Home or Here, Church or Where?!

by on September 21, 2011 in Colorado Wedding Advice, The Day and Life of a Colorado Bride

From the beginning, we’ve felt the pull from every direction to have our wedding in our hometown, Grand Junction, or in Denver, our new home. Equally, a few of our very Catholic family members have been pushing for a large Cathedral wedding, while others have hinted that a full Catholic Mass might exclude our other less religious family and friends.

How does one choose?!  For us, it came down to pulling out the old-fashioned Pros and Cons List:

Grand Junction vs. Denver

Grand Junction Pros:

  • A large number of family members wouldn’t have to find accommodations
  • Where we both grew up
  • Beautiful scenery
Grand Junction Cons:
  • Limited venue options – most are too small or too expensive
  • Four hour drive to every viewing, tasting, and other appointments
  • Limited knowledge of venders in area

 Denver Pros:

  • Huge selection of venue and vender options
  • Close proximity – Easy to view and attend vender appointments
  • Connections to florist, DJ, cake baker, potential caterers — More savings
Denver Cons:
  • Family would have to find accommodations
  • Bridesmaids/parents would have to drive four hours to be involved with decisions
  • One grandparent might not be able to make the journey
In the end, they seemed to balance each other out. In Grand Junction, the biggest issue is our lack of options when it came to every detail, and the lack of connections (which would be equivalent to more money spent). In Denver, the fact that it could be an inconvenience to our families and that Grandma Gieck might struggle to get here.
However, we both work full-time jobs with schedules that rarely line up, and we realized that driving back and forth to Grand Junction could end up costing us over $500 — for only 4 trips home! Who knows how many we actually would make? And in Denver, we have a DJ friend, a Florist friend, a cake-maker friend, and a ton of friends that know a thing or two about weddings. We knew the money saved, with the option of some incredible and affordable venues, would make the wedding of our dreams possible.  Many venues work with hotels to provide less expensive accommodations, and we’re hoping that we can convince our family to come to Denver in lieu of wedding gifts. As for Grandma, we’re hoping to purchase a plane or train ticket so she won’t have to be confined in one position for four hours.

Church or Where?

This one didn’t need a Pros and Cons list, especially after we decided to have the wedding in Denver. We don’t belong to a church here, and consider ourselves more the “Christmas and Easter Catholics” than truly devout, every Sunday followers. Plus, “renting” a cathedral in Denver can cost upwards of $1000… a bill we couldn’t justify for a tradition that isn’t ours.

*****

We know our decisions won’t please everyone, but we’re also aware that they wouldn’t have pleased every last person, no matter which way we had gone.  We hope our family will join us for this special day, and that we can find a venue that makes our decision an obvious one for all attending!

 

One Response to “Home or Here, Church or Where?!”

  1. January 8, 2012 at 10:36 pm #

    I think you’ve found the perfect spot and I can hardly wait for the big day!!

    Reply

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