I grew up on a 5 acre farm in Illinois and despite my parents divorce while I was in high school, my mom decided to keep the property. During the divorce I wanted nothing to do with being there but as I got older, had my daughter, met the most wonderful man and moved away (1800 miles away) I realized how much I really loved the farm.
So when we got engaged and it came time to determine wedding venues, we looked at a lot of places in Illinois but ultimately decided we would have it at the farm. We'd have a tent, strung up lights over the cocktail hour space, lights wrapped around the trees, yard games...the whole nine.
Fast forward to this summer (2014) and my mom and step dad decided they'd try to put the farm on the market just to see if they got any offers. After 4 months and only a handful of showings and no offers, they pretty much determined that it wasn't going to be sold so we started to really get into the wedding planning. Didn't officially book anything or put deposits down but started getting the decor and overall feel figured out.
The listing was due to expire September 30th 2014 and my mom calls me September 29th and says, "We got an offer on the farm."
The lovely farm I grew up on.
After some negotiating and counteroffers, a selling price was settled on, the contract was put in and now we wait. They have an estimated closing date of Halloween but this is pending the appraisal and inspections. Now my mom is a real estate agent so she does this for a living and she knew exactly how much our farm was worth so the appraisal is just a formality really considering she's had quite a few appraisals done over the years and knows the market quite well.
SO! We are now back to square one regarding wedding venues. We'll find something I'm sure because we have a year until our date but its still a bit stressful.
Also, the news that the farm is selling is actually kind of difficult for me (and my siblings). Even though I wasn't a huge fan of it growing up, I know I will greatly miss being able to come back and visit it when we come to Illinois to see family. The offer kind of blindsided all of us and we were not really prepared for it. It's definitely a sad day. I was looking forward to getting wedding pictures taken in my old room (that is now my daughter's room for when she visits) getting ready in my wedding gown.
Everything will work out and I'm happy my mom and step dad are finally able to buy a place they want to live...but I tell ya.....
Times, they are a changin'.
