a new beginning.

Matthew and I spent the entire day looking at venues. I mentioned in the previous post that we had booked the Hollis Gardens & Magnolia Building over the phone, but we still needed to see the space before forking over the money. Just in case we didn’t like it, we could cancel and I had two other places on our list to give us options.

The first two we looked at didn’t give us that “awe” feeling. I was a bit disappointed, and scared that we wouldn’t like anything. I won’t mention where we went, but let’s just say the second place was triple the price and although pretty, it just wasn’t worth the money.

When we started to make our way over to Lakeland, I have to admit I was a bit nervous. I’m from the Tampa area, and Lakeland isn’t too exciting of a place. However, once we got into the downtown area, my face lit up with excitement. We approached the gardens and the grounds keeper immediately introduced himself and started showing us around. The garden was beautiful, but I really wanted to see the building.

We walked in, took two steps…looked at each other and smiled. We found our place. The room is really basic, it’s a historic building with hardwood floors, exposed beams on the ceiling and great big windows. It was perfect. No burgundy carpet to contend with, no hunter green velvet drapes hanging over the natural light, nothing. I loved it.

The gardens were booked for another wedding from 2-6 pm, so we either had to get married after 6 pm, or before 2 pm which didn’t really work for us. So instead, we booked the promenade area bordering the reception building and have a lot of options with respect to the ceremony. It’s a huge outdoor space with tons of potential!

So, we have officially booked a location! We are so happy with the space and I can’t wait to dress it up a la Lynn & Matthew style!Oh, and did I mention this place is super affordable? It’s cheaper than the original spot and again…BYOB! Matthew and I are just starting out in life, together and we don’t wish to do it in the “red.”