As I mentioned, I did a lot of vendor research before Mac came home on leave. Basically, I wanted him to have to make a few choices as possible, so he wouldn’t spend his entire leave discussing shades of tulip and the finer points of letterpress invitations. And in the grand scheme of wedding planning (when you have two weeks to decide your major vendors), I find it more important to have a venue and food than pretty flowers or response cards.
A few things I did know: our colors would be maroon and orange, and we would have roses, lots of glorious, in-full-bloom-in-June roses. I wanted our save the dates and invites to reflect our Hokie roots without being to, wait for it, Hokie. The biggest issue I encountered was finding maroon and orange paper that weren’t exclusively autumn themed. Surprisingly, maroon and orange aren’t considered to be summer colors.
Luckily, our venue helped us out in finding vendors. Sharon, the events coordinator, handed us a packet of wedding needs: DJs, photographers, linens, and all that stuff. Her list featured vendors who had experience at the Botanical Garden, and I used that as a spring board for my research.
After Mac returned to Afghanistan, I cried myself to sleep for a few nights, tossed back some wine, and got busy with wedding planning. My next goals were: DJ, wedding planner, officiant.
You might have noticed that I didn’t need a photographer. Stay tuned!
