Louisville Outdoor Wedding Venues

This has been my least favorite post! Mainly because all these pictures were taken by me with my film camera (yes I still prefer film) and then scanned in-- an awful lot of time to post this. But, here are several of the bigger outdoor venues in Louisville for your viewing pleasure. There are other outdoor venues in Louisville **, but due to time constraints I only took pictures of these. Each of these have their perks and disadvantages. These pictures are representative of Early fall!!
Farmington:
This is a lovely plantation. Location wise this may be difficult to find for Out of town guests.




Garden Court:
This is a seminary in Louisville, located in the old part of St. Matthews--which I always thought was lovely. However, this may be difficult for out of town guests to find. I am also not sure about local hotels in the area. The indoor area is very charming. Tons of places for elegant wedding pictures!






Locust Grove:
A historical home located off River Road. One concern if the shadiness of the property, as this will have an affect on photographer's lighting. Also, grounds aren't as "colorful" as other outdoor locations at this time of year.




WaterTower:
I have always been a fan of the water tower on River Road. I did not visit the inside of the water tower but the website shows some gorgeous interior.
Whitehall house and gardens:
In my opinion, this is one of the most gorgeous outdoor locations! The gardens are just amazing. FI didn't share my excitement for this venue though. One of the things that concerned me the most though was a $1,000 tent deposit (yes that is a comma there). This is not to rent a tent but just for the permission to have one. I would imagine there is a good reason for this I just don't know what it is. But the variety of pictures that could be taken (gardens, home, woods..) is larger than some of the other venues. Good place for an engagement picture?




What do you think of the Louisville choices?

Details

Here is a wedding detail I came across in the planning process. Often times details can ignored though, which is something to consider when planning the details actually will make it into your day. Jones Soda offers customized labels with picture and quotes. These are unique and personal touches. The one catch is the price is 12 bottles for 29.99 +shipping. Ouch! They would probably make very cute favors or an addition to an OOT bag. Check them out at: http://www.myjones.com/



Here is another cute detail for drinks. Sorry I can't remember the bio I got this from.


These were on the bottled water! How adorable is that? I think this could be something that is really easy to miss though! These were DIY but I dont know the availability of labels. I would image one would have to consider the condensation on drinks. However, consider using a label like this on handmade cookies or other edible favors. These wouldn't be hard to make on Powerpoint, and I know printable stickers are easy to find!
What details have you noticed at weddings? Does it matter if guest didn't see all your details?

Sugar tooth

One idea that we liked was the soda bar. I am not sure why we liked this idea. Maybe people wouldn't care to mix their own drinks. No one else dreams of the combination flavor of strawberry cotton candy and cherry coke? Well the reality is that this is how it shall work. I came across this on Mrs.Donkey's knottie bio.I am not sure about the peanuts in the coke but I do plan to do the cherries and lime. I bought jars at Ikea that cost something like 3.99 which is absurdly cheap. Also, they will make great containers after the wedding for our new home. She used Mexican coke and Dublin Dr. Pepper. I found an article online saying that costco now has mexican coke (pure cane sugar). Also, while looking I saw that Jones soda sells a pure cane sugar version. I also think I will try to find mason jars or buy some glasses at Ikea. One could probably rent these but again there is resale value. I think I will buy the large feed buckets to use for cold drinks. Drinks: sweet tea, coke/diet coke/sprite, bottled water and lemonade. My wedding is coming off as a self serve line :). One perk of this is that no one's glass will be empty, plus people will be more apt to mingle with others who aren't at their tables.

Top These Lovelies!

So, I am not a completely obsessive person. I think with all the cake topper posts I looked bad--bridezilla in the making? This is however, the one big splurge for the wedding decor. Here is the collection, minus one or two. By accident there was a color scheme that emerged that I think will matches the whole day (Gold/Brown/White with fall accents). As the height of this vary so greatly, I am thinking of using birch logs and cutting them into disks and then using them to display some of the cake toppers at different levels. This will also incorporate some of the "woodsy" feel I am trying to get. I am not going to elaborate on the individual cake toppers. If you have individual questions about any of the cake toppers feel free to e-mail**.

The Vintage Charm

Handmade Lovelies (Vintage cake toppers were used for some of these.)
The Silly Love Rabbit Couple.

Reproductions

Vintage by Crystal

**Sources for these cake toppers and supplies: bayberrycove.com, vintagebycrystal.com ( etsy.com), local antique stores, ebay.com, Micheal's and Joanne Fabric. Many ideas can be easily adapted for a bride and groom. Also, vintage cake toppers can be purchased for cheap off ebay or local thrift and antique stores. Consider though that vintage cake toppers are collector items for many and you may have to let the loveliest of the loveliest go to a higher bidder.


What is topping your cake?

Wedding Weather: Awe of the Average

So there is no way to predict the weather a year and a half in advance. At least not to my laymen knowledge. However, for the outdoor wedding this is a maker or a breaker. So I decided to play around on some of the sites (mainly to write about something beside the cake toppers :) ):
From USWX:
Great news : 0% chance of snow !
Average temp: 73.0
Max: 91.0
Min: 56.0
Expected temp: 67.0-81.0
Chance of rain: 24% (Not good !)
87% sunshine
45% chance sunny (what?)
3% chance cloudy

Sun rises at 6:40am
Sunset:6:21
Civil Twilight: 6:48

History of the day :Farmer's almanac
Year: Low/Ave./High/Rain
2007:63/72.1/81/No
2006: 60.1/70.3/82.9/no
2005:63.0/75.1/86.0/NO
2004:41.0/54.8/72.8/No (That seems cold)
2003:35.1/47.8/63.0/No (another cold year)
2002:66.0/76.3/84.6/.22in of rain
2001:55.1/66.0/79/no

SO some cold days and a little rain
also check the weather channel wedding

My pretty new cake topper

Would it be okay to not have a cake and just buy a bunch of cake toppers? Probably not, but I have my new cake toppers. I am IN LOVE with this new topper. How gorgeous is this? I thought I would think it was lovely but as I unwrapped it I was in AWE. This is a vintagebycrystal design. I would give her all my wedding budget if I could :), but than I would be left with hungry guests staring at my deliciously yummy cake toppers. Without further ado:



I just loved her designs that I bought a second topper from her. Here are some very cute love birds.