Venue Search Part TWO: now what?!

   At the end of January, I truly felt "why bother to spend the money on a wedding, if you can't have it the way you want."  I don't mean to sound like a princess, but there was no venue that excited me that was also relatively convenient and affordable.   Mr. LB and I continued our search...this time with a couple more venues that were more beachy.

The Crescent Beach Club in seemed almost perfectly beachy from the pictures.  Don' t you agree?

   However,  Mr. LB reminded me that the decor inside of the Crescent Club was less than desirable, since his cousin had their reception there after a destination wedding.  Mr. LB and I hate drop ceilings.   Drop ceilings are what they use in church basements, that was not the look we were going for.  If you 're going to charge me $XXX per person, at least get a real ceiling--not everyone is under 6 feet.   But regardless of drop ceilings, what made me think the most was Mr. LB's question: "What are you going to do if it rains."  There was nothing I could say.

Onward.  We next visited the Hotel Allegria in Long Beach.  This one was hard to pass up, but we weren't willing to be paying off the wedding for the next 10 years to have the reception here.  No way.

 

   It was hard to cross the Hotel Allegria off the list because it was the closest I could get to my "dream beach wedding."  The cocktail hour with it's chic decor (blue and sea green mosaic tile bar with beautiful lighting) and amazing views of the ocean took my breath away.   It was like something out of HGTV.  The only problem was that this was the cocktail room--the rest of the wedding would be downstairs in a ballroom that faced a parking lot--not even the beach!  Apparently, this was from keeping drunk guests from wandering out of the party and drown in the ocean.  Plus, the price we could afford was, for example, a Friday night in the middle of January, and no one would have been able to enjoy the pretty ocean views. So with some sadness, I kissed the Allegria and my dream beach wedding goodbye.

   Lastly, we found our current "runner up"-- The Mansion at Timber Point.

   We met Neil, one of the catering managers and was blown away by his professionalism, humor and directness.  He actually gave us a final price that included tax and gratuity.  All other venues we visited gave as a price "plus tax and 18% gratuity"  --a.k.a add another 20-25 dollars per person.    Timber Point is a mansion on a golf course on the Great South Bay.  It had a decent ballroom with a beautiful portico that looked out onto the golf course and eventually the Bay.   Neil's price on a Saturday evening in the middle of the summer was very reasonable and even though Timber Point was not on the beach,  I loved the view of the Great Bay South.  But then I remembered this question..."What if it rains..."   I had visions of the cocktail hour being in a room off the side of the ballroom--yuck.  The golf course and Bay barely visible in the rain--the hopes of wandering around the golf course with the photographer dashed.  At this point, if nothing else surfaced I would have been okay at Timber Point and would have prayed for no rain.  But I had a feeling that something even better was around the corner.
   If Mr. LB and I lived in predictably sunny southern California, I would be able to have some type of reception on the beach.  However, I live on Long Island, where the weather can change at the drop of dime.  Something can be said for peace of mind to not have to worry about possible rain and I'm embracing that peace of mind in a new venue.

Have you had to kiss a wedding dream goodbye?  How did you handle it?

xoxo Miss LB

Venue Search Part ONE: Strike one, strike two, strike three

Hi folks,
   As difficult as it was to compromise, I breathed a sigh of relief that the church was taken care of.    Our next challenge was the reception venue.   Traffic on Long Island can be obnoxious, so we didn't want  our guests to have to suffer through beach traffic, so we limited our search to be within 45 minutes of Garden City.   With towns like Montauk out of the question, I saw my beach wedding slowly fading away.  I wasn't real sure what kind of venue I wanted.  My style is a beach wedding with starfish in the sand, a flowy gowns and khaki suits, saying our vows as the sun goes down.   Mr. LB wants to feel like he's getting married in a garden courtyard of Buckingham Palace.   Its amazing we get a long sometimes because we're so different!   Here are a few blogs that convey the wedding feel I desired:

   *Miss Cowboy Boot of weddingbee--here is personal blog.  While Mr. and Mrs. Cowboy Boot were married on a ranch in Colorado, I love the whimsical, relaxed, outdoor feel, that at the same time was so classy!  Look at this loveliness!

   *Here is Hee won and Peter's wedding, which was outside at Greystone Mansion and Park in Southern California.  This wedding felt so warm, classy, flowery--I loved it! Check it out--

   *Then there's my friend Daisy from London, who married some hunk from Seattle and they got married in Southern California.   Drool...they look absolutely amazing and so do the waves.

   Finding a venue with an ocean view, within budget and less than 45 minutes away from Garden City one would think to be easy because its Long ISLAND.   Not the case--it has been more like finding a needle in a haystack.  Last January reminds me of the Amazing Race:  4 weekends and 12 venues: cozy reception rooms with fireplaces, mansions, ballrooms on the bay, country clubs, and even a ritzy beach hotel.   For those of you how don't know, weddings are a huge industry that capitalize on the feelings of  entitlement many brides feel are due to them.   Apparently brides on Long Island feel ultra entitled because the wedding industry here is out of control.   I don't know how these venues think they can charge what they do when their ballrooms look like something out of a 1970s prom.   Personally, throw up in my mouth a little when I imagine the typical "Long Island wedding."  Chocolate fountains, carvig stations, candy bars, Viennese Hour, a 23 year old D.J. who gives out glow necklaces,  bride and groom receiving line OUT of the floor with liquid nitrogen smoke announced, an after party at the hotel bar, and 11 bridesmaids.  It's the Ugg boot/black legging answer to a wedding.  I don't fault brides who are from Long Island and have a Long Island wedding, but its just not me.   So finding a venue on Long Island that was not very "Long Island" was going to prove to be a challenge.
   First stop:  The Stewart Manor Country Club.  I wasn't offended; they actually had a very nice bar area for cocktail area.  But the reception ballroom didn't do anything for me, kind of like how I feel when I go to Applebees.  blah.  The price for the winter time was pretty good, but I really didn't want to get married in the winter and where was the beach?  yeah, there was no water in sight.  See for yourself--

 
   Next we looked in the Riviera in Massapequa, where Mr. LB's cousin works.  The view of the bay and outside deck was pretty nice, but Mr. LB reminded me that who wants to see Mike Jones Jet Fan and his buddies slamming Bud Lights in tow on the bay.  Yeah, probably not...  The inside of the Riviera was the opposite of good and reminded me of my grandparents 40th wedding anniversary party.   The carpet looked like it was the original from 1962 and I did not care for the "tapestries" on the walls.  No thanks.  here, take a look--

the lighting makes this place look great--it's really NOT that great.  

   Then, there was the Old Field Club.  This place was beautiful.   I really loved the simple ballroom with the wooden floor and the view of the bay.  However, it was too far for guests to travel and it was out of budget.     While there were views of the bay, but the bay does not feel like the beach.  Strike three...

   After a month of the Amazing Race to find our perfect venue, we both felt very defeated.  And I wanted one large cocktail. Mr. LB and I weren't sure exactly what we wanted in our venue, but we did know what we did not want.  The venues we were looking into had one thing in common: a separate cocktail area with a large ballroom, perfect for a sit down dinner.  We learned from this adventure that we didn't want a sit down dinner, we wanted a roving cocktail dinner party with themed stations.  We needed a new direction.

What was your search for reception venues like?    Where do you find your wedding inspiration?

thanks for tuning in
xoxo Miss LB

Don't drop the ring into the lake

Hi friends,
   I'm sure you're dying to know how Mr. LB asked me to marry him.   Mr. LB's family has a house on Lake Sunapee, N.H, which is perfect for boating in the summer and skiing or snowboarding in the winter.   We absolutely love our trips up to N.H. and just thinking about it gets me excited for our next visit in about 3 weeks.   New Hampshire holds a lot of memories for the both of us: the lake house was given to Mr. LB's parents, aunts and uncles by his grandparents and Mr. LB practically lived up there in  the summers.   I grew up visiting my aunt and uncle in Warner, which is about 20 minutes away from the lake. How strange we spent so many summers together only 20 minutes apart.  I often wonder if Mr. LB and I were in N.H. the same weekends growing up.  Maybe we passed each other on Interstate 91.  If you care to have a peak at Sunapee's greatness, check out Oprah's interview with Steven Tyler of Aerosmith.  Tyler also spent many summers on the lake as a kid and now has a beautiful lake house.   I'm dying to run into him and get Mr. LB and I an invite.    
   Anyways, back to the story.  August 7, 2010, Mr. LB and I embark for Sunapee with a short "scheme" on the way.  I coined the term "scheme"  because Mr. LB and I used to plan surprise trips or outings for each other when we were long distance lovebugs.   Well, our "scheme" en route to Sunapee was stopping at the university of Albany to watch Giants training camp.   Even though I am a faithful Philadephia Eagles fan, Mr. LB decided that a requirement for marriage was that I would somehow be a Giants fan.    Football is football to me--I love watching anyone play, so I was a pretty good sport watching my rival team's camp.

   The entire day, Mr. LB kept enticing me with another surprise that I would get "later."  We went for a walk after dark to look at the stars and then sat on the dock.  Mr. LB had a box wrapped in Tiffany's paper with a white bow.  so fancy!  I opened the box and it was a purse/wallet from Vera Bradley.   Most normal girls would have been overjoyed.  I was not.  I think Vera Bradley bags look like Grandma bags on steroids.  Thankfully, I knew Mr. LB meant this as a joke.  I was then prompted to I open the zipped change purse, where I found a beautiful diamond ring inside.    Mr. LB turned to me and said:  "I was wondering if you would like to marry me and be my wife."  So funny, that Mr. LB who is the best rhetoric I know was fumbling with this words.  Of course, I said yes and gave Mr. LB a huge hug and a big smooch.
   Let's get to the planning...Mr. LB and I pretty much laid around for the next 4 months and didn't even talk about our wedding day.  Our answer to people who asked the date was "We don't know."  Finally, while recovering from tryptophan on Thanksgiving, I decided to begin my web search for our perfect venues for the church and reception.

*begin side note here*  For years, I've wanted to get married on the beach at sunset with flip flops, a whimsical white dress and linen suits.   This was pretty much the opposite of what Mr. LB wanted. I guess someone is going to have to compromise.  

   Mr LB's church is very important to him, so out of all the love in the world, I compromised and agreed to have a "church wedding." I was thinking, if you're going to have a church wedding, you might as well go all out get married at a beautiful cathedral.  In fact, our church was built in 1885.   Here is a picture of it--The Cathedral of the Incarnation Episcopal Church in Garden City.

 And here is a picture of the inside--

 What is your ceremony venue and how did you choose it?

Signing off for now...
xoxo Miss LB

And the journey begins...

Hi Folks,

   Welcome to the wild ride called engagement!   My fiance and I have actually been engaged for a while now (since August 2010), but with 6 months left till our wedding date (June 30, 2012), I find myself wondering...what have I been doing for the last year and a half!   In fact, I often think how do people plan a wedding and hold a real job?    I am the perfect storm of who you would not want involved to plan your wedding.   Knowing me, I would leave out important details like finding a hotel for everyone to stay in, or not ordering enough alcohol.  I am the perfect paradox of indecision, creativity, details and the big picture.   Unfortunately, I often wonder for the days following a decision...Did I really do the right thing?  Could I have saved more money if I did something else?  Hours upon hours I spend--on the couch, in bed, at red lights, perusing Martha Stewart and Pinterest, drooling over perfect pictures, looking at inspo boards and getting ideas from DIY experts.  Nothing gives me a sense of satisfaction better than a DIY project that resulted in saving money!  
However, my partner in co-planning is so skilled he could run the city of New York better than Bloomberg...
introducing Mr. Lovebug.

   Lovebug.  Yup, that's what we call each other, don't laugh.  And that's why I'm Miss Lovebug, soon to be Mrs. Lovebug.    I don't really remember how this possibly-annoying pet name came about, except that one say I said something that was cutsy and Mr. LB said "You're such a little lovebug!"   It just stuck.  So that's us:  Mr. and soon to be Mrs. Lovebug, which from here on out will be LB.  
   How did I bring in this catch?  It's called Cupid and his bow and arrow.  No really, OkCupid.  Dot Com.    Coincidentally, both of us were pretty disgusted with dating/online dating around the time we met-- "at the end of our rope"  as Mr. LB likes to tell people.  Funny, on the day Mr. LB sent his first "hello"  message, I had actually logged on to delete my account because I was thoroughly fed up with the last online dud I dated.  But Mr. LB's charm hooked me enough to reply to his message, talk on phone and meet him all within the first week.   The story only gets better from there.
Here's Mr. LB and I in our early days when I was trying out being a brunette...

Here's a picture of Mr. LB and I on engagement Day (sorry ladies, I did not try the "engagement chicken strategy")

   Mr. LB and I live in our country's first historical suburb, which is outside of New York City.   I am a former Brooklynite, but since Mr. LB and I want to save for a house (aka Lovebug Abode), I moved in to save some dollars.  As much as I miss my life in Brooklyn and my beautiful apartment that Mr. LB and I designed and painted to be a beach bungalow, I love living with Mr. LB and his family.  Mr. LB's parents are wonderful and Mr. LB's mom makes incredible dinners.  I am beyond thankful!  (this is not lip service since Mr. LB's mom may be reading this!)

   So I asked an old friend why engagement was stressful because I was determined to be that bride--you know, cool, calm, carefree.  That's not be in real life, so I don't know why I expected myself to suddenly change and not be an anxious person anymore.  My friend, who's walked down the aisle more than once, explained to me that no matter what, engagements carry a certain amount of stress because it is the fusing together of two people and their families--on top of all the planning.  So I guess I'm normal.
   I can't wait to "meet" those of you who will accompany me on this wild ride of engagement.  Hopefully, you find this blog inspiring, or at least amusing.   I love DIY, craftiness and all things creative, so please send your feedback, ideas, opinions.


Tell me...what emotions have you felt during engagement?


Stay tuned for more goodness...
xoxo Miss LB