The following Minnesota wedding vendors contributed to this inspirational wedding shoot:

Event Styling and design – Lisa Gilbertson of Simply Fabulous Events & Design \ Photography – Red Bird Hills \ Floral – Ashley Fox Designs \ Hair and Makeup – Emily Olson \ Dress – Kate Towers \ Venue – Architectural Antiques \ Bride Model – Ashley Steffen \ Accessories – model’s own

© Elizabeth Anne Designs: The Wedding Blog, 2011 · Permalink · 12 comments · StumbleUpon It!
Posted in: inspiration, venues, what to wear

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Now back to our regularly scheduled wedding programming!

With regard to our reception venue, Dave and I decided that we needed to see a variety of places.  Dave pictured our reception being held somewhere more traditional, whereas I pictured it being held somewhere more offbeat.  In order to determine whether or not we were “traditional” people or “offbeat” people (or a mixture of the two), I started searching, found four locations that seemed promising and fit within our budget, and made appointments at each.

We started off at the Greenville Country Club in Greenville, Delaware.  About two weeks after Dave proposed, my parents attended a wedding there and couldn’t get over how lovely the location was.  Being that it was our first real wedding decision (dress aside, of course!), we were a bit nervous walking in, but were very warmly greeted by the catering director who gave us a tour and let us wander around the property.  Though called a country club, the property included a beautiful brick estate built in 1915.  Dinner and cocktails would take place on the terrace and patio, while dancing would take place inside the estate itself.  Greenville Country Club set the bar high, to say the least.

{Images courtesy of Greenville Country Club}

After Greenville and a quick stop for some fast food, our next appointment was at the Mendenhall Inn, located in Mendenhall, Pennsylvania (just a few minutes up the road from Greenville, Delaware).  My sister’s wedding reception had been held there and 12 years later, guests of it still mention how good the food was, so we decided to give it a shot.  There are two ballrooms to choose from at the Mendenhall, plus the convenience of having the Inn available for guests staying overnight.  The Mendenhall was much more traditional in comparison to Greenville, but still lovely.  In addition, everything from flowers to cake to linens was included in the wedding packages, which is a hard deal to beat!

{Images courtesy of the Mendenhall Inn}

With Day 1 of wedding venue searching over, we weighed the pros and cons of each location and realized that while both places offered quite a bit, we weren’t sure if they were “us.”  So onto Day 2!

Day 2 began at Drexelbrook in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania.  Drexelbrook was by far the most traditional of all the locations we’d planned to see, and offered many different ballrooms from which couples could choose.  Everyone that we met at Drexelbrook was beyond polite, but we realized fairly quickly that it wouldn’t be the right choice for us, especially given that it was a 45 minute drive from the church at which we’d be getting married.

{Images courtesy of Drexelbrook}

Our fourth and final location was the Phoenixville Foundry, located in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania.  The Foundry was the location we knew the least about, but the second we walked in, Dave and I turned to each other and said “This is it.”  No question in our minds.  Want to see what it looks like?

{Images courtesy of the Phoenixville Foundry}

Okay, okay, it doesn’t look like that now.  The Phoenixville Foundry began its life as the Phoenix Iron & Steel Company in 1882.  For the better part of 90 years, the building produced iron castings until the decline of the industry.  In 1998, however, a non-profit organization took the Foundry under its wing and restored the beauty of the building while leaving in many industrial elements.  For example, a wooden crane still remains inside.  Don’t believe me?

{Image courtesy of A. Trice Photography}

This crane brought out Dave’s inner child to say the least. :)

It was love at first sight from the second we walked in.  The Foundry had the perfect blend of tradition, quirk, and elegance.  And the lights.  My goodness gracious, the lights…

{Images courtesy of Author’s Personal Collection}

I’m fairly certain I could go on and on about the Foundry (and I likely will as we get closer and closer to our wedding day).  Bob Tomasso, the Facility and Event Director, and Joan Kelly, the Event Coordinator, could not be nicer people.  To say we’re excited to be working with them at the Foundry would be an understatement.  It’s such an incredible location, and we feel so lucky to be able to celebrate there.

{Images courtesy of Author’s Personal Collection}

{Image courtesy of A. Trice Photography}

So after four locations, we found(ry) our perfect reception venue!

How many venues did you, dear readers, check out before making a decision?  One?  Four?  Fourteen?  I want details!  Ready go! :)

© Elizabeth Anne Designs: The Wedding Blog, 2010 · Permalink · 7 comments · StumbleUpon It!
Posted in: venues

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Another great site is, The House of Bachelorette, for all things bachelorette related in the realm of decorations and clothing.

Here are some of my personal favorites:

{Image Source}
The Place:Hogs N’ Honeys
The Location: 1551 N. Sheffield Chicago IL
The Draw: Mechanical Bull

{Image Source}
The Place:The Baton Club
The Location: 436 North Clark Street Chicago IL
The Draw: A Chicago Legion Female that Bring the House Down Nightly

{Image Source}
The Place: Howl at the Moon
The Location: 26 West Hubbard Street Chicago
The Draw: Howl at the Moon is another legion none for its dueling pianos and audience participation.

Bachelorettes can go some many different ways, and it really depends on the personality of the bride. Are you a posh bride? Do you want to get absolutely hog wild? Is a chill spa day more your style? In Chicago there’s something for every bride you just have to know where to find it!

© Elizabeth Anne Designs: The Wedding Blog, 2010 · Permalink · 2 comments · StumbleUpon It!
Posted in: music and entertainment, venues

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When first looking for information on the venue, we had a hard time finding any details about the farm.  This post is meant to change that as I’m sure the location will make many brides dreams come true.  The farm consists of a number of buildings, with one meant to be the main venue space.  The other building consist of a older rustic buildings (perfect for pictures), Shawn’s personal home, and Shawn’s workshop.  All of the buildings create a great space, and the gardens between the buildings are the perfect backdrop for a cocktail hour.  Events have also been held in tents in order to fully enjoy the surrounding scenery.

{Shawn’s farmhouse – while the residence is off limits to guests, the porch area is available for cocktail hour.}

{A bar table inside the main venue space}

{The farm styled for a private dinner}

{The farm styled for a private dinner}

{The farm styled for a private dinner}

For any of you looking for a country/rustic feel to your wedding, the farm and Shawn’s event styling and florist services should be on your must-see list.  Even if you already have a venue space, Beehive Events rents their event furniture which includes gorgeous farm tables (built by Shawn’s husband!) and gorgeous farm style chairs.  I love the idea of longer tables at weddings, and these are just perfect in creating a unique and gorgeous event space:

For more information on the venue or Shawn’s event styling services visit: Beehive Events.

*All photos from Beehive Events

© Elizabeth Anne Designs: The Wedding Blog, 2010 · Permalink · 1 comment · StumbleUpon It!
Posted in: floral and decor, venues

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Allow me to explain.

A month or so into the engagement we started thinking about where we wanted to get married. Neither of us are religious so we didn’t have an obvious choice like many do. And (sadly) there is no large family property to speak of, so that idea is out. We started thinking about night clubs, theaters, historic buildings, rooftops, roller rinks. Our options were wide open.

The first real contender was the Athenaeum in Alexandria, VA. It was actually the very first venue we visited and I absolutely adored it.

How could you not fall in love with those pink columns? The building is the perfect size for what we are planning, and the interior is like a beautiful blank canvas. With one exception. The Atheneum is a functioning art gallery. Which means there is art on the walls, and with changing exhibits there is no way of knowing what exactly will be on the walls when the wedding takes place. It could be completely inappropriate and there’s not much you can do about it. (Also I worry a bit about the likelihood of children being present and what they could potentially do to damage the artwork.) The second problem lies in the fact that it is indeed just the right size for my party. Because we want to do the ceremony and the reception in the same place, there is no way to have both set up at the same time to have an easy transition between the two. We would have to have the ceremony, as everyone to leave the building, set up for the reception, then have them come back in. It’s a cute neighborhood and it might not be a terrible thing to just wander around for a little while unless, say, it was raining. It just seems awkward. I don’t know how to solve this problem. So we moved on.

We looked at a hotel, and while it seemed great at first that you could take care of everything so quickly and easily, it just didn’t offer enough personalization for us and I couldn’t stomach spending all that money on stuff that I don’t care about. (I think it’s great that a lot of people have passed appetizers and four courses and all that, but I just… don’t.)

Then one day I was flipping through a magazine and I came across a wedding that took place in an old bumper car pavilion with a nearby carousel and I thought “man would it be fantastic to have a place like that nearby.” And guess what. It was in Maryland. So I looked Glen Echo Park up online and found out that it was only about twenty minutes from where I live. And I showed the mister, trying to be as calm as possible. I didn’t want to get too excited about it because it might not be as cute in person as it looked in the magazine. Or if it was as cute as it looked in the magazine, it was probably way too expensive for us. But I had to go see it. So we hopped in the car and went to go see it, right then and there. And when we got there, and I started taking it all in, I seriously almost cried I loved it so much. I could not believe that this place even existed so close to where I live and where I grew up, and I had never heard of it.

Yeah, can you say dream come true? This place is amazing. Then we found out their event rates… and they are a little high but not unacceptable. We can do this. So I called to try and get a date booked. And they had a hold on reservations for the next three months. The Next Three Months. We had to put our names on a wait list and not find out if we can get the date we want. For three whole months. Did I mention that? And this whole time I have hemmed and hawed and wondered if we really wanted to spend that kind of money. And I worried about finding a caterer and photographer that we would love and could afford. But I never really worried that we wouldn’t get the venue. So we just waited. We talked about checking out some other places just in case but we never did. The big reveal day was set at Sept 30.

Yesterday, one day early, I got an email from the event coordinator. And the two dates that we had requested are booked. Unavailable. No can do. What?!? I had considered that we might decide to go another route for our own reasons, but I never really considered the fact that we might just not get it. Not after waiting for three months!

So of course I can call her and see what dates are available for next year, but it will certainly be in a different month than what we had hoped, and quite possibly even another season. Or we’re just back to square one with the search.

What would you do?

*all images from author’s personal collection

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Posted in: venues

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So I had my bridesmaids under control (and H has picked his groomsmen). On the ride home after becoming engaged, H and I called our folks, all of whom asked – “SOOO, when’s the date?” With a little convincing (H wanted to get married in January), we decided on October 2011 – our favorite season, and a time when all of our family will be able to come. It’s still warm enough to take photos outside, and cool enough that H won’t be sweating in a suit.

Next, the venue. Immediately, I decided I wanted to get married at my parent’s home on the Chesapeake Bay. It has a big field for parking, a great view of the Bay, space for a tent. But after talking logistics (and budget) with my folks, we decided, unfortunately, it was going to be too stressful. There were lots of things I didn’t expect – insurance policies, port-a-johns, parking attendants, noise restrictions, etc. Not to mention no nearby hotels and a 90-minute ride from Richmond. And maybe a mini-fight with Dad.

A week after getting engaged, Laura was in town from Illinois, and somehow convinced me to go to the Richmond Bridal Showcase ($8 with coupon on August 8, 2010; the next one is January 9, 2011). Needless to say, I was overwhelmed! I didn’t know the first thing about bridal shows – and we didn’t get there with much time left to enter many of the drawings for door prizes.There were tons of booths for nearby venues, but none of them jumped out at me. There were beautiful Richmond hotels like the historic Jefferson Hotel, country clubs like The Dominion Club, and beautiful outdoor venues like Maymont, where you can get married in an elegant Japanese Rose Garden.

H and I wanted something different than a traditional church ceremony and reception. We researched several local estates. A good friend of ours got married at an estate about 30 minutes outside of Richmond called Amber Grove. Amber Grove ran like a well-oiled wedding machine. The proprietor, John, was well spoken and friendly, and had figured out everything a bridal party needs, from mini-fridges, to white duct tape for last minute hems. Amber Grove did it’s own catering and John was also the master of ceremonies for the day. All-in-all, a great package for around $11,000 for 150 guests. They also had a rustic barn setting for a reception or ceremony.

{Pics by Jennifer Colina Photography}

We also looked at Virginia Cliffe Inn, a beautiful bed & breakfast with an outdoor pond, pavilion, and several outdoor ceremony locations located a few miles west of Richmond. Virginia Cliffe Inn was more laid back than Amber Grove, with 2 outdoor pavilions, and no on-site catering or indoor space. By this point, I was overwhelmed, and needed to take a break.

{Pic courtesy of Virginia Cliffe Inn}

Both Virginia Cliffe Inn and Amber Grove were beautiful venues with excellent hosts, just not what H and I were looking for. We were on a tight budget, and although affordable on many standards,  these venues would not have suited our “$10,000 or under” budget. Surely it could be done – my favorite local bloggers, John and Sherry from Young House Love, had gotten married for less than $4,000 in their own backyard.

{Pic courtesy of Young House Love – love the string lights!}

So, after all that, we were back to square one! We decided next to look at some local historic venues. I was determined to be able to spend less than $7,000 on venue, food, and drink!

Think we can do it?

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Posted in: venues

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