eternal optimism vs. realism

i often wonder if i could wiggle my nose like samantha on "bewitched" and have this whole wedding planned already...

setting the date was fairly easy; we just consulted the calendar, factored in RAGBRAI, the iowa state fair, summer music festivals, and the beginning of college football season and came up with August 27, 2011. at that time i was thinking, if it's this easy, we're set!

our first choice (which was the only option i was willing to consider) was to have it at the family farm in iowa. i had expected some stress about this decision since we live in colorado, but as an eternal optimist, i was unwilling and unable to see that there might be some issues, such as:

1. it's HOT and HUMID in iowa in august
2. it's pretty much rained all summer there, so who knows what next summer will bring
3. bugs
4. the cost to set up tents, dance floor, chairs, etc...
5. the time it would take to get the farm wedding-ready
6. HEAT and HUMIDITY
7. lack of lodging options
8. lack of transportation options (who really wants to fly into DSM, OMA, or MSP and rent a car?)

after discussing this with Jeff and my mom (and several other people who wanted to support my decision, but who are also realists), i came to the conclusion that maybe we should start considering alternate locations. i'm pretty sure jeff felt a huge relief when i presented the idea to him, as he had been realistic about the farm the entire time.

we decided to move the location of the wedding and the reception to the Surf Ballroom in clear lake, iowa. it's air conditioned (huge bonus) and they will take care of set up and clean up. fortunately, my great aunt phyllis has worked there forever, so mom called her to check our date. i held my breath until she called back and said that they had two dates left for next august... and our date was one of them!

changing the location seemed like a huge setback, since i had already crossed that off in my wedding manual, but it will definitely be for the best :)