Looking for someone to help us say "I do"

Because neither Matt or I are particularly religious, we are looking into alternative options when it comes to someone performing our ceremony. After talking it over with others who were looking for something similar, we're hoping to settle on what's called a "celebrant."

Basically, a celebrant is an officiant who legally performs the ceremony for a couple, incorporating the legal aspects, but also weaving in the personal touches requested by the couple.

We met with a potential celebrant at a south loop Starbucks last Saturday, April 17th. I have to say, anytime we're meeting people who may be a part of executing our wedding or rehearsal, I feel totally awkward. This case was no exception.

We talked with this celebrant for roughly 35-40 minutes, discussing what she does, what we'd like, how a ceremony works, etc. She spent some time asking us some basic questions, to which I felt as if I needed to provide her with the "correct" answer (read: answer she was looking for), and that made me nervous. If we decide to ask her to perform our ceremony, she provides us with separate questionaires that we each fill out, which helps her to get a better idea of each of us, and of us together. I'm hoping that if we do decide to ask her to perform the ceremony, that this process will help make me more comfortable with her. And to be clear, it's not her specifically, I don't believe, just the idea that someone we don't know suddenly being a really important part of our life.

That said, we've also entertained the idea of having a friend earn whatever certificate needed to legally perform weddings, but I'm not yet sold on that idea. I'm still thinking I want to leave it to the professionals, but at the same time, it'd be kind of cool to have a personal friend perform the ceremony.

Lots of thinking to do... and hopefully meeting with at least a couple more celebrants before making a final decision.

Everyone likes food, right?

So, because we're having our reception at the Irish American Heritage Center, we need to bring in a caterer to feed all of our guests. Luckily for us, the IAHC has provided us with a handful of recommendations for companies that have catered there in the past.

We've reached out to a couple of places and received menus and quotes back from both. There are positives and negatives to both, so we're working through making a final decision.

A couple weeks ago, we met with one of the caterers to go over a potential menu, and thanks to a couple having their final tasting before our meeting, we had the chance to sample some of their offerings. The staff was knowledgeable (although a bit pushy), the food was good, and they'd obviously worked at the IAHC before.

The second company offering a quote with a menu is one that I'd like to meet with to potentially set up a tasting, as they are somehow my top choice prior to meeting with them. I'll tell you why - they took our location into account and offered such options as:
Irish Sausage Puffs
Flaky puff pastry filled with homemade Irish sausage then baked
Potato Pancakes
topped with corned beef, Swiss cheese, and a dollop of Guinness mustard

The rest of their menu is also pretty delicious-sounding, so I'm hoping we have an opportunity to meet with them soon, so we can finalize this decision.