Weddingbee Blog

One of the few requests Mr. Pony has made for our wedding is that we get married outside. After a few searches, we stumbled across the perfect venue in our area: a chapel in a grove of trees with a quaint church available in case of inclement weather.

We visited, loved it, and were ready to book it immediately…but the venue refused to take reservations until it was a year out from the wedding. So we waited and waited, and my anxiety grew. When the day to book the chapel finally came, we called at the exact time we were told we should, but were told that someone else had already booked it right before we called. Damn.

After waiting five months to book what we hoped to be our ceremony location, we were heartbroken when we realized our ceremony plans had to be completely reworked. Mr. Pony and I were definitely anxious that we would not find a suitable ceremony location with exactly a year left before our wedding. Adding to that, I was scheduled to start work in two days, so the opportunity to visit new locations was slim.

We decided to check out some places that looked promising immediately. As in less than an hour after we lost our ideal ceremony location.

Our first stop was the Davis Lodge at Lake Bloomington. I loved that it was cheap and pretty, had an indoor area, and was very close to my house.

I did not like that we would need to rent chairs, that the ground sloped too much where we would want to have the ceremony, and that the indoor space was so small.

Personal Pony picture

Images via City of Bloomington

Mr. P was ready to book this place. Or any place, for that matter. He was worried that we would not find a nice outdoor area for our wedding. But, I was hesitant. I have been to two weddings here, and both marriages ended in divorce after about a year of marriage. Now, some would argue that these marriages failed because the couple was incompatible or failed to appreciate the enormous commitment they were entering into, but I say, why take that chance?

So, we hopped in the car and moved on to the next location.

Our next visit was to Mackinaw Valley Vineyard. We liked them from the start. We didn’t have an appointment, but the owners were more than willing to sit and discuss our wedding plans, show us around the property, and answer all our questions. We even got to try some pre-wine (it sounds cooler than grape juice) right from the wine-making process.

We were impressed by the customer service, but it also helped that the winery is pretty. And full of wine.

Photo by Beyond the Well Photography

Photo by Mackinaw Valley Vineyard

Photo by Dawn Bergeron

While we didn’t book the winery the day of our visit (I was having commitment issues after the burn from the last place), we quickly decided that we couldn’t pass up a beautiful venue with people who actually cared about our business, and also about making our wedding day special.

Even though it wasn’t our first choice, we are so happy our wedding ceremony will take place at Mackinaw Valley Vineyard in just a few months.

Have you run into any scheduling snags during your planning? Were you happy with the outcome?