Celebrating 5 Years at Rustic Manor 1848
And just like that we’ve been hosting weddings at Rustic Manor 1848 for 5 whole years. WOW! It seems like just yesterday we looked at one another and said, “Hey, I think we can do this”. Little did we know what kind of crazy amazing roller coaster adventure we were about to embark on…
Call me biased but our story is one of my favorites. Eric and I met in Culinary School. It was springtime and we both pretty shy towards the idea of dating since at the time, we were both getting over terrible long-term relationships. Low and behold, it only took a handful of intense blushing moments on my part for Eric to work up the courage to finally ask me out. One date was all it took; we were inseparable from the beginning *insert puking face emoji here*.
Coming from a background of hospitality, we knew this was the life for us. We’d been living, breathing, loving everything events for years already. We tossed around the idea of a small restaurant and a food truck but these ideas never felt just right. Then, one Christmas day, Eric found himself down on one knee proposing and suddenly wedding bells began ringing in everyone’s ear.
Pretty immediately into wedding talks we knew a barn wedding was the right fit for us but when we began our search for venues, we kept falling short. We wanted something safe for all ages attending, something with heating and cooling because, well, Wisconsin is crazy, and it needed indoor plumbing because as country as this bride-to-be was, a porta-potty wasn’t exactly something I envisioned in my wedding dreams. There was nothing. We felt pretty defeated.
We both came from hard working families who’s parents drilled into us at an early age that your level of reward comes only from the level of effort you put into something. We blame them everyday for planting that tiny entrepreneur seed in us because upon graduation, we both knew one thing: we wanted to be our own bosses. You know those a-ha moments that seem to only happen a few times throughout your life? This was one of them. I remember sitting on the kitchen counter in our apartment eating ice cream straight from the container and thinking, "We could totally do this”. Surprisingly enough, I wasn’t the only one with this crazy mindset! Eric had been secretly thinking the same thing and when we pitched the idea to our parents, you can imagine the shock on our faces when they too had been talking about this idea!! And that my friends was it…there was no looking back.
We searched high and low across 5 counties in southern Wisconsin for over a year for the right property. It wasn’t easy and I’m sure our realtor (bless her patient heart) was seriously regretting taking us as clients because I swear we toured over 80 places. If we were going to do this, we were going to do it right. Then, when all hope seemed lost, we decided to “dream big” and upped our search budget “just to see” what was out there. The very first listing to pop up, only a few dollars over our search parameter was this one. The butterflies took over as my mother-in-law and I stared at the computer screen in awe of how amazing this property looked. We toured it that week. I left the tour and drove straight to City Hall in hopes of catching the City Planner to see how our idea might be received. That was it…the ball was rolling.
Both of our families at one of our many round table discussions about how to bring this dream to life
Closing day! Eric was still working as a local chef and I was busy operating a local ski resort
Time to get the word our about RM! We did 2 news segments on the amazing events we host here
Granted, the ball was large, and heavy, and by no means round so “rolling” isn’t exactly the best way to describe it. More like crashing and bashing downhill through endless amounts of red tape at both local and state levels, all amidst a DOT thunderstorm that caused a construction delay mudslide which landed us in a pile of postponing our opening by 1 year kind of situation. But all these stories I’ll leave for another time.
Two and a half years later we found ourselves preparing for our grand opening. But you’re probably wondering, “Whitney, what about your wedding?!” Eric and I finally celebrated “I Do” right here on the RM grounds in June 2014. It was a celebration unlike any other! We had blueprints for the construction project we were about to embark on next to our guest book for everyone to see. It was a celebration of us, of our business dream and of the friends and family that had been giving us endless love and support as we perused this adventure together. We broke ground to bring you what RM is today just 2 weeks after our wedding which, believe it or not, had large fans running to keep guests cool (no AC) and a fancy porta-potty trailer for yours truly. We had a true barn wedding!
Flash forward 5 years later and as I look back on how we’ve grown, I still can’t believe it. Our office started inside the farmhouse, which yes, is mine and Eric’s home. We got used to waking up and shuffling into the kitchen only to find our bookkeeper had made a pot of coffee and left checks on the counter for us to sign. It brought a whole new meaning to “open door policy” and how we operated day to day with our team. We couldn’t afford to do everything on our list at first so each year we saved up and picked away bit by bit. Year 1 we were able to pave the parking lot and entryway. Boy were we happy to get rid of all that gravel! Year 2 we expanded the catering room and added an office in the barn, moving our team from the farmhouse to their proper home. Year 3 we decided it was time for more elbow room and expanded the barn again over 2,000 square feet! Year 4 well…we took a break from construction because if I’m being honest, we were kinda sick of always being under construction. Here we are in year 5 and we find ourselves knee deep in yet another construction project. This time, we’re building a brand new B&B suite for couples to enjoy along with a photography studio for our amazing Manor Studios 1848 team to call home.
We’ve added some really great services after listening to what our couples want from us most. Pair that with the ability to follow our passions and we’re honestly able to say, we have the best job in the world. So from the bottom of our hearts, we want to thank the over 400 couples who’ve shared their “I Do” in our home. To those eagerly awaiting your “I Do” moment with us, we are so humbled in your excitement for us to help you plan your special day.
Cheers to many more amazing years!