We are so excited to introduce you to our dear friend Epiphany. Epiphany is the event coordinator at The Piggery at Anna Dean Farms and we are so blessed to call her our friend. We have watched the Piggery grow from its first wedding to now booking the whole wedding season. We currently have two 2016 weddings and one 2017 weddings at The Piggery and we couldn’t be more excited!

One thing I wish I could tell Brides when they are planning their wedding:

There are actually a bunch of things I wish that I could tell every bride, but the two biggest ones would be:

-Use Pinterest in moderation- there are a lot of really awesome ideas to be found there, but it’s easy to forget that a lot of beautiful images you see are the result of a staged shoot, which isn’t the most realistic thing to put into practice on your wedding day. Definitely use it to find inspiration, but don’t become so married to an idea that you sacrifice your budget or sanity to make it happen!

-RENT THE RUNWAY. Seriously. I wish I would have known about this for my wedding, for my friends’ weddings, for every wedding I have ever attended haha. It is SUCH an awesome idea! With rent the runway, you can get a gorgeous high-end look without your bridesmaids having to spend a fortune. They also have AWESOME accessories for the bride.

Detail you should splurge on:

I’m totally not just saying this because this is for a photography blog, but if you’re going to splurge on one thing, it should be pictures. Pictures (and memories!) are the only thing that you will have to remind you of your day once it is all said and done. Hands down, every time one of my brides has tried to get away with spending nothing on their photographer, they are sad. And that makes me sad, because I still love going through my wedding photos five years after the fact, and I’m sure I will still love it when it’s been 50 years, and that is something that I wish for every couple.

Favorite part of the wedding day:

My favorite part of the wedding day is when the Groom sees the Bride for the first time. I know that a lot of people really love to watch the Bride come in, and it is such a beautiful, dramatic moment, but I always have my eyes glued to the Groom’s face. There is so much love and wonder and amazement and awe in his eyes…it is so beautiful.

What Brides should know about a DIY wedding:

DIY doesn’t necessarily mean “cheap” and it definitely takes a good amount of organization and planning. Yes, you can save a lot of money by sewing all of your tablecloths yourself, but make sure you have enough time and patience to do it, otherwise you’ll be one month out from your event and realize that you probably should have just rented.  I love seeing all of the awesome and creative things that our couples come up with, and I’ve found that the couples who have been most successful are the ones who were realistic with themselves about what they could and couldn’t manage, and planned their projects based on that.

About the Piggery:

The Piggery is a historic brick and mortar barn. It is one of the last remaining structures of the original Anna Dean Farm, which encompassed 3,500 acres and was, in the early 1900s, one of the largest working farms in the world.  It was, in fact, built for pigs (hence the name), but only housed them for about three years.

The Piggery has been lovingly restored through the volunteer efforts of the passionate members of the Barberton Historical Society. Money from events goes right back into the building, helping to preserve this treasure for generations to come.  We are very proud of our “white space” venue and all of its quirky attributes, which we think add to the uniqueness of the space. It is truly a DIY space, so it isn’t for everyone! But for the right couple, it can be the perfect backdrop to create a truly stunning, one of a kind event.