It's a truth universally acknowledged that the question "will you marry me" is the beginning of many (hopefully) happy events. What's not disclaimed, and should be, is that one huge question is just the beginning of endless other questions. Those four words instigate a domino effect of discussions, debates and decisions not only about where/when/how you're going to get married - but also, what to do after (like the honeymoon, joint bank accounts, etc.).
For us, the honeymoon was an easy, pressure-free topic - something we'd bring up over pancakes, a walk or a movie. There was never a sense of need nor urgency. We figured, hey. It's a vacation. We can plan it whenever. Everything else was guided by my 'Bridal Vision' and then debated at length (inside my own wacky head, or
out loud with my wonderful wedding posse, mostly Mama J and
Dique).
The only thing I knew going into the wedding was the color palette was going to be my favorite colors: deep red and light pink and everything in-between. No matter what time of year or where it was going to be - I was going to have a Blush And Bashful wedding. So there.
Luckily for me,
Dique was fine with it (did I marry the right fellow or what?!!?).
The rest of our wedding and subsequently the honeymoon was planned because of the time of year.
Our wedding was on February 21st, 2009 for four simple reasons:
1. We got engaged on May 10, 2008 and I did NOT want to be engaged for more than a year.
2. We knew
we were going to get married in the same church where Dique's parents were married, and that church (along with most Catholic churches in The States) require six months of engagement in order to do all the nuptial preparations (hereafter referred to as The Hoops).
3. My dad's British, and I wanted to give relatives and friends a cheaper season in which to travel.
4. My mom's a kindergarten teacher, and I wanted the wedding to be the Saturday after a week of vacation so that she would be off work and wouldn't have to write sub-plans while trying to throw a wedding -- plus it would be good to have the week off to be with out-of-
towners.
The two dates that filled these requirements were April 18
th and February 21st. So, that was nicely narrowed down.
The church only does up to three weddings a day - before noon, noon-time and 3:00pm. I had always assumed I'd have an evening wedding... so?
Afternoon/evening... to-may-to/to-
mah-to... right?
We took the 3 o'clock and hoped for April 18
th. Springtime! Gorgeous flowers! A sunset reception at some old SF establishment like
1 Fort Mason with a band playing and champagne punch flowing!
Except, 3pm on the 18
th was taken - but the 21st was still available. At 3 o'clock. Done!
As soon as we nailed the date down, we wrote a preliminary
guest list - and realized the gorgeous 1 Fort Mason would be too small for us. And, since we now had a February date, outside space wouldn't matter since it would be dark by 5pm and who knows what the weather would be doing? So, I went back to the drawing board to look at reception sites that matched my criteria of:
1. SF landmark spot big enough for 200 people
2. Enough character to stand-alone without a view
3. In the budget
I looked at
local mansions,
hotels,
civic buildings... nothing really struck a chord with both of us - at least nothing that was in our budget (hint: it rhymes with "
shairmont"). And then , on the bus with
Dique about three weeks after being engaged (I work fast) it hit me:
Bimbo's 365 Club.
I knew they did private events there - and emailed their sales rep as soon as we were home. They were available for February 21st, and sent us a contract right away.
When we told our folks about it, there were a few anxious eyebrows raised - but once they saw the interior they were smitten just as we were. And I think my dad is still recovering from how beautiful it looked the night of the wedding.
Planning the honeymoon? Way easier. We wanted warm weather, no stress nor planning, and I wanted to be able to swim, eat, sleep and drink as much as possible.
One word. One syllable. Rhymes with "muse"....
