Wow, we had our first wedding in the venue this past weekend. It was one of the most memorable weekends of my life. Not only am I the Venue Owner but also the mother-of-the-bride. Yes, my daughter and son-in- law were married with a weekend full of events. It was a special moment in Thee Parsonage journey for us. The festivities kicked off on Thursday with a trip to the salon and dress shopping (I had a back- up at home, but great excuse for a new dress). Finished all the errands and ran to Thee Parsonage to clean a suite that was rented the night before. I spent the evening doing laundry and the accounting books for Thee Parsonage and now to only focus on the venue setup.
Friday came quickly and my husband, daughter, son-in-law, and grandson (5years old) met at the Venue. Tables and chairs were put in place, tablecloths put on and pressed, and decorating had begun. A couple of phone calls were pursued throughout the day changing the number of guests, so tables got removed and then some got added. The story of living in a Covid world right now.
By the end of the afternoon, all the tables were up, white linens were on, and greenery was placed on top of the linens surrounding the antique brass candlesticks. We were ready to place the taper candles, when we discovered a miscommunication had occurred between my daughter and myself on purchasing the candles. Now, finding 50+ taper candles in rural America was going to be a challenge but my daughter and son-in-law bought out all the white taper candles in Somerset.
3:00pm rolled around and decorating for the day was complete, so time for everyone to dash home and get ready. Remember at the beginning of the blog, when I said, “a weekend of festivities”, well Friday evening was the actual wedding ceremony and Saturday was the reception. Everyone was back at Thee Parsonage by 5:15 and ready for the ceremony. My daughter and I rushed up to the suites and she put on the most gorgeous white scalloped one-shoulder lace sheath wedding gown I had seen (purchased at David’s Bridal).
Back down to the venue with the fireplace and historic French Doors in the background stood my husband (who was officiating the ceremony), my soon to be son-in-law (whom already was like a son in my eyes), and my precious grandson as the ringbearer. At this point, I now became the Venue Owner, Mother-of-the- Bride, and Videographer. The wedding began and it was magical to hear my husband officiate the ceremony while looking like a proud Daddy beaming at my daughter. I then turned to see my son-in-law with this sparkle of love in his eyes as he stared faithfully at my daughter. I could feel the emotions begin to build up, but then came the vows. Oh my, my heart was not ready to hear the vows that each of them had written for each other. The tears were flowing good! After they exchanged their vows, my son-in-law made a vow to my grandson. This is when you can hear the sobbing on the video (Remember, I was the videographer). The ceremony concluded, eyes were dried, marriage license signed and ready to move on to the reception preparation. The newlyweds were off to enjoy a nice meal before returning to work at the venue. We took our 5-year-old grandson with us and had a fun night of laughter, play and lots of sweets. At midnight, I left my husband and grandson in their cardboard fort in the living room with a sign “No girls Allowed” and off to bed for me.
Saturday’s job for us was entertaining the 5-year-old and getting him ready for the evening. My daughter’s sister-in-law made and delivered the cake, and her mother-in-law made all the food. When we arrived at Thee Parsonage that evening, the place looked amazing. The simple eloquence in the room matched my daughter’s personality beyond words. The charcuterie style food was beautifully laid out on one side and cake/desserts on the other side.
The Bride/Groom table was placed front and center in the venue and made it very accessible for them to mingle with all their guests. The night was a fairy-tale experience and every little girl’s dream. At the end of the reception, food was put up and we all went home. A great perk of being the venue owner is clean-up can occur the next day. This is one reason we offer a 3-day Wedding package at Thee Parsonage, so everyone can enjoy their special day and focus on clean-up the next day. Overall, it was a weekend our family will never forget. We opened Thee Parsonage in 2022 to help and participate in our hometown community. I had a special place in my heart for Thee Parsonage building from childhood, and I wanted to share it with everyone. I never realized at the time that this place and business would hold so many new memories. Not only for myself, but my family, friends, community and all the visitors to the area. I am so excited to see all the new memories that are yet to come in Thee Parsonage. I won’t have to wait long to enjoy this, as a new bride and groom will be saying their “I Do’s” later this month.
Have a Blessed Day,
Kristen
