Who knew wedding planning could be so stressful? So I don’t have a date yet since I don’t have a ceremony/reception venue yet, but we are looking for a weekend in September 2012 and every place makes me feel like I need to reserve it now because someone else is already looking for September 2012 (seriously? I feel the pressure, no need to remind me and make me make an impulsive decision). In addition, we are looking to have 200ish guests (rdm’s mom has EIGHT brothers and sisters plus spouses plus kids; each of my parents have three siblings with spouses, with kids, and some even have grandkids). So I cannot get married in my home church because it is too small for 200ish people (I mean we might be able to fit them in there, but it would be like sardines in a can).  rdm’s home church is a little too far for my grandparents to travel plus it has bright plush red pews and carpeting which will clash with all color schemes I’m considering. But it is beautiful. Above is a picture of my first wedding ceremony choice: Isn’t this church beautiful and perfect for a wedding?…Not exactly perfect because the owner does not allow any weddings. :(  Second and Third choices: Too expensive. Cost per person ranges from $130-150 and multiply that by 200  is $26,000+ not including the site fee ($3K - 6K), flowers, cake, music, photography, the dress, etc. And even though they are picture perfect, I cannot justify the costs. And I can’t even think of 10 people I love enough to spend $150  on food, especially when I know they probably won’t eat it or like it. That is one downside — if it isn’t fried chicken, most people won’t eat it. P.S. That food price does not include alcohol.  Fourth/Fifth Option: These two are little more reasonable in price and are beautiful venues… Problem #1. For the fourth option, I have to use this gazebo for the ceremony, which is alright but concerns me for various reasons (grass stains, rain, boats, geese honking and droppings, and some unsightly pipes in the background). So yeah, sounds like a deal breaker? The rain back up is also no where near as beautiful as Choice #1 above. Problem #2. For the fifth option, it is much farther than Option #4…google took us up this long narrow sharply windy mountainy road with a drop off into a lake beside me and big rocks on the other side. It was pouring the rain, and I thought I was going to die. By the time we got back down the mountain, I vetoed the place for the mere fact that I didn’t want to be sick on my wedding day. But later I looked it up and found a much safer and easier (but much longer) route to take minus the sharp curves of death—thanks google. Problem #3. Option #5 also has a menu that does not have southern fixings, or other things that my picky family and friends would enjoy, on the menu which may make it problematic if they have a set menu and cannot make some changes. But we’ll see. So for now, I guess I’m off looking for Option #6 and #7. :(

Who knew wedding planning could be so stressful? So I don’t have a date yet since I don’t have a ceremony/reception venue yet, but we are looking for a weekend in September 2012 and every place makes me feel like I need to reserve it now because someone else is already looking for September 2012 (seriously? I feel the pressure, no need to remind me and make me make an impulsive decision).

In addition, we are looking to have 200ish guests (rdm’s mom has EIGHT brothers and sisters plus spouses plus kids; each of my parents have three siblings with spouses, with kids, and some even have grandkids).

So I cannot get married in my home church because it is too small for 200ish people (I mean we might be able to fit them in there, but it would be like sardines in a can). 

rdm’s home church is a little too far for my grandparents to travel plus it has bright plush red pews and carpeting which will clash with all color schemes I’m considering. But it is beautiful.

Above is a picture of my first wedding ceremony choice:

Isn’t this church beautiful and perfect for a wedding?…Not exactly perfect because the owner does not allow any weddings. :( 

Second and Third choices:

Too expensive. Cost per person ranges from $130-150 and multiply that by 200  is $26,000+ not including the site fee ($3K - 6K), flowers, cake, music, photography, the dress, etc. And even though they are picture perfect, I cannot justify the costs. And I can’t even think of 10 people I love enough to spend $150  on food, especially when I know they probably won’t eat it or like it. That is one downside — if it isn’t fried chicken, most people won’t eat it. P.S. That food price does not include alcohol. 

Fourth/Fifth Option:

These two are little more reasonable in price and are beautiful venues…

Problem #1. For the fourth option, I have to use this gazebo for the ceremony, which is alright but concerns me for various reasons (grass stains, rain, boats, geese honking and droppings, and some unsightly pipes in the background). So yeah, sounds like a deal breaker? The rain back up is also no where near as beautiful as Choice #1 above.

Problem #2. For the fifth option, it is much farther than Option #4…google took us up this long narrow sharply windy mountainy road with a drop off into a lake beside me and big rocks on the other side. It was pouring the rain, and I thought I was going to die. By the time we got back down the mountain, I vetoed the place for the mere fact that I didn’t want to be sick on my wedding day. But later I looked it up and found a much safer and easier (but much longer) route to take minus the sharp curves of death—thanks google.

Problem #3. Option #5 also has a menu that does not have southern fixings, or other things that my picky family and friends would enjoy, on the menu which may make it problematic if they have a set menu and cannot make some changes. But we’ll see.

So for now, I guess I’m off looking for Option #6 and #7. :(

  1. margelogilmore said: We got married under a tree in my parents’ back yard. My daughter got married on the beach at sunset at Lake Tahoe. Just a reminder—stop and take a deep breath. You’ll figure it out. ;-) M
  2. acarolinabelle posted this

NIGHTNIGHT by DEDDY