england & france vacation, part three

I like to call this day our literary day – you’ll see why shortly.

While we were planning out everything that we wanted to see and do, we decided that we would be remiss if we didn’t go to Stonehenge, which is only a few hours outside of London. However, we would need to rent a car. Which means we would have to drive on the opposite side of the road.

Seeing people drive on the other side of the road had been spooking us for the first couple days of our trip. But it seems like England knows this throws people off – when you walk up to a crosswalk, there are signs telling you which way to look for incoming traffic!

After getting the car and a very nerve wracking drive through the city, we were off to Stonehenge.

During our research for the trip, we discovered that Jane Austen’s house was on the way to Stonehenge – literally right off an exit from the highway. The house in Chawton is where she spent the last eight years of her life and revised three novels (Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, and Northanger Abbey), wrote three more (Mansfield Park, Emma, Persuasion), and started another. (It also dawned on us to visit Highclere Castle, which is the house in Downton Abbey and not far from Hampton Gardens, but it was closed to tours while we were in England.)

Matt insisted that we stop there, and I’m so glad that we did. It was such an experience to see where Jane Austen wrote her novels, including the very desk and room that she sat while writing! Seeing my favorite author’s home was something that I’ll remember for a long time.

After that it was on to Stonehenge, which was incredible. You’re driving along a stretch of highway, and then – BAM! – there are these ancient rocks standing in a circle just on the side of the road. It’s a little unsettling!

Stonehenge is one of those places where you should get the audio tour guide. I learned so much about the history of the surrounding area, the rock formations themselves, and other interesting facts than I would have if I just stood there staring at a bunch of rocks for several minutes. It is such an incredible place, and a must-see for those traveling to England!

After that it was off to Oxford, where we explored the town, marveled at the architecture of Oxford University, and ate dinner at The Eagle and Child, a local pub famous for its frequent diners – J. R.R. Tolkein and C.S. Lewis.

I loved this place. It was the quintessential British pub, with Pimm’s cups, fish and chips, and mashed peas on the menu. Coupled with its rich history, this was a great place to spend a meal.

We then walked around the town, and Matt’s brother Cooper pointed out C.S. Lewis’ apartment door, which now has matching Mr. Tumnus busts in the corners.

For the running fans in our group, we also stopped at the track where Roger Bannister broke the four minute mile.

Missed a post from my England & France vacation? Here’s part one and part two.

ordered a wedding dress + shoes

Don’t worry, I’m not actually going to post pictures of my wedding dress. I am, however, going to tell you all about the process of picking the perfect dress for me.

I’m not one of those girls who spent most of her childhood thinking about her wedding, and I never, until I got engaged, made a board on Pinterest about weddings. (Now I pin to my heart’s content on my wedding board.)

So when it was time to think about a wedding dress, I really had no idea where to begin. I had heard about a collection of dresses called the Disney Princess Wedding Collection, and so I decided to look into those first, since I love all things Disney.

Side note: there are engagement rings floating around on the internet called Disney Princess Engagement Rings. These are not actually real, as Matt said he looked into getting one for me. Oh, well!

Anyway, the Snow White gown caught my eye out of all the others from the collection. I found a store near me that carried the Disney Princess bridal gowns, and went to try it on.

It just…didn’t work. I don’t know what it was, but it just seemed like the dress was wearing me, and I wasn’t wearing the dress. I was a little disappointed, but I decided to try on a bunch of other dresses in varying styles and designs to see what I would like the best.

There was one style that I kept being drawn to (pictured above - keep in mind that this dress is at least four sizes too big for me), but since this was early in the year and way too soon to purchase a dress, I used that style as a reference and booked an appointment at a boutique in Raleigh called Maggi Bridal a couple months later.

Maggi Bridal is unique in that it only books one dress appointment at a time, so that you are the only person in the shop while trying on dresses. The girl that I worked with was friendly, patient, helpful, and very mindful of my budget, which helped a ton in picking the perfect dress for me.

After discussing the different styles that I liked, she helped me pick out a few gowns to try on. I wound up picking the first dress that I tried on, that went completely against what I had originally told her, ha! Though I’ve heard that’s the way it usually goes with wedding dresses.

I spend more times that I would like to admit looking at pictures of myself in the dress on my iPhone. I can’t wait to wear it!

Going along with that, I’m still in the process of picking wedding accessories (are there any cute bridal panties that AREN’T sheer?! I don’t want to show off all my bits to my bridesmaids!), but the shoes I decided on fairly quickly.

I knew that I wanted statement shoes, preferably in pink, since it would go along with the wedding colors but would also give me that pop of color that I wanted. I saw these shoes on Pinterest that were perfect, but being Valentinos, the price tag was not.

I dedicated one night searching around on the Internet for a similar shoe style. Every time I thought I found a shoe that was similar to the original that I loved so much, I would discover that it was in fact the same shoe! It seemed it was meant to be, and with a little coaxing from Matt, I took the plunge and invested in the Valentinos.

Missed a Wedding Wednesday post? Here’s our engagement story, choosing the colors, choosing the bridal party, and picking the venue.

england & france vacation, part two

The third day was pretty much a Harry Potter day. We had tickets for the Warner Brothers Studio Tour: The Making of Harry Potter, which was so magical. If you ever get the chance to go to London, you have to go on the Harry Potter tour. It’s about an hour train ride outside the city, then a 10 minute bus ride, but it is very worth it.

The sets, props, everything there were actually used in the film by the actors, and many of the scenes were filmed there as well.

When you watch the movies, you don’t think about how much actually goes into making all the props, but almost everything was originally made (including Hogwarts and the Great Hall). There is so much to see, too – we pretty much spent the entire day there.

My favorite was seeing all the paper goods, including the ticket to Hogwarts, the Marauder’s Map, the Quibbler, and Harry’s letters from Hogwarts.

I’ve been to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter (yes, major Harry Potter nerd right here), and so most of the things in the gift shop I had already seen or purchased, but I knew that I wanted to get Luna’s wand. I already have Hermione’s, but Luna is a fellow Ravenclaw, so it only seemed right.

After that we went to King’s Cross, and Platform 9 ¾. Matt said the first time he came to London, they just had a sign hidden in the train station for fans to photograph, but they’ve really amped it up since then.

They still have the Platform 9 ¾ sign, but now they have a trolley, complete with trunks and an owl in a cage, halfway through the wall, to make it seem like you are about to go onto the platform. They also have attendants who oversee the line and take your photo. They ask you what House you would like to be in, give you a scarf with the corresponding colors, and then one person flings the scarf in the air while the other takes a picture of you in midair.

I think I really nailed it.

Needless to say, this was one of my favorite days.

Look for part three next week! And in case you missed it, here’s part one.

weekend links / 2

What are you doing this weekend? Matt and I are heading to the beach to relax before the holiday craziness sets in. We went right before Thanksgiving last year, so we seem to be making it a tradition.

Buy experiences, not things – this is why Matt and I are going a trip (not sure where yet!) as a Christmas gift to ourselves.

Should I start a capsule wardrobe?

I want this cookbook.

The perfect fall drink.

In case you missed it last week - J.K. Rowling has written another short story!

Speaking of Harry Potter, here's Daniel Radcliffe showing off his rapping skills.

The holidays are here! If you are hosting Thanksgiving this year, here are some tips for an inspired Thanksgiving.

For those of you who want a trip down nostalgia lane - My Week With a Flip Phone.

I love pasta (of course I do, I'm Italian), but I couldn't take on the level of dedication as this person - My Life on Olive Garden's Pasta Pass.

Such a cute coat for this winter.

Have a great weekend!

picking the venue

Picking a venue has been so far the hardest decision about the whole wedding planning process. After we got back from Disney World, I jumped right into researching wedding venues. I toyed with the idea of having a destination wedding to Charleston, one of my favorite cities and close to Matt’s grandmom, but came to the conclusion that it would be super expensive, as Charleston is one of the most popular wedding destinations in America. Plus, for someone who is detail oriented, Type A and a bit of a micro-manager, planning a wedding from five-plus hours away seemed like a very bad idea.

So, I started researching wedding venues in Raleigh and the surrounding area.

Since there are a TON of venues in the area, I had to narrow my search down a bit. I decided that I wanted to have the ceremony and reception at the same venue, mainly because it is so much easier for guests and also the bridal party when you can just stay in one place. That crossed off a lot of options, including churches, hotels, and the typical reception halls. Most places that have the ceremony and reception in the same location do the ceremony outside, which I wasn't opposed to.

At this point Matt and I didn't have a wedding date picked out, just a specific time of year – the spring. Why the spring? Summers in North Carolina are brutal, winters are too cold, Fall would make for an almost two-year engagement, and so the spring seemed right. Plus, peonies are my favorite flower, and they happen to be in season in the springtime. No brainer.

I thought originally about getting married Easter weekend, but Easter is early next year, April 3^rd. Matt brought up the point that there may be a lot of pollen (for those of you unaware, the pollen season in North Carolina is TERRIBLE. The air is thick with yellow, and it coats the cars, houses, pretty much everything), so we quickly vetoed that idea. We decided on asking venues about dates in late May, as we figured we would be clear of the pollen and the weather would be more pleasant.

Now, I could get to work.

Researching wedding venues was very overwhelming. It helped that I knew some things that I wanted, but when I tell you that I looked at every venue in the area, I am not lying. Most didn't match the feel I was going for, were too expensive, or just not right, so those were quickly scrapped.  As I started researching, I realized that I was drawn to venues that had a “Southern” vibe to them (big, sprawling plantation homes), and over the course of two months went to look at five venues – Fearrington Village, Hudson Manor, Highgrove, The Oaks at Salem, and The Sutherland.

Two out of the five became quick “no’s” for me as soon as I got to the venue. Hudson Manor was one of them. On the outside, the house was gorgeous, but the inside was not as nice, and the owners of the venue lived upstairs, which weirded Matt out a bit. Only the bridal party had access to the house. The grounds were beautifully landscaped, even in the winter. I liked that they had a little chapel on the property, in case it rained. But, the reception was held in a building that looked very much like a dated hall, and they only provided buffets (I wanted a plated dinner). The parking for me was another big negative – people had to park in the grass. I knew that if I was attending a wedding and had to park in the grass and/or mud (if it rained), I would not be happy. The final deal breaker was the owner herself, who just rubbed me the wrong way.

The next “no” was The Oaks at Salem. Again, the venue was owned by a woman who lived there as well, but the guests could go into the house. While the cars were parked on the grass like the previous venue, there was valet parking, which was nice. The ceremony was held outside under a giant oak tree with a pond in the background, and the reception was on the patio with the pond as a backdrop – both beautiful locations. But, the whole venue gave off the vibe that you were just getting married in a rich person’s house, and it didn't seem like an actual wedding venue.

The next two venues were closes “yeses” for me, but in the end I said no to both of them. Highgrove quickly became a favorite of mine. I loved the house and the fact that the guests could go into the house and enjoy it as well (as I started looking at venues I realized how important it was to me for people to be able to go into the house if they pleased, partly because of the price of these venues, which were not cheap, and partly because I wanted my guests to have the full experience of the venue). The ceremony overlooking the lake was gorgeous, and the reception area was nice too, with a big stone fireplace at the end of the room. But, I didn't like the rain option, which was to have to guests sit at their tables in the reception hall, while the ceremony would be conducted in front of the fireplace. The idea of having guests sit at the tables was not appealing to me at all, and seemed tacky and distracting. My parents offered extra money to have the room flipped for both the ceremony and reception, but the manager refused. I was disappointed, but realized that in the end, Highgrove probably wasn't the right venue for me, if I was uneasy about the rain option.

Fearrington Village was almost the winner. It had everything, including multiple ceremony locations, a beautiful open air reception area, and offered delicious food from the restaurant on-site, the only AAA Five-Diamond restaurant in the state of North Carolina. The bridal party got ready in the honeymoon hotel suite, which was also on-site. The rain option was acceptable. It was perfect. The price tag, however, was not, and if I wanted to make it work for our budget, I’d have to cut down the guest list (we currently have a little over 100 guests on the list) and go with a buffet meal, both of which I really wanted to avoid. So, I said goodbye to Fearrington Village and started looking again.

There was still one major venue in the area that I hadn't looked at yet, except briefly online. My co-worker was getting married at The Sutherland in October of this year, and I was trying to avoid her venue, mostly because I didn't want her to think I was copying her, even though it kept coming up in my thoughts. But, after all four “no’s,” I figured it was time to take a look at The Sutherland.

When I stepped on the grounds, I knew it was the one. Old fashioned gas lamps light the path from the parking lot to the ceremony, which is held in a walled garden with immaculate landscaping. The house itself hosts the bridal party before the ceremony, and afterwards, the guests are free to explore the house. The groom and groomsmen get ready in a cabin dating back to the 1700s, which sits on the property. Cocktail hour is on the back patio, overlooking a giant oak tree. The newly finished open-air pavilion hosts the reception, which also doubles as the rain option for the ceremony.

It was perfect. Matt and I decided on a Friday date to save some costs, and after skipping over the extra 20 percent for Memorial Day weekend, decided on May 29, 2015.

I don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea about the places that I didn't like, so I will add this disclaimer: just because these places didn't work for me, doesn't mean they were bad venues. They all were beautiful, and all had positives. It’s just that, for me, the venues that I didn't choose had negatives that I couldn't see past, and decided to pass on. I've seen pictures of weddings done at each of the four venues that I didn't choose that were absolutely gorgeous.

Missed a Wedding Wednesday post? Here's our engagement story, choosing the colors, and choosing the bridal party.

england & france vacation, part one

I meant to write about this trip a while ago. It was going to be one of the first posts written, but life got in the way, and I just never got around to it. Until now!

In May, I traveled with Matt and his family to England and France for a week. The excuse of the trip was to see Matt’s younger brother Cooper, who was studying abroad in London for the semester. It was the first time I had ever been overseas to Europe and the UK, and I was so excited. The trip did not disappoint! We packed in quite a bit into our eight days over there, which was exhausting, but the only way to do everything that we wanted to do.

On the first day we visited Hampton Court Palace, King Henry VIII’s favorite castle. We didn't go into the palace, just the gardens. They were so beautiful, and I understand now why English roses have the distinction they do. After that we were pretty much sleeping on our feet, so we called it a day.

Yes, I was that American girl going around taking pictures of phone booths, taxicabs, mailboxes, Underground signs and the Queen's Guard…

Hey Harry Potter fans, do you recognize that train platform? The opening scene with Harry and Dumbledore from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was filmed there. I didn't notice it was the same until Matt's brother Cooper pointed it out to me. The magic of the movies, huh?

The next day was non-stop of all of the most touristy things you can imagine to do in London. We visited Piccadilly Circus, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, The Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Parliament, Big Ben, Kensington Palace (where Will, Kate, baby George, and Baby #2 live!), Prince Albert Music Hall, and the Albert Memorial. We rode a double-decker bus. We took a boat ride town the River Thames. It was an awesome and very tiring day.

One of the craziest things about London was how early the sunrise was. One morning I woke up, thinking that it was maybe around 6am judging by the light, and looked at the clock to see that it was only 4:30am! Since it’s so far north, London’s spring and summer days are super long. The sun didn't set until around 9:30pm or so – in France, which is an hour ahead, it didn't set until after 10pm!

Also, since we were traveling in the middle of May, I was expecting the weather in London to be chilly, rainy, and a bit dreary. I purchased some packable tour Hunter boots that I was expecting to wear almost every day, and in fact I only wore them once! The weather was amazing – sunny, mid to upper 70’s, not a cloud in the sky. The weather in France was the complete opposite, ha.

Stay tuned for part two next Monday!