Monday, September 16, 2013

Location, Location, Location


The setting: Rural Kentucky in my old hometown of Irvine 
Late summer is just gorgeous here when the trees are just turning a shade of gold, and the wildflowers buzzing with honey bees, the days are long and hot, and the nights are balmy.  Perfection!  Its a farm called Shiloh that my grandfather owns, where I spent my childhood playing in the trees and wondering the trails.  




But here is the catch, there are no structures any where on the property, no electricity or refrigeration, and the drive is long, graveled, and theres some pretty big potholes.  In a truck its no thing, but Dominic wouldn't drive his Prius there.  However, its just gorgeous! 

 Things to consider
  • transportation to and from for guests in a large truck or SUV
  • camping!  guests will be invited to pitch a tent for the weekend at "shady grove"
  • large area so we need signs and such though for easy navigation
  • the food! everything needs to be prepared before hand and easy enough to store in a cooler
  • shelter, in case it rains.  I was thinking lots of umbrellas arranged in a way to provide shelter for the food
  • using a map, plan the ceremony with a stage or archway or something for us to say our i do's and the band to play at afterwards
  • tables and chairs for eat and drink
  • helicopters


save the date ideas!


Oh we have photos... lots of them!  We like to camp, hike, adventure, dance... and all have been recorded on our smart phones.  But heres the catch... how do you turn one of these pictures into a save the date?  It's probably important to note that we haven't yet settled on a date.  My plan was for September 15, 2014.  The fifth anniversary of our first date.  But that falls on a Tuesday or something...  Plus we have friends in school that wouldn't be able to travel mid-September.  So a month prior on August 15, 2014 might be the one.  A half moon, because the moon and the stars have had such an influence in our life.  


For visual inspiration Pinterest.com is awesome!  Heres more save the date ideas I have found on Pinterest.

50 “Save the Date” Photo Ideas | Random Tuesdays 50 “Save the Date” Photo Ideas | Random Tuesdays 50 "Save the Date" Photo Ideas 5 Clever Engagement Announcement Ideas engagement photography cute save the dates
Dominic and I are huge craft beer fans, we've even tapped a few brews at beerfests in Cincinnati.
Side note: Make a label, brew some beer, and serve it to our friends at the ceremony... or before... or both. Wedding beer!!


Don't Delay, Plan Your Wedding Today!

July 2013, Dominic Joseph Roberto proposed to me at Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, WA.  I was there on a 6 week long internship as the librarian and Dominic was visiting me from Seattle.  It was an early Monday morning and I had just gotten him some breakfast to munch on for his drive home.  I couldn't find the bacon he was after and he said, "we gotta talk."  I was actually worried that he was going to break up with me, perhaps because of the bacon.  And there in the library which was quiet because well, it's a library, he pulled a small navy blue bag from his pocket, fell to one knee and said, "will you marry me?" I thought for a second and said well, of course!  We met four years ago in Cincinnati, OH and moved to the Pacific Northwest together last summer.  The following is a poem I wrote him to celebrate our four years together.


Four years ago today,
I cried like a baby until you agreed to go out with me. 
You were playing hard to get,
and nearly ran on some bullshit.
But my eyes were flooded with admiration, 
and on the brink of desperation,
you grabbed my hand and said OK.
That night we danced under a Cincinnati moon, 
played with Lucy and chugged some booze.
We swallowed our past and chased it with laughs.
Then like a rock, we fell from a hammock.
Until I fixed it… 
and in pain, fell from it again. 
But you stayed for two days!
 I was smitten, in love.
But I know I can be so rough around the edges.
You almost fled,
 but instead you kind of moved in.
 And then there we were,
 in this tiny apartment together.
on Rochelle, with a murphy bed and a giant front deck.
We colored all of Avondale, 
with chalk and our ideas.
and when we were finished,
 we'd hit up Staggerlee'sto stock up on sips and tortillas.
 Fast forward a bit, 
to the times we would sit
on our stoop on old Rohs Street. 
The people we'd greet, 
while walking down the street.
who would laugh at our funky old house,
with a green spider on top from that one St. Patrick's day
.He had his own web, we built for Halloween. 
Lit up with the lights from Christmas. 
And under the bamboo,
 we dug up some roots
and Emily planted flowers in shapes, 
but it didn't work cause of the roof.
And the whole time our love did grow, 
mostly at an Umphrey's Mcgee show,
I thought I knew good music before I met you.
Many moons later, 
there came a time to leave,
Just a hop skip and a jump down the river.
 We moved to the Pacific Northwest, 
the fresh and the best.
Drove into the sun with the night on our backs.
Oh, the excitement we found, 
while wondering the sound
with our song in the breeze, 
as we danced in the trees.
And the friends we have made, 
as we explore this new place.
It was here that you held my hand,
 and on one knee, 
with a smile on your face,
 you said…
Will you marry me?
And I imagined our future together, 
where ever these worn shoes might take us. 
About one day, 
when we are old and grey.
But it was impossible to think of my life without you,
And that is why I said yes.

And now this amazing journey has begun, to plan my own wedding.  We are on a budget, a very very small budget and just where do I begin!?  That is why I am writing this blog.  To organize my thoughts, somehow, as well as to get everyone involved on the same page.