Because Mike is very consumed with the completion of his thesis, I'm really working hard to narrow down the list so we can have a place picked out by the end of June. (You wouldn't believe how fast places are being snapped up!) Since I was back out in the WNY area, I decided to spend some time checking out our selections out that way.
Bridesmaid Jamie and I took a trip last Friday out to The Sweet Briar Inn, which is just a hop, skip and a jump away from our alma mater, SUNY Geneseo and neither of us had a clue of its existence! One of my mom's co-worker's daughters is getting married there this summer and tipped me off. I'm so glad she did, because this is definately the place I'm most in love with so far! I have to say, I was a little reluctant posting this because I didn't want to give away my little secret. Like all the good places I've found so far, the number of days that they have available for next year is quite limited!
Like the Hillside Inn, this used to be a private estate. Its has the long driveway and in the middle of no where. This place steps it up a bit more though. The inside is all gleaming hardwood floors and earth tones and hundred year old murals on the walls! The place is also a spa. What more could you ask for the day before your wedding!?
The site has lots of wandering space, a nice white tent already on site, and a two beautiful sites to have the actually ceremony!
The first area is a little bluff overlooking the Genesee Valley. I'm not sure if you can see it in the picture, but the stones on the ground are the foundation of a little old chapel that used to be on the grounds. How cute! To get to the bluff, the wedding party walks about 400m down a windy path of cedar trees. What an entrance! Plus, we wouldn't need too much in way of decor because of the natural beauty of the landscape!
Here's Jamie standing in as the bride, because as usual, she was dressed way cuter than me! Other amazing things about this place include the fact that you can get it for the whole weekend to yourself! I can see myself now, the day before the wedding, getting spa treatments and hanging out by the endless pool with my soon to be husband and my best friends. Sigh...
In other words, I need to get my butt in gear, check out some of the lingering possibilities on the list and get a deposit in somewhere, quick!
Hi JD! I found your blog while doing a bit of wedding research for my upcoming wedding in the Buffalo Area. I saw that you booked the Sweet Briar Inn as your wedding venue, and my fiance and I are interested in it for summer 2011 for our wedding. We're on somewhat of a strict budget and I saw that you guys were as well (grad student budgets suck), but that the Sweet Briar was still affordable. Anyway, I was wondering if you would had any tips, suggestions, pros, cons, etc about the Sweet Briar Inn. My email is jillianm@buffalo.edu, I'd love to talk to you about your experience with them and how they fit into your budget, if you're staying with them the night of the wedding, etc. Thanks so much! Hope to hear from you...
ReplyDelete-Jillian M.