Step #5- The Reception Venue

I have had the great pleasure of being an attendant in many many weddings over the years.
(I'm not kidding..think 27 dresses here!)

In addition to being in many weddings, I have also had the great experience of working behind the scenes for the past five years at The Farmhouse Kitchen- a fantastic catering company in Sackets Harbor, NY.

I have seen everything from the quaint little backyard wedding, to the full out-put a second mortgage on the river house, hire a crazy wedding planner, I don't care how much it costs-weddings.

I consider my self very fortunate to live in the wonderful place we call Northern NY. We are 1/2 hour from Canada, 1/2 hour from Lake Ontario, 1/2 hour from the St. Lawrence River and 1/2 hour from the beautiful Adirondack Mountains. While the winters up here tend to last a while, I believe, the spring, summer and fall more than make up for it.

JJ and I have decided to take advantage of the beautiful fall weather (and pray that it doesn't snow) and we have opted for an "under the big tent" wedding reception at the home of my parents. This option excited me to no end-I am the eternal planner and with this blank canvas, I can do whatever I want within the limits of what my folks will let me!

There is a party rental place in Watertown. Oddly enough, it's called Party Rentals. They have the big tent that we are going to rent. They bring it days before and won't pick it up till a few days after, which gives plenty of time for a lower-stress set up. We are also getting our tables, chairs, linens, and dance floor from them. (We will also get some heaters, should mother nature decide to challenge us!)

Martha Stewarts (I heart her..don't hate me) website has a great program where you can put in the size of the tent, and then it creates a graph paper sort of chart where you can place tables, and guests and the DJ...it's quite wonderful.

A big thanks to my folks who have been awesome in going with the flow with my wedding planning, they have been on-board with everything I want to do, and I even think my dad is getting excited-he's not much for emotion!