Engagement Soiree

I have always loved that word and I have no idea why ... It just sounds fun, and this one will definitely be fun! I am super excited for everyone to get together and mingle. We are going to finalize the wedding line-up so hopefully all of you in the bridal party can make it. We are BBQ-ing and Partying so it will be great times !!! See you there :o)

Haunted Honeymoon

Because what else can top a Wicked Wedding then a Haunted Honeymoon ? We went back and fourth for the last six months trying to figure out where we should go on our honeymoon. We started off with Italy. Of course, where else. Very shortly after that thought came another one ... At some point we will have to go over so that Brian's family can meet Vincenza and the rest of the kids. So we decided that trip will wait until Vinzi is old enough to fly to Europe and that's after she turns 1. Next we considered Hawaii. This is my only life goal vacation left. I have wanted to see Hawaii since I was 10 years old and Brian was all about it. It was just a little higher than we wanted to spend. So off to research where we can go. DUH! Salem, Massachusetts. Salem has this event called "Haunted Happening's" that runs the entire month of October and the first two weeks in November, every year. They have Vampire, Witch, and Graveyard tours. Hanging reenactments, and haunted bed and breakfasts. Which by the way, we will be staying at. So we will be heading out on November 2 and staying in Salem until Wednesday. Then we'll be driving to Boston and staying there for two or three days. I am so excited !!! Want to check it out ?

http://www.hauntedhappenings.org/

www.salem.org

New STD

Save the Date silly ...
Love this one even better than the first
Thx Violet <3

Talk about a wench ... I mean wrench

So Monday night, as I am watching Bolt with the fam I get an email. Mind you ~ my email comes directly to my cell so I get them right away. ~ Here's an exact quote from the email, "Hey Girl ... It's Gina. The owner of the Arsenal just came in and closed it down, call me."

Hold on a second. Rewind. WHAT?!? So I read it to Brian, still shocked and really confused, and I called her. I heard a frantic person on the other end of the phone telling me that the owner came in, fired everyone, took their keys and told them he was closing the Arsenal. At this point my Save-The-Dates are out (as of that morning), and they have some of my hard-earned money. I am listening, barely hearing and definitely not registering all of the info Gina is giving me. Long story a little shorter, The Arsenal is closing - no wedding. Keep in mind, wedding and reception were to take place here. Keep in mind - I'm six months away and gave up 3 other sites because I wanted the "Haunted" Arsenal for my Halloween Wedding.

Fast Forward to Tuesday Morning. I am back to the drawing board looking for a venue to host the wedding and reception on a Saturday Night in 6 months, barely holding it together to have conversations with the people I am contacting, wondering what I did to deserve this. I make appointments at Rockwood Museum which has my date available but was originally way over my budget, but at this point I'm going to take what I can get and pay for it, and at the Executive Banquet Hall in Newark, who didn't have my date, but had 10/30, was also higher than I wanted to spend but reasonable. Ok well at least I have two other options.

Fast Forward to Tuesday night - 7pm, I get a message from a girl who has been promoted to manager at the Arsenal and wants to talk to me about a phone call I may have received from a "Disgruntled Employee that they fired for stealing yesterday".

????? I'm sorry ... WHAT?

I can't have this conversation so I make Mel call her. (My Mommy) Mel proceeds to put her game-face on and call Asdrid from the Arsenal. Asdrid, the new manager who proceeds to tell my Mom that the Arsenal closed it's daily business, however they were going to honor all their contracts through January 1, 2010. My mom then tells Asdrid, (who ps ... was really professional and sweet) that we have been through hell for the past 24 hours and were not sure what to do at this point. She asks for us to 'at least' come in, meet with her and try to work it out. Ok, will do. Wednesday, 3:30. We'll see you then. Thanks.

Fast forward Wednesday Morning 8:40 a.m. I decide to have a friend whose mother works for the City of New Castle call to get some information about the Arsenal. After all the City of New Castle owns the Building. Richard Gay owns the business which is the restaurant. Here's what we were told: The lease is always late, there have been ongoing issues and his lease is up June 1, 2009, so how can he guarantee anything when he may not have a lease? Oh and ps ... the city council wants him out SO his lease probably will NOT be renewed. WOW.

Moving right along ... My mom comes to pick me up we get to Rockwood Park with low expectation. The grounds are beautiful, but really so what. I had the perfect venue. :(
This sucks. We pull up to Rockwood Museum, walk under the green striped awning and walk in to meet Craig from the Greenary Caterer's, the exclusive caterers for Rockwood. I barely give him a chance because I know they are WAY out of my price range and the building itself has to have a huge fee because this place was AMAZING. Rockwood Museum and Gardens is quite possibly one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. So we sit down with Craig, and the first thing he says is, "I am so sorry for your current situation and I would love to be able to help." He has a heart. To spare you all of the details, Craig and his wife, who own the Greenary Catering Company are two of the most wonderful people I have met in a long time. The Museum and Grounds are immaculate, huge, and they have an outdoor tented patio. (YAY!) They have a ceremony room upstairs, stone walls, and hardwood and brick floors. While all that is fantastic and will give me the elegance I was looking for but thought I couldn't afford, I am in awe and quite possibly in love with this place that I almost canceled the appointment too.
What Next? I listen and we work ... for an hour. And what did Craig do ? Created a miracle. Bottom line ~ My new wedding venue is Rockwood Museum (Carriage House, Mansion, and Gardens) and I got so much more than I thought I had before. Signed contract, guarentee that the Greenary and Rockwood won't be closing anytime soon, and the chance to work with these two wonderful people who took a horrible, HORRIBLE situation and made it so much better than OK. It will now be Perfect. The only thing missing, will be the ghosts.
Maybe we'll invite some ...

Never did make that 3:30 appointment ...

Want to check it out ? Please do ...
www.rockwood.org/

Oh AND ... when you get your Save the Date Magnets tomorrow or Friday
don't mind that they say the Arsenal, we've moved to bigger and better things!

Red-Haired Rosie and the Boy

Want some more information on the Haunted Arsenal ? There's an awesome book written by "Haunted Delaware" By Patricia A. Martinelli. Don't want to buy it ? No prob go to Google Book search and type in Haunted Delaware. Pages 15 and 16 are all about Red Haired Rosie and the Boy ~ two of the spirits that haunt the The Arsenal at Old New Castle. Or click the link below :
http://books.google.com/books?id=-OtF1_gxW08C&pg=PA15&lpg=PA15&dq=the+arsenal+at+old+new+castle+haunted&source=bl&ots=hkMbVjlA65&sig=-JicXB-8uqIU4SDCHTUlpLAI4HM&hl=en&ei=TvjQSdqdD-TflQeqt9TrCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=2&ct=result

Is the Arsenal Haunted ?

In 1831 after a severe fire at Fort Delaware, The Arsenal at Old New Castle was used to house all of the troops that had to be relocated from the fort until 1832 when it served as a hospital during a cholera epidemic. During this epidemic as many as 22 people died and were buried in the basement of the Arsenal. Through all of it's remodelizations, only 18 of the 22 bodies were recovered leaving 4 bodies at unrest. It is believed that these are the spirits that frequent the Arsenal today.

The Arsenal is part of Old New Castle's Annual "Hauntings in History" Ghost Tours. New Castle's favorite Haunted tours. This is the only tour that brings you inside of many of New Castle's most haunted houses - including the 1738 Amstel House, and the 1812 Arsenal. After exploring the haunted houses, people are off to explore New Castle's streets, alleys - even an 18th century burying ground located directly next to the Arsenal. Tourists are told macabre tales of the supernatural, and discover bygone customs and superstitions surrounding death and burial practices. If you're lucky, maybe you'll have your own spiritual encounter while attending the wedding !!

The Arsenal at Old New Castle

~The Arsenal at Old New Castle will host our Wicked Wedding and our Haunted Reception~

The Arsenal was erected between 1809 and early 1811 as the threat of war with England became imminent. The original structure was one story high and had arched wagon entrances at both ends of the building. The Arsenal remained an ideal location for ordnance supply storage until the late 1820's.In 1831 after a severe fire at Fort Delaware, it was used to house all of the troops that had to be relocated from the fort until 1832 when it served as a hospital during a cholera epidemic. In 1843, the townspeople voted to allow the Arsenal to remain standing "provided that the Arsenal shall never in any case be used for the storage of gun powder, nor for the quartering of troops without the express consent of the inhabitants of the town." In 1852, the Arsenal began its new life as a school, the second floor and cupola were added and the Arsenal became known as the New Castle High School until 1930. In 1936, the Arsenal was remodeled again in the spirit of the Nineteenth Century. The 1852 cupola was replaced with one that was more appropriate to the "colonial" character of the town and the marble "Eagle and Cannon" bas-relief, representing strength and vigilance, was moved from the north wall to the south wall. It then served as an elementary school until the 1950's at which time it became property of the state of Delaware. In 1963, the Arsenal was leased as a restaurant, which brings us to its current use as a spirited historic landmark restaurant serving traditional American fare with European influences.

The Arsenal is located at:

30 Market StNew Castle, DE 19720

(302) 328-1290

http://www.arsenal1812.com/

Our Wedding Party

Curious as to whose walking down the aisle with us? We chose our nearest and dearest and are to grateful to have them sahre this day with us. Thank you so much for saying YES !!!

Maid of Honor
Rebekah Nuttall ~ Bride's Sister

Best Man
Rob Hines ~ Groom's Best Friend

Bridesmaids
Christina Personti ~ Bride's Cousin
Melissa Aronson ~ Bride's Cousin
Samantha Aronson ~ Bride's Cousin
Courtney Turner ~ Groom's Sister
Jennifer Personti ~ Bride's Cousin
Elise Fawcett ~ Bride's Cousin
Valarie Personti ~ Bride's Cousin

Groomsmen

TJ ~ Groom's Friend

Derek ~ Groom's Friend

Rusty Hines ~ Groom's Friend
Shawn Turner ~ Groom's Brother-In-Law

Erik Aronson ~ Bride's Cousin

Joshua Winner ~ Bride's Friend

John ~ Groom's Friend

Jr. Bridesmaid
Sabrina Tjaden ~ Daughter

Flowergirls
Gabriella ~ Daughter
Abbi ~ Neice

Ring Bearers
Vincenza ~ Daughter
Joshua ~ Son

Save The Date

Save the Date For Our Wicked Halloween Themed Wedding on All Hallow's Eve, 2009

Thanks to Violet Bruises for creating those super cute Save the Date magnets for me! I created this blog to serve as a source of information for all those invited and involved, as well as anyone else who is planning a halloween (or any) wedding! I am going to provide lots of information on a regular basis, all without spoiling any suprises. You can expect to have a fantastic time at our wedding. We have planned everything from caldron's to fortune tellers. Our reception will be a costume reception so start looking for the perfect ensamble! If you have questions or need more info don't hesitate to contact me at dpersonti@gmail.com. Get Excited !!!