Church or No Church?

This has been the latest debate in the planning process; do we want to get married in a church or not? Just for some background, because this may not be a debate for everyone, Josh and I were both raised catholics and have since become bad catholics in the sense that we dont go to church anymore, but it is still a part of who we both are. We are debating between a church wedding (not a full mass, fret not), an outdoor wedding or some sort of alternative to both. This weekend while we were in Cape Breton we decided to weigh our options more seriously. Here were our pros and cons for all three options:

Church: Pros: 1. We love the history and architecture of a church
                       2. Chelsea has always dreamt of the double doors opening and walking down the aisle
                           with her dad
                       3. It would please our grandmothers
                       4. You dont have to worry about rain
             Cons: 1. Marriage counselling (If you get married in the Catholic Church you are required to do
                           three days of marriage counselling.
                       2. We didn't want a priest who preached a significant amount to our wedding goers
                       3. I want my own music, not churchy music
                       4. There are several catholic churches that wont allow your dad to walk you down the
                           aisle

Outdoor: Pros: 1. Beautiful Scenery
                        2. Short Ceremony
                        3. Our own music
               Cons: 1. Weather can ruin everything
                         2. Backup plans are usually ugly
                         3. Bugs, Heat and HUGE COST in some cases

Alternative: Pros: 1. All the benefits of an outdoor wedding without having to worry about the weather
                   Cons: 1. Huge Cost, No options available in Cape Breton

So obviously the alternatives were out. As for outdoor weddings, I am convinced it will rain on my wedding and I am kind of telling myself it will so that, if it does, I wont be disappointed. I dont think I could deal with the stress of waiting for two years to find out if I get to married where I planned to get married and like I wrote, I always find that the back up plans for outdoor weddings are ugly and that's because no one wants to put that much effort into a backup plan. I always dreamed of getting married on the lawn of the Inverary Inn in Baddeck, that dream was shot down when they sent me their wedding package "deals" WAY out of our budget.

With all of that said, I was still very hesitant about getting married in a church because of the marriage counselling, the priest and the rules. I was able to talk to a lot of people this weekend who got married in the catholic churches of Cape Breton and through that I learned a few things about a couple of churches. The church I wanted to get married in was the big one in Bras D'or, that idea was quickly shut down when I learned that the priest wouldn't let my dad walk me down the aisle. The last thing I want is an anal priest. Someone suggested the big grey church in North Sydney apparently they have a new young and very nice priest. The good thing about this priest is that Josh's father golfs with the retired priest from that church who is apparently hilarious and easy going. So now our goal is to get married in that church with the funny old priest and just suck it up and get through the marriage counselling.

Next stop Reception Venue!

 St. Joseph's