As soon as we had set the date I contacted our church to be sure that date was open for our ceremony. While I was at it I went ahead and booked the fellowship hall for the reception in case we couldn't find another venue.
I was pretty sure we wouldn't have our reception there, though, because I knew we were planning to serve wine.
In the beginning stages of the planning we decided the reception was going to be a fundraising event for a charity of our choice that is dear to us. We really don't need gifts. But then as the hunt for the perfect reception venue ensued, it was clear the charity event part of it was blocking us from finding a great venue.
We were certain that we wanted an indoor/outdoor option in case of rain, because Lord knows it rains in these parts.
Our first choice was the history museum. The space is so unique, and so great, and the view from there is beautiful. It sits right on the water, and of course it is filled with so many interesting things. But there were too many things about it that just didn't work. Our reception will begin at about 3:30 or 4, and they couldn't have us until 5. And if we did it at 5 we would have to serve dinner, and we plan to serve light hors d'oeuvres. There is nowhere to serve dinner there, and even if we served it outside, it would be too cold for that. The weather here is on the cooler side, even in June, and being near the water makes it even cooler. An evening outdoor dinner near the bay just didn't sound like the right thing to us. Another thing that didn't work was the fact that there wasn't one room there that could hold all of our guests at the same time. There couldn't be a toast, or any announcement that everyone would be able to hear. We wrestled with this one for a while and tried to find a way to make it work out, but it just wasn't the space for our event.
Onward.
We liked the idea of a view of the water, so we looked at a local restaurant, Anthony's. It has a beautiful downstairs room with a view. It sits right on the water. This bombed from almost the first moment. No matter that the cost for it was going to be thousands of dollars, they didn't want us there past 5 p.m., even if our guests were going to come up to the main floor for dinner after the reception. They didn't like that at all, because they needed to accommodate their regular customers. Even when we mentioned a rehearsal dinner the manager wasn't very eager to have us, saying that they needed to be able to serve their regular Friday night crowd. I was not overjoyed with this conversation.
Next I called a place that has beautiful grounds and gardens. I was so hoping for this, as it seemed our last option for a reception close to the church where we could still serve wine. It was booked.
Chuck and I both agreed we didn't want our guests to have to drive very far for the reception, so I started looking harder for a place that could meet our needs. I found a community center that has a lot of character and is relatively inexpensive. It has a view if you go outside, but the best thing is it can old everyone, it has an outdoor option, and it's close to the church. We drove it when we went to take a look and clocked it at 8 miles. It's really neat, and was originally a school in the late 1800s.
I got a confirmation email that they received our deposit and rental agreement, and we are on our way to wedding day.
Next post: The Pre-marriage journey-- getting ready for our future.
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