Wedding Possible date and venue- excited gushing

[WishfulThinking]

We have a potential date and a potential location for the wedding! YAY!

This is totally subject to change, but I wanted to share anyways, since it's so exciting and on my mind right now.

We had always planned on getting married sometime during our graduation weekend, when both of our families would be together, for many reasons, but including that neither of our families can afford to fly to where the other lives [opposite coasts], and S's family will be on the same coast as my family in May 2009 to celebrate her/our graduation.

However, due to work concerns and other factors, her family is unable to stay in the area for more than a weekend, so we were struggling to think of when we could have the ceremony and reception that wouldn't be too hectic and crazy amidst all the graduation celebrations.

Well, we found it [we think]! Tentatively: May 23, 2009.

Then came the search for the perfect location. We are having a very informal ceremony and picnic/potluck with just immediate and slightly extended but very close family, and a small budget, and wanted it to be outside, somewhere beautiful that has facilities for grilling, eating, and some sort of shelter as backup if it rains. We are now thinking that a historical landmark atop a mountain in the local state forest would be perfect for us! We can get a day pass to reserve a section of the space for the function, it's low-budget, and most importantly, it has very significant meaning for me and FI. Our college, where we met, is named after the mountain, and there is a school tradition that involves the mountain and the grounds of the park at the top. Perfect!

It's also closeby to where we will be that morning for part of the graduation activities, and convenient to get to that afternoon for a long, fun picnic.

I know what we're planning is quite modest in comparison to what a lot of people do, but it's very "our" style and perfect for us, our budget, and our family's overall enjoyment. That is what makes it so exciting.

We will be looking into the procedures to reserve time there, as well as making sure the date will work out for everyone involved, but it is looking very promising.
So exciting! Sorry for the ramble, everyone- I just wanted to share!

 

[Neveah]

That is SO exciting!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!

I love going to weddings where the couple has chosen a spot which is meaningful! Doesn''t matter how big or small the budget, what matters is celebrating with the new couple!

Gush all you want! How awesome for you and your FI!!!

 

[WishfulThinking]

Thanks, Neveah! We''re totally excited about it.

 

[iheartscience]

Congratulations/woohoo! In the woods and on a mountain sounds so romantic and beautiful! And it sounds super fun and laid back-I like weddings of all kinds, and some of the best I''ve been to have been very laid back!

Total threadjack, but I saw in another thread that you go to Mount Holyoke. I was just there a few weekends ago for my cousin''s wedding and it was beautiful! My cousin went there (she graduated quite a while ago, though) and she got married at the chapel there. The campus and town are just gorgeous! What a great place to go to school!

 

[Harleigh]

I think it sounds perfectly lovely, and I think it is wonderful you are so considerate of all of your family! I can''t wait to hear how it turns out!

 

[WishfulThinking]

Thanks Harleigh! I am sure I''ll be posting on this many more times. I love having this forum to share things with- you''re all so great!

Date: 7/9/2008 12:49:43 PM
Author: thing2of2
Congratulations/woohoo! In the woods and on a mountain sounds so romantic and beautiful! And it sounds super fun and laid back-I like weddings of all kinds, and some of the best I''ve been to have been very laid back!


Total threadjack, but I saw in another thread that you go to Mount Holyoke. I was just there a few weekends ago for my cousin''s wedding and it was beautiful! My cousin went there (she graduated quite a while ago, though) and she got married at the chapel there. The campus and town are just gorgeous! What a great place to go to school!

That''s so good to hear. It''s definitely a very romantic and pretty place, and that''s important to us!

And yes, I do go to Mount Holyoke. I love it there.

For more reasons than just the scenery, but that is a huge bonus. If we were "chapel people" [I won''t lie, it would be totally weird for us to get married in a chapel, no matter how interfaith it was, and Abbey totally is, but it''s not "us" at all!] we would get married in Abbey as well. It''s such a beautiful chapel, and the campus is a pretty place to get married. During graduation weekend that''s not an option with so many people around and the Chapel in use for services, so we''re choosing someplace nearby and with history and tradition connected to the school. We hike Mount Holyoke every year in a tradition called Mountain Day. It''s a blast! I wonder if your cousin remembers that; so neat that she went here as well.

 

[iheartscience]

Date: 7/9/2008 1:36:36 PM
Author: WishfulThinking

Thanks Harleigh! I am sure I''ll be posting on this many more times. I love having this forum to share things with- you''re all so great!

Date: 7/9/2008 12:49:43 PM

Author: thing2of2

Congratulations/woohoo! In the woods and on a mountain sounds so romantic and beautiful! And it sounds super fun and laid back-I like weddings of all kinds, and some of the best I''ve been to have been very laid back!

Total threadjack, but I saw in another thread that you go to Mount Holyoke. I was just there a few weekends ago for my cousin''s wedding and it was beautiful! My cousin went there (she graduated quite a while ago, though) and she got married at the chapel there. The campus and town are just gorgeous! What a great place to go to school!

That''s so good to hear. It''s definitely a very romantic and pretty place, and that''s important to us!

And yes, I do go to Mount Holyoke. I love it there.

For more reasons than just the scenery, but that is a huge bonus. If we were ''chapel people'' [I won''t lie, it would be totally weird for us to get married in a chapel, no matter how interfaith it was, and Abbey totally is, but it''s not ''us'' at all!] we would get married in Abbey as well. It''s such a beautiful chapel, and the campus is a pretty place to get married. During graduation weekend that''s not an option with so many people around and the Chapel in use for services, so we''re choosing someplace nearby and with history and tradition connected to the school. We hike Mount Holyoke every year in a tradition called Mountain Day. It''s a blast! I wonder if your cousin remembers that; so neat that she went here as well.

Hahaha-actually, I don''t think my cousin is really a chapel person either! The wedding had kind of a semi-religious/secular flavor...still really nice, of course, but I totally got that vibe! So yeah, I totally get not being chapel people!

I''m sure my cousin remembers Mountain Day-she loved it there a lot! I think she got her Master''s there, too? Is that possible? I could totally be making that up!

Anyways, threadjack over! I can''t wait to hear more about your wedding/venue-I bet it''s going to be amazing!

 

[WishfulThinking]

Date: 7/9/2008 10:40:39 PM
Author: thing2of2
Hahaha-actually, I don't think my cousin is really a chapel person either! The wedding had kind of a semi-religious/secular flavor...still really nice, of course, but I totally got that vibe! So yeah, I totally get not being chapel people!


I'm sure my cousin remembers Mountain Day-she loved it there a lot! I think she got her Master's there, too? Is that possible? I could totally be making that up!


Anyways, threadjack over! I can't wait to hear more about your wedding/venue-I bet it's going to be amazing!

Threadjacks about Moho are of my favourite variety.

Too funny about your cousin also not being a chapel person, really. Of all the places for not-really-chapel people to get married in a chapel, I vote Abbey. Abbey Interfaith Chapel. That has a Wiccan altar in addition to all of the other faiths represented. I <3 my school quite a lot at times. Alas, no chapel for us, but atop Mount Holyoke [the real mountain, lol] we go! The date is looking pretty final right now, pending what the forest park ranger people [?] say about day permits for events. YAY!

Also, she totally could have gotten her masters at MHC as well, but we only have a Master of Arts in Psychology and possibly one other program, so it's very limited, but possible!

 

[iheartscience]

Okay, she probably didn''t get her Master''s there, then. I''m pretty sure she was a Physics major so I''m assuming her Master''s was related!

I still can''t get over how beautiful the campus was-my aunt told me it always gets voted the most beautiful campus in America in magazines. The buildings and the scenery were amazing! We walked around the campus a bit because we were trying to find a bar after the wedding, and we ended up at this weird bar that was a mile or two away from the chapel. It had a bunch of wood paneling and was very "localy," and it had all the Boston team flags and whatnot. The people there were not impressed when 10 slightly buzzed and strange looking people in wedding outfits showed up! It was like in a movie when the music stops and everyone at the bar turns and stares at whoever walks in...

Anyways, I have yet to set a wedding date myself-I went back to school last year and I want to finish up before I go getting married. So I''m probably going to be doing it around the same time as you next year. I still haven''t figured out where I''m going to get married...I''m another non-chapel kind of girl! I''m a bad/former Catholic but I know my mom would really like me to get married in a Catholic church so I don''t know what to do!

Wow, I am the threadjacker extraordinaire tonight! Promise I''ll shut up this time!

 

[WishfulThinking]

Physics...

I think I once knew someone who was a physics major... but not very well, since she spent all her time in the library!

The campus is SO GORGEOUS.

I love it there. I never want to leave. Boooo! It was voted most beautiful a few times, and I think it totally deserves it. IMHO, of course- haha. I am local, so I am used to seeing similar scenery and countryside, and it's all beautiful, but the MHC campus is even *better* than the usual beauty of the W. MA countryside.

Your story about the bar cracked me up! Seriously, it sounds sooooooo right for the area. The "valley" is a great place to live, and beautiful, as well as full of academics and hippies and all of that good stuff, what with the five colleges and all, but there are A LOT of hilltown folks here as well.

I can't believe we've already set a date, even if it is tentative. I'm just so excited! I keep thinking we must have overlooked *something*, considering how many logistical things we have to plan around, but so far everyone who has been asked has approved it, so that's good. I hope you find a date and time that you love for your own wedding! I also feel you on the church thing... I don't know how many stories I've heard from my parents about their wedding, which they had in a Catholic church at their parents' demand. They hated it, though. I'm probably no help there, since looking back on it they horribly regret letting themselves be pushed around the way they were. With them it wasn't that the parents would "really like" it if they did; it was more of a requirement.

ETA: I totally love threadjacks, so no problem by me! Plus, it's my thread.

 

[iheartscience]

Date: 7/10/2008 12:30:28 AM
Author: WishfulThinking
Physics...

I think I once knew someone who was a physics major... but not very well, since she spent all her time in the library!


The campus is SO GORGEOUS.

I love it there. I never want to leave. Boooo! It was voted most beautiful a few times, and I think it totally deserves it. IMHO, of course- haha. I am local, so I am used to seeing similar scenery and countryside, and it''s all beautiful, but the MHC campus is even *better* than the usual beauty of the W. MA countryside.


Your story about the bar cracked me up! Seriously, it sounds sooooooo right for the area. The ''valley'' is a great place to live, and beautiful, as well as full of academics and hippies and all of that good stuff, what with the five colleges and all, but there are A LOT of hilltown folks here as well.


I can''t believe we''ve already set a date, even if it is tentative. I''m just so excited! I keep thinking we must have overlooked *something*, considering how many logistical things we have to plan around, but so far everyone who has been asked has approved it, so that''s good. I hope you find a date and time that you love for your own wedding! I also feel you on the church thing... I don''t know how many stories I''ve heard from my parents about their wedding, which they had in a Catholic church at their parents'' demand. They hated it, though. I''m probably no help there, since looking back on it they horribly regret letting themselves be pushed around the way they were. With them it wasn''t that the parents would ''really like'' it if they did; it was more of a requirement.

ETA: I totally love threadjacks, so no problem by me! Plus, it''s my thread.

Yeah, my cousin''s all smart and stuff! I mean, physics?! Yikes! What''s your major? And actually, my cousin is from Western MA, too! Her parents are total hippies so they fit right in there! I don''t know the name of the area they''re from but it was about 45 minutes to an hour away from Mount Holyoke. My mom is from Charlestown and almost all of her siblings stuck around Boston or MA. I wish she stuck around there...it would have been cool to be raised in Charlestown! My mom grew up in a house directly in front of the Bunker Hill monument!

And the church thing is definitely not a mom-imposed requirement...but I''m a major mama''s girl so I would like to make her happy! But it''s not like she''ll be mad at me or hold it against me at all if I don''t. I have a non-controlling mother, luckily! Another part of it is that I''m just so used to Catholic weddings/ceremonies...I think it might not feel "real" to me if I don''t do it in a Catholic church. So I just don''t know what I''m gonna do! That''s part of the reason I''ve been putting off planning it, actually. Ack!

Anyways, I hope the permit thing comes through because it sounds like that date is just meant to be! I bet May is perfect weather there, too. Not too hot, not too cold...

Okay, off to write my paper for real this time! Summer school is the worst for a procrastinator...no time to procrastinate!

 

[choro72]

Congratulations! It sounds like a lovely celebration

We''re also planning our wedding around my graduation (I hope!). Makes things easier doesn''t it?
Correct me if I''m wrong, but I thought you were planning to do something in California? Or did I totally misunderstand you?
Good luck on telling your Grandmother. I''m rooting for you!

 

[bee*]

That sounds fab! Great idea to tie it in with the graduation when both families will be around.

 

[WishfulThinking]

choro- Thanks! Planning the wedding at the same time has been very convenient and also a stress reliever to get my mind off of thesis and graduation stuff. Our wedding is so low key that I don''t have to do much stressing, which is so cool! We are indeed doing something in CA as well. The ceremony, which has no legal element whatsoever in MA, unfortunately, since she is not a MA resident, and we have stupid laws that our republican governor [who is gone now- YAY!] drug up from 1918 to keep same sex couples from getting married the same way they used to keep interracial couples from getting married. Ugh. It will be good to have the ceremony in MA when our families are together, and much cheaper, too, haha. Unfortunately, we are actually not sure right now whether we will get to do *anything* in CA... whether we can get a marriage license there depends on what voters decide in Nov., so while I am obviously hoping they don''t decide to discriminate against us, I am trying not to think about it or let it ruin our fun and planning for our ceremony; when it comes down to it, the ceremony is a celebration for us and our families and is very real in our hearts and minds. So the CA thing is tabled until further notice, but we''re hoping to get to go to city hall in San Fran the summer of 2009 in our wedding dresses!

My mom also told my grandmother and it worked out fairly well, I think. She told her we were together, but not that we are getting married. We decided it was best with the language barrier for her to explain in Portuguese before I did in English, which is why she told her and not me. I wish it didn''t have to go that way. It was alright, though. She didn''t die, which is a start. She also said it was my life so she guessed I could do what she wanted. She didn''t say she disapproved, but she did say she was sure it was a phase, which is

, but not something I haven''t encountered many times before, so I am taking it in stride. I hope to get to talk to her more about this in the coming weeks when I can come home from my summer school, but I am optimistic.

bee*- Thanks!! It was the most convenient, and honestly it''s so much fun to have all of the excitement in that one weekend, celebrating both a graduation and a marriage and moving on to the next chapter of our lives together.