Our Wedding Venues -- North Carolina

I guess I've always pictured my wedding a certain way... don't most girls? Screen Shot 2012-07-17 at 2.13.47 PM

...But once I actually got engaged to the love of my life and had a chance to make my dream wedding come true I sort of panicked.  I've been so overwhelmed trying to pinpoint exactly what I think would make a great wedding and making sure I know what Jimmy wants.  It's actually a lot harder than I ever imagined it would be, but who am I kidding, it's also REALLY FUN!  I've totally enjoyed picturing myself getting married at all these places!  I am sure wherever we pick will be WONDERFUL, and I am so excited.

....

We decided fairly quickly we would like to get married in Charlotte, NC.

WHY?

1. The first trip we went on together was to Charlotte

2. It has a large airport so all of out out of town guest can get there easily

3. It's easy to drive there from Atlanta

4. We liked the town so much we named this little bear "Charlotte"

Charlotte

We are going up this weekend along with my mom, Kate, Jimmy's parents and his grandma to look at venues.  It's been a long process of elimination, but I think we have settled on four great choices to see this weekend. :)

Options:

1. The Duke Mansion

The Duke Mansion is a 20 room bed and breakfast in downtown Charlotte.  We could have the whole first level and have an outside ceremony.

Screen Shot 2012-07-17 at 3.31.05 PM

Screen Shot 2012-07-17 at 3.30.57 PM

Screen Shot 2012-07-17 at 2.43.23 PM

Screen Shot 2012-07-17 at 2.43.08 PM

Screen Shot 2012-07-17 at 3.44.00 PM

Screen Shot 2012-07-17 at 3.44.20 PM

Screen Shot 2012-07-17 at 3.45.27 PM

Screen Shot 2012-07-17 at 3.31.15 PM

I am totally in love with this place.  You can check out my pinterest board where I think I've gathered almost every single site that has anything to do with the Duke Mansion.   -- all photos should be linked back to original site via pinterest.

Just in case the Duke Mansion is not exactly what we are looking for, I have set up tours at a few other places...

2. The Palmer Building.  This is an old converted fire house!  How fun is that?  You can do the ceremony and reception all in one place.

Screen Shot 2012-07-17 at 3.59.34 PM

Screen Shot 2012-07-17 at 3.59.44 PM

Screen Shot 2012-07-17 at 3.59.51 PM

Screen Shot 2012-07-17 at 4.00.00 PM

3. Vesuvius Vineyard 

This is a vineyard about 40 minutes from downtown Charlotte that looks amazing!!!

Screen Shot 2012-07-17 at 4.12.06 PM

Screen Shot 2012-07-17 at 4.12.13 PM

Screen Shot 2012-07-17 at 4.12.41 PM

Screen Shot 2012-07-17 at 4.12.48 PM

Screen Shot 2012-07-17 at 4.12.56 PM

Screen Shot 2012-07-17 at 4.14.01 PM

Screen Shot 2012-07-17 at 4.14.09 PM

The vineyard seems to have so many things we want... a beautiful white house and a barn and the ability to be outside.  I like this venue more and more every time I look at it!

4. The last place we are going to look is Grace on Brevard.  

There are not really any good pictures of it.  It is an old church transformed into an event space.  When I asked Jimmy if he wanted to look at it he said it reminded him of the tabernacle and he was all for it!  Ha Ha.

Wish us luck this weekend!  I hope we come back Monday with the perfect space!  If you know of somewhere in Charlotte that we absolutely have to look, please shoot me a quick note!

P.S. If you LOVE wedding photography, please check out "The Schultz Blog."  It's absolutely amazing.  Most of the photos in this post come from them.

To become a fan of this blog on Facebook, click here.

To receive this blog by email, click here.

To follow me on twitter click here.

To follow me on Pinterest click here. 

To follow me on Tumblr click here.