Wedding Wednesday – The Venue

A photo snapped of us (very graciously by a student) outside of the University of Dayton chapel last spring – this was the day we decided to hold our wedding here!

I know I’ve been pretty mum on wedding plans aside from an initial engagement post and life update. Steve, my fiancé, was worried my lack of sharing on the blog meant that I for some reason wasn’t excited about our wedding; his concern is crazy but also understandable since I share so much else on here!

There’s no lack of excitement over being married to Steve, but when I think about the wedding planning there is some anxiety! As I talk to more brides it’s nice to know I’m not alone. Sure, some women have been envisioning their dream wedding for years, so the execution of the details is exciting to them. But for many others, a wedding is such a large undertaking, the many decisions make it hard to focus on the fun end result. Being eight months away from our wedding date I am still relatively calm, though not quite on top of The Knot’s planning calendar! There was one decision that was quite easy for Steve and me, so I thought I’d share that today.

Choosing our venue

One of the few things I’d had in mind for my wedding for many years was where it would be. I went to the University of Dayton for undergrad and it was the best four years of my life. The campus culture there is so unique that those happy memories really stay with many alumni forever. I know this because my grandpa, my parents and many other family members also attended UD. Without this post getting to be too much of an ad for the college, I’ll just say the college holds such a special place in my heart that I always loved the thought of getting married there. Especially after the University of Dayton chapel renovation turned it into a lovely venue.

However, since Steve went to Michigan State University and we met in Chicago, I was no longer holding on to the hope that we would get married on UD’s campus. He had no connection to the college and planning a wedding several hours away seemed tough. We have a church in Chicago, so after we got engaged we began researching getting married in the Second City. With all the options and many expenses my head started spinning! Steve saw this and recognized that it was making it difficult for me to move forward with decisions.

Leading up to a wedding we were traveling to in Columbus, Steve out of the blue offered to look at wedding options in Dayton on the way. Hearing this I immediately perked up. He said if he’d known that would have made me so happy, he would have suggested it weeks prior. Part of the reason I was so happy about our decision to get married at UD was Steve’s selfless suggestion. I knew I was with the right guy if he was attune to what I really wanted without me even coming out and asking for it.

What’s left to do

So we’ve booked our venues in Dayton, Ohio, and I’m happily moving along with some of the other details, like the dress and floral arrangements. Other, smaller-to-me-details like table settings are coming a bit slower. Have you planned a wedding before? How did you get yourself motivated to nail down every detail? I’d love to hear your experience and tips so that I can stay on track with our spring wedding.