Wedding Adventures: Venue, Check!

After visiting tons of rustic themed places, I have finally found a wedding venue...Mount Hope Farm in Bristol, R.I. 

The search started with Colt State Park, just 6 minutes away. My fiance thought, "Wow, this place has it all! Wide open spaces, the ocean and an open air chapel!" We wanted to have the ceremony and reception there, but there was one caveat; no alcohol was allowed. And though alcohol isn't thee most important feature at a wedding celebration, let's be honest...it helps. So we moved on.

Chamberlain Farms was too small, as was the Tiverton Meetinghouse and Flax Pond Farms. Bittersweet Farms was booked. Sweet Berry Farms had a cutoff of 9:30 p.m. We thought we found the one when we checked out Coggeshall Farm Museum, also in Bristol, R.I. It had everything...a giant field to pitch a tent, stone walls, farm animals that included a very friendly and rare Narragansett turkey and history. Sean and I fell in love. Even my future mother-in-law wept because she could see us exchanging our vows here. After about a month of planning for a wedding there, we found out that because technically it was part of Colt State Park, it would have to be a dry wedding. I was heartbroken. The search went on.

Finally, I broke down and began looking at places that were originally not in the budget. Mount Hope Farm rose to the top of the list, so I quickly scheduled an appointment for a tour. When I drove up the driveway and saw the quaint bed and breakfast, rustic barn, stone walls, sheep and large field, I knew this was it. I was not going to let this one slip through my fingers. After the tour, I immediately drove to the bank, got a bank check to put toward the down payment and returned to Mount Hope Farm to book the venue. 

The only question now is to decide if we are having both the ceremony and reception there to make things easier, or to utilize the open air chapel at Colt State Park before heading to Mount Hope Farm to party. Either way, now I feel relieved that this is the burning question in my head.

One of the hardest parts is done. And I think I've already found a reasonably priced tent from New England Tent Co. 

Now it's off to find a restroom trailer, justice of the peace, caterer, photographer and dj.