A Tale of Two Cities... Part II

Okay, so in my last post, I was explaining my dilemma of where to actually have our wedding! Louisville, Lexington, and Atlanta were all contenders. Louisville got knocked out thanks to logistics. So, moving on, my pro and con lists:


Wedding in Lexington
Pro:
- All local planning for me, in a city that I know more about
- Mr. KM's grandmothers can come
- We can get married in the church that is important to Mr. KM , by the woman who was his mentor for so many years through today (this is important to him)
- My wonderful, amazing coworkers, who have become my family, can come.
- More of my college friends would be able to make it
- Extended family in Louisville would definitely be able to make the hour drive
- Fun destination for people who haven't been here, which is most of our OOT.
- Small city means it's less confusing for visitors. We have 5 main arteries into town, once you're on one of those, it's hard to get lost!

Con:
- Atlanta family friends might not be able to make it thanks to short notice/ distance (it's about a 5.5 hour drive or an expensive flight to a tiny airport)
- My closest friends of 10+ years would have a hard time making the trip. I've been friends with some of these girls since I was 4 years old!
- No wholesale flower mart, which means we either can't use my mom's tax number or the flowers will have to be brought from Atlanta
- Lots of long distance planning for my mom and dad
- My grandmothers will have to travel, but they can handle the trip.

Lexington

Wedding in Atlanta
Pro:
- More vendor options, which are necessary with such a short timeline
- Family and friends are more likely to make it, especially my closer friends who don't have time/ the money to travel
- Wholesale flower market for easier centerpieces
- More to do than in Lexington

Con:
- Mr. KM's grandmothers are absolutely not able to travel. The trip would just be too hard on them.
- My coworkers wouldn't be able to come. Someone has to be at the store!
- More expensive, much more expensive
- We wouldn't be able to get married by his mentor in the first church he worked at and the church he was ordained in
- More expensive and more confusing for our guests from out of town

Atlanta

Clearly, the decisions is weighted towards Lexington, but that didn't make it any easier to make an actual decision. When I had to change my drivers license to KY, I cried. For days. I am a Georgia girl! That is me. Sweet tea and boiled peanuts, COKE (NEVER Pepsi) and the Atlanta Braves. BUT! I'm also a Kentucky girl- University of Kentucky sports, horse racing, fancy hats and mint juleps (hey, I can PRETEND to like bourbon for culture's sake, right?). Lexington is so important to Mr. KM (he grew up here), and important to our relationship; it's where I became an adult living on my own, where I went to school, where Mr. KM's family has a history, where I made a surrogate type of family, and (most importantly) where we met and fell in love (altogether now- awwww).

But part of me is still SO afraid that my friends in Atlanta, the people that helped raise me and I consider my family (because mine is so small), won't be able to come. There's a core group that I know will be there, come hell or high water, but what if my childhood friends can't make it? 'll be upset, and definitely hurt. I wouldn't miss their weddings for the world... I'm hoping the feeling is mutual, or I might regret my decision later. However, we've got a good thing going on here, and ultimately the deciding factor was the fact that we'll be able to get married by someone who is important to Mr. KM, and it's really important to me that his grandmothers are there to see it. Plus the cultural aspects of Kentucky will make for lots of fun little details!