Saturday, December 20, 2008

Ladies & Gentlemen... We have a venue!

The most important part of planning a wedding is not only one- being engaged (seems silly, but you'd be surprised how many girls plan thier weddings and aren't even engaged yet) and two- never forgetting that a wedding lasts one day and that a marriage is forever but also three- finding a venue! With that being said, we have found our perfect, fantasy venue. We are getting married in *drum roll please* the beautiful, fabulous, gorgeous, venue of my dreams- Pierre's Restaurant in Islamorada, Florida! Yes, I like it that much and luckily FI does too!

I found Pierre's restaurant while searching through venue locations on The Knot. Side note- Ladies if you have not joined the knot and are planning a wedding you are missing out BIG time. The girls on the knot are so extremely helpful it's insane. Plus what better way to meet cool girls who are experiencing the same things you are? No ring envy there! Anyways, so I found Pierre's restaurant while searching through the knot, specifically I saw Samantha & Todd's wedding which was featured on the website. Truth be told, I fell in love instantly! After researching their website I knew I wanted to get married there but wasn't sure we could afford it. Luckily, FI agreed to take the trip down to Islamorada and visit it anyways.

Pierre's is a beautiful two story plantation house with blue shutters which sits on a private beach and is owned and operated by the Moorings village. Pierre's is amazing because it has the feel of an upscale location with some serious island vibes. At Pierre's you feel like your in a 5 star resort on an secluded island. (Islamorada is an Island, but I meant a Caribbean island)

I couldn't have been happier when I hear FI say "If I'm getting married, I'm getting married here. No need to look anywhere else". Are you flippen serious??? No need to argue with that! I seriously could not have been happier.

FI's dream wedding is a wedding in Jamaica far away from everything with just our parents in attendance. Mine is a wedding on a beach with all my family in attendance. At Pierre's we get the best of both worlds. We get to have a beautiful upscale wedding on a beach, far away from everything, with an island flair, with all my family as his in attendance.

It seriously could not have been any more perfect.

"In July 1999, Pierre's Restaurant was opened. The restaurant's exterior resembles the old colonial style residences found in West Africa, but its interior reflects different cultures from around the world.

Pierre's Restaurant is a sparkling white two story plantation house with blue shutters encompassing 140 seats, with 90 indoors and 50 on an outside veranda facing the Florida Bay and breath-taking sunsets. The downstairs features The Green Flash Lounge with its beautiful mahogany bar, leather chesterfield sofas, comfortable beige banquettes and rattan chairs.

Both the lounge and the upstairs dining room feature dark planked wood floors, an eighteenth century Indian arcade, natural textured walls, and smooth teak tables on kilim rugs, surrounded by Moroccan, Indian, and African artifacts. Each entryway highlights a nineteenth century richly carved monastery door from India. Carved walls, Moroccan lamps, and banquettes strewn with colorful pillows create a romantic setting"