Venue hunt, Part 2

FI and I met this morning with the coordinator at the second venue we chose to visit.  As soon as we walked into the venue, I got an incredible feeling. It was everything that we wanted, and while it didn't include tables and chairs, it still fell under budget, and more importantly, will cost less than a tent in a backyard.

We put a hold on our date. We are going to check things over, make sure that this is what we want, and then secure it.

But, I'll stop teasing you and show you the digs.  The venue is the Roger Williams Botanical Center at the Roger Williams Park in Providence!

Image via Google / Serendipity Photography

View of the Front Doors where I will make my entrance / Personal Picture

View from the Front Door where I will make my entrance / Personal Picture

View of the fountain where FI and I will stand and say our vows / Personal Picture

View of the reception space in an attached greenhouse / Personal Picture

This really is the perfect ceremony and reception space for us. It allows us to bring in outdoors in, and not have to worry about the weather cooperating, since the spaces are in greenhouses.

So, what do you think? Will it be perfect?

Venue hunt, Part 1

Well that was a disappointment.

FI was not pleased with the price estimate for the rentals, so we have decided to see what venues are around locally that we could get for our date, and most importantly, for a lot cheaper than renting the tent and accessories.

Living in New England is not easy.  The standard of living is higher than the middle of the country, but lower than the west coast.  But, generally, things are more expensive around here, especially during peak seasons, which our wedding date falls in.

In terms of venues, we knew we wanted to keep the outside, relaxed, casual-ish feel we originally wanted, so this immediately removed hotels and fancy-schmancy places from our potential venue list.  Others that were going to cost us over 5K were also removed from the list, leaving us with just a few places.  We looked at the websites online, and narrowed it down to two.  Yes, we limited ourselves greatly, but Rhode Island is only so big, and having lived here for 24 years, I kind of know what places I do and don't want to have our wedding at.

The first step was to call the places and see if they had our date available.  Being on a holiday weekend was playing against us, but the first place we called had it open.  So, we made an appointment, and went this morning to check it out - Kinney Bungalow.

Image via Kinney Bungalow / Seth Jacobson Photography

Kinney Bungalow was beautiful. It's a great house set on farmland, overlooking corn fields and down the street from the Narragansett Beach.  They had an outdoor ceremony space, which could double as a cocktail hour space, and all tables, chairs were included with the rental cost.  The inside had a bridal suite on the main floor, but the reception space was on the second level, which has 360 degrees of windows to enjoy the views, and a gorgeous brick fireplace that can be decorated as you wish.

Image via Kinney Bungalow / Photographer Unknown

There is a grand staircase leading straight up to the second floor, and behind that is an area for the bar to be set up and the catering to bring in the food.  However, depending on the number of guest tables needed, the dance floor could need to be separated from the dining area, because of the staircase and other rooms being in the middle of the second story.  

We really did like the space at the Kinney Bungalow.  It was gorgeous inside, and allowed for a lot of customization and decorating.  But, aside from the dance floor being separated, not creating a sense of inclusion of all our guests, it was right alongside a very busy road, and the traffic could be heard from the ceremony space, which is not ideal.

But, we still have one more place to look at, and if this next one does not pan out, I can really see us getting married here.

6K?! Scratch that!

Having confirmed with the FIL's that they would be fine with us being married on their property, I began contacting rental companies about tables, chairs, linens, and most importantly, a tent.

When I first started researching tents, I remembered seeing a post by a Bee on Weddingbee who used the frame of a tent with sheers.  And it was stunning!

Image via Mrs. Turtle / Mike Larson Inc.

While I would have loved to not worry about a tent and having something simple and gorgeous like this, there is no way to guarantee good weather on our wedding day, so we figured we should embrace the tent instead of just using it in case of a weather emergency (weathergency??).  My one requirement, was that it be a century style tent, and have no sides.

Image via Google / Stamford Tent & Event Services / Beautiful!

However, FMIL reminded me that the tent was there for weather protection, and being on the river, there is likely to be a breeze, which could bring any rain into the tent.  Sad face! This means it needs sides. But not the silly ones that look like windows. If the tent had to have sides, they were going to be clear.

Image via Google / Anchor Industries Inc

Absolutely beautiful, especially at night, when you can see all the lights from the inside (Paper lanterns! More on that later!).  So, with that, I began contacting vendors.

It took a few days for the rental places to get back to me, and I have to tell you. I was absolutely shocked at the prices.  And shocked in a not-so-good way.  All of the tent companies around here were estimating at more than 6K for everything! And I thought that we were going to be able to save some $$ by having a backyard wedding.

So, wish me luck. I'm going to break this to FI.  He will likely not be happy about this.

Beautiful backyard wedding

FMIL and FFIL bought a retirement house in Rhody last year and it's on a beautiful 5 acres of horse corrals, trees, and a small river. FI and I have talked a lot about getting married on the property since it is so beautiful, and we would be able to do what we wanted to it to get it ready and decorate it as we want.  

Personal Picture / Front Yard

The yard in the back is large enough to have the ceremony with chairs setup for everyone, and we could get married with the sun setting behind the trees over the water.

Personal Picture / Back Yard at Sunset

One of the corrals on the side of the house is the perfect size to fit a large tent in, and we would even have some extra room to fit stuff along the outside if we wanted. 

Personal Picture / Ignore the kayaks. And this is a little less than half, so yes, it's huge.

So now that we have a potential venue, it's time to start planning on what work needs to be done and what equipment would need to be rented for a wedding!