Our Wedding by the Sea

In one year from now, I'll be married to my best friend!!!!!

I mean, that's pretty exciting.  Just sayin'...

After writing that last post, I changed the "Last updated" info on my homepage and just realized that I have one year and two days to go.  Big gulp!  I can't believe how fast time has already gone- and now we're SO close to one year out!

::happy dance::

The one-year (and one day- stinkin' Leap Year!) mark quickly approacheth and I'm beginning to get nervous.

Not because I have so much to do.  Not because I still have so much weight to lose.  And not because we still have SO much money to come up with.  But because I didn't remember how cold September is up north.

You see, I've spent the past four and a half years in Georgia.  Warm, sunny Georgia, where it isn't unusual to have an 80 degree day right smack in the middle of December.  Imagine my surprise when I leave work yesterday to be met by a 60 degree day with a brisk wind and a dark sky.  I'm not going to lie: I definitely panicked a little bit.  Or... I guess you could say alotta bit.

I kind of lost it.  I changed my date from August to September in the first place because everyone was giving me a hassle about how hot it would be for the guests to be on the beach on an August afternoon.  They failed to remind me, however, that September is not a warm month in New Jersey.  It's been warm for the past 4 Septembers of my life!  It's easy to forget that autumn is cool when it hasn't been for years.  I seriously considered calling the only two vendors I have booked so far to ask them if I could change my date and what dates would work for them, how much it would cost me, etc.

Then I put myself back in check.  This WILL be okay.  I got online and yesterday was actually atypical of this time of the year.  It was much cooler than usual.  Besides, temperatures usually drop in the middle of September, but the last two weekends and the beginning of October are generally pretty warm again.

I'm desperately hoping that my wedding day will be warm enough for me to be able to wear my dress sans jacket, that my guests will be comfortable, and that my outdoor cocktail hour won't pose a problem.

Take a breath, Jacq... it's going to be an amazing day...

I leave for my craptastic job in 40 minutes, work till close, then have off the next three days.  Tomorrow we're headed to north Jersey for a close friend's wedding, then leaving from there for the shore.

I've been in contact with the beach venue from my last post and am trying to schedule a walk-through with the event coordinator.  She said that the only date booked for August/September/October 2012 is August 11th, so we still have our choice of basically any date we want.  I'm pretty sure we're sold on Sept. 22nd.

Anyway, I called the coordinator and left her a message today.  She emailed me last night saying that she was available Sunday or Monday afternoon, so I'm hoping that she gets back to me in time to see the place.  She's kinda hard to get a hold of.

I'm just so excited to finally see the inside and really determine what we're going to do.  Of course both sets of moms will want to see the place, but basically everyone is telling us we should do it there because the beach is so us.  I can't wait :)

It has been my dream- my entire life- to be married on the beach.  I always tell Chris that I'm happiest when I'm down the shore with my toes in the sand, sea breeze running through my hair.  I just have this amazingly calm, inner happiness when I'm at the ocean.  I can't explain it, but trust me it's stupendous.

I'd given up on getting married at the beach.  The only way I could afford a seaside reception would be in a different country (ie- Mexico), which was a plan that fell through when I was reminded how many of our friends and family wouldn't come because of the expense to them.  My heart was broken, I did lots of research, and ended up deciding to look at places closer to home: in land-locked Pennsylvania.

While we were in Cape May this past weekend, I couldn't ignore it anymore.  I couldn't shake the feeling that we were meant to be married on the beach.  It's such a HUGE part of who we are: we started in Cape May, he told me he loved me the first time in Cape May, etc. etc. etc.  I felt like I had to make it work- even if it meant saving every single penny I made (outside of paying the bills) for the next year).  So I asked Chris if we could drive by a venue I'd heard about online.  I had actually emailed the place several times back when we first got engaged, but I figured we couldn't swing it and just forgot about it.  In all honestly, I don't know why I did that.  The place is super affordable and RIGHT on the beach- like, walk out the door, walk 10 feet, and BAM! sand dunes.

So we drive north of Cape May to Stone Harbor to check the place out.  And I fall in love.  Not so much with the venue itself- which is pretty plain and kind of boring, lending itself beautifully to my creative touch- but with its location.  Right beside the building are sand dunes...

...meaning that THIS could be my aisle.  Looking at it makes me want to cry.  No, really.  I get tears in my eyes and get all emotional.  THAT is the way I'm supposed to see my husband-to-be.  I want him waiting at the end with the ocean as a backdrop.  We're not meant to be married on some soccer field.  This is just so absolutely us.

We didn't get to tour the venue because it was a spur of the moment thing on a Sunday afternoon.  No one was there and the doors were locked, but I did peak in the windows and it's about the same size as the Clubhouse (maybe a little bigger), with lots of natural light, high ceilings, and a stage that I have NO idea what I'm going to do with.

After talking it over, discussing the pro's and con's, and readjusting our budget, we are pretty sure this is the way we're going to go with our wedding.  I've already emailed for more information, received it, and am waiting to hear about their availability for 2012.

One of the only downsides is that we'll probably change our date to September 2012 (from August 18).  Cape May is REALLY hot in the summer and many hotels have a three-night minimum (which would be really inconvenient for our guests).  In September, the weather is cooler (but not cold) and after Labor Day the season is over so hotels are much more lax (and more affordable!)  We are hoping for September 22, because we are in a wedding for Chris' best friend on the 8th.  We want them to be able to enjoy their honeymoon instead of having to stick around for our wedding the next week, and Kyle is in our wedding too, so we really want him there.  The 22nd is also Chris' parent's anniversary, so it'd be cool to do something for them on our wedding day, too.