#2: Oh, the places you'll go! (Or have a wedding)

Since I already covered the most important part of any wedding, the groom, I'll continue with the lesser, but still very important, parts. Our venue hunt began immediately after we got engaged, because J isn't home very often and I didn't want to pick out our venue without him! We had been eyeing the Lorton Workhouse. The Workhouse was previously a jail, and a couple years ago, it was gutted and transformed into an art gallery, where artists can take and teach classes and display their works (some for sale, some not). The facility is immense, with over 15 different galleries spread over many different mediums (pottery, photography and painting, to name a few). There is also a grassy courtyard where tents are set up every summer for events. We thought it would be the perfect place to host our wedding, seeing as how J and my mom are both amazing, talented artists. We'll get to their crazy abilities in later posts.

We made an appointment to see the hall where the wedding would take place, and I have to say, we were very let down. I imagined a bright, open, roomy hall with lots of natural light and an open floor-plan. The room we were shown had pillars smack dab in the middle of the hall and temporary walls were put in place to display works of art. We were told the walls would not be able to be moved. This posed a huge problem, as most people like to see the bride and groom when they attend a wedding. But maybe that's just me. We weren't really feeling the layout, but when we got the financial part of it, we really weren't feeling it. The cost just to rent the space was out of our budget, and that didn't even include any chairs, tables, linens, etc. We knew in our gut it wasn't the right place for our wedding. So our search continued...

Then we decided to look elsewhere, but just as close to home. Our area is being quickly built up, and my mom suggested we look at a county-owned golf course about a mile from our house. So off we went. The space was gorgeous, the colors fit perfectly with our theme and the view was to die for. Long story short, when we went to sign the contract, a few glitches arose. We were told the area we had previously discussed for the cocktail hour would not be available and that with the dance floor in place, the banquet room would not fit all our guests. Not sure why this wasn't brought up over our multiple visits and e-mails, but nonetheless, #2 was out.

We briefly looked at another golf course, to humor my mom, but it was too stuffy for us and we didn't really like the look of the ballroom we would be renting.

Then, after lamenting to my boss about my lack of venue, he suggested we look into the golf club literally a stone's throw away from his house. And off we went, with no expectations, so we wouldn't get let down again. We were blown away when we walked into Old Hickory Golf Club. I instantly fell in love with all the dark wood and gorgeous chandeliers. Then our coordinator, Audrey, showed us around the facility, and the outside was just as beautiful as the inside. There is a large outdoor patio for us to have the ceremony, and then there is a 2nd level porch, big enough for 200 people, where will we host the cocktail hour. Our guests will move into the large ballroom for dinner and dancing. We were so excited to finally find the perfect place for our wedding :) Here's a couple of pictures of it:


The front of the building. Love the landscaping!








One of the gorgeous locations for picture taking





(Both images were pulled from Old Hickory's website)


A few side notes today:
1. Props to my amazing fiance for helping me with the design of this blog!! If you saw my first post on Monday, the background and design was seriously lacking some personality and personalization. J spent almost an hour helping me re-size pictures and edit CSS code (I knew his web design class last semester would come in handy!). Ok well, really, I just gave him my password and he did it all. And, voila! There is one of our engagement pictures, done by the fabulous Jewel Peach!

2. I ordered a pair of over the knee boots on Saturday and I cannot get them out of my head today. I want to wear them so badly! But alas, 2-3 weeks for delivery will not help that situation. Sadness ensues.

Til tomorrow...