When the Venue Finds You (Part I)

When M and I first got engaged, I just assumed that the entire wedding would be taking place at my church. Ceremony in the sanctuary, reception in the church gym. This had been the plan for the entire first six months of our engagement, and I had never really considered other venues. I thought that because our budget was so low, we would never be able to afford an actual wedding venue in Lancaster. Where we live, there are plenty of amazing wedding venues, but they all come with not-so-budget-friendly prices. Although I would have loved to get married at any of the gorgeous venues my city has to offer, I was content with our plan and knew that the day would be beautiful and special regardless of where it was taking place.

Everything changed when I met with one of my future wedding photography clients this past summer. She had invited me to come to her venue, Landis Valley Museum, with her to take a look around, get familiar with the area, etc. I had known for several months where her wedding was taking place, but I had never been there before and had certainly never explored it as an option for my own wedding, thinking that it would be way out of my budget.

When I first arrived at the venue I was immediately in love. I loved every.single.thing about this place and was seriously gushing to her on how gorgeous her wedding was going to be because it was going to be held here. As we walked the grounds of the property and talked about wedding details, I found myself picturing M and I getting married here. The place where my client was getting married was the gorgeous Yellow Barn on the property, decked out with stringed lights, old wooden beams, and so much charm. I tried to put the thoughts of getting married here my head, as I realized that there would be an incredibly slim chance of it actually happening.

The Yellow Barn. Photo by With Love and Embers

After telling my grandmother (Nanny C) how beautiful this wedding venue was and how excited I was to be photographing a wedding there, she urged me to call and ask how much it would be to have M and I's wedding there. I'm pretty sure the conversation went like this...

Me: Ugh, that venue was SO gorgeous! The trees and the fields and the barns and the historical buildings and the animals and the grounds...the entire property is amazing!
Nanny C: Well, how much is it?
Me: Ha, probably a gazillion dollars.
Nanny C: Well, why don't you just call and ask how much it would be?
Me: Because I'm setting myself up for disappointment! Oh, but I love it so much...
Nanny C: Then call, or I'm calling for you!

I obviously wanted to make my grandmother happy, so I called the place and spoke with the wedding coordinator. She spouted out some pricing on how much it would be to rent the Yellow Barn, which, surprisingly, were NOT as high as I thought they would be. My heart sank, though, when she told me that the Yellow Barn was already booked for September 5th, 2015. After delivering the bad news, she told me that there was another building on the property that is used for weddings, the Firehouse.

That's when things started to get interesting...