nurfherder Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 Hello! I know we've talked about this before, Sarah, but I'll rehash for others. I've been married a little over six months, now. I loved every minute of my wedding day and thought it was a gorgeous place, lovely food, great people and loads of fun (though I actually barely remember the ceremony and reception and stuff). That being said, I would have preferred to spend tons less $$. While it was relatively cheap by today's standards, it was still a lot of money. Neither of us would have minded eloping, but we knew our friends and family would have been disappointed and angry.We had about 60 people almost exclusively family (I have a huge extended family) and very close friends. As my wife and I are both the youngest in the family and last to get married we wanted to make it special. We kind of felt that the wedding wasn't necessarily for us (we knew we loved each other), but for our friends and family. So we wanted to invite everyone and have a big party to celebrate. Eloping just wouldn't have been the same, even if we'd thrown a party afterwards. If you do have a wedding, though, remember what a good friend said to me (::ahem, jenbobblehead:: You each get three items you're not willing to compromise on, but the rest is negotiable. Whatever you decide to do, have someone take lots of pictures and/or video to remember, as you probably won't. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SarahC Posted December 6, 2011 Author Share Posted December 6, 2011 Wow guys, thanks so much for all your wedding stories! It's really neat to read about how you guys celebrated your big days. I think we are going to go with the church down the road. It seems like it's just the right size, and in the right place. It's funny, because I do still work at the aquarium, and we have thought about having the reception in one of the buildings on the campus of the aquarium (there are 3 different buildings if you include the imax along with ocean and river journey), but have thought better of it, because it is expensive, and a lot of our co-workers might be put off if we don't invite them (there's only about 200 paid staff in the whole place)... so we'll probably just do a small party for close friends and family. It's leaning that way, at least. I'm wondering if it's weird that we've not really made a lot of plans by now? The prospective date is March 10. Matt just started a new manager position at work, and I'm wrapping up the semester at school, so we've been really swamped with that stuff. We can't ever seem to sit down to discuss it. It really is worrying me a little bit. That, and the fact that I don't have the nerve to tell my dad that we're planning on getting married in March. I want Matt to be the bad guy in that case. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nurfherder Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 I'm wondering if it's weird that we've not really made a lot of plans by now? The prospective date is March 10. I got married in May this past year and we didn't start any of the "real" planning until late January, early February. It depends on how formal you want to be as far as planning. If you want the formal invitations and envelopes, you need time to select a paper, style and allow for printing/writing/mailing/response times. If you want to do a less formal email or oral invitation then you're fine (also cheaper that way). That's just one example of what you could do. You've still got plenty of time to plan, don't worry too much! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SarahC Posted February 1, 2012 Author Share Posted February 1, 2012 Hey guys, I figure I would update you all on the wedding plans. We found an amazing venue for the wedding AND reception called Stone Fort Inn. It's been around in Chattanooga since 1902. We were able to book it for an afternoon (2pm to 4pm) for about $300 (it's usually $600). We are going to have the wedding catered by the place where Matt and I ended up on our 1st official date... Good Dog. They're a hot dog restaurant with all kinda of awesome hot dogs (www.eatatgooddog.com if you wanna check them out). I ordered the invitations through vista print. They're actually postcards, but I think they will be really awesome. I hope. Vista Print does this neat thing where your 1st order is free, so I ended up paying $18 for the invites (after shipping and adding a custom picture). Getting really excited about it all. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kidsmoke Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 When's the big day, Sarah? It sounds like everything is coming together beautifully for you...personal and warm and intimate. You are doing an amazing job keeping costs under control! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SarahC Posted February 1, 2012 Author Share Posted February 1, 2012 It's March 10th. 39 days away. Currently researching d.i.y programs. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sweet Papa Crimbo Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 Congrats!!! Just remember, a marriage takes a lot of hard work, forgiveness and understanding. Just celebrated my 27th anniversary, and I must say that the rocky patches were hard, but worth the work. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SarahC Posted February 14, 2012 Author Share Posted February 14, 2012 We've got less than a month! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kidsmoke Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 Enjoy the preparations, Sarah! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Alisa Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 A week late but I wanted to post my congratulations. I would love to hear a follow up on how the wedding went. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
El Picador Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 My wife and I were married at the San Diego County Clerk's super awesome wedding chapel (room). We didn't exactly "elope" as this idea was well planned out, as neither of us wanted a big wedding. We went down and got the marriage license and made an appointment for the following week to be wed right there in that same office. We let some friends know that we were going to do this but only those closest to us and we didn't mention the date. My parents knew that we didn't want anything big and so they weren't surprised or upset when we told them our plan (for weeks leading up to the wedding and specifics the day of). The only person in attendance for the wedding was my 10 year old son (from a previous marriage). He arrived with us, equipped with a camera to serve as photographer for the day. The wedding was fantastic and we have some amazing photos framed on our wall from that day. After the wedding the three of us walked around Balboa park and shot photos and goofed around. We went for dessert at Extraordinary Desserts here in Bankers Hill and then called it a day. I think my son's mother came and picked him up and we had some sort of weekend honeymoon at home kind of thing. My mom took it upon herself to throw us a beach party a couple weeks after and invited all close family living in the area. I also invited a couple close friends and their families. The party couldn't have been more perfect and closed out our matrimonial celebration without a) spending very much money inconveniencing any people by throwing a formal party that they felt they had to attend (it was a "come if you'd like" type of affair.) c) the stress of hiring people to do this and that; renting a room or reserving a location, etc. The only downside to this approach is there are always going to be a few friends that are offended that they weren't invited to your big day. I didn't really think of this before but when people find out via Facebook or other friends, they kinda tend to feel like they were left out. Edit: Oh, I guess I shoulda read the whole thread before posting...or at least looked at the dates of the posts...at any rate, CONGRATULATIONS!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SarahC Posted March 23, 2012 Author Share Posted March 23, 2012 Hey guys, Thanks for all the responses! The wedding went with "just one hitch" (thank my father for the joke ) Matt and I had a great time, It was weird though. Family kept pulling me in 3 different directions all at one time most of the reception, and I only got about 3 bites of cake because people kept talking to us. It was weird. Matt and I weren't together a lot during the reception because people kept talking and congratulating us. Eventually we went off by ourselves only to be found by the photographer, who took this very paparazzi like picture. All in all it was an excellent day. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Queen Amaranthine Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 Lovely picture! Congrats and glad to hear it went well. Best wishes! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
remphish1 Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 Hey congrats! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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