Our Glittery, Rustic Wedding (...to be!)

So, I've really gone into full wedding planning mode (finally! sheesh...) and I've come to the conclusion that people charge ridiculous amounts for renting vendors. Coming to this conclusion, I've also determined that it would be SO much cheaper to simply rent a vacation home up in Maine and have the ceremony, reception and honeymoon there! (We were already looking at rentals in Maine for our honeymoon...so why not? ;~)

So far, this is what I've found.

The Benthal Chatlet - $1200 a week

This one in particular, I absolutely adore the view and the rustic appeal of the interior. I only applied five of the ten or so photos (simply to reduce a clutter look,) but these photos do not give the lodge the justice it deserves. It's absolutely beautiful.

Newry Mountain Lodge - $1500 a week

Next is the Newry Lodge. The reason why I adore this one is because ALL of the wood! The bed posts are made from carved out, smoothed logs. Ugh...I simply cannot describe it, I'll have to post a few more photos of this place:

So besides log look, I love the fact that is has a hot tub and I absolutely love the shower! ;~)
I believe it also has a rec room, and it also has an extremely large deck...which would be perfect for the reception.

I'm actually finding this to be a bit more challenging than I had initially thought, considering the fact I need to find a lodge that has four qualities:

1) A location to have the ceremony. Meaning, it needs to have a particular set up somewhere on the property where I feel I could set the ceremony up properly (a place to walk down, etc)
2) A location on the property to have the reception. Yes, of course all of these places that I'm looking at have a dining room (the kitchens are a plus honestly, because instead of hiring a caterer, my family and I are doing all the cooking,) but there are simply too many people attending to host it in the dining rooms that typically hold up to ten people. Roughly forty five to fifty people are attending.

3) It needs to be something Cheston and I would both to like to stay at for at least a week for our honeymoon.

4) In addition to number three, there also needs to be access to stores and activities for the week Cheston and I will be there.

I'm still looking, nonetheless.

Now, as for my dress...I know I've made a few posts on Tumblr saying "this is THE one!" and it turned out that the dress was not for me at all--whether it be because of price change, new information about the pattern, wasn't in my size--whichever it be, they didn't work out. So, with the turn of events happening Cheston and I obtained a bigger budget for our wedding, thus I've decided I am going to get my dress custom made! For a custom made dress I've given myself a budget of about $500...that can't be too bad, right?

Because we are having an outside, DIY wedding I've wanted something rustic, southern, but romantic and classy as well. So I'm thinking lots of chiffon, vintage lace, and boat neckline, and maybe even capped sleeves ( Cheston doesn't want me to wear sleeves...he thinks I'm hiding myself...which I am.) Also, I'm trying to keep in mind I want it to be original and I want it to be kept to be handed down through the family as will my Purity ring (the plan is is that Cheston and I's first born can have the choice. Our son could use the dress for his bride, or the purity ring as an engagement ring, or vise versa for our daughter) But here are some photos I'm using as inspiration. (I'm also going to include what I think Cheston would look amazing in as well. This wedding isn't too formal, but not too informal either.

So, that's that! What do you all think? :~)