Here's a picture of my lovely new bling:
Ok, now ever since I've gotten this thing (and I mean that with all the affection in the world) on my finger I haven't really been sure how to deal with it. I know that most girls want to scream from rooftops and stop strangers on the street to share the good news, but I'm not that type of girl. I love Zach and I couldn't be more thrilled that we are going to spend the rest of our lives together, but broadcasting that to the world from every outlet available just seems like bragging. Is that bad? I feel a little sheepish telling people on my own, so I am thankful that I am surrounded by people who are more than willing the share the news for me. Don't get me wrong I am THRILLED, I just don't know how to tell people about something that really feels pretty personal.
I guess I better get over it though, since the "Did you set a date yet?" questions have started, and I'm sure will not stop until we get around to that date setting stuff. Maybe that is where my hesitiation really lies... Zach and I have already discussed that we will not be having a big traditional wedding. There will be not traditional ceremony, no church, no cake cutting, no big rubber-chicken reception. I guess knowing that makes me hesistant to share our potential plans because I know that there are a lot expectations about weddings and what they should and shouldn't be. I'm pretty sure that our plan will likely fall into the "shouldn't" category!
With that being said, here are our thoughts (or I should probably say really MY thoughts, with at least a nod of semi-approval from Z):
1) Wedding - I had initially thought Courthouse, but that just didn't seem right. A great happy medium? The Chicago Cultural Center does civil ceremonies for $10 (in addition to the usual marriage license fees) on Saturday mornings from 9 - noon. You have to register in advance, but you get to get married in what looks to be a gorgeous old building downtown! You can bring family and friends, but you might have to wait a little to get in the room with the judge. I must say I am pretty smitten with the idea... and it wouldn't be totally strange to have a friend of ours photograph the event so we have something to look back on. And, as Zach pointed out, we could have everyone go to our favorite restaurant, Marge's Still, for lunch afterwords.
2) A Wedding PARTY! - I refuse to refer to whatever we decide to do as a "reception" since it won't involve the usual trappings of that type of affair. An initial thought was a bar with bar food type party, but that isn't really as "us" as I would like and renting out a bar (even just a room) is EXPENSIVE! My second, and current, thought was Ravinia! Zach and I have some of our fondest memories at Ravinia (we even celebrated our first dating anniversary there!) and there is nothing better than hanging out on that lawn, listing to great music, drinking wine and enjoying yourself. There are a variety of options open to make a ravinia evening easier to manage for a decent sized group, including full tent parties down to just catering. If we were really ambitious, we could even just bring all the food ourselves! We're still trying to work out some of the details on this one (it could get pretty expensive too) but so far, I'm really like this idea!
3) HONEYMOON! - I'll be honest, this is the part we're really the most excited about. In fact, I think if it were up to Zach alone, it would be pretty much the only part :) We're still batting around a lot of ideas, must of which (at least for me) center around a cruise ship. I loved our cruise vacation back in February, and I can't wait to get back on another ship and set sail for multiple destinations in such a short period of time! My biggest problem is the "hell, it's our hoenymoon" why not!
