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We absolutely loved the barn.
As we turned the corner onto the street and I read out loud from the directions, �The barn is just ahead on the left,� the Boyfriend laughed. It�s impossible to miss.
It is what it is�a big red barn, built in the 1800�s. From the front, it doesn�t really look like anything special, other than a well-maintained barn. We parked and walked around to the back in search of Pat (the site coordinator), and I caught my breath.
The caterers and florist for that night�s wedding were halfway through setting up. The inside of the barn, which is all wooden and rustic, was strung with tiny white lights. The florist was busily tying sunflowers on long stalks to the support beams lining the dance floor. Women dressed in black and white buzzed around us setting tables in soft colored linens. White wrought iron tables, chairs and benches lined the edge of the patio leading out into the apple orchard. The fans going at full blast cooled the air to a comfortable temperature. It was beautiful.
We found Pat out front, talking to the musicians about where to set up their equipment. She walked us through the site and answered our questions about table size, food station locations, bar service and bathrooms. I was entirely enchanted.
The barn overall offers us the big main room, a smaller room directly behind that for place cards/gifts/cake and a staffed-by-them bar. Bathrooms are right there, too, as well as a full catering kitchen. Behind that are two more rooms that are open for us to use if we want to.
By the time Pat brought us up to her office to look at photos and review date availability, we were both ready to sign the contract. It was fun, though, to look at the different ways people had decorated for different events. The barn can look very elegant or homey or country, depending on what you put into it. Some people over decorated it, which was too bad, as it took away from the simplicity and the beauty of the room. I already have a picture of what it will look like when I close my eyes.
We�re on their calendar with a hold on August 24 of next year. We have two weeks to make a final decision.
My only reason for not just leaving a deposit right then was that I�d heard through my cousin that being a member of the Peabody Historical Society lowers the cost of renting the place. Right now, it will cost us 1100 dollars for the barn, plus an additional 100 for use of the house and backyard across the street for the ceremony. As a PHS member, I could rent the barn for 600 dollars. Joining the PHS is ten dollars. This is a no-brainer. I didn�t want to sign a contract until I found out the details on that.
In our hearts, though, we�re locked in to the site and the date.
So the planning begins.
Last night, I asked my stepsister Kristy if she�d be part of the bridal party. I already asked Erica and Carla as well. When all is done, I will have asked seven bridesmaids plus Carla. I know that�s a ridiculous number. I don�t care. It�s my wedding.
The Boyfriend�s sister, the Princess Amy, told him yesterday that she�ll be �very disappointed� if she doesn�t get asked to be a bridesmaid. He told her that was really my territory, and he couldn�t talk to her about it (knowing full well that I plan to ask her!). I�m afraid she�s going to be the difficult part of this. She�s already told him that she doesn�t like his plans for the groomsmen�s attire (something other than tuxes, since it will be August and outside/in the barn), so she would take it on as her job to find them something appropriate to wear. I said it was more important that he and the other guys be comfortable than that Amy be happy with their choices. He said he�d told her that, and that she�d said her feelings were more important, since she�d have to look at the pictures.
God help her, I don�t HAVE to ask her to be a bridesmaid. This isn�t her wedding. I�ll teach her that awfully fast if need be.
So anyway�we have a date. And a place. And a florist�we stopped to see my cousin Gina after we left Peabody and asked her to do the flowers. She and her husband Michael toasted us with champagne and made me drunk. I was already giddy.
I�m still giddy.
Other stuff happened this weekend, too, some of which I�d like to write about, but it will have to wait. I�m stuck in wedding mode right now.
I promise, though, my next 432 days worth of entries won�t all be wedding chatter. How boring would that be?! Well, for anyone but me, anyway�
Back to training tonight. I hope I can pay attention to something other than the continuous loop of wedding info in my head!
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