Location, location, location!

The first time I visited the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, long before meeting Mr. M, all I could think about was how what a perfect place it would be for a wedding. It really is a magical place, I think - an oasis of greenery and flowers and wide open space in the middle of the busy streets of Brooklyn. But it was probably super-expensive, and there was no groom on the horizon anyway, and even if there was, we could totally never afford to get married there... right?

Well.... not quite! When I had an inkling that there was a very special ring in my near future, I started researching wedding venues - both in Brooklyn and in upstate New York, where I grew up. After my initial rustic wedding-in-a-barn idea was roundly dismissed by groom and parents - although I really don't know who *wouldn't* want a pig and a bonfire (hello, s'mores!) and mason jars with flowers at their wedding - the venue search narrowed to places in Brooklyn. I looked at traditional catering halls, restaurants and some totally DIY, raw space, bring-your-own-furniture venues... and finally, with my fingers crossed, I called to inquire about the pricing at my dream venue, the Botanic Garden. The answer? For an afternoon wedding on a weekend in June, shockingly reasonable.

With a brief venue visit to seal the deal - on the day that Mr. M officially proposed! - we selected our date and booked it, crossing our fingers that we'd find a Catholic church that would marry us on that day. (At fifteen months out, I knew we probably wouldn't have a problem, but June is awfully popular - and a bunch of dates at the BBG were already booked for Spring 2013 when we visited in January 2012, which made me extra paranoid!)

One of the best parts of getting married at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden? We get to visit all the time! Sometimes Mr. M and I take a walk through the gardens on a Saturday afternoon to scope out the crowds and peek inside the Palm House to see if any weddings are in progress. This weekend, we're almost exactly a year out from our wedding, so we took a stroll to see what will be in bloom this time next year. (Spoiler alert: Roses!)

I got seriously mushy on this walk-about today. Just a tiny bit more than a year from now, I'll be standing here in this garden with my family and friends, our wedding party and our photographer - and my brand new husband. I'll be Mrs. M, for real. And we'll walk around the garden like we walked around it today - beside each other, holding hands. Totally happy, totally in love.

 Ohhhh.... I can't wait!