Wedding in Review Part One: Location, location, location

As Jocelyn mentioned in her previous post, we took quite a hiatus from the blogosphere for a while because big things were happening around here.  Jocelyn moved out to become a fancy doctor and I have spent the 13 months leading up to January 2nd to plan to be a fancy wife.

So in my wanderings I’ve noticed that wedding planning, for whatever reason, is a happening topic in the blogosphere so I thought I’d share my infinite wedding wisdom.  And by infinite I mean… how to plan a wedding by the skin of your teeth without knowing what in the world you’re doing!

So T-Rone and I got engaged in November of 2008 and on the night he proposed it was utter bliss and happiness.

The next morning I almost didn’t get out of bed because the first thought in my head when I woke up was… “oh $&#(@$, now I have to plan a wedding!!”

I would argue that wedding planning is a daunting task no matter the circumstances.  Here was my personal dilemma: how to have a meaningful wedding that my guests would thoroughly enjoy without breaking the bank.  As I lay in my bed that November morning I thought that if such a task were possible, to attempt it would surely kill me/us or at least leave us seriously maimed.  However, I am proud to report that we made it!  Our final wedding bills cleared this week (a month after the fact… a bit of a downside…) and we cleared our budget with $$ to spare.  Miracles!

I will attempt to do a few posts chronicling our experience.  Beginning with…

THE VENUE!

After deciding TO get married, our first dilemma was deciding WHERE to get married.  For weeks we were stumped.  And overwhelmed.  We basically saw ourselves as having two options: Chattanooga (where I grew up) and Nashville (where Trone and I both currently reside).  But we ran across a problem: Trone and I felt that the site of the wedding itself was as important (if not moreso) than the reception site.  We met at church camp after all; we didn’t want to get married somewhere that didn’t have meaning to us.  But here were our problems:

1) My family no longer attends the church I grew up at in Chattanooga and I don’t have a relationship with any of its clergy.

2) At the time, Trone and I had yet to decide on a church home in Nashville.

We were stumped.  And I was forlorn.

At the time, I was interning at the University School of Nashville on my way to becoming a College Counselor.  I was sharing my frustration with one of the women in the office who said to me, “Catherine, tell me this: in what church in the world do you feel most at home?” and I said, “Well, at Kanuga.  But we could never get married there.”  And then she asked the magic question…

“Why?”

I don’t know why I had foreclosed on the idea of a wedding at Kanuga but I had.  However, when Karen asked me why I couldn’t get married there I was forced to name some reasons why it wouldn’t be the right choice.  And I couldn’t!  I couldn’t think of a single good reason why a wedding at Kanuga wasn’t the right choice.  Certainly there were pros and cons but the pros of Kanuga far outweighed the cons and beat the pros of any other place we considered by a landslide.

So we got the Kanuga ball rolling and made a few phone calls.  Here was the shakedown of the pros and cons:

Pros:

1) Getting married where we met: how cool is that?

2) Getting married in the place where we both feel more at-home spiritually than most places.  Priceless.

3) With one down deposit, we got a rehearsal dinner venue, a church, a reception venue and lodging for up to 300 guests (our deposit didn’t pay for the guests’ lodging but reserved those rooms for them should we need them).

4) Kanuga is GORGEOUS.

5) We are familiar with the staff and the venues from working countless youth conferences there so we knew what to expect.

Cons:

1) A wedding at Kanuga would mean a “destination” wedding which might mean that fewer people would be able to make it out.

2) Planning a wedding from afar can be logistically troublesome.

3) When we called Kanuga to inquire about our wedding they told us that the only possible dates weren’t until mid December 2009 or January 2010.  Oof.  If we wanted to get married at Kanuga, we would have to wait an entire year and we weren’t overly keen to drag it out so long.  Our dream was September or October, but alas, we can’t always get what we want…

Because the pros SO far outweighed the cons, we settled on January 2, 2010 (it’s a palindrome) for our big event!  We chose this day over the mid-December days because it would be after the holidays and immediately following Winterlight (the youth event that we worked every year and which our Kanuga friends would be at so they could  just stay for our wedding) and it would be during everyone’s Christmas breaks (friends in grad school, etc. and we were also anticipating that I would have a school job… which I do!).

So that was step one: secure a venue and set the date.  While we weren’t quite sure how a January wedding would work, it turns out that it was ideal.  Here’s a sneak peak of the beautiful background that we had for our winter wedding.  (Pictures courtesy of Josh Malahy, our fabulous photographer!  Check out his magnificent work.)

The entrance to Kanuga. We love the simple beauty of this place.

Beautiful landscapes by the Kanuga lake.

The doors to the church on wedding day.

Another nature shot. 'cause I just can't get enough of this place!

Securing Kanuga was the first wedding leap of faith that we took and we are SO glad we did.

It was a budget conscious decision and the RIGHT decision.  So glad when that happens and it seemed to keep happening throughout this whole process.  We were so blessed during the whole wedding planning venture.

After choosing the date/venue we were on to the truly important choice… the DRESS.

Stay tuned!

Pat’s Pies

And . . . we’re BACK! I’m sure you’ve been wondering where the ladies of 2137 have been. Actually, I’m quite sure our six loyal readers already know where we’ve all gone, but just in case, here’s a quick recap:

1) Jocelyn (moi) moved to Arkansas. Do not ask why. I am still trying to figure that one out, considering I left a lovely home and a lovely job for a graduate student salary and a place very, very far from the 2137.

2) Jennifer moved out of the 2137 very recently, moving approximately three or four blocks away. She is still making beautiful guitar music, and she painted her new bedroom a lovely blue. I am trying to convince her to move to Arkansas and cook dinner for me every night in exchange for a free place to live. But she, like everyone else, fully comprehends the absurdity of the fact that I live in Arkansas now.

3) Just weeks ago, Catherine entered into the blessed union of marriage after dating Trone for nearly seventeen years. Jennifer and I were witnesses to the ceremony, and we approved of it. We also approve of the fact that she and Trone are making the 2137 their home, along with Atticus and Mow Mow. 

So, yes. We’re all in slightly different places now, which makes me terribly sad. I mean, I cried all the way to Arkansas. But it’s lovely to know that we’re all still cooking, and crafting, and being arty-farty on a regular basis in our separate abodes. And if things go well, I’ll continue to pester the girls (via G-chat, text message, and email) to continue writing on the blog as well, if only so that I can see what they are up to.

Which leads me to the latest entry in nearly a millennium . . . Pat’s Pies!

When I returned to Tennessee for Christmas vacation (as a student I get actual vacation days, see), my mom arranged for her friend Pat to show us how to make decadent, delicious, meringue-topped pies. If any of you has ever met me, you’re probably aware that I’m obSESSed with pies. I thought the movie Waitress was made for me because the heroine in the film makes loads of luscious-looking, aptly-named pies like “Marshmallow Mermaid Pie,” “I Hate My Husband Pie,” “Lonely Chicago Pie,” etc. Anyway, I’m pretty sure Pat just calls hers Coconut Pie.

Pat’s a good friend of my mom’s, so she didn’t seem to mind if we just sat there and watched her work. And I mean literally SAT THERE. My mom did help me out a little by sitting and writing down the recipe directions, which I will share with you here.

Hey, Ma! Lookin’ good. 

And here’s Pat:

Notice that she’s actually doing something.

Anyway, one of the reasons that I like Pat is that she started out her pie with this:

A store-bought pie crust. Sometimes you just don’t have the time or energy to crank out your own crust, you know? Don’t tell Martha Stewart.

Anyway, Pat dresses the pie crust up so nicely. Check out her technique:

Basically: spread, push, pinch. And voila! It’s lovely.

It’s like she’s done this before. Once you have beautified your crust, throw it into the oven at around 350 degrees until it’s beginning to look slightly golden and cooked (just a few minutes). Basically, follow the directions on the box.

So first, mix together:

• 1 cup sugar
• 4 (very heaping) tbsp. of flour
• pinch of salt

Pat has the cutest flour container. See?

I kind of wanted to take it with me. Anyway, once you’ve mixed the dry ingredients, add:

• 1 cup PET milk
• 1 cup hot water

Use a mixer to blend it all together in a microwave-safe bowl or Pyrex. 

Take the mixture and microwave it on high for 3 minutes. In the meantime, separate two eggs and place the whites to the side.

Once the mixture from the microwave has heated, take the mixture and temper the egg yolks with it. This means adding a little tiny bit of the hot mixture to the eggs, and then beating it together. Raising the temperature of the eggs a little at a time prevents the eggs from scrambling. Once the eggs seem warmed (but not scrambled), add the mixture back to the Pyrex and mix again.

Return the bowl to the microwave and cook it for 3 more minutes. Pat says it will get thick at this point. Remove hot mixture from the microwave and mix it some more. 

At this point, add:

• 4 tsp. (half a stick) butter or margarine (no need to melt it because the mixture will do that)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

AND MIX. AGAIN. This recipe requires a lot of your hand-mixer. 

By now, the mixture is beginning to look like pie filling. Microwave it one more time: this time for 2 minutes. 

By now, your crust is probably ready to come out of the oven. It ought to look like this:

GAWGEOUS. Flaky, golden, but not brown. Remember that it’s going back in the oven!

Last step on the mixture. Add:

• 1 cup of flaky coconut

Sorry about this terrible action shot. I still am an idiot with this camera. 

Mix it up, and voila! It’s ready to go into the pie shell.

Yummmm . . . 

Oh my gosh. 

Do yourself a favor and lick the spoon. And the bowl. Then get to making that meringue.

Take:

• those 2 egg whites you set aside earlier
• 3 heaping tbsp. sugar

And guess what? Beat them together with the mixer until they are meringue-y. Or, as Pat says,”until they look good.”

I’m pretty sure these are soft-peaks forming. At this stage, add:

• 1 tsp. vanilla

Incorporate the vanilla, and then PLOP the meringue on top of the pie. Spread it out evenly at first, like this:

Then, using a spatula, try to form some pretty peaks in the meringue, like so:

Top this beautifulness with some more coconut.

Time for cookin’! Gently place the pie back into the 350-degree oven, and wait for about 8 minutes. It ought to look like this:

Try to wait a few minutes, or you’ll probably burn yourself upon eating. This pie tastes delicious hot AND cold. And I would know, because I ate most of it singlehandedly over the course of two days. That’s right–Pat made the pie, then let me eat it.

Thank you, Pat, for sharing your knowledge AND YOUR PIE!

Cheers,

Joce