Planning in Raleigh...

There has been a whirl of planning while I've been in Raleigh. Due to Brian's pesky lung, he wasn't able to come to Raleigh and I didn't get to do as much as I wanted to do. However, I was able to look at some places, and think about things.

Wedding Locations: The Mordecai House was nice, but a little too close to traffic for my tastes - the place for weddings is right next to the road and had lots of traffic noise. The Tucker House was also nice but a tad small for our needs - it might be a good rehearsal dinner location. I was reminded about Fletcher Park, and decided to go check it out - there is a building there called the Borden Building, and some nice grassy areas for a wedding. I really liked it, and I think it could be a winner, though the rules for reception aren't fitting with what we want (there is no dancing and no amplified music in the building). An idea is to have the wedding there, and then move the reception to another location (for which I have an idea or two). The NCSU Arboretum is also nice, but Fletcher Park is drawing me in more. Brian and I are not really interested in any churches, to the consternation of some ;)

Reception Ideas: Artspace in Raleigh could be a great place, so I'm going to call them up and see what's going on - I think it could be a lot of fun.

I was looking at the Exploris Museum too (though, now it's called the Marble Kids Museum, and somehow that is much less cool).

Date: September of this year is still looking likely - I like the weather, and I think it'll be a morning wedding, before the heat of the day.

Photography: I have some ideas - I have a number of friends/connections who could be good resources, so once I have a date, I will start asking around more seriously.

Catering: I am less sure on this - I've done some preliminary prodding on the web, and it's scary how fast food could add up (+ chairs and linens and tables and alcohol, etc). If anyone has any good caterers they would recommend, I'm interested in exploring. I'm also looking for chair rentals (for reception and ceremony) - I looked at Holland Rent-it-All, and their prices seem good, so if anyone has any experience with them or other renters, let me know!

Flowers: I like flowers, yes I do. Know of any good florists? Fallon's and Carleton's are the big deals around here - any experience with them? Can't I just go to whole foods and buy lots of flowers and throw them around?

This is sort of like I had a 36-hour wedding planning time. Where is my reality show?

Brian and I are thinking of coming back to Raleigh in April or so to do more planning if necessary and have the parents meet (yes, this hasn't happened yet).