Weddingbee boards

Hello Hive,

I'm fairly new to posting, but certainly not new to reading all of your wonderful suggestions and your encouraging words. That being said...I just became engaged this month - in Paris, no less! - and I'm in need of some helpful advice and guidance for my wedding. See, I'm not the kind of gal who's dreamed of her wedding since she was a little girl. I'm not saying it didn't cross my mind, but I certainly never kept a binder like Monica on friends! ;) I don't even know where to start, and my entire family and his are 8 hours away at the very least!

Anyway, we're planning a Spring wedding in Norcross, GA and hoping to utilize the new park that just opened - Lillian Webb Park. We have a conundrum on our hands though - where to have the reception?

Any suggestions (and new bee friends) would be appreciated!

Thanks a bunch!

Thank you for the warm welcome! It makes me feel like maybe I'm not completely on my own planning this wedding! I am lucky to be planning it in Atlanta though. I didn't mention it before, but my FI is German, and his entire family lives in Germany still. Although getting married in Germany (or anywhere in Europe for that matter) sounded romantic, it just wasn't practical. Atlanta serves as a good hub for both our families to meet in.

His proposal was really something out of every girl's dream. Since we started dating two years ago, we've carried a constant running theme of The Amazing Race. I won't go into detail in this post, but the scavenger hunt concept has been present in so many aspects of our dating history.

That being said, it was no surprise to me that right before dinner on our flight to Berlin to visit my boyfriend's (at the time) parents for his Mom's birthday, he pulled out five envelopes. Let the games begin!

My first envelope was opened right before dinner was served. It held two sheets of paper. One read, "Name 5 places you want to go someday," and the second said, "Not the Grand Canyon - that was SO 2008!" (Clearly, we visited the Grand Canyon last year. We talked over dinner and shared our thoughts of future vacation destinations.

Right before dessert, I was presented with envelope number two. I opened it up, and it also had two sheets of paper. The first one showed the Eiffel Tower, and asked, "How about Paris?" At that point, I just laughed it off because I knew we had an hour and a half layover in Paris on our way to Berlin. He then told me to take a look at the second sheet which showed our itinerary. He had changed our flights without telling me - we now had six hours in Paris!

Thinking back, I was so oblivious to what was going on. I honestly thought it was like a super-bonus side-trip. I was just excited to do more sightseeing in a city I've never been in. The rest of the envelopes would wait until we landed at Charles deGaulle.

Once we landed and made our way to the terminal, he handed me my third envelope which read, "Find the Eiffel Tower." After a failed attempt at getting a train ride into the city (luck would have it that the trains broke down that day!), we finally hopped a cab. We told the driver to take us to the Eiffel Tower, and off we went!

Once we arrived, we got in the loooong line to board the elevator for the top of the tower. It was a Friday morning in tourist season, so the line was clearly a 2-3 hour wait. We agreed that I'd hold our spot in line while he went to get some info from the guards. He came back and told me they filled him in on a little-known secret...you can take the stairs to the second level of the tower then take the elevator the rest of the way up! Off we went to the stairway entrance where there was literally no line whatsoever.

We climbed for a good twenty to thirty minutes. Once we reached the second level, we were both out of breath and needing a break. We strolled around the deck, taking pictures, and otherwise enjoying the view. We quickly surmised that the line for the elevator from there had to be another hour's wait at least.
Being as oblivious as I was, I assured my b/f that I had been ON the tower, and even been to the second level...I didn't have to see the very top. Thinking back, we spent an awfully long time trying to figure out how to get to the top. I finally convinced him, and down we went.

We strolled across a bridge to L'Hotel des Invalids - it has a beautiful lawn with sculptures and fountains - and parked ourselves on a secluded bench where I was presented with the fourth envelope. Honestly, I don't even remember what it said because at that point, my b/f was getting all gushy and saying ultra-romantic things, telling me to shut my eyes. It was just then dawning on me what was about to happen. When he told me to open my eyes, he was there in front of me, asking me if I would marry him. Clearly, I told him 'YES!"

Seriously - it was probably the most romantic thing he could have done. And to add to the fairy-tale, he told me that his Dad asked his Mom to marry him forty years ago on that day.

Thank you....and cool! Whereabouts do they live? My FI's family lives just outside of Frankfurt, but they spend a lot of time in Berlin.

You know what...I'm a tall bride too! Granted, I'm only 6', but still - that's always a hurdle when clothes shopping... My FI is 6'6"...I'll take any and all suggestions on where to get a tux for a tall man! lol

Small world! Have you gotten around to learning any German?

Yes, definitely let me know what you find out in the tux department... Thx!

Thank you, everyone, for the warm welcome!

50Foot: The funny thing is - I wanted to learn German, but it wasn't offered in my HS, and when I got to college, I just wanted to coast through my language credits so I stuck with French.
Luckily, I'm fairly good at picking up languages, so in the two years we've been dating I've learned enough to understand a conversation between two people. However, like you, I don't attempt to speak...I'm too afraid.
He talks to his family every single weekend, though, so I do get my fair share of German influence. If only it worked like osmosis.... ;)

Chaotic: I haven't chosen a venue yet...that's been our recent road block. Although we'd love to have both the ceremony and the reception at the new park in Norcross (Lillian Webb), there is nowhere to set up the caterer. (Where would the food come from??) We're looking into local venue's, but I want something unique... How about you?

Thanks, Ggsb...I actually live very close to the downtown area - a five minute walk to those restaurants. We want to do the rehearsal dinner at Paizano's (the Italian restaurant with the brick wall), and we want to keep the reception very close since we're thinking most of our friends will want to walk to the Tavern afterward to continue the celebration. :)

Nope, downtown (old town) Norcross... Thanks though!

Of course! Haha...my FI and I are pretty much 'regulars' in the downtown area. The Cuban place - Mojito's - has really, really good food. I highly recommend going in the evening when they have live music. There is a woman who sings and she has an amazing voice. It's always a party there. However, if you're going to share conversation, you'll want to grab a table outside - although the ambiance inside is wonderful, it's a small space and it can be very loud.

My personal fave on the menu is the manduros (they're fried plantains) - the sauce is awesome!

catybarb: have you looked at The Carlyle House?  It's just a little passed downtown Norcross but a block from the new park. (If you're coming from PIB, turn right after crossing over the train tracks and it will be on the left)  That's where I'm having my reception and the perople there are amazing!  Very laid back and they do the food and cake there.  You have the option of going somewhere else for the cake-but they charge a cake cutting fee.  www.173carlylehouse.com 

Flint Hill is another place in Norcross-though I didn't get to look there because it was already booked for my date. 

Belle: I'm marking my calendar for the Sept 19th get-together! I saw there there was a meetup in the works, but I wasn't sure if a date had been set. Count me in!

Smoki: I'll have to check out Flint Hill. It's definitely between those two if we can't determine a way to have the reception IN the park. Norcross does have a banquet room that's adjacent to the new park, but I'm not sure it's that convenient (I don't think a catering company would be cool with it).

See you all on the 19th - I'm looking forward to meeting other ATL brides to be! :)

I'm semi-good with Sunday. We head to church at 6p Sunday evenings, so I can't stay too long. I might join just for Murphy's then head out.

I've been to Eclipse in Dunwoody - sometimes we have dinner there, and then head to Cafe Intermezzo for dessert! YUM! Plus - kudos to Eclipse - I love any place that serves Sangria!