A Picture (Or Video) Is Worth A Thousand Words

After choosing our venue, the next big decisions that we nailed down were our photographer and videographer. There was absolutely no doubt in my mind that I wanted to have both of these things professionally done. I know that looking back at pictures and having videos to watch in the years after our wedding is going to be so important, so I want to make sure they're done right!

First up, our photographer, the lovely Miss Megan Fortner. I am so excited to have this girl taking beautiful pictures of our wedding day. I actually knew Megan from school, but only recently did I discover how talented she is with her camera. I love that she will have a young and fresh outlook and ideas for our big day and we had the best time doing our engagement shoot with her - can't wait to share that with you guys soon! 

Image via Megan Fortner Photography

Image via Megan Fortner Photgraphy

Image via Megan Fortner Photography

Next, comes the super talented Vanessa McKellar. I'm not the first bee to hire Vanessa - you might remember seeing the wedding videos she did for Mrs. Snapdragon and Mrs. Frozen Yogurt a while back.  I discovered Vanessa’s blog during my freshman year of college (stalking wedding sites when I should’ve been studying) and literally fell in love with her work. I knew wedding videos were somewhat common, but I had never seen anything like what Vanessa did. The videos she films/edits/works her creative magic on are nothing short of amazing. Had I not discovered her work, I could see myself being unsure about wedding videography, but after I saw what she could do, I knew I wanted her to capture our day.

Vanessa was the first person I contacted (aside from friends and family, of course) after Mr. Coach proposed. I was so excited she had our date available and  I was able to send her the deposit and book her for the wedding. I haven’t been able to meet Vanessa in person yet, but I can already tell she is going to be an absolute joy to work with.  I think that genuinely caring to get to know people is part of what makes her work so special and unique to each person. She’s awesome – I can’t wait to see what she does with our special day. 

Just for fun, here's a beautiful piece of work by the talented Vanessa McKellar - it's one of my (many) favorites! 

Did you know 100% that you wanted professional photography and/or videography, or were you on the fence about either? 

The Search for a Venue: The Winner!

Previously, I listed all of the venues we had visited and what I liked/loved about some, as well as the details I wasn’t so crazy about at others. Now, it’s time to talk a little more about the venue that we fell in love with, and are absolutely thrilled about - The Piazza in the Village!

Image via Tru Identity Photography

Image via Jennefer Wilson Photography

There are so, so many things I love about this venue. Most importantly, I love how much Mr. Coach likes the Piazza as well! After we had finished our appointment, and visited a few other locations, he would be the one to mention how it just didn’t compare to the presentation we’d been given (shout out to Lorna, who was awesome!!) and the whole atmosphere of the location. Of course, I was thinking the same thing, but something about hearing your fiancé say it out loud just makes it even more true.

Image via Piazza in the Village

The entire venue is elegant & romantic, but doesn’t feel too formal. The chapel could easily be used just the way it is, without any extra decorations added, and it would be stunning. For the reception, we chose the smaller of their two ballrooms, the Village Ballroom, which I believe will be the perfect size and atmosphere for all of our family and friends. It (along with the chapel) has these beautiful chandeliers and the entire place was very carefully designed. Seriously, even the bathrooms were cute! The Piazza will be doing the catering, which I am very excited about. After our visit, I read a lot of reviews and I think we are going to be very happy with the food they prepare. 

The Village Ballroom / Image via Piazza in the Village

Tell me some of your favorite things about your wedding venue! Do you love that it can be used just the way it is, or are you looking forward to dressing up a "blank slate" of sorts?

The Search for a Venue: The Choices

With our wedding style in mind, the process of setting up appointments to see a few venues in the DFW area began. Other than wanting a chapel and a reception space that wasn't absolutely massive (we were thinking around 100 guests at this point), we were pretty open minded and ready to see some options. Over the course of two days, we visited all of the wedding locations we were seriously considering. Because of our crazy schedule at the time, we had to do some pretty impressive scheduling to fit them all in back to back, but we were able to see all six!

Our first stop was the Northeast Wedding Chapel in Hurst. Before the visit, I had looked the location up online, and the surroundings seemed a little too commercial to be the setting for a wedding. When we arrived at the chapel, this proved to be true - it was situated on the corner of a pretty busy intersection. However, once we were inside I was a little more impressed. The decoration was simple, but I thought it had a lot of potential. The size was good for us, and once you were inside the building you forgot about the surroundings outside. I liked that they allowed outside caterers and were okay with any vendors you wanted to bring in. They were basically a blank slate, and gave you a lot of freedom. There was also a small garden area between the chapel and reception hall where I could see a cocktail hour taking place.

Image via Northeast Wedding Chapel / Photo by Fairy Tale Photography

Next was the Piazza in the Village in Colleyville. I had the highest expectations for this location and they certainly didn't disappoint. I had already been in contact with the girl we would be meeting with and she was extremely prompt and helpful. I loved the pictures I had seen of the chapel and reception ballrooms, and, like the Northeast Chapel, I liked that both the ceremony and reception would be at the same location because many of our guests are unfamiliar with the Dallas area. As we drove up to the Piazza, I fell in love the location surrounding the chapel. It’s located within a “village” of sorts that has a florist, bakery, and some nice apartments, along with the wedding accommodations. The chapel did not disappoint. It was gorgeous, as were the courtyard and both of the ballrooms. The Piazza does their own catering and I was a little unsure about this because their food & beverage minimums are a bit pricey, but overall our entire appointment was impressive.

For the last stop of the day, we headed over to the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine.. This location didn’t have a chapel, and it was probably the least like all of the other options. During a past visit to the hotel I had noticed an area of the atrium that I thought would be beautiful for a ceremony, so I wanted to check it out. We only get to visit wedding venues once, so why not!? The Gaylord was beautiful, and all of the wedding pictures I have seen hold true to that. I will say the coordinator seemed a little unprepared and not very enthusiastic about the wedding (maybe just in comparison to the service we had received at the Piazza?) They also required we use their (expensive) catering, so again I wasn’t too sure how I felt about that.

It was tough to find a picture, but this is the area in the atrium I liked / Image via Bella Pop Photography

The next day we had 3 more appointments.  Our first stop was the Milestone. This place was a gorgeous plantation house type venue with a beautiful view, but it was FAR away - and we were already a good 30 minutes out of Dallas to begin with. Once we got over how long it took us to get there, the location was beautiful. It had a grand staircase, beautiful ceremony room, and a really nice reception hall. They also had an amazing bridal suite - it was huge! Again, their catering options were expensive and required. There were a lot of things I loved about this location, but I just couldn't seem to get over the fact that our guests would have such a long drive in an area they were so unfamiliar with.

Images via EE Photography

Next on the list was Fairytale Manor in Frisco. Our first impression was not so great – there was some terrible long-term road construction going on right in front of the location, and it really took away from the venue. They mostly have outdoor weddings, which really weren't an option for us (yes, I'm a weather-worrier), but they told us they could use the ballroom for both the ceremony and reception and just “flip” it between. I now know that many locations do this, but it didn’t sound appealing to me. I was worried about what the guests would do in between, and it just seemed like it was going to be chaotic at this particular location. The ballroom/ceremony room was pretty, but just couldn’t make up for all of the other things the location lacked for us.

Finally, we visited the Bella Donna chapel in McKinney. This was the only location that didn’t have a reception site, so I knew I would have to love it to make the decision to have the reception at a differently place. The chapel was definitely unique. It was set on a peninsula of a lake in a very nice neighborhood. The décor in the chapel was a little over the top for my taste, but it was a great size, had a lot of character, and I'm glad we took the time to check it out.

Overall, the appointments were extremely helpful and a lot of fun! Each of the locations had unique qualities and a wedding at any of them would be beautiful. We spent a lot of time following the meetings discussing what we liked and really didn’t like about the different places, and I continued to look at other places online to make sure I hadn’t found any others we needed to visit. We also did a little number crunching to compare the places that would allow outside catering versus those that wouldn't, and also took into consideration the items that were included like tables, chairs, linens and lighting.

Ultimately, one of the locations really stood out to us and we knew it was going to be the best choice. So, we went for it, and booked Piazza in the Village to be our wedding venue! 

How many different venues did you look at before you knew you had found the one? I was really surprised that we both just "knew" - even Mr. Coach couldn't stop talking about the Piazza after we left!

And So It Begins!

Well, the planning has begun! At least, I’m attempting to begin, but it’s a lot more difficult than I thought! I was expecting there to be A LOT to do, but I guess I didn’t realize just how detailed the decisions were going to be. Everything I’ve read and everyone I’ve talked to has said, “choose your venue first, and then go from there” or “once you figure out where you’re going to get married, you can build off of that.” Well I am here to tell you that is easier said than done! I would love to make all of the “big” decisions first, like where and when, and then fill in the other details as I go, but in order to make those big decisions you have to have a surprising number of small(er) details in order too! Every venue I have talked to needs at least an approximation of the number of guests (which I really don’t understand as far as the ceremony is concerned, but hey – I’m new at this, so what do I know?) and some want a pretty set in stone number, while others even want to know the exact date of the wedding. Um, that’s why I’m here talking to you, so we can set that date…?

A few of the decisions I’m really struggling with as far as the location is concerned are the choice of an outdoor or indoor wedding, as well as whether or not I want the ceremony and reception to be at one location or two. Whenever I look at pictures of weddings with the style I really like, they are almost always outside weddings, but I have really never wanted my ceremony to be outdoors – mostly because I absolutely HATE the idea of worrying about the weather on one particular day for the next 12 months of my life. I feel like planning an inside, more chapel-like wedding with the style and feel that I want is going to be one of my biggest (and exciting!) challenges. As far as the one location versus two, I feel like we’ll get a better idea of these options when we go see some of the venues in person.  Most of our family will be traveling from out of town and out of state, so they won’t be too familiar with the area. Because of these factors, we’re leaning toward staying at one location, if possible.

 Overall, getting to search magazines and the internet for new ideas and places is really, really exciting, and I know that a lot of the things I’m worried about will fall into place as things start moving more rapidly. And of course, it always helps when I talk to my wonderful fiancé about all of these things instead of just keeping them to myself :)

I’ve been in contact with a few different venues, and am in the process of setting up meetings with them in the next week or two, so the first “big” decisions are very possibly just a few weeks away!

What were some of the first things y'all did when the proposal chaos ended, and you really started to get into the nitty gritty of planning? Did you find it difficult to choose a starting place?

Post-Proposal Bliss

After Mr. Coach got down on one knee and I said "Yes!", we chose to slow things down a bit and enjoy our first day as an engaged couple. Mr. Coach's parents knew he was going to ask me to marry him, and I’m sure they were expecting a "confirmation" phone call sooner than we gave them (sorry y’all :) ) but our immediate thoughts weren’t to call everyone and share the news just yet. Of course, we had plans to call our families and close friends later that evening, but in those first few hours after the proposal we made the time all about our relationship and us. We were able to soak it all in, and really enjoy the fact that we were engaged!

Mr. Coach and I spent around an hour and a half enjoying the relaxing atmosphere of the spa, as well as the fruit and champagne they provided for us.

When we finally decided we were getting hungry, we left the spa and headed to lunch. But not before a few more pictures! (Mr. Coach is seriously SO patient with me, y'all)

We ate some tasty Italian food at a place on the riverwalk called Michelino's. Usually we get Mexican food on the river so this was a nice change for lunch. The lasagna we had was really good! That's saying a lot, because we're pretty picky about our Italian food :)

After lunch, we got ice cream at the Haagen Dazs on the river and enjoyed the view from the little balcony outside. 

Mr. Coach ate his a little too quickly before I could snap a picture ;)

After all of our snacking was done, we decided to take one of the river boat tours. We've done one before, but it was such a nice day outside and something about taking the tour with my fiance just sounded like so much fun :) I'm really glad we did it - it ended up being one of my favorite parts of the afternoon.

After the river tour, we decided to head back to the hotel and call our families. Getting to talk to them and share our excitement was certainly another highlight of the day. Everyone was thrilled for us, and nobody really seemed to be too surprised :)

That night, Mr. Coach took me to dinner at Chart House in the Tower of the Americas and we got to enjoy the spectacular view while we ate. It was a really wonderful ending to our long and exciting day, and the view of the city was spectacular.

The Tower of the Americas 

Looking back, I am so glad we made the decision to make the day about us as a couple. From what I’ve gathered from others and already experienced, the months between engagement and the wedding are very exciting, but also extremely busy.

Don’t get me wrong, I was SO excited to share the news with family, friends, and eventually Facebook, but almost immediately after we spilled the beans numerous people starting asking me questions like when and where the wedding will take place. I believe if Mr. Coach and I had not taken that time to ourselves and had just jumped right in to calling and texting everyone we knew, we probably would’ve regretted it. Having that time to celebrate with just each other (and of course gawk at my new ring!) was so special to me and it turned out to be a lot of what I remember about the day.

Did any of you wait a while to share the news of your engagement with friends any family? 

A Sweet Surprise at the Spa

Ohh, the proposal.

My sweet boy did some wonderful planning, I know that for sure. He's always been great and surprising me, and this was no exception. Mr. Coach and I had planned a little trip to San Antonio over my fall break from school to celebrate my 21st birthday as well as three years of dating. Because we were celebrating multiple other events, a wedding proposal (honestly!) never crossed my mind. We took a very similar trip the year before, and on that trip we each had a wonderful massage at a very nice spa right on the riverwalk. So, when planning this particular trip, we decided the massage was definitely something we’d want to do again, and Mr. Coach set up an appointment. This was the extent of my knowledge of the plans for our weekend. 

On Friday, October 14^th, we had a yummy breakfast at our hotel, and then headed to our massage appointment a little early. We both really like to relax and take advantage of the steam room and hot tub when we’re at the spa (I know this makes us sound super pampered and indulgent, but we really just like to make the most of it!) 

Image via Mokara Spas

We got to the spa and went our separate ways into the locker rooms where I got into my comfy robe and spent some time reading a magazine. After the massage, this particular spa has this wonderful relaxation room where you can go and sit in very large & comfy chaise lounges, read a magazine and eat grapes, or just close your eyes and reminisce on the wonderful massage you just had. Ryan and I had spent time a good bit of time here last year after our massage. Because we had talked about how we were really looking forward to it just days before this appointment, of course I assumed we would be going straight into the room to relax after our massages. 


As we’re walking down the hall toward the relaxation room, Mr. Coach stops me and tells me he would rather go back to his locker room and take a shower before going to the relaxation room. He said the massage oil was irritating his skin and he just wanted to be able to rinse off, and enjoy our relaxation time after. (Yes, a lightbulb probably should've gone off. No, it didn't.)  Of course I just think this is the silliest thing ever because we’ve already spent time apart, and now I just want to relax together. I want to go straight to that comfy chair, have someone bring me fruit and champagne and let the time waste away. 


But no, the boyfriend wants to go take a shower first.


I reluctantly agreed, because I knew I wouldn’t be able to relax if he wasn’t relaxed too. We each go back to our locker rooms where I try not to rush too quickly and lose my “chill” while still getting back to the relaxation room as quick as possible. 


Once I make it back out of the locker room, Mr. Coach is still taking his shower. One of the nice staff members escorts me to the relaxation room where I can (attempt to) rest and wait for him. Five minutes later or so, Mr. Coach shows up, and immediately apologizes for wanting to shower and asks me to stand up and give him a hug so he can show me he’s sorry for making me wait. Yes, my boyfriend is very sweet, and I love his hugs, but at this point I’m thinking, Really? After all this you’re going to make me stand up and lose my chill again? Don't I look mightyyy comfy just sitting here? But again, I agreed - mostly because he wasn’t sitting down so I had to give in. I stood up, gave him a hug like he asked, and as I’m wrapping my arms around him I feel him reach behind his back. It all started happening very fast at this point, but I noticed Mr. Coach was shaking and that’s when it started to click. 

He started speaking at this point, some of the most romantic words I’ve ever heard, and I did my best to listen and take it all in – which was actually more difficult that I thought it would be! 

Ignore the wet hair and lack of makeup - I was straight out of  the shower :)

It was so overwhelming! My sweet boy ended his speech by asking me to be his bride and marry him. (Um, Yes! YES YES YES.) I helped him find the right correct hand and finger – he was nervous, can you blame him? – and then I noticed another man off to the side that had been taking pictures the whole time. Like I said, my boy did some planning. It turns out that everyone, and I mean everyone, at the spa was in on the whole thing. All of the ladies had been around the corner listening and came to congratulate us with tears in their eyes. Mr. Coach had not gone to take a shower, but actually RAN back to our hotel to get the camera so one of the staff members could photograph the entire proposal. It was absolutely perfect, and absolutely “us” which is what I love about it so much. At that point, relaxing was pretty much out of the question because I was so excited, but I'm not complaining!

I know all of you lovely ladies have some great proposal stories, so let's hear them! Anyone else spend the majority of the time thinking your fiance was losing their mind, when really they were just planning out the perfect moment? ;)

The Blogging Begins!

The idea of starting a blog has pretty much consumed my thoughts over the last few months. I already have numerous blogs that I enjoy following, which take up the majority of the time I spend on my computer, and of course the boyfriend fiancé (!!!) likes to tease me about all of them. But despite how much time I devote to reading others’ blogs or websites, I’ve been procrastinating actually starting my own for a while now. I kept telling myself I didn’t have anything interesting enough to document that anyone would actually enjoy reading, or I didn’t have a certain subject, like DIY or cooking, that I could stick with and elaborate on. (Looking back, I spent so much time thinking about what I could blog about, I probably should’ve just started one and devoted all of that time to writing!) Well, that has certainly changed because this past weekend, Ryan, my sweet & wonderful boyfriend-turned-fiancé got down on one knee to pop the question, and I said yes! 

I’m sure that is of no surprise to anyone who is reading this post :)

So, I finally convinced myself that now was the perfect opportunity to start documenting what I’m expecting to be very exciting events in my life. I’m thrilled for you all (okay, probably more like one or two of you – hey mom!) to read about my experiences as I enjoy this new phase in my life, and begin to plan a wedding, but I’m also really glad I’m starting this blog at the beginning of this journey so that I will have all the experiences to look back on at the end of the months to come. Feedback is always appreciated, especially from those of you who have insight and past experience with the exciting world of weddings! Thanks for reading!