Let the planning begin!

Almost immediately after Mr. Lemon proposed we started discussing dates and venues. And when I say immediately, I mean ten minutes after it happened! This was no joke folks. It was about to get REALLY real. I started throwing around dates and everyone thought I was crazy because I wanted to have it in the fall of 2012. They didn't think it would be enough time to:

a) find a venue
b) save $$
c) find a dress
d) save $$
and
e) save $$

How much could a wedding cost anyway?? I assured them all that it would be plenty of time and they were nuts!  How much time did you really need to plan a wedding? Psh, please Kim Kardashian did it in 3 months why can't I? Ok, I guess she isn't the best person to model my marriage after but still. What's the big deal? Ten months is ooodles of time!

 The following weekend Mr. Lemon and I made some appointments to go and look at some venues with my Mom. We had two appointments that day. The first appointment was at the Concordville Inne located in Concordville, PA. It was a beautiful day and it was seasonably warm. When we pulled up, we immediately fell in love with the grounds. There was a pond and a gazebo where our wedding pictures could be taken. I was already impressed!! Once inside, we noticed a huge marble staircase. It was pretty, but in my opinion a little 90s. Sorry, I said it! There also was no outside space here.  We wanted to have an intimate place of our own for our guests to go and sit. Also, the rooms were based on capacity. So if we wanted a larger room and did not have the number of guests required for that room, we would have to pay the difference. The room that did fit our guest number was very small and had A LOT of gold touches. I mean A LOT. I am not into gold so I wasn't really digging this place. Don't get me wrong, we heard wonderful things from friends and family that have hosted weddings and parties here so I don't want anyone to think badly of it. It just wasn't what I had pictured for my our day.  

outdoor space was gorg!

The second venue we had an appointment with was The Desmond Hotel located in Malvern, PA. Mr. Lemon and I had been to one of his cousins wedding last summer and we had an amazing time. Of course when you are a guest wedding, you aren't focused on all of the small details that you look at when you are planning your own wedding. We sort of remembered how it was, but needed to be reminded. We got a tour of the hotel as well as the restaurant inside the hotel The Fox and Hounds which was all originally from England and shipped here piece by piece. The Desmond only had one reception site so which was nice knowing that if we decided to host our reception here, our guests would be the only ones in the entire hotel. The Desmond had a gorgeous atrium where the cocktail hour would be. It was a new addition and it was fantastic. The Desmond also had an outdoor area. It was smaller than we wanted, but it did have a bench and was secluded so our guests would not be standing in the parking lot. We did however, notice the very prominent wall paper. My Mom loved it whereas Mr. Lemon and I were not so sure.

See what I mean about the wall paper?

Stay tuned to read all about the two other venues we looked at and then guess which one we choose! I know, I know how ever are you going to sleep tonight with the anticipation of our venue decision looming?