#WINE-ING!

Last Saturday, M's parents invited us over for (as they named it) a "Welcome Y to the Family!" party.  M is the eldest of three boys, so his mom is pretty excited about finally having a girl in the family.  Her and her husband put together a wonderful afternoon of M's favorite foods (teriyaki beef and kalua pig), a whole lotta family, and a wine tasting with wines from our vineyard!  I didn't get to take any pictures because I was so busy getting wedding advice and eating delicious gouda, so you'll have to settle for some pictures of our delicious wine.

Tasting room at OHV

Let me just say, I love the wines at our venue.  When we were picking a vineyard our decision was probably based 60% on aesthetics, 30% on wine, and maybe 10% on other stuff like convenience, price, blah blah blah.  I know, we're terrible.  That said, I felt super lucky that we stumbled on a place with a gorgeous view and a fantastic selection of wines.  Especially since the first day we visited, tasting the wine was about all we could do.

However, I'm well aware that my taste in wines is incredibly biased toward sweet, fruity wines.  So when we first thought about what we'd be serving at our wedding, I immediately voted for the crisp, fruity rosé and the sweeter vidal blanc.  In my mind that fit the requirements of a white and a red and everyone would be happy (especially me).  Luckily, the wine tasting that M's mom organized gave me a lot of insight into what wines his family liked and didn't like, who might drink wine and who would opt for beer/liquor, and just how many wines we should serve.

So without further ado, our first draft at a wine list:

Rosie's Rosé and Vidal Blanc

Woohoo!  Maybe I don't have terrible taste after all!  Rosie's Rosé was almost universally liked by everyone at the party, and was the first bottle to empty after the tasting.  The Vidal was slightly less popular, but definitely won out the whites category (okay, maybe it was the only wine in the whites category).  M's brother/best man liked it the best, as well as a few of his aunts.  And it's certainly my favorite, so I suppose that's worth something...!

Wicked Bottom

I always think of this Chambourcin as OHV's signature red, so I was happily surprised to see that it was the favorite red wine, winning out over their Cabernet Franc and the fruity an Sambradh.   Although I didn't anticipate serving a red wine at our reception, knowing that so many of M's uncles liked it made me think twice. 

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Chambourcin Dessert Wine

Another unanticipated favorite was the dessert wine.  Not pictured on OHV's website, M and I picked up a bottle during our first visit after enjoying it at the tasting.  I didn't think it would appeal to most people since it's very berry sweet, but to my surprise, everyone loved it.  If we have room in our budget, I could definitely see serving a glass during the cake cutting - sort of like the opposite of a champagne toast!

As you can tell, we ended up doubling our list.  Luckily, having our wedding at a vineyard gives us a lot of options for wine.  We could even hold a tasting during the reception if we wanted!  OHV has made it easy for us to pick and choose bottles and aren't limiting us to buy in crate quantities.  Plus if we run out of an unexpected favorite, they'll walk up to the tasting room and grab a few more bottles.  Of course, we'll probably have to do some more "research" at our Countdown Party next weekend, but this was a great start at finding out what wine we should serve.

And thanks Mr. and Mrs. T - you threw us an awesome party!  Can't wait to get down with you guys at the reception!  

What about you guys - what are you serving?  Did you get any input from friends and family?  And have I convinced you VA brides to go buy a bottle of OHV wine yet?  ;)  (pssst:  They sell it at Total Wine...)

All pictures from Old House Vineyard's website, unless otherwise stated.

Surprise, Surprise

This weekend M and I celebrated our two-year dating anniversary.  Yep, we got engaged before we'd even been dating for two years, and what's more, we moved in together after only dating about 3 months.  What can I say?  When you know, you know.

Because we're saving for the wedding we didn't splurge too much on our anniversary.  We thought about going to a Bed and Breakfast for the weekend, but since those can often cost upwards of $300 for two nights we decided to stay a little closer to home.  Just up the street from us is the Reston Town Center - one of my favorite places in Northern Virginia.  We go here all the time for dinner and movies, so when we found out they were having a wine festival on the weekend of our anniversary, we were sold.

Why, yes, now that you mention it, we do love wine!

Not us, but we did enjoy some sipping on the hill [src]

Afterwards, I managed to surprise M with a fancy schmancy room for the night at the Hyatt.  And I mean, really surprise!  I snuck an overnight bag into the car while he wasn't looking, and checked in under the premise of using the lobby bathroom.  I am SO sneaky.  ;)  The cost wasn't nearly as high as those B&Bs, and I upgraded to have champagne and strawberries waiting for us in the room.

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Here's what you should know about me.  I love surprises.  I love being surprised, and I love surprising other people (especially M!).  Last year for our anniversary I booked a whole trip in secret, then on the morning we left, doctored up fake airplane tickets for a different (less exciting) location, and didn't reveal that we were actually going to Las Vegas* until we were at the gate.  The look of excitement on his face was completely worth it!

Just chillin with our homie  (personal photo)

So when it comes to our wedding, I don't think I'll be able to resist the urge to surprise him.  Whether it's a groom's gift of cigars, an engraving in his ring, or an upgrade for a vendor service he has his heart set on, I want to give him something special on our big day.  Aside from the perfect wife, of course.  ;)

Did you surprise your groom on your wedding day?  Are you planning to?  You can tell me, I promise I won't let him know!

*Not Las Vecas! 

Flavor of the Week

Guess what?  This weekend, M and I are taking yet another roadtrip down to our venue-to-be... and signing the contract!  Thanks for your patience leading up to the big reveal.  I'd have hated to show off our gorgeous, awesome venue to you all and then have it not worked out.  Next week you can look forward to a bunch of venue posts, about all the lovely details of our site to the nitty-gritty logic and how we came to sign our contract.  It's been a month in the making, folks, and I'm excited!

Today though, let's talk about theme.  It seems like you can't have a wedding anymore without some kind of theme.  Whether it's just your wedding colors that inspire the decor, a motif or quote used throughout, or a full-blown creative choice that dictates the look and feel of the wedding.

An inspiration board showcasing lavender and pink decor [source]

It could be that less is more, but I want it all.  I'm in love with the large-scale themed weddings some brides have put together:

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What's not to love about a carnival themed wedding?  It's the perfect mix of fun and love (without the carnies).  I even briefly considered this theme while having a small love affair with Glen Echo Park, but sadly, it was a short-lived fantasy.

All photos from WeddingChicks, Image created by MosaicMaker

Then there's the adorably whimsical Up-themed wedding that Lynnette and James created.  M and I have a special spot in our heart for all things Disney (we visited Disney World on our first vacation together!) and I love the giant balloons, pastel palette, and romantic touches (the mailbox??  *sigh*).  I doubt there's a bride out there who hasn't spent at least a second awww-ing at these pictures.

But even though I love these all-out efforts, it doesn't seem like it's in the cards for our wedding day.  Still, I want something to tie our wedding together outside of our color scheme.  Something we can repeat on signs and stationary, that will inspire the centerpieces and cakes, and remind us and our guests of our wedding for years to come:

All photos from WeddingBee, Image created by MosaicMaker

Like the super sweet typewriter theme that the erudite Mrs. Lovebug put together?  Adorable.  I'd rip this off right now if I felt like I was literary enough to pull it off.  Unfortunately, I've never owned a typewriter, and gave up my creative writing major after one semester.  This blog, and a certain love for Courier  is all I've got.

But wait, there's more....

Lovebirds [source]

Damask motif [source]

Music theme [source]

In the end, having our wedding at a vineyard will surely end up influencing almost every aspect of our wedding (I've already been browsing wine-themed centerpieces, invitations, escort cards, favors... and on.)  But I wouldn't call M and I master sommeliers, or even great wine-lovers.  We're just as likely to be sipping micro-brews or a mixed drink (we're equal-opportunity drinkers).  So I'd like to find something more personal to us to flavor our wedding.  What that is?  I have no idea.

DIY - Do you?

This weekend M and I did absolutely nothing wedding-related.  We probably should have gone to see some more venues, but I think we were both burnt out and needed a weekend off.  Plus, I'm tired of writing about the never-ending venue search.  So let's do something a little more fun!

Let's Get Crafty!

I think one of the reasons I was so excited to start planning a wedding (um, aside from my love of M and how much I want to marry him of course) is that I love craft projects, but never get to do them.  They always fall to the bottom of my to-do list - where I spend a bunch of money on supplies and then get bogged down with the reality.  While I know that my wedding DIYs might end up the same way, that doesn't stop me from dreaming about all the cool artsy decor I can incorporate into our day.

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When I first saw this sweet design on WeddingBee it was love at first sight.  I'm huge into fonts and lettering (don't get me started on how excited I am to design an invitation suite) and love this simple monogram featuring that curvy beauty, the ampersand.  I already use M and I's initials for, uh, everything (have you noticed?) and feel like this will be an easy and cheap way to add some fonty flair to our decor.

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Without really realizing it, I've always been planning a vineyard-themed wedding.  And even though I'm not sure if we'll actually have our reception at a vineyard, I still love these cute winery touches.  I know there are several options for wine-themed escort cards, including the ever popular (and daunting) wine cork holders, but I like wine charms the best.  We're also considering etched wine glasses as favors, to tie the theme together.

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And speaking of wine-themes DIYs, aren't these wine bottle luminaries gorgeous?  I imagine using a mix of dark and clear bottles to accent our centerpieces and other tables.  This is easily the hardest project I'm considering, since I have no idea how hard it will be to collect all the bottles I'll need and cut the ends off (though I have several friends who would be glad to come to a "bottle collecting" party...).  We don't own any saws or sanders, so I can see this being the most expensive project as well, though we might be able to borrow tools.

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I love the romantic look of these lacy candle holders.  They're super simple to make (Bellenza has the instructions on their site!) and offer the impact of a fancy candle at a cheap-o price.  Plus, it perfectly matches the ivory and gold wedding colors we're using in addition to purple.  

What, if any, crafts are you planning for your wedding?  Have you attempted any of them yet, and did they turn out well?  Do you see DIYs as a way to add personality and save some money, or an added stress?