First Visit to Magnolia Market in Waco
What are your labor day weekend plans? We kicked it off by heading to The Magnolia Market in Waco, TX Saturday morning. Ivan and I both have been trying to push ourselves to try new things, even if that means to explore smaller cities that surround Dallas, or do activities within the city that we wouldn't have considered otherwise. We think this is a great way to continue exploring without breaking the bank, and saving those dollars for bigger trips when he has more vacation time off. Ivan is an academic counselor so he gets about the same vacation time off as a teacher.
There is so much to discovery just by living in Texas alone! It's something we don't take enough advantage of, but we try. With this in mind, we headed off to Waco early morning on Saturday to visit the famous Magnolia Market by Chip and Joanna Gaines.
Quick Confession. I will admit that I have not followed Chip and Joanna Gaines' story. I might be the only person on the planet that doesn't know their story, only the mere fact that they are huge fixer upper couple. The first time I had heard of the Gaines was through my friend Angie, who is a fan, and has a desire to visit the Magnolia Market one day. By this time though, I had seen photos of the Magnolia Market on Instagram as the place is very "instagrammable"!
Here is a few things to know if you ever visit The Magnolia Market for the first time.
Arrive early or on-time
When I had shared with a friend of mine about our plan to visit The Magnolia Market, she immediately said that I would need to get there early as a line starts to form. While that is true, we arrived at 9:15am versus the 8:30am (before opening) like we had planned. There was people there already, and yes there was a line, but it was a line to the bakery. We were able to walk-in, free of waiting in line to the open space of the place, and into the store itself. There was a ton of people inside the store so it was rather cramped.
For my next visit: I plan to get there on before or on-time to have some coffee and sweets at the bakery. There is a famous mural (basically the signage of the brand name painted on the wall) on the bakery patio that I would have loved to take a picture at! As time went on, the place just got more packed that there was no way I would be able to get a good picture by that time on the bakery patio. So, next time it is!
Magnolia Market Pricing
I love home decor. Everything in the store and the way the place was designed, was absolutely beautiful! These people KNOW anterior decor. The prices though, whoa. Some things I can see myself purchasing, but other items were questionable. Perhaps is just I don't know the Gaines' like some of these other fans might, but everything was over priced. I thought about getting a coffee mug because if you have been following me for a while, I love coffee mugs! But even then the coffee mug I wanted was $18-$24. If you ever plan to buy some items from this store, just be ready for what you see on the price tag.
Complimentary Umbrellas
I spoke about this in my instastories after I visited. Being that we went on a Summer weekend, it was very hot outside. I had no idea that The Magnolia offered complimentary umbrellas for you to use while you walked around enjoying the location. I found this out when I was leaving, and that might have helped to just keep cool. There are rest areas that are under shade, but still the umbrella would of been nice. Plus it would make a great photo prop! FYI, don't forget to turn in the umbrella before you leave!
Parking
Honestly, if you get there early, this part won't be hard. You can park anywhere and there is also a parking area behind the Magnolia Market. You do a little bit walking, but shouldn't be too long of a walk depending where you park.
Location of Magnolia Table
I had read that the Magnolia Table is a place to try and have lunch at (or breakfast I believe). Well, I was a little disappointed to find that the Magnolia Table is not attached to the market. It's about a 5 minute drive, not bad, but when you grabbed a good parking spot...if you are going to go eat it makes it inconvenient to then return to the market if you wanted to. They instead, have the bakery on-site with the market. So, if you want lunch you can pick from their short menu at the Magnolia Table food truck for lunch or other food trucks they have around the market.
What I loved most
I loved the design of the location. The space of the Magnolia Marketing is very well used. There are quite a few spots for photo ops. It's a place that is very inviting, and welcoming. I love how they incorporated things that singles, couples, and even families can enjoy. I loved the garden as well, therefore they cater not only to people who love home decor, but those who also enjoy some outdoors. I would love to go back and start the day there with some coffee at the bakery, and make some purchases at the garden. There was modern looking pots that I'd like to have at home. Another favorite was the Lavender Lemonade from Magnolia Table. It was so delicious I had to get two cups!
If you decide to go visit the Magnolia Market, take into consideration also visiting some of the shops that surround the area. I found some other cute places to take photos or even to stop and take a peek once we roamed around.
Waco is such a cute town, as this background says... has SOUL! I am glad that the Gaines' decided to create their business in this town because there are now a lot of people from different walks of life that visit. You can tell a lot of people were tourist, so this attraction brings new tourism to this city.
