(Because why not start yet another series on this blog, right?)

Our wedding website tells me that our wedding is just 44 days away... I think that's officially less than a month and a half! I haven't divulged too many of the details about our wedding on here because I wanted to keep some of it a surprise for our guests, but I think we're getting close enough that I can start talking about some of the details. First things first, the venue.

Once we realized we weren't going to be able to have the small backyard wedding we envisioned without disappointing a lot of family and friends, we started to look for larger venues that still had something of a laid back feel. One of the first things we did after getting engaged was make our invite list and then figure out how many people from that list were actually going to come. We ended up with an estimate of about 140-150 guests (still too soon to determine how accurate that was), but we also wanted to make sure that wherever we chose could handle all 190+ guests if all of them miraculously were able to attend. But we didn't want anything too formal for our wedding - it just wouldn't be our style. At first, it seemed tricky to balance the size we needed with the relaxed feel we were looking for. I had looked into several parks in the area, but all of them had one restriction that we just could not deal with: no alcohol. There was just no way that would fly with a lot of our friends (and some family members!).

We researched several places online and then found two that we wanted to check out in person. The first was the Torpedo Factory. I loved the idea of getting married in Old Town Alexandria... it's such a charming area. The Torpedo Factory is a great space. Open, spacious, fairly blank slate. We flipped through the photos of other events that had been held there and it was really funky and modern. If we went with a "fancy" wedding, this was the sort of fancy we could do. We envisioned food stations, great lighting, a lounge area. It was reasonably priced compared to a lot of other venues in the area. We could also tent the back, right on the waterfront, for cocktail hour if we wanted. We decided to keep it on the list.

The other place we decided to visit in person was Glen Echo Park. It was an amusement park in the early 1900s and has been restored back to that era. When we were there, we knew it was the place for us. Quirky, fun, different, yet still historic. It was less expensive than anywhere else we'd considered, especially because we ended up off-season on a Friday night. Our ceremony is going to take place under the Cuddle Up, which used to house the tilt-a-whirl (one of my favorite rides!). Although the carousel is closed for the season, we will be able to use it for photos, which seems fitting since my grandmother (whose diamonds from her engagement and wedding rings are part of my engagement and wedding rings) loved carousel horses. The reception is going to be in the old Bumper Car pavilion. (I was always terrible at bumper cars! I'd always get stuck in the corner.)

That's it! We only visited two venues. Once we saw a place we liked and could envision our wedding being (and was in our budget), we went for it. We aren't having a "themed" wedding -- there are a few little touches that were inspired by having our wedding at a former amusement park, but it isn't an amusement park wedding by any means. But I'm getting ahead of myself... I'll discuss those in the coming weeks.

Posted by: Corey Feldman | October 4, 2010 9:34 AM