Browsing Tag

Engaged

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!

SURPRISE!

party
On Saturday night Dustin and I went over to my best gal pal’s loft for what we thought was a casual supper. When we arrived they gave us drinks and told us that the meal needed a little more time in the oven and that while we were waiting we should head up to the roof to see the sun set. We were all for it and took the elevator to the top of Mattress Factory Lofts. When the doors opened we were greeted with a group of our friends yelling “SURPRISE!” from the upper level! We were SPEECHLESS. Literally. Stood there confused and shocked, haha! When things finally started to make sense we dried tears and hugged everyone and then checked out the adorable diy decor Ashleigh and Ashley had assembled including this “Happy Engagement” sign:
atlanta engaged
decor event atlanta rooftop
The girls diy decor also included old soda bottles and mason jars filled with flowers, some of which even came from Ashley’s backyard! They took old fabric and dresses and jazzed up the chairs they rented. Additionally, Ashley asked that everyone draw on the “table cloth” with encouraging words or illustrations as she’d be saving them and making into a book. I won’t get into details about some of the “anatomically correct” drawings that occurred! (payback for other drawings Dustin drew for Jonny + Ashley at their reception!)
cheers
After we hung out sipping on Ash’s infamous gin punch and a few more friends trickled in we sat down for a potluck Southern feast. There was delicious 15-hour pulled pork, mac-and-cheese, fancy potato salad and more then for dessert we noshed on Muriel’s poppy seed blueberry hand pies!

Stuffed full and proudly wearing a grin from ear to ear we watched the sun go down and then packed it up to move indoors where we played “heads up” which was hilarious since we were slightly intoxicated- and our friends are naturally silly!
friends
The whole night we felt so lucky to have great friends that would put together a special night just for us, we are truly blessed, thanks Atlanta family!