Choosing the city

On Sunday, July 22nd at about 3:00pm my partner Michael and I were sipping our favorite Spanish Cava on the patio of Ardesia Wine Bar in Hell's Kitchen.  We had just called our dear friends Roger and Brad to congratulate them on their one year wedding anniversary.  Over the course of the past year we have proudly witnessed three couples say "I Do" to each other.  And after talking to Roger and Brad we decided we needed to have a heart to heart on what we wanted to do.

You see, up until this point we've put our wedding on the back burner.  Mainly because we've been busy, but secretly because neither of us had any clue as to what we wanted.

When I meet with couples it's so easy for me to objectively impart my "wedding wisdom" (I use that phrase loosely); mainly because I listen to the couple(s) to truly dissect what it is they want.  This my friends is not an easy process when you're trying to listen to yourself.  I mean have you ever really taken your own advice?  Think about it…

What's great about Michael and I is that we have already been together for over 10 years.  We know each other, we know our families and we know what's important to us.  The knowing is the best part.  But we are two different people and we want different things and rightly so!  It was the not knowing that drove me crazy.  What did he want? What did he not want?  So both set out and outlined what was important to us both as a couple and as individuals.  It's like I always tell my clients prioritize your priorities.  And that's just what we did.

While we both wanted a wedding outside of New York City overlooking a lake or a winery we both knew in our heart of hearts that this is the place we call home.  New York is where we met and New York holds that special place in our heart.  After much discussion we both realized it would be best for our families because it's the easiest place to travel to.  And if we were to do a New York State destination wedding why not do it in our own back yard?  You see, Michael's family is from Wisconsin and mine is from Western and Upstate New York as well as Vermont.

So after much talking we decided on the city, that choice was an easy one - check that off the list!  But what about the guest list?  Having done this for almost 14 years I knew the guest list would have a huge impact on what venue's we gravitated toward.  Stay tuned because I truly never knew how hard it would be to create a wedding guest list…especially for ourselves!

Until next time!

Cheers!