On a whim, I searched for something like 'cheap beautiful wedding venues' online, and found The French Estate!
The French Estate is actually a little more expensive than Kindred was, but it is just about eighty billion times better as well!
It is owned by a woman named Sarah (she lives there), and she is just wonderful to work with. She is very sweet, accommodating and honest, and she offers to do all these extra things all the time that weren't agreed on when she gave us the quote. And then she leaves the quote the same!
Ceremony Location:
It looks like a lot of people choose to use the backyard for the reception, but we decided to use it for the ceremony instead. The front half of the yard will be in shade, so we figured it will be better for people who want to stand and talk after the ceremony. The backyard is also farther away from the street, so we wont be competing with cars who don't know they're intruding on a wedding.
Cake and Punch Reception Location:
Here's the front yard, all dolled up for weddings and not receptions. Just imagine what it will be like, I guess! The two yards are connected by a wide side yard. There is no pesky fence separating the two, which means that we can just mosey wherever we want to mosey.
Interior (for photos, etc.):
We love how period-accurate the entire home is. It's beautiful!
When I first called Sarah, she asked me what I wanted in a ceremony location. I told her I only needed two hours max.. that I wanted the ceremony and the cake and punch reception outside and that's it.
The two hours has turned into four or five hours, she's offered to let us use all her chairs and tables, she has cake cutting utensils, she is making the punch, she is letting us use the interior, she is including a wedding coordinator, she is including offsite parking and a shuttle bus... the list goes on.
All for the same price. I have not seen this kind of kindness and generosity in a vendor yet! She seems so willing to help us make our day perfect, instead of wanting to make money. It's like she wants to take special care of us as though we were her own family members getting married, not some random people who called in, irritated because their last place fell through. The French Estate is a really wonderful location and both Casey and I are so glad that we decided not to use Kindred - we like The French Estate so much more!
It took me a long time to find all of these photos online and I couldn't find credits with them. If you are the photographer and would like credit given, a link to your website or for me to remove the photos entirely, just let me know.
