hooray for november!

rexville grange, represent

the month of october just ran on by, i'm hoping i get a chance to slow things down and enjoy november more.  so far it's off to a good start, and the end of october was pretty rad.  i had a birthday, which was fun (we went to port townsend for the day and just wandered around), there was halloween and all the candy, and we found a place to get married next year.  that's it, up there. 

i really loved the laconner flats, and getting married there in the rose garden sounded pretty fucking amazing.  however, we are going to have a lot of wedding guests.  that is something i've come to terms with: D's got a big family, and he just isn't okay with the idea of a little ceremony with hardly anyone there.  having the wedding at the flats meant we needed to rent a tent, or two, some heaters, chairs and tables and you can see where this is heading, right?  all that money for rentals was eating into our budget, and at the end of the day we'd have an awesome looking wedding with pigs in a blanket as appetizers.  i like pigs in a blanket, but was hoping for more on my wedding day.  there's also the whole issue of the two of use being kind of into food, and when we sat down and talked about what was important to us on our wedding day, we agreed that making sure our guests were fed and happy was a big thing. 

whew.  to that end, we postponed stuff.  obviously.  i started looking around at different venues, and stumbled across a website about washington state granges.  one we've driven past on many a sunday is the rexville grange.  i sent over an email to get some more information, and yesterday D and i drove our there to take a peek.  holy shit.  the place is HUGE (i mean it, it's massive), has a great old history, comes with tables and chairs aplenty, and has a beautiful outdoor area that we can also use if the weather holds.  it's also seriously reasonably priced, and you get the whole place from friday night to sunday.  the day of the wedding you get to just relax and focus on being wed, because you have the day before to set up, and the day after to tear down.   

a lot of what was stressing us both out about the wedding is now taken care of.  i don't have to rent anything, i don't have to do a lot more in the way of logistics, and can focus on fun stuff, like invites and decorations.  D is still in charge of the food (for the most part), and instead of a sit-down dinner we're thinking about going the nibbles route.  good nibbles, of course, but lots of delicious finger foods and pie and cake rather than a buffet or something more formal.  the weather in northwest washington in the month of may can also be lovely or rainy, so it's nice to know that we have indoor and outdoor options, and no matter what, people will be dry and comfortable.  we have plenty of time to work on the rest, thanks to already having a good idea of what we want, and starting work on it earlier.  having the site nailed down (again) and the date set (also, again) is a relief.  i did tell D if he tries to postpone again, i'm going to kill him, if my mom doesn't get to him first.  no wedding is ever perfect, and i think after our first try planning one, he's gotten that.  hopefully he'll relax and just enjoy setting this one up, because if he doesn't? i'm going to insist on elopement or staying shacked up forever.  it was disappointing to call off the wedding, and i don't think i can go through that again, even if it wasn't because of cold feet and was just all about the planning and timing, and even if it was nice to have more time.  one postponement is enough for this girl, thank you very much.