North Carolina-Outer Banks

Blog Buddies - finding obx brides to share info with

I'm starting a blog about my wedding planning, and I am looking for fellow OBX brides to share info with. I'll be getting married in Kitty Hawk at the Pier on September 11, 2010. I am looking for other brides to share wedding planning tips  (diy, budget saving, beach ideas). I'm having trouble finding many people who are still in the planning process and would love to follow some local blogs of brides doing the same thing as me! I am surprized the forums are so slow, and would love to strike up a real conversation!http://www.listentotherhythmofmyheart.blogspot.com/

Re: Blog Buddies - finding obx brides to share info with

  • jam679jam679 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I am just beginning the planning process... our wedding won't be until the spring of 2011. I'm always looking for ideas, especially from other outer banks brides. I don't have a blog but maybe I'll start one! I'll let you know if/when I do and will definitely be reading yours!
    Wedding Countdown Ticker
  • edited December 2011
    I am planning my wedding as well, which is a week after yours on September 18th! I'd love to share wedding ideas and planning with other brides! I probably won't start a blog, but def have ideas and vendors to share  : )
  • edited December 2011
    Jam - Great to hear, if you start up a blog, reply here or on my blog with a link! I like blogging as a process to flesh out many of my ideas. I find that writing about them makes me think about what I want more clearly. In addition, it keeps track of them so that I can go back in the future and reflect on any changes. I hope to have some followers sometime so that I can get honest feedback on whether or not they thing something may or may not work. Or suggestions from local brides for vendors or anything that I may not have already thought of... Have you chosen a venue and/or any other vendors yet?kweschler - So cool that our dates are so close in time! This past year was the first year since I was a child that I have been to the outer banks in september. We hit a pretty bad rainy weekend, I'm crossing my fingers sun this year. I'm mostly crossing my fingers for no hurricane though, thats all I really care about ;-] How far along are you in your planning?
  • jam679jam679 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Nothing is set in stone yet but we're planning on doing the ceremony at the Elizabethan Gardens. During one of my family's visits when I was younger I told my mom that I planned on getting married there... of course at the time I didn't know who I'd be getting married to, but now that I have that figured out I can move forward with my plan! Haha. We're torn on the reception part as we'd love to do something at a beach house but I don't think our guest list will allow it. The Kitty Hawk Pier is definitely on our list of places to look at. Did you look at any other places besides the pier?
    Wedding Countdown Ticker
  • edited December 2011
    I agree, I hadn't found anyone else getting married in Sept 2010 and totally understand your concern with hurricane season, but we're going to think positive ; ) I have most vendors confirmed including: Venue, photographer, Officiant, DJ and Florist. The last few I need is Bus service and a baker for my cupcakes. How about you? Are you attending the Wedding Expo in January? I am going and have heard it's a great way to find those last minute vendors and get OBX wedding ideas!
  • aubreyaliseaubreyalise member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    you know... this post inspired me to start a blog. even if no one reads it but me (well, and my mom who is 2000 miles away), i figure it's a great say to get all my thoughts together. i have absolutely no creativity but i have very vivid images in my head as to how some aspects of the wedding should be.... and i need to get it organized.anyways, considering it's a baby blog right now with nothing in it, i'm going to hold off on sharing but hopefully this motivation continues and i'll be sharing soon.thanks for the push to get started :)
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  • edited December 2011
    Jam - I love that place, it would be insanely gorgeous for a wedding, too. Do they host receptions at the same location? Being that the Gardens are on Roanoke, you may want to consider having the reception moderately close. I'm not as familiar with locations on the island, I see many photgraphs of the lightouse near the town of manteo, I wonder if there are venues there? I was going to suggest the Whalehead club, its what initially turned  me on to the idea of having a wedding on the outer banks, but its quite a distance from the gardens (probably over an hour and half...) Now that I'm thinking about it, I have heard many good things about the Budleigh 108, and I think there is another beautiful bed and breakfast down on manteo thats supposed to be just goregous. Kweschler - I wish I could get down there for the January event, but its not a good time for us, I think since we have most of our venders too, it would be less beneficial to us. Had it been a bit earlier in our wedding process, we may have tried harder to make it work, but I dont think it will. I would have loved to see the more detailed accents though about beachy ideas and some vendors I never thought about needing.  My vendors are: Photo - Julie Dreelin's Beach Productions, DJ - Bruce J, Ceremony Music - Club Violin, Minister - from Kitty Hawk United Methodist Church. Who have you decided on? I wont be doing a cupcake option, but while traveling down to NC last visit, we happened to stop at Carolina Cupcake near Chesapeake, Virginia. They have so many great options for flavors, and we really enjoyed the one owner Andy B. Seemed pretty reasonable for pricing, and if you dont pass by there like we did, they seemed to be flexible and depending on your order size they may offer delivery. (they're really up on freshness).  Also, what are you using the busses for?
  • edited December 2011
    Aubreyalise - lol, I do the same thing with my mom. She enjoys seeing my thoughts, and for some reason it seems easier than e-mail. I also share it with my bridesmaids so its easier than sendint out mass e-mails all the time.
  • edited December 2011
    Well that's great that you already have your vendors booked! Oh, I booked DJ Bruce too!! My other vendors are: Photographer - Likeadream, Florist - The Embellishers,  and Officant - Rev. Jay Bowman. Oh really, I'll have to check out Carolina Cupcake, I've been trying to find places in the OBX! Thanks for the suggestion! Have you found a cake company? I heard Great Cakes is good too! We're getting a shuttle bus for those staying at the hotel (Hampton Inn), the wedding party and our families. It's difficult to include everyone since they may be all over with rental homes, but at least we can accomdate a good part of the wedding. Are you providing welcome bags/baskets?
  • aubreyaliseaubreyalise member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    kweschler - who are you using for the shuttle? most of our guests will also be at the hampton inn and i really want to provide them with a shuttle service but the few attempts i've made to do some research on it have fallen short.no matter what, we are doing welcome bags for everyone, though. i really want to thank everyone for traveling so far. most will be coming from california so a cute tote bag with some goodies waiting for them seemed like a good idea to me. :)
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  • edited December 2011
    We're doing something "unconventional" for our cake -- its a cake made of white wheels of cheese. (My finace works in the food/cheese industry).  for those who have a sweet tooth, we're offering other cookies/deserts as an alternative (neither of us like cake anyways). So we don't have a place for our cake vendor.We're also doing DIY flowers, so we don't have a flower vendor.Thats a great idea about the Busing situation, I think its a really nice thing for guests not to have to worry about, thats why I'm hoping most of my guests stay at/near the hotel. I'd like to do some sort of welcome basket, but I'm not sure what I'd fill it with that would be something that they would actually find useful. What are you filling yours with?What are you doing for transportation to/from the airport? I have been just recommending car rentals or carpools, I can't imagine a taxi would be at all economical, and there doesnt seem to be an alternative. 
  • edited December 2011
    Aubreyalise - We haven't found a shuttle service yet, hoping to find one at the Wedding Expo in January. Yeah, I just thought it would be nice for those at the hotel to have transportation esp since The Currituck Club is right down the street.Yeah, I really wanted to do welcome bags, but had to elimante something, so that was it  : ( It was just too stressful to figure out where 100 and something guests were staying and when they were coming into town. That's great that you're doing them though, I really love the idea!!!Strawbearlyjamms - I love that idea instead of a cake, it's different! Oh, I wish I could DIY flowers for the wedding and was going to, but I am having 9 bridesmaids, so it's a large wedding party. Are you doing your own centerpieces too? Yeah, that's so nice you're getting married at a hotel, so I'm sure most guest will stay there! When I was going to do welcome bags, I was going to do a "beach" theme with a beach bag, sun tan lotion and some snacks like the OBX famous "white trash". You know, I haven't thought of transportation to/from airport because we only have about 10 people flying in, so I think I'm just going to arrange to pick them up, which I know I'll regret that week  : )
  • aubreyaliseaubreyalise member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    i got some great ideas from the ladies here on the welcome bag.so far i have the totes already (got them from discountmugs.com for a GREAT price)i'm planning on putting in a couple pairs of flip flops, some tylenol (for the morning after!), a couple bottles of water, a little bottle of wine with some plastic wine glasses, suntan lotion, notepad & pen, granola bars. basically we wanted things that were either usable while they were there or easy to take back home with them.
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  • edited December 2011
    Both of your ideas for the wedding bags sounds nice. We havent decided yet whether or not it will fit in our final budget. One thing I thought of including was the salt water taffy. It could be fun put in the bag or as a favor. My fiance does homebrew beer, and I thought of putting that in as well. Thanks for the link too, the discountmugs.com place looks great, thanks for the link.Kweschler - We're doing simple flowers for the bouquets, all lavender stems with pearls and seashells intersperced throughout. Our centerpieces are beach theemed with candles and shells -- so no flowers required there.
  • edited December 2011
    My bio is full of my ideas.  We are just at the 6 month mark, so ive gotten a lot done, but still have a lot more planning to go.  I will check out your blog tomorrow and mine is linked in my siggy, but i hasn't been updated in awhile!
  • edited December 2011
    Bigwuhead - what a great website you have! I loved your ideas, I think my favorite one is the Door hangers for the hotel. I also liked the pashmina idea. I was thinking of renting chair sashes, but thsi would be really cute to use instead. I wonder if they are long enough...
  • hibiscus118hibiscus118 member
    First Anniversary First Comment Combo Breaker
    edited December 2011
    I'm in the planning process as well but haven't started a blog.. getting married a few days before you on September 7th, 2010. We're a little farther south in Hatteras and probably using different vendors but I love hearing other peoples ideas! Laura
    Laura & Dusty - September 7th, 2010!
    Hatteras, North Carolina
    Image and video hosting by TinyPic
    UPDATED 11/05/10 Lots of Wedding PICS!
    UPDATED 07/28/10 My Planning Bio Anniversary
  • poytreepoytree member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    What are the chances -- I'm getting married September 7, 2010 too!! I did not expect to find a wedding date twin! I'm getting married further north in OBX though, in the Corolla 4x4 area.
  • hibiscus118hibiscus118 member
    First Anniversary First Comment Combo Breaker
    edited December 2011
    Poytree, Thats really cool that we're date twins!! What are your plans so far? We've rented an oceanfront home and are planning a beach ceremony and reception back at the house. Probably somewhere around 45-55 people. Laura
    Laura & Dusty - September 7th, 2010!
    Hatteras, North Carolina
    Image and video hosting by TinyPic
    UPDATED 11/05/10 Lots of Wedding PICS!
    UPDATED 07/28/10 My Planning Bio Anniversary
  • ctrivinoctrivino member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Hi Ladies,

    I am newly engaged (Yay) and will be getting married in OBX in Oct.  We're not sure which weekend or were yet.  We are going to go to the Wedding Expo in January and hopefully will make that decision then.  My parents have a house in Kitty Hawk so we go down to OBX all the time.  We live in Virginia Beach so its a short drive down.  I am super excited to share and get ideas from all of you. 

    Take care and congratulations on your upcoming weddings!
  • mellinccmellincc member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    My wedding is Sept. 7 too!  I didn't think anyone else would be getting married on that Tuesday!  I'll be in Corolla though... ceremony in Corolla Light and Reception at the Blue Lady in Pine Island!
  • kellyharrellkellyharrell member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Hi ladies-

    My May 2010 OBX wedding is fast approaching and I am still trying to nail down a few key details from afar- any tips would be appreciated!

    First big thing is I am still looking for a photographer, but not a $3 or $5 K one! I'm on a budget and would like to find a decent photographer for $1000 or less. Can it be done? I don't want t typical wedding photographer, but someone with some style who will know how to capture some memorable shots...and give us all of our photos on disk for no additonal cost.

    Also, doing the reception at the Hilton Pier House- any reccomendations on food choices, planning or decor here?

    Thanks and good luck to you all!
  • jam679jam679 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Kellyharrell -
    I was on a mission to find a photographer that did not cost a fortune but still took great pictures.  I decided to go outside of the outer banks because most of the people I liked were way out of my price range.  We ended up going with Rebecca Keeling who is based out of Suffolk, VA.  She's a bit newer, which is why her prices are still on the affordable side and she's gotten great reviews on weddingwire.com.  Here is her website... http://www.rebeccakeelingstudios.com/

    Here are some other photographers I found on my search, they are all $2,000 or under...
    Amber Ocean http://www.amberoceanphotographic.com/amberocean.html - She's over $1,000 but doesn't have any time limits.  She was highly recommended by a friend who got married on the outer banks. 

    Yost Photos http://www.yostphoto.com/index2.php - they are $2000 but include 2 photographers, travel in NC, and dvd with photos.  I'm not sure how flexible the price is though. 

    AMMC Photography (they are on the outer banks) http://www.ammc-photo.com/pricing.html - they have custom packages so you can pick exactly what you want.

    Coleman Shots (also on the outer banks) http://www.colemanshotsweddings.com/ - also a bit more affordable than other photographers on the outer banks

    Also, I looked on the Wedding Photojournalist Association's website - http://www.wpja.com/for_the_bride_and_groom/. You can search by state and if they are willing to travel, they also give you pricing information. 

    Hope this helps!
    Wedding Countdown Ticker
  • edited December 2011
    Hey, ladies, I wanted to say that I'm moving my blog, i'm now a "bridal bud" and I'll be posting there about my wedding on the OBX this September 11, 2010. I hope you come by and say "hi". 

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