We have a date!

Last Monday was "Basilica Monday", or the day that the 2010 wedding dates opened up for registration at the Basilica on Notre Dame's campus. I didn't understand how important this was until everyone wedding-related we met with in South Bend knew all about it. Some venues that are not open on Mondays are open that Monday so that they can take calls too, and some reception sites don't start booking 2010 dates until that day. I was pretty stressed out about getting a date after I realized all of this. I knew there was going to be just one person that answers the phone that day and you just call until you get through. There are 2 weddings on Fridays (1 and 3) and 4 on Saturdays (9, 11, 1, and 3). We were hoping for 1 or 3 on a Saturday. A lot of dates are eliminated right away like holiday weekends, home football game weekends, and weekends of major campus events.

We had a list of dates, and fortunately my mom, my aunt, and I were all together in Florida so we could call in together. We spent 2 hours of non-stop dialing before my aunt finally got through! We got our 26th choice:

October 23, 2010 at 1:00!!!

I am a little disappointed it is so far away (we were hoping for June but all the summer dates that weren't 9 in the morning were taken by the time we got through). It does feel like a blessing in disguise because fall is my favorite season by far, and fall on campus has always felt really special. I can't wait for the fall color pictures! As my uncle pointed out, the 3rd weekend in October is traditionally the weekend of the USC game and always the prettiest weekend on campus. That year we actually play Navy in Baltimore on that Saturday. I feel like a bad Notre Dame graduate planning a wedding during a football game, but we were already on our 26th choice at that point!

So everyone mark your calendars now-no excuses to miss it because you have plenty of time to plan ahead!