Tulips in Spring

At our wedding this past October, we handed out a few tulip bulbs as a "thank you" to our guests.  I purchased them in bulk through Holland Bulb Farms and we ended up with a lot left over.  My friends & family all over the country have started sending me pictures of their tulips blooming!

Tulips in Blue Point, NY!

Tulips in Middleburg, Virginia

Me & J with some of our wedding tulips

Clusters of Tulips in Middleburg, Virginia

Tulips in "The Circle," Middleburg, VA

The new tulip garden at John & Molly's

time to get serious

Ready to see some progress in our wedding plans? Here are the [very few, but very large] things we have decided so far:

Date: Saturday, October 15th, 2011!

Location:

Middleburg, Virginia

picture from Holly Hudspeth Eventing



picture courtesy of Preservation in Pink

*random tangent: I was looking for a picture of downtown Middleburg, and the very first website that came up was a blog written by a friend of mine. Kate and I both grew up on Long Island and ran track together in college. She is a Historic Preservation super-woman. You can read all about it here on Preservation in Pink.

Justin grew up in the tiny town of Middleburg and his parents still live there. It's a special little place surrounded by farms, horses, wineries, and cute little antique shops shoppes. A few weeks after Justin and I got engaged, we went out to Middleburg one Sunday morning to go to church and lunch with his parents. All the sweet ladies at church had heard the news and they just smiled and stared at us all morning.

Choosing Middleburg instead of somewhere near my hometown was a hard decision for me, but I know it was the right one. It will be easier for me to plan it down here and the church really means a lot to Justin. And hopefully it will be somewhat of a "getaway" weekend for my NY family and friends.

Ceremony Venue:

The United Methodist Church of Middleburg, VA

both pictures from the church website

Reception Venue:

The Middleburg Community Center

The community center is going to be a great wedding venue. It has some really beautiful features and the inside will make a great "blank slate" for all the decorating ideas I have been collecting.

SO - what do you think? I'm so glad we ended up picking a day in October. It's not at all what I thought I would want, but now that the decision is made I couldn't be happier about it. October is so reliable. There is no hurricane threat and there is no spring rain to worry about. It could be hot, it could be cold, it could be windy, it could rain.... but none of these things have ever stopped a wedding before. If next October is anything like this October, it's going to be gorgeous!

the first Wedding Purchase...

Having been engaged for 9 months now without making any solid plans at all, I am getting antsy to get some things accomplished! The Boy and I have done a considerable amount of research and now it's just a matter of getting things booked. I'm not exactly sure what ORDER I will need to book my vendors. (If I book the caterer first, what if the church isn't available that day?)

Although we may not end up using all of these, here's what I'm thinking for now:

1. Church & Pastor


2. Caterer & waitstaff


3. Photographer


4. Band/DJ


5. Tent/dance floor (etc) rentals


6. Florist

Anyway, in my eagerness to get things started, I am going to do some little things that I can get out of the way. That way I can bring things up to New York during visits to my family. (Oh by the way... we're getting married in New York!! I grew up on Long Island, and we're trying to have the whole shindig in my itty bitty home town.) If I start transporting things now, that will make things easier when the wedding gets closer... um, right?

The first thing I bought was a set of 200 bubble wands. I think it would be fun to use these a few times during the day: the church exit, the first dance, and whenever else. One thing you should know about me is that I am... ...cheap. Or frugal. Or is it practical? I don't know why, but I don't really like to spend money, and I especially don't like to spend it on c-r-a-p like this that I won't ever use again. So I hunted online for the cheapest place to buy them. I tried Oriental Trading and Dollar tree, but the least expensive option was the ever-dreaded WalMart. ::shudder:: In order to avoid shipping fees and actual shopping inside of the store, I completed the purchase online with a "Site to Store" pickup. Let me just tell you something. If you have to shop at WalMart, always, always use the Site to Store option. I walked into the madhouse that is WalMart on Labor Day, and zipped to the back of the store and checked out with a cashier that only had one other customer. It was a real life-saver.

So... I get home and open up the box of bubbles. They look adorable and not cheesy/cheap like I thought they would. I remove one of them from the storage packs and I realize that it's all sticky. Turns out just about every single one of the bottles had leaked somehow. The tops were still intact and securely fit, but they were all a sticky mess. Basically every single bottle in the pack of 200 is empty or close to empty.

Now the question is - would it make more sense to brave the WalMart returns line (ugh...) or to attempt some homemade bubble concoction and drive myself crazy trying to fill the damn things with a tiny funnel?

Oh and PS: these people met and got married in WalMart.