Venue Webcam

I just discovered something kind of neat: our venue has a webcam on their site!

Check it out here

As you can see, it's white and wintery up in the mountains right now! Mr. Schnitzel and I are headed down there this weekend to enjoy the Kempten Christmas Market - can't wait to share when I get back! Another mission I have is to gather tourist material for Kempten for our guests.

In the meantime, here's what the Christmas market looked like last year:

pretty!!!

Meeting with Landhaus Sommerau

Yay! That's what I have to say about that!!

We drove up to the Sommerau after a delicious "lunch" or "dinner" or whatever one calls those decadent delicious feasts that take place at the Schnitzel family - we had (haha) Schnitzel with mushrooms and some rolled up schnitzel stuffed with cheese, green beans and croquettes and wine. Perfect for me, because weirdly enough, I was kind of nervous. Why?! I don't know! This whole venue thing has been so perfect all along that I was worried someone was going to come along and pop my big bubble of venue happiness.

But this didn't happen. In fact, my venue happiness bubble grew even bigger. So big that my pounding wedding planning heart actually gave me a headache. Am I allowed to call in sick with "wedding excitement" 8 months out?

We got to the Sommerau and all was quiet. It was 4pm and starting to get dark already (bavarian winter...) but I was awed again by the gosh freakin' beauty of the place! It's just so perfect! Cozy and casual but special and Bavarian at the same time. We asked at the counter for Herr Kramm and were informed that he was running late - perfect! Just in time to scope out the rooms, for the zillionth time, and take pics for mama. We checked out the "rain room" for the ceremony first, which we had been told holds only 50 people - a problem with our 80+ guest list. The room itself is gorgeous (forgot to take pics of that, gosh darn it!) with a mural of Buchenberg on the "altar" area and pretty white chairs. We stood there calculating that we are SURE that 80 people would fit in there....

Then we made our way to our reception hall (around the corner). Here are the pics I snapped while walking around:

this is the balcony that runs around the inside of the room

view from the balcony - aren't the lanterns pretty? and the mural?

bouquet toss from the balcony woohoo!!!

the stage - where our awesome band will rock

this is a view of the chairs. They are RED but this can be changed....

 this is the room from the outside. so beautiful!!! it was a bit dark already...

And then Herr Kramm came and we ordered drinks - on the house! We talked through the details of the wedding, from the ceremony to the prosecco hour to the dinner and dancing. Here are some of the exciting developments that came out of our conversation:

sparklers welcoming the cake at our friend's wedding

• the ceremony will (probably) take place down by the pretty pond - he has to ask the town council for permission (we would be the first people ever!!) Alternatively, we can use the pretty room if it's raining - they can indeed fit 75-80 people in it (50 was with tables)
• After the ceremony, there will be a "Sektempfang"outside on the terrace (with alp view!) which is pretty traditional German - prosecco, juices for mixing with the prosecco (or plain, for the non drinkers), and some small appetizers. This is where we're thinking of having the Alphornbläser coming...
• Then the "Saal" will be opened and people can slowly enter the reception hall and be seated. Wine will be served (which we will choose in a wine tasting) and water
• We discussed food options. We originally wanted a sit down menu, but he suggested doing the appetizer and soup as a sit down and the main course and dessert as buffet. We were sold! We want to do "elegant Bavarian" for the food, and this way, people can sample all kinds of food BUT they will go by table table so the comfy conversation won't be ruined. 
• After dinner, dancing will begin. Then there will be a big presentation when the cake is brought in (with sparklers, yay!) and in addition to the cake we will have a bavarian dessert buffet, with Kaiserschmarrn, fruit, bavarian creme and a cheese plate, etc... 

• Next to the dessert bar, we will set up a bar which will feature our Signature cocktail and beer and wine and some standing tables to encourage mingling. In this corner we will also "air" our slideshow (being constructed by my mom) featuring cute old pics of everyone on a projection screen. 
• The ENTIRE hotel is reserved for us! We get the bridal suite for FREE. That's right, for free. The other rooms cost 39 Euros/person/night INCLUDING breakfast. Wow. That's for all guests. That's what I call a deal!
• We pay no rent for the rooms, just for food and drink etc.. he's putting together an offer for us..

So... as you can tell I am very excited. It's going to be an amazing day...

Venue update

Mr Schniztel and I are heading off to the wonderful world of Allgäu this weekend, where we will be meeting with our Venue director at the Sommerau. I can't wait to tell you how it goes, and show off the pictures I plan on snapping of the inside.

this is a view of the Sommerau from the outside (look at the sundial!)

and these are Dani and Michael Kramm, who run the place

I have to say, I am also a bit apprehensive. The last time I was there, I asked if they offer chair covers... the chairs are...er... a bit ugly. Wood with red velour upholstery.... they looked at me like I was asking them to knock out the ceiling or repaint the room. They were nice about it, and told me I could probably rent them elsewhere, but they looked shocked. I don't think anyone has ever asked that before. I can't wait to see the look on their face when I tell them I have a color scheme (they don't do that in Germany...)

This little anecdote serves to demonstrate that most weddings hosted at my venue are very traditional low maintenance German weddings. Now I don't consider myself high maintenance, but I do have a few suggestions (and requirements)... and am interested to see their reactions (they'll be thinking "crazy american!" the whole time).

Among the list of questions to get answered are the following things:

1) Possibilities for the ceremony. Where can we do it? Can we do it outside by the pretty pond? What if it's raining? Where can we find seating for all 85 of my guests if only 50 fit in the ceremony room? Will you bring the chairs out for me? Will there be naked sunbathers right next to my ceremony if we do it by the pond? (note: these are all problems that I wouldn't have in the US. See, this place has never hosted a "free marriage" ceremony, usually everyone just gets married in the church and comes there for the party afterwards. And the naked sunbathers? A very distinct possibility if I get the weather I am looking for..)

pond where we'd like to do the ceremony-- I think I spy naked sunbathers already...

2) Possibilities for the room. How many tables/what size/shape? How can we use the amazing gallery balcony? Can we leave the doors open if the weather is nice? Where can we do our slideshow? Can we set up a "bar corner" with standing tables and our signature cocktails for after dinner? Where can we set up our dessert buffet? Can we string lanterns up across the balcony? Where can we rent linens?

this is the hall (see the beautiful gallery balcony?) the photo quality is really poor (that's why I have to take my own!) but you can see the ugly chairs. In general, most of the weddings hosted here were pretty...er... tacky (in my opinion). But the space is amazing and can be transformed, and the surroundings can't be beat!

3) Possibilities for the food and drink. Can we look at sample menus? Can we do a tasting? Can we do a wine tasting? What can you offer for the prosecco toast? Can we have some small appetizers for that?

4) Questions about the hotel. How many rooms can we block off? Can our guests have a discount? What types of activities do you organize in the area? Can we use the Kegelbahn?

this is what the hotel rooms look like - clean and fresh, with a balcony.. somewhat "70s Alpine look" but I think that adds to the feel of the whole thing :)

Right. So I have a lot of questions! I am hoping to at least get a fraction of them answered and reassure myself that it's ok that we don't have a signed contract (this is apparently a small town German thing).

How did your first "real" meeting with your venue go? Did you bombard them with questions? Did they look at you like you were crazy?

(wish me luck!)

It's all fun and games..

So one of the reasons that we picked our venue the Landhaus Sommerau is because it has a duck-pin bowling alley AND a miniature golf course. WOW! We have been brainstorming ways to use these amazing resources. Here are our ideas so far:

- Each guest gets a monogrammed minigolf ball in the OOT bag (maybe like this but in color)?

source

- A family minigolf tournament

- A bridal party/groomsmen minigolf tournament

here's the minigolf course!

- Duck pin bowling tournaments (also as a bad weather alternative to minigolf)

this is the hotel's "kegelbahn"

- A rehearsal dinner/out of town event involving barbecue outside, beer on tap and minigolf

Oh wait. Did I mention that the hotel also has volleyball, tennis, a playground AND a mudbath? Yes, I know I have mentioned the mudbath. But I'll mention it again. A wild, in the forest amazingly beautiful MUDBATH! Complete with a beautiful pond to rinse off in. What could be better?

this is the "rinsing off pond"

Not to mention that any number of alpine hiking paths, bike routes, cheese tours and amazing castles are within breathing distance. Now I just need to devise a plan as to how to best take advantage of all the entertainment possibilities. I can't wait! How did you incorperate fun into your wedding?

Festivities approaching

Hi all, a bit of a stall in the postings due to busyness in general. And, I'm gearing up for two other big parties: my own birthday and Oktoberfest! I will be celebrating my own in a Biergarten with friends at a table with its own beer tap! Should be amusing? In any case, I will try to limit my own beer consumption, because I will be rising and shining nice and early to head off to the opening day of Oktoberfest. There will be plenty of time to shake off the (potential) hangover, given that the tents open their doors at 9 and we won't be served beer until after Christian Ude, the Mayor of Munich, taps the first beer keg in the opening ceremony at 12 noon. But we plan on bringing cards and games (maybe even books) to keep ourselves entertained. And when the beer does come, it will be certainly welcome.

On the wedding planning front, I have mostly been thinking and brewing (haha) over several aspects. It looks like the civil ceremony will be taking place in the morning on Friday, giving us time to do a nice low key lunch with immediate family and friends before heading back to the hotel to hang out and relax (HA! Relax on the day before my wedding? we'll see). I am a bit torn because we will only be inviting our immediate family and the bridal party to the civil service because the room is so small, but I would really like to welcome everyone else who made the long trip to town with some sort of gathering. I was thinking about just having an informal gathering in the evening at some point ? either at the hotel or elsewhere. But then again, I suppose our guests will be happy to fend for themselves in beautiful Alpine wonderland?. Maybe a "welcome back from being legally married" toast, or something, followed by a fun mini golf game, if the weather cooperates? We'll see.. does anyone (including the guests) have any ideas about that? Preferences? I guess there's time to think about it.

We are meeting with Oliver, our officiant, for the first time on Saturday, and I can't wait to see what he's like and what ideas he has! We scouted out potential sites at the Sommerau on Sunday, and it looks like we might be able to hold the ceremony down by the pond if the weather cooperates. If not, they have a lovely ceremony room with a beautiful mural of the town.

On sunday, we bombarded the Sommerau with questions ranging from chair covers to cakes and flowers, and we were very satisfied with a) how reasonably priced everything seems to be and b) how flexible they are. I think we are going to do things how we like, and maybe even throw in a few extras! We also checked out the room again and we loved it, even though it was still being cleaned from the wedding the previous night. The owner invited us to come back on a friday night when everything is set up so we can see it in all its glory, and I can't wait! I might even gather some ideas from other weddings?. Can I go every friday night? :)
We also visited the "mud baths" that are part of the hotel property and watched some people bathing in the black mud and then rinsing off in the adjacent swimming pond. Looked like lots of fun :) And we checked out a hotel room, which are lovely, a mix of wooden old-timeness and nice, cleanly renovated-ness. Did I mention that the hotel is also COVERED in solar panels?? For those who know me, you will understand my excitement at this fact. Well, on we go!

Scoping out the site

Hi all, so I'm here for the weekend at Mr. Schnitzel's family home, in the small town in the Alps where all of the wedding festivities will be taking place! We're here for a visit, but also to scope out some things, most particularly the Landhaus Sommerau where we will be holding our ceremony and reception. It looks like the whole date change debacle is shaping up into a great idea, namely holding the civil ceremony the day before with close family and friends, dressed in Dirndl and Lederhosen, followed by drinks at Mr. Schnitzel's family home and dinner at a cozy local German pub. Sitting here, with this lovely view of the church spire of Buchenberg, I can really picture it.

We haven't gotten a chance to go over and scope out the Sommerau yet, most because it's saturday in August and they, of course, have a wedding going on! (which would actually be kind of great to spy on, maybe I'll tramp up there later...) but we plan on heading over tomorrow to get something to eat and check out the event room again, as well as one of the hotel rooms, and just generally ask some basic questions. I have been endlessly flipping through their brochure and they really just offer everything and I think they will be really flexible with our ideas. I can't wait!

Yesterday when we arrived, Mama Schnitzel fed us and we got to talking about the wedding, of course. We hadn't yet discussed who she was interested in inviting, so she rattled off a list of names that I, of course, have never heard and Mr. Schnitzel looked confused, mostly because they are his polish relatives that he has, in fact, not seen for at least ten years, since he last visited Poland. And I got to thinking about how weddings are really amazing because they bring a whole bunch of people together who haven't seen eachother for a while or maybe ever for a common, joyous occasion and I got really excited about the chemistry that fills a room when so many people from so many different backgrounds and families and cultures get together for a fun event. I can't wait to meet everyone, and for everyone to meet eachother! Really, that's the most important thing to me (as I've said before, stitching together two families!)

Otherwise, I have been relaxing and staring with a giant goofy grin on my face at my husband-to-be :) *sigh*

Celebratory Weekend (and setting the date!)

I spent this weekend with my parents, who were visiting us in Germany for three weeks (while my professor dad taught a seminar) and are leaving today! :( We had an amazing weekend though: we rode out to the Chiemsee (Lake Chiem) which is sometimes known as the "Bavarian Ocean". It is a beautiful lake framed by the Alps and chock full of q

uaintness. We stayed in an adorable hotel on a smaller lake, and spent satu

rday and sunday riding a ferry out to the "

women's island", browsing the shops, eating delicious food at all manner of island festivals, and just generally celebrating the occasion! My mom and I discussed colors and themes, of course, while the boys (dad and boy) raced up and down the waterslide at the lakeside pool complex trying to break the speed record as recorded by the automatic time system on the slide. So great :)

I am sad that my parents are leaving but I am excited about all the planning that is to come! My mom and I agreed that we would talk a lot on the phone and on Skype and that she would be consulted about every big decision, even if she is across an ocean. And we discussed the idea of me coming over in the spring to go dress shopping – I like that one! :)

We did already make one big decision though – we have set a date with our venue of choice! Oh right, we also picked a venue! But that was easy, because we knew we wanted to get married in Artur's hometown of Buchenberg im Allgäu, a small town in the Alps with a population of 4000 people – so there just aren't that many options. Fortunately, I have had my eye on a place ever since the thought occurred to me that I would love to marry this boy, and so as soon as he popped the question, we stopped by to take a look at the rooms! It's a lovely hotel/restaurant with a big event room complete with a stage and even a gallery balcony going around the outside. The catering is done in-house, which saves me the stress of finding a caterer, and there is no extra charge for renting the room, which is also great.Other perks include the tennis courts, mini-golf and duckpin bowling in the basement, and of course the guestrooms for all of my out of town guests! I really like the idea of everybody being able to stay in the same place – it will be a nice community atmosphere. And like so many things in German, the hotel is nice and beautiful without being too swanky or overpriced, so it should fit the bill for (hopefully) all my guests. They even offer guests of the wedding a cut price of 35 euro (including breakfast!) for the night on the evening of the wedding, so our friends coming from Munich can party into the late hours and still crash there without breaking the bank. So excited! We called and reserved our date, (sometime in early summer, psst), and are

ready to start to plan!

Our next big step will be to pick out a "Free Marrier" (for lack of a better translation) who can do our ceremony. Because we won't be marrying in a church (in German you must be a member of the church to marry in it, which neither of us are) and the only person with an actual power to marry people is the so called "marriage officiant" in each town, which is often the mayor. So the cool part is, we will probably be married by the Mayor of Buchenberg! Unfortunately, that ceremony is very much like a courthouse wedding in the US, all business and little romance, and also little room for other languages or traditions. So a possibility in Germany is to have a "free marrier" who does not actually have the power to marry you (which no one does in Germany except for the official people, not even the churches) but who basically does wedding ceremonies for people like us. We have found someone who we think we like, now we're just waiting to find out if the date is free!

Phew, well it turns out that we have done a lot! I have to get back to work, but I'll be keeping you updated!