Good evening!!
My name is Vanessa and I got engaged one month ago today! I went to visit my then boyfriend of two years in NJ and he woke me up super early the first morning and told me he made something for me. So, with mascara elegantly smeared all over my face and hair mussed up just right, I turned over to see a beautiful wooden bird house all lit up. He was able to print out little love notes and paste them to the interior of the house so they could be viewed whenever I looked in the windows and opened the door. And on the back was a longer note he typed out about us, our future and wanting to build a nest with me. I turned to him crying and there was the ring! My parents were on stand by patiently waiting for my phone call.
In the month that has passed I have feverishly reviewed what seems like a never ending list of venues in the entire Western PA area!! I have so much on my plate right now with two jobs, school, and now preparing to move to NJ. But as I read through posts on here I see many of you are just as if not busier and still able to successfully plan the wedding of your dreams.
Honestly, the cost of these venues is overwhelming. Ideally we would like to spend 15k but when many of the venues I like charge 5k+ venue rental fees (think Lingrow, Armstrong Farms, etc) it's easy to get discouraged. My student loan bills just keep flashing before my eyes everytime I get a price list back.
I was also nervous about planning a wedding from out of state, but again it seems that this is a common occurrence. I am considering utilizing a wedding planner but we haven't crossed that bridge yet. The date will be Fri 9.20.13, so thankfully I have time to figure all of this out!
Ideally I want an outdoor ceremony followed by an outdoor reception, or at least an indoor reception venue that has windows or an adjacent patio type area.
So far we have looked at the SNPJ Alpine Room in Enon Valley. It is closer to where my parents live in New Castle, Pa. The ceremony would be outside in front of a lake but the reception area is just a regular hall. They are inexpensive and also have 60 cabins on site. I have not read any reviews or mention of this place on here as of yet.
We looked at Succop Conservancy in Butler and on the agenda this month are Greystone Fields, Stonebridge Farm Nursery, Springwood in Penn Hills and possibly Chapel Valley Estate in Ellwood City. Springwood and Chapel Valley Estate are the only ones that we don't have pricing info on yet. We made the mistake of viewing the least expensive place first so now that's the only thing my parents have to reference. They haven't taken into consideration places like Lingrow or Phipps. I really like the Center for the Arts but I think that's def out of the budget.
I have never been in a wedding before and I will be the first one of my besties to get married, so I am 100% lost. Thank you to everyone for sharing your information, it has helped calm my nerves and bring a lot of this stuff into perspective. And thank you for reading!!!