The Venue, Part 2…The First Contenders

Ok, so after narrowing down some of my criteria for selecting a venue, it was time to hit the pavement, so to speak!

After some discussion with Justin, we decided that we wanted to include the beach in some way, whether it would be to have the ceremony on the beach itself, or to simply find a venue that is nearby/on the beach.  Since many of my guests (and some of his as well) will be coming from out of town, we knew that the individuals attending our wedding would be eager to hit the sand and surf during their time in Florida. I mean, how can you take a trip to Florida and NOT go to the beach?  That would surely be a crime, no?

Ok...so what are the options then!?!?  My heart starts to sink....slightly...because intrinsically I knew from the start that beach weddings in FL = expensive (at times).  Boooooo.

 

Option 1 – Honeymoon Island State Park

They do hold wedding ceremonies at the beach where we met...but knowing me...realistically this might not seem to be my dream location, although it was the location where our love story began!  Even though there would be special meaning behind having a wedding at Honeymoon Island, there might be more downsides than up.  I have seen ceremonies taking place on the beach there, amidst the tourists, annnnd I know that I would be the Bridezilla attempting to shoo them away!  Not to mention the public restrooms on the beach?  The horror!  I cringe to go into them when I'm scrubby and sweaty from the beach.  Could I seriously expect my guests (and MYSELF) to use those when they are dressed in wedding attire?  Not cool.  In the end...budget friendly?  Yes.  Dream location?  Certainly not.

 

Option 2 – Hilton Clearwater Beach

Hmmm could this be an option? The hotel is located smack dab in the center of the Clearwater Beach strip. So...on the beach? Check. Wedding options on the beach? Check. I loved the thought that my guests could stay at the same hotel where the wedding and reception take place, how convenient! So, I got into contact with the catering manager for some more information, then promptly thought I’d think twice about it…

They offer different dinner/hors d’ouevres/bar packages…and they started at a pretty high number in my opinion. And, there was not much room for flexibility. You pretty much pick from a set menu, and the ceremony, dinner, and reception take place in a regulated time frame…the hotel has it down to a science. Although I think that having some sense of order in this process is great, I wasn’t so sure if I enjoyed not having flexibility on my menu, etc.  Scrap this venue? Eh, probably.

 

Option 3 – Nova 535

Thinking I should be realistic, I decided to also take a look into somewhere other than the beach, just to see if something amazing caught my eye.  One of my friends from high school recently had their reception at a venue in St. Petersburg, Nova 535...and I clearly photo stalked them on Facebook. It is an art gallery with brick walls, wooden floor…very modern…very much a blank slate for you to decorate as you see fit.  Very very cool…this has possibilities, right? I love the wood floor for dancing, and they even have a spotlight that they shine on you and your husband for your first dance, how fun!

Hm…although a very beautiful setting, it definitely has nothing to do with the beach…which kind of defeated our original ideas. And, I'd have to rent tables, chairs, linens, potentially hire a caterer, the whole shebang. My head began to hurt, as well as my checkbook, at the thought. Even if the venue itself didn't cost much to rent, I'd be adding exorbitant costs for everything else. Boooooo.

 

***Sigh*** So, with a sense of defeat, I decided to continue the search at a later time…surely the perfect venue was out there for us, it had yet to be discovered though!

 

Stay tuned for Part 3…

It's all about the shoes...

Now, for those of you who know me well, you would never think that buying a pair of shoes would be something that had the ability to frustrate me beyond belief.  I own far too many pairs of shoes for my own good, and have accumulated quite an impressive collection over the years.  Life is too short to be wearing boring shoes!

But first, a little bit about the dress...I'm not going to publicly divulge the specifics on my dress (and definitely not any photos!!!!), but I bought it a few weeks back at CC's Boutique in St. Petersburg, FL. My consultant, Monica, is absolutely fabulous, and I highly recommend asking for her if you are dress shopping in the Tampa/St. Pete/Clearwater area.  She and I discussed exactly what I would want to have in a dress, and she went off to the back of the shop to pick some out for me (they don't have any dresses out on racks).  I ended up loving this, contrary to what I originally was thinking.  I am such a control freak, and I am super SUPER picky about anything related to the clothing that I wear.  I had been shopping at some other dress boutiques before I went to CC's, and I had been much more successful at selecting the dresses that I would look good in in comparison to what the consultants were pulling.  However, by not having the dresses in view, I wasn't able to confuse myself in a sea of white...fabulous!  Of course, wouldn't you know it, the very first dress that Monica pulled was "the one."  Of course, I had to try on about 20 other dresses first in order to solidify the decision, but hey...I got there eventually!  

Don't get excited...this is NOT the one...but I hemmed and hawwed over it!

So, I will say that the dress is all lace...which of course makes for some more complicated alterations.  I'm getting a custom length done on the dress...so I found out that in order to get my measurements taken, I have to have the shoes at the time of the fitting!  ***Gasp*** Me, the planner of all planning, completely forgot to take that into consideration.  I had NO idea what kind of shoes I wanted to wear.  Panic immediately set it.  Thankfully, they were willing to let me take a few weeks to purchase shoes and let me return at a later date.

So, the shoe search began!  Now, you know, whenever you are actually LOOKING for something, you will never find it.  I even have a "shoe boyfriend" at Nordstrom, my beloved Victor, who never seems to fail at knowing what I will like.  I naturally started my search there...I'm not willing to purchase a shoe anywhere else for the most part.  I tried on shoe after shoe, and wasn't too excited.  I ended up spending $285 on a pair of kate spade slingbacks in rose gold.  They were pretty...but something wasn't right.  They weren't fun enough...it was bugging me!

And then...I found them!  I have 2 pairs of this shoe already in different colors that I have accumulated over the years, and I saw that Enzo Angiolini has their 'Merry Ann' pump in 3 wedding friendly colors this season; yellow, white/pearl, and pastel pink snakeskin!  And what is even better is the price; $79.95.  These are one of the most comfortable pumps that I own; I can wear them all day, and I have worn the dickens out of the 2 pairs that I already have.  There were only 17 pairs of size 7 1/2 left in the country, so I had to ship them to my house.  I have been impatiently waiting for them to arrive for over a week, and my (im)patience paid off yesterday!

Ahhhh, so sassy!

I am loving how they aren't extremely yellow...but have a bit of a gold sheen to them as well!  I could NOT be happier!  A girl and her shoes......it doesn't take much more to make me happy!