After months of pouring over blogs and posting on message boards, I found myself surprised with my lack of full-on inspiration. I was overwhelmed. I had no idea where to start. The biggest issue for me was knowing what venue I wanted as my first choice. There were lots of options that seemed ok, but nothing that jumped out at "the one I had to have."
The first step in starting to officially plan was attending the big bridal show in town. On a gray and cold Saturday afternoon earlier this month, I trekked downtown with my mom for a wedding adventure. The bridal show was amazing and overwhelming at the same time. We sampled some cake and collected lots of information.
We came across the photographer that my sister had chosen and booked for her wedding. We started chatting. He was such a nice, friendly, approachable guy. Not nearly as wedding-show-y as any of the other photographers I talked to. The books of his work that he had brought with him were amazing. I asked him if he knew of any cool new venues that I should check out, because I had yet to find something that I really loved.
He suggested that I check out the new Audubon Center in town. That night, after we carried our bags of pamphlets and info home from the bridal show, I sat down at my computer and did some good ol' fashioned google research.
It took only a few moments after looking at the photos I found of the Audubon center for me to fall in love. I immediately had goosebumps, and my mind started overflowing with ideas. This was the place I had been looking for!
Since the building is new and there haven't been many weddings there yet, I haven't been able to find tons of photos. The center is awesome, with tons of windows, great decks and cool architecture surrounded by 5 acres of beautiful nature and wetlands. The bird sanctuary is home to all sorts of feathered friends, including bald eagles! There's also a great view of the city skyline on the North side of the building.
Here's a link to a wedding photographed by the very talented Aperture Photography at the Audubon Center. It has a great indie vibe to it and really captures a lot of what I love about the venue.
| Aperture Photography captures indie bliss at the Audubon |
I made my way that next week to visit the center, and returned the following week with my mom. She loves it just as much as I did! As we discovered that dates for Summer 2012 were already booking up, we made the decision, put down a deposit and booked the center for June 2, 2012.
Just like that I had my venue. (!)
Of course, G. and I talked a lot about me booking the place before it was a done deal. I wanted him to feel like he was a part of the decision, but knew I couldn't wait for his next visit here (which probably won't be until late March) to start booking things if I wanted to get my venue and vendors of choice. He's excited about the Audubon, which makes me even more excited. I can't wait to show it to him in person.
I'm beyond excited to have our wedding at the center. I had been debating a bird related theme, and since the Audubon is a bird sanctuary that works out very nicely. Building upon that I've expanded my theme to take cues from my favorite band of all time - Counting Crows (Yay! More birds!!!) We'll leave more exploration of that theme for another day, cause I could go on about them forever.
In addition to booking the venue, I met yesterday with the photographer who led me to the Audubon, the wonderful Adam Lowe, and secured him for our date. It was awesome getting to sit down and chat with him and share my ideas and hear his. I'm very excited to share my ideas with him and to see how he helps capture the day.
Things are taking shape and I feel invigorated. For a while, during my blogging absence, I was feeling overwhelmed (and not in a good way) about not being able to find a venue I loved and it sort of took the wind out of my planning sails. Now I feel like my ideas are starting to get more focused, and I'm slowly discovering my "bride-identity." It's pretty darn cool.
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