The Vision Gets a Makeover

In my last posts, I went over The Vision. The Vision of how I want our wedding to look and feel. The Vision was a combination of what I wanted for our wedding, and what I thought we could realistically have. While a wedding in an Italian castle would be one hell of a beautiful vision, I know that was not something we could do. So, based on what I thought was a realistic dream, I compiled The Vision. Why did I go with the rustic-vineyard vision? Well, I knew that South Jersey had an abundance of vineyards that would make for a surprisingly affordable wedding. Researching these vineyards, including Renault, Valenzano, and Tomasello, I thought to myself - "You know what, I could plan a really beautiful, and unique, wedding here - that I could actually afford." And thus, The Vision was born. 

my rustic-glam vineyard chic vision

  
But I should rewind. Before I had The Vision, I had The Dream. The Dream is everything I ever hoped and wanted in a wedding when I was a little girl. What does The Dream involve? The Jersey Shore. No, not this kind of Jersey Shore:

This kind of Jersey Shore:

 The Jersey Shore of days gone by. The Jersey Shore of salt water taffy, long walks on the boardwalk, Victorian mansions, Italian ice, The Jersey Shore my Ossie and Poppy used to take me to as a child. The Jersey Shore my family escaped to any opportunity we had. The Jersey Shore where Rob and I had our first vacation as a newly minted couple just one month into our relationship, and where I realized I loved him.

 Why didn't my vision include the Jersey Shore? Honestly - I didn't think we could afford it. I thought it was just a dream. A dream reserved for brides with much deeper pockets then mine. And then, something crazy happened. While I was in the midst of building The Vision, and setting up appointments to see vineyards, The Groom suggested we revisit our dream of a Jersey Shore wedding. And how did I react? I chewed his head off. And maybe cried. Maybe. I didn't think we could afford it. I also felt like I had worked so hard to come up with this rustic-vineyard vision and I didn't want to start all over again. I know. That's ridiculous. I made a freakin' mood board and felt like I was too far along to change direction. Luckily, The Groom understood where I was coming from and promised to do more research so I could get a better idea of what a Jersey Shore wedding would entail.

 While The Groom did research on possible beach options, I visited vineyards with my family. Were they gorgeous? You betcha. But, were they affordable? Nope. What we quickly realized was that planning this vineyard wedding was not going to be as affordable as I hoped. In fact, as we started to add up all the extras (full open bar, chair covers, bridal suite, etc) the vineyards became down right pricey. For example, we almost booked Renault. My family and I loved the resort-like setting. The hotel was lovely, the grounds were too die for, and there was even a golf courses on-site for The Groom to squeeze in a round pre-wedding. The base wedding price was about $78/pp. A steal for New Jersey! But this didn't include a full open bar, and only included a 4 hour reception, when we felt a 5th hour would be necessary. And, don't forget tax and gratuity. All of a sudden, my "affordable" venue was no longer in the budget.
 
 Upon realizing how my "affordable" option was no more, I turned to The Groom's Jersey Shore idea. While I was traveling back from venue hunting with my mom, I went over a wedding package The Groom had received from one lovely beach-front hotel. As we talked it over, a new vision started forming. Here was a location we could afford, in a setting we had always dreamed of. Could this actually be the best option for us? Were we going to somehow get the wedding we always dreamed of, on a budget we could manage? Stay tuned....