Venue picked
My fiance and I were supposed to go out and sign a contract/drop off a deposit for our venue this weekend, but we got snowed in. Luckily, I don't think anybody is going to steal our date (July 10th, 2010) out from under us.
We're having the ceremony and reception at the Irvine Nature Center in Owings Mills, MD. There are several places on the grounds that they do ceremonies, but we're pretty sold on the gazebo/overlook. You can't really tell from the pictures on the site, but the view is really breathtaking, even in winter. I can't wait to see what it looks like in summer when everything's green.
The ceremony site is a short walk through the woods from the exhibit hall and the tented patio where the reception will be, but I think everyone will be able to handle that. They also have a golf cart to drive any guests who might not be able to do the walk. They also don't really want to bring out chairs to the gazebo area, so it will be standing room for anybody we don't specifically need chairs for. I'm a little bit nervous about that, but I figure we'll keep the ceremony short, and no one will mind too much.
I'm also concerned that we only 4.5 hours (plus 2 hours for set up and one for clean up) for ceremony and reception. We can buy an extra hour fairly cheaply, at least.
I think we're going to have the ceremony at about 7:30 PM (telling guests to arrive at 7:00, and having some apps and drinks available). Sunset isn't supposed to be until 8:30 that night, so if we wrap up the ceremony by 8, I figure it won't be too dark on the trail (and it's really a short walk, like 3-5 minutes).
I'm excited. This place is everything we wanted.