I Need Help With My Cake

Julie has decided on a baker for our cakes so now I need to start thinking about what mine is going to look like. To me there are really only two choices...

Fudgie the Whale

or

Cookie Puss

Part Of A Well-Balanced Balanced Rehearsal Dinner

Julie and I are talking to various places about having our rehearsal dinner there so if you are vegetarian, allergic to shellfish or peanuts, are lactose intolerant or have some weirdo food allergy let us know so you don't die the night before our wedding and totally ruin our weekend.

That Was Easy

Julie went to look at invitations on Saturday and spent 2-3 hours working on what she wanted. I was in the neighborhood and on my way to a friend's house to watch football and drink beer when Julie called and wanted my opinion. Oh, shit. This is out of my jurisdiction and I knew I'd have no idea how to choose. Julie had narrowed it down to two invitations and somehow I picked the one that Julie liked the most and she was pleased with my choice.

The owner of the shop was talking to us and said it must have been my beard that helped me pick the right invitation (he is a fellow bearded guy and obviously knows they give us extra-sensory perception) and that the "other guy" Julie brought in didn't choose as well as me. Funny dude.

So Julie spent most of her Saturday afternoon working on this and I spent 2 minutes on it and everyone in the store seemed impressed I was in there and that I'm the hero and a great fiance'. Just in case ya didn't know.

Back To It

Julie and I are going to start back up with planning this weekend. We've given ourselves a two week break from thinking about the wedding since we did so much early on. This weekend we'll be working on the invitation lists so be nice to us if you want to ensure your spot!!

First Engagement Gift

My Aunt Linda and Uncle Alfred gave us our first gift since we've been engaged: a beautiful pair of crystal champagne glasses from Waterford. It was a great first gift and we really appreciate them. We're excited to use them on our wedding day. Thanks so much!

Dress Shopping

Julie, Libby, Rebecca, their Mom and Dad (and his video camera) are out shopping for dresses and such as I write. Rebecca is in town from NYC for the weekend and they haven't seen each other since we got engaged so it should be crazy today.

The Devil Will Be In The Details

Caterer? Check.

Florist? Check.

Band? Check.

Photographer? Check.

The Starting Lineup

Andrew Harris - Best Man

Josh Gilbert - Groomsman

Robbie Rux - Groomsman

Baylor Dennis - Groomsman

Daniel Rives - Groomsman

Usher - Usher

Jimmy Conyers - Usher

Eleven. Exactly. One louder.

Julie and I are looking for wedding bands (amps that go to 11 not required, just preferred) in the Birmingham area so if you have any suggestions, let us know.

Save the Date

Finally! Julie and I have set the date and location for our wedding. It will be June 13th, 2009 at The Sonnet House (http://www.thesonnethouse.com/).

After many hours spent thinking of potential places, talking to them over the phone, taking numerous tours, including one day where we went to a handful of places and braved the aftermath of one of the southeast's numerous hurricanes/tropical storms this season (it literally rained that entire day) we were told one day late last week about The Sonnet House.

Weeks ago we had initially dismissed TSH because we thought, "Leeds? That is too far away." So we never gave it a second thought. The initial places that made our first cut were Rucker Place, Gabrella Manor, Aldridge Gardens, Alabama Theatre, Donnelly House, Summit Club, Redmont Hotel, The Tutwiler and Carraway-Davie House plus a few others. All had great things going for them but all had something that gave us pause as well, too numerous (and in some cases too excruciating) to name here.

After deciding on the Carraway-Davie House and putting a hold on the date, we received the contract for review. But (thankfully) it wasn't meant to be as a couple of Julie's friends mentioned The Sonnet House to us and we decided to give it another look. Their website was great and the pics were unbelievable. As fate would have it they were having an open house starting on Friday the 5th-7th so we made plans to go as soon as the doors opened at noon. It turned out to not be a far drive at all as it was ~20 minutes from downtown Birmingham.

Two of the owners were there and they gave us a tour of the place. TSH turned out to be everything we were looking for: beautiful grounds, large space for the ceremony and reception, flexible times for the event and the ability to choose any vendor we wanted. Basically, here's the house, do with it what you will.

Julie and I were the first people there for the open house but a handful of other people came in shortly after us. We sat in the car and talked about and whether we wanted to stick with CDH or go with TSH. All of May and half of June was already reserved so we knew any available dates wouldn't last through the weekend so I went back inside and put our name down for June 13th and had them email me a contract. Julie, her sister Elizabeth and their Mom went back on Sunday to take a look and they both loved it as well.

Here's a pic of Julie from their visit on Sunday. This is one of the benches upstairs that Julie obviously loves.

Finally, we found a place that we were 100% confident in and offered everything we were looking for. So put it on your calendars, we're 9 months away...