The Venue that Almost Wasn't - Succop Conservancy

After realizing how much of a financial crimp a wedding might put into our future, we prepared to tour a venue about forty minutes outside of the city.  My mom drove to our townhouse early on a Saturday morning and the three of us headed North to Butler.  We arrived for our 9:30 a.m. meeting and were already starting to sweat.  It was ridiculously hot for early September.  So, we wiped our brows and got ready to see what this non-city venue had to offer.

Meet The Succop Conservancy* (all pictures are from Succop's facebook page unless otherwise noted) :

The Conservancy's 1830's farmhouse

Succop Conservancy is a nature reserve owned by the Audubon Society.  It's fifty acres include walking trails, two ponds, the farmhouse, an herb garden and tons of amazingly beautiful picture spots.

We met with Nancy, who first showed us through the house.  We saw the upstairs areas, were we could get ready for the wedding, and the downstairs rooms where guests would enjoy a cocktail hour between the ceremony and reception.  It was all gorgeous, simple and vintage decor at it's best.

Then, we took a walk outside, to see some of the possible ceremony locations.

In front of the house is a popular choice.  Seats can face the house or towards a wooden arch supplied by the venue. (Pic from Krystal Healy Photography)

Facing the big red barn would be a fun alternative.

In the herb garden, facing one of the ponds, is another option.

Then, we headed to the event shelter, where the reception would take place.  It was simple, with round tables, wooden beams and white string lights everywhere.  This space could be used as is, with all the beautiful landscape as decor, or could be dressed up with color and additional lighting.

From Red Lotus Photography.  (with some serious up-lighting)

On our way back inside to discuss more details about renting the venue, we walked through the amazing kitchen and had a quick conversation with Pete from Medure's Catering (the exclusive catering company).  He was there, getting ready for that day's wedding, but was warm and relaxed while he took some time to answer our questions.

Finally, we sat down, looked through some photo albums and got an information packet with prices and some vendor options.  We found out that there would be no rental fee for the spaces, the costs are all included in the catering packages and on a per person basis (with a 100 person minimum).  We could put a temporary hold on two dates of our choosing, to get dibs, or put down a deposit to make it official.

As we drove home, my mom raved about the whole place.  She loved it.  The FI did not seem as impressed.  I later learned that he had some major concerns about an outdoor ceremony and reception.  Also, he was still pining over the Heinz History Center.  In the end, he left the final decision up to me.

Pros:
- Gorgeous, unique venue with lots of space
- Private place where there would be no other events at the same time
- We could buy our own alcohol ($$$ savings)
- All inclusive pricing package that included food, service, tables/linens/etc. and was way less expensive than all of the other venues
- Medure's Catering has amazing reviews online and Pete was extremely friendly
- Fun options like a fire pit for s'mores
- Plenty of space for games like cornhole or croquet
- No worries about where guests would park
- Extremely easy to find with only one turn off of Rt. 8

Cons:
- Farther out of the city than we'd hoped.  Visits for planning, etc. would consume a lot more time
- Hotels are not as convenient
- Far away from the airport (all of the FI's family will be from out of town, but many will drive in from Detroit)
- Outdoor ceremony and reception is a risk
- Exclusive caterer (not Big Catering)

A lot more time thinking through the options (and maybe a spreadsheet analysis or two) led me to call Nancy to see which 2012 Saturdays were still available.  I found out that October 27th had two holds on it and September 1st had one.  That was it.  Eek.

Ok - October 27th please...  A Day of the Dead  themed wedding got the FI a bit more interested and I could imagine the beautiful fall colors the landscape would provide.  A day or so later and I found out that one of the couples with a hold decided to take the date.

Only one chance left, September 1st.  What were the chances that we'd get it?

Well, we did.  September 1st, 2012 at the Succop Conservancy.  Our wedding finally had some direction; everything else could start happening...  It was less than a year away and it was time to get planning!

* It is pronounced "suck-up", we checked (several times).