Since the moment my cousin Kate made that first appointment for me to look at wedding gowns, I've been in wedding mode. Originally, Mike and I had planned to keep our engagement a secret until January, but as I quickly learned, if you want to be a June bride, you gotta start planning early.
Little did I know that it takes at least six months to have your dress made, and that booking a venue needs to be at least a year in advance, especially during the busy wedding season, and even more so if you want to be a June bride. Honestly, I wouldnt mind pushing the date further except that we wanted our honeymoon to be in the Virgin Islands and we didnt want to hit hurricane season. However, putting our life in God's hands has given us a solid date for the wedding next year along with extra perks. Allow me to explain....
For one thing, Mike and I were pretty much set on having a destination wedding. We wanted our wedding to be very intimate, and we wanted to enjoy a long needed vacation/wedding/honeymoon. See how cool it would have been to have a destination wedding? What better way than to get married on cliff overlooking a golden sea of blue as the sun set with our closest family and friends?
Well, as much as we wanted it, two problems occured. The first problem came when my Inay (grandmother) came to visit my family from the Philippines. It is getting harder for her to travel and when I asked her if she would attend my wedding (she is very important in my life) she said that it was too far. I told Mike that more than anything I wanted my Inay to be there. Problem number two arised when we noticed that all the destination weddings had only officiants and no Pastors. It was very important for us to have the blessing from God because He is the reason Mike and I found each other and has been very important in our relationship with one another.
So....tada! We decided to have our wedding in Chicago and we couldnt be more pleased or blessed! God has been watching us closely and we have been soo fortunate to have found the perfect venue for our reception, the perfect church (Harvest Bible Chapel, where we attend), perfect photographer and the best friends and family to support us.
Mike and I are unworthy of God's love but we are a living testimony that God is loving and forgiving. We both feel very blessed with everything that has come into place for us.
On to the wedding details!
With the recession going on, Mike and I have been fortunate enough to be able to save for our big day. We have been looking at venues left and right for the perfect reception and at an affordable budget. I checked out a few places like The Westin O'hare, The Westin Itasca, The Westin Northbrook (can you tell I like the Westin?), Intercontinental Hotel and a couple of The Renaissance Hotels.
We were pretty much set on having it at either Westin in Ohare or Itasca, but for some reason I decided to go ahead and make an appointment at the Renaissance in Northbrook anyway. Well, we went there and it was perfect! Lisa ( the catering manager) was very accomodating and was able to work with our budget and even threw in a few little extras along the way. God must have been really looking out for us because I was afraid we wouldnt be able to afford to have our wedding at a hotel (i've always always always wanted my wedding at a hotel..unless it was someplace super cool) and now we can....and.....it's on a Saturday! I still couldnt believe that Lisa offered all these extra goodies to us! So there it is...July 16, 2011 at The Renaissance Hotel in Northbrook. I cant wait to do the cake testing... hehe
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