Bride Blogger Amanda: Location, Location, Location

For us, picking the spots for the ceremony and reception were some of the easiest choices to make. I know it’s not always an easy decision, though, particularly if you are tied to a certain date, time or price. Getting married at St. John’s Catholic Church at Creighton University was a no-brainer for us because we met at Creighton. Plus, it’s a gorgeous place, and we knew it would be big enough to hold all our family and friends (John has 24 aunts and uncles, not including their spouses!).

If you know anything about St. John’s, or about churches on college campuses in general, you know that you’re probably in for a long wait and don’t have much leeway on the date because the church is always busy and booked nearly 18 months in advance. Luckily, John and I weren’t too tied to any date, although we would have liked to keep it in the summer because he’s a teacher. However, in wedding planning (and in marriage!), sometimes compromise is involved. We got engaged in May 2009 and called that same week to reserve the church for a date; the soonest reasonable date on a Saturday was September 25, 2010 – 16 months away! It seemed like a long time to wait, but actually, it has flown by! And boy, am I glad I’ve had all that time to get things organized and decisions made. A fall wedding will be beautiful, too!
I would definitely suggest calling the church early on in the process, especially if you have a specific date in mind. Sometimes getting the place you want involves having some flexibility on the calendar. If you do have a date you absolutely, positively want to be your anniversary, you may have to look at several options to get the date you want.

After the ceremony, we’ll head to 1316 Jones St  for the reception. We had this place in mind from the beginning because of its proximity to the church and because we loved its Old Market feel and classy atmosphere. (Although it’s just outside of the Old Market, we considered that a bonus since traffic and parking would be easier to deal with.) We are very excited about the huge outdoor patio, too (fingers crossed for nice weather!). This location takes care of everything for you – tables, catering, dance floor, etc. The only things we have to do ourselves or bring in from the outside are the cake, table decorations and DJ. The event staff and caterer have been great to work with, and judging from our tasting menu, the food will be delicious. We know our reception will be a fun and memorable experience. We can’t wait!