Being a lifelong Chicago Cubs fan, most would assume I was the one who lobbied for a Wrigley Field wedding, but it’s my wife who gets all the credit for the idea. Since I was born and raised near Chicago, we decided getting married in that area would allow loved ones to be able to attend. What made this a destination wedding for us is that we live nearly a thousand miles away in Irving, Texas.

One of the first challenges we faced was the unique nature of planning a wedding at a venue built for baseball. It’s not like there’s a community of couples who had similar experiences we could turn to for advice. This made things a bit intimidating in that we didn’t know what to expect, which made preparing for even the most basic details difficult. Even the event representative we worked with at Wrigley admitted she had never coordinated a wedding there. At the same time, we were excited to set a precedent. We were creating a template of sorts that future Wrigley Field weddings could follow.

Adding to the difficulty was being so far away from wedding service professionals. We couldn’t meet with bakers to sample cakes or with florists to see their flower selection in person. In fact, we didn’t even see the suite we were getting married in until an hour before the ceremony was set to begin. This is when we turned to people who knew people. My mom works with a woman whose family runs a bakery, so the cake was covered. Mom also dabbled at floral design, so she knew which florists to contact. My brother just had professional family portraits taken, so he was able to put us in touch with a photographer.

Part of our agreement with Wrigley Field required us to use their catering and bartending services, so food and drinks were handled. There was also a sound system available to us, so all music was handled without needing a DJ. This left us with just one detail – finding someone to perform the wedding. Getting married on a Sunday means ministers are otherwise occupied and most justices of the peace weren’t willing to give up their day off. Suddenly, we were within two weeks of the wedding and still had no one lined up to marry us. Once again, we turned to someone who knew someone. My aunt retired from Cook County a few years earlier, but was still in touch with several judges. A few phone calls later, we found a judge willing to perform the ceremony for the price of a piece of wedding cake. Ultimately, we got married in a centerfield suite with a view of home plate as the backdrop and had our wedding pictures taken on the field.

As unforgettable as the day was, if I could do it all over again, I would’ve taken the time to savor the experience more. We flew into town and had to get settled quickly to start working on preparations and meeting with family we hadn’t seen in a while. Before we knew it, it was our wedding day, so we had to rush to Wrigley Field, rush to decorate the suite, and rush to get our pictures taken. It all seemed like such a blur that I wished I could’ve soaked in each moment a little more.

So now, as a destination wedding veteran, I would offer four pieces of advice to those planning their wedding:

1.) Keep it simple and casual – Lugging decorations and formalwear to your wedding destination is a hassle and could lead to everything getting damaged, and rushing to acquire the items when you arrive is hectic. The location is its own centerpiece. No one will remember the flowers in the bouquet or the song you first danced to, but they will remember the setting.

2.) Share the preparation workload and communicate, communicate, communicate – In our case, my wife was in contact with Wrigley Field while my responsibilities were to handle the cake, flowers, and officiant, and we were constantly letting the other know what was happening every time we spoke to one of those representatives. This made us feel like we really were working together toward preparing for our wedding.

3.) Find ways to have fun – We decided to invite some of our favorite celebrities just to see what would happen. None of them showed up, but a few did send letters of well wishes.

4.) Don’t be afraid to dream big – A common fear seems to be that destination weddings have to cost a fortune. That’s simply not true. With a little research, you’ll find that whatever you come up with can fit into almost any budget. So let your imagination run free. It’s your day. Enjoy it.