Countdown: 365 days till my wedding!!
But I did want to share with you a few details, and as I get closer, I hope you don't mind if I post about the things I'm deciding on and ask for your thoughts! There are so many great wedding blogs out there, but I can't possibly follow them all every day, so I know I've missed some things, but I have been saving photos of things I love, all organized in "My Pictures" here on my computer.
Here's what we know so far:
Jason and I will be married Saturday, August 6, 2011 at McMenamin's Edgefield in Troutdale, OR. Don't know the exact time yet, but it will be an evening wedding in the patio garden of the Administrator's House on the large property out there. For those of you non-Pacific Northwesters, McMenamin's is a great local area chain of restaurants, pubs, hotels, and concert venues that restores old buildings. Edgefield was a county poor farm in the 1910's and is now one of their largest properties with a big hotel, winery, brewery, mini-golf course, spa, huge concert lawn, several restaurants and pubs, some gift shops, and wedding and special event venues.
Here's me and Jason (in a cave, actually, at Wind Cave National Monument on the family reunion road trip):
(That's my friend poking into the picture there)
And here are some pics of other brides and grooms at Edgefield:
Other facts about the wedding--probably in the general ballpark of 100 guests, and the great thing about a big property like McMenamin's Edgefield is they can stay at the hotel, so they won't have to worry about getting home after the late night. And, when we use the Administrator's House, we rent the house with six guest-rooms as well as the garden, and our closest relatives will probably stay there. I'll use my parents' suite as a bride's room right there by the garden, although Jason's and my room in the big hotel building is free with the use of the event space.
Color scheme: probably purple and yellow, or purple and pale grey and yellow, or maaaaybe purple and pink and orange. We'll see! Sometime I'll post some of my favorite wedding pics up here, but this post has enough visuals already ;).
Wedding party: I'll have 4-5 bridesmaids and I will make their dresses, of course! I'm inspired by J.Crew Weddings; I love the classy simplicity and beautiful fabrics.
Other things: We're not really into some of the basic wedding traditions, so we maaaay not have a cake (we may have Portland's favorite Voodoo Donuts instead, or something crazy!), and we won't do a lot of the traditions that actually scare me rather than make me happy (the garter thing, for example). We're really creating our own thing based on lots of ideas and weddings we've been to, including Jason's half-sister's Quaker wedding, which was very moving since everyone can stand and say something about the bride and groom as they are moved to. We're so excited to have family from all over the country coming out for the wedding and weekend of, so we'll have a family dinner the night before and a brunch the day after, as well.
Just thinking about it is exciting, but also stressful! I really haven't done much except book the space and brainstorm decor!
Wanted to keep you in the loop. You'll hear more as the big day gets closer! Thanks for your support!