I'm doing this half for advice and half for a vent. I'm not angry, just really frustrated. So, my home church that I've had every other sacrament is will charge $2000 for use of the church and the organ. Okay, I can deal with that, either through budget or kiss it goodbye and get married in my Mom's hometown where the priest who has known my Mom since she left for college won't charge us anything (obviously there would be a sum given to the church, but it's not a mandatory thing). So I don't have a wedding location yet. So, no date. I've been engaged since July and I'm just so ready to do this thing, but I feel so stuck because I can't pick a date because neither priest will even talk to me until we start pre-Cana. Which is totally understandable, and I would love to start now.
Here's what's up with that. We just moved to Texas (FI is military) from FL, and I moved there in August, so we've been either apart or moving a lot. We didn't start pre-Cana in FL because for a while FI's job was really tenuous, but all is good now, hence the change of duty station. But, now FI is going temporary duty to Virginia for 4 months. Meaning we will be trying to do pre-Cana with him in Virginia, me in Texas, and the wedding in MS, and we'd really like to be married by this fall (shooting for October). I know that you can plan a wedding between May and October, but it seems like a real crapshoot to get everything done and get a spot at a church in that period of time. He finally got someone in the chaplain's office today (we thought it would be easier to do pre-Cana through the Catholic chaplain here because then he could coordinate with the chaplain in Virginia and everything might go a little smoother) and the chaplain is deployed and the new chaplain isn't here yet. FI leaves here Friday. So we will have no idea what's up with that until after he leaves, and it's difficult for me to get on base without a pass.
So, should I try to talk to the priest at the church I've started going to here (have literally been here one Sunday, so one Mass in) and talk to him about coordinating our pre-Cana, should I wait for the new chaplain or his secretary to call FI, or should he start trying to talk to the Virginia chaplain? Or should I just sit here and pull my hair out? My Mom is really leery of starting to do anything before we can set up the pre-Cana, and we obviously can't start talking seriously with vendors until we have a church booked.