Fwd: Because It's All About Location, Location, Location!

Photos of the staircase at Sam Noble during a recon mission and the mammoth at the reception.

 

We've got clothes, people, and now we need places! My crazy Google skills were put to good use as we looked up churches and reception halls, comparing prices and availabilities for our chosen date of November 20. Question one: do we get married in the Oklahoma City area, or the Tulsa area?

 

This was a bit of a toughie for me, as I grew up in Broken Arrow and my family still makes their home there. I feel a strong tie to that area, but I decided that really, I had lived in central Oklahoma for the past ten years, so the wedding should be where we live. It would also be a lot easier for us to plan something where it wouldn't involve two hours of driving to check on the venues, caterers, and whatnot. So, the Oklahoma City area, but where? My church was located in north OKC, but then we had to find a reception site nearby that would be acceptable. This proved more difficult than I had anticipated, partially due to our extensive guest list. Then, something caught my attention.

 

The mammoth.

 

How cool is it to spend the evening dancing around a giant mammoth statue? Anyone? I'm the only one impressed? Okay, well, that's cool with me.

 

There was this little part of my brain that also felt like it was almost a way to have my Grandma Joye at the wedding. What, crazy bride lady?! You see, my Grandma Joye, my Mama's mother, collected elephants. When I was younger, I'd dust her collection as the "chore" I would do over at her house. She passed away right at the beginning of my eighth grade year, and I have most of her elephant collection. In a strange way, it was like having a part of her there to enjoy my wedding day, even though I knew she was enjoying it in her own way without aid of a giant mammoth statue.

 

Of course, this left the matter of a church. I didn't have a church home in Norman, and asking our guests to drive from north OKC to Norman was not something we wanted to do. So, we started investigating Baptist churches in Norman for capacity and willingness to let nonmembers get married in their facilities. Based on those two criteria, we narrowed it down to First Baptist or Trinity Baptist. Trinity was less expensive, so that was the choice. We already had a minister, so we didn't need to worry about that, which was nice.

 

Just like that, invitations could be printed!