WE GOT A LOCATION!

(Garfield Park Conservatory, Chicago IL)

I fell in love with Garfield Park Conservatory a long time ago...and since my favorite color is green, the other day it HIT me! How awesome would it be to get married surrounded by plants that I DON'T have to pay for (technically they come with the rental space! ROCK)?! Bernhardt was out of town, so I went with Jeff (instead of jogging...woops?) to the park and we ooooh'ed and ahhhh'ed over how wonderful and green it was.


(where we will probably have the wedding ceremony, in the outside gardens)

I spoke with the event planner and the price was right but we had to jump on a date (brides have already stepped up for June 2009). I got really nervous because I wanted it, but didn't want to rush Bern. SO. I asked a ton of questions, put down a refundable deposit on two weekends in July, and worried about how I would tell Bern. My friend Evan had an excellent idea about the wording - and this is great for anyone like me who is a control/organization freak (and I told this to B) - "This town is full of crazy brides. I'm not the crazy one, but I am COMPETING with crazies and I have to amp up my game in grabbing us a location in the city"...
Of course, I wasn't going to force a location (hence the REFUNDABLE deposit) but I was going to stand up for what I wanted.

When Bernhardt got back to town, I told him I was taking him on a date Saturday afternoon. As soon as we walked up to the GFC, he looked at me and said, "We should get married here!". I breathed a SIGH of relief and said, "Ohhhh, good, I'm so glad you said that because I already put down a deposit so when do you want to get married...", me talking a mile a minute, he laughing and hugging me.

His response: "Stacy, slow down! Tell me everything slowly!".


(where our reception will be)

We walked around beaming...the place is so US, it's perfect. He also told me he was happy I was so excited and that he was excited too - and NOW, we can't stop planning. It's great! For me, having a space nailed down has calmed me down - and for Bernhardt, having the space has made the idea of getting married come to life ["it's a reality now that we're paying for it and that's great!"]...it's as though we had to allow ourselves to get used to the idea of planning a wedding together.

Moral of the story? Don't be afraid to make decisions and speak up for what you want, just make sure your approach is right and your deposits are refundable. You can't FORCE people to do what you want...but you sure can plead a case!