Planning a Wedding!

We are here in southwestern PA to visit our daughter, Michelle (aka Maeve).  She and her fiancé, Derek, recently moved into their first home together in Berlin, PA, near Somerset.  It’s a beautiful home and they have an amazing back yard!  Their wedding will take place in October 2017!  Before our arrival, they have already chosen a venue, Green Gables, about 20 minutes away.  

While we are here, we hope to help getting the planning going full steam ahead.  Michelle has been waiting for us to arrive, as she wanted us to be able to be involved in the whole process, and we are very happy about that! 

To that end, Michelle had set up a few appointments to look for wedding dress.  Our first one was at a shop in Greensburg, MC Bride.   We arrived for the appointment and we were given some information cards to fill out, with names, dates, etc.  Our consultant, Lisa,  introduced herself and we got started.  It is a fairly large shop with many, many dresses in lots of styles.  

Michelle looked amazing in every dress she tried on, some of them more “her” than others.  She had some definite ideas of what she did and didn’t want and most of the gowns she tried on fit within those ideas, but she also agreed to a few outside those parameters, just to rule them out, if nothing else.  

After about 6 or 7, she looked into the mirror and I knew she liked the one she had on.  It looked like it was made for her, had 90% of her wish list, the remaining 10% had already been ruled out, as that particular element didn’t fit her body type as well as she hoped.   

Just to be sure, she tried a few more we had already picked out, but “the one” kept coming back into conversation, comparing it to all others.  She put it back on and it was confirmed – of all we had seen and she tried on – this was by far the best one.  Our consultant left us alone to talk for a few minutes, which we both appreciated.   I reminded her of the other appointments and just wanted to give her an “out” if she wasn’t sure – but she was – so she officially said YES to the dress!  


Then it was my turn!  So many options!  Michelle, again, had some definite ideas and relayed them to Lisa.  It was a bit weird, my wardrobe being discussed by 2 people – neither was me!  To be fair, I had told Michelle I was willing to try on whatever she liked.  Her “wish list” for me was simple – nothing even close to frumpy, something simple – not too glitzy (if at all), and after a low plunge dress was brought out – no “sexy mama” styles either!  I tried on a total of, I think, 7 or 8, but “the one” fit perfectly – beautifully simple, classy; even the fit was great!  Only needed change was the color – the one I tried was navy blue and we wanted a red wine color.  After consulting the swatches, the actual perfect color is called cranberry.  

Whew – we were both exhausted!  It’s hard work getting the most and second most important dresses for a wedding! 

Later in the week, Michelle, Bill and I drove out to the venue.  It wasn’t a formal appointment, just a sunny day (the kind we are hoping for on the actual big day!) and we wanted to see the place.   

It isn’t too far from her home, about a 20 minute ride.  We pulled up and I could tell immediately it was very “her” – unassuming, older with mature trees and foliage all around – not a huge sterile hotel with huge ballrooms.  We walked around back where she hopes the ceromony will take place, it is next to a small lake – it is gorgeous!  We had to imagine it with the trees still having their leaves, which should be starting to turn.  


There is an outside patio, which is also available as the ceromony space, if the ground is soggy from recent rains, but the day of is sunny and clear.  Inside the reception space can also double as a ceremony space if the weather is completely uncooperative.   


For cocktail hour, there is another room attached to both the patio and reception room, which will be utilized when pictures are being taken after the ceremony and if the reception space needs to be switched over if used for the ceremony. 

We will probably have them take down the ceiling lights and instead wrap the tree trunks (yes they are real) with lights and some type of ivy
Huge fireplace that can be lit if it’s chilly

We just loved the whole feel of the place!  We made an appointment with Teresa, the on staff wedding consultant, to meet and talk about what type of decorations they offer, linen and napkin colors, centerpiece options, etc.  We also want to talk about the food choices, we were given an updated 2017 planner, and possibly set a spring appointment to have a food tasting for final decisions on that.  

Another productive day!  

Bill and I have been getting some chores done around the rig also.  He has ordered us water filters for our frig, he’s also changed the oil and fuel filters. I’ve been working my way through giving the place an overdue, much-needed scrubbing!  We also spent the better part of an afternoon at the Verizon store, finally getting new phones!  Well – mine is on order, as I didn’t want a black one!  I had received emails, back in mid-September, telling me about the promotion to trade-in our iPhone 6’s for the new iPhone 7’s.  I had called and explained our situation, that we would be traveling and not able to go into a store to get them, and they were supposed to have made a note in my account to extend the offer until we got here.  Well, much longer story short, it wasn’t quite that easy and multiple calls needed to be made in attempt to get the promotion I was told we could get.  Time will tell if it is actually finally going through.  I should have my new phone tomorrow – I’ll let you know.  

Taking a break from wedding planning and everyday chores – we headed to Ohiopyle State Park for a hike.  It was a gorgeous sunny day, and warmer than average temp for this time of year.  We got a little lost after getting off the trail – but it was easy to do since there are lots of leaves covering the trail.  We found our way back and celebrated with some ice cream!  



That’s all for today folks!  Have a great weekend and Thanksgiving!  We’ll chat again soon!  

10 thoughts on “Planning a Wedding!

  1. Love the venue! I am jealous since I have no daughters. Maybe they will include me anyway, or elope, or never get married…

    I really should blog sometime. Maybe after Thanksgiving, which we are doing on Tuesday since I work Thursday.

    Mary

    1. Thanks Mary! Don’t be jealous, if your boys marry the right one, they should totally include you in the planning!

      Happy Thanksgiving! Miss you!

  2. So glad you found a dress you liked. That was one of the most stressful parts for me both times!! The venue is amazing. Love love the real tree trunks in that one room. WOW? So happy for you sweetie. Enjoy this time before the crazy begins 😉

    1. Thanks Tracy! I remember your search last year! Derek and Michelle also loved the tree trunks – part of why they chose this place! So far – it’s enjoyable – I know at the end it will probs get crazy!

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