Sorry for the thread necromancy..I have updated news. 
So, we decided on a date. Then we changed the date. But now, I think we’ve got the plan down firm. 
We were originally going with the whole “great big wedding” thing, but we have some special challenges. I live in Dallas (which is awesome, btw), but I haven’t lived here very long. Almost all of our friends and family live in Houston and the surrounding towns. So, our first challenge was “where to have the wedding.”
So, here, Houston, or somewhere else? I originally was thinking that perhaps having a wedding at Falkenstein Castle would be nice. It’s an actual castle near Austin, built from sketches and designs from the original Falkenstein Castle that King Ludwig II of Bavaria had commissioned to be built.
The more we thought about it, the more challenges (and thus expenses) came up, no matter where we chose. But through it all, I’ve been pretty set in my desire to have a ‘dream wedding’. She and I are both older, and more financially sound than when we were young, and I see no reason why we should have to settle. That said, I’m not made of money, so in kicking around the various ideas, I had a flash of inspiration.
We’re going to do a very small park or backyard wedding for close friends and family in Houston, and then we’re going to run off to Ireland for a week, where we’re going to do the ‘dream wedding’, saying our vows again on the Cliffs of Moher–at least that’s the plan. I have a travel agent lined up, and hopefully I’ll be able to rent the cottage I want near Doolin, and we have a wedding planner who says that they’ve arranged a similar wedding/blessing on the Cliffs.
The small wedding in Houston has a few practical sides: Friends and family will be able to be part of it, even though it’s going to be on a much smaller scale. Plus, Ireland has some pretty strict laws about where and how you can get married, along with some pretty steep residency requirements, which make it difficult to elope and do the ‘legal’ part there.
We’re aiming for mid-June, 2010, which I hope gives us enough time to get all of the ducks in a row. Right now, I’m still waiting to hear back from the travel agency on the cottage’s availability.
As for where we’re registered..nowhere yet. I don’t expect to get a lot of wedding gifts…we’ve both been married before, and nearing our 40’s, so I don’t really expect that we’re going to be showered with wedding stuff. I always felt like wedding presents were to help a new couple get their household started, since you’re young and presumably don’t have much in the way of household goods. At my age, we pretty much have a household full of stuff already.
Though if I had to dream, I’d say that I really would love to get a Bosch Compact Mixer. I don’t need all of the attachments and add-ons, but man, I would kill for a mixing machine with a dough hook. 
Sorry if I trod on delicate sensibilities..I tried to keep most of the evening to the imagination 
The original post was a couple of months ago, though..i just brought it back to life to answer some of the questions that had been asked that i didn’t have answers for back then (and yes, maybe to brag a little 
And I’ve never had beurre blanc…super yummo!
