Cator Woolford, continued

I realize it's been a while since my last post, in which I promised pictures, but I was a little bit busy graduating and going on a wonderful beach vacation with my family and Thomas. Anyway, it was also good that I held off on this post because in between the last time and now I found out that Cator Woolford actually has a blog! It's totally awesome because it's filled with pictures from other people's weddings, and I can get some actual venue inspiration. Here are a few pictures from their blog....

From W. Scott Chester

The altar set up and arrangement.. we want to have something blocking the view through the arch thing (they have put up white sheets) since the tent will be right behind there and we don't want to be able to see it.

The bamboo garden.. I hadn't even thought about it for picture opportunities!

We are also planning on setting up a tent in the courtyard like this couple did... we really want everyone to be able to sit together and not everyone would be able to fit under the tent that Cator Woolford provides.

This is an awesome picture of the bride leaving the bridal suite - the bridal party will all be getting dressed in there and I love the slate courtyard (which is where all the dancing will be)

From Kevin Nye..

I've usually seen the staircase used for some pretty dramatic bride/train shots, but I love this intimate close-up too.

and finally, from Climie+Co..

This couple had their first look on one of the bridges that connects the courtyard and tent area to an area they call the meadow. I think it's a really pretty location, especially when you can get the water running behind them.

Hopefully you've enjoyed these pictures as much as I have.. every time we go back to Cator Woolford (and yeah.. I've tended to swing by whenever possible since it's a public garden..) I am happier that this is where I'm getting married. I knew it was the place as soon as I saw it the first time, it's really just the picture perfect place to get married.

The Most Important Place

When I was growing up, I didn't really dream about my wedding day the way I've heard some people do.. I didn't have visions of an elaborate cathedral wedding, or a relaxed beach wedding, or any preconceived notions at all. I had ideas about being married, and being a mom.. but the wedding part I always kind of skipped. So when it came time to pick the location where we would actually become husband and wife, I researched every. single. location. in the Atlanta area. No joke, I can now look at almost any wedding album shot in the Atlanta area and know where it was held.

Anyway, despite all the searching, I still hadn't find somewhere that just seemed perfect. We had decided we didn't want a hotel ballroom, or any sort of standard space, so that ruled out a lot of Atlanta places. I also wanted somewhere with parking for all our guests - that was crucial to me, and eliminated a lot of the places that otherwise looked great.

Somehow, I came across the website for Cator Woolford Gardens, a little-known space that is connected with The Frazer Center, a place that "provides exceptional services to infants, preschoolers and adults with physical and developmental disabilities such as cerebral palsy, spina bifida, Down syndrome, sickle cell anemia, autism spectrum disorders and other genetic anomalies" (www.thefrazercenter.org). In order to help fund their services, they rent out the gardens that were curated by the founder. Not only did they have such a great mission - they were also one of the most reasonably priced venues that I'd seen.

It sounded great on paper.. but could it really be the perfect place to get married? Coming up - the requisite pictures, and why I felt like it was "the one"!