I'm getting married

So, as most people know, Juan and I are getting married. He proposed back in April and it was really a shock because we had been having a very serious discussion at the time.

Apparently, we are in no rush to get to the alter and are planning on next October or November (2009). At least that will give us time to save and we won't have to charge the entire thing. I don't want to start out further in debt then I all ready am (isn't that the "American way"?)

We had been talking about what kind of wedding we both wanted and have gone back and forth between having it here in Florida, or doing a destination. We even went so far as to contact a company that specializes in destination weddings and got all the numbers and locations that were appealing to us. But in the end, we decided to do it here because we wanted everyone to be able to celebrate with us. I also felt kind of weird asking people to drop a grand to go to my wedding, even though they were getting a vacation out of it too.

Because this is my second marriage, I don't want to repeat what I did before and I don't want anything too BIG. Juan would prefer low key anyway. We haven't gone to many places maybe 5 in total. But we have decided what we are doing.

I am really excited now. My friend Michelle is asking as our wedding planner. She has been interning with a high end planner in town for about a year now and with my budget and her knowledge, it was the perfect match.

She suggested that we personalize it. So we were thinking about what we like to do, what could make it personal. Then we decided to have a Caribbean theme. Since we wanted to have a beach wedding and we enjoy going on cruises, this seemed perfect.

My thought was to have a ceremony on the beach and then the reception in a restaurant. That should keep costs down since it isn't specifically a wedding venue. We visited a couple of places on Fort Myers Beach that could host a ceremony and reception but the prices were crazy or the room was run down. I also looked into the Cape Yacht Club and Cape Harbour. I also looked at a country club. But because I did the whole country club thing, I really don't want to do it, but the prices were very appealing. We also looked at Rumrunners. This is a restaurant at Cape Harbour that is right on the water. They have a room that is part of the restaurant but it has doors and can be closed off from the main dining area.

Well, we went and had dinner there last night. WOW, it was so good. Plus the decor and menu are Caribbean themed. Can you get any better? So that is were we will host our reception.

We are planning on getting married on Fort Myers Beach and I went today to look at a location. Because it is a public beach, we can have the ceremony there at no charge, we just have to leave the beach the way we found it. Hopefully without a lot of birds. I also looked at the Cape Coral Beach, they are pretty much the same. The only thing that worries me is if it rains. Being in Florida, the rainy season should be over by then, but it can still rain. If we do it on the beach we have to figure out a back up plan.

We can have the ceremony at Rumrunners too, but we really wanted to do a beach wedding. So we will have to talk about it.

I guess most importantly, we have to set a date. Before we do anything else.

Well, more informtion to follow.