Christmastime Wedding
April, 2015. Somewhere between Portland and Seattle. We had just gotten engaged on vacation, and considering how long Benjamin and I had been together, I was surprised at how giddy I felt. However, this joy didn?t prevent my type-A brain from diving into full-blown Wedding Planning. Immediately.
We knew we weren’t willing or able to plan a long-distance wedding, so even though we didn’t grow up in the Midwest, we would get married in Chicago. On that drive back to our hotel, I cruised my phone’s calendar and tentatively broached the idea of a Christmastime wedding.

Is this a real movie" I’m dying. | Image via BetaFilm
Before you bah-humbug—yes, getting married very close to Christmas day presents potential issues of travel & expense, and the chance of inclement weather. HOWEVER! Here are our reasons defending this choice:
1. It being April, we knew venues would be booked through summer, autumn, and beyond. Therefore, a 20-month engagement would allow us to plan and secure most of our first choices.
2. It would also allot us plenty of time to save; plus, winter is generally ?off-season? when it comes to weddings (see aforementioned professions and then shed a tear for our sad little bank accounts).
3. We hoped that a long engagement would let our guests have plenty of time to plan ahead, since many would be traveling to our wedding regardless of season.
4. Since we are both teachers, a date close to our Christma...