Bloggers galore: a weekend update.

Weekend recap on a Monday! 5 points for me.

This past week and weekend involved a lot of my favorite thing: bloggers. :)

But first, we have to go back to Wednesday night, to talk about the little dinner party M and I hosted. We had Syndal and her husband over, Lauren and her husband, and last but not least, Jess and her husband.

I took no photos besides these two, because we were too busy chatting, drinking wine Syndal brought, scarfing down the buffalo chicken dip Lo brought, the pasta that I made, and then pushing ourselves over the edge with the ridiculous Byerly's cheesecakes Jess brought.

nomnom.

Friday I spent the evening watching Say Yes to the Dress and making pocket squares for M and the guys for the wedding. It was only after I finished that I realized pre-made pocket squares only cost like.. $6.99 a pop (and some fancy tri pointed ones at Men's Wearhouse that were stapled to cardboard inserts were only $3!),... oh well. I had fun doing it and all the materials total only cost me $10, so I still saved some money. :)

Saturday I knocked a few wedding-related tasks out- took my dress to a somewhat questionable location to be fitted... I won't even get into it but it was a bizarre experience. The place was in a basement, there were leaves and gravel tracked in all over the floor.. another wedding party that was there before me (I just went solo) stayed and waited for me to come out of the dressing room in my dress which gave me ALL THE SWEATS, and then I stood there sweating in my dress while she pinned it because, no AC..and thanked the lucky stars I wasn't getting married in the middle of summer lest I sweat to death and die.

After that I picked up my brother with M and we took him to get his suit tailored. The guy ended up swapping out the suit coat for a smaller size since my brother never went to get measured and the seamstress was going to have to do a lot of work on it.. so that was nice. Afterwards we took him to lunch at La Casita over in Roseville because Saturday was also his 23rd birthday! It was nice to spend some time with him without my parents around.. my brother and dad know how to get on each other's nerves. Let's just say that.

Saturday night was reserved for #Coopsgrandopening! You may have seen a few posts this weekend on IG (kellybea14) about that. You see, Lauren got married on her parents farm, and her parents recently turned said farm into an OFFICIAL wedding (and other event) venue! They were having a Grand Opening event Saturday night with drinks and music and tours of the barn, so M and I carpooled down to Dodge Center, MN with Jess and her husband.

 

Let me tell you, this barn is so. freaking. perfect. for a wedding venue. They've done SUCH a fabulous job of taking a family farm and making it look like a professional, never-been-anything-else, wedding venue. You'd never know there were once animals frolicking anywhere near this place.

 

They have multiple ceremony options, too whether it's outside by the trees, or upstairs in the loft area of the barn- which might I add (as you'll see below) has some STUNNING ambiance. It's warmer up there, but hey, if it's raining, it's probably cool enough where the slight added warmth of the loft is going to feel pretty dang good on all you ladies in dresses.

 

They have some adorable "bridal" areas to get ready in as well. The grounds are BEAUTIFUL and very well manicured. I just can't say enough about it. I know for the area, where banquet halls and hotel ballrooms are the norm (not that there's anything wrong with that)- Coop's offers a totally unique wedding event venue. Even if you're NOT from the area, it's a great "destination" wedding location, only a little over an hour away from the cities, with an AmericInn just down the road!

 

The last thing I'll tout before showing you photos is Keith and Linda themselves (Lo's parents)- they are SO. SWEET, and welcoming and they actually genuinely CARE. That, in my opinion, is the best part of the venue: it's not some faceless corporation with hired guns behind the name, this is their home. They take such pride in it, care for it so lovingly, and you'll honestly feel like you're getting married at your parents farm instead of Keith and Linda's!

 

I'll shut up now and show you the goods:

 

 

I spy some blogger husbands!

 



 

 

and because Jess had her sweet new 50mm lens, and we're bloggers, there was an itty-bitty photo shoot. These may be some of my new favorite photos of M and I, ever.

 

The photos actually were started because this girl wanted some for her 2-year anniversary!

one of the outdoor ceremony options--

 

aannndd the indoor ceremony option. Stunning, right? 

Anyway, you guys should definitely check out their website if you or anybody you know is lookin' for a spectacular, original, home grown wedding venue.

And no I wasn't paid to say any of that, although it probably sounds that way. I just have a soft spot for barns. and weddings. and Lauren. :)

Hope you all had a great weekend, as well!