Homegrown Wedding

A Year From Today

{Image via Pineland Farms}

...those chairs will be full of our family & friends as Rich & I stand in front of the gazebo...getting married! 

Pineland Farms it is!

{Images via Pineland Farms}

It only took 10 months, but the contract has been signed, the deposit had been paid, & the date is reserved.  It is official!  We are getting married at Pineland Farms on Saturday, September 18, 2010.   

2010?  What?  I thought you were getting married this fall?  Nope.  You see, my sister {my one & only sister} is getting married in 10 days!  We decided planning two weddings in one year is just crazy talk.  Let us spread the love and celebration for another year!  

We have our first meeting with Pineland Farms on Monday & I am ready to hit the ground running.  I am breaking out all the tools - let the DIY goodness begin!

Pineland Farms - New Gloucester, Maine

{Images - Emilie Inc., middle, bottom}
 
Located in the rolling hills of New Gloucester, Maine, Pineland Farms is a 5,000-acre working farm, diverse business campus, & educational & recreational venue. They make their own cheese, cows graze in the pastures, there is a gorgeous, state-of-the-art equestrian center, hiking & biking trails, a market full of yummy local goods, one-acre perennial, herb, & vegetable garden, & guest houses throughout the property...did I forget anything?  Perhaps. 

Pineland Farms was absolutely wonderful.  Rich, Mom, & I spent the better part of Saturday walking around pointing & saying, "Ooh, look at that!", "Ooh!  A horse!", "Pretty!" Okay, it was mostly me saying those things, but we were all quite taken with the Farm.  We ate lunch in the market {egg salad made with eggs from the Farm & bread from my fav, Big Sky} which is full of local & organic food, including wine & beer.  The Farm is brimming with beauty, charm, &...convenience!  The Farm does the catering {using their own produce & other local food}, they have many different locations for a ceremony & reception {garden, pasture, gazebo, indoor...}, & guest houses which sleep 5 to 21 people.  How fun would it be to wake up with the fam & our friends the morning after the wedding?  Fresh eggs anyone?

Laudholm Farm - Wells, Maine

  

{Images from the top: Emilie Inc., Wyndee Grosso, David Murray, & CA Smith}

Oh, Laudholm Farm. You were out of reach before I even found you.  Just steps away from the beach, Laundholm Farm is an estuarine reserve with rolling hills & fields dotted with barns.  Rustic, elegant...There is a gorgeous Victorian estate on the property as well.  So pretty.  So Pricey {for us}.  :: le sigh ::  I will still keep you on the list...

But hey!  We are going to be checking out Broadturn Farm in a couple weeks now that the snow is thawing.  Yay! 

Seating?

{Images via Martha Stewart Weddings}

There are many things to think, even worry, about while planning a wedding.  As we begin to tell family & friends we plan to be married & have our reception on a farm, questions begin to arise.  A recent question, posed by Rich's father is, "Where are we going to sit!?"  I suggested bales of hay, somewhat in jest, but knowing full-well just how pretty a canvas-covered bale of hay can be when accompanied by wildflowers...Perhaps we will put a few chairs out.  Just in case. 

Sweet Berry Farm - Middletown, Rhode Island

{Images via Sweet Berry Farm} 

Aside from having a fantastic name, Sweet Berry Farm is a post & beam farm market on 100 acres of preserved farmland.  It is filled with seasonal fruits, vegetables, & cut flowers including strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, peaches, & apples.  The Pick-Your-Own season begins in mid-June with the first ripe strawberry & ends in December with cut-your-own Christmas trees.  Most of the fruits will still be in season when we hope to have our wedding.  How fun would it be to spend the  morning of our wedding picking our own fruit to enjoy later?  They also have a homemade ice cream & sorbet shop on the farm.  I am there!

After reading through Sweet Berry's site I realized there were a couple important issues I had not thought about.  First, this farm does not allow dogs.  I completely assumed any farm would allow a dog, but RI Good Agricultural Practices {GAP} does not allow dogs on farms. I checked it out & sure enough III. C. 5. says no doggies allowed!  So no Simone if we go with Sweet Berry, or any other farm in RI.  So now I am going to see if this is the case in Maine & Massachusetts.  Second, um...where is the restroom?  I was looking at Sweet Berry's preferred vendor list & saw that a portable toilet place was last on the list.  What?  I have to rent a toilet?  Right...if you want to get married in/by/on/next/near a barn on a farm in a field/orchard then you just might need a port-o-potty.  Hm.  As I type this I just remembered that Rich & I went to a wedding in Vermont & they had super fancy ones with sinks :: mental note made::

Mount Hope Farm - Bristol, Rhode Island

 

{images via Mount Hope Farm}

Mount Hope Farm looks beautiful {from the very photos I can find}.  With over 200 acres of open fields, meadows, pastures, woodlands, ponds, streams & a panorama of views it seems to have the best of both worlds - farmland & the ocean! There are also some lovely country inns right on the property, which would be so nice for our family & close friends to stay in for the weekend.   

I love the barn, but even in the early stages of building our guest list I think we have already out-grown the 140-person capacity.  Damn!  But we will still have a look because there are other areas of the property where you may have a tent for up to 300 people {not that our wedding is going to be that big.  I hope.  Eek!}.   

Now...if only it would stop snowing up here so we can have a look at some of the places.  I am ready to get going...instead of daydreaming about it!

Oh la! la!

{image via Green Wedding Shoes by Elizabeth Messina} 

Be. Still. My. Heart.  Rich, let's just run off to the French country side & get married here, okay?

Broadturn Farm - Scarborough, Maine

{images via Broadturn Farm}
  
Broadturn Farm is a CSA {Community Supported Agriculture} farm located in Scarborough, Maine {about 10 miles outside of Portland, where I grew up & my parents & sister still live}.  The farm raises organic vegetables, flowers, pick your own strawberries, & super cute lambs & sheep...of course!  The farm is in agricultural conservation & is one of the largest farm properties in Greater Portland with 100 acres of open land & 330 wooded acres.

Oh!  They also do weddings.  This will be one of our first visits on the Wedding Location Road trip Spring '09.  The farm looks beautiful & we love that it is family-run.  They have a lot of space & a lot of creative freedom for a farm wedding.  There is no preferred vendor list, which I like, but they do recommend working with Aurora Provisions in Portland {yum!}.  AP ensures that Broadturn Farm ingredients are used as available & as many other ingredients as possible are local & sustainable.  Perfect!  Did I mention the farm is also affordable?  Yes!

I will be sharing other potential locations including a farm on the ocean & a berry farm.  Fun!

A Girl & Her Goat

I love this photo I saw in Rhode Island Monthly's Bride for so many reasons. 

1. Hello baby goat!  May I take you home please? 
2. The photo was taken at Mount Hope Farm in Bristol, RI.  A farm right on the ocean.  It is on our list.
3. The ivory silk lace-top gown with sash & cap sleeves, by Paloma Blanca, is gorgeous.  I am not a huge cap sleeve fan,  but I could get over it because I do not want a strapless dress.  Every dress is strapless & I have never worn one.  Ever.  So I am not going to start now. 

Okay.  Back to wishing I had une petite chèvre!