November 17, 2016

November 17, 2016

Our venue.
We love Newport because we’ve spent many Forth of Julys here and it also reminds us of where we could have almost met a thousand times (since we both went to RWU). But we didn’t think Newport would be in our price range. We were pleasantly surprised with we found Newport Marriott. I’ll never forget Brian’s face when we walked in and he saw the venue.  He looked at me like “there’s no way we can afford this!”  But once we looked at our budget and their package pricing, we knew we were sold.

Our save-the-date card.
We sent out our save-the-dates card mid-October. All the books, blogs, and websites we’ve read said to wait to send them out between 6-8 months before the wedding. We designed ours on minted.com. The website was simple, inexpensive and made the process stress-free for both Brian and me. I do have some advice–make sure the font you choose is clear. After we ordered, we realized the font for our wedding website was small. My mom said she had to use a magnifying glass just to read it — OOPS!

Our wedding party.
We both chose seven attendants each for our wedding party, including Brian’s sister, my brother and brother’s girlfriend. One of Brian’s groomsmen will also be officiating our wedding! We had a joint night where we invited everyone over and asked them to be in our special day with small gifts. Brian put together a bag with a nip of their favorite liquor and ​a cigar for his groomsmen.  I filled a box with a framed picture of myself with the bridesmaid, a small bottle of prosecco and Jordan Almonds as a joke from my favorite movie Bridesmaids.  I topped it off with “Will you be my Bridesmaid” cards and a rose.

Our music.
We like the variety a DJ can bring to a wedding.  Some people may cringe when they read this but we interviewed ONLY ONE DJ, Bill from Rhythm Express Disc Jockey Service Inc., and booked him, because he was personable, flexible, located in Bristol and experienced with our venue. I am happy I did!  Music is very important to us and Bill was agreeable to taking our ideas and playing our preferences.  My advice: don’t over think it!  If the DJ is experienced and friendly, I’m sure that will reflect in his performance.

My bridesmaid dresses.
After looking online at several stores, I decided to go with David’s Bridal. I’ve also worn their dresses in several of my friends’ weddings and have liked my experience with them. There are so many options and colors, but I knew I wanted the color gray. It was just a matter of choosing the right shade and style.  I liked the idea of my bridesmaids wearing a style that had some detail that was similar to my dress, i.e. neckline, back, cut, etc.  I wont go into specifics about what we went with but I think all the girls fell in love with the same dress I liked. I really wanted them to be comfortable so I took them with me along with my mother, whose opinion means the most.

What’s next?
We need to pick our florist and figure out some of the smaller details like accent colors.  Brian also needs to go find his tux!

Love is in the air,
Chelsey