Ruffled Bows: WE FOUND OUR VENUE!

Nestled inside beautiful Silverfalls State Park right outside of Salem Oregon. The Silver Creek Youth Camp is everything we were looking for minus the a mountain peak backdrop. It's rustic, it has cabins, it's private, it's PERFECT, AND are you ready for this......... It's only $800 a night! Given we can only rent the place out before June and After August we'll have to push our date out further but for that price and this location DONE!

Our new date is 9.8.12, two days before my birthday. That means for the rest of our lives we'll be celebrating our anniversary and my birthday together. I'm ok with that because hopefully we'll be going on a trip whether it being a European Vacation, Visiting the Mayan Ruins, Laying on a white sandy beach drinking something fruity with little umbrellas, checking off one of Americas National Parks on our list, or just a local camping trip I can't think of a better way to kill 2 birds with one stone!

Well I guess you could count that as 3 birds.... Anniversary, birthday, and yearly vacation? If it's a destination vacation we could throw Levi's November birthday in there too.....

Ok, this picture here is the big open field at the front of the camp. It has a baseball diamond and horseshoes. In the first picture you can see a few of the buildings. You can't see the first one which is the dining hall but you can see the administrative office where I'm thinking the guest book will be and the gift table, then the dance pavilion, after the pavilion there is a 4th building that is set up as a "meeting hall" but it looks more like the perfect place for a booze room. Probably because there is a stone deck wrapped around it with just the right sized ledge to place your cocktails....

Looking down the field you can see this pond! I know it doesn't look like a pond now but in the summer for the YMCA camp they damn it up under the bridge and it turns into a pond. The ranger informed me that he usually has the Y kids take the damn down but if I want it up for my wedding he'll have the inmates from the Oregon State Penitentiary take it down when they come to do community service in the park. Sounds like a plan to me! Now I just need to find a little rustic row boat that still floats!

Ah the moss of the old growth forest, beautiful. And it's all over the park. This is what the trees look like in the section we plan to hold our ceremony.

This is the dining hall, built in the 1800's. Picture it unwinterized with the doors and windows open looking out over that huge field.

Here's the inside of the dining hall. Check out the awesome wood work. I see white lights sturng about. There's even a projector screen if we decide to play some sort of slideshow or funny video.

OH YEA! Did I mention that all 4 buildings have a wood burning fireplace?!!!!

The dining hall includes 25 of it's original wood tables along with benches. Benches seat 3 people each so that is seating for 150 people! Exactly the amount we have been planning for!

I like these tables just the way they are. Actually I take that back I LOVE these tables just the way they are! I don't think they need table cloths, I think a nice off-white lace table runner would be perfect! Accented with a few collected jars of wild flowers or homemade terrariums in assorted apothecary jars!

This is the dance hall! We're hoping to hire a live band so we can shake a tail feather all night long! Those doors open up to the field and it's steps away from the booze room!

OH! OH! and when you walk pass the booze room down a little trail you come to the camp fire pit! A big fire pit with built in log benches for lots to sit, chat and be merry around.

The camp holds 4 individual camps. Each camp is equipped with 8 bunk cabins. Bunk meaning they sleep 6, bring your own mat, bring your own pillow, bring your own sleeping bag style.

The bottom left picture is a lodge, each camp also holds a lodge with a fireplace inside.

We plan to rent the camp Friday-Sunday so all of our friends and family can get to know each other and spend the weekend together and our out of town guests are accommodated.

We also will have to option to set up tents.

I saved the best for last. This is what they call the "Chapel". There is a short trail that leads back to it, when the ranger asked us to go check out the chapel we were expecting to come to a small building at the end of the line but no we ended up here. It's a circle opening in the trees with built in amphitheater seating and stage. There is also a creek running through that makes for a perfect background noise. I couldn't think of a better "chapel" for Levi and I to say our vows in because our religion is getting out to connect with the real world.... The great outdoors. We camp, we hike, we pack, we float, anything to be outside in beautiful surroundings.