We're Goin to the Chapel -- For Real This Time!!

I've been SO excited to write this post! If you've been following my blog, you've seen what an issue it's been trying to find a church that will allow both non-members and outside pastors. If you haven't, you can catch up by reading part 1, part 2, and part 3. I was really hoping Trinity Lutheran, the church I wrote about in part 3 of this saga, would work out. The secretary didn't end up calling when she said she would, so a few days later I tried to call her again, but was unable to get in contact with her until almost 2 weeks later when she finally called. Unfortunately, she said she was mistaken and that the church was no longer allowing outside pastors. I told her I understood, but hung up severely disappointed.

A few days later one of my good friends from high school randomly texted me asking if we'd found a church yet. (I later found out she texted me because she and a couple of our other friends from high school were on a road trip and were talking about me/the wedding/the song I've chosen for my processional which they listened to several times - How cute is that?!) I told her that we hadn't and she said we could look at her church, where her dad is a pastor, sometime if we were interested. I have no idea how I never thought of that! I, of course, said we'd love to and David and I met her for lunch the next weekend and she took us on a tour of the church afterward.

The ONLY thing I didn't love was that there are no pews. But, I really don't think the chairs look half bad, and the colors will work much better with our color scheme than some of the other churches we looked at. They also have a ton of decor we'll be able to use, even white columns to put floral arrangements on and things like that. When we talked to my friend's dad, he did tell us that the church (or more specifically, the wedding committee, who really doesn't have the authority to make decisions like this) decided not to allow non-member weddings, but he said he's making an executive decision. He told us that they don't allow couples that are non-members to put down deposits until the date is 6 months or less away. David and I were both kind of worried about it, and I really didn't want to stress about it for the next 3 months. BUT, I was talking to my friend's best friend (confusing, I know) who is another one of my good friends from high school and she said her dad was talking about us and said he's got us covered. That definitely calms my nerves a little bit.

Figuring out the church has been such a relief! It will be even more of a relief when we have a contract and a deposit down on it, but it's an important factor for our invitations, decorations, time line for the day, etc. I definitely want a picture in front of the entryway - I think it's gorgeous!

Was finding the venue for your ceremony (church or otherwise) difficult? Or were you one of those girls who grew up knowing exactly where you'd get married?