We Picked The Venue!!!

Well, we loved Castle Ladyhawke. We really, really did. Unfortunately, it is just too much of a risk to choose the castle as our venue when it is so remotely situated and their is a possibility of the roads being snowy/icy. The deciding factor was when our tour guide admitted that while they can guarantee that their driveways and private roads will be salted and clear, they cannot guarantee the same for the roads leading in. That just scared the pants right off me. Our wedding is December 27th. It is likely that there will be snow/ice in the mountains. And even though that is what I really thought I wanted - a Winter Wonderland wedding - it isn't practical to ask folks to fly in and then drive 3.5 hours to MAYBE get to our wedding. That simply will not do.

And although we were wowed by many things about the property, it just wasn't a 100% YES for us. I never got the feeling that it was ours. I never could really envision it, not the way that I could at The Arbors.

So, after careful consideration, a few days of sleeping on it, and much conversation……

We booked The Arbors.

SO EXCITED!!!!! I can completely see it. It just feels so perfect! It's less than a half hour from our house, and we will be able to stay on the property in this sweet house attached to it. It won't be quite the same as staying in a Scottish-style castle, but it will still be amazing and beautiful. We also secured a wedding planner, which is a huge load off my mind, AND we did a full first-draft of the guest list, which tops 300.

Yes, we will be working on that. If we can get it to 100 (final headcount), then that would be a lot more feasible. The thing is, we know we will have a lot of folks who won't be able to come - but for those who CAN, we'd sure like them to be there. But what if you invite 300 knowing your space can only hold 200 (for example) and then 250 come?! What then? It would be crazy for us to have a strong turnout because our date is just after Christmas and because a good lot of the people we are inviting live in other states. But you just never know.

We are finding out that there are quite a few things that require quite a bit more thought than initially…. thought. One important thing we did was we determined our budget. I hope we are able to stick to it. In order to do that, we've got to seriously downsize our guest list. Even if we don't want to. How do people DO this?!

I never really imagined this part about getting married. I've thought a lot about different little parts of it - the music, what traditions to include, which to discard, the dress, the bridal party, the actual ceremony. But I never thought about having to determine who to invite.

Patrick wanted to put up a sign at the range that said if people wanted to come to let him know. I love that he wanted to open-invite, but I can't figure out how that would work with RSVPs and pay-by-the-head catering.

It's a good thing we still have a year to have everything (near) perfect, because every single thing seems to take quite a long time!

For now, I'm just so so soooo happy that we picked such an amazing place to get married. I cannot wait to say my vows to Patrick and to hear his in front of that beautiful fireplace with our families and friends there as witness. I can't believe I get to marry that man. I can't believe it. xo