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INSTA-FAVES | Wedding Arbor

SMP_arches
Since our wedding date is over a year out, there’s plenty of time for planning. A fair amount of details I’m flexible with and others I feel firmly with incorporating. For example, having a floral covered arbor that’s all our own! The owner of our venue has several rod iron frames that are up for grabs and there was one with chipping white paint that I especially liked. I didn’t think I was that gal that would buy wedding magazines and follow wedding sites on Instagram but here I am, buying and following! One of my favorite sites, that has an equally good IG account is Style Me Pretty.  I went far back on their thread to find my favorite arch inspirations —
FOUR
I like the idea of adding fabric, gives movement.
ONE
Imagine strung flowers instead of paper swans, that’s what I’m thinking! Fan of using magnolia leaves, it’s a Southern staple.
THREE
Theme so far is white flowers with greenery, but if you see below, I also wouldn’t mind a pop of color.
TWO
Couple different options, one is to just decorate the corners or the other is go all the way around–that’s to be decided!

Like I mentioned there’s a good bit of time and as fast as my style changes, who knows I may want something different, but I doubt it, these rule!
All photos via Instagram/@SMPweddings

OUR VENUE

On Sunday, Dustin, mom and I set out to visit our top three wedding venue picks. The first was Vinewoods Plantation in Newnan, GA, second was Sweet Meadows Farm in Talapoosa, GA and third was The Farm in Rome, GA. Let me explain how we came to choose Georgia for our wedding destination in the first place–

Since I grew up all over the US and don’t have a traditional hometown Atlanta has become my home base city. I consider Tuscaloosa, Alabama to my stand-in hometown since I went there for college and my parents moved there in 2008. Dustin and I have family in Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina and Florida and wanted to have the location somewhere in the middle. Being a city dweller I went back and forth on an urban-industrial wedding versus a farm wedding. In the end the venues we were most attracted to ended up being farms with lots of land.

After narrowing down the venues, next it was the fun part! The first Vinewoods was my top choice from the beginning. It’s got a beautiful plantation home and a barn. I was thrilled for the visit and left thinking “this is it.” That was until we visited Sweet Meadows farm. It’s not as plastered all over the web as Vinewoods so I didn’t really know what to expect as far as inside the barn and the various site options. I won’t even go into detail about the third visit because between the long drive there, basically having our minds made up and the terrible tour guide-it’s not worth talking about. If you want a more detailed opinion on each of these venues for your wedding, email me and we can talk!

In regards to documenting the visits, I actually brought my camera along but got caught up with questioning and answering so I ended up snapping very little. Here are photos from Sweet Meadows webpage to give you an idea as to why this decision, for me, was a no brainer:

Sweet_Meadow_Farm_Mountain_ViewsTOC IMG_1645bridal-suite 745FallTOCB 711FallWideopenfields
These are all things that were important to us and this venue nails them all! Not pictured is a rustic grooms suite with a gun safe, deer head and other super manly decor ;)  Also the home in itself is pretty cool with a connected green house, vintage family photos and decorated with rustic Southern vibes (owner has great taste!)

A little about the family of Sweet Meadows Farm–
Melanie, the owner and wedding coordinator, has been living on the land for 31 years with her husband and three boys. Prior to farm life her and her husband both had very different lives working for Delta until they retired and went into the beef cattle industry. Melanie started Celebrate! Wedding and Events in 2011 doing offsite events and is now concentrating on weddings and socials on her land. She’s currently expanding the barn and renovating a few other structures on site. She’s basically a Southern Martha Stewart who can decorate, garden and DIY just about anything!

Dustin, Mom and I are so excited for not only finding the perfect venue for us but also nailing down a date! We will be getting hitched on November 7th, 2015!  Never did I ever think I’d be getting married in November but the idea of cool temperatures and Fall foliage, I’m so down!  Feeling blessed and excited. Lets get this party started!

BEGINNING STAGES

As I’m sure you can imagine I’m somewhat overwhelmed (but really really excited!) with the beginning stages of wedding planning. I am thankful that we’ve decided to shoot for next Autumn so there’s time to figure things out.  I have quickly learned that the first and most important task is finding a venue and that it’s something to jump on right away. That being said I’ve already scheduled one visit at a barn on a plantation outside the city with several other locations in mind!  Another priority on my list is nailing down a general color scheme and theme because I want the save-the-dates and invites to follow to correspond with the colors we select.

Getting organized and started I got help from Ashleigh, who got married last October. She provided me with her Google docs and vendor list just as a reference. Dustin is excited about being involved and gives his two cents on ideas and brainstorms with me which is really nice. Can’t imagine battling to get an opinion! Also I have a personal wedding planner, my mom! She doesn’t live in Georgia but when go on vacation next week we’ll definitely knock off some of the to-dos. So far things are going good! Ask me in a few months and I hope to be thinking the same! Another thing I bet you could guess is that I’m going Pinterest crazy with wedding stuff! No shame..it’s a huge help having a digital mood board! Here are some of my favorite images and the overall vibe I’m thinking —

nativebearStamp set by local talent, Leela of Native Bear. Would love to support local and part DIY our invitations!

dressThis dress is actually from BHLDN and is sadly sold out. I’ve had it on my Pinterest board for a while and then spotted it worn in a real wedding via Our Labor of Love.

campReally like the use of lanterns and ferns to give a camp feel. Also would like to have some green garland around the altar area, not necessarily the tent that is shown here but the draping garland is nice.

confettiThese printed bags that contain coffetti to throw after the vows are a great idea! The photos would turn out really cool too!

supperDustin and I have already decided that we want long, rectangular tables vs. circle.

BEYNot sure what car yet but we do know we want to drive away in something vintage!
Click for Image credits: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

There you have it, the very beginning stages of the Smith-Winchester wedding planning!

Follow along my Pinterest board www.pinterest.com/ladyflashback/omg-im-engaged/