The Map Project

I have mentioned before that we are getting married at Rush Ranch, which is an entirely open space.

What I may not have made clear is exactly how much we are making this ranch INTO a wedding venue.

Here's the long view of the venue:

You can barely see the connection to the 'main road' right in the top corner.

Now, a little closer:

Some of the buildings become clearer and more discernible.

And this is the space that will be used for the actual wedding:

Buildings, cars, trees, right.

Even though I'd been there more times than anything else, eventually I had to make this so that I could make some sense of what things are and where each part of the wedding will be (yay for Paint):

There we go!

I think maybe one or two small changes have been made, but this is the basic idea of where things will be the day of.   It's a lot of space and it definitely went through many iterations before settling on even the biggest basics, like where dinner and the ceremony will be.

I have sent these to the vendors and given them to the parents...my ushers and greeters will definitely have some things to learns about where everything is. 

I love the space and it should be beautiful and green when we get there.

Hapy New Year!

As promised, with the new year's arrival, I am back in the saddle of wedding planning already.

And, this year, when the clock struck midnight, I had one thought:
This is the year I am getting married.

Although, because he had to work, Chris could not be with me on New Year's Eve, my thoughts were with him just the same as the 2011 was ushered in as the year when he and I will wed.

On that point, I find myself once again amazed to realize that there is/are
4 1/2 Months until the wedding
OR
128 days.

To me, this means that now, more than ever, it's buckle-down time on the planning.

Thankfully, we have nearly all of the major pieces nailed down.

• Venue: Check!
• Caterer & Menu: Check! (Yes, we had our *real* tasting, and it was de-lic-ious! I'll write a post on that later)
• Hotel for Guests: Check!
• Officiant: Check!
• Photographer: Check! (Had a meeting that I still need to post about!)
• Videographer: Check!
• Florist: Check!
• DJ: half-Check! (We're just waiting on some confirmation)
• Invitations: Check! (They arrived...again, something I have failed to blog about yet!)
• Wedding Dress: Check! (It's been ordered, and should be here soon!)
• Groom's Clothes: Check! (Now it's just left to decide on the black suit or the grey suit.)
• Bridesmaid's Dresses: Selected, will order soon!
• Wedding Bands: Selected, will order soon!
• Cake: Baker selected, just need to choose a cupcake bakery!

I'm sure there's more, but you get the idea.  The only major piece that we need to make sure we do is to rent all the tables, chairs, and etc.  That's the last big slice that absolutely, 100%, MUST happen or the wedding will be a disaster.

Anything else that isn't done can be done without.  Not that I have any intention of going without all the small things, and details, and everything; I'm just trying to lower my stress level by reminding myself that, yes, all the things that must be done are in process.

The Date (For Realsies, This Time)

So after the last date-setting debacle of insanity-inducing run-arounds and craziness, Chris and I are proud to announce our formal, official, 100% solid-gold wedding date!!

Christopher and I

will be married on

Saturday

May 14th

2011

(Confession: writing that, my stomach drops some and, despite my serious fatigue, I can't help smiling and maybe even starting to cry some.)

We have settled now on the place listed previously: Rush Ranch, part of Solano County land trust and located in Suisun City, CA (about an hour north of Oakland and just over an hour northeast of San Francisco). I have even emailed the reservationist and she has set aside this date for us and our wedding.

Our choice of date was locked in for sure when we went back to view Rush Ranch again and do two things: (1) make sure that's where we wanted the wedding and, (2) do some scouting of the lands to decide where things would be.

Hiking to the top of the small hill upon which we have very nearly decided we will be married, I just looked at Chris and decided that there's no way we're not getting married right there.

With that, and with the admonition from the groundskeeper (sidebar: he lives on-site and was totally rad to chat with about the whole thing, basically saying that the Ranch has rules for events....but they don't count for much since he'll be the one there during the actual wedding and why should anyone else care?)....where was I? Oh yeah, what he told us: that once you creep past Mid-May, the weather gets too hot for comfort (there no A/C anywhere at the Ranch) and that the buggies come out for serious.

We had been considering three dates in May and the only things holding me back from choosing were the idea that it would be too cold on the 14th compared to the other two dates (both later) AND the knowledge that my sister will be living in Italy during that time and her finals schedule might be the week before or after the wedding...and I'd kind of like her to be there!

So, since the weather's better then AND it means less likely to conflict with sister's finals: voila!

I'm so relieved and happy to have a date set and cleared with all parents and important others.

I know that this date may not be the most convenient for everyone who will be invited but, dang it, there are SOOOOOOOO many of y'all that if we waited for one that were even convenient for most there would be no wedding.

Part of what's been so difficult for me is knowing just that and needing to make a decision anyways; I wanted to pick a date that works for most people, even if only because I don't want to feel like I need to apologize for picking a wedding date that works for me and my husband-to-be (and our immediate family members and bridal party). So, I won't apologize. I will just say that, I understand conflicts, and I hope that all who are invited can and will choose to come show us off into that land of marriage.

Location, Location, Location

I apologize for not putting this up yesterday, as I meant to, but the day ended up going longer than I thought it would.

Yesterday, I went with my parents (read: father, stepmother, mother, and mother's fiance) to view Rush Ranch as a potential wedding venue. Chris and I had visited together several weeks ago - in the pouring rain - and had absolutely loved it.

Rush Ranch is part of the Solano County land trust here in Northern California, essentially a private park with upwards of 2,000 acres to its credit.

We loved it, and so wanted the parents' thumbs-up, because it is beautiful, isolated, rustic, fun, and youthful. It also has lots of benefits like few requirements - e.g. no 'required' caterers, and relaxed time limits - a guest house that sleeps 5-7 comfortably, a projector and projector screen, indoor spaces, outdoor spaces, great photo op areas, and more.

So, taking the parents there, I was nervous and hopeful for their approval - a similar feeling to the one I had when I was first introducing them to Chris.

Here is some of what we saw:

I have tons more photos, but I think this gives a good sense of how it looks.

We were there at sunset, so I got some photos of that, but since my camera just a simple point-and-click, it doesn't look that great.

Ultimately, the parents decided that this place has some serious drawbacks: no A/C in any of the buildings, probability of bees/wasps/bugs during the wedding (we're having it during summertime), and being kind of far from where they live.

Fortunately, there are solutions for many of these concerns.

They hemmed and hawed a bit, and showed little to no enthusiasm. They all kept saying things about this being my wedding and that I should have it how I want it to be, and how the place suits me and Chris, and things like this. Good things, but no excitement, no happiness that we seemed to have found our wedding venue.

And, they all gave the so-desired thumbs-up.

So it looks like we have our wedding venue!

I am absolutely excited about it and all the possibilities that come with it.

One more step, one more decision down in me and Chris creating our perfect wedding (which will be appropriately imperfect).