Hi there! I’m Erica and I am EnGayged!!
I am originally from New England- I was born in Connecticut, went to college in northern Maine and did my graduate studies in Boston. Recently, my partner Christina and I moved to the west coast so that I can pursue my PhD in Mass Communication & Society at the University of Oregon.We purchased our first home this summer in Eugene, Oregon which we share with our two cats, Oliver and Phoebe, and our dog Charley.
Me and Christina (photo from our engagement session with Maureen Ford Photography)
A little about me (and Christina, of course!)
I am the extrovert and Christina is the introvert. I make messes, she cleans them up. I drink micro brew beer and she drinks Pinot Noir. I walk the dog and she cleans the litter box. I am a morning person and she likes to sleep in. I’m a sucker for sweets, she likes the savory. I am the butch, she is the femme.
Me and Christina (photo from our engagement session with Maureen Ford Photography)
Christina and I met during the summer of my senior year of college (2007) in Ogunquit, Maine, which is where we will be getting married. Because we are planning our wedding 3,000+ miles away, we wanted to get a jump start on things before we moved. Our engagement story was featured on So You’re Engayged this summer, so I’ll spare you the details.
In terms of wedding planning, we are way ahead of schedule, so here is a brief snapshot of where we stand:
Wedding Date: Our wedding date is 9/10/11 (a very fun and easy to remember date, which is fantastic for someone with a goldfish memory like mine)
Wedding Venue: We will be getting married at Hope Hobbs Gazebo in Wells, Maine, which is in a harbor on the southern coast of Maine
Image from Town of Wells
Wedding Reception- the reception will be held at Jonathan’s Restaurant in Ogunquit, Maine (which is a delicious restaurant that also has great live bands- we saw Melissa Ferrick there in 2008). We are still working on putting the menu together but have a general sense of what we will be serving (we are thinking a chicken dish, beef dish and a fish).
Guest List: We have settled our guest list, which is just over 120 people. Christina has a large extended family (even though she is an only child). I, on the other hand, am an only child with a very small immeadiate family and my only relatives live in Poland- so many of my guests are friends from college and co-workers.
Photographer: Through some Google searching and internet mining we found our photographer Justine Johnson (who is a featured vendor of SYE)- she is from Saco, Maine (which is where Christina’s parents live). This fits fantastically with our goal to support local businesses with our wedding.
Cake: We have decided to go with Coastal Cakes (also located in Saco, Maine)- I have been in touch with the owner via email and telephone- she took a chance on us and actually overnighted us 2 cupcakes because we could not make a cake tasting appointment- we are still in the preliminary phases of flavors but are leaning toward red velvet cupcakes with a cream cheese frosting. We will do cupcakes for all of our guests and then have a 2-tiered cake for us to cut and then to freeze and eat on our 1 year anniversary.
Band: To me one of the most important parts of a wedding is the music, so finding the “right” band was key- so I searched long and hard for a band that we could afford but that was also fun, and actually good- we decided to go with The Coronados- a 6 piece (guitar, bass, drums, piano, saxophone and vocals) band from Saco, Maine.
Theme/Colors: After teeter-tottering about colors we decided to go with cocoa and ivory with accents of green. Both Christina and I will be wearing off-white and our bridesmaids will all be wearing match cocoa colored dressed. The overall feel we are going for is a chic, rustic using the three colors to evoke this. I absolutely love white birch and oak (and all sorts of woodsy things) and would love to incorporate actual wood where ever we can.
So…we have quite a few of the big ticket items taken care of, but these are the easy things…the details will be brutal I’m sure.
Sounds amazing and you two are a cute couple! So happy to put a face with the voice! :)
Yay! I remember your engagement story! Scrabble at its best! Welcome! Congrats again! Very excited to learn of your plans and see lots of pics!
You guys are so great and it is so nice to be able to read the blog and get a taste of what you are going through with the planning. Looking forward to the big day,,it will be a beautiful wedding<3
Congrats, that’s awesome! Dre’ and I are also getting married on 9/10/11 :). And we went to Ogunquit this summer and had a great time. We even had dinner at Jonathan’s!
Welcome welcome, Erica (from the other Erica!)! And welcome to Oregon and the West Coast as well (I’m from Siskiyou Co, Northern Ca). Very impressed with all the details sorted so far and best of luck with the long distance–it IS do-able!
Ah, what a beautiful gazebo! Looking forward to your wedding photos. :)
Can’t wait to follow your journey! My partner and I are getting marred in the spring. Our big decisions have been made too – the smaller ones are going to be veryyyyyy interesting.
Welcome to SYE! Loved your engaygement story (I’m a big Scrabble fan), and am so glad we get to follow your journey! Congratulations!
Welcome! Can’t wait to hear more!