The Wedding x2

Image By Ola Hopper. I have to blog about our weddings. Most people can't believe that I actually had one wedding, but two is just nuts. The Barcelona blog is featured on Gourmet Bay Catering's site as well: Patrick and I decided to hop on a plane with 36 of our closest friends and family and get married in Spain! Of course the 1st thing we talked about was our vision, secondly our budget and expectations, and finally our wants and wishes. After we had a handle on the things most important to us like the food (of course), a great location for the wedding and reception, and close proximity to the city center in Barcelona we started looking for help. I Googled wedding planners in Barcelona and found a few, made some calls, and decided on Marry Me in Spain. Destination brides are Carole’s specialty. We filled out a wedding questionnaire, sent a few emails about what we as a couple cared about and then we were on our way through wedding planning 101. To us having a great place near the sea, being surrounded by all things Spanish, and having an amazing dinner menu was on the top of our want list. We explained to Carole that things like flowers and all the extras that we may have had in the states didn’t really matter to us and to not include them in our budget. Carole sent us around 15 different places she thought would be great to host the reception. The first few were beautiful but a bit modern for our tastes and not Spanish enough. By the end she had chosen the most spectacular restaurant that we quickly booked for our dinner and tapas. Carole listened to what Pat and I had envisioned and found the most perfect place for our friends and family to celebrate our nuptials. Décor was next on the list. As I said we weren’t overly worried about flowers and décor because the places we had chosen to book were so beautiful that they didn’t need much. I decided I wanted an all-white bridal bouquet which my friend, Anna, made for me. Carole brought all white flower petals to make the aisle for me and my father to walk down and Anna made the rest of the boutonnières. When we were discussing budget we decided to go to a local flower shop in Spain and purchase the flowers the day before and bought a few white candles to top off the décor. I would say my style was simple and inexpensive, but if you look at the photos you would never guess. Figuring out what was most important helped us weed out all the unnecessary extras. Another person I needed to find was the officiant that would be marrying us. Carole had a favorite person in mind and we booked Xavier. He was very well spoken and funny and made the wedding ceremony very memorial. Asking your planner to provide local vendors that they have relationships with will save you a lot of time. I also booked a wedding photographer named Ola who I found online. I searched the small town that we were staying in and her name was on the top of the list. After looking at her blog and website I knew I had to have her. To me photographs were a very important part of the wedding and I was willing to spend more of our budget on them. Ola was amazing to work with and her photographs are works of art. We have so many photos that it will take years to print them all, but I will say that doing your homework will pay off in the end when looking for a photographer. Luckily for us we didn’t have to do “wedding tastings” and decide on a caterer because we booked a restaurant. They sent us a few menus; we choose one and altered it a bit and then we had 14 different tapas, paella for dinner, and an amazing chocolate and butterscotch plate for dessert. The caterers listened to the requests we made for our pickier eaters, had some food set aside for our seafood allergy, and served one of the best meals I’ve ever eaten. Letting your cater know what you love to eat, things that are must-haves for your menu, and any allergies or dietary requests can ensure that everyone will enjoy the meal served at your wedding. All in all our wedding was a success because we chose to have the local professionals take care of everything we needed. I couldn’t have pulled off a wedding across the world without my amazing wedding planner, talented photographer, and all my friends and family who helped out. As you can see I was catering to our "wedding" readers for this blog.

Here is the other blog featured on Gourmet Bay Catering's site: Add a Bit of Love Weddings can be the perfect place to show off your creative side while including items that are personal to your family and friends. This year my mother and father threw Patrick and I a wedding in Indiana that we will never forget. The ceremony was in our family church with beautiful stained glass windows, ornate candelabras, and our family and friends surrounding us. After the ceremony our photographer, a friend of mine from high school, got some fun shots outdoors and off we went to the reception. Our family and friends set up a blue and yellow rustic themed reception for us earlier that day. The décor was so creative with mason jars and yellow and white flowers, blue table cloths, personalized wine bottles with our photos, and wine bottle candle holders. A childhood friend of mine made a huge banner that read “Friends & Family” that hung over a huge fireplace. Below the banner my brother and uncle hung twine and clothespins for a photo wall. My mother asked everyone to bring a photo of them with Patrick or myself to hang on the wall. This was such a personal touch that added color and interest to the décor, but also meant a lot to us. After the wedding we got to keep the photos and make our own scrapbook of all the memories we’ve had with our guests through the years. My parents took an old barrel and took the wooden planks apart to make rustic signs using twine, chalkboard paint, and chalk. They also used the wooden barrel lid to make a sign with flowers for the front door of the cabin. We had a surprise when we saw that Pat’s mother and my mother had taken the metal rings or barrel hoops to hang old baby photos from. These small details really made the room feel like it was set up for us and it looked amazing. Using simple décor with personal touches can make your big day truly one of a kind. The Indiana wedding was especially special to me because it was thrown by my partents and grandma Lulu and other family and friends. I got to have my amazing little brother, Danny, in the wedding as well as my best friend Bob and my new sister in law Caitlin. My readers were childhood friends Sara and Jamie. I was tired of thinking about weddings before we got to IN, but after we were there and I got to see everyone all the stress melted away. I had the time of my life surrounded by the people I love most. Really both weddings were a dream come true. I think for not being the typical woman to "plan" my wedding since birth I did alright!