Here's the plan for now...

We plan to see the New Hope rental on Saturday at 2:00. It's a little pricey, but it's close to a few of the ceremony sites, and looks like it would be an awesome house to stay in for the week. As for the wedding planner, I'm not sure if that'll be necessary and/or in the budget if we have the ceremony/reception elsewhere. The owner said that having the reception at the house will actually cost more (not sure how, but he said he'd explain when we meet on Saturday) and that every bride that has stayed there has chosen to have the ceremony somewhere else after figuring out the details. When we go up there on Saturday, we're also hoping to see the Holly Hedge Estate and the Fonthill Castle Museum. The good thing about Fonthill is that you bring your own alcohol (they still provide the bar tender), so that will save a lot of money. Their fee also includes chairs, tents (if needed), linens, tableware, etc., so that eliminates the need to rent things. They also work along side a catering company, which is who actually coordinates all of the property rentals. So that would also be nice to not have to worry about searching for caterers/bartenders. It would also would eliminate the need for lots of decorations because the place is so beautiful already. Anyway, my mom is planning to call them tomorrow (they were closed today for some reason) to try to get some more information.

Thank you all for your emails/posts with advice and encouragement. And thank you Mom for helping me with all these new places! I'm so lucky to have such good friends and family to help with planning the wedding!