wedding update, I guess

One of the reasons Matt and I were so delighted to find the place we found for our reception was its all-encompassing nature. Originally, we thought we'd have an outdoor wedding ceremony there, too. Since then, we've shifted our wedding focus to a little church next door -- more on that in a minute. Hey! We thought. They do the food, they do the cake, we don't need to rent tables/chairs/plates/cups/napkins/all the other foolish little things caterers nickel-and-dime you for! This is great! Less for us to worry about.

We headed out there yesterday, since our church didn't officially meet (though we missed the service project -- whoops), to check out the Methodist church next door. It's fairly cute inside. We were three of the 16 people there, and the youngest by at least 30 years. The people were very friendly and sweet, and obviously solid folks in general. They didn't recoil in horror at the idea that were unmarried with a 3-year-old, or were basically just visiting to meet the pastor and get a lay of the land for wedding purposes. We sang some traditional Methodist hymns that I remember from my girlhood (for example, The Old Rugged Cross), and I got to use my "church girl falsetto" that Matt loves to mock. The sermon was blessedly short, but good -- I don't mind a longer sermon, but the Lizzard has only so much patience, and our every creak and rustle echoed throughout the smallish room. You have to love a 60-something-year-old (female) pastor who includes as a sermon illustration a tale from the past week in which she is speeding along on her riding lawnmower and hits a major bump, throwing her up in the air. I liked her.

Afterward, we wandered over to the inn to chat with the lady who coordinates the weddings. I had pre-arranged to stop by that day, and called the day before (but she was busy with another wedding, so I left a reminder that we were coming) to re-confirm. But she had already gone home. One of the managers came out, obviously not to help us, but to quell any major outburst of anger that a typical Bridezilla might exhibit (?). And, we weren't angry. I was just confused. If you're so busy with a wedding or two every weekend, when do you plan the upcoming weddings? Is there a timeline of some sort? I'd be happy with that. Just tell me what, and when, we're supposed to do. JUST TELL ME. I'd love to be able to estimate a per-person cost at this point. Know what we'll have on the menu. Know what you allow in terms of decorations, chairs on the lawn, etc.? Am I being unreasonable here?

After freaking us out with an "I'll check to make sure your date has been put on the calendar," the guy assured me, with a look of wild fear in his eye, that I would be contacted this week. But, I realized this morning, he neglected to take down our phone number, just in case his coordinator misplaced it...

Yeesh.