We’ve been engaged for a little over a week, and while I don’t want to rush anything, it’s hard not to think about the wedding ALL THE TIME.

I know first things first. When and where?

My dear friend TallTexan shrieked with delight and happiness on the phone when I told her about our engagement. She had come to Los Angeles on business a few months ago and she got to meet MainMan over drinks at Tony P’s.

After I shared the story with her, she blurted with 100 percent seriousness, “OK, yeah, yeah, that’s great. When’s the party?!”

I rationalized the decision for a date right away. I don’t want to wait a whole year. That is just too far away. We aren’t 21 anymore. Likewise, we could never plan a wedding in six months, unless we eloped. So naturally my happy medium is nine months and that means April.

MainMan proposed on Friday the 13th and a few nights ago he said, “Let’s get married on the 13th!”

I clarified that we had to get married on a Saturday “because that’s just how it is” and to our shock and amusement April 13 is a Saturday in 2013. Cha-ching!

Next up. Where. Of course, some of you might think I’m doing this backwards. What if the venue is booked? But at least I can pitch a date to the venue and figure out if it’s a go or not. I’m a bit of a sign/omen person and if it’s meant to be, the place will not be booked on the date we want.

Picking a venue would be a lot easier (though perhaps less fun) if my family lived in one place my entire life. But we were nomads. There were army brats and there were IBMers (which to insiders really stands for “I’ve Been Moved”). Born in California, raised in Connecticut, overseas, Connecticut, overseas again, then back to California. We’re all over the map. Forget sending mail to my parents, you never know when they’ll get it or which coast they’re on.

For years I thought I’d be married in the Mission in Carmel, but the only problem with Carmel is it’s known to locals as the town of the newlyweds and the nearly deads. I don’t want my friends to fly cross-country to be told they can’t drink in a bar past 9 p.m. A year or so ago my mom threw out the idea of getting married in wine country. I loved Sonoma when my family spent the Christmas holiday there and it seems like a good place for a wino to say I do. Napa could be another option, though I’ve never been.

Another place dear to my heart that’s been tossed into the mix with enthusiasm is Hawaii. Just the thought of the tropical paradise makes my eyes get big and my mouth and heart water. We made almost yearly pilgrimages to Hawaii when I was growing up so that would really be a dream come true. I go back and forth with this one because I know it would be asking a LOT of my friends and family to come. Flights are not cheap and hotels would be a pretty penny, too. My mom, however, spoke with an old friend of mine she bumped into in Monterey and she stated with good reason, “Well, you’re guaranteed to get the closest and most important people in your life there.”

Which brings me to the point of this post. In researching places I discovered this wonderful website “Here Comes the Guide.” It’s so fantastic and helpful. I belong to Wedding Wire as well, funny enough as a vendor so people can find Rascals & Roses for pet-sitting at weddings and thereafter, though I can’t say it compares. HCTG is the Zagat-like guide to all things wedding. You can search for anything under the sun with as detailed parameters as you want. I have been on it almost daily since the engagement and it’s provided me with a lot of useful information.

I haven’t picked a place yet, and it seems like I might go on a site survey with my mom before we do, but til then it’s more happy venue hunting.