Mine at Last: A Holiday Wedding

Whelp, we got our pro pics back and now is as good a time as ever to kick off the Palindrome recaps!  I had been planning on methodically recapping in chronological order, but I've had a change of heart.   My post-wedding self pretty much delights in doing anything except  wedding related tasks (napping, scouring decorative blogs, craigslisting, watching HGTV, baking, reading, running), so I'm tricking myself into the recappage.  I told myself that I would only have to write what I wanted.  I spun the wheel of topics round in my head and today we landed on the subject of holiday hub bub and the wedding.

Honestly, we didn't think that much about choosing a holiday weekend for our wedding.  After deciding that it would drive me insane to plan a wedding in less than 6 months, get married, finish my graduate school degree, go to my brother's graduation, buy a house, and move all in the same month, we began considering fall and winter date alternatives.  Mr. Palindrome started school in August and there was a very small window of opportunity to schedule the wedding and take a honeymoon in between semesters (more on that story later!).  New Year's Eve it was then.  We went to a NYE wedding a few years ago and thought it was the most brilliant thing ever - Great party, free booze, NYE with friends! 

SIL Palindrome/Palindromaid J and Mr. Palindrome

 Until we found out that New Year's Eve weddings are actually a little bit more expensive to plan in our neck of the woods.  Turns out, lots of people like to party that night and it drives prices up (Econ. 101 - Supply and Demand).  Alrighty, no problemo, let's slide that date to the right, bada bing, bada boom, January 2nd it was.  Everybody gets January 1st off, so that worked out nicely for those traveling.  Prices have gone back down, and we started scoring some serious off season deals.  Done and done. 

Oh, and it helped that January 2nd was the 1 year anniversary of our engagement.  AND, the date is a palindrome.  This fact pleased my geekery to the nth degree.  01-02-2010.  Yeah, there were a few of us who figured that out!  Anypalindrome, having your wedding over a holiday has some pros and cons. 

 Palindroman Z and I take pictures of each other taking pictures.

The Pros

1. We were able to spend NYE with a lot of our bridal party.  We started the night at a German beer garden and ended it at an Irish pub. That's what I call a good night.

2. Most people had Friday off which allowed out of town guests more flexibility in travel plans.

3. January is the least popular month to get married, so we worked the supply and demand angle to our advantage.

4. Holiday sales helped us stretch the budget.

5. The church was decorated for Christmas already!

6. It felt like a holiday celebrating us, complete with 3 days of feasting and partying!

SIL Palindrome/Palindromaid J and Palindromaid A making noise

The Cons

1. People have already spent a lot of money around the holidays for traveling, feasting, and gift giving.  A wedding on top of it all could be a budget buster.

2. The holidays are exhausting and we had both a move and wedding on top of it.

3. Some restaurants and vendors were closed on New Year's day which made the rehearsal dinner and deliveries more challenging.

4. It was a long 3 days brimming with activities and little time for sleep.

Palindroman J and his girlfriend/our friend R

The topic is debated ad nauseum about whether or not it's a good idea to schedule weddings over holiday weekends.  Despite the cons on our list, it was worth it to us.  Yes, we were tired and I said that I would never schedule another wedding right after Christmas again, but we had a New Year's to remember!

 

Mr. and Mrs. Palindrome when they were still the future Mr. Palindrome and Palindrome Bride!

PS - The recap theme of "Mine at Last" is a tribute to our relationship that endured long distance to the max (20,000 leagues under the sea to be exact) and our first dance to Etta James' classic ballad.