We'll start with the ceremony: We're getting married at my church! If I'm being honest, I've never really wanted to get married there. Maybe it had something to do with seeing it week after week for like 17 years or just never really thinking the color scheme would go with what I (thought) I wanted. Whatever the reasons were I just knew I'd never get married there. However, I DID always know I'd get married in a church, that's one thing I've always been sold on. And when I attended a wedding in an old dark, wooden pew, stained glass church I just knew I'd found THE place I'd eventually get married in. That was until I found the man I'd be marrying. Once Joel & I started talking more and more about marriage, of course I started dreaming more and more about an actual wedding, one where he'd be the groom and I'd be the bride. Each and every time I'd close my eyes and imagine walking down the aisle toward him it was always unmistakably in my church, not that gorgeous dark wood one. I'm not gonna lie people, I fought it. I'd re-open and re-close my eyes and try squinting harder to envision something else but nope, it was my church for sure. And ya know what... I eventually came around to the idea and now I can honestly say I can't imagine getting married anywhere else in the world. Thinking about everything my church has meant to me, everything I've experienced there, makes me weak to my knees in gratitude to the Lord. The thought of marrying the love of my life in a place where I have truly gathered with some of the saints for the past 17 years excites me beyond words. That church isn't just a building where people meet and sing a few songs and listen to a sermon, it's a place where the Spirit of God dwells and where the Lord faithfully meets with His bride. At one point I nicknamed it the "living room" for our church family. What better of a roof to be wed under, right?!
(Also, I do have to say that my decision was further solidified after I photographed a wedding there and got to have that perspective of a dark, intimate, low lit ceremony and how beautiful that is... plus since the surrounding lights are off it goes with any color scheme! And did I mention that both Joel's brother AND sister were married there as well? The picture included is of his sisters wedding a few years ago.)
Ok ok, moving on to the reception: This is the tricky part, because really you can walk down an aisle and marry someone anywhere but you can't just set up tables, chairs, food, and dancing just anywhere. The place we had dreamed of having our reception (I use the word 'we' loosely there) was just not looking like it'd end up being the best fit for us, so back to the drawing board we went. To make a long story short, I'll skip to the part where my cousins graciously agreed to let us hold our reception in their wonderful backyard! Again, I was completely unaware of how something could so quickly exceed anything I could have ever dreamed of. They've got this huge, open space back there that I've been referring to as a "blank canvas" and I can't wait to have a huge party out there. Our biggest needs from a venue were space and time flexibility, and their backyard easily offers both of those. You'll find that as you venue hunt a lot of places offer a certain amount of hours during which ALL set up, enjoyment, AND clean up must be done. This is stressful to me for many reasons... 1. We all know I'm going to be a "hands-on" bride. I want to be involved every step of the way, and this includes set up, ok maybe not clean up ; ) So a venue that only allows a specified few hours on the day of the wedding would prevent me from being able to participate, not cool. 2. I also don't want all of that stress on my family the day of, the more we can all do together and ahead of time (maybe the thursday/friday before) the more laid back and smooth the actual day of will be! So needless to say we are beyond thankful for this space being provided and just know it is going to be so beautiful.
(I don't want to give away too much on the backyard since I want it to all be a total surprise for the guests, also because as of now it's just a big empty space, so I included a sneak preview image that will have to suffice for now.)
So there you have it... that's our plan for January 7th! I'd encourage any of you who may be planning a wedding of your own (or will one day be planning a wedding of your own) to keep things in perspective during the venue hunting process. Sometimes the most beautiful isn't always the best, and sometimes the not-so-beautiful CAN be! Although I must say that we scored with the most beautiful AND the best all in one, sorry : )
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