Where to Tie the Knot?

“Congratulations on your engagement! So when’s the wedding?” This was probably the number one thing that was said to me as soon as I got engaged. At first, I thought it was a bit ridiculous that people were expecting us to have a date picked out right away; however, I very quickly learned how early wedding planning should start. So first things first, I needed to decide on what type of wedding ceremony I wanted.

It is more and more common now for couples to decide on having outdoor ceremonies in gardens with an officiate. Please don’t get me wrong, I think outdoor ceremonies are beautiful and I definitely tossed the idea around for a bit, but I ultimately decided that I did not want to be stressed out with Mother Nature’s imagination. There were actually a few key things that I kept in mind while my fiancé and I were deciding.

1.       Do we want to get married inside or outside?

2.       Does the uncertainty of weather make a difference?

3.       What time of the year do we want to get married?

4.       Is there an importance or significance for us to get married in a church?

After some thinking, we collectively decided that we will get married inside a church. Not knowing how hectic wedding planning would be, we agreed that it would be best not having the weather on the day of the wedding to have to worry about.

As much as I am not proud to admit it, my fiancé and I had not been consistent church goers prior to getting engaged so we did not have a “home church”. We then started to talk about the kind of church we would like to be married in. My fiancé is a big fan of the architecture and history of the churches in Downtown Detroit so that is where we started. We quickly learned that having a ceremony in one of those old churches comes with a pretty high price tag; um, almost two thousand dollars. Yes, when it comes to a wedding, two thousand dollars can end up being a drop in the bucket; however, I knew I could find other things to put that money towards. Needless to say, I was not all about those downtown churches.

Since we crossed those churches off of the list, we then started to look at churches around where we live. At each one I looked into, I just felt like something was missing. Then it came to me… the church that I was baptized at, that my parents were married at, and where my grandparents were married. I could not believe that I did not think of this from the very beginning! What was even better, this church was a very old church. The walls are covered in stained glass, the floor and alter are marble, and along the walls are the organ pipes. It was absolutely perfect. What was even better is that I have a direct connection to that church. While it is not a home church for me, I plan on making it a home. We found our ceremony site. I now know where I am going to be married.

After all of that, the end result was right under me the entire time. I was so worried about making sure everything looked perfect that I did not think about what felt perfect. I am so glad that I realized what was most important before I made a decision I would have regretted.

So bottom line, and my biggest recommendation when you are making a decision about your ceremony, do what fits. Do not try too hard to find the “perfect” place. The perfect place will be right in front of you.

Come on… how beautiful is this church? Xoxo BreAnna