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:
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!
Really 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.
Dustin and I have already decided that we want long, rectangular tables vs. circle.
Not sure what car yet but we do know we want to drive away in something vintage!