Location, Location, Location

So often I hear that the location of your wedding will help determine some of the major details. With this is mind I was stressing about where to have mine and Mike's celebration. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, I had the chance to check out a few reception sites while I was in Utah. I picked three places that I felt each had their own unique options to bring to our special day. Below is a quick summary of each place.

Heritage Gardens

This was a place I hadn't originally felt very strongly about. It was my mom that convinced me more and more to give it a chance. I wasn't feeling it at first because it is very much a reception center. This was a niche I wanted to try and avoid. Once I took a closer look I found that it had some nice details that could really bring some special moments to our day. One of the biggest selling points for me was the price. It is a beautiful place in a great part of town and the price is awesome. The food options are great at a great price and there isn't much decor needed. There are great spaces offered to both the groom and his party and the bride and her party to get ready in. I walked away from here with lots of ideas and felt it could be the place.

Millcreek Inn

I had been "courting" the Millcreek Inn for months online. I had been constantly out looking at the photos and the pricing menu up until our tour. I loved what I saw online. It was definitely unique. It was an old inn/restaurant just three miles up Millcreek Inn. It seemed to have this special charm that I didn't feel from any of the other places. The only hang up I had after my initial look was the price. This is a place that has the fancy food and the fancy options. Plus the biggest selling point for me was that it was in the mountains. Both Mike and I wanted to have an event with an outside mountain feel. Plus the time of year we are looking at should be the right timing to catch the fall leaf colors. This was a place that difinitely didn't live up to the hype that I had in my mind. It was much smaller than I had pictured and I didn't get the warm feeling that I was looking for. I was pretty sad because I had thought of this as the place for so long.

Pierpont Place

I wanted to check out Pierpont Place because this was a great venue that had the modern look and feel that I am all about. It truly is a blank canvas that I could essentially do whatever I wanted with. We had a chance to tour the venue prior to set up of an event. I loved that the coordinator there would be more of an event planner than a reception hostess. She would have taken my vision and my budget and worked with many different vendors to make my dream come true. The Pierpont Place is also downtown which is totally my style. I loved it but I knew that it wasn't Mike style.

So I took all of the details of these places home with me and pitched them to Mike. We decided to go with Heritage Gardens. We both feel that it is a place that we will be able to get the most bang for our buck. Also we have the option of an outside ceremony if we like. There are so many options to choose from that I think it will be hard to choose. I am excited because this will help me to start to making more decisions and bring togehter a wedding.

Are You Ready For Some Football?

This weekend was another hot one in Texas. We were in the high 90's but because of the humidity it felt like 105 degrees.

Mike was really excited this weekend because he scored us tickets to the Texans opener game. Not only was it an opportunity to see the NFL in person but the Texans happened to be playing his beloved Broncos. We decided to save money and park in the museum district and take the METRO train to Reliant Stadium. It was a good idea because it gave us the chance to see another new part of town.

The stadium in right next to what Mike likes to call "the 8th Wonder of the World," the Astrodome. Mike was excited to walk past the dome. It is the little kid in him.

It was kind of cool to be up close to a piece of sports history. It looks a little run down and old though. The city is trying to figure out what to do with the building. It is kind of hard because the building is really big!

Outside of Reliant Stadium Mike found a new girlfriend...

Okay, so it really isn't his new girlfriend. Her name is Cathy and she was one of the interns that Mike worked with at the station. She was really nice.

The stadium itself was really nice. The game was a little boring because it was a pre-season game. We only got to see the good guys for the first couple of plays. I think I have decided that I will be a Texans fan. I have tried being a Broncos fan for Mike, but I'm just not feeling it. It is killing Mike, but I figure it makes sense since I live here. I think Mike will just have to deal.

The Texans ended up winning 19 - 16. We didn't stick around for the whole game because the players weren't that good. It was still really cool to go. Below is the view from our seats and a picture of the outside of the stadium.

The rest of the weekend was really laid back. It was fun to get out and explore more of this huge city.

Busy, Busy, and Eduardo

Okay, I know it has been a couple of weeks but I have a really good reason. I was in Salt Lake this past weekend and therefore, did not have time to post. The trip was great. I had a chance to hang with the fam and get a kick start on the wedding planning.
I went to a couple of bridal shops and looked at some dresses in person. I think it will be hard to settle on the perfect dress and the bridemaid dresses. It seems like there are too many decisions. I also checked out three reception places. I think I have settled on the place and that will be Heritage Gardens. I love how pretty it is and you really get a lot of great things at an awesome price. I think I will be able to get close the wedding that I have always dreamed of.
I had a chance to hang with Cass and Brad at the Metal Gods. It was awesome as usual. My aunt Keely joined and I think she loved it!
I had a chance to see all of the nieces and nephew and just hang out and relax. It was truly a great weekend. The hardest part was saying goodbye. I am hoping that over time it will be easier to leave each time. I feel like such a crybaby sometimes. I am sure it will get easier. The nice thing is that I will be back in Salt Lake in just a few weeks in September!
The craziest part of the trip was the idea of coming back to Houston and a hurricane watch! There was the tropical storm Eduardo building in the Gulf and it was projected to head right through town. I was able to land without problems other than Mike couldn't pick me up because of work. It was all hands on deck for the storm watch. One of the reporters was nice enough to pick me up but I had to hang out at the station until midnight.
Tuesday morning came and the storm hit. It ended up a little further east than expected. The office wasn't open until 10:00 because they didn't want anyone driving during the big part of the storm. The big part of the storm never came. It did rain a lot and for quite a while. It was crazy how the entire city was a ghost town though. During the commute the roads were empty. It was very strange. I was kind of looking forward to seeing a real storm. I guess I will have to wait for that.