Chukkar Farm Wedding - Part I - Venue

I had the privilege of attending and helping with the most beautiful DIY wedding last weekend.  It was a fabulous event with the most lovely family at the coolest venue.  Are those enough superlatives?  Here's the happy couple.  I'm going to do several posts about this, and today's post is about the unique venue, Chukkar Farm Polo Club. 

This was founded in 1980 by Jack Cashin and his wife, Helen.  They wanted to make polo less elitist and more accessible to the public.  They started as a polo training facility and it is now a first class entertainment facility.  They host polo events, dog shows, corporate events, fundraisers, birthday parties, concerts, and of course, weddings. 

It is located not far from my house, about an hour north of Atlanta.  It is made up of 173 acres of pasture, woods, a river crossing, a 26 acre lake and these beautiful buildings and areas I'll show you here in this post.

Here's the view from the party pavilion of the polo field.  Look at that setting!  I should also mention that it was THE MOST PERFECT weather.  It can be very hot in Atlanta in mid-September, but that was not to be the case for this wedding.  It was cool and fresh and stunningly clear.

I snapped a picture of this giant polo mallet down by the entrance to the playing field.

Make no mistake!  This is a working farm with riders, horses, equipment, and poop! 

As we were setting up the wedding tables and décor, the horses and riders were walking through the tables constantly.  It was a thrilling feeling to know that this was an authentic polo farm and training facility, not a Ralph Lauren ad.

It's hard to fake this.

This unique piece hangs in the pavilion and is made of wood from the White House when Jimmy Carter (who was from Georgia, ya know) was president.

We were also graced by the presence of several of the most laid back dogs I ever met.  They were completely unphased by the busy group of wedding helpers that converged on the scene at 9 a.m.

I loved this boot scraper outside the club house.

Here's the outside of the party pavilion.

 

And here's the inside as they are starting to decorate.  It's the perfect mix of rustic and elegant.

Out in the fields, there is this simple structure which I'm sure many use for the wedding ceremony, but wait till you see what this bride and groom used.  I'll show you in tomorrow's post.

I love this hand-made parking sign in a cattle trough and planted with beautiful annuals.

Seen from the parking area, this is the club house.

I love the name of this club.  Do you know what a scuppernong is?  I didn't until I moved south.  It's a delicious white grape grown in this area and it's like none other I have ever tasted.

 

Here's a peek inside the prop closet at the event, and for a small fee, you are welcome to use their appropriate props.  The bride and her mom collected lots of lots of their own props and then they supplemented with some from this stash.

 

I also have to say that the staff here was delightful and I loved working with them.  They made everything so easy and we felt very welcome.

 

Come back tomorrow and see how we worker bees turned this unique place into the vision of this very creative bride.

The Queen Mom's Bedroom

 

 

As I have promised (and promised), I'll continue my tour of our home.  This is a photo-heavy post so get a glass of wine and settle in.  We have an unusual bedroom layout, and this is the only second floor bedroom.  Because my mother prefers to stay in this room, Mr. Pressed Pants calls it the "Queen Mom's Room".  It is serene and comfortable.  The walls are the only ones that we didn't paint when we moved in.  I don't know the name of the color, but it is a warm, very light coffee-color.

The previous owners had their two little boys in this room.  They were only here for five months, poor things, so, as you can see, they didn't even have pictures hung.

Here's another shot of this room when they put it on the market.  Those green things at the windows are the underside of the canopies that were hung outside, not an interior curtain.  You can be sure that those are history!

 

The focal point of the room is, as usual in a bedroom, the bed.  It is a cherry four-poster queen-size that we've had for some time. 

 

In the center is this wonderful old world landscape.  It is actually painted on paper, not canvas, and it has a small rip in the upper left hand corner.  I'm ok with that, though.

 

On either side of the art, I placed two brown and white oriental subjected plates.

Here's the mark from them.

These linens look a little washed out here.  The sheets are a pale celadon green, but not as pale as they show here.  Then I had two European-sized shams covered in a linen envelope and trimmed with a copper-colored flat trim.  Then I placed two Peacock Alley quilted shams and a fern themed needlepoint pillow which doesn't show here.  I don't starch these linens when I iron them, but I do use a spray fabric sizing on them. Guests often comment on the sheets, so I guess they appreciate it! The matelassé coverlet is a simple diamond-patterned off white. 

 

Folded at the foot of the bed is this quilted throw that we brought home from France.  It is in a wonderful café au lait color.

Here's the tag.  We bought it at a street market in Isle Sur Le Sorgue.

 

On one side of the bed is this end table with a few handy things for guests.

Here's a better picture of the table.  It is an old piece with great patina and a very pretty little back apron, or gallery that you can't see here.

I love to find an interesting finial for a lamp.  This one just wouldn't be the same with the little round brass ball that it came with.  The shade is silk.

On a tole hand-painted tray, I always put some bottled water.

Here you can see the corner of a bleached bird's eye maple framed clock.  It apparently ticks too loudly, because I have found it hidden under the throw pillows when guests leave. Beside it is a chalk-ware candle stick.  I wish I had more of this.  I'm always on the lookout for it at Scott's.

I put some turquoise stones in this lid-less stone-ware tureen.

 

The other side has a cherry end-table with a black candlestick lamp.

I always leave a little reading material for our guests here.  I also have a cord-less phone, but I am thinking of taking it out, as everyone has a cell phone these days.  With this in mind, I could probably take the ticking alarm clock out of here too, and let the guests set the alarm on their phone.

This is the other end of the room.  You can see the sitting area here and the window.

 

If I were really good, I would photoshop the outlet from here, and lighten it, but this is real life at our house!

This is the embroidery on the natural linen Roman shades from France.  I'm very attached to these and I brought them from our last home.

Here's a close-up of the valance made of linen and twigs.  Yep!  These are just straight twigs with a bit of lichen on them that I found in our woods.  I glued them on then I embellished with a few pinecones that are also hot-glued onto the valance.  I can't count the number of photos that have been taken of this.

The chandelier is a carved and gilded five-armed wood piece.  Soooooo much better than a ceiling fan, don't you think? 

 

Sitting in the corner is a lovely chair that I found in an attic of a home we bought.  I have re-covered it quite a few times.  The needlepoint pillow was a gift from a lovely guest. I forgot to take a photo of the other chair on the other side of the table.  It is bamboo-carved and covered in the same fabric.  There is a coffee-colored cashmere throw on the arm.

If ANYONE has any of this fabric they would like to sell, please let me know.  I found it years ago at Calico Corner and it was made for Martha Stewart.  I have used it for several projects and had this table covered in my office in our last home. 

This is a close-up of the lamp base on this table.  It came from Boxwoods several years ago and I am crazy about it.  It's very appropriate for this house, as we are surrounded by deer.  Too many, in my opinion, but I do admit to being so charmed by the doe and her twin fawns this spring.

Here's another example of improving a lamp with the perfect finial!

You all know my love for faux bois and here's a really cool piece of it.  It's a metal watering can that I filled with some of our dried hydrangeas.

Over the table is a small collection of more brown and white transferware, topped by an old carved wooden remnant.

 

This needlepoint runner is from a rug dealer at Scott's.  I can't remember what his name is, but he's been at the same space for years and I could walk right to it any month.

I love the colors here.  A dark blue/green, celadon, salmon, and blue.

 

This is a terrible picture, but I'm too lazy to re-shoot this birch and twig covered footstool.

 

So, what do you think?  Would you like to make a reservation?

 

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