Ball drop, Knee Drop

At the ball drop 2010 I raise my glass and my boyfriend drops to one knee asking me to marry him in front of 24 or so of our closest friends. Unexpected is an understatement. I am quite certain my head leaves my body for 2 hours as I prance around my house overcome with emotions. I immediately decide I am not planning a thing for at least 3 months. I want to enjoy being engaged. Enjoy I did for 3-4 days, but then the infamous "have you set a date" question starts haunting my dreams. It is a standard inquiry asked by almost everyone. After the 20th time of my typical staged response, I decide I will pick the date and the venue and then I can sit back and enjoy the creative process as it unfolds in my brain. *Insert headache here.*
After playing it cool for several days I come home from work and start discussions with my fiance who was open to brainstorming. Outside? Inside? Summer? Fall? Downtown? Uptown? Upside Down? What did we want? Initially we both pictured a downtown wedding at the zoo. Perfect. We also like the idea of a New Year's Eve wedding since we were engaged on New Year's Eve. It's different. It's us. This whole wedding thing was easy. *Insert headache here again* I quickly learn the zoo was booked through 2011. Bummer. Moving on. We make a list of venues and load up an afternoon. This is fun. The agenda is as follows:
1. Zoo-Maybe one couple will change their minds? Gardens incredible, but still booked.
2. Historical Society-Eli Lilly Hall AMAZING. Right on the canal. Perfect for summer or fall.
3. Union Station/Illinois Street Ballroom-Union Station a dream, but the hotel felt haunted to me.
4. Mavris-Super sleek, super hip loft. Once again, pretty booked up through next year.
5. Hillcrest-Beautiful picture potential, but not for me.
At the end of the tour of venues I knew two things. I want to get married downtown and it's going to be expensive. We go home exhausted by the thought of the thousands of dollars we are about to spend on one single day and toss around the idea of eloping. I'm sure every couple discusses this at one point...If we didn't have so many beloved friends and family I'm sure we'd have tropical tickets sitting in our laps by now. To be continued