Welcome to Our Story

There can be a lot of pressure around getting married. The financial demands, the emotional stress, and the where and when can make planning what should be the happiest day of your life extremely stressful. This is especially true when trying to plan for family and friends that would need to travel from several different states, and in Canadian Brenna’s family’s case, countries.

After sitting down together and weighing out the pros and cons, we have agreed to opt-out of having a traditional wedding and will instead be making an alternative plan to elope next year and make our wedding day truly about us!

While we have yet to select a specific date in 2018, we have decided that we would like to get married in our favorite month…October! With the crisp Fall weather and the pretty colors of the changing foliage, we want to run-away somewhere that will fully embody our favorite season of the year.

We have also decided to keep our plan to elope a secret between us until after we have officially tied the knot. However, because we know how important it is for both of us to make sure our families still feel included, we are going to document our adventures leading up to the big day!
We cannot wait to share this blog and our story with all of our friends and family when the time comes!

Love,

Tony and Brenna

While still undecided on a specific date for our big day, we figured we can secretly begin planning so we can truly enjoy the day when it arrives.

Today while shopping and running some errands, Tony and I were unsure of our ring sizes so we decided to discretely sneak into a jewelry store and get sized. Oddly enough, while there Tony and I found a ring for him that we both really liked.

We are looking forward to our trip next week to the Adirondacks, where we are hoping to find a potential venue for our ceremony.

Wish us luck!

Love,

Tony and Brenna

After spending the last few days in Lake Placid relaxing, hiking and enjoying the amazing colors of Fall in the Adirondack Mountains, we decided to end our vacation week by spending a night at the Fern Lodge in Chestertown, NY. After Brenna discovered this hidden gem deep in the Adirondacks right on Mirror Lake, essentially unplugged from the rest of the world, we thought we would check it out as a possible venue, as it offered what looked to be a promising elopement package.

After spending the day at the lodge and speaking with the proprietors, we took in the incredible views that the property had to offer, and decided to make this the place that we will say “I do” next year on October 8th, 2018.
We are excited to share our pictures, and memories from this beautiful place with our family and friends.

Love,

Tony and Brenna

Hard to believe that we really booked a venue! We wanted to make sure that we would be able to also capture our day with a great photographer, and after a few recommendations from the Fern Lodge, we booked with Jason Hupe (http://www.jasonhupephotography.com) who is only a few minutes away from the grounds.

Really looking forward to sharing our pictures with everyone!

Love,

Brenna

Ps. 351 days to go!

Happy Holidays everyone!

It’s already been almost 2 months since we last updated, and it’s hard to believe that we’re already at just 295 days to go until we tie the knot!

We’re continuing to do some small planning, but the beauty behind eloping is how stress-free the actual planning process is. At this point in time we’re talking about how to get everyone together, and where to announce it to our families and friends. We’re cooking up some good ideas, and I can’t wait to see everyone’s reaction!

Oh, and in other news… I got my engagement ring yesterday! Tony and I spent a good deal of time picking out just the right one, which included adding a black center stone to give it some personalization. I am unquestionably head over heels at how beautiful the ring came out. In the last 24 hours I have removed it from the box no less than 50 times just to admire its beauty (and maybe to try it on again a few dozen times). I cannot wait to be able to wear it every day, but until then, we’re going to lock it up for safe keeping.

Every time we cross another task off our list, it starts to feel more and more real! It’ll only be a matter of time before we’re putting the finishing touches on our plans.

Love,

Brenna

2018! Time is flying by! We’re officially 245 days away from “I do!” We figured it was time to give you all a little update and let you know what is going on in our world!

We’ve officially bought our wedding bands, one more thing we get to cross off our list. They are hiding in the safe with Brenna’s engagement ring until we can finally wear them in October. Brenna started looking at dresses, but hasn’t been too impressed with what she’s seen so far as she wants to find something unique, and something that will showcase her style. She has however bought rose gold converse that she insists on wearing regardless of what dress she ends up buying. If you know Brenna, you won’t be too surprised by that. Tony has made an appointment for the spring at a local shop called BUREAU where he is hoping they can make the 3 piece style suit he is envisioning.

Just a little something to hang Brenna’s dress once she finds the one!

Love,

Tony and Brenna

Just got home from Cleveland! We told everyone that we were going back to finally check out the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and just to get away from real life for a night. This of course was all true, but we did not include the fact that we went to check out the restaurant that we are going to reveal our surprise elopement to our families at! We decided on the Market Garden Brewery because it is exactly our kind of atmosphere; it is low-key, with good food, and a great beer list! We already made the reservations, and Brenna is starting to tell our family members that she is planning a surprise birthday dinner for Tony as his birthday is also in October. Sneaky!

Brenna has an appointment tomorrow at David’s Bridal to start looking around, and will hopefully at least get more of an idea after an online disaster. Brenna describes the dress she had delivered as “a grandma dress” and “can’t wait to return this thing!” Cross your fingers!

Love,

Tony and Brenna

Guess what? We have exactly 200 days to go and still no one has a clue! We thought it was time for an update so we can keep you all on track!

We finally were able to get Tony’s ring size right, we think? But seriously, I am pretty sure that the jewelers that we got it from were tired of seeing our faces. When we first decided on a band for Tony, we placed an order after getting sized and when we went to pick it up, we realized it was too thick. So we found and ordered a thinner one, except it turns out it was the wrong size. So again, we ordered a new one. This one’s fit was a little bit too big! Oops! They do say third times a charm, and luckily that’s exactly what happened. Obviously we still can’t wear our rings, so Tony’s band is now tucked away safely besides Brenna’s wedding set until October! Hopefully his still fits when the big day arrives!

Brenna finally found her dress at a local shop here in Buffalo called Dalia’s Bridal. She looked around the internet incessantly, but nothing caught her eye. She made an appointment at David’s Bridal previously, but did not particularly enjoy the appointment as there were too many people around, and the experience felt rushed and unfulfilling. One drawback of keeping our elopement a secret from all of our friends and family, while still not wanting Tony to see what Brenna will look like in the dress she chooses until the big day, is that she have to rely on the sales associate’s word and iPhone pictures instead of having her family and closest friends with her to help her find “the dress.” This is the story:

I walked into the Dalia’s with an open mind. I have been searching the internet for ideas on what type of dress I wanted and was becoming quite discouraged as there really wasn’t too many styles I liked. I always feel like wedding dresses are designed for those who are 5’10 and 110lbs, and let’s be real, I am far from that standing at all of 5’2 and a little more than 110 😉

I was greeted by the owner of the shop, Dalia herself, and I felt an automatic sense of comfort. I was the only appointment, so I did not feel rushed. I told Dalia our story and all about our elopement plan and she was all for it. I would be lying if I said it was not tough shopping for my wedding dress alone as normally I would have wanted my mom, my stepmom, Tony’s mom, and his sisters at my side to help me pick out the one, but Dalia made the whole experience brilliant. She helped me out of my comfort zone and had me try on some remarkable dresses I would not have otherwise tried. We toyed with lace, tulle, ball gowns, and a-lines until we found a dress that the both of us just screamed “yes!”. There is still a part of me that is saddened that I cannot share this beautiful dress with my friends and family, but I take comfort in knowing that in 200 days I get to share it with the world! I cannot say thank you enough to Dalia for making my experience a wonderful one!

Love,

Brenna

Hi everyone, Brenna here! Thought it was time for a quick update as we officially have 155 days to go! I am really excited that no one has even the slightest clue about what is going on! As far as our families know, I am hosting a surprise birthday party for Tony on Saturday, October 13th in Cleveland, as we are both on vacation that week. My parents, who live in both Syracuse and Buffalo, are coming, which is really exciting for me as my family in Syracuse has not had a chance to meet Tony’s family yet. I have already messaged all the Fox family members to tell them about the ‘birthday party’ so I could get everyone to mark off the date on their calendars! We’ve got a table reserved for 22 at the Market Garden Brewery in Cleveland, Ohio at 6:30pm. We’ve been toying with some ideas on how the official announcement is going to happen that evening, but we’ve still got a fair amount of time on how to make it memorable! I hope you’re all surprised!

Love,

Brenna