Shortly after we were engaged, Chris and I started our wedding planning by beginning our search for a wedding location.  We had a few criteria that we were working with.  First, we wanted to a place that was easily accessible for all of our guests, whether by car or by plane.  We also decided that we wanted to have our ceremony and reception at the same location to avoid added transportation costs as well as any hassles that would come from getting our guests from place to place.

As I’ve said before, Chris and I attended The University of Alabama for our undergraduate education.  Chris lived and worked out of Atlanta for 3 years after he graduated up until we made the move to Boston.  Since both of our families now live in North Carolina we decided that Atlanta would be a perfect location for our wedding.  It met all of our criteria, being within 3 hours driving of most of our families and friends, and is also home to a major airport.

With our city decided, we started looking at various locations around the city, with one place sticking out in our minds: Chateau Élan Winery and Resort.  Chateau Élan is about 50 miles northeast of Atlanta, and is a beautiful resort that offers vineyard views, excellent golfing, and a beautiful spa that we had been to a few times before.  So we ignored a lot of places and made an appointment to view the property and to discuss everything with their wedding coordinator.  So we made the trip down to Atlanta with the presumption that we would likely book our date within a week.  However, when we got there and started touring around, there were so many various rooms for reception and only 3 ceremony sites.  While I loved the reception ballrooms, none of the ceremony sites were quite private enough for us, and there were also a few rules and restrictions on which ceremony sites went with which reception sites.  So although it was beautiful and all-inclusive, we had to say no to our Chateau Élan Wedding.

So with no other appointments booked for the weekend, we went back to Boston and resumed our search.  I had a hard time finding places that met our criteria that I also liked the looks of online.  One day while searching during class I came upon a perfect option: The Piedmont Room at Park Tavern.  It is an event space atop a restaurant that overlooks Piedmont Park, a place where Chris and I spent much of our time while he was living there.  To avoid putting ourselves in the same position as the first time, we also booked a few other appointments at other places in the area.  When we got to the Piedmont Room, though, we were immediately in love.  They offer a modern space with pink lighting and floor-to-ceiling window views of Piedmont Park and the Atlanta skyline.

They also have a separate kitchen and staff for events, so our catering and beverage services will be included.  For us this was perfect, because it means one less vendor that we have to book from out of town.  The final thing was how friendly and helpful the staff was.  Within a few hours of our appointment our event coordinator Lauren had provided us with a detailed estimate of everything that we were interested in.

We decided to think it over for a few days and go to the rest of our appointments.  The next week we signed our contract and got our date!  I’m so excited to have this first big step completed so that we can keep progressing toward our dream wedding!

Elizabeth