Spacial Musings.

I really have been trying not to post so much until those rings arrive- but they're late and I'm a little shaken bottle of gingerale ready to explode in bubbly excitement. (Hmm....tasty.)

I would like to use some of the wedding budget* to jump start our building projects downstairs- specifically in areas we are going to use for the wedding. I don't think it's a bad idea, I've been doing a little research on what people spend renting venues for weddings and receptions. While the "average" is a rather wide range (anywhere from $75 for a back room at a quirky local ethnic restaurant to $2,500+ for the rental of a hotel ballroom), it seems reasonable to "invest" the same in areas that we will later be able to rent out at the schoolhouse. Plus, with my previous "dream wedding reception" taking place at Symphony Hall in Chicago, there's no way I could be accused of being uneconomical by wanting to spend a bit in making Milton pretty.

The difficult part of our master plan for the two downstairs rooms will be deciding where to stop in the construction process, clean up, and prepare for the party. The rooms are progressing quite nicely, but its going to take a darn lot of sweat and time to get them to a bare-bones finish.

In lieu of thinking about refinishing 14,000 sq ft of hardwood floor, I've been merrily musing over the courtyard instead. And why not? Two weeks of wearing a dust mask and laboring on your hands and knees just isn't as pleasant to think about as whether you should get potted ferns or build a cool firepit in the courtyard.

The main ceremony on Friday will be taking place in the courtyard- but we'll also use that space for the fun bar-b-que party hangout on Saturday.

I'm convinced, even with the wedding being placed on the fringe of autumn, a couple of these suckers are going to be a must. We'd like to have our wedding in the early afternoon on Friday so we can all go to dinner and get a good night's rest before the long Saturday party. West sun on concrete? I've always wanted a couple of sunsails anyway- and anything I can do to enjoy an outdoor wedding and decrease the possibility of a sweatstache in our ceremony photos is fantastico.

And a billion bright and colorful paper lanterns would be nice.

Lots of potted plants- perhaps a new fire pit built out of those bricks we have in the warehouse. Should we rent chairs? Or just invest in a good collection of folding chairs that will undoubtedly come in handy around the place otherwise? Maybe we can just paint the steel folding chairs we do have lurking about bright colors.

In a way, this is probably the most exciting part of the whole wedding planning. We have a date, it's going to happen- but we haven't spent any money yet, so everything is a possibility.


By the way, we're looking for fun things to do on Saturday before/after the band so that people aren't hanging around staring at each other or starting awkward conversations. I'm thinking I would very much like a pinata. Joel wants a waterballoon launcher on top of the gymnasium and to spray paint a giant target on the back lot. Any suggestions?




*a currently fictitious amount of money that I am willing to spend on said wedding.