We Set the Date!

We booked an all inclusive wedding venue in Acworth, GA and our date is officially set! April 15, 2017! What's great about this place is it is gorgeous. This is one of the first venues we looked at, and none of the venues that followed were even close. Unlike most venues, there is both a bridal and a grooms ready room. It is a perfect old building, they have beautiful exposed brick and iron with Christmas lights. They have a beautiful outdoor area for the ceremony and if it rains they'll move it indoor.

It is fantastic and I am just so happy that we have our wedding date set!
Exactly 8 months and 21 days from now.

Overblogging

Hello all, after the past couple of days I've realized that I have been a little over eager to post news on the blog. We're still looking around and until things are definite, or I know the whole story, I shouldn't post them.

For example, my last post declaring Twelve Stone Farm inept turned out to be inaccurate. True, they did wait until Tuesday to email me, but past then the email got lost or something and that's why I didn't have it. I think my frustration there was misplaced, because a while ago we toured a venue that was perfect but with our 75 guests and their packaging of weddings (they are all inclusive) they had been out of our budget. So, despite the fact that they were the venue, much like the dress, we kept looking and no place since has stacked up.

So, until cash has been exchanged and contracts signed, I'm not going to post about vendors. Which means, until we have a wedding date, there won't be any more information regarding our venue.

Thank you all for your pacience,
Approx. 9 months from the wedding.

Today I Shall Laugh Aggressively at Yesterday

So I've told you all about Bradley and I's wonderful find, the Twelve Stone Farm, and how excited we are to book there. Hah. That excitement has gone down the drain. As we left the venue and spoke with them we were told we would be getting an email in regards to local vendors and a first draft of the contract for booking. When we didn't have it Sunday afternoon I called to learn that they had an event that day and she again promised to email me the information, this time by Monday. I called yesterday, Tuesday, afternoon and got her VM so I called the main line where a kind woman informed me that she would talk to the wedding coordinator and she would email me that night. I still have not gotten an email and I am doubtful that I ever will.

We would just go back to the Gwinnett Historic Courthouse but after he fell in love with the Twelve Stone venue, it was clear that he did not like the GHC. This means we're back to venue looking! Now we are looking at country clubs, we still plan on doing the ceremony at the gazebo that the GHC offers, and they do the catering. The price difference for some of these, with my very rough estimate based on price per person and not including any fees, is nothing when you consider that it is a plated meal (much fancier than we would manage at the GHC) and there aren't all of the gosh darned rules that add extra charges.

I am highly looking forward to having a set wedding date, in the meantime, we save as much money as we can and keep on looking.

Approx. 9 months until the wedding.

We Found Our Venue!

A little while back Bradley and I went to a wedding expo where we found a potential venue. We were really excited because the Gwinnett Historic Courthouse, while nice, wasn't what we had been looking for. They were in our budget though, and we'd had a tough time finding anywhere else. Besides, the GHC is a pretty venue. When we heard about this new option, this cheaper and prettier option, we knew we had to check it out.

Twelve Stone Farm is a horse preserve that rescues horses and uses them to help at risk youth. They're a small (well, over 100 acres) family owned property that hosts around 10 weddings a year. The people who own it are very kind and willing to work with you.

We would have our wedding in front of the lake by the pavilion where we would do the reception. The husband and wife showed us pictures, the pavilion was once used to seat 200+ people. It would easily fit our comparatively small wedding reception under it. This means we don't have to rent tents, which is fantastic. There is a fire pit, a small playground, and people do swim in the lake (though I doubt we will be doing that).

The bathrooms are nice, though I find it odd that the individual rooms for the stalls (which, again, are very nice) don't have sinks in them. We'll probably bring our own hand sanitizer so people don't have to leave the stall to wash their hands. For an outdoor venue, these bathrooms are fabulous.

The farm is well suited for large events much larger than our own. There is a large parking lot/field for the cars close to where we would host the wedding. Our wedding would fit very comfortably by the pavilion in front of the lake, which means we can do it all in one place. There is a sign at the entrance, so despite the distance this is actually an easy place to find. There is cell phone service, for ATT and Verison that is. However, I have T-Mobile and was able to run GPS to the venue without my phone crapping out. The only real downside is the lack of Pokemon Go if I don't have cell service. I guess I'll have to catch 'em all some other day.

This venue isn't perfect, to an extent you 'get what you pay for'. What do I mean by that? It's a horse preserve and I am terrified of horses. Ah well, you win some, you lose some.

Approx. 9 months until the wedding.
PS- If you're planning a wedding and interested in an outdoor venue in Talking Rock, GA then please message me and I'll send you contact information as well as the pricing they quoted us. I can also answer more specific questions.

Stationary!

Anyone who knows me knows I am obsessed with stationary. When I was a little kid my parents got me a three binder box set that when put together looked like a beautiful cloud sky. I thought this was the coolest thing ever and played with the constantly. (I remember this vividly, but my doll house, not so much.) I just finished the start of my wedding scrapbook and can't wait to look at our guestbook scrapbook that I decided on before I was even engaged. Now it is time to look at stationary.

Bradley and I want an April wedding, which means as of right now we have  a tad over 9 months until the wedding. (9 months to do what I had planned to take a year, it's meltdown time .) You're typically supposed to send out save the dates 6 months before hand, and 8 if it is a destination wedding. Our wedding isn't destination to us, but my whole family is all spread out, at minimum, a state away. Due to this, I'm going to go in the middle and say we need to send them out at 7 months. That leaves us two months to pick the invitations, get them delivered to us, and send them out. The expense is going to be pretty large, which is why we're going to do cost effective things like an online RSVP. (We're using AnRSVP and I highly recommend it, but more on that later.) We're also going to do some lazy things, like getting a stamp for our return address. Still, Save the Dates and then invitations are a time consuming process.

I don't have to think about that though, because right now all we have to do is the fun part- picking out our stationary!

Minted

For the 75 post cards and stamps (80, they come in sheets of 20) it is $179.96- hot damn. I love getting stamps that match, I think having the little American flag in the corner will look a little out of place. As far as brand, I do love Minted. They offer complete sets that you don't have to order all at once (unlike Wedding Paper Divas, who require you to order the basics and then some from the jump). To edit the stationary is very easy, and you can communicate specific requests.

Minted, Inked

The size is adorable and the card is a little warm and welcoming, but still formal. The script is fancy, but easy to read, and the card offers a busy design. 5/5

Minted, Elegance Illustrated

This one is very simple and formal, easy to read as well. I love the flower detail, but I'm also not sure why I put it on here. Bradley absolutely hates flowers. Ah well, a girl can dream...  4/5

Minted, Alabaster Florals

I'm not 100% on this one, but it does intrigue me. The flowers aren't super flower-y, so Bradley may actually like them. I'm always up for sneaking flowers past him, xD. These look very natural, a look that works well with the Twelve Stone Farm venue, and they're more traditional post cards in that they are landscape.  Unknown/5

Vistaprint

What? Vistaprint? Really? Really. They're not sorted by stationary sets, like Minted, because they aren't 100% catered to weddings but they're much cheaper which allows for nicer paper and other options while still keeping a low price point. However, since they're not sorted into design, it took me a little longer to find these group options. Finally, they do not offer designed thank you cards for all of their designs.

 

Vistaprint

I like the green in this design! It adds a very mature color and ups the fancy level quickly. The set includes a tall invitation. The cost, including thicker matte paper, is $56 for 80. Whoooa that is amazing, but it doesn't have stamps.

Vistaprint

This is a lot more formal design, but there is no color in it. Bradley likes it though, so that's a huge bonus. For 80 cards it is $56 without any sales on it, and Vistaprint always has sales. We would, however, need to buy the stamps separate. I actually like the matching invitations that match more than the save the dates, which just means they'll get better!

Etsy

On Etsy you can get the files to print your own wedding suite, which works well because you can upload your design to Vistaprint and get it printed. Hells yeah! In addition, we can get a custom design made through Etsy. Our favorite so far is the Inked by Minted, but we're just not willing to pay that price. Additionally, having custom made cards would be nice.

Well, that's all I have for now, I'll keep you updated!

Approx. 9 months from the wedding.

Wedding Scrapbook

Hello all! Over the past week I have put together a scrap book of ideas for the wedding.

I've been keeping up a Pinterest board with ideas as well. :)