Amber's Story: Planning a Wedding in Massachusetts

Timothy S. Hopkins Catering: My Experience

2011-12-14T19:45:00.000-05:00

In my experience, Timothy S. Hopkins Catering was another wedding vendor who was not friendly to a bride having a small wedding in Massachusetts. I ended up going with A Haute Dish (now located in North Andover, MA) instead, because I want my wedding to be just as elegant as a large one, just for fewer people, and she clearly conveyed that she understands and will help make it special. But I

Wedding Reception Catering: A Haute Dish in N. Andover, MA

2011-11-11T21:23:00.001-05:00

After the ordeal with the seamstress I almost didn’t want to think about catering for my wedding, or anything else wedding related. But I started to feel the first bout of pressure and time constraints. Here I have 3 days off; I should be making the most of them, not wallowing in one bad experience. And yet, I was NOT going to make the same mistake twice. I would NOT be blindsided again

Bridal Show Expo: Ethan Allen in North Andover, MA

2011-11-10T23:30:00.000-05:00

Although a power outage that threatened to cancel the show, the lights came on in time and mom and I spent a couple hours at the Ethan Allen in North Andover, MA, checking out the few vendors I still need amidst beautiful décor. But the bridal show expo had its share of ups and downs. As with most bridal shows, the majority of vendors were photographers (why is this?) There were also

Wedding Cake Tasting: Jacques Fine European Pastries in Suncook, NH

2011-11-05T21:30:00.000-04:00

I hate driving. I drove an hour and a half to get to Jacques Pastries to look at wedding cakes. I would do it again in a heartbeat. I've known for nearly 2 years that I wanted Jacques to make my wedding cake. I'm pretty sure it was the second bridal show mom and I went to that I saw them. The first was at Spinelli's, and while they were very good, they wouldn't make me a small cake.

Wedding Hair Trial: On Broadway in Revere, MA

2011-11-02T14:35:00.000-04:00

Today I had my first wedding hair trial. At a bridal show. Mom and I went to the bridal show at the Andover Country Club. This was the same place that I got to bring Adam to last April, so I felt nostalgic when I walked in. :) Mom and I arrived at almost exactly the same time, I signed in quickly, and we went in. It looked like there were fewer vendors than usual, and not even as many

Flowers By Darlene at North Shore Fruits Baskets in Salem MA

2011-10-26T22:29:00.000-04:00

Today I went to Flowers By Darlene at North Shore Fruit Baskets on the recommendation of a coworker. It didn’t start out well. Traffic was TERRIBLE. Salem in October is awful. So I get there, and the neighborhood is, well, on the edge of town. I walked in the shop and it wasn’t as fancy as the other wedding flower shops I’d been in. But I looked carefully at the actual flowers around and

Wedding Florist MA: Rennie’s Flower Shoppe, North Andover

2011-10-22T23:33:00.000-04:00

Today I had an appointment with the florist at Rennie’s Flower Shoppe in North Andover. And although I liked both places, and found both wedding florists ma de good first impressions by being eager to please yet realistic, and have good design ideas about floral arrangements for weddings, this was a very different experience than my one at Evan’s. I met with the manager, who started out by

Visiting Evan’s Flowers for Wedding Flowers in MA

2011-10-18T21:20:00.000-04:00

After collecting business cards from 2 years worth of bridal shows and Googling “Wedding flowers, MA” I met with a florist at Evan’s Flowers this afternoon. I almost didn’t get in because they told me their wedding person had the day off. But today was the only day I had this week to go in, so although I said I could call back for next week, they made it work. The flower shop was nice; I didn

Selecting a Justice of the Peace in Massachusetts

2011-10-17T20:15:00.001-04:00

I really wasn’t looking forward to trying to find a Justice of the Peace in Massachusetts. I hate calling people. There’s no price shopping. I feel like there’s this pressure to “find someone you click with.” Really? I’m hiring a stranger to talk for 20 minutes. How am I going to find out if I “click with him?” I know they do consultations to “get to know the couple.” But I’ll be on my

Picking a Bridal Hair Tiara

2011-10-16T21:57:00.002-04:00

Choosing just one bridal hair tiara was kind of hard! On the one hand, I didn't want to spend a lot on it (there's just SO many other elements that go into paying for this wedding, I didn't want accessories to eat up a huge proportion of my wedding budget). On the other hand, it's closer to my face than say, my shoes, so it's going to be in all the photographs; it had better be a good looking

When Simple Wedding Ceremony Vows Make Life Easier

2011-10-11T20:29:00.002-04:00

Today I realized that I can't ask Adam to do the reading I put into the wedding program. And in the same moment, instead of getting upset, I realized that’s okay. Adam was clear from the start that he doesn't want to do a speech and he wants to say as little as possible in the ceremony. So when I looked at sample wedding ceremonies and saw that readings by the couple is customary, I knew all

I Try to Choose a Justice of the Peace in Massachusetts

2011-10-06T00:42:00.000-04:00

With the weight of the venue selection off my shoulders I felt a huge sense of, “Phew! Done!” And the fact that Adam booked his one-way ticket (and then changed his ticket to come even earlier, but that’s another story) well, I just felt like I was all set. Of course there’s still PLENTY to do. But I told Adam I’m not sure where I want to start? Flowers? Hair and makeup? He

We Have Our Perfect Wedding Venue!

2011-10-01T20:56:00.000-04:00

I’m so proud I could burst. I saw the house, loved it, and put down the deposit! I have a house to marry Adam in. A house where his family can spend the week when they visit from England for the first time, that's close enough for me to get to easily even in winter. When I arrived the owner was just as sweet as she was on the phone, and the house looked just as nice, with a few nice

Massachusetts Wedding Venue Search: Things Are Looking Up

2011-09-28T17:23:00.000-04:00

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Finding a Small Massachusetts Wedding Venue

2011-09-21T16:02:00.000-04:00

9/16 When I found out that a third house I wanted for my small, Massachusetts wedding venue was being sold, I was crushed. At first I was looking for homes that would work for my small wedding venue on HomeAway, but this time I started looking on VRBO and actually found TONS of homes on the North Shore of Massachusetts. I’m not sure why there's so many more on VRBO than on HomeAway. It

The Search Continues for Small Wedding Venues in Massachusetts. AGAIN.

2011-09-16T21:16:00.000-04:00

It happened to me AGAIN. Before going to visit Adam this summer I looked through all the vacation homes in the Northeastern Massachusetts area again, in hopes that Adam would get an interview in August. I thought I’d be able to book the vacation home before I even left England. There were two rental homes I really loved. One house was in Salem, and the other home was in Rockport.

Hiring a Limo for the Wedding

2011-09-12T13:59:00.000-04:00

I am really not sure why, of all things, the next thing I started thinking about was the limo. Maybe it was because I noticed it’s one of the few hard copy folders I have that I didn’t also research online. So I decided to fix that. I have mixed feelings about the whole limo thing. On the one hand, I didn’t have one for my prom, and always regretted it. I think the only time I rode in

My Must Have Wedding Shots List

2011-09-11T20:15:00.000-04:00

Once I did all I could in terms of the big picture, I realized the most important thing to me right now is the photographer. So I went through the 5 different “must have wedding photos” lists I’ve found on the internet, and a few of my own ideas that are really personal to Adam and I, and created a single list. The list of “must have wedding shots” that seemed to have the best

Planning My Wedding FOR REAL Finally: Getting Organized

2011-09-10T11:57:00.000-04:00

Since Adam needed a break from visa/wedding stuff, I started to get myself organized. No messing around now. Very soon we'll set a date and I will be actually making appointments, making real choices (as opposed to just getting inspiration) and paying deposits. So first, I went through my computer files and made sure everything was sorted correctly into folders: Cake Catering, venues

Guest Blog: Interview at the American Embassy in London

2011-09-09T11:41:00.000-04:00

Finally had my K1 fiancé(e) interview in London, and I got through unscathed, phew! I knew the appointments were really done by the 'block', so even though it was for 9am I went on the train early in the morning and ended up at the embassy at 7. There was a queue of people even then! After getting something to eat and coming back at about 7:45 they were starting to let people in, so I

The K-1 Visa Application Process is Finally Complete

2011-09-08T22:54:00.000-04:00

When I called the Department of Immigration in April, 6 months after I sent them the visa petition for Adam and learned that they weren’t even going to LOOK at it for another 3 months, it was devastating. So 2 weeks later when we got a letter saying that the petition was approved, we were pretty surprised. And PSYCHED. It was Friday April 22, Adam’s last full day of vacation here

Planning a Winter Wedding

2011-09-07T19:17:00.000-04:00

Having our wedding in the wintertime was not my first choice. Okay, it's my LAST choice in terms of “seasons I want to be married in.” But when you’re at the mercy of immigration, you just have to try to look at the silver lining and pray that you don’t end up with a blizzard on your scheduled wedding day. The pros of having a winter wedding: I kind of like winter colors

And We’re Back: Applying for the K-1 Fiance Visa

2011-09-06T19:09:00.000-04:00

Coming up with the Ring Ceremony Wording

2011-06-26T16:04:00.000-04:00

Next I looked for a vow to go with the wedding ring exchange. You know, the, “with this ring i thee wed” vows. This was almost as fun as looking for wedding vows. I think the wedding vows are actually more important than the ring ceremony wording, because they are our commitment to each other, as opposed to being about an object (which is a symbol of, well, our commitment to each other). But

The Wedding Vow Examples Hunt

2011-06-22T23:34:00.001-04:00

The next thing to think about, when it comes to the ceremony, is the vows. It was actually a lot of fun for me to read through different wedding vow examples! Even though I love the traditional “for rich or for poor, for sickness and in health,” it seems pretty cool that in this day in age people can say, well, whatever they want! Yes, there’s a lot of sameness in the experience of finding