More possible wedding sites

What better way to spend SuperBowl Sunday afternoon than go hunting for possible wedding venues. So P and I and Ryan and Alice are hitting the road tomorrow for a 4-stop tour of beautiful places. Oh, me, oh, my. Must we? ;-)

So, the Warren Conference Center and Inn that Paul posted about earlier this week is still a possibility, but we've added some to our list (named here in no particular order):

Garden in the Woods -- For those of you who don't live in or near Framingham, you may not be aware of this "hidden gem," but both P and I have loved this place for many years, separately. It's the garden for the New England Wildflower Society and it's bee-yoo-tee-ful! The problem is that I'm not sure it has an open space large enough for a gathering of people. Oh, the other problem is that there's no reception area (that we know of). I've left a message to just feel the joint out. We can't go see it (although we know what it looks like already) because it's closed in the winter. Garden in the Woods is almost up the street from us, so if they have the means and space, this would be a good option.

Elm Bank Horticultural Center -- The garden for the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, who throws the annual New England Spring Flower Show in Boston. P and I went last year and were just amazed at the flower show. But I've never been to Elm Bank, so we'll stop by tomorrow to take a look. It appears that Elm Bank holds weddings in the carriage house, which looks very nice from the Web site. From this carriage house, they apparently attach a three-walled tent for "outdoor guest spillage." It looks like it could be very lovely. I've left a message with the Director of Operations, so I'm expecting a call back next week. Elm Bank is two towns over, so this venue would be nice and close.

Tower Hill Botanical Gardens -- My mom and I hit this gorgeous area last year (was it May or October, Mom? Or was it Oct., 2005?) and we keep saying we need to go back because it was absolutely stunning but we only had like 1/2 hour there, as they were closing. There's a lovely garden area and then down a hill is a wide-open field and beyond that are walking trails through the woods. So I'm thinking use the garden for the ceremony and the unbelievably pretty Orangerie as the reception site. The Orangerie is literally dripping with plantlife and is just stunning when you walk in. They have other rooms as well, but this glass-walled and -ceilinged room would be my first pick. Tower Hill is definitely on the tour for tomorrow. Boylston wouldn't be too far of a drive, so this is definitely in the realm of possibility.

Broadmoor Wildlife Sanctuary -- This may be a bit too woodsy, and the indoor capacity is 50 seated guests, but they do suggest a certain site for a tented reception for more, so they have probably done this once or twice before. A wildlife sanctuary would be right up my alley, but then again so would gardens. ;-) This is also on the list for tomorrow. I have a feeling the Website didn't do this place justice. This place is in Natick, so it has the benefit of being one town over from where we live.

Lake Pearl Luciano's -- This was Maggie's idea. It's a bit of a trek -- probably close to 45 minutes -- but it's on the water and Paul and I are water people, so it may be worth it. They seem to be sort of a wedding mill (that's why we're steering clear of Longfellow's Wayside Inn) and have plenty of rules about when you can have the wedding, and even the rehearsal. For instance, for a Saturday (morning, BTW, not even afternoon) wedding, the rehearsal would have to be the previous Wednesday or Thursday, as they'll have to block off Friday evening for another wedding. I'm thinking this is too many restrictions on a day that I want Paul and me to control the timing of. This would probably be my last preference as far as this list goes, both for the drive there and for the seemingly strict rules they have. A rehearsal any other night than Friday wouldn't work, seeing as how my entire family will be driving up from PA for the wedding (Scott and Liz and the kids would be coming up on Friday, as Corinne and Aiden, my niece and nephew, have school on Wednesday and Thursday). So I may wait to even look at this place, seeing as how I'm hoping one of the others will work out.

So, tomorrow's tour will be Elm Bank, Broadmoor, Warren Conf. Center, and Tower Hill. Wish us luck!

The girls -- quite a team!

We had our first bridal party call and here it is.

We discuss things for Alice to do (Paul's daughter) during the ceremony and reception, wedding gown style, desired venue quality, length of the party, date for the bridal shower (since it's going to be in PA, Maggie and I need to make a planned road trip so it won't be a surprise), colors for the wedding and the dresses, procedure for getting Liz and Leigha their dresses, shoes for the bridal party, bridal gown train lengths, cost-cutting measures for my ladies, undergarments for the wedding gown, next steps.

In editing the podcast, I realize I sort of overtook the convo... Sorry, ladies! I'll do better next time... I don't wanna be Bridezilla. ;-) The little kid voice you hear towards the end is Joe, who was eating lunch at the time of the call.

Wasted post

So that took me a whole 4 minutes! Thanks, UltraGuest!

We're so very geeky... :-)

Go, thee, and SIGN!

Blog guest book

We need a guest book! Does anyone know of a widget we can put in the template code (that works with Blogger) so ppl can tell us who they are?

Here's why we want it: yesterday, 69 unique visitors hit 249 times. Today, at 1:53 p.m. ET, we already have 142 unique visitors for 402 page views. We wanna know who you are, not just that you're hitting our blog from Watertown (MA), Weymouth (MA), Hartford, LA, Sunnyvale (CA), Issaquah (WA)...

You do seem to be staying on to read, though, which is cool.

Anyway, if you know of a Blogger widget for a guest book, let us know!

Self-printed invitations

Liz also found Mountain Cow for us... Software that lets you print invites at home. If nothing else, I need design ideas.

Another good registry possibility

The one thing we didn't like about this house when we bought it was the kitchen. "We can redo it," we thought... a task that may have to wait, considering we have a wedding to pay for this year.

However, we are planning on getting a good china cabinet and will then have a bit more storage room in our kitchen as it stands now. At least that's the idea. There are a few kitchen things we'd need, so Liz schooled me on the fact that Pampered Chef has a wedding registry. A definite possibility, Liz.. Thanks for the suggestion!

One possible wedding site

Warren Conference Center in Ashland is one possibility for a wedding site. It's not far from Framingham and the grounds are lovely. It's also non-snooty. We want a snoot-free wedding. No snoots.

DeCordova Museum is a snooty alternative not seriously being considered.

Registries

Potential candidates:

• Ten Thousand Villages
  
• Macy's
  
• Bed Bath & Beyond
  

Let us know where you registered!

Let them eat cake!

Which Marie Antoinette never said, BTW...

So I think I've thought of a creative (and more yummy) solution to the "Dana and Paul don't like cake, but doesn't a wedding need wedding cake?" problem. While we don't eat cake, we do like cheescake... and cheesecake stacks. And we know that Joan and Ed's (or Cheesecake Factory) make awesome cheesecake. So here's what I'm thinking -- stack a few cheesecakes of differing flavors on top of each other and we'll save the top layer for our anniv, per tradition. No icing needed (swirls are decoration in and of themselves), but maybe we'll decorate it with some summery dragonflies.

Tell us what your wedding cake looked like and was there a delicious surprise inside?

Books and binders

My new 1001 Ways to Save Money...and Still Have a Dazzling Wedding book says, "Being organized is the number-one way to save money on your wedding." Good thing Maggie went with me yesterday to Borders to leaf through an entire column of wedding organizers and books. I came home with 2 binder books, which I'll combine soon, and the 1001 Ways book. I'm already digging in to the last, and will take it with me to Maine. Knowing Paul and me and how we "go away," though, I won't get much time to read. We'll be too busy skiing and hiking and exploring. I've got time, I keep telling myself. I've gotten a lot decided in the last week, so I can take some breathers now and then.

If anyone knows of a "crafty things you can do for your wedding" book, lemme know!