7/5/10

Ceremony Venue - Check!

It's all falling into place...and I love it! With less than 6 months to plan a wedding, and planning a wedding that is so much more "us" ... well, it's been a lot easier for both of us to get excited and also to cross things off the list.

Like today for example. Ceremony location? Done! Marrvelous and I took a quick visit to one of the two locations we had it narrowed down to (and I visited last week without him and we agreed felt more right). After I took him through the house and gardens, we sat down with the estate manager and signed our contract (and opened the checkbook - ouch! but in a good way :)

Let me introduce you to the gorgeous building where Marrvelous and I will say our vows in front of family and friends this December ...

The Colonial Dames of America, Pennsylvania Chapter.

Founded in 1890, the Colonial Dames of America (CDA) is an international society of women members whose direct ancestors held positions of leadership in the Thirteen Colonies. The lovely Pennsylvania Headquarters House was completed in 1921, and sits on a pretty side street of Philadelphia.

This is such a great location for us. First, it's simply (to us) a really beautiful house and gardens. Oh the gardens. I know we went with a December ceremony, and we live in the Northeast and anything could happen...but oh how I hope for a mild day. The gardens are gorgeously landscaped, cared for and it would be amazing to have some photos taken out there. Fingers crossed.

Second, I seem to have a tendency to go for the colonial way of life. College of William and Mary (smack in the middle of colonial, historical Williamsburg) alumna here! Those four years of my life had a tremendous impact on my life, and was where some of my strongest friendships were formed - so I know my girlfriends in attendance in December are going to get a kick out of being sucked back into what feels like one of our old stomping grounds down in the 'burg.

Finally, this is a union between a Scotsman and a Yank. So with good ol' George Washington and bad-ass Abe Lincoln blessing us from the walls while a Piper plays traditional Scottish tunes and the men wear kilts -- we're properly representing the life we're building together and .... I LOVE IT!
(Oh of course, and the fact that it's just two blocks from our apartment, we're going to be reminded of the special day on an almost daily basis!)

It just felt so right...we both could immediately envision the winter wreaths and tree that would be set up, and most importantly we both saw where we could create an aisle and at what end of that same aisle we would stand in front of our small audience and ask them to continue to support us in our commitment to one another.

Such a tremendous moment! And how did we celebrate? By going to the range and working on our golf swings of course! (you shoulda seen my last shot with my hybrid... straight, crisp 150 yards - it was a beaut and made my Mister very proud - both of me and of his teaching abilities ;)

Been a good, good day

9 comments:

  1. Yay! So happy for you, miss. Actually, you are a "dame" here on out to me.

    Oh, and I have a feeling that this Dacember is supposed to be AMAZINGLY mild :)

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  2. @Kerry - Dame! HA, I loves it - why thank you

    and thank you for amazingly mild December weather updates - woohoo for us!

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  3. Gorgeous! I'm so glad things are coming together for you.

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  4. this looks so pretty! it sounds like a great idea to downsize to something more intimate. good choice. :)

    www.aspiringkennedy.com

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  5. Oh, pretty! Winter weddings are so festive.

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  6. That looks perfect! Glad to hear a sigh of relief from someone who signed on the dotted line for the venue! I'm hoping to hear my own soon, eh. It looks great, glad you guys have it on lock!

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  7. We get to drive by our ceremony every weekend. It rocks.

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  8. lady, i'm so jealous.

    we were THIS close to putting the down payment on this place. and the woman was so so so friendly and helpful.

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  9. @liz - Thanks! Yes, we loved it. For a full ceremony/reception during an evening...would have been a bit out of budget, but agreed - she's very helpful (as in, agreed to give me the "old" prices even though we signed a week into the new prices) and since we're using it for just a morning ceremony, the price was almost cut in half!

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