Thought I'd post some more about the nitty gritty of our wedding..including one of the most important (and stressful) parts - our venue!
The venue was a huge headache for us. Ok, for me. I spent hours and hours searching for an amazing blog worthy venue. This was my first wedding planning task, so I hadn't really found my wedding planning sanity yet. I was at the whims of the Knot and grand expectations. So I searched and searched and found some awesome venues.
One was the Round Barn Farm in Red Wing, Minnesota. Oh my goodness - BEAUTIFUL! This would have been an instant wedding blog hit - it has a beautiful bed and breakfast house, with a nice yard and gardens, and then of course the round barn. The barn is awesome in and of itself but with a few sparkly lights and some warming light from candles it would be so cute and give off the perfect relaxed but beautiful vibe. Really just a gorgeous place. But too expensive and far away for us. If there is another MN bride out there who could use it, do it! And then write me and let me live vicariously through you!
OK...back from that little tangent. We didn't use the Round Barn Farm, but can you tell that I daydreamed about it and thought long and hard about to we could afford it? *sigh* Maybe for my second wedding to some rich ass dude.
After many site visits and online searching, we chose the Dakota Lodge in St. Paul. It has very clean, usable space. The price was right - no extra charge for a wedding ceremony - actually, no extra charges for much of anything. Cute outside space where we can get married under a mondo oak tree. Its in West St. Paul - a central location for all our friends and family. And they would let us use any caterer with the correct license! Great!
Plus that have that awesome virtual tour with such catchy music! ;)
So Dakota Lodge it is!
On Saturday August 28th. (Its coming so soon! Ahh!!)
Both of them are very pretty. Just a question- why are you catering to your blog viewers, or giving them priority in your decisions? Do what you want! Its not our wedding, its yours!
ReplyDeleteOh, this whole venue decision came before I even thought about starting this blog. But I had been reading blogs and saw so many amazing and purty things - I wanted them all! Eventually, I got my wedding head on straight and am mostly good about making decisions based on what would be good for us. Mostly.
ReplyDeleteGood for you! Blogs are so addicting! Great for inspiration and resources, though. Love yours!
ReplyDeleteAugust 28?! We're the 14th!! (I just got way too giggly there.)
ReplyDeleteI can see the appeal of the Round Barn. Plus I watched that video on the website. Robin and Elaine look like they'd be the most awesome grandparents - they'd take you for ice cream, let you stay up late... Ok, we get the picture.
The Lodge is great. That Great Room has some awesome windows. Chances are you will still have some sunlight and it will fill that room! Congrats on your venue, Jen!!!
Here's to August!
Oak tree - swoon!
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