On Choosing a Ceremony Spot

 

Last week I showed you where we plan to have the wedding reception, so today we're taking a step back to the ceremony spot. But first I have to tell a little story.

On our first date, I met Josh for lunch at the Art Center, a lovely art museum in a tree-lined part of Des Moines with a stellar restaurant. He was, of course, there before me (he considers himself to be late if he's not at least 5 minutes early), and the first thing I noticed was his pink paisley shirt. Loved it. And then he gave me peas and sage from his CSA and garden in a brown paper bag. Which, you guys, if there is one way straight to my heart, it's by giving me homegrown veggies. So that definitely started us off on the right foot.

Cut to this summer, over a year after that first meeting, when we were in the market for a spot to tie the knot. The Art Center came up—it would have been a lovely spot for the entire wedding though it was already booked the day we plan to be wed—and then we realized that we could have the ceremony in the Rose Garden. Oh, yes please!

We had taken a walk around the garden after that first lunch, and I love how it rambles and goes on farther than you think it should. The roses seem to bloom sporadically throughout the summer (nice since we're getting married in early July) and the whole thing is surrounded by big trees. We like trees. When we were there checking it out to see if we were really interested, there came a point when we got to the farthest part of the garden, a part where the grass spreads out into an area Perfect For A Wedding*. It's surrounded my rose bushes, there is plenty of space for seating and there's a handy sidewalk to form an aisle (no heels getting stuck in the grass!).

We very quickly booked it and I'm really happy that this location will, fingers crossed in the direction of mother nature, be part of our day. I don't plan to do much to decorate the area because I rather like letting the plants do their thing and keeping it very simple. We'll see as the month go by, but for now, I'm content to just have flowers like these in our view.

*I am in no way claiming that having the ceremony here is a unique idea- it's highly popular for weddings, and for a reason, as you can see!