Piedmont Estate and Gardens (also known as “The Estate”) is a relatively new venue on my radar. The first time I was there was just a few months ago to play for a corporate party, and I had not even heard of it before then.
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The Estate was originally an antebellum mansion built in 1797 in Wilkes County, then very carefully moved and rebuilt — brick by brick! — on Piedmont Road in Buckhead. It was re-opened and redecorated in mid-2012 by Tony Conway of A Legendary Event.
You have to love anyplace with stately, black, wrought-iron gates at the entrance. Then the circular driveway is also pretty awesome. Here’s the view from upstairs:
Sigh … Yes. The piano. Will you just look at that beauty?
Now, I will tell you a secret. There are some lovely wedding venues in Atlanta that I would recommend to any couple. They have great food, excellent customer service, they are visually gorgeous ….
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But.
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Psst!
Their pianos are NOT in good shape.Â
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And no, I’m not mentioning any names.
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Not so at The Estate. Their piano is not only gorgeous, it is actually tuned, and it has no stuck keys or broken pedals or weird vibrating sounds on certain keys. Plus it has some fabulous action, not to mention great room acoustics.
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But now I must stop drooling over the piano and move on to other aspects of the wedding!
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Meghan and Kris’s wedding was a little different for me because I did NOTplay for the ceremony. They had a string quartet for that. So I did not see the actual ceremony — which was outdoors — because I was upstairs at my Piano Post ready for the doors to open for the cocktail hour.
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I briefly considered snapping a shot of Meghan as she walked by me, heading downstairs before her entrance, but thought that might be a little … um, obtrusive, to her to have the pianist suddenly leap up and practically stick an ipod in her face. So, sad to say, I have no pictures of the lovely couple.
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But I did take some pictures of the reception area:
I had white roses at my own wedding, so I’m probably a little biased. Love the pink and white combo!
I love all the variations on the Guest Book that you see these days. Meghan and Kris had a “Guest Tree.”
Gotta love this sign!Â
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There was a rock band playing at the reception, and I suspect there was some good partying going on after I left!
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I can’t resist … I have to close with one final picture of the piano. Ah, such a beautiful reflection!