A wedding is a beautiful thing. Nothing is more special or romantic than exchanging vows with the person you love and want to spend your life with.

I have had some of the greatest times eating cake, dancing and celebrating at the weddings of relatives and friends.  Naturally, when I got engaged in August I assumed that is what my wedding would be like.  I called up all nine of my closest friends to be bridesmaids, ran out and bought a dress, and booked my favorite wedding spot, The Mill in Lebanon, for February 12, 2011. I was ready to throw one heck of a party.

Before getting engaged I never thought about all of the work that went into planning a wedding.  I just thought that you booked a venue, hired a planner, and left the details up to someone else.  I never thought about choosing the “right” flowers or what to serve my vegan guests.  I never stopped to think about the songs that the band would play at my reception or where all of my out-of-town guests would stay.  I never thought about party favors or save-the-date cards. I never thought about who would perform the ceremony. I just thought about love and how happy I would be to marry the man that God sent to me.

When the rough draft of the guest list went over 500, I stalled. Right then and there I quit planning my wedding.  Of course, some other factors went into it (which will remain personal) but the bottom line is that I got completely overwhelmed. I could not figure out how to please all of these people.

While vacationing in California in early January, my fiance’ and I decided to elope.  He planned everything.

On January 1, we jumped in our rental car and drove to Napa. In Napa we were married at Casabela, a privately owned villa. The owner, Leigh, took care of everything from the cake to the flowers to the minister for us.  She was such a blessing!  We were married by a man named Pastor Tom, who was incredibly funny and put us at ease.  After reciting our vows he gave Johnny advice on how to be a good husband, based on trial and error with his own wife!

Our only guests at the affair were the owner’s Yorkshire Terriers – very cute. I did my own make-up, kept my hair natural, and instead of bringing my brand new fancy wedding gown, I wore a simple ivory dress. Nothing was dramatic or flashy about our wedding, but it was a beautiful ceremony set in a beautiful place.  Most importantly,  I was there with a beautiful man.

It would have been fabulous to have our families and friends present, but everyone is so scattered throughout the United States, Canada, and England that it would have been difficult and pricey for them to get there. I surely could not ask over 500 people to venture to either Lebanon or Napa. I am sure that there were some people who were disappointed, but in the end your wedding is just that – your wedding.  You have to do what is best for you and your groom. In the end everyone was very supportive.

I still love weddings and hope to attend many more – maybe be a bridesmaid a few more times – but eloping was what worked for us.  I wouldn’t change a thing.

Thank you to everyone for the congratulations, advice and encouragement! A special thanks to our families – words cannot express how much we love you!

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 23rd, 2011 at 10:04 pm and is filed under Notes from Wonderland. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.