Friday, October 5, 2007

Is That So Wrong?

I have a confession to make...I am not smart. If I were smart, I would be saving up on a down payment for our construction loan. But instead I am racking my brain for ways to pay for the $30,000 reception that I want so badly. (Yup. $30,000.) Apparantly I have expensive taste.

You see, as a general rule I don't like banquet halls for several reasons. I'll spare you all of the specifics, but I will say that I can't stand ugly carpeting. What I do love are window filled atriums, gardens, trees, light. When I initially started thinking about a wedding, I thought that I'd be able to plan my dream wedding for less than the average because of my preference for natural surroundings. I was wrong. Very wrong.




It turns out that I have taste





on a budget.




Here's the thing...Tom and I have been together for about four and a half years. We love each other insanely. When we first started dating, noone thought we would last a week. We have worked so hard to fight the things that stood in the way of our being together. All love is a miracle, but I'm a little dramatic and I happen to feel that Tom and I have beaten the odds to stay together. This wedding is a big deal to me.

This is where I need all of you smart women to help me out. I would absolutely love to have my wedding at the Patrick Haley Mansion in Joliet. (It's my dream wedding!) I love that I could have an indoor ceremony here:




and the reception across the hall here:


where our guests have access to lots of outdoor space like this:

Do any of you have ideas on similar settings that aren't so fricken' expensive? Tom and I will most likely be paying for the wedding ourselves and there is no way we can do anything like this. (This is that $30,000 reception that I was talking about!) I would love to hear any creative ideas you can come up with!
Love you guys!

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