The decision that wasn't really a decision at all.

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Before I got engaged, when people asked me what time of year I'd like to get married in, I usually answered with an eloquent "umm... I dunno... summer... I guess...?"  I never really had my heart set on any one time of year, but I kind of gave the automatic advantage to the summer months for a few reasons of varied importance.  First, I figured it would be the easiest time of year for out-of-towners to travel.  I also assumed that our student and teacher friends and family would have more flexibility with their schedules during the summer than any other time of year.  I like bright colors, and you don't automatically think of hues of warm yellow when thinking of a December wedding.  Finally, I hate being cold.  I hate being chilly.  I hate not having an outfit that keeps me comfortable, temperature-wise, over the course of the day.  Hate hate hate.  So, the thought of shivering, having goosebumps, or needing a coat on my wedding day was far from enticing.  I guess my desire to have present family and friends, bright colors, and warmth all joined forces to encourage me to have a summer wedding... kind of like Captain Planet, wedding edition!

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Despite my initial inclination toward summer months, I decided to try and be fair and open-minded when choosing a wedding date, you know, since I wasn't the only person actually getting married that day.  When GG and I first started weighing our options, it seemed like we had the whole year wiiiiiiiide open.  And then we actually started to look at our calendars with "real-life" glasses on.  Long story short, I'm a full-time student.  School and I have been BFFs for the past 16 years, and I have a feeling this relationship will continue into the foreseeable future (at the very least, until December 2011).  While I think I have some pretty stellar time management skills, planning a wedding to take place smack-dab in the middle of a semester would definitely max out whatever skills of any variety I possess.  We quickly decided that for my own sanity (and, as a consequence, GG's sanity), school and wedding are about as compatible as the classic oil and water.  I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that having a wedding during a full courseload would probably be the end of me. 

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OK, so we take out our big, figurative red marker and start x-ing out dates.  With our "no school year" dictum, we eliminated all of January through April.  And the first week of May through the first week of August (hooray for summer classes).  And, finally, Labor Day through Christmas.  Meaning our "wide open calendar" quickly boiled down to some pretty limited options: a few days in May, a few weeks in August, and the Christmas season.  Awesome sauce.  We decided May was a no-go -- we wanted to have a wedding and a honeymoon all in one big hulabaloo, but my break between the end of spring semester and the beginning of summer semester is just too short to make it all happen.  We talked about having our wedding during the Christmas season, but that got the axe as well --  Christmas 2010 was a bit too close, Christmas 2011 was a bit too far, not to mention the aggravation of trying to get family and friends to squeeze in a mini-vacation so close to the holidays and the highly unpredictable weather in Western PA.  Pass.  So, without throwing a single punch, August became our wedding date winner!

Most of the month of August is free from school for me, so we just thought we could pick any dandy weekend we wanted.  Nay.  First weekend in August?  I'm in finals (or, at least, scheduled to be).  Third weekend in August?  My two younger brothers would be moving back into college for the school year.  Last weekend in August?  I'm back in school.  Once again, completely by default, we had a winner - second weekend in August, it is!  Up to this point in our relationship, August 13 had absolutely no significance to us, so practicality definitely beat out sentimentality in this fight.  But, on the plus side, I did find out shortly after we picked our date that a certain other couple is getting married that day.

 

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Disclaimer: I have never read a single page of Twilight.  I don't really plan on it, either (Absolutely no offense meant toward Twilight fans).  So you can imagine my unbridled joy at finding out that my wedding date happens to fall on their fictitious wedding date.  As one of my friends put it, "It's a day just meant for love!" (Gag.)

Our calendar has 52 weekends, just like everybody else's, but after making a list of specifications we needed out of our wedding date, we officially found a big fat ONE that fit the bill.  Hey, I'm not complaining about a wedding decision kind of being thrown into my lap -- no big stress!  

Did you have a wedding date pretty much fall into your lap because of scheduling demands?  Or did you have more flexibility in selecting your date?