In my search for other options in wedding venues, I came across this little number...
Millard's Crossing- Nacogdoches, TX
*squeee!*
I adore this place and I've never even been. So I guess I can only really appreciate what I've seen so far -which has just been the stuff on the website- but it seems so quaint and so lovely. It also gets brownie points for having a ton of information about weddings on site, for being really obliging/flexible about wedding plans, and for being super freaking cheap!!! Seriously, I added up the total cost (including deposits) of renting this place for a wedding and a reception and the grand total is....*get ready to shit a brick*
$950
Yeah, I'm not kidding. And it's not a piece of shit, either. Here's the chapel-
Isn't that awesome????
There's also this really amazing cake business in the area that's run by a really awesome-seeming woman. I like it because its her own, independent business and she seems like she'd be really easy and personal to work with-
Cakes By Cindy
Likely, if we have our wedding here, we'd go ahead and do the Autumnal/Halloween theme we'd be lusting after. I did a quick mock-up on Dress My Wedding for what my gals and I might look like-
I was trying to avoid the black/white wedding thing, but I think if we throw some oranges/browns/auburn in there it'll look Halloween-y and not 'dapper'. The only reason the guys aren't included in this picture is because what we're envisioning for them isn't an option on the David's Bridal page. In keeping with the black/white/orange-accent theme, we might have them do black slacks, white shirt, black tux vest/waistcoat, black ties, with an autumnal flower boutonniere. I think Matt will be the only guy with a full suit because we're trying to avoid making people pay for things they can't afford (guys, tuxes; ladies, dresses)
Speaking of which, this is why my gals are all wearing different style dresses. I came upon the fantastic idea the other day (given to me by a girl who is going to be bridesmaid this fall) to let my BMs go out and choose/buy their own dresses from wherever they want for whatever they want to pay. I think doing this will prevent them from feeling obligated to have a spend a certain amount of money that they probably won't have for a dress they may never wear again (and/or won't look good on them). My only requirements will be that the dress is short (like knee length, or whatever) and is solidly black. That's it. Just get a 'little black dress', which is sold at every Target, JC Penny's and Macy's in the country, and you're solid. I actually was open to the idea of having different dress-lengths for my girls if they wanted, but then I saw pictures from a wedding where they did this and I just didn't think it looked very good. So we'll be skipping that.
The only things I'm worried about are these-
1. The catering situation is a little hazy, as there are few restaurants in the area and even fewer who actually have a website with catering quotes.
2. Nacogdoches is about 3 hours away from Houston and I'm a little worried it'll be further out of folks' way to get to. I'd like for everyone to be able to come (we're envisioning a total of about 70-75) but maybe if we can eliminate some people we'll be able to let others bring dates, which will be good for some people that might know us, but no one else.
3. I've never been, which is a concern in and of itself. While it looks great on the site, it might be a total shitfest in real life. It also seems like a place that would be run by sweet old people, but in reality, it might be managed by dickfaces that would be a pain in the butt to work with. So, I'd like to get a chance to visit it, but my window of opportunity would be within December 2010-August 2011 (roughly) and I don't know how ample my time would be to go and do something like that three hours away from home.
Otherwise, it seems like a really cool place and a definite candidate for our venue. I'm really eager to find really inexpensive places because I'd like to not spend more than 5,000 on the actual day (which is, after all, only one day) and more on the honeymoon to New Mexico. Woo hoo!
I'd like to have a centerpiece like this, maybe in a bottle rather than a jar, but filled with sand and a candle in the middle. This would be part of the centerpiece, not the entire thing.
