Our venue visits last week with the mothers proved to be… unsuccessful. 2 out of the 4 places were complete write-offs, with 2 contenders remaining. In J and my eyes, there’s really only one place left. And tonight they invited us to a special event they are throwing!

If you are not familiar with Oliver & Bonacini restaurants, you have been seriously living under a rock (if you’re not from Toronto then it’s ok). We’ve been eyeing the Board of Trade for a while now, and the biggest attraction is that they are catered by O & B. Tonight, at the Board of Trade, O&B is throwing a private event called Eight Chefs, and they are bringing a chef from each of their restaurants to make delicious food and drinks for everyone, including us!! The space should also be all prettied up, so that we can envision the potential of the corporate meeting rooms that is the BOT.

I woke up today with a sore throat (and from a dream in which my dog was the son of an alpaca). But it’s all right, because hopefully – today is the day we decide on a place for the wedding! The list has been narrowed down (for real this time) to THREE places, with a bonus fourth place that I only discovered last week, and we are seeing for the first time today. Each place offers something that the others don’t have, so I think it’s going to be a pretty tough decision.

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In unrelated-to-my-venue-selection news, I came across some really cool spaces in America (of course) that I would love to have thrown a wedding bash in.

State Room
Boston, MA

longwoodevents.com

I was drooling so much when I saw this space! It’s on the 33rd floor of a skyscraper in downtown Boston, and provides incredible views of the city. I can already smell money coming out of this place (your money that is now theirs, I mean).

New York Lofts
New York, NY

Loft11.com
midtownloft.net

If we lived in New York you can bet we’d be getting married in some loft in Manhattan. The above places are actually very reminiscent of the Andrew Richards Design building, which we totally could not afford. I could only imagine how much New York wedding costs, even the ghettoest of the ghetto ones.

Epic Hotel
Miami, FL

epichotel.com

Seriously, I thought I had a coronary when I saw this place. It is SO Miami, and I love it!!! This hotel is incredible. Check out the lights in the ballroom!!! I can only cry and ask, why don’t they have places like this in Toronto? Probably because we’re not Miami. J and I will have to make a stop here if we ever get down to Miami.

After the reception itself, the most expensive item in the wedding budget will likely be the photography. From the looks of it, it will be in our case. I never realized how tough it was to find a good wedding photographer, and after finding a good one – realizing out how much they cost.

I’m not speaking on J’s behalf, but I am very, VERY picky when it comes to photography. It wasn’t something I knew about myself until I started really looking. Wedding photographers come a dime a dozen – but great wedding photographers? They are needles in haystacks.

I have one referral from a friend, and we absolutely LOVE their portfolio. They are almost 100% perfect to what I’m looking for. The price – a bit harder to swallow (we are talking close to 5 digit pricing!). I found a second photographer myself through Wedding Wire, and they also have a very similar style. Again, the price range is similar to the first photographer. The third photographer found me, through a blog – not exactly what I had in mind, but the more I saw in her portfolio, the more I liked her.  The best part? She shoots in medium format film. Worst part? She’s based in NYC, and her prices are American.

We’re looking for a fine art, photojournalistic style. Nothing cheesy. No softening of images in post-production, and no airbrushing overload (basically, no Photoshop-happy photographers).  I love vintage, LOVE polaroid-like colours. Does anyone have any suggestions or referrals?

Stuff I like.

from the top:
Sean Flanigan, Max Wanger, Justin and Michelle Demers, Jose Villa, Jonas Peterson

So this past weekend, my mom and dad had lunch with J’s mom for the first time ever. Even though we’ve known each other for over 10 years, our parents have never sat down together to do anything!!

Unfortunately for this entry, nothing too interesting happened and everyone got on very well. We’ve made plans to visit our final shortlist of venues this week together, and then, we will finally have a confirmed date and place for our wedding!

On another note – my dress is actually half finished. The outer half! My mom slaved over it for about a week straight, and it is looking INCREDIBLE. Wish I could post pics up but you’ll just have to wait. Instead, let’s look at some other beautiful dresses that I can’t have!