Nannee was disappointed for about 10 seconds. Jeff and I had no feelings one way or the other.
Jeff’s mom, Sally, came up with an attractive alternative.
One of the many things I adored about Sally was her usual state of enthusiasm. I am for sure Jeff inherited that from her. With sparkling eyes Sally declared that “The Mayor of Tecumseh” could marry us.
That was absolutely true, and he probably would have. Unfortunately, he was booked.
We contacted a reform Jewish female rabbi via email. She replied, due to the fact that Jeff and I were different religions the cost would be $150.00 more than the website had shown.
So, we kept up our search, not only for an officiate, but for a place to get married, too.
Here’s something I’ve learned. Most wedding halls like to keep a monopoly on all aspects of a wedding. They want to determine the caterer (most often them), the want to determine, who you will use for a DJ, for bar service and imposed minimums on how much you must spend.
The ones we visited, we didn’t like. The ones we didn’t visit were the ones we knew we could not afford. Jeff and I ditched the stale reception hall idea, and decided to attend a bridal show to see what we could find.
Saturday morning, I had an eye examination appointment scheduled at a retail store. Ridiculously, Jeff dragged me around the event describing details and flyers that my dilated eyes could not make out
We were steered toward one of the cake bakers, so after a sample, we decided to use Sweet Baker in Adrian.
Jeff introduced me to a photographer he knew from high school. The display picture was large enough for me to see, and was exactly what I had envisioned for our fall wedding. Precious Portraits by Connie became our official photographer.
I’ll also mention that we had been given a choice of wedding or elopement – same dollar amount for each. Any wedding would cost more than that. We half-heartedly debated the pro’s and con’s of elopement. We were both on the same side. We decided wedding.
I took the limited budget as a challenge. The only thing that threw us out of budget was the photographer. Jeff and I both wanted a professional photographer. That was not on the list of things my father was willing to contribute to, so we paid for it ourselves.
Using the limited year 2000 version of internet, searches were slow and difficult. With persistence and luck, we finally found a Universalist Minister who would marry us at a reasonable price.
The first time we met was at Bob Evan’s for coffee and pie. He apologized for being late, because his wife usually came with him, but she was feeling poorly.
Conversation was easy as we leafed through many examples of wedding ceremonies. We choose the one that was lacking “Jesus” but had enough “God” to make everyone happy, and went home with the assignment of writing our personal vows.
The second time we met, the minister arrived alone, again, because his wife was meeting with another couple who had the same issue we did. We planned the order of the ceremony, provided the vows and a poem, and paid our deposit.
By May 2001, we had a photographer, a wedding cake, a groom’s cake and, thankfully, someone who could sign our marriage certificate.
What we didn’t have was a place to get married, any idea where we’d hold a reception, or a clue about a caterer.
One of those problems was solved at Michigan International Speedway, during June 2001 NASCAR race weekend.
Quote for the Week:
Enjoy this Week’s Discovery Links:
Not Even Close: Tecumseh Wedding Spends
Yep, That’s How: https://www.theknot.com/content/interfaith-wedding-planning-tips
Who knew: http://www.marthastewartweddings.com/381413/top-wedding-planners
knabble 