everyone else thinks I'm crazy too) are really starting to pick up, and on top of that Mike and I are moved! Its just a hop, skip and a jump away from where we w before, but its saving me about 20 minutes on my daily commute. It's been pretty crazy around here!

On with the good stuff!

Dylan and his assistant Robin from Onion Studios did a great job with the pictures, and the best part was it was free with our wedding photo package! Yay! We got a CD of all the digital negatives to do with what we please. So, without further ado here's a sampling of our favorites. One of these lovelies made its way onto the 250 Thank you notes that we won, thanks to Pamela! Thanks!

Our wedding has a home

I'm happy to say that Mike and I have finally made a decision on where we will have our special day, Sweet Briar in Geneseo, NY! Both of us are really happy with the place and know it will be a beautiful backdrop for an intimate celebration with our closest family and friends! And it all happened because I missed a train....

Long story short, I miss read the time on my ticket by 20 minutes, missed the train and came up with the great idea of having Mike meet my mom, sister and I in Geneseo (about half way between where my two homes are) to check it out! I showed them around the place, because Will, the owner, was busy with a rehersal dinner, and they loved it as much as Bridesmaid Jamie and I did in May. So we grabbed Will and signed a contract, for exactly one year from the day! :)

Its so nice to have that decision done with, and with the place I kept coming back to every time I sat down to think about our wedding.

My last few post were only a small percentage of the locations that we looked for. Since I've graduated and summer camp hasn't started yet, I had time to do some serious searching. Bridesmaids Jenny, Jamie and Holly all got in on the act. It got pretty stressful there for a while. There may have even been a few tears. I wanted to make sure that we could find the best place for our money, which isn't a whole lot. So I searched and searched Buffalo, the finger lakes, Rochester and Syracuse. I wrote tons of e-mails. I made spreadsheets. But every place, I compared to Sweet Briar. As the days ticked away, I got more and more nervous we'd not find a better place and miss out on one that I knew I liked. As my mom says, everything happens for a reason. If I hadn't missed the train, Mike would have never seen the place, fallen in love with it too and agreed to make it our place. I'm happy its done and we have a beautiful location!

So, if there are any ladies out there that need some ideas in the Western/Central NY area. Let me know, because I know what its like to be stressing over that....

Potential Wedding Location: The Sweet Briar Inn

Because Mike is very consumed with the completion of his thesis, I'm really working hard to narrow down the list so we can have a place picked out by the end of June. (You wouldn't believe how fast places are being snapped up!) Since I was back out in the WNY area, I decided to spend some time checking out our selections out that way.

Bridesmaid Jamie and I took a trip last Friday out to The Sweet Briar Inn, which is just a hop, skip and a jump away from our alma mater, SUNY Geneseo and neither of us had a clue of its existence! One of my mom's co-worker's daughters is getting married there this summer and tipped me off. I'm so glad she did, because this is definately the place I'm most in love with so far! I have to say, I was a little reluctant posting this because I didn't want to give away my little secret. Like all the good places I've found so far, the number of days that they have available for next year is quite limited!

Like the Hillside Inn, this used to be a private estate. Its has the long driveway and in the middle of no where. This place steps it up a bit more though. The inside is all gleaming hardwood floors and earth tones and hundred year old murals on the walls! The place is also a spa. What more could you ask for the day before your wedding!?

The site has lots of wandering space, a nice white tent already on site, and a two beautiful sites to have the actually ceremony!

The first area is a little bluff overlooking the Genesee Valley. I'm not sure if you can see it in the picture, but the stones on the ground are the foundation of a little old chapel that used to be on the grounds. How cute! To get to the bluff, the wedding party walks about 400m down a windy path of cedar trees. What an entrance! Plus, we wouldn't need too much in way of decor because of the natural beauty of the landscape!

Here's Jamie standing in as the bride, because as usual, she was dressed way cuter than me!

The second location is in the yard with the actual ceremony on the steps on the side patio of the house. Again it has a lot of natural/structural beauty and wouldn't need much decoration. See those pretty greens, that's Wisteria, which when in bloom, looks like a dripping purple grapevine and smells amazing!

Other amazing things about this place include the fact that you can get it for the whole weekend to yourself! I can see myself now, the day before the wedding, getting spa treatments and hanging out by the endless pool with my soon to be husband and my best friends. Sigh...

In other words, I need to get my butt in gear, check out some of the lingering possibilities on the list and get a deposit in somewhere, quick!

Potential Wedding Location: The Hillside Inn

Mike and I are slowly narrowing down our list of potential wedding locations. I'm not sure if its actually going to be possible, but I set a goal of having our location picked out by the end of June. Places are starting to be booked and filled for next year already and I'd really hate to miss out on a place we love because we were procrastinating. So, last weekend I decided to take advantage of some already planned trekking (btw.. this word is spelled stupidly, seriously... why do you need two ks!?) and stopped in Wyoming, NY to check out the Hillside Inn. Thanks to Pamela for the great suggestion!

The Hillside Inn is a cute Inn in the middle of nowhere, which is one of our criteria! It sits up on a hill and is surrounded by yard. The house itself is cute and the wedding party could stay there. The lady who walked me around was very nice. She explained that most weddings took place on the front lawn (pictured above). Then there's a little herb garden to the right of the house where cocktail hour takes place. As for the reception, we could either do a tent outdoors, or there is a little "party house" that can be used too. It is basically a big sided gazebo with a fireplace inside. Its a pretty blank slate in there so we could set it up the way we need.
As far as looks go, this place is staying on the list. The prices for food and such seem pretty decent too. Hillside Inn has offically become a green icon on my Google maps. Next week I'm going to be out in the Buffalo area for my graduation (!!) and I hope to check out one of the places that is, on paper, towards the top of the list: Becker Farms in Gasport, NY.

Searching, Searching

The wedding planning has officially begun! Mike and I have started looking into all the necessary things, photographers, dresses, locations, people to be involved... there's so much to think about! Location is at the forefront right now because that will help determine the types of decorations and dress, and will help us pick the vendors that we might need. We're looking everywhere in WNY and CNY since we have connections to both. We'd like to have our outdoor wedding and reception in the same place. We're looking for a location that is private, has a great outdoor space and a great indoor space, either for dinner or just incase the weather takes a turn for the worse. We also want something not too huge and that has some character. Neither are the type to appreciate a hotel ballroom.
So here's the list of places we're considering (including those that have been dropped). If you have any ideas, please feel free to contribute!

BUFFALO-ISH
Knox Farm State Park: East Aurora, NY
Kloc's Blossom Grove: West Seneca, NY
Avanti Mansion: Buffalo, NY
Bever Hallow: Java, NY- OFF THE LIST, a bit too pricey

ROCHESTER-ISH
Hurd Orchards: Holley, NY
Glendoveers: Rochester, NY
Bristol Harbor: Canadaguia, NY- OFF THE LIST, a bit too pricey
Granger Homestead and Carriage Museum: Canadaguia, NY
Crystal Barn: Pittsford, NY
Springdale Farm Bed and Breakfast: Victor, NY
Casa Larga: Fairport, NY

SYRACUSE-ISH
The Lodge at Welch Allyn: Skaneateles Falls, NY (We checked this place out today and liked the budiling. We want to see what the grounds look like when there is some foliage living)
Skyline Lodge: Fabius, NY ( We checked this out one day last month, its in a county park and is pretty. We'll need to see what it looks like once things are growing again)
Arrowhead Lodge: Bridgeport, NY
Camp Brockway: Pompeii, NY (We tried to check this place out, but the driveway was closed for the winter)
The Wellington House: Fayetteville, NY- OFF THE LIST, we didn't really like the view of the McDonalds Drivethru.
Green Lakes State Park: Fayetteville, NY
Logan Ridge Estate: Hector, NY
John Joseph Inn and Elizabeth Resturant: Groton, NY
Taughannock Farms Inn: Trumansburg, NY- OFF THE LIST, too small and not pretty enough
Six Mile Creek Vinevards: Ithica, NY
Lorenzo State Historic Site: Cazenovia, NY
The Brewster Inn: Cazenovia NY
The Genny Lee: Lodi, NY- OFF THE LIST, required having more people than we're likely to have.

Thats 19 locations, not counting the 5 that have already been dropped off the list, in case you weren't keeping track. I'm not opposed to adding some more to check out, so if you know of any place, please let me know!

*Image Via Rodney Smith