Venue

This was such a hard decision for us! I was envisioning a really Southern wedding, in an old antebellum mansion in the deep south. Unfortunately for me, Florida doesn't really have a lot of those. The style I like is more in South Alabama, South Georgia and the Carolinas. Oh how I wish I lived in Charleston or Savannah. So we decided we'll do destination-ish, and we found some beautiful spots in Thomasville, Savannah and South Carolina. But we don't have any real ties to those cities, and I have a lot of friends coming in from out of town, and they would be very hard to travel to. We also found a few spots in Jacksonville, but as I started contacting vendors and taking off work to drive to Jacksonville to meet with them, I realized that it was going to get difficult to manage and plan, living in a different city.

In Gainesville, I liked the Thomas Center...well, that was booked, and I would have had to separate my guests for everyone to sit, and I'm not a big fan of that! Finally my mom took me to the Gainesville Country Club and we met Dan Hathcock (the florist and event designer), and I told him my vision, and we decided the Country Club would be perfect! He was able to understand the Southern feel that I was trying to capture, and wow, I can't wait to see what he comes up with. We even decided to do the ceremony at the Club out on the back lawn which overlooks the Prairie. I always thought we'd marry in the 1st united methodist church in downtown Gainesville, but when we walked out on the prairie, we both just knew it was our spot.
I am so happy we made that decision! Everyone at the club has been so helpful and fun, and they are all so excited for the big event.