where all the action will happen

Since I've been laying low this week, the least I can do is offer some closure to this venue-hunt series. Which one of these beautiful, quirky, historic, do-gooding venues did we book??!!??

drumroll please..... (okay, most of my readers already know. And I'm pretty sure I gave it away in my venue rundowns) ....

The Pearl S. Buck Estate in Perkasie, Pennsylvania.

(huzaahh!!)

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This was the first venue we visited, both families in tow, and I had not anticipated falling for it as hard as I did. The grounds are absolutely beautiful and BIG. There's no traffic in sight which was a concern for some of the other venues I visited or just drove by in Bucks County. It's closer to home and more me than the Center City venues.

Marc and I really just felt at home here.  

philadelphia- city of historical venue love: Reading Terminal Market

In the search for my identity in the early stages of planning and "themeing" the wedding, long before I gave it up and admitted my supreme love of and comfort with girly flower rufflyiness, I wanted to delve deeper into this want for eco-green and try to be an urban indie bride.

Enter Reading Terminal Market:

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philadelphia- city of historical venue love: The F.U.E.L. House

Next up in Philly, we hopped back in our minivan and skadoodled in to Olde City to visit what I thought might just be a sure thing. No one else in my party had {yet} heard of it:

The F.U.E.L. House:

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philadelphia- city of historical venue love: The Franklin Institute

As promised, I present a series of posts {breaking them up thusly for my own sanity as well as readers' attention spans} recapping the Philadelphia venues we visited. These were generally chosen for their quirky coolness or historical relevance, and we visited in one whirlwind day downtown with as many interested parties (and opinions) as could fit in one minivan.


First up...


The Franklin Institute:


Did I ever mention how nostalgia is part of my sorta-theme? Imagine, if you will, hosting your wedding in one of your most favorite places to visit from your childhood. A place all about history, science, puzzles, games, Benjamin Franklin, really large movies, and school field trips. I present to you that place for most Philly kids...

setting the scene: the venue hunt

Yeah, lame title from a lame theatre kid ::wink and a smile!::

First up, Bucks County.

Finding the perfect setting for the big day was surprisingly simple, and also probably the thing I did my homework on the most. I was looking more than two years out, so I tooook my sweeet time.

We started our research in the Brandywine Valley of Pennsylvania, hoping to tie in our engagement week's tip to Sonoma into our wedding theme. We clicked on websites of a few fairly local wineries and found our way to Open Aire Affairs. These folks handle events and rentals for Sandcastle Winery, in ridiculously beautiful and quaint Erwynna, PA. It is set up on a hill on sprawling grounds of hearty grapevines fighting for their lives in the fickle weather of Eastern PA... or Anywhere, PA for that matter.

Forming a plan: an organic process.

As soon as I had the ring on my finger back in August 2008, three basic questions were asked of me as a bride-to-be. And my answers to these early questions have helped guide the rest of the planning process:

1. When will we get married:

This is a 2 or 3-parter. We first looked at the timeline of our immediate future and where we saw ourselves in the next couple years. We were definitely in a time of transition- so we thought it best to take our time. Marc would finish school and get a job first, so we looked toward 2010.

Then it was on to what time of year: I value delicious, seasonal food over fluffy, beautiful seasonal flowers. So Autumn won, with a brief debate over late summer so we could savor ripe peaches and tomatoes- my fave. The argument about the extreme heat of August convinced me otherwise.

{Whaaaaaat? Tomatoes in heart baskets? C'mon what are you doing to me?}

Finally, a specific date. I checked the weather history for a couple dates in October for the last several years, and learned that in Southeastern PA, it's pretty much always a 40% chance of rain regardless of the time of year if you're looking at averages from the last 10 years. So, I chose October 23rd, because it sounded pretty and the leaves would probably be changing.

I booked the venue, and then I learned that you can't book a Rabbi on a Saturday- even 2 years out. So the venue allowed us to switch to a Sunday, and we chose the Sunday of Columbus Day weekend so some folks might have off from work the next day... and this day was October 10th, or 10.10.10. A Happy accident.

2. What will our wedding colors be:

Ok, for real? Yes, this may have been the first question I was asked. Since I knew I couldn't be tied down by one or two colors, and I would never be able to decide and stick with it, I chose a version of my parents' colors and autumnized and modernized them. Green and Yellow, or rather 1975 Mint Green and Yellow turned Sage/Clover Green and Mustard.

The choice to use my mother's colors encouraged me to add as many nostalgic elements and hand-me-downs as possible. And this has inspired a "kinda green" motto to my planning. Kinda green like eco friendly, reduce reuse recycle wherever we can. Not that we are always great about this in everyday life, but it has been an amazing mantra for making wedding-related choices.

3. Which leads me to where will it be:

This one was a fair question. Definitely back home in the Philly area for starters. Not in New York- everyone would have to travel and NYC is a pricey place to travel to. The iffy bit was that Marc wanted a city soiree, while an outdoor, country Bucks County affair was calling my name. We followed our hearts and kept it "kinda green." Venue tbr (to be revealed).