Where We Wed

Because I was a little paranoid about revealing everything about our wedding on the Internet (especially because you know my real name), I decided not to tell you where we were getting married until after the wedding was over. Now I can finally share where we wed! If you've been reading my blog for a while, you might remember this post, in which I talked about why we decided to have a daytime wedding. In the post, I mentioned that we really wanted to get married here, but because it was out of our budget, we had to find an alternative. What we loved about our dream venue was the fact that we could have a garden ceremony followed by a reception in a space with a ton of natural sunlight streaming in.

We researched other venues in Brooklyn, Westchester County (suburbs of NYC, where I grew up), lower Connecticut and Long Island. When we heard about The Fox Hollow on Long Island, we were intrigued. For starters, it came highly recommended from a few people who had attended weddings there. Steve even had a coworker who was about to be a bridesmaid in a wedding there. They have gardens and an outdoor ceremony space. They also have a boutique hotel next door, which is extremely convenient. The biggest thing that drew us there was the Winter Garden Pavilion, one of their three reception spaces. The ceiling is all glass windows so we could have all the natural light we craved.

{personal photos} Winter Garden Pavilion during a venue visit

When we saw it in person, we became even more excited. The gardens were beautiful, the venue had a lot of character and everyone there was so friendly. After hearing the amazing deal we'd get for booking on an "off" day (Columbus Day), we briefly weighed the pro's and con's it and ended up booking it on the spot. Before that appointment, we were having trouble finding what we wanted for the price we needed so we couldn't pass it up.

{personal photo} Ceremony Space

{personal photos} Gardens

But then, after we booked it, I started having doubts. Did we make the right choice? Would it be everything we wanted? What about the fact that the venue has more than one wedding at once (scattered throughout the day, but still--it wasn't a one-wedding-per-day type of place)? A lot of my doubts had to do with my own anxiety-issues but during the course of our engagement, I realized how great our venue was. Everyone I spoke to who had attended a wedding there raved about it. We had appointments and a delicious tasting and the staff was so attentive and on top of things. They really know how to treat a bride and groom. I searched for photos of weddings there and found quite a few beautiful ones. Not to mention, our photographer had shot there and he also had some gorgeous photos.

Now that we're on the other side, I can say that I should never have had any doubts. We were lucky in the fact that we married on an unconventional day, because we were the only daytime wedding so we had the venue to ourselves. The staff was wonderful, the food was amazing and because the weather cooperated, we had a lovely outdoor garden ceremony and a sun-drenched reception that exceeded our expectations.

Here are some pictures from our wedding day (all guest photos):

Ceremony set-up on a picture-perfect day. The fee we paid to have our ceremony there included the white flowers that lined the aisle.

Bird's-eye view of our reception set-up (our cocktail hour was upstairs so you could see the reception space from a window)

Fireplace and mantel next to the dance floor - I loved how cozy it made the room.

Our guests at the reception, and the light streaming in :)

There you have it. Next, I'll show you my dress!