April 5th marked one year to go before their wedding for Ashley and Brad. Ashley emailed me to say, "Wow! It is so exciting. I’m told it will go by so quickly, we shall see!" She also informed me that they have found a reception site. Quite possibly one of the hardest and most important parts of wedding planning. Go Ashley!
Vicky: You have found a place! That is great news! Tell us about it.
Ashley: The reception site is located at the Old Hickory Golf Club. In many ways it is your typical club. It is a beautiful site, very deceiving I found. The rooms for the reception are very open and airy. The bar area is surrounded with deep rich wood with several “Trophy” animals on the wall, very "manly”. The actual reception room is bright and elegant. The doors between the reception area and the bar are supposed to be kept open that day due to the possible number of guests so it will make the room feel bigger. The area opens out onto a veranda so there are large windows to help the sun come in and brighten the room. I think it is funny that the ladies rest room is upstairs and the gentlemen’s restroom is downstairs.
V: It sounds beautiful! I can't wait to see it. (I'm a bridesmaid!) What really made you choose this particular place over the others you viewed?
A: I could say location, location, location, but that wouldn’t be entirely true. Sure the fact that it is located still within a reasonable location (only about a 20-30 minute drive through town from the church) is a big plus, but the food that we sampled at their bridal open house last month, and the fact they could accommodate our possible numbers, the options they gave us, and how nice they were was a huge factor.
We had looked at a few other places, and only one was close, but it would require people to travel on a Saturday afternoon on I-95 or route 1, all the way up to Springfield (roughly 20 miles away) which is a nightmare just waiting to happen (if you have travels in the DC area on a Saturday you know what I’m talking about).
V: Good point! That area is a total mess on Saturdays now. I loathe it. Now that you have the place and the specific room do you have any ideas on decorating? Themes? Colors we know a bit about already. Share!
A: The reception is going to be elegant, but still fun. I was originally thinking of saving money by doing a buffet dinner, but my dad made the command decision that we were having a sit down dinner. I’m so excited about that! The menu is still TBD but we have narrowed it down to a few appetizers; scallops wrapped in bacon, 5 spice Asian beef skewers, and a stationary veggie display and the guests will get to choose from the Salmon, that is already been chosen, or a Chicken, still have to choose that one. Sides will most likely be mixed vegetables and the garlic mashed potatoes. Yum! Of course they serve bread and such with the meal. We are having light open bar for 4 hours and coffee and I’m assuming tea will be served towards the end of the night after the bar is closed. It looks like we will be having a few kids come so there is a special menu for them of grand and glorious chicken fingers. Then of course CAKE! Um, cake!
V: Wow! You really are nailing things down fast. That's great to hear! The menu was such a hard issue for me during my wedding. I must have looked over the choices for weeks, driving everyone around me mad in the process. Anything else you wish to share about the reception at this point?
A: We are looking at renting some table cloths in a deep blue color so that white of the plates and silver of the silverware really stand out. I plan to use flowers to decorate the tables, but I haven’t figured that out yet. I’m so picky about floral arrangements that I’m sure the florist is going to think I’m a pain. The tables are rounds and can hold 8-10 people. I would like a centerpiece that sits high enough that it makes a statement but also allows for the guests to talk to each other and not have to dodge the centerpiece. I’m thinking a mixture of blue and white flowers with silver accents. Mom wants candles, but we shall see. I don’t want just cheesy votives. If I do candles they will be elegant.
We are still working on a DJ, but I’m hoping the DJ will be able to read the crowd and can match the music to the crowd, which in turn will keep everyone happy and dancing. I love to dance so I plan on doing a lot of dancing. I already plan to wear braces under my dress for the reception so I can dance and my knees don’t give out too early.
V: You have thought so far ahead. It's great! I think you'll find little worry about once the event draws closer. It all sounds really lovely. What does Brad, your fiance, think of the place?
A: Its funny. Brad actually was really pulling for this place. We stopped by one day just to take a peek and we took a mini-tour. When we left there, he kept saying we needed to have our reception there. He is even happier because he gets a few rounds of golf for free.
V: Too funny! The golf course there really is quite nice. So after all this chatting how are you feeling with exactly one year to go until the big day?
A: At one year out I’m excited, but not overwhelmed. We still have lots of time left so I’m taking time to accomplish my tasks. The Photographer and DJ are the next big things to look into, so that should be interesting.
V: Thanks for sharing Ashley! We'll check in with you again soon!
Have questions for Ashley or Stephanie are other featured bride? Email us at Flamingtulle at gmail dot com.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment