{Wedding Talk} Choosing a Venue: What We Do Not Want

Wedding planning.

There are so many decisions to be made when planning a wedding.

My to do list on The Knot gives me anxiety with all the things I need to do before the big day.

But where does one start?

Well after the budget of course, I think choosing a venue is next in line.

With so many around, how do you narrow them down?

I started with figuring out what I did not want in a venue.

First,

I did not want a bingo sign at the reception.

This eliminates all the fire halls in the area.

Don't get me wrong, I've been to a few and they have been beautiful.

And the price?

Unbeatable.

But it just isn't for me.

Second.

As absolutely beautiful and breathtaking as church weddings are, I have never envisioned myself getting married in a church.

This is one thing Vito & I went back and forth on for awhile.

He was leaning towards a church wedding.

Me? 

I always envisioned getting married outside.

Plus you add in all the extra things you need to worry about with having a ceremony and reception at separate places like transportation and all that jazz.

After talking about it, we decided to look for a venue where we could host both our ceremony and reception.

Third?

We needed a venue that was beautiful and we loves but would not cost us an arm and a leg.

This is where the budget talk before the venue search was important.

Vito & I are paying for the wedding ourselves, without help from our parents.

He is not on good terms with his parents at the moment and my mom can't afford to chip in.

This leaves the entire cost of the wedding on our shoulders.

And those of you who have helped with a wedding/planned your own wedding/ researched anything to do with weddings will know that nothing in the world of weddings is cheap. 

So with those basic ideas, the search began!

But more on that later. ;)

Was this your first step in looking for a wedding venue?

What did you/do you not want in a venue?

Blog Star: Hi, I'm Vanessa!

On this wonderful Tuesday, I decided to link up with Mrs. Monologues for Blog Star!

If y'all are new around here, my name is Vanessa!

This lil' old blog turned 3 last month.

Some random things about me?

I love to drink water, wine, and coffee.

I am currently in the wonderful world of wedding planning, working toward a wedding for next Fall.

I like alliterations. (see above sentence).

My fiance calls me a music addict, because I'm always listening to music.

Food and I? I just love it.

TV shows? I just love that too.

My favorite thing ever is being an aunt.

My cat is my furbaby.

And pink is my signature color.

And that is the short and condensed version of me!

Thanks for stopping by and introduce yourselves!

"I See Through You, You See Through Me"

Title: Ingrid Michaelson - "Glass"

Currently in the life of Vanessa...

Food I'm loving: Cherries.

Source: zurnal24.si via Katja on Pinterest

I. Cannot. Get. Enough. of Sweet cherries.  Our grocery store has been carrying ones with amazing flavor and I've been putting down a bag myself within a week.  

One of the many reasons I love Summer. 

Fresh fruit!

Music I have on repeat:  Ingrid Michaelson.

Source: Uploaded by user via Wednesday on Pinterest

I am soon seeing her live so to pre-game for the concert, I have been listening to her non-stop at work. & while cooking dinner too so Vito is ready for the concert as well. I can't wait to see her live AND it has been a LONG time since I have been to a concert so I am extra excited!

Wedding planning: Catering

Source: breanabanana.tumblr.com via Jenna on Pinterest

Dude. If there is anything that will make me cry angry tears during this planning process, it'll be the price of catering. Pricing is ridiculous. Has anyone ever served Ramen? Because we could be original...

Netflixing:  Doctor Who Season 6.

Source: methodshop.com via Rosendo on Pinterest

I have some serious doubts on this show.  But like everyone told me to, I stuck with it.  And this is the best season yet.  

I l.o.v.e The Ponds.

Reading:  Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Source: readyplayerone.com via Marilyn on Pinterest

I just started this book and I am excited to see where it goes!

Feeling:  Tired.

Source: via Lisa on Pinterest

Dead tired.

Between staying out late Saturday night for a party, not being able to sleep because I drank alcohol (terrible, right?), getting up early for church, going grocery shopping, cleaning, and hosting dinner, and then not sleeping well last night?

This girl needs a nap.

& there is no break until Wednesday.

Thank God the weekend was worth it. 8)

Currently, what is going on with you?

"They Tell Me You Can Only Dream When You Fall Asleep..."

Title: Ed Sheeran - Nightmares

Have I ever told y'all about my dreams?

No? Maybe? 

I don't remember.

But let's just say I have dreams the my main man Freud would love to analyze himself.

(love me through my psych nerdiness.)

Most of my dreams are crazy, off the wall, I don't even know how my brain would make this shiz up and somehow it does.

When I say to my family: 

"So I had this dream last night...",

it is usually followed with:

"Uh-o"

"Hey y'all, it's story time!"

"NOW what could you have dreamed up?"

Now as you all already know, I only started actively planning the wedding for less than 2 months.  

I've have 3 wedding dreams already.

3.

I can only imagine how many I will have by the time we say "I do".

The dreams

The first one?

Happened the beginning of July.

& it was a full out nightmare.

I'm talking putting on my dress and it fell off me.

Did. Not. Fit.

My mom had to try to sew me in the dress using parts of her (baby blue!) wedding dress.

And she kept stabbing me with the needle.

My hair had already fallen out.

And the wedding was suppose to start 45 mins prior.

I was convinced Vito thought I blew him off.

Awesome.

Did I mention none of my bridesmaids were anywhere to be found.

SO awesome.

Second dream?

Last night.

& it was a normal dream.

I dreamt I contacted a photographer for the wedding.

It took them forever to email back.

And when they did, he told me he couldn't photograph the wedding. 

Why?

"It was his mommy's birthday."

And I should just move my wedding to accommodate him.

Ugh.

The third dream?

Also last night.

I dreamt I read in the paper that the post office was doing a release for two days.

Specialized Stamps!

Of what, you might ask?

The one. The only.

Doug Funnie.

And I NEEDED them for the wedding invitation.

I had myself in a tizzy because no other stamp would do.

Only Doug.

I'd say this was the funniest dream so far.

Pun intended.

At least I'm having a wide variety of different dreams...

And on a scale of Vanessa's crazy dreams, these rate very low on the craziness scale.

So tell me, am I alone in wedding dreamland?

Am I the only one with waaaaaay out there dreams?

"Let's Go To The Beach-each. Let's Go Get Away."

Title: Nicki Minaj - Starships

Dear Beautiful, Beloved Beach,

We need to have a little chat, you and I.

It has been approximately exactly 369 days since we last seen each other.

Over a year since I last heard waves crashing

Over 52 weeks since I wiggled my toes in the sand.

I'm writing to tell you that this is breaking my heart.

I'm becoming anxious to see you as others are moving on from Summer and wishing for Fall.

The stores are filling  their shelves with school supplies and Christmas decor (W.T.F.).

Signs that Summer is already wrapping up.

My Summer-loving heart aches as it hasn't even been Summer for an entire month yet.

And yet we haven't even spent a few hours together.

I want to tell you not to worry.

I will see you before the Summer closes.

We have some quality time to spend together.

I promise I will not miss it for the world.

Save a spot for me.

All my love,

The girl who wishes she was a beach bum and is not ready to let go of Summer yet.

Have you been to the beach yet this Summer?

Or are you missing it as much as I am?

Word-Filled Wednesday {40}

Something I thank God for. 

Every. 

Single.

Day.

Source: knowing-jesus.com via Vanessa on Pinterest

Happy Wednesday, Y'all!

Wedding Talk: The Creation of the Binder

Ever have one of those weekends where you basically do nothing?

That was this past weekend for me.

We did dinner at home on Friday.

Saturday: Vito had a meeting in the afternoon and a guy's night out at night.

Sunday: we ran errands.

Please hold back your jealousy.

We like to party hard.

So since I have no fun stories about what we did, I thought maybe I'd touch on something wedding related.

Behold the Wedding Binder.

Since this is kinda a big thing, planning a wedding, I thought I should do my best to stay organized.

Some people told me they lived by theirs.

Others told me they were unnecessary.

Last weekend we ventured out to Target and found this pretty in the school supplies section and spent that evening putting it together.

In front, I created a monthly calendar.  I will always keep the current month up front so I can write down appointments and keep track of meetings.

I purchased the little dividers.

I jotted down a list of 8 categories I thought might incorporate everything.

Since I'm indecisive, I made sure I could change them at any time.

Or could just add more.

Very important to me? 

The pocket.

If you are at a vendor meeting, the chances of papers being hole punched, ready to be inserted into my handy, dandy notebook binder are pretty slim.

Also heavily stocked with lined paper for notes while at meetings.

And big rings, for all the inspiration and DIY projects I will inevitably print off of Pinterest at some point.

It works pretty great for me, even if it is simple. 

And I love how adorable it is.

It has even been used in action at our first official meeting about a wedding.

But more on that another time. ;)

Did you/do you have a wedding binder?

Any tips for something I'm missing??

Or can we just talk about how depressing it is to see school supplies back in stores already?

Don't even get me started on the Christmas decor popping up...