The weather was totally not what we were expecting and the day still was an absolute joy. The venue was beautiful and exactly what we had pictured it to be when completed. Miranda ...and Natalie conferenced with us about our vision and brought it to life, even in bad weather. Now let me preface this by saying it didn’t rain the actual day of the ceremony and reception, but the entire week before. The venue was a little sloppy, muddy, rainy air was still hovering around with a new cold breeze of 60 degrees floating through. Not expected for the last weekend of September. I, the bride, was freezing walking down the isle. But, the rest of the night I don’t remember the weather because there was so much going on and I was always active. It ceremony, a breeze. Simple and we didn’t even have a rehearsal. Then the reception, fun and stress free, mostly. We had some minor issues with outside vendors but Miranda handled them promptly so we could go on enjoying our evening. Overall the day was lovely, even with things minor issues, nothing was big enough to even be noticed or bother us. The day was our perfect day.
Positives:
It was pretty darn beautiful. So many details and little touches were made to add to our overall theme, and there wasn’t really much of a preview. You don’t get to see the venue until the day of, and while that slightly concerned me, it was one less thing I had to “set up”. Our vision was put together with ease.
The bridal suite was perfect, warm, and a good home base. It is a little smaller for how big my dress was, and for how big my family was, but we managed. The aesthetic is beautiful for photographs and worked greatly with our theme.
The helpful crew rocked! Well, as long as communication happens on both ends, the process is a smooth ride. Miranda and Natalie were the go-to people for prep, and answered any of our questions easily and within a few days (by email, our preference).
The estate itself is so pretty, no matter what time of year. Plenty of hidden gems on the acres and great spots for photography. We really enjoyed the different bridges and the true outdoor venue so that we and our guests could take in the natural beauty of the earth.
Negatives:
The grooms suite. Due to our weather, the groom and groomsmen were put into the pavilion building. Seems great right? Well, yes and no. My husband was trying to get ready with the guys and have their own “boys space” like he expected, but the pavilion is also the location of the restrooms. He felt like he never had any space to himself before everything got started. A bit different to my space as the bridal suite was an entire untouched building. Separate spaces is great but maybe more emphasis to the men’s side as well.
The order of doing things and planning… well that was extremely confusing. While I wouldn’t change venues, I do believe the structure of employees and who handles what and at what time needs to be altered. At one point, I went five months from not hearing from anyone. And then at random times I would be speaking with one employee, then get referred to another, then back to another. It was just confusing. The biggest issue of all of this is we didn’t nail down a plan until about just three weeks before the wedding date. A meeting, or multiple meetings (phone or sit down) should be required at different times to really get things rolling and have questions answered, sooner than later. It left me as a very anxious bride up until the week before.