Awhile ago, sweet P over at What Possessed Me wrote about the wedding quarreling. It descended on us PDQ, too. Bickering about things that matter and things that don't matter. And P was right about this, too: make one really good decision, and the rest of it seems possible.* Anyway, we have decided to get married in Tucson, Arizona at the end of September, 2010.** This was a good decision. And NOW, we even have a VENUE, which makes things feel much, much better.We started out with pleasant and unpleasant discoveries about Tucson venues. First, they cost literally a fourth of what renting the same sort of place would cost in Chicago.*** Yay! Because we are working on a budget. However, you run into a lot of rules. We tried parks, national parks, the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, and the botanic garden. But they all make you leave your Saturday evening wedding at 10:00 p.m. What am I, seventy? And besides, it's so hot at the end of September in Tucson that you can't really start the damn ceremony until 5:00 p.m., anyway. So we crossed those off.
We went through a bunch of other ideas I'll tell you about later, but this was, far and away, the place for us. Tanque Verde is a working dude ranch that sits on 633 acres of saguaro cactus forest. It has been there since 1928. 1928, people!**** AND, it comes with this amazing woman, Cindy, who is capable and detail-oriented and level-headed and whose whole job entails helping me not work on my wedding day. I want to be there.Anyway, more about all this later. In that photo of the chairs, one of their two ceremony venues, can you see the horsies in the corral? The air is clear and sweet, because it's a mix of the desert and the cool wind out of a cottonwood valley. It's so far from town that the night will be dark-dark, just us and the stars and all of that love.
* I was going to say "easy," but who are we kidding?
** The temperature on our wedding date this year hit 104 degrees. Yikes.
*** I looked at one Chicago space with a site fee (for just the space, not including rentals or anything) that exceeds what Tanque Verde charges for doing everything (including the food and service and even part of the bar tab)!
**** It may or may not be possible that He-Mouse and I are historians. Shh. Don't tell.
11 comments:
Mouse, it's absolutely dreamy! You and He-Mouse are to be commended for your awesome taste :-)
beautiful spot! guess who else is in AZ???
LOVE IT!
Fun! I think you guys have it right. Once you find a good venue, other planning will follow.
Sounds great and looks amazing! Very inspiring for a photographer, I imagine! Nice work, Mighty Mice.
holy crap, that place is gorgeous! congrats!
yeah, we ran into the 10:00pm cut-off problem, too. it seemed like all the places with the least bit of character want to toss you out the door just as you're getting started. we finally found a historical museum that's within close walking distance to some after-party options, so that's our compromise.
i LOVE the idea of dancing all night under those stars, though! wow.
BEAUTIFUL. And of course you're historians. :)
yaaaay!!!!!!!!!!
it's perfect.
I'm also from Chicago and I cannot believe how much most spaces charge that do not include anything other than the space itself. I mean can't they at least throw in some fricken tables and chairs for that kind of dough?!
And, silly me, I totally forgot to add, congrats on finding a venue. Dude ranches are awesome!
That just looks REDONKULOUSLY fun. I'm so glad you found a play that feels right - now all you need to do is show up and eat donuts. WORD.
Also, 10pm close = rockin' after party.
Post a Comment