Things Change Part II

While we would rather not spring a surprise on family & friends so close to our wedding date (48 days until showtime!) we just couldn't pass up the opportunity that came our way a few weeks ago.

With our original venue, our party was shaping up to look a little something like this --

Except we really couldn't afford those nice cups so ... plastic it was gonna be! Oh, and while she is nice and bored inside, the original venue was outdoors. And we were spending so much money just trying to get the fixings for the party, tables, chairs, dishes, utensils ... that if it were to rain our boring wedding party would end up like this....

 And did we mention that a hefty chunk of change was going towards financing these atrocious amenities?

Wedding + Port-O-Potty = UGH!

As the bill grew larger and larger, the couple began to wonder what they were paying the vendor $500 for in the first place? If filling the Inn's rooms and hefting out an additional $500 weren't even enough to gain access to the lavatory or have the inn staff set-up and break-down the party then what was the point? As the list of things not covered by the $500 fee lengthened, the cost of the wedding quickly reached a critical point and outstripped the cost that having the wedding in N.C. was going to be ... and the entire reason for the first venue change was to save money!

And so with the prospect of an uber expensive party that promised to be at best boring, and at worst, a super soaked shindig where everyone just tried to hold it as long as they could, the couple ate the $250 deposit loss of the old venue and searched for greener pastures. 

They found it at Keely's Banquet Hall in Portland Maine. 

Portland Maine Downtown at Night

Not only is Portland a happening historic town that the wedding guests can enjoy both before and after the wedding day, but for a price-tag of $1300 the couple is getting access to a quaint outdoor wedding venue, an indoor climate-controlled reception, linen service, set-up and break-down, speaker system, and let's not forget...

a variable smorgasboard done in a buffet-style complete with appetizer, entree, and dessert! 

So come one, come all, and come hungry to Sarah and Morgan's Wedding in Portland Maine, same time and same date! 

Triforce Cake Is Official

This lamp is the nearest approximation of our cake.

We found the baker for the job. A marvelous woman named Suzi Sieglar is making us a standing triforce! The cake itself will be vanilla-almond with a white-chocolate raspberry filling. It will stand on a rectangular base and look  much like the photo above. There will be a thin veneer of butter-cream frosting topped in golden fondant along the front and sides with a black triangle of fondant on the front and back. It truly promises to be the Cake-of-Time. And taste pretty good too....

Wedding Registry Part Deux

Please visit our events page to get updates on how the final financing of the wedding is going along. All monetary donations are a big help!

https://www.fivecounty.com/milestones/viewMilestone.aspx?registry=58

Wedding Registry

The short answer is, we don't have a wedding registry. The long answer? We have everything we need with the exception of a clothes dryer (if you want to buy that please call us now) and perhaps another bookshelf (Morgan is a history and English major, Sarah is a statistics and marine biology major turned banker, there's a variety of large, heavy books in the house).

But back to being serious, the couple has all that they need for everyday living. They own their furniture (it's real, and actually quite comfortable), have all the dishes and cooking utensils they could possibly need (even a broiling pan), as well as a brand new mattress, with box-spring and frame. There's honestly not a single household item (apart the from the clothes dryer) that the couple plans to purchase in the near future.

So what's a friend or relative who wants to contribute to the young couples new life together to do? Honestly the best thing would be to contribute to the wedding fund. If sending the couple a check or cash just feels insincere, then there are certainly several facets of the wedding that could be financed. The couple's wedding budget was hurt by the car accident, so extras like catering, a DJ, flowers, and a honeymoon might go by the wayside. If you would like to help the couple, a contribution to the wedding fund will help make the event all the more memorable.

Coming Soon to a Mailbox Near You

Wedding Invitations!!!

Apart from being substantially cheaper, there's something special about a do-it-yourself invitation kit. Morgan and Sarah were able to add their own unique flavor to the invite and tailor the message to suit their personalities. The couple plans to sit down next weekend and get the invitations, stuffed, addressed, stamped and mailed! 

Things Change

Although Sarah and Morgan were engaged in June, they didn't decide on the wedding location (and therefore date) until the end of November. The 'delay' in this decision was mostly  driven by the fact that Morgan and Sarah had both recently moved to Maine, far from their families. And Morgan, who was from Iowa, understandably didn't want to make decisions about a wedding location until he got to visit the place himself.

The couples trip to N.C., however, wasn't planned until the end of November - so it wasn't until after that trip that the wedding plans really got rolling.

Picture of the mountains near Asheville, N.C.

After the trip, the wedding plans really got set in motion. The couple was going to get married in Cullowhee, N.C. (which is about an hour from Asheville) at the church Sarah had attended as a child. The date was set to August 20th, 2013. They had vetted options for cakes, photographers, and catering and even organized a wedding coordinator for the church. The plan was to get invitations out to everyone by the end of January and deposits out to venues by mid-March.

But then ... BAM!

Sarah's car after the accident. 

Sarah was rear-ended in a snow storm on January 16th. Her car was totaled, and her back and neck were injured. She had to go to the emergency room, missed three days of work, and is only now starting to become pain free. Despite the fact that Sarah was full on (dead center) rear-ended, the other driver's insurance company is trying to deny her claim and is even attempting to collect damages for the other car.... All signs point to a long, drawn out court battle in lieu of what should have been a simple settlement.

And then...

• A close family friend of Sarah's dies
• The couple is hit with new fiscal uncertainties
• Maine is hit with the worst Blizzard since 1979

In essence, 2013 for Morgan and Sarah 

So it shouldn't be a surprise to hear that wedding plans have changed

• The couple still plans to marry in 2013, hopefully around the same date as previously planned
• The wedding will take place in Maine and not North Carolina 
• Invitations will hopefully go out by the end of February 

Priorities

You might think that the first choices a newly engaged couple would make might be, where, and when. But for us, it was ....

Icon from one of our favorite video games

traditional wedding cake 

Oh yeah we are going to have a tri-force wedding cake. 

Trials and Tribulations of 'Being a Bride to Be'

As a well traveled young woman, who loves math, hates dresses, and excels at sports and video games,  Sarah was fairly use to having some people take on a patronizing air with her.  When she got a prestigious scholarship abroad, a surprising number of people she told about the achievement first asked "So are you going over there to get a husband?"

So when she got engaged, Sarah expected some people would have the gumption to tell her just how wrong her ideas about her wedding were, but she was still surprised at the extent that some people were willing to judge her decisions.

Not many details of the wedding have been decided yet, but the few that have are:

Sarah's taking Morgan's last name.
Sarah's walking down the isle by herself.
Every niece and nephew that wants to can be in the wedding.
We're hiring a wedding planner/coordinator for the day of the wedding.

And oh how contentious those choices could be. Sarah was really surprised at the number of people who gave her grief for choosing to take Morgan's last name. One person even went so far as exclaim "I can't believe you are going to take his last name when you are not even going to let your dad walk you down the isle!"

Well you don't know anything about me, or my decisions, and it's what I want. 

Sarah's starting to get use to some people continually countering every choice she and Morgan has decided on  for the wedding, but brides to be beware. Be prepared to stick to your convictions and just remember that it's all about you and the love of your life!

Newly Engaged

Being newly engaged is uniquely thrilling and intimidating in equal parts. For the person doing the proposing, the day(s) leading up to the proposal is terrifying. Morgan admits that the day he decided to propose he was nervous and sweating all day. During the dinner Sarah though he seemed more excited than usual, but later Morgan confessed that his heart was racing in his ears and his adrenalin made it hard for him to sit still. But once the proposal was done, Morgan felt exhilarated and relieved.

Being proposed to is exciting, surreal and terrifying. During the proposal time slowed as Sarah realized she could make or break or man with one word. Being handed that power, in public a setting no less, was frankly terrifying and Sarah didn't like it. But thankfully Morgan's proposal wasn't simply, "will you marry me" and his sweet anecdote gave Sarah time to snap to the important details, like do you love this man and do you want to spend the the rest of your life with him? The answer to which was a leaping "of course I'll marry you!" that knocked over a chair.

Settling in to being engaged

Morgan found being engaged to be, well, not much different than being not engaged for his everyday life.  Sarah, on the other hand, found being engaged to be overwhelming. Everyone was asking her questions. And not just the normal questions that'd you'd expect the day after getting engage ("Have you set a date?" Do you know where?") but some incredibly detailed questions like:

What flower bouquets are you going to have?
Have you picked out a dress ?
Have you written your vows yet?

O_O

No. No, Sarah doesn't have the answers to those questions ... she was engaged yesterday.

But hey, it's all worth it for the engagement party

Positive proof that we are in sync.