Venue: Galapagos Art Space

Ok there is cool and then there is Galapagos Art Space  ... which is just SO EFFIN COOL I can't stand it! The space is actually a theater so the lighting and sound is done with crazy skill. The design of the interior is hard to describe because it very unique - the bottom floor is actually filled with water and has floating islands of solid land for tables leading up to the stage.

The price to rent the space is a little high but it is all inclusive (besides food). For 18K you get the space and all tables, chairs, linens, lighting, and other rentals you would need for other loft type of spaces. All you need to bring is food and music 'cause you definitely don't need anything in the way of decorating the space ... I mean check it folks ...

So the bad news? The only thing I didn't love is that there is not a lot of dancing room, mostly this is our fault because we want a band, if we were using a DJ we could use the whole stage as a dance floor but our band would take up all of that room. Also, the price puts it slightly out of reach of our budget. 

But, I would highly recommend the space to couples who like a unique look and who plan on using a DJ instead of a band. Robert, who showed me the space could not have been more pleasant and accommodating. He seemed like he would be a joy to work with.  

 

... sigh .... I have to tell you folks, this venue really stole my heart in a big way but there is not really a way to make it work cause if the Ruskies don't get to dance the horah ALL at once they will get rowdy, I mean it, there will be riots, pitchforks, blood, oh you get the idea.

Kiss the Groom? Don't mind if I do ....

Make your own kissing tree on Kiss the Groom (photog Elizabeth Messina's blog).

Online Bridal Gown Sale

Have you heard about Rue La La? Here is the deal - you sign up (for free of course) and they email you about fantastic private sales they are having on their website for limited periods of time ... need an example? Hmmm, ok how about the 24 hour sale they are having right now on the Nicole Miller Bridal Collection ... oh yeh, they do that.

This dress is sooo gorgeous, and it is $650 down from around $3000!

This lovely is only $250!

This one is $150!!! Seriously.

Why I love living in NYC ...

And now I have brand new pair of designer jeans on the uber-cheap ... yep my weekend just got that much better.

A Vail Wedding

Since I spent the past week in a winter wonderland, I figured I would bring back some winter wedding inspiration. This wedding took place in the same hotel my mom, sister, and I stayed in, the Vail Cascade and was shot by the very talented Charlotte Geary, check out her website for more of this gorgeous wedding.

And this is a shot of me, Mamachka, and Sistrichka warming our footsies by the fire. 

Have a great weekend everyone!

This is the airplane I flew out on this morning ...

Yep, there were delays ... but I am back in the NYC and tomorrow I will be blogging away ... but for now I am going to bed in the hopes that I won't be quite as exhausted and sore tomorrow ... here's hoping!

Vacay!

Guess where I will be tomorrow???

If you guessed "on the moon" based on the picture, you are wrong! But I will be increasing my altitude ... in Vail, Colorado. I am going with my mom and sister for a girly vacay and I could not be more excited. So I will not be posting consistently next week but I will try to get to a computer every now. 

And when I get back I will tell you all about the venues I saw yesterday (and then a week later I go on a road-trip but more on that later).

You know what I love?

FREE. Free. Free!

Sherrlyn Borkgren is giving away ... yup GIVING AWAY her services for your wedding ... is there anything better than free? Umm yeh, gorgeous, useful, and free. Just hop on over and check out the details on her blog. 

On the schedule today ...

I am going to see two more wedding venues today, both in Brooklyn where I grew up (please please let me just love one of these and be done with the search! Please!). There will be a full report to follow! 

Call for cranes

Have you heard about about The Wedding Co.'s Chandelier of Cranes Project? No!?! Well, it's art installation meets charity meets just plain damn awesome. Umm, still don't get it? Well then let Stephanie the Project Coordinator explain it to you ...

We would love to invite you to participate in our social venture as we strive to collect 5000 signed origami cranes from engaged couples, each one representing one couple's vision of their future together. For every crane received, The Wedding Co. will donate $0.50 to cancer research.

The completed chandelier will be a visual and spiritual unification of engaged couples around the world and will be displayed at the 2010 Wedding Co. Show in Toronto.

Over the next year, we will be connecting with wedding professionals and engaged couples from all over the world in hopes of having them sign or send us an origami crane. Each week, I post updates of the Crane Project on the Daily News.

Here’s how YOU can participate and help contribute to the chandelier project:

1. Send us your mailing address and we are happy to mail you a crane kit which includes pre-folded cranes and some cards describing the project. Have engaged couples sign the cranes and then return them to us.

2. Fold an origami crane(s) and have an engaged couple(s) you know sign the crane and mail it to us at:

The Wedding Co.
Attn: Crane Chandelier Project
110 Givins Street
Toronto, ON, Canada
M6J 2X9

3. Spread the word - visit The Wedding Co. website to watch the chandelier take flight.

I can't wait to make my crane and send it in .... and by that I mean force the Big Guy to make and then take all the credit! 

"Vee Make Your Dreemz Come Tru!"

This is what most Russians think a wedding should look like ....

                               

                                                   Ummm, by the way, this is a completely real commercial!

But the sight of all of those chandeliers, windy staircases, gilded fixtures, and floor length mirrors kinda makes me wanna hurl. Its just not me and its definitely not the Big Guy. Oi.

Big Winner

So the Big Guy tells me that mathematically speaking there is no such thing as a random number generator (it can never be truly random or some such nonsense ... umm I mean genius ... sorry Big Guy!) ... anyways I used the handy dandy Random Number Generator to pick lucky number 12 so congrats to Liz!

The nice peeps over at Online Poster Printing will be in touch shortly. Thanks to everyone for your comments!

Giveaway Reminder

Don't forget to enter the Online Poster Printing Giveaway by leaving a comment here. Tomorrow is the last day to enter!

The World For Blogs

I don't know about you guys but I love looking to the blog world for advice, info, and pretty much everything else ... and not just about weddings but searching the blogosphere can be slightly overwhelming and misleading (even an innocent search for images of a "pearl necklace" may sometimes lead to a few surprising results). But thats where the smart people over at The World For Blogs come in. The website collects blogs and then places them into categories. clearly there is a wedding category but there are also categories for cars, mothers, artists, and even one site devoted entirely to rabbits. The site is new but they are quickly picking up steam ... and blogs! And your girl here is the newest addition to the site.

So, if your a fellow blogger get in touch with them about putting your site on the website too and if your not a blogger but an avid blog follower check'em out for all of your blog related interests (and I apologize in advance for your impending procrastination while you are reading all of those blogs ...)

FREE Tickets to the Wedding Salon

Unfortunately, I cannot attend (I will be skiing with my mom and my sister in Vail!) but if your in the NYC you should go to the Wedding Library's Wedding Salon and here is a chance to score free tix. 

The Wedding Library is pleased to offer you two complimentary tickets

a $50 value

click here and use code WLNY09C

Venue: Manhattan Penthouse

I have been meaning to post on this venue for soooo long but with all of the other stuff going on I just haven't had time but if we plan on getting hitched (which we do) I think I might need to get a move on with this wedding plan business. So here is one more potential venue that the Big Guy and I are considering, Manhattan Penthouse.

Manhattan Penthouse is located on 5th Ave close to Union Square (and my law school ... woot!) on the 17th Floor. The inside has an old-NY look and is definitely NOT one of those ruffly, lavish, chandelier swinging, windy staircase having, princess-dream-land catering halls which made me one very happy non-princessy bride to be. The simple and classic look of the decor made me break into a huge smile and a deep sigh of relief upon seeing it. 

The first room is where the cocktail hour would be and has its own grand piano and huge oval windows.

The next room is the banquet room where the ceremony and reception would be. Overall, I really liked the look of it but it left me wishing that the ceiling were just a bit higher, I mean what if my head hits the ceiling during that whole chair lift thing?? (I know I am being a brat now ... maybe I can just construct a wedding venue and then have a wedding there? That wouldn't be insane right? right!)

Now down to the nitty gritty .... the price is one of the lowest I have seen for a venue in NYC, especially for one that only hosts one wedding at a time. When I spoke to them they said the price would be between 100 - 130 per person. 

Plus, the biggest news is this: they actually said YES to having vodka bottle on the table!!! No, I am not kidding. Normally, when I ask that question, the wedding coordinator for that space looks at me with a mix of shock, disgust, terror, and confusion but the woman at Manhattan Penthouse just said, "Oh, is it a Russian wedding? Sure, we have plenty of those!" I almost cried and hugged her, but I remained composed, mostly because it still has the whole time limit problem. They only give 5 hours for the wedding which is way short for the Ruskies. They would be willing to extend the time, for a price of course but of all the other places I have seen they seemed the most willing to negotiate.

So far, this is one of our best options. I have some more places to check out this week and then we have to make a decision asap otherwise all of our friends and family members are gonna pick for us ... and that may get .... ummm lets just say we need to pick something soon.

My style ...

In the midst of my apartment hunting I have decided to find out what my decorating style is thanks to Sproost and Jenny.Lee's blog. Go take the quiz its a great time sucker (and pretty fun too) ...

I actually broke out into a laugh when I saw the results. Apparently my sense of style is schizophrenic and the best part is that they are totally right! I am way indecisive and I like things from completely opposite ends of the spectrum ... in fact I think the thing I like is specifically when opposites are mixed together. Anyway, my results:

Your personal style is a mix of 2 specific styles:
50% Contemporary
50% Rustic Revival

Contemporary
So fresh and clean! Antiques? No thanks! Vintage collections and clutter of any type? Not for you! You like your space new and sleek. Each piece is chosen carefully as though it were a piece of art, and your love of minimalism is expressed throughout each room. Furniture has clean lines and geometric shapes are preferred.
You're not afraid of color — in fact, bold color options only highlight the minimal items you choose for your home. But the key is clean. To master the minimalist interior you not only have to be selective in the few furniture items you bring into the space, you must also find a way to hide all of the real-life items as well.

Rustic Revival
You can take kid out of the country but you can't take the country out of the kid... or is your theme "you can take the kid out of the city, but you can't take the city out of the kid?".
Either way you play it, you are one of the unique individuals who loves a mix of modern and country. The clean lines of the modern softened by rustic/vintage elements is the perfect mix in your mind. And can we blame you? You've taken the best aspects of two popular designs and mixed them in a manner that appeals to young and old alike. A subtle background of white or light colors provides a nice canvas for all the wonderful flea market, eBay, or garage sale finds as well as the classic modern pieces that you love.

Apartment Hunt Update: We are narrowing down on one place and deciding tonight if we are taking it, by tomorrow I might know where we are moving at the end of the month!

Poster Print Giveaway

Ok ... so you get all dolled up, put on some nice digs, get together with the ones you love the best, scope out a pretty locale and even pay another person with just the right combo of skills, artistic instinct, and professional equipment to snap away at you guys having a good time ... but now what?

Sure, you can pull out the books and prints every single time you lure company into your photo heavy home, but eventually your friends will just stop visiting. Wouldn't it be even better if the pics of you looking your hottest could be proudly displayed in your home ... poster style? That is where Online Poster Printing comes in!

On their site you can make posters prints or even canvases out of all of your photographic lovelies and now one lucky winner is going to get a FREE 16x20 Poster Print. The prize ships for free within the US or CAN (Everyone else has to pay shipping, but print is still free!). All you have to do is leave a comment on this post ... any comment will do! The Online Poster Printing contest will last until next Friday and the winner will be announced on Monday March 16th.



So get to commenting people and good luck!

Ring a ding ding

The rings came!!! And I am so in love ... if one can love metal this is the real thing and it is getting very serious.

We ordered them online from Superior Wedding Rings and they arrived within a week . The peeps over at Superior have a huge selection of all types, metals, designs, etc. We picked out two different kinds. Mine is white gold and it is 2 millimeters thick ... it is thin and delicate and simple and classic and full of meaning and sentiment ... basically everything I love in  piece of jewelry. The Big Guy's is made of Tungsten which in German is Wolfram which he absolutely loves since "wolf" is in his last name. His ring is 4 millimeters thick and is kind of masculine looking (if jewelry can ever be called manly) and he broke out into a huge smile when he saw it ... so 'nuf said.  

Superior was super easy to work with and they gave us exactly what we wanted. So much love to you folks over at Superior Rings!

And now the pics ...

These two animals were given to us as gifts from China from my future MIL and they correspond to our signs in the Chinese Zodiac. My ring is on the piggy because I was born in the year of the boar and the Big Guy's is on the rat for his birth-year animal.

March 4, 1983

Its my birthday!!!! So I am out celebrating ... umm scratch that, I am out apartment hunting like a crazy person, but tonight I will be celebrating with a yummy dinner and my Guy. 

Oh and yeh thats me up there. But I really was born in the eighties, the picture quality only looks like it was taken in the fifties because we were in the USSR and they were not so advanced with the personal technology back in the day ... but it looks like I didn't seem to mind.

PS: Stay tuned because tomorrow I will be writing about our rings! They came and they are awesome. And on Friday I will be hosting a very cool giveaway ... is it a conflict of interest if I win??? All right, all right I won't hog the giveaways!

Teach me your song and I will sing it every day ...

To love a person is to learn the song that is in their heart, and to sing it to them when they have forgotten.

- Anonymous

Sometimes when the Big Guy looks at me, or brushes my hair aside and puts his hand on the back of my neck, or when he touches his lips to any part of my hand, or when he laughs ... I feel like he is singing my song to me and I wonder how I got so lucky to be reminded everyday of the haphazard, silly, perfection that is us.

Hello. I love you. Won't you tell me your name?

I know, I know. I am Ms. All About the Winter Wedding ... but come on! How gorgeous is this wedding? And it's so cute that the bride describes the wedding as "summer camp, but with grown-ups" .... and you know your girl cannot resist a cotton bouquet! 

Enjoy.

Wedding from here.