We Have Our Perfect Wedding Venue!

I’m so proud I could burst. I saw the house, loved it, and put down the deposit! I have a house to marry Adam in. A house where his family can spend the week when they visit from England for the first time, that's close enough for me to get to easily even in winter.

When I arrived the owner was just as sweet as she was on the phone, and the house looked just as nice, with a few nice surprises!

We went through the living room that I plan to use for the ceremony. I loved the way the double windows framed the room, and I figured Adam and I could stand in front of the dresser.  But when I got there, I saw THIS:

And I thought the place didn’t have a fireplace!!  It doesn’t…but it has a mantle, which is just as weddingy!  Now I’m a little torn over which spot will work better. The windows look dramatic, but might put us in silhouette. The mantle looks great, but doesn’t “feel” like the front of the room.  Plus I might need to cover the mirror.  And I have the wedding arch that I can put in between the windows, so it’s fine.  Maybe I can put the guest book near the mantle!  It can be easily decorated.

My second surprise was upstairs.  I had seen from the street view photo that there was an interesting bay window jutting out of the front, but didn’t see the room in the house with it on the website.  Well, here it is:

It’s just a little sitting room.  But it will be PERFECT for our formal photos!  So two of the things I thought I was going to have to give up with this place is (at least kind of) there!  This place really was meant to be.

And then I got a third surprise.  Something I didn't even think about (it just wasn't at the top of my list of things to worry about).  The photographer (yeah, I already booked one, but that's another story) wanted to know where the bridal prep area would be, so I figured it would just be in one of the bedrooms occupied by Adam's family; no big deal.  The bedrooms were pictured on the website and looked fine, even nice.  Nice and neutral.  But then she pointed out a framed piece on the wall not pictured online:

It just happens to be a piece from an ethnic bridal costume.  Um, I think I just found my bridal prep room.

I knew the place had been part of a commercial tour of historic homes in the area at Christmastime 2 years ago.  The owner said, "You should have seen how they decorated it."  I said I'd love to, and she promised to Email me photos!  So I'll have ideas on how to decorate!!  Maybe not the colors, but the scale for sure. 

The house was as small as you’d expect in Salem.  But there is going to be such a small amount of guests that I think we’ll be fine.  I took measurements of the dining room, then looked online to see how many square feet you need per person and it checked out.  Barely!  But it checked out.  This place is going to work beautifully.  The owner even told me I was free to use whatever flatware and silverware that I wanted; there would be plenty for 12 people.  I could Email her with questions.  And she'd send me photos of the fourth bedroom that I didn't get to see.  I can't wait.  I've found our venue.  I can start booking the rest of the vendors.  And I can finally officially say, when someone asks me if we've set a date: "Yes.  February 21."  :)