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At this point in our planning I was really into this idea of a vintage Parisian flea market wedding. And since our hopes for a destination wedding (first it was Greece, then the Grenadines) wasn’t going to happen, Jon and I set out to find the perfect location for our wedding.

I prepared the itinerary and we set out for a weekend of barn scouting. Yes, barn scouting. To you and I a barn wedding isn’t so peculiar, we’ve seen them all over the wedding blogs, but to my suburban parents, well, they thought we were nuts. But they humored me for a moment.

First stop, High Falls, New York to visit Shadow Lawn, a lovely 18th century stone house with an accompanying 19th century cherry red barn.

{images via Well Wed}

The sweetest house featuring gorgeous period details mixing with modern amenities and the most perfect barn and little brook right across the street. I was getting excited, the house could be used as the staging area, the ceremony could be held by the brook and we could dance the night away in the barn. Reality set in, and having our entire guest list travel to this small town (about an hour and half outside NYC) didn’t make much sense.

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So I got a question the other day from someone doing research on Boston wedding venues, wondering if  we found any other venues in Boston (as in, other than The Wang Theatre where we got married) during our research that were really cool too. And the answer is yes. While the Wang provided the look we were going for in the location and price range that we wanted, there were several other great venues we strongly considered.

First of all, if you have the budget for it (and by “the budget for it” I mean $25,000 to spend on the venue alone [jaws up people, these things to do happen]), check out the Boston Public Library. This was actually my original “dream venue” before we found out the cost. After that, it became my inspiration when looking for new venues. Can’t you just picture it? The marble courtyard, the great reading room, the grand staircase. It’s all so wonderfully romantic and charming. So Boston. Check out these photos from a wedding that was held there last year to see what I’m talking about.

We looked at some of the museums in the area as well but ruled them out for various reasons. I would have DIED AND GONE TO HEAVEN immediately if we could have had our wedding at my favorite of all favorite museums in Boston, the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum, but tragically, they don’t allow weddings there! (They do allow other events to be held there so keep that in mind.) Neither does the Museum of Fine Arts allow weddings.

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A couple weeks after Matt and I got engaged, I traveled home to Louisville with the mission to find a reception venue.  We got engaged on August 22, 2008 and set our wedding date for July 25, 2009.  We had to base the date around Matt’s work schedule – which meant I was deciding when we got married based on the NBA Draft, Summer League, etc.  Late July worked for everyone – my only issue was the heat.  An outdoor reception was not an option.  My mom made a few appointments for us and off we went.  The first place we looked at took about 3 seconds for me to decide it wouldn’t work.  But the second space, well, it was The One.

The Henry Clay was built in downtown Louisville in 1924 and was only turned into an event space a couple years ago. I loved the history of it. I loved the colors. I loved the character.

The walls in the main ballroom are gold tones. Instead of fighting the room’s natural beauty – gold, ivory and black became our wedding colors. I eventually added in blush pink to soften the decor. Below is the inspiration board I designed soon after booking the space.

Next up: we talk paper!

We’ll there has been a lot going on in the last month or so. The original wedding location in San Clemente has been scratched. What I thought was going to be anaffordable location, turned out to be not-so-affordable (at least for us) After adding on all of the fees, permits, etc The cottage that was once oh-so affordable, because instantly unaffordable. So that began the search for a new venue. I think I knew all along that the new venue would always end up being our wedding location, but I had to first go through all of the other options in my head, and on paper before we came to a decision.

So with that being said, we have decided that our new wedding venue is….

The family lake cottage in Michigan!

This place has been a part of my life literally since the day I was born. It has been in our family for 120 years, so it has it share of family memories, traditions, and parties. Although I think this could be the 1st wedding at the cottage- which is amazing! I feel so good and at peace with this decision. I feel as though it is right, and my heart is telling me that. Everything so far is falling into place! From rentals, to catering, to the wonderful photographer I have found (more to come on that later).

I thought that planning a wedding from a distance would be super stressful and not manageable, but so far so good. I am hoping that it continues that way.

Have any of you planned a wedding from over 2,000 miles away? Any pointers you can give are appreciated!

After Brian and I got engaged, we started talking about where and when we wanted to get married. I should note here that I moved around a lot growing up and thus don’t have a “hometown” where I would want to get married. We knew the wedding had to be in the fall or winter to avoid Brian’s season, so we started thinking of places that would be nice that time of year. We initially talked about having the wedding in San Diego at Torrey Pines (my parents live in San Diego) – it’s beautiful there and would have been a fun destination for our guests to visit. The one main drawback is that we would have been limited to only 100 guests and ultimately we decided that we’d rather have more of our friends and family there than have it in California.

The other idea we had was sharing the beautiful NC mountains Brian and I both love with our friends and family. One weekend we made a trip up to the mountains in North Carolina to look at some possible locations up there and we fell in love with the High Hampton Inn and Country Club in Cashiers, NC. We went there first and could immediately envision our wedding as we walked around the property (which was gorgeous despite being the middle of winter and the inn being closed for the season), but we knew we should check out some other places just in case – what if there is something even more amazing than this place?! Of course there wasn’t and on our drive back home we decided that this was “the” place.

Ok, enough gushing. Here are some pictures of the beautiful High Hampton Inn and Country Club (all courtesy of High Hampton):

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I don’t know about you other brides, but when I come across pictures of other weddings at our venue-I get so excited!  I love seeing shots that other photographers get, and I really love picturing us there in 91 days (YIKES!)

I love thinking about me and my girls chatting it up in front of this shed:

Love this dress shot from w. scott chester:

The above and below images were taken in the cabin where my girls and I will be getting ready!

So do you girls find yourselves googling your venue on a regular basis looking for images??  Yeah, me neither.

*unless indicated, all photos by The Reason Photographers

ok picking up from where we left off…

I was pretty bummed after finding out several venues were already booked for the “date” we had our hearts set on…so when I made the call to Country Pines I was expecting the worse.  No one answered…so I left a message explaining that I was interested in renting the facility for our ceremony/reception and curious about the availability of a certain date.  Well about an hour later I got a call back and guess what?!…they were NOT BOOKED!  (hooray!!!!!)  The lovely lady I spoke with, Nancy, explained to me that her and her husband are the owners and do everything themselves from set-up and food prep to clean up.  She continued on explaining their policies and what is all involved with renting the facility and I liked every bit of it!

some of the pluses being…

-family owned and run facility
-make all the food on site themselves…several menu options (served buffet style) with insanely reasonable prices
-we have the entire venue for the entire day of the wedding till 1am the following day
-they set-up and take down tables/chairs/linens/food…basically everything but the decorations and whatever else we bring in
-complete freedom with decorations…the few exclusions would not matter for what I wanted
-tables, chairs, linens, dishes and glasses all included
-we provide our own alcohol and bartender = major budget helper!  (umm can I get a HECK YES!)

Seriously….I was about to put my deposit down right then on the phone!  Although our date was open at the time…she told me that they had been getting quite a few inquaries for June 2010 already and that I should probably act quick if I wanted to seal the deal.  I explained to her that because I live out of state I wouldn’t be able to just stop by and have a tour before making my decision…and amazingly they agreed to put a hold on our date until that following weekend when my mom, aunt, and sister would be able to drive down and take a look.

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The time has finally come to sign the contract to secure our wedding venue!

I can understand how stressful this can be to brides.  It is not only a big financial commitment but usually one of your first wedding related commitments.  For people that are pretty indecisive (like me) this can be quite a big deal.

As I mentioned before, I’m a Wedding Specialist at a Boston Hotel and used to being on the other side of things.  I am constantly putting contracts together for Brides and Grooms and because of this, I feel extra prepared and a little less hesitant about signing my own.

There are a few things that you should really look out for in your contract.  Every venue is different so this may vary but here are some tips.

via Real Simple {source}

1.) Make sure you know what you are signing for.  Speak with the Wedding Specialist to see what you are responsible for,  IE: food & beverage minimum, package minimum, deposit, etc.

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I felt like the Goldilocks of wedding venues. We visited eight, three in Southern California and four in Northern California. This one didn’t have enough room, this one didn’t have a coordinator, we didn’t like the coordinator at this one, there wasn’t an easy way to park at that one, the bathrooms had a leak at this one, there were too many ducks and too much duck poo, etc. etc. etc.

We had specific criteria in mind.

- needed to accomodate up to 200 guests (we have big families!)

- outside ceremony area preferred

- lots of outdoor spots for photography

- easy parking for guests

- private venue (we didn’t want another wedding going on at the same time)

- a coordinator or point person that we got along with (after meeting some coordinators we did not like, this became even more important!)

One night, after returning from the Wild Animal Park, we stopped by a vineyard that had a rocking party going on. There were twinkle lights and tons of people and everyone looked so happy. Unfortunately, it was a private party so we couldn’t do any wine tasting, but the boy remembered it and immediately suggested the vineyard when we first started looking for venues.

It fit all of the criteria, and the added bonus was that their coordinator was so nice and accommodating. We felt immediately at ease with her, and it made the decision that much easier for us. I was also swayed because the boy loved it so much, and if you keep reading my posts, you’ll soon realize that this show is mainly being run by me. It’s very rare that he has an opinion!

So after 8 venue visits asking about chairs and kitchen space and parking attendants and changing rooms and set-up times…we made the big decision and put down a deposit for…

**Trumpets**

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While the Monica Geller in me imagined my wedding looking a thousand different ways over the years, one element remained a constant: I would be married – come hell or high water – in my home town of Austin.  There’s no other city like Austin in the world – the energy of the people and the natural beauty of the landscape are beyond compare, and we wanted our wedding to reflect that same energy and beauty.

With the locale firmly cemented, choosing an Austin venue was one of the first tasks tackled.  My mom and I visited several different venues and were overwhelmed with the options.  It seemed (and looking back, I think it was) like the biggest wedding decision of them all – the one that completely sets the tone for the whole affair.  I’d visited Laguna Gloria (part of the Austin Museum of Art) before but never as a bride-to-be, and something clicked the minute I looked at it from my new perspective.  Laguna Gloria boasts a historical Italian-style villa that provides a stunning backdrop without being stuffy.  The archetecture compliments the stunning grounds instead of competing with the natural environment.  The entire property maintains a certain elegance without giving up that organic vibe that is so “Austin.”

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Hey everyone,

Hope you’re having very happy Saturdays. I’m currently off on a cake tasting with my Dad and Andreas! More on that to come.

Thanks again for the warm welcome last weekend. I have to say though, I’m glad we got the introductions out of the way! I’m ready to get you guys caught up on all my planning.

The very first thing we had to figure out after we got engaged was where the wedding would be. We knew we wanted to get married in the fall, and after having been together for almost seven years, we certainly weren’t going to wait until fall of 2010. That left us with just about nine months to plan the wedding, which is a perfectly suitable amount of time… but we did need to get moving.

I always knew I wanted to get married in Boston. Even though most of our family is in the D.C. area, Boston is the place we live and have come to call home. As Andreas said, it’s where we grew up together. I also wanted to be able to plan my wedding first hand. Plus, I’ve always felt that Boston is just such a classy and charming city – perfect for a wedding.

Photo from author’s collection

So Boston it was! But where in Boston?

Well, here’s what I knew:

-We wanted some place unique. I didn’t want a function hall or what I call “wedding factory.” One of those places that turns over two or three weddings per weekend and has a tidy package deal all tied up for you. Not that I haven’t seen amazing weddings at those types of places but to us it felt somewhat impersonal and unromantic. The same went for hotels (though I know there are some lovely hotel venues floating around out there). I couldn’t really get comfortable with the idea of getting married in the same place board meetings and conferences take place.

-We needed to be able to have the ceremony and reception at the same place, since we weren’t getting married in a church.

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So you know all the details of our ceremony now…lets get to the party!!

Here are some shots my sister took this weekend when we went to see the venue…this is the reception hall when you first walk in.  Pictures just don’t do it justice-it’s amazing!

This is the dance floor area…and the two steps lead up to the tables for the wedding party…

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