Bride-to-Be Blogger Leslie: Location, Location, Location

When my fiancé and I first got engaged, we were so excited to share our news with our family and friends. Tons of phone calls and emails and text messages later, those most important to us knew of our plans to wed and it immediately felt more real. Sharing that news with our loved ones made us both so happy and excited for what was to come next, but following the announcement came the questions.

Within a few days, and in some cases within a few hours, people wanted answers to the two most important questions one asks a freshly engaged couple – When and Where?

Like any newly engaged woman does, my thoughts about when and where started to work their way around in my head. I had been thinking about these important questions when Charles and I first started discussing the possibilities of a pending engagement, but I knew that nothing would really matter until he actually proposed. It is really all about timing; when the proposal happens, it can affect the where and when the wedding takes place. What would be the point of dreaming up a perfect fall wedding if he proposed late spring or early summer? Why should I obsess over a winter wonderland wedding if he proposed in the fall? I purposely didn’t set my heart on any specific season because I didn’t know when he would pop the question.

After the question was popped this past October, we started to throw around ideas of where and when. Some people expected me to get married down in Virginia where my family is, and that had always been in the back of my mind. I was brought up with the belief that you get married where the bride is from, in the bride’s church. As I am currently living in Philadelphia, the idea of planning my wedding a few states away didn’t seem like the easiest thing for me, so I wanted to explore other options. After going back and forth about some possible choices, Charles and I started discussing a Villanova wedding. We thought this would a perfect place for our wedding! Since we both went to school there, it means something special to each of us and the church is beyond gorgeous.

Here is a little background on getting married in the Villanova Church: There are three time slots available on Saturdays, 11:30 and 1:30 are for alumni weddings and 3:30 are reserved for parishioner weddings. There is an 18-month wait list for specific dates and in some cases there is a wait list two couples long on the actual list itself. When I was talking about potential dates with the wedding planner there, we began discussing May as an option. Since I called in October, the May dates weren’t open yet, and they wouldn’t officially open up until November first. I was immediately told, “May is very competitive.” I thought this was an interesting way to discuss wedding dates, but that only made me more dedicated to getting everything in order to get the date we wanted.

I did a little research online, then made a few calls, talked to a priest and filled out a few forms. I put a stamp on our paperwork and sent it off with my fingers crossed hoping we could get the date (and time!) we requested. November 1st came around and you can be sure I was on the phone calling to confirm everything was all set bright and early that day. I was like a kid on Christmas! When I was told we got our first choice of dates (May 21, 2011) and time (1:30pm) I couldn’t have been more excited! I called Charles, I called my mom, I called his mom screaming “We got the church!” And that, my friends, is how we decided on our location, location, location.

Have you ever been to a wedding at the St. Thomas of Villanova Church?

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