“ Having a play farm is such a weather-dependent business,” she said.“ It’ s awesome when it doesn’ t rain, but when it rains six weekends out of seven, it’ s not a lot of fun.”
So, the two-story barn was modernized, although it’ s still authentic with bales of hay, whiskey barrels and old furniture all around.“ Brides like rustic, but not completely rustic,” said Mandi.“ They want their comforts, too.”
The modernization included replacing a gravel floor with concrete and building an adjoining, matching wood-frame building with a bridal suite with its own restroom, groom’ s suite, other restrooms and a kitchen prep area. There’ s also a covered connection between the new building and the barn for when the weather is iffy.( Mandi doesn’ t use the word“ rain.” It’ s considered superstitious in the events business. She calls it“ Plan B.”)
But the barn is not the only possible wedding venue. The 40 acres are full of possibilities. People can get married in a clearing in the woods, on the great lawn, near the pond or at other spots on the property that catch their fancy.“ We’ re completely open to anyone’ s preferences,” Mandi said.“ But the great lawn is our most popular outdoor venue. It’ s a beautiful backdrop.”
And, of course,“ Plan B” is always moving back into the barn.“ But we’ ll wait until the last minute before we revert to Plan B,” she said.“ Brides know what they want, and we want to be able to give it to them.”
For barn weddings, the ceremony is held in the large, peaked-roof, beamedceiling loft. After the ceremony, while guests are eating downstairs, the loft is turned into a festive, sparkling party and dancing site.“ The downstairs of the barn is pretty,” said Mandi,“ but the loft is breathtaking.” The barn can hold 300 guests comfortably, but other options can handle more.“ We can seat more people on the lawn, and we can add tents on the lawn. We’ ll work with anybody’ s needs and preferences.”
The farm’ s wedding season runs from the beginning of April to the first weekend of November.“ Because we wanted to keep the barn as authentic as possible, it isn’ t air-conditioned or heated. We’ re eventually going to add an all-weather venue so we can accommodate people all year round.”
Accommodating people is the root of this family’ s business.“ We know that we do this every weekend, but for most brides this is a first-time, one-time event,” said Mandi,“ and we want to offer a no-surprises experience. We handle every detail. We don’ t want them to have to think about anything but having a great wedding.”
Photo by Photography and Design by Lauren
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