diff --git a/places/__init__.py b/places/__init__.py
index 5e206eb..d3eed0c 100644
--- a/places/__init__.py
+++ b/places/__init__.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 from decimal import Decimal
 
 default_app_config = 'places.apps.PlacesConfig'
-__version__ = '1.1.2'
+__version__ = '1.1.3'
 
 
 class Places(object):
@@ -28,10 +28,10 @@ def __init__(self, place, latitude, longitude):
         self.longitude = Decimal(longitude)
 
     def __str__(self):
-        return "{0}, {1}, {2}".format(self.place, self.latitude, self.longitude)
+        return "%s, %s, %s" % (self.place, self.latitude, self.longitude)
 
     def __repr__(self):
-        return "Places({0})".format(self)
+        return "Places(%s)" % str(self)
 
     def __len__(self):
         return len(str(self))
diff --git a/places/fields.py b/places/fields.py
index 8766f7a..d73163e 100644
--- a/places/fields.py
+++ b/places/fields.py
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 from __future__ import unicode_literals
 
-import re
 from decimal import Decimal
 
 from django.db import models
@@ -31,21 +30,19 @@ def to_python(self, value):
         if isinstance(value, list):
             return Places(value[0], value[1], value[2])
 
-        matched = re.finditer(r'[-+]?\d*\.\d+|\d+', value)
-        value_parts = [Decimal(x.group()) for x in matched]
+        value_parts = [Decimal(val) for val in value.split(',')[-2:]]
 
         try:
-            latitude = value_parts[0] if len(value_parts) == 2 else value_parts[2]
+            latitude = value_parts[0]
         except IndexError:
             latitude = '0.0'
 
         try:
-            longitude = value_parts[1] if len(value_parts) == 2 else value_parts[3]
+            longitude = value_parts[1]
         except IndexError:
             longitude = '0.0'
-
         try:
-            place = re.sub(r'[-+]?\d*\.\d+|\d+', '', value)[:-4]
+            place = ','.join(value.split(',')[:-2])
         except:
             pass
 
@@ -59,7 +56,7 @@ def get_prep_value(self, value):
 
     def value_to_string(self, obj):
         value = self._get_val_from_obj(obj)
-        return str(value)
+        return smart_text(value)
 
     def formfield(self, **kwargs):
         defaults = {
diff --git a/places/forms.py b/places/forms.py
index 5ded832..110fed5 100644
--- a/places/forms.py
+++ b/places/forms.py
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@ class PlacesField(forms.MultiValueField):
     }
 
     def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
-        self.widget = PlacesWidget()
         fields = (
             forms.CharField(label=_('place')),
             forms.DecimalField(label=_('latitude')),
@@ -21,6 +20,7 @@ def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
         )
         if 'initial' in kwargs:
             kwargs['initial'] = Location(*kwargs['initial'].split(','))
+        self.widget = PlacesWidget()
         super(PlacesField, self).__init__(fields, **kwargs)
 
     def widget_attrs(self, widget):