Location, Location, Location

Until recently, our venue requirements were basically outdoors and maybe in the vicinity of trees. Finding specific venues has involved a slightly larger challenge. Eventually I settled on three venues in this area that have weddings often. They are: Williamsburg Winery, Boxwood Inn in Newport News and the Chrysler Museum's Moses Myers House in Norfolk. We've only toured one of these places and unfortunately it wasn't quite what we were hoping for when we envisioned our wedding (There will be photos to come soon I hope. They are currently in the fiance's camera in his car.) Then the fiance pointed out that when we first started out, we wanted to be nontraditional and close to nature.

That's when I began thinking about more off-the-beaten-path places. And it dawned on me a few nights ago, why not a local farm/orchard/berry patch? I mean we both like to support local farming and they could have the right mix of nature and infrastructure (bathrooms/maybe buildings). And, since these places don't tend to be the first places people think about when planning a wedding, they could be really cheap.

Could you imagine a September wedding in an apple orchard? The trees? The colors?? The fresh apple smell???

Maybe I could go all out and honor one of my favorite fruits and design the wedding around it.

I was already thinking of offering caramel apples as a party favor. Maybe having a Make-your-own Caramel Apple bar would be fun.

Bags of apples make me think of childhood and fresh-from-the-farm fruit and apple pies. And those bags would make a fun twist on a party favor bag. Add your caramel apple and few fresh apples and take them home to enjoy later.

And apple cider is one of my absolute FAVORITE things about fall, my favorite season. The first place I had apple cider was at an apple orchard somewhere near Virginia Beach (when I was going to elementary school down there). Why not make it a drink offering (especially if it is a little chilly by then)?

Apparently, apples make great candid photos for weddings?

They can even act as a cake decoration. What can't apples do?

Now to find an apple orchard in this area that would not only allow a wedding, but have enough "infrastructure" (bathrooms, running water, electricity, etc.) to actually support a wedding. Then compare that to the first three ideas and see how it goes.