Freestyle Fridays - Awesome 80s

Because today just feels like an 80's kind of day.  Oh and if anyone actually knows/remembers the song "Pass the Dutchie" you get extra cool points.

Enjoy the music, have a great weekend, and stay safe and warm East Coasters!

Rehearsal Dinner Location

Since we plan on having a pretty formal wedding (in terms of attire, but not in behavior!) I wanted something as casual and low maintenance as possible for our rehearsal dinner.  Side note: we're actually calling this a "Welcome Dinner" since everyone's invited--oooh the joys of a destination wedding!

Mr. M and I searched high and low prior to our 2nd wedding planning trip to Montreal back in July--we needed a venue capable of hosting at least 100 people that had inexpensive food and beverage options.  It was actually quite difficult to find a place that met this criteria, so when I finally came across a large micro-brewery in Old Montreal (which is only 4 blocks from the hotel where we're getting married--huge bonus points there), I reallly hoped it would work out. 

The bar is called Les 3 Brasseurs (or The 3 Brewers in English) and is deceptively larger on the inside than it looks from outside.  When we met with the event director there, we learned that it was actually large enough to host over 400 people!  Large venue?  Check.  The place is SUPER cool on the inside--they brew their own beers so the huge brew tanks are visible all throughout the interior.

The bar's exterior / Image via Flickr.com

Huge brew tanks / Image via HouseNumbers.ca

The upstairs bar / Image via QDG.ca

There's a perfect space available for a group of 100 in a section of the bar upstairs, so it'll be nice to have our own space within the huge bar.  We also discussed menu options with the event director and while initially we were looking in to buffet options, we realized it would cost WAYY more to feed everyone than we were comfortable spending.  So I asked if we could instead order a bunch of items a la carte and just order tons of appetizers and non-alcoholic beverages that would be enough for our group.  In doing so, the overall budget was lower than we anticipated (which made us very happy!)  We also opted for a cash bar--we'll be feeding people a fancy meal with a 9 hour open bar for the reception the next day, so we figured people can buy their own booze for this event.

For the menu, we've decided on a mix of flamms (which are like super thin-crust pizzas), poutine (fries covered in cheese and gravy, a Quebec staple), chicken wings, a few veggie plates and salads.  Also, we can order more food as the night goes on in case we run out.  

Another bonus to hosting the welcome dinner here is that Mr. M is quite the lover of beer (after all, he is from Wisconsin).  This will appeal to MANY of our guests who are also beer "connoisseurs".  While I am NOT a fan of beer, they have an awesome hard cider that was delicious and of course tons of wine.  A win-win overall! 

How many people will you have at your rehearsal (or welcome) dinner?  Are you opting for a more casual event?

Wedding Music Part I: The Ceremony

Right around the time we got engaged, I started thinking about ceremony music (wayyy too early in the planning process I know, but I couldn't help myself).  While I think classical/traditional wedding music is beautiful, I knew FH and I would want to have songs that were more contemporary.  Afterall, we are major music junkies.  While browsing online one day, I came across the various works of the Vitamin String Quartet.  Now I know VSQ is old news to anyone with wedding on the brain, however I had never heard of them prior to planning my own wedding...and I remember feeling like I had just struck gold.  This was exactly what we had in mind for our wedding--string versions of our favorite contemporary songs.

Image via Lover.ly

We asked our wedding planner for string quartet recommendations and we ultimately decided to move forward with Ontario-based Cadenza Strings.  They have a TON of contemporary songs in their reportoire and charge a small fee to learn any new ones.  Last month, it was time to submit our selections so they could learn any new songs in time for the wedding.

As I browsed online through a number of Vitamin String Quartet songs for inspiration, I remember the one that stood out the most to me was their version of "Fix You" by Coldplay.  As soon as the song was over, I just knew I would walk down the aisle to this song.  As cheesy as it sounds, the first (dozen) times I listened to the song, I kept tearing up.  I thought it was so beautiful and there's even a cue about halfway through the song that sounds like the perfect part for a grand bridal entrance.  Check out the song below.



At first, FH was a little iffy about the song (he thought the lyrics weren't exactly wedding-worthy but my argument was that there wouldn't be any lyrics!) but he did agree that the string version was really nice.  As a compromise, I promised he could pick the recessional song if I could have this as the processional (marriage is all about compromise after all, right?)  He's decided on "Home" by Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros and I wholeheartedly agreed since the song is one of our favorites.

We also asked our string quartet to learn one more song, "So Here We Are" by Bloc Party.  This will be one of five or six prelude songs and is another song that is very special to us--Bloc Party was the first concert FH and I had ever gone to together (7 years ago this summer!) and the band we've seen the most--I think we've seen them 5 times. The rest of the prelude songs are already on the quartet's repertoire, so here they are for your listening pleasure.






Will you be choosing non-traditional music for your ceremony? 

The Honeymooners

FH and I have a serious case of wanderlust.  As I mentioned in my intro post, we LOVE to travel.  We travel mostly for pleasure but FH also travels a ton for work.  So when deciding on a honeymoon location, we narrowed down the numerous options by asking ourselves a few simple questions.  What area of the world have we never been to?  Which countries are in our top 5 of places we'd love to visit?  Where else can you hug a Koala or go on a Lord of the Rings tour?  The answer to each question was without a doubt, Australia & New Zealand. 

I've reluctantly accepted the fact that you can't ride a kangaroo / Image via Tumblr.com

My favorite New Zealanders Brett, Jemaine and Murray (from Flight of the Conchords) / Image via Flickr.com

We made the decision on these countries last summer and were even more encouraged when in my research I came across Down Under Endeavours, a Chicago-based travel agency with expertise in the South Pacific area.  Now I've never used a travel agency to plan vacations and have always planned every trip myself, however because we're traveling so far and we both know absolutely nothing about either country, I figured it was time we relinquish vacation planning duties to the experts.  And I'm so glad we did!

The company specializes in highly customized travel itineraries which was right up our alley.  With all the intense wedding planning going on, FH thankfully took the lead on planning the honeymoon and has been working closely with our travel specialist to put everything together.  He told her the things we enjoy (beach, adventure and nature, LOTS of wine & food because seriously, Australia and New Zealand produce some of the best wines in the world) and she came back with recommended locations that best fit our interests.

Some of our itinerary stops include adventurous locations like the Great Barrier Reef, the Daintree Rainforest and the Glow Worm Caves.  A few of the activities we have planned include scuba diving (for the first time, yikes) at the Reef, bike tours, wine tours, a boat tour of Milford Sound, seeing a performance at the Sydney opera house, a Lord of the Rings tour and possibly a cooking class or two.  The custom itinerary designed for us includes hotels, private transportation, most activities and some of the airfare since we're going to a number of different cities.

Great Barrier Reef Marine Life / Image via Australia.com

Daintree Rainforest / Image via Tumblr.com

Glow Worm Caves / Image via Glowworm.co.nz

And the best part?  FH is a frequent flier on Delta and he's racked up a TON of miles over the past few years.  Because of this, we were able to exchange miles to 1) get free round-trip airfare to Sydney and 2) get upgraded to business class both ways...for free.  I nearly pooped my pants when FH booked this sweet deal--and he still has a ton of miles leftover (I also have a good amount of miles which we're saving for a future trip).

This will be one of the most epic journeys of our lifetime (and hopefully not the last)--we are going for 3 1/2 weeks since we saved a TON of money on airfare.  Since we're having a destination wedding in May, we've decided to wait until September to honeymoon, giving us something fun to look forward to (other than our marriage of course!) once all the wedding hoopla is over.  September is also our dating anniversary month and the day we leave will be our 8 year anniversary.  I am SO pumped!!!

If going on a honeymoon, will you plan it yourself or use a travel agency?  Are you going right after the wedding or are you putting it off for a few weeks/months?

Freestyle Fridays - 2/1/13

Happy Friday and 1st of February folks!  There's no particular theme for this week's edition of Freestyle Fridays--I've just recently started listening to Lana Del Rey again and even though the girl can't quite cut it in a live setting (remember that SNL performance?  Yikes), the album version of her songs are actually pretty good.  Some of my favorites include "Blue Jeans", "National Anthem", "Ride", "Radio" and of course "Video Games".  Enjoy!