Photo Gallery | Week 16: Wedding Wednesday
You may know me as News 8's "Good Morning Quad Cities" Reporter, but when I'm not covering trials or bringing you live reports from Modern Woodmen Park, I am planning a wedding!
Welcome to Wedding Wednesdays!
Days Until We Say "I Do"... 101!
This Week's Theme... Preparing for Double Digit Days
As Zach and I exit the triple-digit countdown and head into double-digits, I will be giving you weekly updates on our progress heading into August 11th! I will still have a theme with each post, but there will also be a section where I talk about some of the smaller to-dos that we have crossed off our list since the last post, just to give you an idea of where we are in our planning (and how much we will be packing into the next 100 days... yikes!).
First, let's talk about the PARTY! We had an absolutely great weekend in Downers Grove with my parents and Zach's parents. The six of us have been spending a lot of time together during the engagement, which I couldn't be happier about. Instead of in-laws, our parents are seeing each other as friends... long-lost friends in fact, seeing as they have so much in common from their years in the Quad Cities. Coincidentally, that's what the party this past weekend was focused on -- family friends.
Just like me and Zach, my parents have friends from throughout the years who will be invited to our wedding because they've known me throughout the years. There are friends whose dads used to coach my brother's little league teams, friends who worked with my dad when I interned at my dad's company in high school, and friends who we grew up going to church with and spent many years sitting and singing next to during services. They are "family friends" not just because they're friends of the family, but because they're like family to us... just not officially :)
I've included some pictures above of the party. It was held at Glen Oak Country Club, my parent's club, which is also where we held my brother and sis-in-law's baby shower (You'll notice the very cute picture of their son, Dean, up above. That picture was taken right before Dean almost tore my earring out of my ear lobe, haha). The theme was "Stars," which was a really cute idea thought of by my Mom and included these awesome centerpieces that she found at Party City. The food was fantastic. You'll notice the GIANT bowl of chips and salsa... for Zach, of course. What a lucky guy... he gets all-you-can-eat chips and salsa at this party and all-you-can-eat garlic mashed potatoes at the wedding!
My parents had the idea for this party. Since we didn't have an engagement party, they decided to host what they call a meet-and-greet. I think this is a great idea for any family preparing for a wedding. If you have a decent amount of people invited to your wedding that your fiance or your future in-laws don't know, I recommend it. It was an opportunity for Zach and the Sharps to get to know our family friends and my dad's co-workers, as well as a chance for me to catch up with people I haven't seen for months or even years. Even though they might not remember their exact names or where they live or what they do for a living, it turns a stranger's face into a familiar one on August 11th. For me, it reminds me that even though Zach and I are excited to have our intermediate family and best friends at our wedding, there are others - close to our parents - that have friends that want to be there as well... some who have known us since before we could talk.
IN OTHER NEWS (ha)...
- We are a few corks away from finishing the cork coaster wedding favors! However, finished is different from completed in this case, because I still need to print some small "Thank You" tags and wrap the coasters in ribbon. Then, I will finally be able to put them in a box and not think about them until August! BIG WIN!
- We finalized the invitations and they are on the way to the printer! A quick piece of advice... Check, double check, triple check, quadruple check to make sure addresses are correct, names are spelled right, the invitation has all the information your guests need, etc. Our poor designer, Heather, probably completed 15 revisions of our invitations for us over the last six weeks, BUT - with the invite being the first thing your guests see in relation to your wedding (besides the Save the Dates) - it's worth it to be extra exact with what you want.
- Finally, our wedding website is up and running! We thought it was a good idea to create one because we are referring our guests to our website for more information on hotel accommodations, the dinner menu, the post-party, etc. We know some couples who are doing most of their planning online and using their wedding website to send their save-the-date, request addresses, and even ask for RSVPs and dinner selections. Ours is mostly informative... and actually not quite finished, ha. We still need to "jazz up" the Bridal Party section, but for the most part - it is here for your enjoyment (and constructive criticism, of course).
http://angiezach.ourwedding.com
ONE LAST NOTE...
I wanted to give a shout-out to one of my readers who contacted me earlier this week through the wonderful world of Facebook. She is actually an old Downers Grove friend who recently got engaged! She said she reads the blog and is looking forward to using some of my ideas/advice to plan her wedding. It was a really great message to receive and I hope that for anyone who is out there reading this -- even if they're not from the Quad Cities or planning a Quad City wedding - that they're able to get some encouragement from my experiences, solutions, advice, or at least just a smile or a laugh. Thank you all again for being so supportive!
Next Week... We will be finalizing all the logistics with our ceremony at Short Hills Country Club, attacking round #2 of registering, and I'm sure much, much more :)
