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Anyone planning from afar?

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peonygirl

peonygirl

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How difficult has it been, and what strategies are you using? I''m planning long distance from Chicago to San Diego, and even though my parents are in San Diego they haven''t been much help. I''m just trying to do tons of Internet research, and fly out there every few months, and book appointments like mad. Luckily I have a 16-month engagement, so it looks like we''re on track schedule-wise so far.
 
YES! My wedding is in Milwaukee, WI and we live in Charlotte, NC. I have made three trips home so far (and am planning on going 2 more times before the wedding). It makes things a little harder but luckily my mom and sister both live there and have been great. I multi-task when I go back. For example when we went back for an engagement party, we met with venders. My first fitting is the same weekend as my WI shower. That kind of thing.

ETA: We will have a 14 engagement in total. It does help to have a longer engagement in this type of situation.
 
I am as well. I started planning while I was still in Chicago. I am getting married at the Four Seasons in Vegas. Luckily the coordinator at the hotel has been very helpful. Before we chose the location I spent ALOT of time reading reviews on the Vegas board on the knot. It really made things easier. We have been out there twice, first in October to choose a location, then during our cross country trip to meet the florist and do our menu tasting, next we go in May to finalize everything....

Parents are never much help with this, you really need to ask questions of brides in the area!

best of luck!
 
Peony,
If you need any recommendations for San Diego Vendors let me know! My wedding is all planned out and now I am just waiting for the big day, well and my FI to come home from Iraq but thats a whole different story!
Nicole
 
nicolejrx, that''s so sweet! Which vendors are you using? So far we have our ceremony and reception sites and our DJ and band, and we''re really waffling over which photographer to use (Trailbrook or Chana and Don). I guess we''ll worry about the florist and videographer when we''re in town next. The food and cake are close to being set because they come with our site.
 
We need to form a little support club here! I am also in Pittsburgh planning a Sept, 2007 wedding in San Diego. It may seem like a long time away but my fiance is the only person in San Diego, and he is no help in this area
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nicolejrx and peonygirl and other San Dieogo brides, do you know any Hotel sites covering for ceremony, reception, and also allowing for candle-lit wedding?
 
zhuzhu, the three hotel sites I looked at were L''Auberge Del Mar, La Valencia in La Jolla, and the Lodge at Torrey Pines. La Valencia was our favorite, but the ceremony site was too small for us. I know that you can light candles in the ballrooms of all three, not sure about during the ceremonies. I''m guessing they would let you have candles in hurricane glasses though.

Is there any particular reason you''re looking specifically at hotels?
 
Date: 4/2/2006 11:11:53 PM
Author: peonygirl
nicolejrx, that''s so sweet! Which vendors are you using? So far we have our ceremony and reception sites and our DJ and band, and we''re really waffling over which photographer to use (Trailbrook or Chana and Don). I guess we''ll worry about the florist and videographer when we''re in town next. The food and cake are close to being set because they come with our site.
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So many good vendors, my photographers are actually from Arizona and are coming out for the wedding but I have heard very good things about both photographers you have mentions. As far as the florist goes, we are using LaVonne Zamorra from Adorations. Her work is beautiful and she really has a great vision. We really like our videographer too! Roldan productions www.roldanproductions.com My fiance and I were not sure if we wanted a videographer. I just don''t like how at some weddings they are so in your face, doing interviews and everything. Jeff is very laid back and we got along with him very good! If you need a great planner, Joanna Falb at Unforgettable Events http://www.unforgettableevent.com/Joanna.htm She is super nice and is very thorough. She has already met with my church coordinator! And I haven''t even met with her yet! Let me know if you need any more suggestions!
Nicole
 
I know that my site, the Rancho Bernardo Inn, does both the ceremony and reception. I am having lots of votives during my reception. Only requirement is that the candles have to be covered, i.e. a votive in a glass. I really love my reception site!
Nicole
 
We planned from afar and the internet was a godsend, I have no idea how anyone planned from afar before that! You can do the research AND find people who have had their event there or used the same caterer etc. It makes sharing of information just so much easier.
 
Mara, your frozen yogurt icon is making me soooo hungry!
 
its real whipped cream!!

much worse for you than frozen yogurt...
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I''m planning my Michigan wedding from afar. It really hasn''t been that hard. Part of the reason it''s gone so easily is that I have a bunch of friends who got married there recently and I just used their vendors. I figure, no reason to spend hours and hours trying to find a good DJ, when I know that I really liked the DJ at my friends'' wedding. Hopefully my friends don''t mind that I''ll be using all their vendors!

And I agree that the internet is a godsend for long distance planning.
 
Peony:

I live in DC and we''re getting married in Vermont. I would say the internet and a couple of personal visits are making it come together.

we only had approximately 6 months of planning...(originally thought we''d wait until ''07)
 
Peony, I''m planning ''long'' distance but not as long as most on here only 2.5 hours and that''s kind of a pain, thank God for his mom and dad especially since I have only 5 months left. The biggest pain is that I can''t just run to met with a florist or baker, I have to make it a weekend event. Oh well, when it''s all said and done it''ll be worth the trouble.

I would deligate to your maids, if you have one and also use your sister and/or mom for looking up info. Also on-line definitly, I''ve been finding that if I so a search on google like ''photography - Saginaw MI'' it''ll bring up a web-site that list all photographers within and outside of Saginaw. Great help.

Good luck!
 
My fiance live in Philadelphia, but are planning our wedding in Buffalo, where we both grew up. And well- we''ve really not accomplished anything yet, though I am fairly certain that we''ve decided on a location.

We''re going to end up with a 2.5+ yr engagement due to my school schedule for the next year and a half. Med school just doesn''t make long distance wedding planning easy! Oh well...

I agree w/ Mara though. The internet is a MUST for researching, since you cannot see EVERYTHING when you have limited time at your wedding location.
 
Hi Peonygirl,

We want it in a hotel beause majority of our guests will be out of towner. Ideally if they can come straight from the airport then they do not need additional transportation to go from hotel, to ceremony, to reception, and back again to hotel.... I hopt our thougthfulness will be appreciated by the guests!

I love candles in ceremony room for the evening wedding. Has any of you seen a lovely hotel space (either outdoor or indoor) to be candle-freindly?

z.
 
When we looked at venues we ONLY looked at hotels and country clubs because I knew it would make the planning easier (they make the food, cake, bar, have chairs/tables....) I am really glad I did.
 
Date: 4/2/2006 8:19:37 PM
Author:peonygirl
How difficult has it been, and what strategies are you using? I''m planning long distance from Chicago to San Diego, and even though my parents are in San Diego they haven''t been much help. I''m just trying to do tons of Internet research, and fly out there every few months, and book appointments like mad. Luckily I have a 16-month engagement, so it looks like we''re on track schedule-wise so far.
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I have a great photographer to recommend, and a DJ. Let me know what you still need and maybe I can help you! When is the wedding?
 
I''m planning a Louisville, KY wedding. I got engaged and started planning from Rochester, NY, spent a few months living in Ypsilanti, MI (drove down 2x from there to Louisville to book the venu and the photographer and pick a hotel for the block), lived about 2 hours away from Louisville in northern KY for a few more months (drove to Louisville 2x from there, once to book florist, once to drop off all the wedding stuff we''d bought to store at our only local guest''s house), then moved to Irvine, CA. I still need to find a hair dresser/make-up artist, and let me tell you that is the WORST one to try and do from a distance...only the really pricey places have websites and you can''t do a trial across 3 time zones! I''m a VERY organized planner, and I love doing it, but it sure would be easier to do something close to home...not that I really have a ''home'' - I can''t wait to buy a house with FH, I''m never going to want to move again...hehehe

95% of our guests are OOT (ranging from 4 hours to several days drive away), so this has truly become a destination wedding
 
Hey guys! My first official post to the BWW even though I''ve been engaged for 4 months! We finally set a date last night pretty much! We''re going to do it in March of 08 sometime the first week probably March 1 or later doesn''t matter because I talked to my mom last night and she''s in agreement with me that we''ll do a destination wedding
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I think the two top locations so far on my list are St. Lucia or Cabo...what do you guys think? Looks like I''ll be planning from afar...really small wedding I want there to be at most 20-25 people.

So excited
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FI and I live in Ohio but are planning a wedding in Poland. I was born and raised there and my FI is British, so it'll be relatively close for his family to come. Most of my family is still in Poland and my godfather is helping quite a bit with the venue selection... still, from time to time, I feel completely overwhelmed... and wonder how I'm going to pull it all off being thousands of miles away. I am not really a control freak, and don't have to be involved in every little detail but... I doubt I'll be involved in many details, if at all...

As a side note, we decided on our wedding date... and it'll be 7-7-07... cool, no? :)

ETA: I should add that, in my case, taking a trip out every few months is NOT possible and so this is going to require me to put quite a bit of trust in the people whose help I requested...
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Date: 4/4/2006 10:09:48 AM
Author: stermag
FI and I live in Ohio but are planning a wedding in Poland.

As a side note, we decided on our wedding date... and it''ll be 7-7-07... cool, no? :)
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Wow, stermag, I think you win for distance, of everyone who''s posted so far. We were thinking of 7-7-07 too originally, it is a great date. We decided on 7/28 instead.

We''re planning a wedding in Gloucester, Massachusetts from Los Angeles. My parents live in the area, so I''ll be taking several multi-purpose trips over the next year. I''m trying to hold out on dress shopping until I can hit good old TAX FREE New Hampshire! I guess there''s no reason I can''t look here, though, right??
 
Yes, planning one overseas but FI is really planning it since it''s his country and his language. Thankfully we are having one at home here in LA first so I''m not overly concerned about what happens in Slovenia.

Right now it looks like there might not even BE a wedding, at least not a ceremony, in Slovenia. Since we''re getting married in a Catholic church there, we''re not allowed to get married in any other church before the catholic ceremony. Well, technically the little chapel in LA has a religious affiliation (called Swedenborgian, which is Christian but we just want the chapel, we don''t care about the denomination). So FI was honest with the priest in Slovenia about the fact that technically we are getting married in a church here first, and now the priest won''t return his emails or phone calls. We have 5 weeks to get this resolved.

What to do?!? Either we pick a different church (which sucks because then we''d have to contact everyone who''s coming and tell them about the venue change) or FI finds a different priest and lies to him about what we''re doing in LA (which ethically feels kinda icky).

And I''m just staying out of it, b/c I''m planning the one here, and that''s enough on my plate. I''m being supportive and sympathetic to FI but I really want to scream "Honey--why didn''t you do your homework on this?!!?"

YES, I THINK WE NEED A SUPPORT GROUP!
 
Wow, selflove, that sucks. 5 weeks to resolve something like that sounds tricky. Hopefully things will work out OK for you. Is your LA ceremony at Wayfarers Chapel? I think that would be my top choice of location if I were getting married in the South Bay. It''s such an amazing place.
 
Hey Selkie--yes, Wayfarers Chapel. The first time I walked in there, about a year ago to the day in fact, it brought tears to my eyes and I knew I had to be married there.

An update, FI just told me he will not lie to a new priest. Soooooooo...looks like we''ll have to have some stupid "blessing" with no walk down the aisle or white dress or bridesmaids. My catholic grandma is going to CRY her eyes out that I''m not getting married in a catholic church. I could cry my eyes out for how frustrating this is! I''m such a control freak I''m like "That priest needs to give us an answer ''yes'' or ''no'' and stop giving us all these hoops to jump through!" The latest is that he needs a record of my baptism and proof that i''ve never been married in any church. My lutheran church back home doesn''t recognize marriage as a sacrament so therefore they don''t ask for marriage records to be sent back to them (my "church of origin" as it''s called since that''s where I was baptized). But they are being very cool and said they''d write a letter on my behalf saying that this will be my first marriage. God this sucks!
 
Hi selflove, any news on the problems with the church in Slovenia?
 
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