Old Soul, Young Heart

The normal Marriage Monday programming is interrupted to give a little review of our wedding venue - Evelyn Chapel. Well, you all originally heard (read) the saga of the wedding venue. The general prerequisites for considering a space was that it was indoors, small(ish), and somewhat spiritually/religiously affiliated. Secondarily, we wanted a spot that was generally easy to get to from the interstate since literally every single one of the Philip's family members/friends was coming from out of town. After sending a lot of email inquiries and visiting Evelyn Chapel and Calvary United Methodist Church, I knew I really had my heart set on the chapel. Though it wasn't the easiest to get to, it is what I wanted--simple, pretty, calm, and intimate. The planning process at Evelyn was great, though they do have a few rules to follow. The rules really make a simple service a requirement. Our little wedding planning helper (I can't remember her name--Emily, I think?...

Wedding Wednesday Grandma Bean (Philip's grandma) hosted a bridal shower for me at her house on Sunday! I didn't take good pictures of us with who was there because my camera went dead at the end. :( It was a lot of fun, though! We played some games, we opened some gifts, we ate some food... good times all around! Here are a few pics. The direction sheet got done. It wasn't perfect, but it got done. I need to let go of perfect. Oh and I assembled the invitations on Saturday and will send them on Friday! I changed my mind a little about when to send them. Traditionally it's supposed to be 6-8 weeks when people receive the invitation, so if I send them on Friday, it'll be right at 8 weeks until the wedding. I don't want to be too jump-the-gun, even though I'm really excited (to both send them and have them out of my possession because I've been working on them for so long). Surprisingly, it only took me a couple of hours to put together 65 invitati...

Finally. We finally have a date. I'm so relieved and happy that we can move on from this. When I opened the letter from the chaplain at Wesleyan and saw September 22, 2012 at 3:30 pm (even in bold like that), I looked at it for a moment and imagined how nervous I'm going to be and thought about how it's actually happening now. Yay! This week during my lunch break I've spent a lot of time calling and emailing different reception places in town. Holiday Inn and Suites near the airport, Doubletree, and The Chateau are all booked for that date. I do have a viewing of Parke Hotel and Conference Center scheduled on the 28th and I'm emailing back and forth with Eastland Suites to see if they have our date open. It's actually kind of nice that these places are booked, just because it makes for less options and, therefore, less decisions to make. I think we'd be happy to have it at Parke, but I still want to see it in person again and talk to the catering manager. ...

Okay, I am so much more excited about wedding planning now! Evelyn Chapel is a go! I just need to submit our application after I get Philip's signature this weekend and get the confirmation letter back probably sometime next week saying that we have September 22, 2012 as our date! I'm so happy and relieved that this has worked out.

New background! C'mon, Evelyn Chapel chaplain! I've been waiting since Tuesday night to hear back from her about booking the two timeslots so that we have more time for set-up and pictures. I honestly don't care what she says at this point--I just want to know! This whole thing has taken entirely too long! I recently bought a second pair of riding boots and I'm super excited about them. They're the same kind that I bought in the perfect brown color, except these are black. If you're looking for boots, these are at Target and are only $35. I'm quite pleased with them. Now I need some black jeggings, which I'll probably also buy from Target. The only thing I hate is paying for shipping and I don't really want to spend another $50 to get free shipping. I'm sure I could find enough stuff though to spend that much! I'm sure it'll happen!

I'm not sure why, but I'm overly excited for Christmas this year. Even before Halloween, I've been in the Christmas mood. I think this might be because I will really be able to enjoy it without the worry of an upcoming semester of grad school. I also get a lot of time off of work--from December 24 all the way until January 3. I'm so lucky. That's 10 days! I love the feel of Christmastime, too. I love going to the mall when it's busy, when it's all decked out in lights, red, and green, and when it smells like roasted sugared pecans. I love being cozy inside when it's cold outside. Can't wait! So... a new development with Evelyn Chapel. I had the brilliant idea of contacting the chaplain again to see if we can book two times (10:00 am-1:00 pm and 2:00 pm-5:00 pm) in order to have enough time to set up and take pictures before we have the ceremony at like 3:30. I offered to pay double, since that's how much it's going to cost if we have it at ...

Well, Evelyn Chapel is pretty much a no-go. You literally only get the chapel for three hours if there are other weddings scheduled that day. Three hours for everything--set up, pictures, ceremony, more pictures, clean up. It's possible that you can have more time if there aren't other weddings scheduled that day, but I don't think I want to take that risk. The last thing I would want is to be stressed out about having enough time for the ceremony. I'm looking into the Unitarian Universalist Church in town, though I already know that family members will not like the idea of us getting married there. I personally do like it because it's inclusive of all religions and I feel connections spiritually to ideas and concepts above and beyond Jesus Christ. I already heard back from the UU Church and they allow nonmembers and I would be able to have the officiant I want, so this is a plus. I've never been in the space before, so I suppose I could go look at it. I...

Ugh... All I want is to hear back from the chaplain at Evelyn Chapel for the last time so that we can book the place! My last question is about how much time we have, which will make or break us sending in our application. I just want to know that we have our date so that I can start contacting all of these other places that I know also book up quickly (photographer, cake, florist) and start looking for a reception venue. C'mon, chaplain!

I really wish it were possible for us to get married sooner. I am baffled already by how much planning goes into such an event, and I even think that I was prepared for it!  My aunt Peggy and I are going to look at Evelyn Chapel after I get out of work on Thursday, so I'm pretty excited to see it in person! If it's as spectacular as I think it might be, Philip and I will go see it on Monday. If it's not as spectacular as I think it might be, I'm more seriously considering the option of the church I grew up in, Christ Lutheran Church. I'm still not sure how that works in terms of being a member and/or having a different pastor officiate, but I guess if Evelyn doesn't work out that I'll have to make some phone calls. Philip's mom also mentioned the church that she and Philip's dad got married at in Peoria, and I'm not totally opposed to that idea, but if Philip and I are living in Bloomington/Normal, it might be impractical to try to plan a we...