Locations

Other than picking a date—which for the record, will be about as soon as we can afford it once Danny is settled in a job—the most important decision we can make is probably location.

In planning this wedding, our goal is kind of twofold:
1. We want to pick a date, time, and place that allows as much of our family as possible to be present. We know that with all the current economic shenanigans and with all the little ones running around, that won't be easy for a lot of people.
2. We want to create a memory that will last our lifetimes. For those of you that know Danny, you will understand the inherent challenges in that particular goal. ;) Just kidding. Mostly.

In any case, we've thrown around a lot of ideas—including California, New Orleans, mid-Atlantic Coast (think Charleston, Savannah, Tybee Island, Hilton Head), and of course, Chattanooga.

Every place has it's pros and cons and with the way even immediate family members are so scattered—literally from one coast to the other, it's challenging to imagine what might work for the most amount of people. So, while I think that all of those options are still on the table, we're going to first see if we can find a place we really like in Chattanooga. We'll certainly be working with a budget for the wedding, and having the ceremony and reception here makes things possible that otherwise may not be—we can probably accommodate some of the people traveling from out-of-state and we'll have more flexibility to do things like create decorations ourselves.

Not to mention, Chattanooga is known as the scenic city...

One of the potential wedding sites is at the Bluff View Arts District. This is a pretty little area that sits downtown on a cliff that overlooks the Tennessee River. Danny and I actually ate lunch here on the first weekend we visited Chattanooga to look for an apartment. There are a few art galleries, craft shops, inns, and restaurants at Bluff View. You can also easily access the Hunter museum from this area. There's also a little wedding niche that's right on the edge of the (picturesque but entirely safe for small children) cliff. There's an Italian restaurant up here that people rave about but we haven't yet tried.

Another couple of options that I've been able to identify are either at the base of or are on top of Lookout Mountain. This mountain really dominates the Chattanooga skyline and is also one of Jackson's favorite places. Both Rock City and Ruby Falls are on the top of the mountain. Lover's Leap (to the right) is part of Rock City. Lookout Lake Bed and Breakfast is maybe at the base of Lookout Mountain and predictably at Lookout Lake. The pictures on the website make it look like it could be pretty close to what we want, but we'll visit there and see what we can find out. Another option that we've looked at is the Reflection Riding Arboretum. It's apparently a pretty popular place for scenic drives and hiking and it appears that Lookout Creek kind of winds through the property. They seem to have a place on the property that's used for weddings, so we're going to head out there and see if what they have available would work for us.

There are three more places currently on our list of places to check out, but I think that these are the first two we'll look at. Pictures t/f!