One of the first major decisions of wedding planning is picking a location. Mac deployed the day after we became engaged, so I took on all of the initial wedding research. We had a few different options for where we could host a wedding, so we had to finalize a location before we could do any more planning. Here’s how we chose our wedding location.
Blacksburg, Virginia
Pros: Home sweet college home. Mac and I both attended Virginia Tech and are passionate Hokies. Plus, I (like most Hokie girls) thought that the epitome of romance was a Duck Pond or Ring Dance engagement followed by a War Memorial Chapel wedding.
Cons: Blacksburg is in the middle of nowhere. Virginia Tech is a very large farm (and smells like it). Our guests planning to fly would have to fly to Roanoke then rent a car to drive to Blacksburg. That’s a lot of money for one weekend. Driving, Blacksburg is 10+ miles off the closest interstate (I-81). And again, near nothing. Add that to long-distance wedding planning.
Fayetteville, North Carolina
Pros: Home sweet Army post home. Our current home town. Planning would be easy, since we live here. Fayetteville has a few hundred-thousand people, so you have a good selection of wedding venues.
Cons: Ever heard of Fayette-nam? Not the most charming nickname. Fayetteville isn’t known as a popular tourist destination. And the majority of our guests would be traveling between 5-12 hours to be at the wedding.
Southwestern Pennsylvania
Pros: My parents, sister, and maternal family all live here. I’m very familiar with the area and its offerings. Mac has a lot of family in eastern PA, too.
Cons: I’m not the biggest fan of Pennsylvania or the traditional wedding venues in Westmoreland County. And long distance wedding planning.
Washington, DC area
Pros: Mac’s parents live here. It’s the nation’s capital, so it’s very convenient for travel. Most of our friends and family live within a few hours’ drive. The out-of-town guests would also have lots of touristy things to do.
Cons: Umm, $150 for a buffet dinner? Not exactly in the checkbook. Cost is definitely the biggest barrier to us having a wedding in or near Washington, DC. And, you guessed it, long distance wedding planning.
So what did we pick? Fayetteville! In the end, we decided to have our wedding in our hometown. Now to find a venue.
