A Story About My Fiancé; or, How We Got Our Reception Site

As is often the case, it would seem that I spoke (or wrote) too soon when I posted about the continued reception site search.

Mike called the woman we met with at OSV (as Old Sturbridge Village will henceforth be known) on Friday. He told her that we had thought about it, and decided that we really couldn't manage to have our wedding before the end of April. He went on to tell her how much we loved the place, and how we really wanted to get married there, but that we just couldn't afford their regular price. He asked her if there was any way they could give us that price for November, and after a short check with her boss, she said yes!

So we're looking at the two dates they've offered us in November, and we will shortly be setting a date! I'm so excited, and yet again feeling very lucky to have Mike.

And the search continues...

Time for a little update.

A couple weeks ago, Mike and I went out to two potential reception venues to decide if we liked either of them enough to move forward to setting a date.

The first place we went was The Publick House in Sturbridge, MA. It was nice, and the woman there was nice, but we decided it wasn't really what we were looking for. We also crunched the numbers when we got home, and it is also more than we are looking to spend.

After The Publick House (and a stop at a diner for a late breakfast, since we were running early for our next appointment), we went to Olde Sturbridge Village. Unfortunately, it was terrible weather for a visit, since it was cold and extremely windy. We loved OSV, particularly the reception area. They have an on-site ceremony hall, which is nice, but not quite what we had been thinking of. This would probably be our ideal site, except that we can't afford their normal per plate price, and their seasonal discount that we can afford is only good until the end of April. We thought about it, and after much debate decided that given how hectic our lives are right now, and how many things are already scheduled during that time, that it would be crazy for us to try to pull off an April wedding.

So we are going to keep looking. We have a couple of appointments set up for the next few weeks, but given my schedule (two weeknights of school, two weeknights of work, one weeknight of internship, as well as four weekdays of school and/or internship), finding time to visit potential venues is tough. We're soldiering on, and I'll be sure to update as we have more news!

Finding a Venue

One of the most challenging things so far about planning a wedding has been trying to narrow down the choice of venue for the reception. Since we are trying to keep to a budget, that knocks a number of venues off our list, but there are still so many! Hotels, restaurants, golf clubs, halls, the list goes on. And though we are in Massachusetts, it's so easy to travel to other states in New England that a wedding in Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, or even New York is not really out of the question.

I've been trying to narrow some of these things down, despite not really knowing what type of wedding I want or can afford. Mike and I went to a wedding expo yesterday, and that sort of helped.

There are a few places that we like and think we can afford, so we're going to try to visit them, and figure out if we love or hate any of them. This is our (current) short list:

Blissful Meadows Golf Club (Uxbridge, MA)
Publick House Historic Inn (Sturbridge, MA)
Old Sturbridge Village (Sturbridge, MA)
Colonial Hotel (Gardner, MA)