The Wedding....location

Who knew that choosing the location would be so hard?? It seems that typically it is held in the Brides hometown and such. But this Bride doesn't really have a hometown...since we moved a lot it would be hard to narrow a place down! Currently most of my family resides in Kansas but I think it would be hard for me to plan it from down here and there's other issues with that whole thing so the choice became Oklahoma. Yay, round 1 done!

Round 2 was Norman vs. Altus. Initially my first choice was Norman. Bigger town = more choices in vendors right??!! I also knew that since I was having it in Oklahoma that would technically make it like a "destination wedding" for my friends and family as most would have to drive 4+ hours...and not get to see a beach ;) If I had it in Norman it would shave off 2 hrs for my family's drive and a little for the ones in Texas. Although no help for my Flordia friends haha Sorry Vicky and Jessica...bring some beach with you!! This didn't set well with some of the Altus people. Which hurt my feelings because my family was already going to have to drive a good distance just to Norman so what would it hurt the Altus people to drive 2 hours? But on the other hand, growing up, most of my family didn't make much of an effort to be an active part in my life so why would I base my choice on just these last few years and try to accommadate them? Round 2 was really hard for me and I thought about it for 7 months before finally deciding on Norman. I told myself that I would make an effort to accommadate everyone...For the Kansas people Norman would be better than driving to Altus. And driving to Norman would be better than driving to my somewhat hometown in Kansas for my Altus people. Right? Those who really wanted to celebrate this day with us would find a way to make it right?! So it was settled.

Now round 3 was trying to decide if I wanted a church wedding or just any place. I really wanted to have the ceremony in a church, which also cleared up the outside/inside choice. So I called and checked on the First Christian Church in Norman (I grew up in the FCC in Granbury and I also wanted a piano so this was a safe bet). They have an attendance rule in order for you to have a wedding there. Which would be hard to meet since Devin comes home most weekends and I can't always go up there. But I thought we could make it work so I started looking at a reception site before I 100% booked the church. Which turns into....

Round 4...I looked at every single place that advertised receptions and really liked Cobblestone Creek Golf Course in Norman. It had open windows for great light, a pretty golf course, and home of the Abbey Road Catering who was voted Best Caterer in '06, '07 , and '08. Well...unfortunately...the "Best Caterer" comes with a price. Which is to be expected since it's in a bigger town and obviously she is good. But for the buffet style meal I wanted I couldn't see paying that much. Since Devin and I are paying for our wedding I also couldn't afford the location, her, and the photographer. (who is the best in OKC in my opinion...I'll blog on that later) haha So something had to give! For those of you who know me well...know that I LOVE pictures! I've been following the work of this husband and wife duo for a few years now and already hoped they could do my wedding before I was even engaged. haha So I wasn't about to give them up! So guess what? It's back to.....

Round 2! I tried to change the wedding location but it all came down to the same thing. After all that hard work...and those 7 months wasted in trying to decide how to make everyone happy...I changed the location to Altus. Now, after that I thought it would be easy. I mean, it's a small town so there's not a lot to choose from.


Round 3...again... I actually thought about going ahead and having an outside wedding since Quartz Mountain Lodge is a popular place and pretty as well. But knowing my luck it would pour so I decided against it. Still sticking with the church ceremony and optional reception site moves us on to the next round...so far so good right?

Round 4... I know I mentioned the FCC earlier...but I felt the Altus FCC would be too small and since then it has unfortunately burned down! It was a cute little church and has a nice church family! So my choice was The First Baptist Church in Altus, mainly because it has beautiful stained glass windows for the background! :) When I called they intially told me I could have the date but I wasn't ready to book it until I checked with my photographer. So after checking with him I called back (this all took a few days) and they told me they had decided to have vacation bible school starting that following Sunday (my wedding is on a Saturday) and so I couldn't book it!!! I was so upset! I'm not a member of that church so I don't know how my Saturday wedding that won't have a lot of decorations will effect their plans for VBS but I wasn't about to argue with a church so I politely hung up and moved on. Devin's Aunt Tricia is a member of The First Methodist Church in Altus so after checking with them...that's the official location!!

Are you still awake? haha I know this is long but I was getting hasselled for not posting about the wedding so you asked for it :) It was kind of a relief to vent about what I went through with the whole thought process haha. Although I hope I didn't hurt anyone's feelings! It's nice to have a location booked although when I came across pics of a wedding held at CobbleStone Creek, I was a little sad. I am kind of excited that we will be close to downtown Altus so maybe I can talk the photog into taking some cool pics down there. Depends on what he is up for I guess.

As far as the reception goes (I think this should be round 5 but I've lost track now haha), it will be held at Three Rivers Catering Hall in Blair, OK...although she hasn't returned my recent e-mail so keep your fingers crossed that something hasn't happened!!!

Okay I think that's enough for tonight! My finger are tired! Goodnight!

xoxo Brandi Sue