Behind The Scenes
We have a couple of lovely styled shoots to show you guys in the coming weeks but I thought it might be a nice change of pace to see some of the behind-the-scenes work we do here at Rivendell to keep the grounds looking perfect. Taking care of Rivendell is a lot of work but I really enjoy it. It is the stuff of cottage-core dreams!
This gorgeous field, along with the other 3.5 acres of Rivendell, is mowed by Jerry McGowan of Grass-Cutters in Grandview. After this crazy rainy season he had to mow through quite a bit of tall grass and since we had a styled shoot coming up in the next few days I went out and raked it all so that it would look nice and keep the grass away from any of the wedding gowns. For those cottage vibes I put on Acoustic Eidolon, which is great for pre-ceremony music as well!
I’ve also been busy replacing bits of our garden that were struggling after the extraordinary amounts of snow we got this winter! Our English Ivy not only survived but has been thriving and I made sure to latch it to our lattice to help it along.
While I truly do love being out at Rivendell and I enjoy the landscaping aspect of my job… I have to admit, there is one thing about being out in the elements that I don’t always love… The Mosquitos! The good news is that we have a great way to take care of those mosquitos! I promise you were are not getting kickbacks from this product, I just am constantly amazed by how well these things work (and we often place them around the venue during weddings and events as well). Check out these little Thermacell Mosquito Repellers. They are small and the ones we use for events are black and easy to hide around the event space!
These things work wonders and we have them at weddings and events to keep mosquitos away!
(The fireflies don’t seem to mind them though!)
Most of the photos here are from this year but I wanted to post a throwback to last year when I was landscaping at Rivendell during the Covid-19 shutdown and I made this collage of my landscaping tasks. It was honestly such a normal-seeming thing to do that I could go out to Rivendell and landscape all day and try to forget about everything going on in the outside world. It was such a peaceful outlet and I felt so fortunate to have this job!
The grass was getting a little high in that photo from last year, but now we have Jerry McGowan to mow for us and its a huge help to keep the grounds looking good. We also recently had Devin Simpson come out and pressure wash our metal structures, and I had to snap this photo of the mist creating a rainbow.
And now they both look good as new!
As we come into a new year, I am finding out about all of the things that will need yearly maintenance and starting to figure out a schedule and finding some patterns that I can take into account for the years to come. Filling the Granite path is one of those jobs that will come around year after year, but I don’t mind because its a Great work out! (And I admittedly get my husband to help me out with this one! :D )
Landscaping can be hard work but it is very fulfilling and the best part is…. getting to kick back and relax after a day of work and admire the beautiful space. And of course seeing others enjoy the space at the weddings and events we host!
Sneak Peek at our most recent styled shoot!