Details: The Venue

Hive, today is a special day! Today, our beautiful venue, Mustard Seed Gardens, is being featured in the Indy Star! (If you jump to slide 19, you may just see the Otters, as captured by Stacy Able! ;)) I'm so incredibly excited for Megan and her family as they continue to grow more and more popular. I've heard rumors that they're already almost full for 2014, so I can only imagine how busy they're going to be after everyone sees them in the paper! :) 

In honor of the special day, I thought I would skip ahead a little and start sharing some of our detail posts (don't worry, I'll come back to finish the story of our mini-moon!). 

First of all: let's just talk Megan. The Skipper family owns Mustard Seed Gardens (and they have a landscaping business, so the property ALWAYS looks stunning!) and they're also the ones doing the event coordinating. At our first meeting, Megan was out of town with her fiancé, so her dad Mark showed us around the venue. We came back the next time we were home to sign, and when I finally met Megan, it was like seeing a best friend that you haven't seen in a while. We immediately clicked, and she was so wonderful throughout planning. I even saw her before I saw Mr. Otter on the wedding day! ;)

When Megan and I were looking at options on where to hold the ceremony, we immediately chose the gazebo. Later, we would decide to have our first look there, too, but the gazebo was just so beautiful - we couldn't pass it up!

When we saw the barn, it hadn't been renovated, but Mark had shown us their plans and we were blown away. Personally, I liked the barn exactly as it was (see some before photos in this post), but their vision was incredible and I knew it was going to be even better by the time our wedding rolled around over a year later. They did not disappoint! 

It made for a great photo backdrop, too!

Right outside the barn doors, where we sat up the memorial table and sparklers.

Inside the barn was breathtaking. The twinkle lights, hanging paper lanterns, and exposed beams made the space feel romantic without taking away any of the charm.

From the loft area looking down.

The ladder over our sweetheart table let us add even more blooms - so pretty!

Since we didn't need to use the loft space for more guest seating, we had cocktail tables and small floral arrangements spread throughout for guests to come and take a break from dancing.

And the cupcake table! So many of you loved this shot of our cake and cupcakes (I do too! ;)), but what you may not know is that this is one of the many items that Mustard Seed Gardens has on hand for couples to rent. We also rented some chalkboards, barrels for drinks, and our chiavari chairs.

When we were taking photos, Stacy used the entire property - even the cornfields! Who knew something I complained about so much growing up ("Stuck behind a tractor AGAIN!?") would end up being the backdrop for so many of my favorite wedding photos.

The barn at night was just as stunning as it was during the day, along with the special addition of MORE TWINKLE LIGHTS!

The venue was truly something out of a storybook. As soon as we saw the place, we decided that we were getting married there. Meeting Megan was an added bonus, because I know her and I will be friends for many years to come (plus, I'm totally volunteering to work weddings with her there!). What was your favorite part about your own venue? Clearly I can't pick just one thing... ;)