Choosing our Venues
Before we got engaged, we thought we had it all figured out about where we would get married, and where our reception would be held! This was fortunate, just because we had a starting place to go from in considering prices, our vision, and compromises.
After about 7 months of dating, Christmas rolled around, and Cal and I decided to spend Christmas Eve & dinner with my family, and then go to the "midnight" (10:00pm) service at First United Methodist Church in Downtown Cary. As soon as we entered the church, I was struck by its beauty and designs! After a lull in the service, I leaned over and whispered to Cal "I could totally see us getting married here," (yes, we started talking about marriage wayy before we got engaged! What can we say - we're planners ;) ). He leaned back over and whispered back that his parents had gotten married there. Well, that sealed the deal in my heart - this would be OUR church on OUR wedding day! And so, my 18 year old self dreamed until 2 and a half years later when our engagement was official.
And then we contacted the church. And we learned about the process. Oh, the very, very long process. We first had to choose a pastor to officiate (or at least oversee the wedding, since we planned to use my own pastor), then get the rule book, then put in an application, then (if approved) get "penciled" onto the calendar, then meet with the church's wedding coordinator, and THEN we would get penned in. Not the kind of news I want to hear - especially since May is such a popular wedding month, and I wanted to get things officially scheduled! But, I kept in mind our dream for our wedding in a traditional church - even better the one my future parents-in-law married in - and I was patient. We met with a pastor, enjoyed his company, saw potential (even though he couldn't answer our questions about breaking official rules) and Cal retrieved the rule book. Not bad, right? Well it was close to 50 pages. And it turned out that all of the negatives weighed out the positives, and we regretfully began our real search for a church.
We live in Raleigh, and traditional churches are around every corner! Should be easy, right? Well...not so much. I googled, looked at pictures, requested info, and was continuously disappointed due to either the needed church membership (for at least a year before we could schedule a wedding - yes, we did consider "joining" a church a few months ahead of time ;)), prices, seating capacity, and the biggie...availability! Well we finally decided on a beautiful church used for weddings (although a "real" church rents it out - strange, huh?) called All Saint's Chapel in Downtown Raleigh. It's absolutely gorgeous, and it's just wonderful that we can incorporate one of our favorite places in the world into our wedding! Unfortunately, we had to compromise on the time of the wedding. And, in the end, I think having an afternoon wedding may be better than an evening wedding, because we'll get to see each other WAY earlier, and, well, get to leave earlier as Mr. & Mrs.!! What could be better?!
The reception venue was pretty easy (thankfully). I really wanted to include Crosspointe, after all I've gone there since I was in 3rd grade, and so we're transforming the main room (where services are held) into a gorgeous dining and dancing area! I'm absolutely thrilled for what we have in store, and even if we didn't have anything "cool" planned, or were eloping, I would be just as excited! I cannot wait to be Mrs. Foshee...and thankfully my job will remind me of my new, wonderful name for the rest of my life!!! I'm one lucky girl ♥
After about 7 months of dating, Christmas rolled around, and Cal and I decided to spend Christmas Eve & dinner with my family, and then go to the "midnight" (10:00pm) service at First United Methodist Church in Downtown Cary. As soon as we entered the church, I was struck by its beauty and designs! After a lull in the service, I leaned over and whispered to Cal "I could totally see us getting married here," (yes, we started talking about marriage wayy before we got engaged! What can we say - we're planners ;) ). He leaned back over and whispered back that his parents had gotten married there. Well, that sealed the deal in my heart - this would be OUR church on OUR wedding day! And so, my 18 year old self dreamed until 2 and a half years later when our engagement was official.
And then we contacted the church. And we learned about the process. Oh, the very, very long process. We first had to choose a pastor to officiate (or at least oversee the wedding, since we planned to use my own pastor), then get the rule book, then put in an application, then (if approved) get "penciled" onto the calendar, then meet with the church's wedding coordinator, and THEN we would get penned in. Not the kind of news I want to hear - especially since May is such a popular wedding month, and I wanted to get things officially scheduled! But, I kept in mind our dream for our wedding in a traditional church - even better the one my future parents-in-law married in - and I was patient. We met with a pastor, enjoyed his company, saw potential (even though he couldn't answer our questions about breaking official rules) and Cal retrieved the rule book. Not bad, right? Well it was close to 50 pages. And it turned out that all of the negatives weighed out the positives, and we regretfully began our real search for a church.
We live in Raleigh, and traditional churches are around every corner! Should be easy, right? Well...not so much. I googled, looked at pictures, requested info, and was continuously disappointed due to either the needed church membership (for at least a year before we could schedule a wedding - yes, we did consider "joining" a church a few months ahead of time ;)), prices, seating capacity, and the biggie...availability! Well we finally decided on a beautiful church used for weddings (although a "real" church rents it out - strange, huh?) called All Saint's Chapel in Downtown Raleigh. It's absolutely gorgeous, and it's just wonderful that we can incorporate one of our favorite places in the world into our wedding! Unfortunately, we had to compromise on the time of the wedding. And, in the end, I think having an afternoon wedding may be better than an evening wedding, because we'll get to see each other WAY earlier, and, well, get to leave earlier as Mr. & Mrs.!! What could be better?!
The reception venue was pretty easy (thankfully). I really wanted to include Crosspointe, after all I've gone there since I was in 3rd grade, and so we're transforming the main room (where services are held) into a gorgeous dining and dancing area! I'm absolutely thrilled for what we have in store, and even if we didn't have anything "cool" planned, or were eloping, I would be just as excited! I cannot wait to be Mrs. Foshee...and thankfully my job will remind me of my new, wonderful name for the rest of my life!!! I'm one lucky girl ♥
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Hope you have a very successful and memorable.