Wedding: The Beginning

Oh, my god. How, exactly, did I go from begging Ben to elope with me on our engagement night to a 35-person guest list and a full wedding at the Boston Harbor Hotel? How, how, HOW? I think someone should knock me offside the head to see if all the crazy falls out. Anyway, I've gotten a couple of requests to keep people up-to-date on the planning. So, here goes.

I was going to get married in Alaska next Spring. Then, we started talking about a small, intimate, laid-back wedding locally in the Fall. Then, Ben said, "Isn't there a gazebo somewhere on the waterfront in Boston?" To which I responded, "Do you mean that round, domed, glass room on the harbor-side of the Boston Harbor Hotel?" So I sent him some pictures and he affirmed that it was indeed Foster's Pavilion, the aforementioned glass room, that he was thinking of.

And I cringed. The Boston Harbor Hotel? The only five star hotel in Boston? Yeah, sure, I can totally afford that. Not unrealistic at all. So I called them, and tried my best to sound like a politely interested (and rich) bride looking for a venue for her wedding. I was prepared to swallow with aplomb numbers such as $5000 room rentals and $10,000 food and beverage minimums. I was so ready, but... they never came.

Instead, what I heard were perfectly reasonable numbers. Numbers that sounded so reasonable, I had to ask questions like, "Do you mean that's the fee per hour?" and "Hundred, not thousand?" I hope the woman didn't think I was crazy.

Because, you see, I've quickly realized that wedding costs are directly proportional to the number of people you are inviting. My guest list is 35 close family and friends. That is incredibly more realistic cost-wise than 200 people, and it's what I wanted anyway. (Ick, hundreds of people? Being the center of attention? Long ceremonies and walking down an aisle to Wagner? Shoot me. I just cannot do that.)

This delighted me. I worked on the waterfront for four years. I walked by that glass room day after day. I saw all sorts of parties and thought, "I bet it would be so cool to get married there." I even once told Ben that as we walked by it.

So, I set plans in motion. And I haven't stopped since.

We went to see the venue. We liked it. We got all the details. We set the date. We poured over hor d'oeuvre menus and whether to have premium alcohol or super-premium alcohol. We reviewed and signed the contract. I proofed invitations. I set up a meeting with an officiant. I reserved a photographer. I made an appointment with the florist, and to look at dresses. I email Ben like 50 times a day trying to nail down little details and by this time he probably doesn't want to marry me anymore.

Because, my wedding is in 4.5 months. That's a really short amount of time. I keep hearing "calm down" and "relax", except... I can't. Obviously, people who say that don't understand that usually you get more than 4 months to plan. That isn't a complaint - I'd rather have it sooner, and I'm willing to do all the work to make it so, but I can't set the languid pace that you can usually set when your wedding is 1.5 years out.

We have an engagement photo session coming up. I'm excited. I like being photographed and I think it will be cute and fun. I'll post pictures and more updates as they come. But for now, I'm pretty much right in the middle - everything started, but nothing quite completely done. Deep breath.