Bucket List #31 - Elope in Vegas...Uh Savannah (How We Planned the Elopement)

My last blog discussed why Hubby and I eloped. The decision was a hard one and unlike what my family now thinks, it wasn't one that we took without thinking of everyone involved. In the end, we wanted a ceremony our special way and eloping did just that. Well, now comes the hard part...planning the elopement.

First decision: Location? Savannah, GA. 

This was a no brainer. We LOVE Savannah, GA. We love the history, romance, and the southern charm of this city. It is a gorgeous place and we had dreams of taking photos under the Spanish moss. If you have never visited Savannah, you must visit. 

So we knew what city we were going to stay in, but then we needed a place to lay our weary heads. Hubby and I are HUGE fans of the website, Airbnb. You can rent someone's home or a room for a week for the cost of a hotel for one day. It is amazing. Because we were limited in our budget, we decided to rent a suite in a home in historic Savannah. Location? Check! House to Stay In? Check!

Second Decision: Church or Justice of the Peace? Church. 

Hubby and I are religious people. We believe that God and prayer are an integral part of our lives. Although we were not having a traditional wedding, we were going to have a traditional ceremony. With that in mind, I needed to find a church that would allow us to wed in their sanctuary with us not being members and for not a lot of money. 

I searched the net and happened upon a website that promoted elopement packages for Savannah. They would do everything from the ceremony to the flowers to the cake. While tempting to do a ready package, I wanted to do something more personalized. However, in the package description, they mentioned Rev. Steve Schulte who does elopements. I researched him and saw that he had amazing reviews from brides and I loved his snappy dressing. So I emailed him and got a response within days. Within a week, we had decided that he would be our pastor for the ceremony and we could get married in his church, St. Luke's Lutheran Church, outside of Savannah. Score!!!

Rev. Steve Schulte

The entrance to the church

Third Decision: Full Wedding Attire or Casual? Wedding Dress, Duh!

Most people would think, "Hey, you are getting married with no one there, why dress up?" Because I want to feel like a bride! While I could not afford to buy my dream Monique Lhullier dress, I wanted to wear a wedding dress that made my feel beautiful and I wanted Hubby in a nice suit to accompany me. He was in luck because he already had a suit, but I don't just have a wedding dress lying around. So here I go to David's Bridal. 

I can honestly say that this is the part where I missed having my mom and aunt there. Shopping for the most important dress in your life is not as much fun without the opinions of the women you love the most. So I trudged into DB with no idea what I wanted and with a budget of only $500. 

In a matter of hours, I tried on nearly all dresses that would fit me and I narrowed it down to a traditional gown and a teacup dress. I was torn. I could not make up my mind. Both were equally beautiful. So, I had to break tradition and bring in the person who's opinion I value the most - Hubby. With his opinion, I went with the traditional dress. 

Sidenote here: I did the typical bride mistake! When I bought my dress, it was tight on me. I vowed to work out, lose weight and fit into that dress. Well I worked out a bit too much, got injured, and spent 4 weeks before our wedding completely sedentary. When I went back the week before our wedding to pick up the dress, I not only could not fit into it, but I had to convince them to trade it in for one in a larger size. Buy the dress in the size you need it at your first fitting.  

My dream Monique Lhullier dress...sigh

The beautiful teacup dress I was considering.

My wedding dress!

Final Details: Decide later? Yes!
So with a few weeks before our wedding, planning of the details came to a halt because of my work-related travel. We still needed a photographer, cake, flowers, my veil, and other smaller details. Hubby told me to stop spinning circles in my head and to just deal with it when we went to Savannah, so that is what we did. I think I got a lot of the major plans done before we got there, but if I had known what I know now, I would not have waited.

So next I will tell you about our wedding day...

Talk later!
Crystal