Dancing under the stars.
A wedding under the stars.
These phrases are magical to me. I'm a true romantic at heart.
Evening is my favorite time of day. I love how the sky lights up as the sun sets, the colors as vivid as a fire, or soft as a watercolor painting. And then, as if sunsets weren't enough, we get the stars. As I was writing my thesis this week, I was trying to figure out a way to describe the stars that hasn't been used a hundred times before. We all know they glimmer, they shine, twinkle, sparkle, glow. Sometimes we're so used to the phrasing, that we forget what the phrases describe. We forget to look up each night (well, on the non-cloudy ones) and look at them. My little brother Brendan and I sometimes lay in the hammock and try to count them. We never can. That's one reason they're so beautiful to me. It's almost like they're different each night.
So when I started planning my wedding, I knew I wanted a wedding under the stars. Our ceremony is going to be at the golden hour, (another phrase that I love "golden hour") and continue on into the evening. Everything is outside, so it shall not rain. It shall not rain. I will be fine and perfectly happy if it rains. But it shall not rain. (Don't worry, my twitch when I say that is very minor).
I started researching venues when I was abroad, living in London. This was hard, but my mother and sisters graciously called every place I asked them to, saw multiple venues, and even used FaceTime at one point to help me see a possible choice. The only problem was, we were quickly running out of time. Even though we were looking over a year in advance, bookings near the water with gardens, are sought after venues that were already filling up.
Originally my dream venue was Historic London Town House & Gardens in Edgewater, MD. It was on the bay, with expansive gardens, large trees that practically begged to be filled with lanterns. I found out I could afford the venue, but couldn't afford a caterer, band, or actually anything else I really wanted it. I reluctantly let it go, but I still think it's a great place for a wedding. While pricey, all the costs go to maintaining the historic landmark, a worthy cause if your budget agrees. You can look at their site here: (http://www.historiclondontown.com/index.php/weddings-a-rentals)
So, we began looking at different spots. I think we looked at almost every venue that had even part of what I wanted within 70 miles of my hometown. None of them worked. The problem was, I really wanted a venue that had space for an outdoor ceremony and reception. Almost every spot had a place for an outdoor ceremony, but very little had any outdoor reception spots. This is personal taste, but I do not like indoor receptions. They feel too crowded for me, too confined, and I like the ability to have people wander around the grounds, maybe look at the water for a bit, without feeling like they're missing anything. So we searched, and I started getting more and more nervous. As soon as we found one we liked, we were told it was booked for every weekend in June, or had no outdoor reception spot, something I was not willing to budge on.
I was tired of looking, my mother and sisters were tired of looking, but one day my mother FaceTimed me while I was in London. She said there was one venue, Swan Harbor Farm, in Havre de Grace, MD, that she hadn't seen yet. It was a bit far, about 90 mins away, but did I want her to look at it? I said I wasn't sure, I liked the look of its website, but it was far for her to drive. I left it up to her in the end, if she had a free day. The next day, trudging back to my room after a long tube ride (the metro system in London), I saw that I had multiple missed Face Time calls from Mom. I called her, worried that something was wrong, but when I saw her face she was smiling. They had gone to look at the venue, it was perfect, she said, so beautiful. My sisters Sarah and Fiona crowded around the phone screen, saying how much they loved it, and that they thought it was "the one." It had a huge old house to get ready in. A sweeping lawn that lead down to a gazebo right on the bay. A huge white tent, open-air, perfect for the reception. And they had my date available.
Mom put a tentative hold on it, I got home from London, and saw it within a week. My family was right, it was perfect. Everything they described, and exactly what I wanted. We booked it after Tyler drove up to see it with me, and we couldn't be happier with it. If you want to check it out, for your own wedding or because weddings are your hobby (like me) here's the link: (http://www.swanharborfarm.org)
Choosing venues was hard, probably one of the most stressful things I've done thus far, but I'm glad I found the right one. I almost gave up looking, almost settled for something I didn't really like, but I'm so glad I didn't. If something is integral to your idea of your wedding, like it being outdoors and under the stars for me, don't give up on it. Now don't be bratty like some women on "Say Yes to the Dress" and say that if you don't get what you want, your fiance doesn't love you enough, or your family just needs to throw money at you. That's ridiculous. But it's okay to dream, it's okay to work hard to find what you want. And in the end, you're marrying the person you love most in the world, so your wedding will be beautiful, even if it rains, even if you have to have your ceremony indoors. But I hope you won't have to have either of those things.
I've done a lot of research on wedding venues in Maryland. If you'd like list of what I've found, and the average price of each, ask me in the comments. If you'd like a list of venues that are mostly indoors in Maryland... You should find someone who loves indoor weddings as much as I love outdoor.
A wedding under the stars.
These phrases are magical to me. I'm a true romantic at heart.
Evening is my favorite time of day. I love how the sky lights up as the sun sets, the colors as vivid as a fire, or soft as a watercolor painting. And then, as if sunsets weren't enough, we get the stars. As I was writing my thesis this week, I was trying to figure out a way to describe the stars that hasn't been used a hundred times before. We all know they glimmer, they shine, twinkle, sparkle, glow. Sometimes we're so used to the phrasing, that we forget what the phrases describe. We forget to look up each night (well, on the non-cloudy ones) and look at them. My little brother Brendan and I sometimes lay in the hammock and try to count them. We never can. That's one reason they're so beautiful to me. It's almost like they're different each night.
So when I started planning my wedding, I knew I wanted a wedding under the stars. Our ceremony is going to be at the golden hour, (another phrase that I love "golden hour") and continue on into the evening. Everything is outside, so it shall not rain. It shall not rain. I will be fine and perfectly happy if it rains. But it shall not rain. (Don't worry, my twitch when I say that is very minor).
I started researching venues when I was abroad, living in London. This was hard, but my mother and sisters graciously called every place I asked them to, saw multiple venues, and even used FaceTime at one point to help me see a possible choice. The only problem was, we were quickly running out of time. Even though we were looking over a year in advance, bookings near the water with gardens, are sought after venues that were already filling up.
Originally my dream venue was Historic London Town House & Gardens in Edgewater, MD. It was on the bay, with expansive gardens, large trees that practically begged to be filled with lanterns. I found out I could afford the venue, but couldn't afford a caterer, band, or actually anything else I really wanted it. I reluctantly let it go, but I still think it's a great place for a wedding. While pricey, all the costs go to maintaining the historic landmark, a worthy cause if your budget agrees. You can look at their site here: (http://www.historiclondontown.com/index.php/weddings-a-rentals)
So, we began looking at different spots. I think we looked at almost every venue that had even part of what I wanted within 70 miles of my hometown. None of them worked. The problem was, I really wanted a venue that had space for an outdoor ceremony and reception. Almost every spot had a place for an outdoor ceremony, but very little had any outdoor reception spots. This is personal taste, but I do not like indoor receptions. They feel too crowded for me, too confined, and I like the ability to have people wander around the grounds, maybe look at the water for a bit, without feeling like they're missing anything. So we searched, and I started getting more and more nervous. As soon as we found one we liked, we were told it was booked for every weekend in June, or had no outdoor reception spot, something I was not willing to budge on.
I was tired of looking, my mother and sisters were tired of looking, but one day my mother FaceTimed me while I was in London. She said there was one venue, Swan Harbor Farm, in Havre de Grace, MD, that she hadn't seen yet. It was a bit far, about 90 mins away, but did I want her to look at it? I said I wasn't sure, I liked the look of its website, but it was far for her to drive. I left it up to her in the end, if she had a free day. The next day, trudging back to my room after a long tube ride (the metro system in London), I saw that I had multiple missed Face Time calls from Mom. I called her, worried that something was wrong, but when I saw her face she was smiling. They had gone to look at the venue, it was perfect, she said, so beautiful. My sisters Sarah and Fiona crowded around the phone screen, saying how much they loved it, and that they thought it was "the one." It had a huge old house to get ready in. A sweeping lawn that lead down to a gazebo right on the bay. A huge white tent, open-air, perfect for the reception. And they had my date available.
Mom put a tentative hold on it, I got home from London, and saw it within a week. My family was right, it was perfect. Everything they described, and exactly what I wanted. We booked it after Tyler drove up to see it with me, and we couldn't be happier with it. If you want to check it out, for your own wedding or because weddings are your hobby (like me) here's the link: (http://www.swanharborfarm.org)
Choosing venues was hard, probably one of the most stressful things I've done thus far, but I'm glad I found the right one. I almost gave up looking, almost settled for something I didn't really like, but I'm so glad I didn't. If something is integral to your idea of your wedding, like it being outdoors and under the stars for me, don't give up on it. Now don't be bratty like some women on "Say Yes to the Dress" and say that if you don't get what you want, your fiance doesn't love you enough, or your family just needs to throw money at you. That's ridiculous. But it's okay to dream, it's okay to work hard to find what you want. And in the end, you're marrying the person you love most in the world, so your wedding will be beautiful, even if it rains, even if you have to have your ceremony indoors. But I hope you won't have to have either of those things.
I've done a lot of research on wedding venues in Maryland. If you'd like list of what I've found, and the average price of each, ask me in the comments. If you'd like a list of venues that are mostly indoors in Maryland... You should find someone who loves indoor weddings as much as I love outdoor.