My Something Old

My mom was so excited right after we got engaged that she pulled her own wedding dress out of the security of its vacuum-sealed box for me to try it on.  Somehow I was able to smush into her dress and get it zipped up (my mom was tiny when she got married!), but that didn't help that it was a too short, long-sleeved, full-skirt, satin gown!  I'm still not sure if she was serious about me wearing it or not, but I didn't waste any time entertaining those notions.  It's a lovely dress for being married in December 1983, but it wasn't what I would want to wear to my spring wedding in the twenty-first century.  Either way, she wasn't broken up about it and we both decided it would be a good idea to incorporate another part of her wardrobe: the cathedral length veil. 

My mom's bridal portrait, doesn't she look like she could just be a bride doll?/All of  my parents wedding photos by John Darre Photography - still around!

Reception Reveal

When I shared our reception options, I tried my best to be very objective so that you wouldn't be able to guess which one we picked.  I probably did a very bad job at that, because our reception venue just has so many positive points!  If you weren't able to guess, our wedding reception will be at...

Photo from the next door St. James Hotel

New Orleans Board of Trade!

Photo by Kristin Guin Photography

You can see in the above photo that guests enter through the covered "arcade," with the courtyard to the left and the ballroom in the building to the back.  Self-contained, and a gorgeous indoor area with an outdoor option. This place hit all of my requirements!

Photo by Arte de Vie

The courtyard all glammed up/Photo by Penton Studio

Photo by Babs Evangelista Photography

Photo by Kristy May Weddings

Photo by Oscar Rajo

Nice bar, from Style Me Pretty by Ooti Billeud Weddings

Wide view of the ballroom, the draping isn't there anymore./Photo by Studio Tran

So aside from being absolutely gorgeous and historic, the Board of Trade had plenty of other selling points. All of the tables, chairs, and linens were included - that means the indoor tables, the indoor chivari chairs, and the outdoor folding white tables and chairs.  That's right - gold chivari chairs came included!  I mean, I could have just signed the paperwork right there!  To make this even better, uplighting is included - I love how the pinks and purples look in there!

When we went to visit the BoT in January, they were actually in the middle of construction. Pigeon Catering (pronounced Pee-jeanne, not like the bird) had received the contract as the exclusive caterers/event managers for the BoT, and they were doing upgrades on the interior and exterior.  It said a lot that they were so committed to making this a premier wedding venue by fixing up the carpet, walls, and columns - I knew they wanted their weddings to be quality.  

Since Pigeon is the exclusive caterer for the venue, I had to look into them too before deciding on BoT.  The reviews that I found were nothing short of awesome, and their menu sounded great!  The prices were reasonable and we would be able to choose exactly what we wanted, so that we were not paying for anything that we didn't.  I'll discuss food at another time, but let's just say the world is our oyster when it comes to menu items (get it, oyster? har-har).  Things we're thinking of including are praline brie bites, crabmeat cheesecake, mashed potato bar, crepe station, and passed mini beignets as a late night snack.

Hors d' oeuvres, photo from Pigeon Caterers

The venue coordinator there also was great to talk to, she answered plenty of my questions and seemed very flexible based on what we wanted.  Since we're still undecided about our seating plan and layout, I was glad that that decision could be deferred to another time.  

We also took into consideration, that we didn't know anyone who had been married here before - it has kind of been under the radar, even though they've been doing weddings here for several years.  With these upgrades, and management by Pigeon, it seems like this is becoming a much more popular wedding venue.  I liked the idea of getting married somewhere that people probably haven't been to before, just so our guests can experience somewhere new that they might not know about.

I was happy to find a venue that hit on so many of our "must haves," and for that reason I was leaning towards it before we even visited all the other locations.  I think the venue also fits with our idea of classic and elegant, but with a little twist.  

Pyramids Ponder Places

Last time I discussed what we were looking for in a reception venue, and here are the venues I took the time to check out in person.  My mom, sister/MOH, Nanny and I had a marathon day on a Friday I had off of work (9/80s are awesome!) visiting all of these places.  Sphinx got the rundown of each one later.

Let me start out by saying that all of these venues are great.  If you're searching for a reception in New Orleans, any of these would be a great choice.  I'll give you some of the main points of each, what I took into consideration to reach my reception decision.  If you're looking for a venue in the NOLA area, hopefully this will help you learn a little more about some of my favorite places!

Race & Religious

http://raceandreligious.com/

Photos via Poptastic Bride by Blair Bennetts Photography

Photos via Poptastic Bride by Blair Bennetts Photography

This venue consists of two historic houses and the courtyard between. It's gorgeous in that very exposed brick, vintagey, antique details, and wrought iron kind of way.  It's breathtaking in pictures and has been featured in Style Me Pretty and other big wedding blogs.  You are open to bring in any caterer, which could be a big money saver.  It does have indoor and outdoor areas like I wanted, but the only space large enough for a dance floor, band, and a lot of people was in the courtyard.  If it rained, we would have to go with a tent.  Also, this style would probably feel too cramped with the amount of people we were inviting. Race and Religious is very cool and trendy, and very New Orleansy - I think it's a great option for out of town brides.  It's also available to rent for the full weekend.  The location is a little weird as it's not walking distance to any hotels, so transportation might be in order.

Audubon Tea Room

http://www.auduboninstitute.org/events/private/venues

Source: Your Event Delivered

Source: Studio Tran

The Tea Room is connected to the Audubon Zoo, which is totally one of the best zoos in the country.  They let you in during the reception to take some photos on the carousel which is adorable!  The zoo and Tea Room are very close by St. Francis Church (uptown), and it has its own parking lot.  This venue was the most expensive, and had a food and beverage minimum, but the menu is huge and has plenty of add-ons (like a martini bar!) to help you meet the minimum.  They also have a patio to accommodate my indoor/outdoor request, but it cost extra to add chairs and tables out there.  For brides looking for the ceremony and reception in the same place, there are several options for the ceremony site either on the patio or inside the zoo (like the Sea Lion Exhibit shown here).

Board of Trade

 http://www.neworleansbot.com/

Photo by Maile Lani Photography

Photo by Meg Baisden Photo

 The New Orleans Board of Trade was built in 1880 and operated as a trading floor for all of the goods that came into the port.  It is located downtown, a couple of blocks away from the French Quarter.  The closest paid parking lot is on the corner, which could be a problem for our older guests.  This also includes a nice courtyard at the front, complete with fountain and provided tables and chairs.  The indoor ballroom has very high ceilings, a dome mural, and a cool clock tower balcony (not accessible - I asked!).  The catering is through a single company, which had several package options at varying price points.  Most of the packages stayed within "reasonable" territory, but the coordinator said we could change anything out and sounded like they customized a lot for weddings.  The tables, chivari chairs, linens, and uplighting all came included.  The space is naturally beautiful with the columns and wrought iron fence, but it is large and would look a bit plain without some decor in both the courtyard and ballroom.

Le Pavillon

http://lepavillon.com/

The ballroom set up for lunch/personal photo

The adorable bar/personal photo

Photo by MQ Photography

I talked about Le Pavillon when I mentioned loving their chandeliers in the lobby.  So you know I didn't pick this location, but we did check it out that day.  The prices were a little higher here, and the hotel provided the catering.  It is a very fancy and beautiful hotel, and you get the benefit of getting ready and staying in the same place as the reception.  It ultimately wasn't at the top of my list because the ballroom was a little small, and I couldn't visualize how to decorate it.  I also found myself saying "I really love the bar!" but I didn't love the ballroom enough.  The bar is in the lobby, just outside the ballroom, and I felt that a lot of people would end up sitting out there.  The coordinator there was really great though, just one of those people you felt would have everything under control.  The hotel is right on Poydras Street, so it's downtown and close to the French Quarter.

Federal Ballroom

http://www.federalballroom.com/

photo via Federal Ballroom

personal photo

Photo by Art de Vie

The Federal Ballroom was built in 1923 and was a Federal Reserve Bank, so it's definitely a cool, historic place!  This is in downtown, very close by several churches, but no parking provided.  The Federal Ballroom was one of the more reasonable options for a wedding in the city and everything came included with the price.  The food was through one certain caterer - not a huge variety but it did sound good.  The ballroom is on the second floor, with all those windows looking down on the streets below.   I love the columns, and the ceiling had a very art deco feel.  In the pictures of us walking around, it looks pretty plain.  But add some uplighting and those details pop and not much decor seems to be required.  This doesn't have any secondary location like a patio - if any guests want to step out they have to go downstairs to the sidewalk.  The coordinator here seemed very on top of it too.  

Riverview Room

http://www.riverviewroom.com/

personal photo

Photo by Michael Caswell

Photo by Studio Tran

The Riverview Room is located on the top floor of Jax Brewery, right on the Mississippi River. This is right in the French Quarter, and there are paid parking lots on either side of the building - they just might get crowded if there's something else going on in town that weekend.  This only had two catering packages, but there was a lot included in each of those, and they are flexible with the choices too.  The Riverview Room was definitely roomier than a lot of the other venues - and it has several small porches that overlook the river and the city (shown in the photo above), which touched on my requirement for an outdoor area. The linens, chairs, and tables all came included - although using these straight up was a bit of white overload for me.   This is a great New Orleansy option because of the views and the proximity to hotels and bars.  My concern with it...does the ceiling look too low? I didn't notice it in person, but in pictures it kinds of looks like a something inside of a ship!  It's a blank slate of a room that you could add a lot to, but I'd be worried about the decor coming together because of the size and the "U" shape of the room.

Pavilion of the Two Sisters at City Park

Photo by Daniel Taylor Photography

Photo Source: Tying the Knot Wedding Coordination

Photo by GK Photography

Through the years of our relationship, I always imagined our wedding at City Park.  It is where we had our first date for the "Celebration in the Oaks" Christmas lights in the park.  There are several venues in the park, but this one was the best match for our size and budget.  The City Park catering has a couple of packages, and the prices are reasonable, but not too much variety.  The ballroom is a good size, with lots of open space for dancing and it has some patio space that looks out onto the gardens.  A great plus of using City Park is all of the places to take pictures - like the fountain above or the sculpture garden.  Also, City Park brides are able to use the park for their bridal photo shoot for free - normally there is a cost for a permit.  City Park does have its own free parking lot, but the park is about 15 minutes outside of the city.

At the end of the day, we each ranked the venues from favorite to least favorite and compared.  We all had different choices on top, but everyone placed my top venue highly.  When we talked about pro's and con's of each, what was important, and then we were all in agreement on my top venue (and we got a Sphinx stamp of approval).  It was a long and tiring day, but I had made a promise to myself that this would be it - we would have one really long day visiting and then make a decision.  It worked for us, and I was able to have all of the venues fresh in my mind while making a decision.

The big reveal is up next time!

Did you go visit a lot of places back-to-back or did you take your time to visit? Which one do you think we picked (okay, I know the venue name is listed in my bio, but just play along!)?

A Place to Party: The Criteria

We've already gone through how we found our ceremony church, and I'll let you know our reception search was somewhat similar.  I made it a lot harder than it needed to be by exploring so many places, but in the end we went with our guts and chose one of the first places we found.  It sounds like a lot, but we ended our search for venues and signed the contract exactly one month after getting engaged.  And if you remember, we spent the first week in Disney World - so all of this was done in three weeks or so!  I literally have no idea how, time must have stood still because it felt like such a long process.

So maybe one of the reasons I got overwhelmed was because in New Orleans, we have a lot of options for types of venues:

Plantations

Destrehan Plantation. Photo via Carolynn Seibert.  This is in my hometown and the plantation where they shot "Interview with the Vampire"

Historic Houses

The Degas House, photo via Nicole Nichols Photography

Fancy Hotels

Roosevelt Hotel.  Photo via Mark Eric Photography.

And some that you would just have to list as "other":

Mardi Gras World Wedding, photo via Studio Tran.

"It's not about the money, money, money.."

Oh, wait, maybe it is...

For your listening pleasure. Did you know this was filmed at LSU? FSIL/BM C is in one shot as an extra!

Because we've gotten to know each other pretty well here, we're going to discuss my least favorite topic of conversation: money. I love dealing with my own money - charting my spending, looking at savings and what I should be aiming for (or I just really love making spreadsheets) - but I hate discussing money with people.  Still, it is very relevant and we do have Pitch Perfect to jam too, so let's get on with talking about some of my thoughts and approaches for spending money on this wedding.

Makin' Magical Memories

So I teased you guys with the inspiration  for our Disney World engagement shoot and our props and then I got a little distracted with other posts, but the time has come!  First, I'm going to need you to...

You can't say you weren't warned./Pic by me from memegenerator.

Please tell me I'm not the only one, but I got all fan-girl excited when we finally got to meet and work with the photographers. Like I mentioned, I was following Concept Photography's posts for a long time before the engagement, so it was kind of like meeting a celebrity. I'm ridiculous, I know, but I was totally geeking out on the inside when we met them at the Transportation and Ticket Center to catch the monorail around to the Magic Kingdom.  And they did not let me down!

A little review - Sara and Jason were awesome, down to earth, easy to talk to, and made us feel SO comfortable when taking pictures. They gave us enough direction to get us going for what looked good, but didn't try to overpose it.  I had saved some of my favorite locations and styles for Magic Kingdom photos and sent them to Sara on a Pinterest board the week of our shoot. We used that for ideas, but didn't stick to it too hard, I let them know we were open to being creative and whatever we came across that day.

Just a little "behind the scenes" look at our shoot by my sister.  Sara is giving us some posing direction on the left and fixing my ring on the right./personal photos

It was so fun to watch them scan an area, looking for good lighting or an interesting detail, and then getting posed over there. We ended up with a good mix of what I had picked out, and trying some new things! They were also so encouraging, making sure to be very vocal and tell us when we were doing something that looked good.  When we had some really good shots, they were just as excited as we were!  And they were just sweet and funny and an adorable couple, so it made the whole process that much easier.  Before the shoot, Sphinx - who doesn't love smiling and posing - asked me "Is this going to be awkward?" and I really wasn't sure.  There would be a lot of people around and we've never done anything like this.  Afterwards he and I were totally in agreement that it was not awkward because they were so easy to work with.  So a big, huge recommendation for these two! And they got us all of our edited pictures (250!) in one week! I was willing to wait for these amazing pictures...but I'm really glad I didn't have to wait too long!

So even though it was a hot, muggy morning, it wasn't too crowded and we powered through for about two hours, three rides, three "lands," and lots of kissing!

No Perfect Date for the Perfect Day

In terms of importance on the wedding-making decision scale, the actual date of the wedding is a pretty high up there, wouldn't you agree? You can't book any vendors or places until you know what date you need them for - so that's a good place to start right? Pick a date!

But you can't pick a date blindly. It's an iterative process of seeing what is available for when and adjusting if there isn't a match with what you originally thought.  It's like which comes first, the chicken or the egg? Or in a more math-nerdy way, it's like trying to solve for two unknown variables when you only have one equation!  Picking a date made my head swim with the options, but here's how we finally got there.

One of my favorites./Source: someecards

We were engaged in December 2012. First, I started out with the biggest picture: we wanted to be married within one to two years.  We didn't have a desire for a short engagement, but knew something more than two would be pushing it.

Glamorous DIY Makeup

This is a monster of a post, so grab a beverage of your choice, sit right back, and listen to me talk about my face.
Disclaimer: I'm presenting what I did and my tips based on my own personal experience and research.  Of course these are not rules.  Everyone wants a different look and everyone's face and skin is different, but I hope that you might find something here that could be helpful to you!

It's not exactly a secret, but my guilty pleasure is...makeup.  I love trying new things, dropping by Sephora or CVS to check out new beauty products.  It all started when I found beauty videos on YouTube while I was a senior in college.  Seriously, you can find reviews and tutorials on pretty much anything out there!  I've built up a pretty extensive makeup collection, so when I bought my house, I built the perfect vanity area.  This is where I get ready every morning:

Just letting you know what we're working with here. This is the kind of thing I can DIY!

I toyed with the idea of DIYing my makeup for the wedding, but I'm in the camp of "I want to be pampered and not stress out" with respect to my wedding makeup.  Also, I'm good with my day-to-day makeup, but I don't know about trusting myself to be that good for my wedding day.

However, with traveling for our engagement pictures, I knew that I would be doing that makeup myself.  I did a lot of research on products, bought some new ones, and practiced the full face on myself a few times.  So I'd like to share some of my products, tips, and favorite videos with you in hopes that you can find something useful for DIY wedding makeup, or just to look a little more special for all of those pre-wedding events!

Here's the look I turned out with:

Hey, this is my face. Now I'm going to talk about it and hope this doesn't get weird./Photo Credit: Concept Photography

I'd say the look was a success, because my photographer asked me "Where did you go to find a makeup artist this early in the morning?" And when I said I did it myself, she was impressed. And I was giddy. Win!