Last week the talk of the town was the wedding that officially united Prince Harry & Meghan Markle. I wasn’t hyped initially. I refused to get up at 4am on my day off to watch it. When I got up after 8am, I turned on the tv to see them riding along the road in the beautiful horse-drawn carriage. Afterwards, I decided to check the news and Instagram to get recaps. The pics were absolutely gorgeous. Love was expressed throughout each photo. A true fairytale it seemed.
That brought me back to wedding planning. Besides an engagement ring, two vital parts of planning are setting a date and choosing a venue.
My Wedding Planning
Selecting A Date
Firstly, I’ve always was wanted a Spring wedding. When I say always, this includes the timeframe in which I wasn’t even in real relationship. In my mind, the wedding date for my fiance and I was going to be Saturday, May 16, 2015. That all changed based on venue availability.
In the end, I was pleased with the selection. Overall, I learned that Charleston, SC is a popular location for weddings; therefore, venues get booked quickly. I went to secure our venue in May 2014 and all of the weekends in May 2015 were taken. People were sleeping outside to snag the venue, so I heard. That meant my dream May wedding was a wrap immediately. I wasn’t about to prolong it to 2016 either. There were only a few available dates in August, September, and October. October and beyond was potentially too cold for me. I knew a few people with September weddings and I wanted my own date. Plus I was ready to get it over with. August was our month!
Selecting A Venue
Now as for the venue, I was torn between a traditional church wedding or an outdoor wedding. I got to a point where I eliminated the church option and went with the outdoor wedding. That’s what I wanted from the start because I wanted to be different. I searched several places online. I checked prices, availability, location, max occupancy, and parking to name a few. My spiral notebook was filled with places to consider. The venue I selected was affordable and waterfront which I absolutely loved. Additionally, parking wasn’t an issue.
I almost ruled it out since my fiancé’s brother had a wedding at that same venue in the past. Then some self-wisdom emerged. I thought to myself those were different people, different color scheme, I’m using a different area, and the venue had nothing to do with them not standing the test of time. Yes, I think of everything possible before my final decision.