WEDDING PREP WEDNESDAY: VENUE

I AM SO EXCITED TO BE SHARING THIS POST!!!!!!!!


My close friends are in no way surprised when I say I've had my wedding planned in my mind for years.. since way before meeting my fiancé(!!!)


But.... now.... WE’RE ACTUALLY GETTING MARRIED!!!


My dreams have come true and I get to hang out with my bff for the rest of our time on Earth. His name’s Charlie aaaaaaand he’s pretty great. In addition to getting to be his wife, I get to plan this dream wedding I’ve been tweaking and prepping for years. and with that, I introduce you to Wedding Prep Wednesday. We aren’t going to be hosting our big day for a fairly long time so I have lottttts of time to plan and tweak everything a bit more.

I am stoked to share our wedding prep with all of you over the next two years. Again, since we’re so far out, we have not yet reserved our venue but that is absolutely the first step and we’ll be doing it some time next month. I will probably keep the venue a secret until the big day BUT! we’re going to be having the wedding in Raleigh, North Carolina where we are attempting to relocate (someone hire me!!!!! I’m an analyst!) and I'll let you in on my top contenders that we will be viewing and deciding between.

Our top spots are The Bradford in New Hill, NC, and Chatham Station right near downtown Raleigh in downtown Cary, NC. These two venues give off very different vibes and we’ve got to decide which we’re striving for more for our big day. I also want to look at Whitaker & Atlantic as well as The Knitting Mill.

The Bradford: the literal only con to this venue is that it's a bit of a hike to a more rural area of the Raleigh area and I would feel obligated to provide transportation for my guests to/from the venue. I've been stuck in an uber desert at a wedding before and it's not fun to have to deal with after partying with your pals for a few hours late at night. That plus the fact that 99.5% of our guests will be coming from out of town, I have now (hopefully) validated my feelings of obligation for transport.

The Bradford is an all-in-one kinda place. You can stay the night before (or after!) your wedding in the main house, have the ceremony in the house or in the side yard and the reception in their super chic, Parisian back area. I was immediately sold when I saw their grass-outlined tiles in their backyard-- similar to the ones you can see leading up the front door in the photo directly below...

The Bradford

All of that being said, what I love the most about The Bradford is their price and flexibility to allow you to bring in your own alcohol and they're a-okay with my food truck dream! I think having food trucks is fun in general, exciting and adaptable for guests and most importantly, CHEAPER than typical catering. I can't grasp how expensive weddings are and there is really no way to cut costs outside of the main areas-- food, alcohol and venue.

The Bradford

The next top contender is Chatham Station in Cary, NC (the major suburb of Raleigh). It's the opposite of The Bradford in that it's a slightly industrial event space. Honestly. that fits my personality better IMO but The Bradford is just too pretty and *affordable* (I use that loosely-- it's all relative). Chatham Station is laid back and slightly ~cool~. They also allow my food trucks, albeit begrudgingly. I just like the opportunity here for an al fresco cocktail hour before the sun goes down after the ceremony.

Chatham Station

Chatham Station

Similar to Chatham Station is Whitaker & Atlantic. The downside to this venue is that they require you to use their in-house caterer (no food trucks! sad face!), which can hike up the price of the overall event quite significantly. The pros? It's directly downtown, in a cool neighborhood AND the interior design is on. point.

Whitaker & Atlantic

Whitaker & Atlantic

I mean come on.. look at that bar! those lights! It's such a moody vibe and I LOVE that.

Last and most likely least is the Melrose Knitting Mill. If you were to take my 'Wedding' board on Pinterest and copy + paste it into real life, it'd create the Knitting Mill. Unfortunately, they have a steep cost associated with their required caterer pushing it out of the range I feel comfortable spending on my wedding. I'm keeping it on my list just as a maybe... maybe because I'll win the lottery or something.. even though I bought seven lottery tickets over the weekend but did not win the $1.6 billion Mega Millions last night.

Melrose Knitting Mill

Melrose Knitting Mill

and that's that! First major wedding details have been documented online and will be documented IRL so, so soon. This is going to be SO much fun and I hope you all are interested in the planning details! Let me know in the comments below if you are excited about any of the things to come (decor, color scheme, my dress, etc.) or if you don't really care for wedding prep. I'm all ears :)