11.15.08
Posted in wedding planning at 6:03 am by Pammy
I’m finally finished editing the photos from our e-pic session with our friends Russell and Kristina! Thanks soo much guys, they turned out really well… even though I had to cut and paste Chris’s face from different photos in a few (he thinks it’s funny to make dumb faces) But actually he did really well. Thanks babe, I know how much you hate getting your picture taken.
We started the photo shoot at Centennial Park where we walked around looking for some nice spots to take photos. Chris and I go on walks there when the weather’s nice. Afterward we drove over to Main Street Ellicott City to take some more shots walking around the historic district. This is another spot that we frequent, since we live so close. They have the coolest little shops and restaurants there. We had a fun time.
Let me know what you think… i’m gonna need help deciding which ones to use in the save-the-dates!
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10.28.08
Posted in wedding planning at 3:18 pm by Pammy
I have asked a good friend of mine if he would take some engagement photos of Chris and I. Thanks Russell!! We have been engaged for two years now, but I think I might want to use them for Save-the-dates and to display at our wedding reception. Plus, they’re just nice to have.
So the shoot is scheduled for Sunday, November 9th, which gives me less than two weeks to decide on a spot. Hopefully it won’t be as cold and windy as today!
I really like the urban shots with brightly painted concrete, fire escapes, bricks, but then I also love the fall foliage at different parks in the area. I am in love with the red bridge at Centennial Park..
Here are my ideas for locations and some photos i’ve found of them:
If you have any other ideas that you think we might like, send them my way!
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10.02.08
Posted in wedding planning at 2:47 pm by Pammy
The National Aquarium (source: rocket9.net)
I have been MIA on here for a bit I know! I had some things going on that were keeping me busy. One being planning my trip to LA to see one of my best friends next week!
Anyway, I am soooo excited to announce that my wedding ceremony and reception will officially be at The National Aquarium in Baltimore next October!! I can’t express how excited I am. I did a ton of research and went through a bit of a snag along the way but now it’s set! This was mine and Chris’s #1 choice so we are ecstatic.
I had thought that the catering company (the aquarium works with them exclusively) was going to be too expensive, and then once I started talking with them, it didn’t go very well. It’s a bit of a long story, and I wrote about my troubles in a previous post. Anyway the Vice President of the company contacted me, and assured me of their services and was super helpful. It all worked out pretty well, and we were able to work something out.
Here are some images of the space:
Ceremony and Reception area (source: Aquarium)
Underwater Dolphin viewing area (source: Anja Lendvay)
Chairs set up for ceremony (source: Anja Lendvay)
Aquarium Cafe for cocktail hour is a possibility (source: my cell phone camera)
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09.13.08
Posted in randomness, wedding planning at 10:32 am by Pammy
This morning I woke up to an article that my fiance had left for me to read.
“
The Anti Wedding” printed in the Washington Post Magazine on September 7th.
As I read the article, I started to become offended, was Chris trying to tell me that he thought I was becoming a crazy bridezilla (gasp)?! Did he not want to see me in a beautiful white dress?! Does he not want flowers?!
But I read on. This is one interesting article. They are obviously going for shock value. But the point that I think they are trying to make is that a man and woman shouldn’t feel like they are supposed to have a traditional wedding with calligraphist addressed invitations, flower center pieces, an individual favor for each guest, and a white dress.
The bottom line though, is this: Every bride and groom should plan the wedding that they want. Not the wedding that the wedding industry leads them to think they want. It makes it difficult when anything with the word “wedding” stamped on it comes with a higher price tag. I think that the writers are trying to change this fact, or at least take the first step to it. Because everyone doesn’t want the OTT wedding. But the ones that do, that’s great too!
This is definitely making me rethink some things that I have been planning for my wedding. Because I want the event to reflect the couple that Chris and I are and have every guest remember our special day for its uniqueness. Our location is one thing at least that won’t be at all traditional.
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09.08.08
Posted in wedding planning at 2:26 pm by Pammy
..and look at what I find!
Damask Vases from Safeway
Yea that’s right, and on sale for $14.99 no less, lucky me 
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09.03.08
Posted in fashion, wedding planning at 5:12 pm by Pammy
So I found this new website that creates really cool collages from images that you grab from the web. It is really simple to use and so much fun. I love that it deleted the background of the image for you so you can overlap the objects. It makes it so much more dynamic than the tiled square style inspiration board that I made before. I was playing around with it today and I created another inspiration board! My only gripe with it is that the site doesn’t allow you to upload your own images!
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Posted in home decor, shopping, wedding planning at 3:18 pm by Pammy
Black and Ivory Damask Pillows
Today on my lunchbreak I decided to head over to Ross and see if I could find any damask. I have seen stuff at this type of store before so I was pretty confident that I would find something. They actually didn’t have all that much. They had a couple of frames that were baroque style but not damask. They were mostly silver though and I would really like to stay with black and white. There was a pink damask decorative box, several damask photo albums (but I’ve seen these everywhere so I won’t have trouble finding one when the time comes), and several damask pillows. I took a picture of the ones that would work best in my wedding.. but I didn’t purchase them. They aren’t black and white, they are ivory and black. They are $8.99 each, and Ross has 4 of them. I’m sure I could find a use for them somewhere, they are really beautiful. I wish that they were white rather than ivory though because I think that it’s so much more modern. My other thing is.. I could always make throw pillows myself if I find that I really want to use them.
I also found another damask pillow that was black and silver, it was really nice, but the only one. On one of the shelves was a black and white damask lampshade, but I don’t need anything like that. Unless they were tiny shades to put on small lamp bases.
Has anyone seen any damask at any local stores? If you ever see anything, please send me a PIX message and let me know where it’s from!
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08.31.08
Posted in design, wedding planning at 11:55 pm by Pammy
Now that it seems I am inching closer to finalizing my venue and date, I have been thinking more about my wedding colors and other elements. Originally I had planned on using turquoise and chocolate as our colors, but for several different reasons (fiance refused to wear a chocolate tux and I think that black with chocolate accents would clash), we decided to go with black, white, and turquoise. Our theme will be Gothic/Victorian. This is much more our style anyways. So we will incorporate design elements like Gothic style vases and Victorian chandelier wall decals. Also, I am so excited to use my grandmother’s vintage “milk glass” vases as part of our wedding day decor. They will fit in so well with this theme, and they will be my “something old.” There will be damask patterns and flourishes in black and white, and lots of crystal and glass candle holders. Our flowers will most likely be white Calla Lilies. These look amazing submerged in a glass cylinder as a centre piece. I know it will be easy to find lots of stuff in black and white damask because I see it in every store!
I am so excited to start designing the invitations and other printed peices!
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08.25.08
Posted in wedding planning at 3:29 pm by Pammy
I finally have some free time to write about the Baltimore Bridal Expo that I attended on August 17th. I was busy taking an Adobe Flash CS3 course in DC last week and then I was in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia for a family reunion with my fiance. But now I’m back and ready to write!
I had purchased advanced tickets online at baltimorebridalexpo.com since they were $8 as opposed to $10 at the door. I thought I was being thrifty, but it turns out that we could have gotten in for free as there were at least three people that tried to give us tickets as we made our way to the Marriot waterfront hotel. Before getting in line we registered for raffle tickets and a years subscription to Modern Bride. We got a cute red “bride to be” pin and a page of tickets with our personal identification number on them, these are supposed to be deposited into each booth’s box for the chance to win a prize; anything from a nice gift basket to a honeymoon trip!
Photo credit: Elizabeth Malby, The Baltimore Sun
The layout was a bit deceiving because when you first enter into the exhibition, the booths are set up in a long hallway, so once we got to the end I thought that was all there was. But really, there were ten times as many booths inside the ballroom. There was such a variety of vendors at the event, 130 in all, I think that the only thing that was missing were caterers. There were all kinds of vendors; DJs, stationery, makeup and hair artists, florists, photographers, cakes, and a couple of passion party booths. I loved that the bakeries had samples of cake flavors! That was a nice treat. There was also a fashion show with bridal gown styles, bridesmaid dresses, tux styles, and flower girl dresses. They showed a good variety, but I didn’t see anything I loved all too much, the styles weren’t very modern.
In the end I didn’t win anything.. but I’m still waiting for a call from the 25,000 prize from Tux! All in all the expo was really fun and informative. I got a ton of samples, freebies, and information take aways. Here we are in the middle of the ballroom with all the action around us.
I will say that the raffle contests could have been done better. Some of the vendors didn’t even know that they were supposed to have a raffle ticket box. It was difficult to find out if you had won anything. You were supposed to walk around to each booth after each fashion show after they had done the drawing, where you would check to see if your number was written on the box. Some vendors had the numbers blocked, hadn’t done their drawing yet, etc. Plus it was really crowded because everyone was trying to get to the same place.
I am having a good old time going through all of my stuff to see if there are any deals I want to take advantage of. Thanks Katie for coming with me!!!
Cheesy picture of Katie and I with our pins and “diamond engagement rings”
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08.15.08
Posted in wedding planning at 9:57 am by Pammy
This past Tuesday my mom and I made our way back to Baltimore to check out two more possible reception sites. First up was the Port Discovery Children’s Museum, located at Power Plant. My first reaction to the location was that it was basically perfect. There were two parking garages within walking distance, a nice little courtyard area right outside, & at least 5 bars across the street. So people could easily be dropped off right at the entrance and then go park their car. The lobby to the museum was very colorful and open, with a lot of light pouring in. The best part, of course, was the three story “urban tree house” called Kidworks, in the center of the building. And it lights up at night! Here is their Catered Events Flier, it shows a great picture of the tree house. There are also other interactive exhibits that guests will be able to take advantage of like the Egyptian tomb and a mystery house. Everything seems really fun and it sounds like it would bring out some fun and imagination in our guests!
The woman that we met with was so nice and helpful, she gave us a guided tour of the museum and explained how each space has been used in the past and gave examples of other ways we could use it. The space was a bit broken up for my tastes, because different areas would be cut off from each other. For example, the ceremony would be in the MPT Studio, which has a large projection screen and a balcony, like a mini theater. Afterward, this room could be used for dancing and music. Another area that is sectioned off could be used as the sit down dinner area. I don’t really like the idea of everything being separated. But I love the urban tree house. It is large enough that adults can fit through the spaces, and there are several entrances on every level of the museum. The museum is having a Gala event this October where they are setting up a bar inside the tree house, it will be on a platform within the mazes and such. This sounded so cool to me, because it would get people having fun inside of the structure. The event coordinator there said she would send me some pictures from that night. On the third and second floors, there are some open spaces where traveling exhibits are usually set up, but there are some time frames where nothing would be there so we could use the whole space for tables or whatever.
Now the catering situation is more flexible at this venue; there are six approved caterers with varying price ranges that we can chose from. There are two that I’m excited to check out that I have heard are really hip, but also lighter on the checkbook (Innovative Gourmet, and Rouge Fine Catering).
All in all I really liked this place. I think it might be more on the casual side of things, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. And the way that the reception would have to be split up into sections is a bit lame. But all in all, it would make for a really fun event. My fiance thinks it is a bit too quirky though, so we will see…
Next on the itinerary was the American Visionary Art Museum, which houses works created by untrained artists. This museum is really cool, if you haven’t been, it would make a great day trip. There is definitely some quirky stuff here, but it doesn’t lack substance. The rental fee includes access to the museum for all guests.
The AVAM is located in the Federal Hill neighborhood of Baltimore. There wasn’t much parking, although there is a public lot across the street near a seafood restaurant, and about 30 metered parking spaces about 5 feet from the museum. These would fill up quickly on a Saturday night though, so we would have to work something out. The rental space and the museum are completely separated from each other. The museum is on your right in one building, while the Barn and the Sculpture Garden are on your left. The Barn, a large brick building with very high ceilings and a chess board painted on the floor, is where wedding receptions take place at AVAM. The Barn is really cool, there are huge metal chess pieces that stand atop the chess board, that can be moved anywhere for your event. Hanging from the ceiling are huge paintings, and kinetic sculptures are on the loft above. There is a really cool lighting fixture permanently installed in the Barn that casts colorful rays throughout the space. On the right side of the barn are two huge doors that can remain open or closed. I think the space would look really charming in the Autumn with crunchy leaves blowing in
The Sculpture Garden, right outside of the Barn, leaves much to the imagination. It is very small and overgrown. But there are really fun metal sculptures everywhere, and a neat woven wooden structure that you can walk through, it makes for some very interesting pictures. There isn’t much space for seating, or a walkway, so their solution to this is for the procession to walk through the entrance gate and curve to the side up to the Sculpture garden. The guests would be seated on a brick area about 8 feet from where the bride and groom would stand. It seems like it would be cramped, and many people wouldn’t be able to see as the brick area runs lengthwise along the garden. Option two for the ceremony is to have it inside the museum on the second floor staircase… where I would fall to my death. So clearly that idea won’t work. But in case you think you might escape the hands of death on the staircase, your guests will suffer with standing room only. They will grant you a few chairs for Grandma and Grandpa though.
So basically I am half and half with this venue. I love the barn and everything about it. But the ceremony choices simply don’t excite me. Although the catering options are many, as they have fourteen approved caterers. In case you’re wondering.. Sascha’s and Azafran are my favorite of them all.
There is actually another unique venue right next door, the Jim Rouse Visionary Center, which I thought was part of AVAM because of the pictures I found online. They have some great sculptures outside in the courtyard. My favorite is the “bird’s nest” on the second floor. I might have to give them a call too.
I do have some updates on the whole Aquarium reception idea… but more on that later.
Tune back next week for the newest installment of “Insane Bridal Planning” after the Baltimore Bridal Expo, on Sunday, where my best friend Katie Emery has no idea what she is getting herself into!
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