Found a dress! February 25, 2008

This past weekend I met my mother in Boston and we went to Filene’s famous bridal event.  It was interesting – thousands of dresses arranged in no particular order to be pawed through and tried on.  By the time we got there it was still busy but the chaos of the early rush was over.  I tried on lots of dresses and found a couple that fit nicely.  There were about 3 that I considered bringing home.  (The first one we found we lost when we took our hands off it for a moment to try a different dress on.  Most of the people were really nice but, man, some weren’t messing around!!)  It finally came down to two and, fortunately, we all agreed which of the two looked best.  I’m not going to post photos here because I don’t want Pete to see it at all before the wedding.  However, if you want to see the photos just email me and I’ll be glad to send them to you!

One of the really nice things about the dress was the price – $250 for a $1,000+ dress!!  (And the budget breathes a sigh of relief…)  Mom and Dad offered to help with $200 of the cost, which left me with about only $50.  Of course there will be some alterations but we’ll still come out waaaaay ahead on the dress price-wise.  Yahoo!

Hotels February 18, 2008

For folks coming from out of town (or local folks who just don’t want to have to drive home after the wedding), there are several hotels in the area to provide a variety of opportunities.

• The Best Western - The Best Western is kind of a standard issue hotel – two double beds or one king bed per room.  Clean, simple, affordable.  The thing that really recommends it is that it is 1.5 blocks from the reception site and 3 blocks from the ceremony site.  Walking distance!  Parking will be a little difficult so being in walking distance could be really nice.  It also has the added bonus of not requiring people who decide to enjoy the bar to drive back to the hotel.  The other thing that recommends this hotel is the cost; it’s only $80 – $85/night.  This hotel is about 3 miles from the Quakertown exit off of Route 476 (the Northeast Extension of the PA turnpike).

The three hotels listed below are immediate off the Quakertown exit of Route 476 and about 3 miles from the ceremony and reception sites.

• The Holiday Inn Express Hotel and Suites - The Holiday Inn is a little nicer than the Best Western.  It has a pool, a health center, was renovated in 2001, has both rooms and suites, etc.  Their rooms are about $120/night.
• The Hampton Inn - The Hampton Inn is much like the Holiday Inn, maybe a bit nicer.  Their rooms are about $140/night if you reserve through their website.
• Comfort Inn and Suites - The Comfort Inn is a pet-friendly hotel so if you’re bringing a dog with you this is the place to stay.  Their rooms are $120/night and up.

Once we get a block of rooms reserved we’ll post back here with more information.

Invitations and Registries February 18, 2008

Thanks to a helpful hint from our friends J & D, Pete and I have selected our invitations and started purchasing them.  For their wedding, J & D selected “print your own” invitations at Michael’s and then used the coupon that is in the newspaper each month to buy them at 40% off.  Every week they have a coupon for 40% off one item.  All they had to do was cut out the coupon and keep going back.

A few weeks ago Pete and I went to Michael’s and selected the ones that we wanted.  This weekend’s newspaper had a 50% off coupon to be used on Sun. or Mon. AND a 40% off coupon to be used Tues. through Sat.  Using those two coupons together we’ll be able to get all the invitations we need – all for under $50.  Hooray!

The ones we selected are simple but have a design that has a vintage feel to it.  It seems to fit given we’re getting married and having the reception in very old buildings.  We actually need to get a new printer in order to print these because our laser printer is gasping it’s last breaths.  Thank goodness Pete really knows how to research technical stuff to find the best deal! 

In other news, we’ve decided to register at Williams Sonoma and Bed, Bath, and Beyond.  We already have a fair amount of household stuff because Heather’s been married before and we’ve been living together for so long.  However, I’m sure we’ll find a few things that we still need!    Once we actually have something on the registries, I’ll put a link to them here.