What are the guys wearing?

So, this should be the first of several installments on clothes, cause who doesn't love dressing up -- or even better, dressing OTHER people up. Of course, the easiest decision was what the guys will be wearing.

Remember we're going for that old hollywood "rat pack" look. So here's the suit Erik and I unanimously agreed was closest to that vision:

Love it!

Black, classy, two-button, tie with no vest. We have yet to pick out the colors for the ties. I'm thinking champagne (light gold) colored for my groom and dark purple for the rest of the guys: namely the four groomsmen, my dad and his dad. What about the ushers, you ask? I'm asking them to simply come dressed in a white dress shirt and black pants. We'll supply them with coordianting ties.

But here's the big question: Pocket squares like those above or do-it-yourself ribbon boutonnieres like these? Why only these two options? I refuse to pay for fresh flower boutonnieres when there are plenty of other options out there. It's also a great way to save some money. Rest assured I will have fresh flowers, just not in the form of bouts or corsages, but that's for another post. Choosing pocket squares would give me one less DIY project, but begs another questions. Do we simply buy handkerchiefs for the guys to use as pocket squares or let them rent them with the suits for $7 (or so) apiece?

Where are the suits coming from? We thought about going through Men's Warehouse so all the men could order it at their own store. But after hearing awful things about the customer service at the Cedar Rapids store, I decided to go with the same shop where I got my wedding dress (to be discussed in another post). So, our grooms men and dads will have to go to a local shop to get measured and then phone those measurements into the shop here: Heart to Heart Bridal. As a bonus, suits seem to be cheaper here as well! I'm going in to finalize the details on Saturday. I figure/hope we can send someone to pick them up and have everyone try them on the day before.

Location, Location, Location . . .

So, soon after you're engaged everyone asks you to pick a date, which all planner-type-people know you can't do until you have a location figured out-- preferrably with a signed contract and deposit. While the bride's hometown is traditional, MY hometown would mean planning a wedding from a distance of 400 miles, dealing with very inconvenient hotels for most of our friends and all of his family, and expecting all of our guests to find the middle-of-no-where Kansas church and slighly less middle-of-no-where reception hall.

So, we (I) quickly narrowed down our search to the Iowa City area.

First there was the Coralville North Ridge Pavillion. Pretty little fountain, nice deck overlooking a "lake." It was close to hotels and we could bring in our own food and drink, but because of it's proximity to a housing complex they'd kick us out by 11 PM to minimize noise. Also, the site said it was big enough to sit 200 people. With our 175ish guest list, that meant no room for a dance floor. Unacceptable!

Moving on I cyper-scoped out a couple options near Solon, IA, just North East of Iowa City. I found Brosh chapel and community center. Kind of a lousy picture here, but it had an indoor chapel, another outdoor deck overlooking a glorified pond for a possible outdoor ceremony and traditional reception space to boot. But factoring in the distance from Iowa City, the manditory carterers fees, and the likely hefty bar tab, I was not inspired.

Option 3 was certainly inspiring, and I am a little ashamed to say I didn't even go see this place, cause I hear it's phenomenal: the Schwabb Barns near Solon again. This is a collection of stone barns that the family rents out for events like dances and weddings. We could bring in our own vendors, so that was going to be a plus. BUT barns don't really scream "us" (as a couple, anyway). Plus, their distance from hotels was an issue (I really don't want to work about any driving and drinking) and I think bad weather would just kill the whole event at a venue like this.

So, what did I choose? I place called "Old Brick." Now, I'm sure you're looking at this picture and thinking, that's a weird name for a church, but our location isn't exactly what it appears to be. It IS the second oldest building in Iowa City, built during the Civil War era. It IS a historical landmark, which hopefully will keep everyone on their best behavior. And it WAS a chruch once. Now it's a community building that houses non-profit offices in the basement. The sanctuary area has been renovated into one big open room complete with original stain-glass windows (okay, 1 original window) the big church doors, altar and pipes from a long gone pipe organ.

Just look at these shots, or click here to see a slideshow of it dressed up for past events:

Here's the front, withe the altar.                

                     

And the back with balcony & pipes (just for show)

And a shot of the side walls and the one complete, original stained glass window from which I choose the colors purple and gold (hard to tell in this shot, I know, but trust me, they're there.)

I can't wait to have our wedding here! Besides the basic goreousness, we can bring in our own caterer and alcohol, we have the space all day Friday and Saturday to set up, and it's a block away from one of our hotels and a shuttle ride away from the other. It's historic nature does offer some challenges, but I think the trade off will definitely be worth it in the end!

Engagement photos!

Yes, we have engagement pictures! We took them November 6th and have been delayed in getting them because of winter road conditions and busy schedules. But last week our photographer simply put them online for us to view and I love them! I'm so glad/relieved that our photographer has such a great eye.

Luckily, November 6th was a warm sunny day and there were a few late leaves on the trees. These were all taken while walking around the University of Iowa campus. You'll notice we played around with some vintage hats to acheive that Old Hollywood look (mine's authentic, his is vintage-looking). You'll also get a sneek peak at our Save-the-Date cards if you make it all the way through the album.

Now I don't have images to post here on the blog, but you can see them on Brian Hall Photographers' website: http://www.brianhallphotographers.com/pickpic/gallery/splash.php?gallery_id=50

Title: Erik & Sara

Passcode: Peterson (my soon-to-be last name!)

Gallery Expiration: Monday February 1, 2010
Just click on "Engagement" to see them in thumbnail format or flip through them individually.

I have my favorites, of course, but I've already been surprised by which ones others like the most. We're in the process of selecting which ones to get prints of, and I'd love to hear what you think! So, feel free to leave a comment.

And we're engaged . . .

Early one Saturday morning in February of this year, Erik proposed. It was simple, sweet, and I'll keep the words he used between the two of us. He popped the question, we talked for a couple hours -- he caught up on the sleep he'd been losing with the stress of proposing the "right" way -- and we spent a quiet weekend together enjoying the knowledge that we were getting married. Then Sunday night we let the world in, started calling family and friends, and I started thinking about the details.

But before we get into that, let me give you some back story:

Erik and I met in the fall of 2001 when we each entered the creative writing Masters program at Wichita State University. That year we took writing and lit classes and started teaching college freshmen Composition 101. At the time, he was dating someone long distance, and we were both just getting to know our fabulous fellow classmates. (Check out this photo of the group! Erik  and I are in the forefront about 7 months before we started dating.)

Fast forward to the end of the school year, his long-distance relationship had ended, and, in addtion to hanging out with our group, I found myself spending some one-on-one time with Erik, going out to dinner, grading papers, watching Cartoon Network, etc. Around May, we officially crossed the "friends" line and started dating. We've arbitrarily come up with May 27, 2002 as our dating anniversary -- which, coincidentally is close to our wedding date May 29th, 2010. (So, if you're doing the math along with me, that means we're getting married on our 8-year anniversary!)

Anyway, like all new couples, we spent every waking moment together that summer and braced ourselves for the fall when Erik would be moving to Tallahassee to get his Masters in Humanities from Florida State (he had changed his major and been accepted before we started dating). A year and a half of VERY long-distance dating followed, with each of us racking up airline miles, cell phone hours and, of course, daily e-mails in our inboxes.

In January 2004, I moved to Tallahassee to be with him. I got a writing/editing job, he finished his degree in the summer of 2006, and we both agreed that we wanted to move back to the midwest. We've been in Iowa City, IA for over three years now and really love the town. And since we're back to the present day I'll end this post for now.

I'm going to try to post regular updates about the wedding planning and stick to chronological order (for lack of a better idea), but feel free to ask me questions, leave comments, etc.