My Outer Banks Wedding Story – Planning Part 2

February 18, 2013

The preaching is done – I was just looking out for you! My fiance and I are very excited about our plans thus far! Like I said earlier, we are at the 8 months out mark so a majority of work has already been accomplished; including our visit to the Outer Banks Wedding Expo. Our vendors booked thus far include:

Venue: Jennette’s Pier in Nags Head
Officiant: Jay Bowman
Photography: Terry & Sarah Photography
Florals & Coordination: The Embellishers
DJ: Music Masters – Matt Cooper
Caterer: TBD
Cake: TBD

The priority for us was the venue; we booked Jennette’s pier about a year and a half out from our date. The officiant was another big choice for us as you really want to connect well with the person who will be officially connecting you! Photography, florals, etc., have all been falling into place. For example, we started our photography search in June 2012 and finally booked in the Fall of 2012. As I mentioned in the tips, you will have your own personal priorities but do keep in mind venues, caterers, and photographers typically are booked earliest on the Outer Banks. Catering and a cake have been the focus of current, and were our targets at the OBXWA Wedding Expo this year. I can honestly say I am not proud at the amount of food I ingested as we perused the isle ways of the show. I do however, give high marks in sample portions to High Cotton BBQ and 1587 Restaurant, who respectively, served a pound plate-full of awesome BBQ and medium rare sliders topped with calorie loaded goodness. Unfortunately, they are not in our top runnings but they really know how to please the male population at wedding shows!

Striper’s Bar & Grille has an amazing view!

Our catering “top 2” have been narrowed down to Stripers, a famously delicious seafood restaurant overlooking the Pamlico sound in Manteo, and Red Sky Cafe in Duck; home of “eat with your eyes” fantastic tappas dishes. Both of these caterers made the cut as they put on a really nice display and samplings during the expo, and my fiance and I are fans to begin with of both. Stripers and Red Sky are appealing to us in the fact that they are consciously and obviously working hard to earn our business and they both cordially hosted us to AMAZING personalized tastings that were out of this world! Ultimately, like in many wedding decisions, the two of us will have to choose between these great options. However, we are very lucky to be in this position given the fact they are both working with us so well to make the cut! Cake, on the other hand, has been a challenge for us. We have been through several cake tastings with the vendors here – only to ingest dry slices of spongy material with a whipped buttery sugar spread on top. Bob does not enjoy dry or tasteless matter, and he does not take kindly the idea of serving such porous matter for the greatest celebration of his life! Third person talking aside, we have landed on a baker or two who actually make tasty moist cakes AND yummy cream cheese icing that we would love to serve to our guests! Stay tuned for the next installment – which shall cover our search for unique wedding invitations, catering decision, and will include some cool DYI wedding tips for those willing to get creative!