The Styled Shoot
Have you ever wondered where those stunning wedding photos that vendors and venues showcase come from?
Maybe you’ve never given it much thought—like me, you might have assumed they were all captured at real weddings.
We were honored to host a Styled Shoot with an amazing team of talented vendors, bringing together creative vision, breathtaking designs, and the perfect setting to inspire future couples. Seeing everything come to life was truly magical and we can’t wait for our next event in the space!
Vendor Credits:
Venue: @marengo_lakes
Photographer: @queenanneslacephoto
Planner: @barrow_designs_
Florals: @sweetblossomfloral
Hair: @hairbytatumalbert
Makeup: @makeupbytatumllc @sevennineteenbeauty
Model: @hairbytatumalbert
Mobile Bar: @trailermademobilebar
Cake: @sweetswirlbakery
Rentals: @sagehillrentals
Caligrapher: @lovelyarrowsdesigns
Menus: @thepaperbetty
Sponsor: @coffeeconnectionshilliard
The Flooring
Okay, we’ve owned the property for 4ish months and we’ve made a ton of progress. In case you’re new here, we’re redoing a former residence into a wedding venue. The renovations began at the beginning of December and so far we’ve cleaned out the downstairs and removed all existing (non-load bearing) walls upstairs and downstairs, and shiplapped the entire ceiling. Next up, putting up the walls for the bathrooms and the flooring!
And now flooring!
The flooring project got away from us and took longer than we anticipated. As a result, Stephen and Dan had to work through the night to be ready for our Styled Shoot (pictures in my next post!)
The Ceiling
The next project we decided to tackle was the ceiling of The Lodge. The Lodge was previously residence that had a minor fire a few years before. The only evidence that remained was the smoke damage on some of the walls, the ceiling, and the fireplace. We tried cleaning (and scrubbing and sanding) and still couldn’t get it clean enough! After a brainstorming session, our to-do list got a LOT longer. We added staining hundreds of boards white, shiplapping the ceiling, painting the fireplace, and removing the upstairs rooms and walls.
Here’s a few before pictures where you can see the damage and the upstairs rooms:
At this point, Alli and her aunt started on staining the boards:
Then Stephen and Dan started constructing a path to get the necessary equipment into the Lodge:
And started deconstructing the upstairs bedrooms and started on the ceilings:
And let’s take a second for the Fearless Stephen and Dan:
And finally, we had a beautiful, fresh, clean, and new ceiling. It wasn’t easy, it was exhausting, but it was so worth it!
The easy part(?)- Demo
Kitchen and Downstairs Demo
Okay. Where was I?
Oh, right. The work begins. We decided to first see exactly what we were working with since the Lodge had been minimally maintained and left empty for a few years. We started by removing everything that was inside on the ground floor starting mainly with the kitchen.
Here’s the before
Eventually, we were left with this.
Our next renovation project is to install shiplap on the entire ceiling—3,000 square feet to cover.
Honestly, we’re not sure what we were thinking either!
Fingers crossed it turns out beautifully!
The Beginning
The Beginning
Every great story starts somewhere. The beginning of this story, well. It’s not what you might expect.
Stephen and Alli started looking for a new home for their growing family and instead they found the opportunity of a lifetime. Stephen (a Realtor) started looking for homes that would give him the acreage that he had always wanted. He found 52 acres of beautiful land in Marengo. The house on the property had been left empty but maintained for about 2 years. Going into it, they knew there would be some work to restore it to its former glory and make it the home they had searched for…. And this, my friends, is where the story took a sharp turn.
They went to tour it and discovered that it had so much more potential than just being a home. It had so much more potential than just hosting the special moments and memories of their family. This place, this Lodge…. It was something really really special. The Lodge boasted high ceilings, large open spaces, a towering fireplace, lake views, and so much potential. They could see it for what it could be, not what it was built to be. A Lodge to host weddings, parties, corporate events, craft fairs, and gatherings. It could be a destination.
Once purchased, the planning began. What needed renovating? What could stay as it was? What could wait until they were fully on their feet and running?
If you’ve ever done renovations, you know that the beautiful and stressful and exciting part is that the project takes on a life of its own. The finished project often looks different than the intended finished project. So, our planned first step: Demo the kitchen and create a blank slate.
Let’s see where that leads us.
Every great story has a beginning, and ours started in a way I never saw coming.
Stephen and I were searching for a new home for our growing family. He’s a Realtor, and he’d always dreamed of finding a house with plenty of land. One day, he found 52 acres of beautiful property in Marengo. The house had been sitting empty and neglected for two years, and it needed a lot of work. But something about it caught our attention, so we decided to take a look.
When we toured the property, I realized this wasn’t just a house—it was so much more. Yes, it needed restoring, but it had the kind of potential that’s hard to put into words. The Lodge, as we call it now, had high ceilings, wide-open spaces, a towering fireplace, and gorgeous views of a small lake framed by a willow tree. It wasn’t just a place to raise a family; it was something bigger. We could imagine it hosting weddings, celebrations, corporate events, craft fairs, and more.
And just like that, our search for a family home turned into a much bigger vision.
Once we bought the property, we got to work. Renovating something this size isn’t for the faint of heart. We had to figure out what needed immediate attention, what could wait, and what to leave just as it was. If you’ve ever tackled a renovation, you know that it rarely goes exactly as planned. Our first major step was demoing the kitchen to give us a blank slate to start with.
Since then, the Lodge has taken on a life of its own, and so has our dream. We’re excited to see how this story unfolds—and we’re so grateful to be sharing it with you.