Out to the Farm

It was a little rainy but I got a bunch of pictures of the General Potter Farm, the site of the June 15, 2012 McPherson wedding, for reference and planning and so those helping me plan know what they're working with! There was a wedding held there yesterday, so what you see inside are the remains of what looked to be a garden party / French theme wedding. It is pretty much fully customizable with decorating, tables, and lights and so on, so what you see here is not what our wedding will look like. Here is a look at the layout as well. I labeled the different sections so you know where each photo corresponds to. 

 front entrance

 b

 a

 view of a from b

 view of e from c

 c view of front entrance

 kitchen area at f

 large changing/ get ready area g

 in d, view of c, b, a

 really cool basement area

 view from basement

 out around back

 I don't think the bike comes with the rental, sorry babe

 back

 side

 horse!

 front

 d; stairs to a little area upstairs. This is where they put their dj we were told. 

 view from the little nook

 c, b, a

 entrance

 head table

 a

- From the desk of Mrs. M

And the Wedding Date is...

 Friday June 15, 2012

at the General Potter Farm

vow renewal ceremony and reception to follow!

It feels good to have that settled on. I was really nervous and anxious about setting a date because I honestly didn't know how to pick a date not knowing what exactly Kyle's (post-) deployment status would be, and moving down to Texas, and trying to make it work for as many family members as possible when a year is a long time from now, but we just had to go with it and hope it works out! The venue really suits Kyle and I. Lots of space, inside and out, and we can do whatever we want with it for decorations and set up! We'll have it for the whole day, maybe even the day before, so lots of time to get ready. Down a little hill is a nice big area by a stream for the ceremony. And, it's only a twenty minute drive from State College. Next to do: figure out a caterer, flowers, and rental company. I think I've already found save the dates and invites that I like, and dress shopping will come later in the fall. Something to think about that doesn't need to be decided anytime soon is how the vow renewal ceremony should go; it's really up to us what we want to do with it, being married already and all! It's typical to renew vows one year, three months and eight days after getting married, right?!

Also, apparently you're advised not to share details about your wedding online (says a wedding website...the same site advises you to make a wedding website to share with the world), because people might take your ideas, or be offended if they're not invited. The way I see it, ideas are all out there to be found anyway, and I don't care if someone also uses white peonies in their wedding. And anyway, it seems my wedding and relationship posts are my most popular (really? Not my insightful review of Marley & Me?)! I won't post specifics in much detail as they are actually set down, but at this point it's all just ideas and thoughts out there for comment and consideration. Maybe I'll end up with navy blue, black and lime green as my colors, roses for flowers, and use "the surface of the sun" as my theme inspiration.
On the other issue: we're not in first grade where you have to invite the whole class to your party or the one kid who didn't get invited will cry and mom will have to go have an awkward conversation with the other mom (so says TV). The farm holds up to 250; I certainly can't think of that many people to invite, but it's not like we'll have to purposely exclude anyone we'd like to have there with us. Families and friends from far and near. So, don't worry about it! :-)

- From the desk of Mrs. Sarah McPherson

Wedding Planning

Now that it is less than a year away, I really need to get to figuring out this wedding! Just thinking about it makes me stressed but I am trying to stay positive about the whole experience.

Thanks to Val and Sam for both suggesting the General Potter Farm as a possible venue that is closer to town than other places I'd found and liked! I like what I see so far! As I expected with it being less than a year away, Saturdays are pretty much all booked, so wherever it is held, the wedding will have to be on a Friday or Sunday in June. I've gotten in contact with a couple places, so hopefully soon I will be able to let you know the date and location that we've settled on!

I'm more and more thinking I don't want a white dress. Still light and flowing, but not wedding-gown-white. That's pretty much all I've come up with so far. We'll see what happens when I see what is out there; maybe I will love something white and shiny. Also actually looking for and finding a dress is maybe the part I'm least looking forward to.

As for ceremony/reception business, I think it doesn't make sense to not have any sort of ceremony at all. It would be weird to just start the reception like any other party. So I think we'll have a short vow renewal type ceremony. Nothing too official or serious, just a time to acknowledge our marriage in a way that wasn't possible back in March. Then we can party! Thanks to Emma for really helping me figure this out! 

As for colors I think I've decided on green, ivory, magenta, and maybe bits of gold. I don't want a lot of magenta, mostly just in the flowers (as peonies only come in a limited range of colors anyway). 

At first I really did not want a summer wedding, but midsummer can be a really nice time. In Finland, Midsummer (juhannus in Finnish) is probably the second-biggest celebration after Christmas, and it's a really nice time of year. Maybe I can get some inspiration from there, though I don't know if a giant bonfire (kokko) will exactly be allowed at the reception location. Can you say after-party?!

I'm also trying to think of cool ways to personalize our wedding. Using pictures isn't really an option since we won't have had an engagement (or any other) photo session. I think we can have some fun with table favors and other creative touches here and there. Kyle is sort of known for the hats he sometimes wears, so maybe we'll take the royal-wedding/Kentucky-derby approach (but more toned down and less...crazy) and suggest that guests sport some fun yet classy hats to shade themselves from the summer sun. The Pittsburgh Penguins should also probably be involved somehow. Perhaps a Penguins grooms cake?

- From the desk of Mrs. Sarah McPherson