Any suggestions...?

Isn't it strange that May 29th was available at the church, but NO other weekend in spring? No, it's not strange, actually. May 29th is the weekend of the Nascar race in Charlotte. May 29th brings thousands of out-of-town guests/rednecks flooding into Uptown Charlotte. Planning a wedding on May 29th involves extra planning and has ultimately been the inspiration to starting this blog!

Some of my guests have already been asking where they should book a hotel and if I have any suggestions. The lengthy suggestion will be found below along with any directions you may need for navigating to and around Charlotte:

*All rooms are reserved under the Cohn/Ruffin Wedding*

Westin

704-375-2600

601 South College Street

Charlotte, NC 28202

~Located downtown and on the Lynx “light rail” system of Charlotte. Our reception is also located along this line making transportation at the end of the evening very convenient. A trolley will be available to usher guests from this hotel to the ceremony, and from the ceremony to the reception. No driving required!

* Of note: The Coca-Cola 600 Nascar race is in Charlotte this weekend. There will be activities downtown Friday including an outdoor concert series know as “Speed Street.” Saturday night will also be heavily populated with visitors for the race on Sunday. Some streets will be blocked off making navigating downtown more difficult.

Please consider this when booking your hotel and please reserve rooms early as hotels are typically at or near capacity this weekend!

Renaissance Charlotte South Park

704-501-2510

Carnegie Blvd

Charlotte, NC 28209

~Located away from “hustle and bustle” of downtown. While this hotel is slightly further away, there will be less traffic and it is also located next to South Park Mall.

Where would you like to go?

From the Westin to the Church

Start out going NE on College Street

Turn Left onto Stonewall St

Turn Right onto South Blvd and follow for 0.9 miles

Turn Left onto East Blvd and follow for 0.8 miles

Turn Left onto Dilworth Rd East

St. Patrick's Cathedral is on the right

From the Renaissance to the Church

Start out going East on Carnegie Blvd towards Barclay Downs

Turn Right onto Barclay Downs

Turn Right onto Fairview Rd and follow for 0.6 miles

Keep Right at the fork to continue on Fairview/Park Rd

Keep slight Right onto Park Rd and follow for 2.9 miles

Stay straight onto Kenilworth Ave (Park becomes Kenilworth, Kenilworth becomes Scott)

Turn Left onto East Blvd and follow for 0.2 miles

Turn Right onto Dilworth Rd East

St. Patrick's Cathedral is on the right

I-85 North (Atlanta) to St. Patricks Cathedral

St. Patricks Cathedral

1621 Dilworth Rd East

Charlotte NC 28203

I-85 North to Exit 34, NC 27E, Towards Downtown

Merge onto Freedom Drive, continue on Freedom Drive for 2.4 miles

Take the I-77 South/US 21S Ramp Towards Rock Hill

Take the West Blvd Exit 9A

Turn Left onto West Blvd

West Blvd becomes East Blvd, follow for a total of 1.8 miles

Turn Left onto Dilworth Rd East

St. Patricks Cathedral will be on your Right

Directions from St. Patrick’s Cathedral to Byron’s South End

Byron’s South End

101 West Worthington Ave.

Charlotte NC 28203

Start South on Dilworth Road East towards East Blvd

Turn right onto East Blvd and follow for 0.9 miles

Turn left onto Camden (first light after the tracks)

Parking Lot on Right

Byron’s South End is located inside the Design Center

Honey...soon?!

Winter this year has seemed longer and colder than ever before! I don't know if it's the snow in March, the Cabin Fever, or the obvious, but I CANNOT WAIT to go on our honeymoon! Josh booked what appears to be my PERFECT vacation complete with a swim-up bar, private plunge pool, beach access, and all-inclusive fun at Sandals resort in St. Lucia! I've heard so many great things about St. Lucia and May 30th can't come fast enough! Not that I am wishing away the time in between, because there is a lot more to look forward to that I wouldn't trade for the world. But when you drive a car without fully functioning heat and seem to stay cold the whole day, there is something very enticing about spending an uninterrupted week with my new hubby and having "my toes in the water, ass in the sand, not a worry in the world, a cold beer in my hand" - Zac Brown

The swim-up bar!

Where I will likely spend most of my time

The famous "Pitons" of St. Lucia

Our little Red Carpet

Below is a sample of our engagement session with our photographer. I think we both had a great time feeling like a model for a day!

Layla stole the show! Our photographer was great to work her into the session. The rest of the time she was curled up in the back of my car on her bed!

The rest of the pictures are on Pictage.com http://www.pictage.com/client/event.do?event=772280 Hope you enjoy!

What's in a name?

This blog is my version of "the knot" to provide information and updates for the upcoming wedding! Josh and I look forward to seeing all of you and we appreciate you sharing your Memorial Day Weekend with us!

In the picture to the right, what you can't see is the Gateway Arch out the window and the two bottles of wine on the table are B.R. Cohn wine! We thought it was only appropriate that this was the wine we chose to drink to celebrate our engagement!

Josh proposed that morning at sunrise under the Arch, one of my favorite places in the world! It was complete with a bouquet of lillys and a picnic basket with champagne and OJ for Mimosas! We were alone under the Arch for about an hour to enjoy before the crowd started arriving! I hope the crowd that arrived that day was able to make memories there that are as wonderful as all of mine!