Troy's Wedding Journal

Caterer has been picked

2006-05-24T08:43:00.000-07:00

OK we finally picked a caterer! Sorry about the long time frame in-between blog postings. We went with the caterer that works with Chateau Polonez. She is Polish and is really nice to work with. We had a menu tasting with my mom, Laura's mom, Elizabeth (maid of honor), and Chaka Hannah (Best man). The food was really good and pretty reasonably price. After the ceremony, we will have a hors d'oeuvres and cocktail hour. We will then have a buffet style dinner with a chicken dish, pork dish, vegetables, choice of salads, and the drinks and spirits as well.

I think everyone will be very happy with the choices. Next information will be the party details such as DJ music, flowers, and clothing. I am hoping to have a really good bachelor and bachelorette parties reports. We also will be launching a full on wedding website with a ton more details.

Time to Pick the Caterer

2006-03-02T09:50:00.000-08:00

Time to Pick the Caterer

Yep! It is time to pick the food. Sounds simple doesn't it? Well it isn’t! We are having the wedding and reception in a upscale location (see previous posting). We have a wide variety of people coming to our wedding. We have our down home family members, coworkers, and a crazy assortment of friends. They all have widely different taste in food. So we could be food Nazi’s and pick only what we like but the whole reception is for our friends and family so we have to try to please as many people as we can. So thus begins the quest for the perfect balance of food.
I was early to the meet with the caterer and she is from Poland. She is very flexible about the food choices and makes a real attempt to do her best to help us with pleasing everyone’s different tastes. She also has this hilarious heavy Polish accent! I loved it! She sounded like Surge from the movie Beverly Hills Cop.

Well we have narrowed down the menu to a point where we will pick the entrees, sides, and other goodies that will be on the buffet. We will have tasting in a few weeks to finalize the menu. I will post the menu out once we finalize everything.

Wedding Reception Location has Been Chosen!

2006-02-27T09:10:00.000-08:00

Well we finally decided on the wedding location! It is called Chateau Polonez. You can see it here http://www.chateaupolonez.com. The location is somewhat a one stop shopping for us. We have the ceremony and reception there. We also now have an official wedding date of October 7, 2006. It really hits you when you get a date! You now know the clock is ticking and all things are focused towards that day. I love the place we picked Chateau Polonez. It is perfect for us since we wanted a not so traditional ceremony (i.e. no church since neither of us go to a church or are big fans of organized religion). The main thing we wanted was a kick butt reception for the friends and family. I know women always talk about having a magic setting or wedding. This place delivers! We put a deposit down to reserve the date with is usually 20% of the cost. We still have to pick out the food menu and it looks like we are going with a beer, wine, and well call liquor (unlimited) for guest. Since I am telling this adventure from the grooms perspective, my favorite part of the place is the prep rooms for the bride and groom. They are lavish, large, and come with a shower to boot! Well keep in tune we will e giving more details as we go along.

Choosing a Wedding Reception Area

2006-02-10T09:18:00.000-08:00

Choosing a Wedding Reception Area
Now the real fun begins... not! Obviously you want a really cool place for your wedding, and the reception to follow. It is just the people who run these places are money grubbers. Unfortunately, you get what you pay for even though they are all over priced. They know this is a once in a lifetime (better be) event and you really want it to be special. I am trying not to let the whole thing get ridiculous. I am lucky that I have my bride Laura. She is not a over the top kinda gal so most of the craziness she be kept to a minimum. Any way we have looked at one already and we are going to look at a few more this week end. She scouts them out first so I don’t have to go to everyone, which is great and I recommended any future groom make the same deal. Well more details to come on the place as we go and I will report back.

Choosing a best man

2006-02-09T09:26:00.000-08:00

Choosing a Best Man
Choosing your best man is always a tough choice unless you have a really close friend or brother that is in your daily life all the time. I have not had such a buddy through out my life. Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of close guy friends that I have met over the years and moves. So I had to go about finding not only a close friend, but someone who has a calming effect to stressful situations. You also find someone who can throw a great bachelor party for you as well. It is also good if your bride likes or approves of this guy. These men are hard to find let me tell you.

I chose one of my best friends Chaka Hannah. I met Chaka through Hashing ( a running, beer drinking, social club). I have known him about 5 years now. He is a great guy who has a great sense of humor and has a great outlook on life. Chaka has always been around during the highs and lows in my life. His solid, stable outlook on life is one of my favorite parts of his character. And of course this guy is FUN! We have had some wild and wonderfule times hanging out.

I am sure I will have some more crazy stories through the next 9 months or so.

Picking out the Wedding Ring

2006-02-08T10:41:00.000-08:00

Picking out the her Wedding Ring
When I proposed I bought a very simple 1ct wedding ring to act as a promise ring. I agreed many years ago to let her pick out her engagement ring since I have very simple taste when it comes to jewelry. Women have a definite idea of what they like when it comes to jewery. Don't let them tell you any different. Nothing else sucks more than being in the dog house over a expensive bad choice.

Now comes the "mother of all rings" the engagement ring! All I have to say is the price does not hurt you are doing it wrong or unbelieveably rich. The guide is 2-3 months salary. To try to contain the cost try to set a limit or budget for her. She will go over it most likely but hey it is better than letting her have free reign.

You may hear stupid sayings like "we love each other and the size of rings doesn't matter". The people who say this are poor, cheap, or stupid. Unfortunately, we simple men have a great opportunity to show in a simple way how much we love our women. Don't get me wrong if it is too big it will look gaudy and you will need to hire a body guard to walk around with her.

Picking out your Wedding Band
This is way more important than you may realize. I hate jewery so it is even more important to me. I am very rough on watches and I stopped wearing rings and necklaces since I broke or damaged them all. This ring has to last you the rest of your life. It also needs to look good, masculine, and tasteful. You can go tready and get the latest style but will it hold up over 50 more years. I put it up there in important consideration with a tatoo. I still have not pick out one yet and plan to take my time.

How I proposed to my future bride

2006-02-06T09:54:00.000-08:00

Background
I guess since this Blog will be a nine to ten month journal of a trip down the wedding isle, I should begin at the beginning. As of next March, I will have been together with my fiancee' for 6 years. You could say she is a patience woman! In that time, we have bought 2 houses together, traveled on many wonderful vacations, and had our share of ups and downs. So you could say we have had many "talks" about marriage. So you may ask what took you so long? Well that is a long an complicated ball of yarn. In a nutshell, I was married before and extremely gunshy. Well the good thing is Laura won me over and she is the one for me forever. And yes forever is a long time!

The Proposal
I proposed marriage to Laura on January 27, 2006 at DisneyWorld Epcot in front of the mini Effiel tower right before the fireworks went off that night on bended knee. It was truly magically, we had a great day going through the park and different countries in Epcot. We finished eating in the Morracan restaurant and France is right next door. I knew the fireworks were going to go off soon so I had to make my move soon. I saw I cozy little gazebo with nice art in the center and I knew that was the place to propose. I was really glad I took the time to make the proposal special. I proposed to my ex-wife over the phone and it was lousey.