Location: Part 1 - An Arizona Wedding

James and I are planning on getting married in the summer of 2012 in northern Arizona (think Flagstaff area).  Since we are both from the midwest (Ohio/Michigan area) this may seem strange.  It wasn't my idea actually but was something that James came up with all on his own.  And I heard about it secondhand.  As far as I know, it goes back to August of 2008 when we returned to Ohio for my college roommate (and now bridemaid!) Tara's wedding.  I was a bridesmaid in her wedding (sidenote: thank you for that honor, Tara and AJ!) which meant that James spent most of the day of the wedding hanging out with our friend Liz.  It was to Liz that he mentioned having a destination type wedding in Northern Arizona.  She told me what he said and then James and I talked about it (though in broad terms since we still weren't ready to actually plan a wedding) and the idea has sort of stuck.  Having gone back to Ohio for 2 other college friend's weddings since (one being my other college roommate and now bridesmaid Jilko!), the concept became more appealing.  James and I are both opinionated and stubborn people and we both have strong ideas about what we want out of the wedding.  Also, while we often complain about not liking Phoenix, we love the scenery around Arizona, especially the beautiful forests around Flagstaff.  Arizona is also where James and I adopted Mortimer (our dachshund and ring bearer) and where we became a family.  We've been together almost 7 years and more than half of that has now been in Arizona and by the time of the wedding, it will be closer to 2/3 of our relationship spent here.  

Logistically we know that an Arizona wedding will be inconvenient for some people.  However, most of our friends have spread out across the country and while most of my family lives in Ohio, James' family lives in Ohio, Michigan, South Carolina, Georgia, California, and Arizona.  A lot of people we want to have at the wedding would have to travel no matter where it was located.  We've also established a wonderful network of people here in Arizona.  Two of my girlfriends from grad school (shout out to Andrea and Laura) will also be serving as bridesmaids and I have a number of other friends that I will be calling on to help with planning details.  James has also become involved in the local music scene which means cheap (and possibly free) wedding entertainment!

We are planning on hosting a second reception in central Ohio for family and friends that cannot make it to the Arizona wedding.  I love this idea because I can wear my dress more than once and I don't have to only pick one invitation or one favor...we can have different ones for the different receptions!  What more could a girl want!  

So that's all for now.  The next few posts will focus on our hunt for a wedding venue!  Stay tuned!