The Deerpark

I thought I might take a moment to talk about our beautiful space for the ceremony and reception. Deerpark is one of many venues on the Biltmore Estate grounds. It was built at the same time as the main house, by the same architect, as a calving barn. It was converted into a restaurant and event space in the 70s (i think). It features a large hall with hardwood floors, an inner courtyard, and a glassed in banquet area that surrounds the courtyard. The biltmore provides seasonal decorations which saves us on decorating cost, though the space doesn't need much dressing up.
This is the link for the Deerpark on biltmore's website. It has a virtual tour.

Pictures after the jump...

Invites are Done!

Im so pleased with how they turned out.

Registry

Originally I was against having a gift registry. We have no space for things in our apartment, and we really need to move out of this tiny place more than we need stuff. After much convincing, I agreed to do a limited registry. After all, while we don't have the room to have a dinner party and use fine china, we likely will in a year or so, and I do fancy myself quite the southern hostess. Besides, josh wants a Kitchenaid mixer and an espresso machine.

So we began our search for fine china, silver, and crystal; the kinds of things that people only buy you for your wedding, the kinds of things that we will have for the rest of our lives. Honestly, the experience of searching for the right patterns and quality has taught us about each other. We work well as a team. Mostly we have the same ideas and like the same things, and when we don't, we have worked through it pretty peaceful. Who knew that choosing gifts for a wedding registry would confirm why we want to get married in the first place.

More after the jump...

The Woodblock Printing is Done!

I spent all day on Saturday printing. I was exhausted but they came out great.

More after the jump...

The MOH Goes Shopping In Germany

That's where she is; Germany. Hannah and her mom went shopping for maid of honor dresses and it seems it was slim pickings. Germans aren't into bridesmaids dresses on the whole, so there wasn't a lot of stock. Also, I couldn't be there since I live in NYC and I cant take her shopping here. So long distance pictures it is.

More pics after the jump...

Preparing for the Invitations

Im carving a wood block to print a design on each invitation. I sketched out the design, transferred it to the block (backwards of course), and began carving. The process will go as follows:

ink the roller
roll the roller over the block to ink the block
check the ink- not to thick not to thin, nice and even
lay the paper on top
press the paper into the ink- this is the hard part, the pressure has to be even and heavy,
with out moving the paper, and i cant miss any spots
peel off the paper
let it dry
sign, date, and number

and do that about a hundred times. this is going to take for.ever.


More pics after the jump...

Map

Hand drawn map for the info pact to be sent with the invitation...