Photo by Amara Photos
Andrew and I had been dating for two amazing years when he proposed. Under cafe lights in our newly renovated backyard we were dancing to music coming from an antique record player that Andrew just gave me as a gift. On bended knee, he proposed and made me the happiest I've ever been in my life.
When we shared the news with our family and friends, the first thing they would ask is "Have you set the date??". Are you kidding me? How fast do people set dates for their wedding?
Well, before you can 'set the date', find the band, the photographer... everything.. you first need to find your perfect wedding venue, and put a deposit on your future wedding date.
I can get a bit stubborn sometimes, and I was set with the idea that we were going to have a New England Fall Wedding (my favorite season), somewhere outdoors, either in a barn or an outdoor tent and go for that 'rustic romantic' wedding. I saw white pumpkins, lots of candles, the leaves changing in the background of our photos... that's it! I've planned it all! No questions about it!
...Well, after about 4 months of spending every weekend visiting venues in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire. (Yes, maybe I made powerpoints with maps of the venues we'd visit each weekend)... We ended up falling in love with a venue on Long Island called The Bourne Mansion. Long Island was actually the last place on my mind, despite being from there, as I always felt that Long Island weddings always looked the same, and the venues were like "wedding factories" having several weddings in one day.
Photo by Amara Photos
The Bourne Mansion completely blew us away, and totally proved me wrong. We would have the entire grounds to ourselves, which included a gorgeous view of the ocean, the rooms inside the mansion felt like you went back in time, and the ballroom was breathtaking. The only way we could afford this, was choosing a Friday that was only 8 months away. "8 months away??" I thought. "Doesn't it take at least a year & a half to plan a wedding?" But we decided, we can do this! We've found that when we're together, we get things done surprisingly fast. So we took the challenge. And this way, we get to start our lives as husband and wife even sooner.
And so began our 8 months of planning, researching, decision making, excel sheets, pinteresting, more planning, power points, and even more decision making. Looking back now, I would have told myself... Things will not go perfectly as planned, you will not be able to make everyone happy so focus on just the two of you first, and everything will come into place so just roll with it and enjoy the process.
Venue: The Bourne Mansion
Photos: Amara Photo
