At first we weren’t sure where we wanted to have the wedding. Should we have it up in Donegal where his family is from? Or should we have it in Ennis where we now live? What place will make everyone happy? Well let me tell you this. No matter where you have your wedding, I can guarantee not everyone will be happy. We ruled out Donegal because I have friends coming in from the States and to have them pay for flights, car rentals, and hotels was enough. To tack on a 4-5 hour drive in an already cramped schedule was just out of the question. Not to mention getting the flowers, church, band, reception hall, photographer, my hair done, and every other wedding plan arranged is about a thousand times harder when you’re nowhere near the location. So Donegal is out.
That leaves Ennis right down the street from where we live. I’m walking distance from the bakery, reception hall, and just about everything else I need to book. It’s close enough so people can get a cab back to my house cheaply if they don’t want to stay at the hotel. And I don’t have the added stress of bringing my friends too far from home. Perfect.
So the wedding is in Ennis, case closed, now on to planning it.
The Power of Christ Compels You
Picking which church to get married in was pretty simple. The process of elimination took all of 5 seconds once we saw them all. There was a choice of 3. The first option was the Cathedral. Too few guests ruled that one out. One of the smaller churches (please don’t damn me for saying this) was just ugly. Probably didn’t help that the day we went to look at it there was a funeral going on. I took it as a sign. The one we did pick is a wee stone church out in the countryside. It’s dark and musty but exactly what I always wanted. Built in 1874, it has a rustic Celtic look to it that emanates old Irish ancestry. Not what you would consider “old” in Ireland, but much older than some nonetheless. Being a newbie to wedding planning and having pretty much no one to ask about it, I set out to book the church we picked. I called the parish priest and after 3 days of leaving message after message he finally got back to me. Our conversation went something like this.
“Hello Father, I’d like to book your church for our wedding on (date).”
“Ok, who would you like to reside over the wedding.”
“Uhhhhhhhh. I have no idea.”“Would you like me to do it?”
“Sure!”“Ok, well, the church is booked so take that off your list.”
“Wow that was easy, thanks!”
And that’s how an idiot like me booked a church for my wedding. Most people I know have lived in a place most if not all of their lives and have built a relationship with their parish priest. I, not having done either one of them, was somewhat terrified that I was going to be refused or damned to eternal hell for not having built a relationship or even attended one mass there yet. I thought this because I knew of one priest in the States that flat our refused to marry a couple because they had moved out of the area and weren’t attending that church anymore. Harsh man, harsh.
Wedding On A Dime 