done, done and done

Date: November 7, 2009 - Check.
Venue: W Hotel Seattle - Check.
Dress: White-ish - Check.

All this accomplished in the last 24 hours! Ok.. So we haven't actually signed the contract yet and I haven't actually ordered the dress yet but we're this close!

Let me start with the dress. One of my bridesmaids and I went dress shopping at I Do Bridal. I was expecting yet another disappointing day with dresses that I hate but as soon as I got there, I found out that a girl I went to elementary school with was going to be my salesperson! We used to ride the bus together!

She made the experience so easy and she really listened to what I was looking for in a dress - I didn't feel any pressure at all. I ended up falling for a Mori Lee dress that was very similar to the Lea Ann Belter dress that I mentioned previously, which was nearly $4000! The one I like is under $1000! Whew.

Initially, I wanted to get a dress that was more sheath but after trying on several different shapes, I found the modified A-line style to be really flattering - rather than hide, it accentuates my shape.

I'm sure the Lea Ann Belter one is far superior in craftsmanship by the finest tailor this side of the Mississipi, while the Mori Lee one is probably made in some sweatshop by a four-year-old indentured servant. I joke, I joke! But with my mummy insisting that I need to have multiple changes of clothes (I have to wear a traditional Chinese wedding dress and now she wants me to change into some sort of evening dress), I really don't want to spend all my money on a dress I'll be wearing for a few hours. Besides, I want to be able to afford some fabulous shoes too! Priorities, ya know?

Finally, HB and I visited the W today and I think we both loved it. I know a lot of you have softspots for the W and come to think of it, so do I. When we first started dating, that was one of our spots. We went there for drinks all the time. (Oh and did I ever mention the time I had lunch with Tim Gunn? Ok. It wasn't really with him with him but he was at the next table with Angela "Crazy Rosettes Lady" Keslar exclaiming how "gorgeous" the soup was... Sigh..)

When we showed up to meet the catering manager, she even had a little gift for me. How did she know the way to my heart was free stuff and presents? Sold!

Ahem.

The space was perfect and she's putting the contract together now. Eep! It's happening!

w-w-w

It feels like we've looked at every venue in the area. And still we haven't found the perfect place. Hunny Bunny and I went to Pan Pacific the other day and annoyingly, they're not big enough to hold all our guests. Hello? Wasn't my first question, "Can you hold at least 200 people?"

It was a complete waste of time because they can barely fit 150 people. Did they think I would fall in love with the place and just not invite 50 people?

And then there was Herban Feast. I loved the space and I loved that we could buy/bring our own alcohol to be served by their bartenders - you know everyone's going to trashed! But of course, there was one fatal flaw. They don't have dressing rooms available for the bride and groom!

The only option, really wasn't an option at all. We could rent the space next door for a couple hours (at $300 an hour!) prior to the ceremony and use that as the dressing area - completely undesirable because we would have to walk about 20-30 feet outside in November in Seattle. I do not want me or my bridesmaids getting muddy and rained on just before walking down the aisle.

We visited a couple other places that I wasn't crazy about... Ugh. This is hard work!
We're going to check out the W hotel on Monday. I'm really hoping that this will be the place! Word on the street is that they had the carpeting redone so it's no longer striped, but rather a chocolate brown.

The perks for having my wedding there sound perfect, though I don't want to get myself too excited yet. Because we're planning a winter wedding, they're offering to waive both the ceremony fee and the room rental fee - a total of $3000 in savings! Included is one night in a corner room with an option to be upgraded to a suite.

Also included is makeup application for the bride, mother of the bride and maid of honor by a Smashbox makeup artist. And depending on how much I spend, they'll even fly celebrity makeup artist Hank Hoffman in from LA to personally primp me!

Their menu sounds wonderful too. If their food is anything like the food in their main restaurant Earth/Ocean, I'm sold. One of the dinner options, while a tad more pricey than the regular plated dinner is where the guests' entree order will be taken tableside. Basically, HB and I would choose four options beforehand and instead of asking guests to respond to the invititation with their dinner choice - they would choose for themselves that night.

Of course I'm totally getting ahead of myself. I just want to scratch this off my list of things to do!

out in the cold

So I've visited a couple venues including the Arctic Club Hotel, as I mentioned before. I was really hoping that that would be place because I love the photos.

Anyway, I love the venue but it won't work. They don't have the space for me to do both my ceremony and reception without there being a 2 hour gap between the two (I can't even hold the cocktail reception during that time!) I was pretty disappointed, but what can you do? I suppose I could have the ceremony at a different location, but it's not really practical for us since neither of us are religious (no church) and it'll be too cold to have an outdoor ceremony some where.

We still have the Pan Pacific Hotel coming up next week.

We're also visiting Herban Feast this week too. It's basically a warehouse that has been converted into a reception venue. I think it looks promising although my fuddy-duddy family might not get it, if you know what I mean.

They already think I'm crazy for wanting a winter wedding! They'll probably think I'd want to get married at any old Costco.

We still have several other places to visit, but I really hope to have a venue chosen by the end of October, if not sooner!

decisions, decisions

I've always wanted a Winter wedding and while I'd like to get married sooner, the idea of having it cold and rainy is much more appealing than the lovely summers of Seattle. (Am I weird? Maybe.)

Hunny Bunny and I decided that we're going to tie the knot during November 2009. We're still flexible on the date so we're going to start looking at venues shortly. I'm sorta leaning towards the Arctic Club Hotel if only because no one else has had their wedding there!



We're planning to look at a few other places, of course.

There's the Pan Pacific Hotel, which has a lovely view of Lake Union and the Space Needle.

I'm not sure if this place is big enough to accommodate my humongous family!


And then there's the Westin in Bellevue.

I know the facilities are top notch, but it's right across the street from the mall and I don't know how I feel about that. I might not show up at my own wedding if there's a sale going on!

These are just a few of the places that I'm going to visit in the upcoming weeks. I hope to get a place lined up soon so I can focus on the fun stuff!