I honestly think I would have beat up Shane if he would have allowed himself to get talked into going to a strip club with his friends. Luckily, most of his friends are really nice guys with girlfriends and wives of their own, so instead of a stripclub they went to a laser tag arena. I haven't been there myself, but according to Shane the guns look real, the course is amazing, and that there are some really talented shooters out there. He had a great time, they had booked it for a bachelor party, so they got food and special rates. They had it for a Saturday, and almost twenty people showed up, which was more than if they would have just gone to the bar. I know everyone had fun, I got to see the pictures on his phone. Even though we were getting married, and even though we are married now, I love it when Shane gets to spend quality time with his friends. Even if that quality time includes guns and fake fighting.

Accoridng to the wedding budget I had made, I was going to allocate $500 to wedding favors, or small gifts to our guests. I think it's nice to give something to thank the people for showing up at our wedding. There are many cute things we could have given our guests, even a whole range of eco-gifts like seeds and trees for them to plant, but it seemed silly. Shane worked a year with the Peace Corps in Washington State, so it was his idea to make a donation to some charitable cause. I liked the idea of donating money to the rainforest because we were in a garden, and we found this website that let us donate various amounts to various projects. We chose a few, and then dedicated each table to a cause. We let our guests know in in a very subtle way, by placing a small card at the center of each table. Our wedding wasn't a platform for social change or anything, we didn't want to make our gesture obvious. I know our guests appreciated the gesture, mainly because for Christmas Shane and I received gifts from the same site. So our friends were listening, and I hope that as a group we think of others as well as ourselves during our happy times.

We were given a list of caterers that we could work with at the gardens, so we went down the list and contacted all of them. We choose Arthur's because of the menu, their vision, and how well organized the sounded when they described to us the details of the catering process. I also liked the idea of going with a caterer who was environmentally-conscious, which seemed fitting for a wedding in a garden. I was just really excited to hear someone say, "and then this, followed by this, and this." In the consultation, they described the wedding reception I wanted to have. We came up with a great menu together for 120 guests. Each appetizer looked and tasted delicious. I went with shooters for dessert rather than a cake, which seemed really popular. It was a light alternative to a cake. One option that they had, but we didn't go with, was a martini bar. We decided to have one special drink for Shane and I rather than a whole slew of martinis.

They have their own pastry chef, and we were able to order our desserts right from the caterer. We didn't go with a cake, rather we went with dessert shooters, which are these little cups of mouse. It's really delicious.

I was soo nervous about booking a limo with the Enroute Entertainment company, mainly because of their reputation of being a party bus service. They calmed me down right away, and let me know that the majority of their business is with weddings, and they made sure that the cars were always impeciably clean. We took two cars, one leaving from Shane's apartment and the other leaving from my parent's house. I had the 'phantom', which was a stretch Rolls Royce. This was at my father's request, who came and saw the cars with us, and who would be riding in the car with us. Shane took the limo bus, and brought with him his family and best man and friends. I think it was super funny seeing his grandmother walk out of a party bus, but it put everyone in a good mood, and it was great that we were all able to arrive together. The cars were super clean, they could have been brand new, the drivers were really nice and professional, and I think it made the day all the more formal and fun.

One of my friends from college had her engagement and wedding pictures taken by Doug, and she said that he was amazing to work with. We set up an appointment and I was convinced that this was the person I wanted taking my pictures. I have friends who are photographers, but I think it's best to go with someone who has years of wedding photography experience. The pictures are telling a different story. Shane wasn't as excited about posing for pictures as I was, but I was really happy to have photobooks for our guests to look at at the wedding. I think it's nice seeing us looking so romantic and in love! Our wedding pictures were great, Doug had been to the garden before and knew about how we should pose and stuff. He also moved us fast because of the timelimits and the light. He was really professional, took great pictures of our guests. I would recommend him again to anyone without a doubt.

Ceremony: We wanted a site that was beautiful and organic, a place that was close to nature. We're spiritual people, but not necessarily religious people, so it didn't make sense for us to be wed inside a church. We choose the gardens because they are really beautiful. I knew an outdoor wedding, if done well, could be really classy. Before we set up an appointment, we went to the gardens as guests, paid our fee, and then looked around. When we were sure about the number of guests, and more or less the date, we book an appointment with the event coordinator. There's a fee for the site, plus insurance for the number of guests you have, which includes the staff that you might have on site with you. I think one limitation we faced was the amount of time we could spend in the garden. We have almost three hours, which needed to include getting ready, the ceremony, and the pictures. We were lucky and our photographer was incredible and got us posing for pictures right away.

Reception: We choose the Camellia room because it was the perfect size for our guests. We also wanted to have our ceremony and reception in the same place, because we didn't want our guests to be driving all over the state. The room is beautiful, especially when they get it all decorated. I had requested the chair coverings and the linens so that the room look elegant. We had an afternoon reception, so it was nice that our guests were able to walk to the Camellia room and enjoy some appetizers while we took pictures. Getting the room we wanted and the garden time required us to change our dates around, which was fine. I would recommend going there without a fixed date in mind so that you can have the wedding you want without compromising on style or comfort.

I love my engagement ring! I loved it the day Shane gave it to me, and it's been over a year and I still sometimes get butterflies looking at it. Years before, I had choosen a very simple style of band, and Shane remembered the brand name, Camelot, and went about looking for jewelry stores that sold that brand. The Camelot rings styles are beautiful, really elegant, and lots of delicate details. We went together to Fine Jewelry to choose our wedding bands, although Shane already had an idea in mind of what the bands would look like. He did much more research on the rings that I did, so I knew he had found us a great deal. The staff at the store was great, I loved that they were a family business. They were really helpful and were able to answer all of Shane's questions about the cut of the stone and the number of quarats and other things. We went three times before deciding on a ring style, were fitted and ordered, and they look perfect. With or without the band, the engagement ring looks amazing.

This was where Shane had gotten his suit for his prom, so it was an easy choice for him. They called and set up an appointment for a consultation, and they took down his information, like the date of the wedding and how many guys would be fitted for suits. He went with his brother and a cousin, and they all picked out matching tuxedos. He says it's a nice place, that the people who work there are really nice. They also sell a lot of different brands, so he was able to find a suit that fit him well. He looked great in his tux, so they must have done a great job with the fitting. Neither of us know much about the costs of suits, but I know that Shane felt really comfortable going there both times, and that's a good thing.

I actually found it really difficult to find a store that sold invitations, mainly because I wanted to sit down and talk with the person who would be making my invitations face to face. I also wanted to see the invitations before ordering them, and lots of online wedding sites liked minted.com charge you $20 for a sample set. The inviations were important, but the majority of our guests already confirmed that they would attend the wedding through our website. The invitations, therefore, we more of a follow-up for us. I contacted Invitations on the Run, set up a meeting time, and was able to see all the different types of wedding invitations that existed. There was of choice, but we were able to come up with a set that was colorful, pretty, with flowers to complete our garden theme. They were very professional, and I had the cards I wanted with the RSVP cards and place settings chosen within 30 minutes. The best part working with professionals was that they were able to help me decide the wording on the invitations, and made sure I included all the vital details. I was really happy with how smoothly the process went once I found a company that I wanted to work with.

The majority of our guests are our age, and they all live by their blackberry and the internet. I wanted to post on facebook that Shane and I were getting married, but then a co-worker told me that mywedding.com has free wedding websites for the brides and grooms. I checked it out, it was really easy to use, and from the templates I was able to see all the different types of invitations I could order online to match the website design. I like the website because I was able to contact everyone at once about our engagement, the wedding date, and to ask for their mailing addresses for the real invitation. You can put so much more information and details on a webpage, like photos and songs and our story. It was one of my favorite parts of the wedding planning.