A few more things off the list

Very productive weekend for us on the wedding front. Saturday we met with Reverend Sandy Shipley about being the officiant for our wedding. She was exactly what we were looking for! She incorporates a traditional ceremony with a more modern feel. She will let us customize anything that we want her to say and exactly what all we want in the ceremony. On top of that she is a very spunky lady that throws her own spin on the whole thing. We were very impressed with how knowledgeable she was and all of the different ideas she through our way, a lot of which we had never heard of. She gave us a 20-25 page packet of literature of all the different things we can incorporate into out wedding ceremony. It was a huge relief to find someone as good as her the first person we met with. We still have a lot of planning to still do but at least we know we have the perfect person for the job!

On Sunday we went and checked out the Bankers Suite in Astoria.

View of the front of the Bankers Suite

I must admit it was very overwhelming when you first walk in. So much to take in at once your brain goes into a state of overload. It has a very unique feel and an even more unique feel. It's one of those places that you will remember for a long time. We are very excited to go with this venue for our wedding. Still need to work out the layout and which floor we will have what on. That's right, your rental gets you 48 hours in there. Both floors and the guest suite. Really great deal if you ask me. They have all kinds of silverware, plates, glasses and seating, all we have to rent are tables and table cloths which just adds to the shear value of this venue.

View of the 2nd floor

For more pictures visit: http://s1084.photobucket.com/albums/j413/TurboDubbinMKV/Bankers%20Suite/

Already 2 for 2 on our wedding to do list for the weekend we decided to stop in to the top recommended restaurant for catering in Astoria, Clemente's. Being from the big city its hard for me to take someones word for how good something is in a small town. They did not disappoint! Their drinks were all made fresh from scratch, their food was amazing and best part was when we asked about catering the owner of the restaurant came over to talk to us and took down all of our information since his wife does all the scheduling. They went above and beyond the call of duty, you can tell that they are a very well run business and it makes it much easier to work with someone when they care so much about their business. We are very excited to hear back from them and hope that we will get the pleasure of using them to cater our reception dinner.

All in all we feel like we accomplished a lot this weekend. Knocked another 2 things off our list and hopefully the 3rd when Dani calls Clemente's tomorrow. I'll be sure to post up more news as we hear about it.

Trip to Las Vegas

So not much else to tell on the wedding front this post, other then the fact that I have my suit and we are going to look at the Bankers Suite this weekend! (There will be many pictures on the next post.) We have been super busy this month so far. Seems like everyone and their mother has a birthday this month, so between present shopping, going to birthday parties, and working a full time job and watching Aubrey we haven't had any time to just sit back and take a mental break! Well at least up until this last weekend.

This last weekend we took our first trip as a couple, Las Vegas! Dani had qualified for Presidents Club at her work for her outstanding performance last year. They put us up in a spacious room with a view of the Volcano at the Mirage. After a 2 hour plane ride and a ride in the death taxi (We swear this driver was trying to kill us!) we made it to the Mirage. When we finally made it through the maze that is the casino floor we found our room and dropped off our bags. Due to sheer exhaustion we took both passed out and took a good 2 1/2 hour nap. After the nap we were ready to go site seeing! First up was Ceasars Palace.

Picture of Caesar's Palace from the Eiffel Tower at the Paris. 

As you can tell from the photo above it was HUGE!!! 4 square blocks of nothing but shops and casino with hotel on top! We ventured around there for quite a while, very neat atmosphere with clouds painted on the ceilings and only lit by light pole and the shops, it was an artificial night. We poked around for a little bit more then called it a day. The second day we started off with the dolphin habitat and Sigfried And Roy's Secret Garden.

We laid by the dolphin pool for a good 3 hours just relaxing. It was nice to be able to just forget about everything else and just watch the dolphin's swim around their pool and soak up some sun. After some more exploring and a trip to the top of the Eiffel Tower at the Paris Hotel we spent some time with some of her co-workers that also got to come. After a nice relaxing time we ended our second day. The third day started off with breakfast in bed (gotta love room service). There was still a lot of un-explored area of Las Vegas Blvd for us, so we made our way all the way down to the south end! I walk a lot at work but this walk just about killed me. We checked out all of the hotel's on the strip and decided that we would definitely need to come back again after we get a house. It's a very expensive place to visit but it is definitely worth it for how much fun you have! Finally on the 4th day, after breakfast in bed again, we packed up all of our stuff and headed to the airport. Very sad to be headed home but it'll make coming back next time that much better.

For all the rest of the pictures from our trip check out my photobucket at:

http://s1084.photobucket.com/home/TurboDubbinMKV

Wedding Preparations

So we have been working diligently on making plans for our wedding since getting engaged on the 10th of this month. Since my only week off is the week before the 19th of September the only day that worked for everyones schedule was September 4th, Labor Day weekend. As not to lose out on a killer spot for the wedding and reception we knew we had to get crackin'! So far all we have set in stone is where we are going on our honeymoon and that the whole thing is going to be happening in the Astoria/Long Beach area, other then that we're still trying to work out all the details. We do however have a couple promising locations.

The first is The Inn at Harbour Village.

The Inn at Harbor Village

This old 1928 renovated chapel in Ilwaco with a banquette room and chapel all under one roof it looks to be a viable option. Last Sunday Caleb, Elyssa, Dani, and I took a drive out there to go see it. Janis, the Innkeeper, was very helpful and answered all of the questions Danielle and Elyssa had.

The second is The Bankers Suite.

The Bankers Suite

This 1924 Renovated bank is our favorite right now. It's quite a bit more expensive then the Inn but looks to be more of the type of feel we want for our wedding. Though we have not gone to see this venue in person we like what we see in the photos. Plus being in a building that has so much history behind it makes it just that much more of a unique experience. We are anxiously awaiting a packet in the mail to get more details on this.

As we get more solidified plans we will be sure to post them up here so check back often to see what updates we have for everyone.