Register or log in —

Newer blog post
more in Blog
Older blog post
Newer blog post by Miss Chick
more by Miss Chick (oldest)
Older blog post by Miss Chick
Miss Chick's Picture
Miss Chick, Houston Age and Occupation: 28, Rights and Reproduction Manager Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Computer Programmer Engagement Date: November 15, 2008 Wedding Date: April 2010 Venue: A farm outside of Houston About Me: Mr. Chick and I met almost ten years ago at Baker Blues, a college jazz party. He was attracted to my intensity, and I was mesmerized by his trivia pursuit skills and his dorm furniture adorned with his initials. We've grown more sophisticated through the years, with our love of wine, owning a house together, and parenthood (of a cat), but we have not lost our silliness or childish sense of humor!
About Miss Chick

I Think We Might Have a Venue!

September 29th, 2009 @ 1:41 pm by Miss Chick

You may remember our adventures in trying to find a venue in this post. At first, we thought (okay, really, I thought) I would want an indoor wedding, because I’m not a very outdoorsy kind of gal. But after seeing all the beautiful pictures of farm/vineyard/barn weddings (and comparing the budget spreadsheets for indoor vs. outdoor weddings), we’ve decided on having a farm wedding! After looking at these pictures, it just suddenly clicked that farm weddings suited both Mr. Chick’s and my budget and tastes!

The two places we are considering are Matt Family Orchards in Tomball, Texas and Cielitos Ranch in Pattison, Texas. We loved Cielitos Ranch, but unfortunately, the owner decided last week that since her daughter (who is an awesome Weddingbee reader!) is also getting married at the ranch at around the same time, it would be too much to handle. I totally understand, and I would hate to bring more stress to someone’s life (god knows I understand the stress of weddings!).

Last Wednesday, Mr. Chick and I went over to our friend M’s house to watch Glee. I was complaining about how it was impossible to find a cool affordable venue, when M asked me what we were looking for. As it turns out, her family owns a house and seven acres of land in Conroe, Texas!

It sounded exactly like what we were looking for, so we went on Saturday morning to check it out! We really love the house on the lake and the charming land about half a mile down the road from the house. We were thinking of having the ceremony in their backyard on the lake, then moving down to the property (which their family calls “the shop”) for the reception. M’s family owns a Mercedes restoration/repair shop, so there are two warehouses on their Conroe property where they store cool vintage Mercedes cars! How awesome is that?

We haven’t worked out the details yet, so I am not 100% sure that we will marry there, and I don’t want to get my hopes up (I learned that the hard way last time!). But I was so excited that I had to ask M if it was okay for me to post these pictures right away! And being the godsend that she is, she said yes!!

Another awesome part: M’s mom owns a vintage white Mercedes that she said we can use to arrive at the reception! Hello, answer to all our problems!!

So, below I’ve posted images of the property as “before”, and inspirational images as what I hope the space will look like “after”. M’s dad clears the land a couple of times a year, so right now there are some leaves and a dead tree trunk that need to be removed. M was also kind enough to assure us that the land will be mowed and weeded before the wedding. THANK YOU M AND FAMILY!!!

Ceremony:

Before:

2

3

After:

in-photography-3

(Source)

Maybe something like this in the driveway leading to the backyard? (From This Young House):

(Source)

Reception:

Before:

After:

5

(Source)

6

(Source)

Before:

After:

8

(Source)

Before:

After:

(Source)

Before:

After:

(Source)

Before:

After:

12

(Source)

Before:

After:

wedding-plate-ideas

(Source)

15

(Source)

Have you had any venue drama so far? What are the major projects you are doing for your outdoor wedding?

Tags: , , |   Link for this post | Share this post: I Think We Might Have a Venue!      
Newer blog post
more in Blog
Older blog post
Newer blog post by Miss Chick
more by Miss Chick (oldest)
Older blog post by Miss Chick
advertisement below

27 Responses to “I Think We Might Have a Venue!”

1.
Member Icon
Member
iswimibikeirun (message)  507 posts, Busy bee

I thought about you as I passed this place on the way from Stafford from the Med Center (going out Highway 90): http://www.regalranch.com/index.html. Apparently, they have a barn for weddings.

 
2.
Member Icon
Member
iswimibikeirun (message)  507 posts, Busy bee

Oh and I think you can bring in your own caterer (but not alcohol–they have to provide that) or use their menu.

 
3.
abrideagain
Member
abrideagain (message)  531 posts, Busy bee

I could easily see you using that space and turning it into some of the cool inspiration pics that you’ve posted! Great find!

 
4.
RecessionistaBride
Member
RecessionistaBride (message)  3,391 posts, Sugar bee

I think that would be a gorgeous venue!! I love your inspiration pics vs. the real location :)

Our venue drama… hmm, well it looks like our caterer may be out of business by next year when our wedding rolls around. We were planning on having the reception at their gorgeous restaurant. I’ve already contacted new venues & caterers as a precaution. I need to sit my caterer down & figure it out. :(

 
5.
tea
Member
tea (message)  2,623 posts, Sugar bee

wow, that looks great! what a fantastic find. i hope m’s family will be able to host your wedding on their land!

 
6.
fiftyfootbride
Member
fiftyfootbride (message)  3,690 posts, Sugar bee

Beautiful! I love farm weddings. I think that would be a fantastic spot.

 
7.
texasmeredith
Member
texasmeredith (message)  1,113 posts, Bumble bee

Miss Chick -

Your venue options look great! If they don’t work out, I have another suggestion for you. I’m also in Houston and I was at a wedding on Saturday in Hockley, TX (up 290). They got married under beautiful 200 year old oak trees and also had the reception on the same property. Where they got married used to be part of the Houston Oaks golf course.

Good luck!

 
8.
mcnetn3
Member
mcnetn3 (message)  127 posts, Blushing bee

How awesome! Looks like you may have hit the jackpot (MAY being they key word**)!!

 
9.
Guest Icon
Guest
josie

since you didn’t credit the photo, i just thought i’d share with everyone that the picture of the man in the driveway with the “holy matrimony” sign is from john and sherry’s wedding. you can find details of their gorgeous backyard wedding at http://www.younghouselove.com/wedding-album. it’s a shame you posted their pic as a “before” and none as “afters” because they really put a lot of work into making their wedding and home beautiful.

 
10.
Bee Icon
Bee
Miss Chick (message)  218 posts, Helper bee

@josie: How odd! I credited the source for the photo of the man in the driveway on my own website, but somehow it didn’t make it on to weddingbee. I do love This Young House, their wedding was so great! And on my own blog the picture was posted as an “after” picture. Hmmph. Not sure what happened in the translation to weddingbee.

 
11.
Bee Icon
Bee
Miss Chick (message)  218 posts, Helper bee

@iswimibikeirun: So cool! Thank you so much for the tip!

@RecessionistaBride: Man that does not sound like fun! Good luck! I’m sure everything will turn out for the best!

@texasmeredith: Wow! That sounds great! Do you have any more specific detail about where this is? Was it a venue or someone’s farm? Thank you so much!

 
12.
Bee Icon
Bee
Miss Chick (message)  218 posts, Helper bee

@texasmeredith: Was it House Plantation by chance?

http://www.houseplantation.com/

 
13.
Bee Icon
Bee
Miss Chick (message)  218 posts, Helper bee

@josie: This post was also missing a caption line talking about This Young House. Anyway I contacted support for weddingbee so hopefully this will get sorted out. Thanks for noticing and letting me know!

 
14.
Bee Icon
Bee
Miss Chick (message)  218 posts, Helper bee

Ah, the post is fixed with a couple of pictures there that were missing before. Thanks weddingbee for the fast fix! You guys are the best!

 
15.
MissLeah
Member
MissLeah (message)  103 posts, Blushing bee

Hey Miss Chick, love the outdoor theme! My BF (not FI at this point hehe) and I have discussed a barn wedding. We’d definitely be open to a full-on outdoor wedding if I weren’t such a worrywart when it came to potential for rain or snow (we live near Boston and want a fall wedding… and have seen snow in October!). Cheers to being gutsy! I can’t wait to see how it all turns out :)

 
16.
Bee Icon
Bee
Miss Chick (message)  218 posts, Helper bee

@MissLeah: Hehehe I hope he becomes FI soon bc I agree (obv) outdoor weddings are awesome!! Yeah, weather can be quite a worry! What about having it in August? Is it warmer then? I’m from New Jersey originally so I understand, east coast weather can be tricky!!

 
17.
pvaulter718
Member
pvaulter718 (message)  1,594 posts, Bumble bee

I love all of the before and after photos! I’ll keep my fingers crossed that the venue works out, and I hope it does so we can see your real After photos!

 
18.
Bee Icon
Bee
Mrs. Mouse (message)  3,306 posts, Sugar bee

I think your outdoor farm wedding is going to ROCK! I hope this venue works out for you!

 
19.
Bee Icon
Bee
Miss Chick (message)  218 posts, Helper bee

@Mrs. Mouse: Thank you!!! You guys are all so supportive! Much love!

 
20.
MissLeah
Member
MissLeah (message)  103 posts, Blushing bee

@Miss Chick: I’m hoping, too! We’ve known for a while that we’ll get married, but now we’re getting into logistics and budget ;)

To answer your question, his birthday is at the end of August, so we don’t want to piggyback holidays. We’re thinking Sept-Oct now, but we really love the changing leaves and crisp air. The first 4 years of our relationship were long-distance because of college, and that time of year reminds us of back-to-school and visiting each other on weekends.

 
21.
ocam_caro
Member
ocam_caro (message)  24 posts, Newbee

There is place near Baytown that I liked. . .
http://www.oaklandonburnetbay.com/
It’s quite affordable, less than $1600 and includes chairs, tables, even sound system!
A drawback is that the event has to finish by 9pm. . .
I would like to do my wedding there, but i’m not sure because September is still hot and it might rain as well. . .

 
22.
alvina
Member
alvina (message)  298 posts, Helper bee

So niiice! :)

I’m totally with you about the whole not being much of an outdoors kind of girl. But oh lookie… we’re having an outdoor wedding. :-P

 
23.
ColorCoated
Member
ColorCoated (message)  951 posts, Busy bee

wow! you may get lucky! Great inspiration photos!

 
24.
Miss Poodle
Bee
Miss Poodle (message)  3,020 posts, Sugar bee

LOVE your almost venue!!
The idea of building our outdoor chapel is the biggest challenge to us I think

 
25.
LatteLove
Hostess
LatteLove (message)  4,094 posts, Honey bee

how fun are these before and after shots! Fantastic inspiration–hope it all comes together for you!

 
26.
Guest Icon
Guest
heavnzbrat

SOOOOOOOOOOO lucky, it’s go-geous!

 
27.
Guest Icon
Guest
Engagement Shoot Locations! » Weddingbee » The Wedding Blog

[...] Well, as you know, just a mere week ago, I was a sad bride walking around like this (Arrested Development fans, this is a must watch) because of all the venue drama. [...]

 


You can also just...

Newer blog post
more in Blog
Older blog post
Newer blog post by Miss Chick
more by Miss Chick (oldest)
Older blog post by Miss Chick
Visit our sister sites Project Wedding
Wedding Songs
eHarmony Advice
Dating Advice
JustMommies
Pregnancy Calendar
Fertile Thoughts
Infertility Support
Copyright 2004-2009, eHarmony, Inc., Advertise
 


Sponsors
Miss Chick
Miss Chick Miss Chick, Houston Age and Occupation: 28, Rights and Reproduction Manager Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Computer Programmer Engagement Date: November 15, 2008 Wedding Date: April 2010 Venue: A farm outside of Houston About Me: Mr. Chick and I met almost ten years ago at Baker Blues, a college jazz party. He was attracted to my intensity, and I was mesmerized by his trivia pursuit skills and his dorm furniture adorned with his initials. We've grown more sophisticated through the years, with our love of wine, owning a house together, and parenthood (of a cat), but we have not lost our silliness or childish sense of humor!
Weddingbee PRO
 
Boards
 
Classifieds
 

Blog Calendar
November 2009
SunMonTueWedThuFriSat
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
2930

Weddingbee Bios
Wiki
More