check. check. check.

last thursday, mr. lesley and i joined his mom, aunt, and sister to meet with some wedding caterers and explore south haven, mi where we will be getting married this june.

after meeting with the first caterer, it was hard for me not to agree to whatever she said and just scrap the budget altogether. 

she was just that amazing.

but alas, we knew we had some thinking and number crunching to do, so we fought the urge to sell our souls too quickly.

she did recommend crane's in the city that not only had incredible sandwiches, but also sold some delicious pies.

since neither mr. lesley or myself are too found of wedding cake, we were thinking pies would be the perfect dessert for us to serve on our big day. and we wanted to do some taste testing.

after one bite i was sold.

and so was everyone else.
it felt good to check something off the ever growing wedding to-do list.

next, we headed to the lake to pick the spot for the ceremony and decided on a nice, more secluded beach.

i think it will be absolutely perfect.

(please start praying now for good weather:) 

before meeting with the second caterer of the day, we went and saw our reception venue for the first time (planning a wedding from 1,000 miles away means you don't always get to see first hand what you pick. thank the lord for the internet and family members that will scope things out for you). 

we both agreed foundry hall fits us perfectly.

it's a music venue which we love, i can't get enough of the black and white checkered entrance, and the ceiling holds endless decor options.

although, i must admit the space did intimidate me a bit. 

i mean, i'm supposed to figure out how i want to decorate it ALL? 

phew. 

pinterst.com will become my best friend in the next few months. i can feel it.

after parting ways with mr. lesley's mom, aunt, and sister, we drove to kalamazoo to visit bell's brewery and have dinner with mr. lesley's old college pals.

bell's definitely did not disappoint.

the rest of the night was spent catching up with old friends, playing foosball, and finalizing our save the dates! 

slowly but surely, we are picking away at our ginormous to-do list.

and if i can plan this wedding and still maintain some semblance of sanity, i will feel pretty darn good about it.