Real-Time Wedding Planning {The Venue Search}

I have spent the last several years assisting Amy with weddings for Engaging Affairs. However, this year there is one major difference - I’m engaged! Two months ago, my boyfriend proposed in the beautiful Mayan Riviera, Mexico and we spent the rest of our weeklong vacation enjoying our semi-secret engagement. We called our parents, but waited until we got back to announce the news to everyone. As a wedding assistant, I love seeing the details that each bride has chosen to incorporate into her wedding day, but now I am really paying attention to all of the options and creative ideas. Even more lucky for me, I have the fabulous team at Engaging Affairs to help me in my own journey towards our big day, and I couldn’t be more excited!

Two days after we returned from our sunshine-filled vacation, I sent a few e-mails out to potential venue choices and was a little surprised that over a year out, places were booking up fast! What mattered to me most was that we could get married outdoors, but also have a good back up plan should the weather turn ugly.

With my fiancé and parents in tow, we spent our first Saturday back touring three potential venues. We all immediately fell in love with the first one we saw, the Meadowlark Botanical Gardens. The other two venues we toured did not compare to this one, so after an additional week of searching, we booked it for our wedding! I had stumbled across this venue in web browsing before, but I wasn’t quite sure based on the pictures on the website (they don’t do this place justice!) There is a beautiful outside patio overlooking the gardens where the ceremony will take place followed by cocktail hour. Incorporating the garden setting inside the Atrium, there are eight live trees growing as well as a stream running through the building to connect the inside and outside fountains!

If it should happen to storm on our big day next year, we can pull the whole thing inside.  And between the indoor foliage and glass windows surrounding the building, it would still feel like we were outside! Here are a few pictures of the venue with more to come on my journey to my own big day!

Reneé