Wedding Plans So Far...

Even though our goal was not to get stressed with planning the wedding, that goal was quickly broken.  There have been many moments when I have felt so overwhelmed with all that needed to be done!  And as luck would have it, Sean has been asigned to a project in North Carolina for the next three months, starting this past Wednesday (July 21st). 

There were two things that have already been checked off of my to-do list: wedding dress (ordered-will arrive on September 13th) and date (we are hoping for Friday, October 22).  Now it is time to find a place that is available on that day!  We picked Friday because 1) we figured it would be easier to find a place, photographer, etc. that is still available on such short notice on a Friday as opposed to a Saturday, 2) a lot of places offer a discount if the event is on a Friday, 3) I like even numbers (weird, I know), 4) we don't want a winter wedding, so that is how we narrowed it down to the month and day...

Here is a list of just some of the places I called to see if we could have the ring-exchange ceremony and reception:

1. Woodlawn Plantation, Alexandria
2. Westin at the National Harbor
3. Charthouse Restaurant
4. Torpedo Factory
5. Hollin Hall, Alexandria
6. Waterford in Springfield
7. Waterford in Fair Oaks
8. River Farm
9. Officer's Club at Fort Belvoir
10. Marriott Hotel Fairfax at Fair Oaks
11. Bethesda Marriott
12. Bethesda North Marriott
13. Crown Plaza, Silver Spring
14. Crown Plaza, Tysons
15. Mount Vernon Inn
16. Oatlands Plantation
17. Westin Alexandria
18. Westfield's Marriott
19. Landsowne Resort
20. 1757 Restuarant, Leesburg

After calling tons of places (I think I might have called every possible location in Northern Virginia!), we narrowed it down to go and visit four last Saturday:  The Westin at the National Harbor, Indigo Landing, Bethesda Marriott, and The Waterford in Springfield.  The Westin is definitely amazing, Indigo Landing (where I intially wanted to have it-just by looking online, wasn't nearly as great as we thought it would be), and The Waterford was OK.  While we were driving home, Sean suggested us stopping by the Marriott at Tysons - where he stayed for 9 months before finally moving here.  We decided it couldn't hurt, so we did.  The receptionist immediately recognized him and personally showed us the newly renovated ballrooms and she suggested we call her good friend, Ana, who works at the Westfields Marriott, and that she would talk to Anna and tell her about Sean, etc.  (Westfields Marriott is INCREDIBLE!  The front is all stone and it is absolutely beautiful!  Downside: it is about 2 hours from the temple with rush-hour traffic; we called to get a proposal but decided that it was simply too far away from the temple to even consider it further).

So, now it is down to the Marriott at Tysons or the Westin at the National Harbor.  The Marriott is giving us a phenomenal deal and it is in a great location for everyone, but the Westin is absolutely gorgeous-inside and out.  My personal deadline is today-we only have a few more hours to decide!!

We have our photographer lined up...  He is coming up from Virginia Beach just for us!  I found out about him a couple of years ago when a co-worker went to her friend's wedding and used him-he is incredibly talented and I'm super excited that he will be taking our pictures!

On Thursday, my closest friends met me at David's Bridal so they could try on their dresses - they are so pretty!  (Another big check off of the to-do list!).  Dresses, jackets, and shoes will all be ready on September 9th for pick-up.

The invitations are posing to be a bigger issue than I ever imagined...  I want the pocket-kind of invites so that everything is all in one place for the guests, but it has been harder than I thought to find navy-blue pocket invites.  Crazy, I know.  I thought navy blue was a common wedding color.  At any rate, I might be making them with the help of my fantastic friends!